Mikey, the Dragon of Light

Takes place during the Lost Season of TMNT 2003 and after the acolytes discovered their inner animal spirits.

After a mission goes slightly wrong during the search for one of the Demon Shredder's artefacts, Mikey is immediately given the full blame, causing him to flee from the group. Will the group be able to continue without him, and can Mikey prove that he too is more useful than everyone thinks?

I do not own TMNT 2003.

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Chapter 1-A Brother Blamed

"I can't believe you, Mikey!" Raph shouted as he turned around to face the said turtle after everyone found a safe place to catch their breath from the last battle that they barely escaped from not long after they arrived at their destination.

"You and your ridiculous, cocky show-offs almost got us killed once again!" Raph continued on with his rage boiling. He was ticked off because Mikey accidentally gave away their position to the enemies on the island when he was only trying to show his brothers and friends how much he had improved on his acolyte training so far, resulting in a near-death experience with everyone escaping with cuts and bruises.

"Bro, I told you that I'm sorry, I can't go back in time and fix what was already done. Besides, you told me to show you what I can do now, so don't pin all the blame on me!" Mikey said in order to defend himself since everyone was looking at him with frustration and disappointed looks on their faces.

"That may be true, Michelangelo, but this has happened more than once before, with you causing the issues during our missions and making us pay the price," Joi said firmly as she walked over to Mikey.

"Now hold on a minute-" Donnie tried to ask what Joi meant by that and say his piece on what his thoughts were about Mikey's actions, but Torra cut him off.

"That's right, Leonardo and Faragi wouldn't have had to risk almost losing their lives if you had just stayed with the group and planned it out first instead of trying to recklessly show off."

Leo and Faragi looked on in shock, Leo mostly. Even though he wasn't happy with how Mikey performed in the battle they just escaped from, he really didn't like how his teammates were bringing up the past whilst they scold and gang up on Mikey.

"Stop right there, that was our first ever mission as acolytes! You can't expect us to complete the mission without problems. Look, I know Mikey shouldn't have done what he did earlier but you shouldn't bring the past back into this, because he is learning from that." Leo said as he stepped into the argument with Faragi who was stood next to him and nodded in agreement, much to Mikey's surprise.

"Back off, Leo! How would you know if Mikey really has learned from back then, because by the looks of it, he hasn't!" Raph shouted back at Leo before he turned to Donnie. "What about you, Donnie? You know I'm right, don't ya?"

"I…" Donnie didn't know what to say after hearing what had already been said, but after looking at the encouraging smile he got from his friend Adam, he composed himself after he took a deep breath before he started speaking again.

"You're partly right, Raph. Mikey, even though you are doing your best during training and missions, you're still not taking things as seriously as you're supposed to. Someone…could have been seriously hurt or worse today, because of your actions…," Donnie said to Mikey in the most careful way possible since he knew how his little brother gets when he is berated for his mess-ups.

Mikey couldn't believe his ears; Donnie, his immediate older brother and best friend, was against him too!?

He looked at everyone with his widened eyes to see them with expressions on their faces that showed that they agreed with what was said against him, with the exception of Leo, Adam, and Faragi looking down in disappointment. Mikey opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a still angry Raph.

"Don't even think about making another excuse to make everyone feel bad for ya, Mikey, cos it ain't gonna work on me or any of us! You're nothing but trouble, I don't even know why the Tribunal didn't kick you out when you first screwed up!"

"Raph, don't cut your brother off like that! Let him speak!" Leo stepped in and shouted at Raph after seeing his youngest brother get silenced very harshly by him.

"He ain't no brother of mine anymore!" Everyone gasped and looked at Raph as he breathed heavily after he shouted his last sentence before they turned to Mikey.

Mikey looked like he just got stabbed very hard in the gut and was shaking badly. He then looked down as tears began to develop in his eyes.

"Oh, no…Mikey…?" Donnie called out to his little brother softly after seeing how he wasn't fighting back and was in shock, before slowly taking a step forward towards him. As he was about to take another step, however, Mikey looked back up and slightly turned his face towards him, causing Donnie's heart to break after seeing the sad but frustrated expression on his face.

"Don't…it's fine…" he whispered firmly whilst trying but failing to prevent his tears from falling before he spoke again.

"You have a mission to finish, right? Get going…"

He then turned around with his back towards the group, and then his body glowed with orange-coloured markings. Leo knew what this meant; Mikey was activating his spiritual energy.

"Wait…Mikey, what are you-" he said but he was cut off.

"See you back at the boat…" Mikey said tearfully before he used his power to run at lightning speed towards the boat's location, leaving a shroud of dust behind him.