Rating: Overall story rated T

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, and disturbing situations.

Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's safer to risk walking in open daylight and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and an RP collaboration between Sampsonknightand Zelgadis55.

Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.

Fandom Announcement! - 13 Days of Halloween is on again this year! Writers and Artists are welcome. For more information, look for sampsonknight on Deviant Art or tmnt-allstories{.}tumblr{.}com/


Sekai no Owari

Ch 8

Mikey whipped his head about frantically as he ran, checking every intersection and doorway he passed. He'd lost sight of his brother long ago and couldn't understand why he'd run like that but he kept looking and running after him regardless, determined to find some sign of someone.

The mess in the lab, the broken glass, computer and table, the drops of blood... the unanswered phone calls... they all had him terrified over what could have happened to his brothers and then to find no sign of life once finally inside? Except for the distant green blur that immediately ran?

He had to find them! He had to know what was going on!

No matter how much his head hurt, making him desperate to just sit down and sleep for the next few days.

Mikey rounded a corner, for a moment pausing to lean his hand against it, panting as his head and vision swam alarmingly. Suddenly, another burst of movement, green and brown with a flash of blue, caught his attention as it rounded the corner of the corridor ahead and Mikey pushed away from the wall, racing after it and softly calling, "Leo? Please don't... don't run... I can't t-take... much more..." he huffed.

For the next several minutes, he gave chase to the blurry figure ahead, running as fast as he could and knowing he was losing ground. Breathlessly, he continued calling after Leo louder, when he realised they were near the top of the lair and Leo was dashing across the old metallic walkways.

Mikey swallowed, realising with the shape he was in, he was in no condition to follow, yet he pushed on regardless and that's when he heard a terrified yell of fright.

He looked up, only to see the distant figure falling, having tripped and somehow fallen under the rail and over the edge.

-:-

"What did you do to my brother? Did you kill him while I tried to help you?" Donnie demanded, furious with himself for leaving his helpless baby brother with a human!

April didn't respond but Raph suddenly stirred and whimpered as he did.

Donnie stared, relief coursing through him at the sound of his brother's cry and then dashed forward, dropping the air canister to grab Raph from the human's lap, clutching him protectively against his plastron as he warily eyed the human woman.

Snatched away from his warm, comforting pillow, Raph began to scream in protest. He wanted it back and this mean, not so funny thing wasn't letting him be with his pillow.

His lip trembled more before he suddenly roared in a tantrum, kicking and flailing his arms about, now and then clenching his hands towards the pillow, trying to wiggle away from the not so funny thing. He wanted to nap, he was hungry and he wanted his pillow!

"Raphie, shh! Please!" Donnie begged in disbelief, trying to turn his brother's scrunched up golden gaze away from the human on the floor. He couldn't understand. She was a stranger and potentially dangerous and... and she'd been sick enough before he left that he'd wanted to help her, at the risk of leaving his baby brother behind to get her help faster and here was Raph acting as if he wanted her rather than him, his own brother.

As Donnie tried bouncing up and down, desperately hoping to silence Raph as he slowly backed away, he kept watching her for any sign of sudden movement.

April's eyes started to flutter and her mind flooded with the discomfort of cries echoing in the air. Raph, seeing his pillow moving and smelling that nasty scent she had before he fell asleep, whimpered and cried all the more for her, wanting her not to smell so bad.

Feeling the bundle of Raph in his arms fighting ever harder to reach for the human, Donnie looked down and really saw the desperation he had to get to her. Then he looked back up, seeing her beginning to have trouble breathing again as she stirred and he realised she'd simply been meditating like their father had taught them and his jaw dropped open slightly in shock.

The image of the photo in his father's room flashed once more in his mind's eye and he saw the details he hadn't noticed before; of how she was comfortably leaning into the older version of him and both he and Mikey had their arms around her, with Raph and Leo to either side of them and reaching out to touch Splinter's shoulder where he proudly stood to the front of them, completing the circle.

Donnie's eyes widened as he realised she had to have been telling the truth all along and that Raph instinctively trusted her. "Raph always did have good instincts about people," he whispered softly to himself.

Trying to hide the lingering fear of 'what if', Donnie edged forward, placing Raph on the ground immediately before her. Then he picked up the oxygen canister and mask, placing it against her mouth and activating it.

Her eyes opened fully as her mind slowly crawled back to awareness; she felt the sudden lack of warmth from her lap. In a panic she was about to move in fear that she had lost Raph only to be relieved as he crawled up to her, making that odd sound again before easily falling back to sleep in her lap. Confused, she blinked, then noticed something else was different as her hand reached for the mask over her mouth.

"Take it easy and just breathe slowly with deep breaths."

Turning toward the voice, she smiled. For a moment, she swore Donatello was as he should be and this was all just a nightmare. Sadly, after taking a few more breaths, he was back to being a pre-teen, yet his eyes were as they always were and there was no shadow of a doubt on that.

"Thank you, Donnie," she wheezed in relief, laying her head back on the cool bricks and focusing on her breathing, hoping this would soon pass.

Taken aback, all Donnie could do was nod wordlessly. Then, avoiding the nearby mess, he settled down to lean against the wall beside her and wait for her to recover enough to help him find Mikey.

-:-

It was chasing him!

The poor turtle that was eaten had risen again! It was like that horror movie Mikey dared Leo to watch just days ago, 'Dawn of the Desperate, Dandling Dead' part twelve, all because Mikey was too scared to watch it alone.

Oh, how he now he regretted it! Weren't zombies supposed to be slow? Why was this one so fast? Fearfully, he looked back over his shoulder, cringing at how it wouldn't stop running for him. Was it that hungry? What about his other brothers? Did it eat them before him or was he the first to go?

The thing calling his name only made his blood run colder and his heart jumped in his throat at the idea it must have eaten Donnie and somehow gained his memories and was using them to bait him! About to turn his head back to face forward to figure out what path he should take next, Leo suddenly felt one foot cross over the other as he tripped and he screamed.

As the terrified scream rang out across the lair, Mikey forgot about his own discomfort and poured on the speed, racing towards the falling turtle.

All but skidding to a halt where he saw the figure fall, Mikey peeked over in horror, relieved to see a tiny hand gripping the edge of the walkway. He immediately fell to his knees, gripping the railing with one hand as his other shot down to grab the wrist of his slipping brother and pull him up to safety.

The turtle, seemingly far lighter than he should have been, came up far too easily and Mikey nearly lost him to the other side of the walkway.

Breathing heavily, Mikey turned to comment and froze, mouth gaping like a goldfish in disbelief at the sight of the small child who looked just like Leonardo did when they were around six or so.

Scrambling backwards, Leo gulped in fear, "Are you going to eat me?"

"I so must have hit my head far harder than I thought. I could swear you look like you're six again or something, Leo! And did you lose weight while we were gone or something? We weren't gone that long." Suddenly Mikey blinked as what the kid said hit him. "Wait, what? Eat you? That's cannibalism, dude! I thought you were the good turtle!"

Huffing at first, Leo's cheeks puffed out in indignation, "I'm five! Not six until next week!" His courage suddenly escaped him and he shuddered again as the thought came to him, if the large turtle wasn't a zombie, then what was he? "Then posses me then? You're a yokai then," Leo accused, whimpering over the only reasonable explanation that this guy was walking around still.

His head swimming alarmingly again as the adrenaline wore off, Mikey blinked in disbelief. He so wanted off this walkway like yesterday.

"I'm not a zombie and I'm not a yokai, little dude, I'm Michelangelo but you can call me Mikey." He struggled back to his feet and reached out a hand to the smaller turtle. "We gotta get off of here and somewhere safer before I pass out. What's your name anyway and where did you come from?" he asked kindly.

Blinking first at the hand and then at that face, seeing those familiar baby blue eyes set in amongst the orange mask, Leo wondered if this was the same as with Raph and Donnie. However, if he was actually a yokai, he could easily do such tricks. Shaking his head, Leo narrowed his eyes, then pointed at the strange turtle, "You are a yokai! You want my name and dared to use my brother's name to trick me too! You can't just say you're not one for that is not how you prove it!" Leo took a scared step back, shaking his head adamantly. "I saw the evil human eating you! I will not let you hurt me or my brothers!"

Mikey stared dumbfounded. "No one ate me," he said slowly, not liking the way his vision was swimming in and out. "Who's your brother and how am I supposed to prove I'm not a yokai?"

Sighing at the typical yokai trickery, Leonardo crossed his arms, "I'm not telling you their names in case one of them have escaped you! To prove you're not a yokai you will have to…" Leo started to explain, telling the yokai about the dance and rhyme that he made Donnie do to prove he was really him.

Suppressing his sigh, Mikey wondered if this was how he often made his brothers feel about him and grumbled, "Fine, but first, can we get off this walkway onto more solid ground? It's way too dangerous here, you almost fell."

Thinking it over, Leo nodded slowly, "Fine but you first! I will not walk with you behind me and be able to steal my soul!"

"Okay," Mikey muttered tiredly, "just make sure you follow, I don't want you to fall again; I might not be able to catch you in time..."

Then, holding the rail for support, Mikey made his way to the closest end and walked well away from the walkway. When he was several metres from the edge of the gantry, he turned to watch the smaller turtle tentatively step away from the edge.

Once on solid ground, Leo faced Mikey, "Now prove it before I run away!" he commanded obstinately, looking at any moment like he'd bolt.

Mikey nodded and swallowed, trying to steady himself. He lifted one leg, placing his foot above his other knee and raised his arms appropriately and paused.

Leo became impatient at the hesitation, "Are you going to sing? Or you can't for you are a yokai?"

Mikey tried to start spinning as the little turtle told him to, reminded once again of Leo and how bratty he could be when they were younger and their father's tail turned. Suddenly groaning painfully, everything caught up with him and the next thing he knew, the ground was rushing up to meet him.

He was out cold before he hit it.

Shocked that the larger turtle collapsed, Leo wasn't sure if that was a fail or not. No one ever passed out or keeled over before. Cautiously stepping up to the strange turtle, Leo looked him over and then noticed the nunchakus as a brilliant idea came to mind. Swiftly, he removed the weapon from the turtle's belt and then used it to poke him to see if he would move.

There was no response from the turtle and Leo gulped, holding the weapon tightly in his hands. Was he to dare? Taking one step forward, he leant closer. If he listened to his heartbeat that would at least tell him if the other was dead or not so with his earhole pressing firmly against the plastron, Leo closed his eyes, focusing to hear the heart.

Suddenly the youkai's hand twitched, frightening Leo and making him scream and tumble back onto his shell.

Mikey started at the sound, opening his eyes ever so briefly and looking around from where he lay. Seeing nothing in immediate view, he groaned and closed his eyes again. "Think I'm gonna be sick..." he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Why?" Leo asked curiously from where he fell, gangly limbs twisted like a pretzel.

His eyes blinking open once more, Mikey struggled to sit up, looking at the other turtle in surprise as he was reminded of his strange presence. "I got hurt before I found you and it's making me feel really gross, little dude."

Blinking at him, Leonardo had to ask, "Did the evil human hurt you? She was on top of you."

"Evil human?" Mikey ventured, blinking in confusion. "Oh, you mean April? Nuh, she's not evil, she's family and she was hurt too. She got hurt when we were trying to escape the monsters outside."

"Monsters outside?" Leo asked in a small voice, shuddering; so he was right! He did hear something. Then was it this turtle and that human he swore was shouting outside the door?

"Yeah," Mikey replied tiredly. "Don't worry though, they can't get in here. We're safe in the lair."

Biting his lip, Leo sighed, "Leonardo."

Mikey perked up at hearing the name. "You know where he is?"

Giving him a funny look Leo said, "Huh?" a bit confused over why the turtle would ask where he was when he was right in front of him. Then he shook his head, "You asked me for my name, silly. It's Leonardo."

A chill ran through Mikey. Sure, this short turtle had reminded him of his brother more than once but to actually share the same name? How likely was that? Then again, who was he to argue? Stranger things had happened before and their existence was proof of that.

With effort, Mikey gave little Leonardo his trademark grin and said, "Nice to meet you, chibi Leonardo. Wanna stick with me while I find my bros and April?"

"I'm not small!" Leo huffed and then tilted his head at the turtle. "Your bros?" Leo was wary, no one smiles like that, that was just unnatural.

"Yeah, you are," Mikey chuckled wearily, slowly pushing himself to his feet. Avoiding the instinct to nod, Mikey added, "Yeah, my bros; one of them even has the same name as you. Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael. They're all about the same size and age as me. Except for Raphie, he's fat," Mikey added thoughtfully at the last moment.

Confused, Leo tilted his head, unsure what to say. Should he say something about Donnie? Was he even talking about Donnie? Though he did recall Donnie saying something about age but he'd forgotten. Just nodding, Leo remained quiet, he was tired and hungry and didn't want to wander around alone anymore.

Mikey reached out his hand, offering it to chibi Leo.

Examining the hand for but a moment, Leo hastily took it.

Slowly, so as not to aggravate his head or his foot, Mikey began leading the way through the lair as they searched when suddenly he heard a loud gurgle come from chibi Leo's stomach. "But first let's get you something to eat, huh chibi-chan?"

-:-

With her breathing starting to regulate, at last, April dared to remove the mask while trying not to awaken the two sleeping turtles. One who was in her lap as the other, Donnie, eventually fell asleep, unconsciously snuggling into the side of her arm. She could see the exhaustion in both as she started to wonder when was the last time they ate and when this change occurred. Had it happened last night or sometime in the morning? Better yet, how, where and why did it happen? Letting out a quiet sigh, she breathed in easily, finding she didn't need the help anymore. The pain too was now mostly gone and she didn't feel like emptying her already empty stomach any longer.

Closing her eyes, she took more breaths as suddenly she realised she hadn't heard from Mikey. He did still have his Shell-cell on him, right? On that note, she too hadn't thought to call him. With all the chaos it simply slipped her mind. Slowly and with much caution, lest she wake a sleeping turtle, she slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling the phone out and dialling, waiting anxiously for him to answer. She was also worried about Leo. If he was the little turtle running around, he could get hurt and she was unable to go find him. Mikey could if he was up yet, as long as nothing horrible had happened to him or he was worse off then she originally thought.

With the sudden ringing of his Shell-cell making him almost jump out of his shell, Mikey fumbled clumsily at his belt with his free hand, even as Leo looked up at him curious about the strange sound.

"Prankster hotline, who would you like pranked today and where?" he answered cheekily, forgetting all about the seriousness of the situation for just a moment as his playful nature reared its ugly head.

"Oh, the prank is very much on us..." April responded tiredly, happy and relieved to hear his voice. "Are you okay, Mikey?"

Practically wilting in relief at the sound of her voice, Mikey said, "Yeah, I'm okay, just got a bit of a splitting headache is all. How about you? Where'd you go? Where are you now? Are you okay? Have you seen my bros anywhere?" he asked, the questions tumbling from his mouth in his worry.

Hesitating at the questions, April looked at the two children, then bit her lip, "I'm out of the woods I think... Had a rough patch of not being able to breathe and all but that doesn't matter at the moment. Mikey, are you mobile?"

That had Mikey pause. "Not being able to breathe?" he repeated, hyper-focusing on those terrifying words. "Where are you?" he repeated, anxious to get to her all of a sudden.

"Mikey, please that doesn't matter. I'm fine but you need to do me a favour. There is a young turtle wandering around the lair with a blue mask around his neck. He's scared and obviously lost. You have to find him because I can't and I probably shouldn't try to anyway," April explained worriedly.

Mikey glanced down at the little turtle beside him who was still looking curiously up at him. "I have him with me, Ape." He then added in a whisper, "It's the weirdest thing though, not only is he another mutant turtle but he has the same name as one of my bros. Looks a shell of a lot like he did at that age, too!"

Pausing again, she tried to figure what to say about that before avoiding that statement altogether, "Where are you at the moment?"

Frowning at the strange tone in April's voice, Mikey paused a moment before answering, "We're near the lower dojo," he explained. They had two main training areas in this lair, one which was a wide-open space for their normal practice and the other, on the lowest floor where all the piping and the waterway lay, which was a great place for stealth games and practise around obstacles.

"Okay, well, I'm by the bedrooms. Head here Mikey and... keep an open mind, okay?" she warned, pulling the canister of air closer to her; he might need it more than her once he arrived.

"Don't I always, dudette?" he teased, even as he began leading chibi Leo to the stairs going up.

"Yes of course, just really have an open mind, I have oxygen if you need it," she winced, not wanting to give anything away but really wanting to prepare him as best she could without being there in person.

Mikey blinked, suddenly flashing back to the emergency entrance to the lair where he'd been forced to share his own oxygen. "Okayyyy..."

-:-

Just around the corner from the hallway to the bedrooms, Mikey stopped and looked seriously at chibi Leo. "Hey, Leo-chan? My human friend, April, is just around the corner here but you don't need to worry, okay? Her bark is far worse than her bite but she'd never hurt you or any of us."

"But what about all that blood on her? Who did she bite?" Leo asked.

Mikey shook his head, darkly amused by the question, "She didn't bite anyone but she did protect me from the monsters outside, just like I protected her. Let's just say things got pretty messy out there, little dude."

"Okay... so she barks then?"

"Only if you make her really angry. So no comments about her age or weight."

"Age... weight, so she is really, really old and fat?"

"Shell no!" Mikey gasped, aghast. "She's really young, pretty and slim, doesn't look a day over twenty! Make sure you remember that!"

"Okay. So is she a princess?"

"Nuh, she's way too down to earth for that," Mikey chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Leo didn't understand the saying.

"Means she's not pretentious or stuck up like 'princesses' are," Mikey explained, remembering a male friend of theirs once complaining to him and Raph about a date he'd been on the previous night. At that thought, the sadness welled up inside Mikey momentarily at the loss and he shoved the errant thought aside. "Anyway, my point, little dude, is that you don't need to be scared of her because April would never hurt you. Okay?"

"Okay, if you say so and... she is really young, pretty and slim... young, pretty and slim... young pretty and slim..." Leo repeated over and over again.

"Yeah, don't tell her that though, okay?" Mikey hurriedly added before waltzing around the corner, Leo in tow. Man but that could so go the wrong way if she heard that and all he was doing was trying to protect the micro-dude.

What he saw made him stop dead in surprise as he took in the sight of April looking up towards him, obviously having heard him around the corner. For a moment, he wondered yet again if his head injury was causing him to hallucinate.

"April!" he exclaimed loudly, ignoring her desperate gesture of shh! "When did you have a baby? Were you holding out on us, dudette? Who was it with? Was it with Donnie?" he suddenly asked, suspicious. Those two always were awfully close, after all.

Her eye twitching, she couldn't believe even Mikey would say that of all things. Not in front of an impressionable child at least. "Oh no, Mikey, he and I never were a couple for my love was always for you my dear, handsome Michelangelo." Enjoying seeing him squirm, she laid it on even thicker as she continued, "Mikey, that miracle kiss of life you humbly gave me while in that watery tomb was more than breath to my lungs, it actually impregnated me and I laid an egg only a while ago. That is why I couldn't breathe from that instant labour. And now poof! Here is your new baby boy. If only I knew turtles were the type to do it through their lips, I would have put a chastity belt on yours long ago!"

Mikey stood there in shock, eyes boggling and gaping like a goldfish. He knew she wasn't being serious but with his head the way it was, he simply didn't know how to respond.

Dismissing the flabbergasted turtle, April couldn't feel guilty for pushing his foot further down his throat. He deserved that. Instead, she smiled at the child, addressing him, "Hey there, Leo. Ignore what your brother and I were just talking about; he's a big dummy." She flashed a smile up at Mikey then turned back to Leo. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to frighten you earlier."

For a moment more, Mikey blinked as Leo shyly ducked behind him, clutching at his lower shell. "Brother?" he asked in confusion, glancing back for a sec and ignoring the insult. He turned back to April, still in shock. "What are you talking about April? I know chibi-chan here looks like Leo did as a kid and has the same name but...? And seriously? What's with the babe in arms?"

Mikey then peered further past April, noticing yet another small turtle leaning asleep against her, head resting on her biceps. He felt cold as he saw the purple bandanna hanging loosely around the pre-teen's neck. Suddenly his vision swam again and he swayed a little on the spot. He put out a hand to brace against the wall.

"Mikey, are you okay…. Maybe you might need the oxygen after all." She tried to pass up the canister of air to him. "Just take a few deep breaths and I will… Well, I'll explain as much I was told."

"My head really hurts," he muttered miserably, "but I'm okay." Ignoring the canister, he moved closer and sat down, leaning against the wall opposite her to see her and... them... better.

Biting his lip, Leo followed Mikey, still not sure why his brothers were so open with the human. Weren't they always taught they are all bad and couldn't be trusted?

Recognising that look from the young turtle, April ignored it; it was the same suspicious look Donnie had given her earlier. Clearing her throat, she chose her words carefully, "I know this will sound crazy and right now you probably wondering if both of us could be hallucinating but I don't think that is the case." April paused, waiting to make sure Mikey didn't start to act off or pass out. After a few moments and feeling it was safe for now, she then continued, "I believe something caused your brothers to somehow de-age and…"

"No way! Even I know that kinda thing only happens in comic books and cartoons, April, not real life!" Mikey protested too loudly, shaking his head in disbelief even as the corners of his mouth quirked up in anticipation of her admitting her little joke which was admittedly in bad taste.

"SHHHH!" she warned again, stroking Raph's head gently. "Keep your voice down, you'll wake him. Okay, as I said, it sounds crazy but it's true. I don't know how or why but this little guy," April soothed Raph and he cooed sleepily at the affection, "is really Raph and the one laying against me here, who was not only thinking I was some horrible human wanting to experiment on him but also actually accusing me of doing this to them and hurting you, is Donnie."

Mikey's jaw dropped open at her words; it was impossible for sure. "What makes you think it could even possibly be true, April?" he asked quietly, more mindful now of the sleeping... Raph? The baby certainly did have Raphael's deep emerald toned hue but still...

"Truth is, I didn't at first but upon arguing with Donnie here, I came to realise it was really him. Besides, look at them, Mikey. You grew up with them, there must be something about them that you recognise. And as far as I can tell…" April paused then looked at Leo questioningly, "Do you remember me, Leo?"

Leo, keeping quiet, shook his head, no.

"Their memories are based on their age, I think. At least that's the impression I got from Donnie. Not just that but Donnie did tell me that somehow he, Raph and Leo became younger. Regardless of whatever happened, I believe him. I have to Mikey because…" April became sad and fell silent.

"Because what?" Mikey whispered back, afraid to hear the answer.

"What they are going through… Think about it, they remember the last moments at that age… finding themselves here, somewhere they don't know, not sure what is going on. Imagine the fear, the confusion! Mikey, Donnie was terrified of me, I… I never knew you guys grew up that way and he was so desperate to find you and Leo…" she explained, taking a breath to push away the horrible feeling of being forgotten, "Your brothers are otherwise nowhere in sight, are they?"

Mikey shook his head harder than he meant to, wincing at the pain and dizziness and feeling sick at the reminder of his 'missing' brothers.

"Then there is only one conclusion. These really are your brothers and that is why they never answered and may well be why this place is still on lockdown so late in the day!"

Mikey's fearful eyes drifted from her down to Leo beside him, whom he'd already spent the last couple of hours with and he remembered all the little things that had reminded him of his brother and leader from when they were small. His gut had told him it was Leo early on but he blamed his obvious concussion for imagining and reading too far into things.

Then his gaze slowly slid to Donnie, his best friend and he saw the scar on his knee that he acquired before they began wearing knee-pads to protect themselves and his breath froze in his chest.

Lastly, his eyes moved to land on Raph. From what Splinter said, they'd never been quite that young when they were originally mutated, they were more of toddler age. If what April said was true, then Raph would grow up again, never even knowing their father.

And that's when he knew.

He knew these were really his brothers somehow; miraculously, insanely, his actual brothers.

Who was he supposed to tease now?

Who was he supposed to go to when things became too much?

Who was he supposed to... oh god... he was going to have to be the responsible one now!

He was going to have to protect them like they always tried to protect him, whether he wanted them to or not!

"Leo?" he asked softly, looking back down at him and trying to shake off the knowledge that he was now completely alone. "Who taught you how to detect yokai?"

"Donnie found out, why?" Leo answered shyly, wondering why Mikey was asking.

Mikey felt cold at hearing the proof from his now suddenly far younger brother with his own hearing. He looked desperately back to April, shaking in fear, "I'm their brother, April! Their younger brother! I'm too young to be their dad!" He started breathing too hard and fast.

Seeing him in the beginnings of a panic attack, April soothed her voice, "Mikey, take deep breaths. There's no point in jumping to conclusions and what-ifs over what might happen from here on out. There might still be a way to reverse this. Besides, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Forgetting what?" Mikey whimpered desperately, his hands pressed hard against his face as he tried and failed to do as she said.

"Me. You're not alone," April pointed out gently. "You think I would leave everything on your shoulders? Sure, I have no clue what to do either, heck, I never once even considered ever going down that path or wanting to have kids or raise them but they are my family too and I'm here to support them and you, no matter what and like I said we might still be able to fix this."

"How?" Mikey asked plaintively, relieved to hear she wasn't going to abandon him.

"I don't know but we will figure it out, we always do. Mikey this will not destroy our family; we've all been through a lot, even before the apocalypse, before the ninja war, before you saved me from those mousers… Mikey, just hang in there and don't let this bring you down, you can do this. I believe in you, okay?" Then April smiled sweetly. "And besides, we both know this is a cakewalk for the Battle Nexus Champion."

Mikey smiled back tentatively and leaned his head back to close his eyes. "You better believe it, dudette!"

-:-


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