Note: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later.
"You're doing the right thing, Mikey," April softly told her reptilian friend, who sat in the passenger seat and nervously looked out his window. She drove the old Party Wagon through the woods of North Hampton, the vehicle bouncing every time the wheels ran over large rocks in the dirt. "It's going to be okay."
Rocket, who sat in the back of the van, stood up and walked over to Mikey's seat, gently touching his arm. "She's right," he said. "It's about time you two patched things up."
Mikey looked down at the raccoon with eyes full of worry. "But what if he hates me?"
"Raph doesn't hate you, Mikey," April assured him. "You're his little brother; he could never hate you even if he tried."
"Yeah, and besides, you did nothing wrong," Rocket told him. "He's the one who should be apologizing. He bailed out on ya when you needed him the most."
"I'll bet the first thing he'll do when he sees you is give you a big hug," April said with a smile. "He'll be so happy to have his brother back."
Mikey stared at her for a moment before he turned back to the window. "I hope so."
A few minutes later, they finally arrived at their destination: the old farmhouse. It looked exactly as they left it years ago, with a couple of chickens greeting them alongside the dirt road.
"Yuck," Rocket mumbled in disgust as he watched the poultry peck at the grass outside. He was never too fond of chickens. "Those things are so stupid."
Once the van was parked in front of the house, the front door opened and Mikey held his breath, clutching the arms of his seat.
A pregnant Mona Lisa stepped outside in a long light blue dress with purple rose prints. Her golden eyes widened in surprise when she saw who was inside the van. "Michelangelo? April?"
"Hi, Mona!" April said cheerfully as she jumped out of the vehicle and ran up the porch steps. She and the Salamandrian laughed as they hugged each other. "You're having a baby!" the human said as she pulled away and looked at her friend's large belly.
"Babies," Mona corrected her with a grin. "Soon I'll be laying eggs."
Mikey finally found the courage to get out of the van and walked up the porch steps with Rocket close behind him. "I'm gonna be an uncle?" he whispered as he stared at Mona's pregnant belly.
The alien smiled warmly at her brother-in-law as she rubbed her stomach. "Yes, Michelangelo. You're going to be an uncle."
Mikey smiled at the thought of having nieces and nephews, but then he frowned when he remembered who the father was. "Is...Raph home?"
Mona's smile didn't falter as she nodded. "He's asleep upstairs. Come on in. We've just made some lemonade."
"'We'?" April asked as she followed Mona into the kitchen.
The boys walked into the living room and Rocket climbed onto the couch. "Hmmm. Cozy. Smells kinda funny, though." He spotted the remote that was lying next to him and turned on the T.V.
Mikey sat down next to the raccoon and glanced around the room. He smiled to himself as he breathed in the country air. "This place brings back a lot of memories." Then he smelled something that him wrinkle his snout. "Eugh, Rocket."
"What?" Rocket mumbled, his eyes still glued to the T.V.
"Did you forget to shower this morning?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Well, something stinks. It kinda smells like..." His eyes then widened in realization and he slowly turned around. He was now staring at a big mass of brown fur that smelled murky. He lifted his head and gasped when he saw a rather familiar face. "Bigfoot?!"
The large ape-like creature gave the Turtle a big toothy smile. Giggling, she grabbed him in a hug and lifted him off the couch.
"Whoa, what the-?!" Rocket looked up to see a large hairy monster squeezing the life out of his friend. Without thinking, he pulled a small gun out of the pocket of his hoodie and aimed it at the creature's head. "Let him go, ugly!" he yelled. "Right now!"
At the sight of the gun, Bigfoot squealed and dropped Mikey, raising both hands in the air.
But Mikey quickly got back up and stood between Bigfoot and the gun. "Whoa, whoa, wait, Rocket! This my friend, Bigfoot! She won't hurt us!"
"Huh?" Rocket raised an eye brow. "That thing's a 'she'?"
"I see you've met Bigfoot," Mona said as she walked into the room with a tray of lemonade glasses. "She's agreed to help me with the babies after they have hatched."
"Awww," Mikey smiled up at the ape-creature. "You're gonna be their nanny, Bigfoot?"
Bigfoot nodded with a big grin and pretended to cradle something in her arms. "Bigfoot take care of little Raphs and Monas," she said in her usual deep voice.
"Guys, you should try her lemonade," April said as she walked into the living room, holding a glass of said beverage in her hand. "It's really good."
Mikey took a glass from Mona and tried it. His eyes literally sparkled at the taste. "Whoa! This tastes awesome!" He quickly finished the whole thing and licked his lips.
Bigfoot giggled and clapped her hands excitedly upon hearing that praise.
"Here, Rocket!" Mikey offered one to his furry friend. "Try it!"
Rocket sniffed at the glass suspiciously and glanced up at Bigfoot, who happened to be picking her nose. Disgusted, he shook his head. "I'm good."
Mikey shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said before he drank the whole glass.
Just then, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Oh, Raphael is up," Mona said.
Mikey immediately stiffened and his grip on the now empty glass tightened. He turned his head toward the stairs and sure enough, his older brother was coming down to meet them.
Raph looked just the same, except he now wore a red do-rag over his eyes instead of his usual mask. When he saw his little brother, he froze right before he reached the bottom of the stairs, his green eyes wide with shock.
For what felt like forever, the two brothers just stared at each other. No one else dared to say anything. The tension and silence was eventually broken by a loud thumping sound that came from upstairs. More footsteps came down the stairs, except that sounded heavier.
Pushing past Raph was the ever-lovable space Turtle Chompy. He hurried into the living room and almost barreled into April, affectionately rubbing his head against her body and wagging his spiked tail.
"Chompy!" April cried as she knelt down to hug his neck. "I've missed you, too, buddy!"
Chompy then ran to Mikey and pounced on him, nearly knocking him to the floor and licking his face like crazy.
"Hey, Chompster!" Mikey laughed as the house pet continued to cover him in kisses.
Mona walked over to her husband and took his hand. "Look who has arrived, my love."
Raph snapped out of his shock and grinned a little at his wife. "Y-Yeah." He walked with her into the living room and went to April first. He gave the human a warm tender smile. "Hey, April."
April smiled back at her old friend. "Hey, Raph." She then wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "It's been a while."
"You've...been doing good?" Raph asked as he gently pulled away.
April simply nodded. "And you?"
Raph nodded as well. He then turned to Mikey, his smile immediately dropping. Without saying a word to his brother, he walked right past him and straight to a chair.
Mikey swallowed as his brother sat down. "Um, hey, Raph," he said with a forced smile.
"Hey," Raph softly said as he looked down at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with Mikey.
But Mikey continued the conversation, determined to patch things up with his brother. "So you're gonna be a Dad. That's awesome. And I get to be an uncle." He then added jokingly. "And Rocket could be the house pet."
"Ha-ha," Rocket said sarcastically.
Everyone else in the room giggled and chuckled, except Raph, who continued to stare at his feet.
Rocket awkwardly cleared his throat and then spotted something peculiar that was sitting on a hanging shelf. "So what's with the black rock?"
Bigfoot suddenly became excited and ran to the shelf, picking the large dark rock up and holding it in her hands. "Wishing rock," she said.
"A 'wishing rock'?" Mikey repeated.
"Uh-huh," Bigfoot nodded and pointed to the woods outside. "Found in forest last night. Wishing star fall down from sky. Bigfoot followed. Found hot rock on ground."
"Oh," April nodded understandingly. "So you found a space rock last night. That's really cool!"
"Did you make a wish yet, Bigfoot?" Mikey asked.
"Yes," Bigfoot put a finger to her large lips. "But can't tell, or wish won't come true."
Mikey nodded. There was a moment of silence before the youngest Turtle said, "You know what I would wish for? I'd wish for Leo and Donnie and everyone else to come back."
"Yeah, me, too," April softly agreed.
"But they're not coming back," Raph said bitterly. "Thanos made sure of that."
Mona set the tray of lemonade down and walked over to her husband, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you still have Michelangelo, dear. And he's come a long way from home just to see you again."
Raph finally glanced up at Mikey. "Yeah, well, he wouldn't have to, if he had made this place his home instead."
Mikey felt his heart break all over again and he bit his lower lip.
"That was his choice, Raph," April sternly said in Mikey's defense. "He was worried about Rocket. You'd do the same for Slash if he had disappeared."
"But he did disappear," Raph said spitefully. "So did Casey. There was nothing left for me in New York."
"Oh, and Mikey and I weren't enough?" April bitterly asked.
Seeing where this was going, Raph sighed and rubbed his temples. "April, that's not what I meant. I just...I needed to move on with my life. I was dealing with so much loss, we all were, and staying in the sewers would've driven me to the edge."
Rocket spoke up on the couch. "Driven you to the edge?" he asked angrily. "You have any idea what Mikey's been through since you left?"
Raph glared hatefully at the raccoon. "Don't you even start," he growled. "Mikey stayed in New York because of you. If you hadn't come into our lives, we would've been much better off.
"You don't know that," Mikey finally spoke up.
Raph looked at his brother in disbelief. "What?"
"I said, you don't know that," Mikey repeated with a little anger in his voice.
Raph scoffed and crossed his arms. "There you go again, defending that raccoon like he's more important than me."
"You know that's not true!" Mikey snapped. "You're the most important person in my life, Raph!"
"Oh, yeah?!" Raph stood up from his chair and took a step toward his brother. "If I mean so much to you, then why didn't you come with me?!"
"Because my friend needed me!" Mikey took a step forward as well. "Because the city needed me! Ever since Thanos made half the world vanish, things only got worse! People need heroes now more than ever! I can't just walk out on them like how you walked out on me! It's not my fault you're a quitter!"
Raph's initial shock at being called that word was quickly replaced with rage and he got closer to his brother until they were only a few inches apart. His eyes burned with anger as a vein popped out on his head. "Don't act so tough, Little Brother," he hissed. "You and I both know that you've always been a little bitch."
Without hesitation, Mikey socked Raph on the mouth.
April, Mona, and Bigfoot all gasped and covered their mouths, while Rocket grinned a little, feeling proud of the younger Turtle for standing up for himself.
Raph stumbled back a bit from the impact and held his aching jaw. He stared at Mikey for a brief moment before he rammed into his little brother and pinned him to the floor. He started to pound on the other Turtle, screaming profanities and hurling insults at him.
Rocket reached for his gun again, but then Raph was suddenly pulled off of Mikey by some invisible force. Everyone turned to see April lifting her hand with an intense look on her face. She used her powers to force Raph back into the chair.
"That's enough," she said in a stern voice.
Rocket jumped off the couch to check on Mikey, who sat on the floor rubbing his now bleeding mouth. "Kid, you okay?"
Mikey said nothing for a few seconds before he murmured, "I shouldn't have come here." He stood back up and headed straight for the door.
Raph watched him leave and thought about calling after him, already regretting the brief pummeling. But he realized that there was nothing left to say and just sat there in silence as Mikey opened the door and walked out.
April followed after him, but not before she turned to Mona and apologized to her. "I'm so sorry, Mona."
The Salamandrian nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, too. Will you still come visit us every once and a while?"
The human smiled. "Of course I will." She gave Chompy a quick pet on the head before she walked out the door.
Rocket was the last to leave, but before he walked outside, he turned around and glared at the older Turtle. "You know, you're wrong about Mike: he's more of a man than you are." Then he closed the door behind him, not bothering to wait for Raph's reaction.
Mikey was already sitting in the van when April and Rocket got in. He continued to wipe his bleeding mouth, looking so miserable.
A heartbroken April quickly handed him a napkin. "I'm so sorry, Mikey. I didn't think it would turn out like this."
Mikey glanced up at April and grinned at her. "It's okay, April. At least we tried." He jumped when he heard something pound on his window.
Bigfoot stood outside his door, looking at him pitifully.
Mikey rolled down the window so he could talk to her. "Hey, Bigfoot. Sorry about earlier."
The ape-creature held out the space rock and offered it to the Turtle. "Mikey keep wishing rock," she said.
"You want me to have this?" Mikey asked in surprise.
"Bigfoot give rock to Mikey as gift," Bigfoot said with a sad smile.
Touched by this generous act, Mikey smiled back at her and accepted the rock. "Thanks, Bigfoot. I'll treasure it forever."
As the van pulled away, Mikey watched through the rear-view mirror as Bigfoot waved after them. He also noticed a figure that was watching them through one of the top windows of the house. He instinctively knew that it was Raph so he quickly averted his gaze and looked straight ahead at the path in the woods.
...
That night, Mikey lay in his bed staring at the ceiling and holding the black rock in his hands. Parts of his face were now covered with bandages and his jaw still hurt.
He heard someone knock softly on his door. "Mike?" Rocket's worried voice called out to him. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Mikey answered.
"Can I come in?"
Mikey paused before he turned over to lay on his right side, cuddling the rock close to his chest. "No."
"Well, okay. I'll be in the living room if you ever need me."
"Sure," the Turtle simply answered. Once he was sure that Rocket was gone, he looked down at the black rock in his arms. "Wishing rock, huh?" he said quietly to himself. "Well, here's my wish: I wish for it not to hurt anymore."
He felt his eyelids growing heavy and drifted off to sleep, not even aware that a black slimy substance was seeping out of the rock and crawling towards his arm...
...
He floated in complete darkness, hearing voices from every direction.
"Paulie! Paulie, where are you?! Come to Mommy, sweetie!"
"¿Dónde estás, mamá? ¡Respóndeme!"
"Not one inhabited planet in this dimension was spared."
"He killed Gamora for the Soul Stone."
"We can only do so much, and there's nothing we can do about this. It's over."
"Without your brothers, you are weak. Easy prey. Helpless. You know I speak the truth. You are nothing without your team."
"The work is done. It always will be. I am...inevitable."
He covered his ears and curled into fetal position. He felt weak, scared, helpless, and worst of all, useless. He lost so much because he wasn't strong enough. If only he had the power...
I can give you that power.
Huh? Whose voice was that? It didn't sound familiar.
Just give yourself to me, and let me do the rest.
"Who are you?" he called out to the disembodied voice.
I am...your Wrath.
Suddenly, the darkness began to consume his entire body, wrapping itself around him like a deadly viper. He began to panic and before he could even scream, it covered his entire face and even went down his throat...
...
"...huh?"
He opened his eyes and found himself standing on a rooftop, the sounds of car horns blaring below him and helicopters roaring above him. How did he end up here? And why did he feel so...empowered, like could take on two Super Shredders?
Before he even realized what he was doing, he ran to the edge of the building and took a big leap. He was so high in the air that he could see the top of the Empire State Building. He landed with ease onto the next rooftop, chuckling in disbelief. He then looked down at the street below and got another crazy idea. Taking another leap, he did a couple of air flips as he fell, whooping and laughing as a feeling of exhilaration filled his entire being.
He landed on his feet right in the middle of the street, the force of the impact causing the concrete to crack. A couple of citizens who happened to be nearby stared at him in shock and fear before they made a run for it.
"Sorry!" he called as he waved at them. "Didn't mean to scare you!" Then he noticed something odd about his hand: it was completely black. "What the-?" He looked at both his arms, which were also black, then he glanced down at the rest of his body. Except for his plastron, which was now white, every inch of his body was pitch black.
Alarmed, he ran straight to the display window of a shoe store and looked at his reflection. His entire face was covered in this strange black substance as well, and his eyes were completely white, no pupils, no light blue irises. Even as he spoke, he couldn't see his mouth move; in fact, he didn't even have a mouth.
"What the heck is going on...?!"