Chapter 15-A Surprise Visitor

"Hello...? Anybody there...?" Mikey called out into the vast darkness in front of him.

He then thought about how strange this was; one minute he was looking at his family whilst he was on his back wounded and sick, and the next he woke up to find himself in some kind of dark-filled space.

"Bros...? Master Splinter...?"

Mikey kept calling out to try and get someone to respond back to him, but he was still met with an empty silence after doing so.

After spending another half an hour searching and shouting out for his family and friends, Mikey collapsed onto his knees and took a moment to catch his breath.

"I don't get it…Why am I here…and all alone…?" He thought aloud to himself before he gasped at a horrifying theory.

"Am I…dead!?"

Mikey looked around the dark place once more before he shivered after noticing how cold the atmosphere was around him.

"That must be it…If I am here and…nobody else is with me, then…" As Mikey said this, tears of sadness filled his eyes before he lowered his head and allowed them to fall.

"I've failed…I really am…useless…everything I did…was it all for nothing…?" He said before closing his eyes with grief and sorrow in his heart.

"You are wrong, young ninja…"

Mikey opened his eyes and looked up quickly to try and find out where the voice was coming from before a soft glowing light suddenly appeared in front of him and manifested into a male human-like figure dressed in a ninja warrior outfit, and he was looking at Mikey with a warm smile.

"W-Who…are you…?" Mikey asked with a shaky voice due to feeling nervous about being near someone he never met before.

"There is nothing to fear, Michelangelo. I am Master Yoshi, the owner of your Master Splinter," the figure said in a kind tone. Mikey gasped and his eyes widened after he realised what he heard just now.

"Y-You're Master Yoshi...!? But wait a minute, how do you know my name?" He questioned the young master after he composed himself.

"I have been watching my friend Splinter, you and your brothers for many years as you grew to become ninja warriors yourselves, so I know all your names well," Master Yoshi explained whilst still wearing his warm smile.

Mikey nodded with understanding before he spoke. "Anyway…why did you say that I was wrong earlier?"

Master Yoshi slowly approached Mikey and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder before he spoke. "Young Michelangelo, you did not fail your loved ones and your actions saved them all."

"B-But if that's the case, h-how come I'm all alone in here? Am I…a ghost too!?" Mikey asked fearfully with tears developing in his eyes again.

"You are very much alive, young one. Right now, your physical body is in a healing slumber and your spirit is wandering in an area where everything is quiet and still due to the lack of activity that both your physical and spiritual self does not have at the moment because of the circumstances that you have been through," Master Yoshi answered whilst giving Mikey's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Mikey began to feel relieved after hearing that he was doing fine, but he still had a feeling in his heart that made him feel doubtful about something else that had been on his mind for some time. He looked at Master Yoshi and asked him an important question.

"Master Yoshi, do you think…my family really needs someone like me to come back to them?"

"What makes you say that, young one?" Master Yoshi asked Mikey with a raised eyebrow, showing Mikey that he was confused about why he asked him such a question.

"Well…I'm the youngest of us four turtle brothers and I feel that the things that I do for my family don't help them at all when it comes to being a ninja. I'm constantly told to grow up every time I talk about my favourite comics and games and they scold me whenever I try to uplift the negative emotions around everyone with my jokes and sarcasm. It's like I was made in this world to just make my family's lives more complicated since no-one wants to team up with me sometimes during missions and they would always avoid me by going in different directions when I ask them if they want to hang out with me," Mikey explained as his eyes were once again filled with sad tears before he continued on.

"My actions in the fight against Dark Fang were just one of the rare occasions where I did something useful for everyone that I care about, and I just don't feel appreciated for being myself. It's like…unless I'm someone other than myself, I'm useless to them. That's why I always question my purpose and role in helping to protect the family…"

By now, Mikey was in a heartbroken state with tears streaming down his face and he closed his eyes as he turned away from Master Yoshi to avoid humiliating himself in front of a great ninja warrior like him.

Master Yoshi was just standing in the same spot as he allowed Mikey's explanation sink in before he moved in front of where he turned his face and held out his hand before he spoke.

"Michelangelo, take my hand and close your eyes; I would like to show you something that will prove that you are more important than you really are to your loved ones…"

Mikey looked at Master Yoshi with watery eyes and then at his hand before he slowly reached and held it with his own and closed his eyes like he was told to.

Suddenly, a white light flashed in front of Mikey before he saw what looked to be a past event that he remembered from a while back;

It showed Mikey and his brothers returning to the lair after their first adventure in the underground city. He watched on as he saw his past self being given sideways hugs and high-threes before being told by his brothers how grateful and proud they were when Mikey saved them from becoming the underground city's permanent residents.

Then, another memory appeared in a white flash and it was when Mikey encountered and met his and his brothers' first mutant friend Leatherhead and they learned about how he first became a mutant and more about the utroms.

Another memory came and it was Christmas Day when Mikey rescued and adopted a stray kitten, which he named Klunk, and he taught his friends and family about the true importance of Christmas after he stopped a van full of toys from being stolen and bringing happiness and joy to a group of orphans by dressing up as Santa Clause and elves.

Another memory followed after that, and it was during the Triceraton invasion and Mikey was helping to steer a Triceraton ship with Raph and Leo to try and rescue Donnie from the Triceraton Leader and he successfully did so despite the difficulties in learning how to pilot the ship as well as helping them to stealthily enter the main ship without detection.

Mikey then saw a memory of the day when he and his brothers were saving Donnie from his secondary mutation, where he saw himself reminding Leo that it was not about fighting Karai and that their brother came first, leading them to successfully gaining the cure from Agent Bishop after they gave him Karai's magic amulet in exchange for their brother's cure.

Finally, the last memory showed the battle against Dark Fang, where he transformed into his dragon spirit avatar for the first time and fought with all his might to defeat him and protect his family at the same time to a point where he collapsed from exhaustion and his family was there for him.

When the last memory faded, Mikey gasped and opened his eyes after Master Yoshi told him to and he found himself back in the surrounding darkness as he was before. He then looked over at Master Yoshi.

"T-Those memories…they were…" Mikey stuttered as he spoke due to the shock of looking back at his past memories, but Master Yoshi smiled and released his hand from Mikey's before he spoke his words for him after he understood what he was trying to say.

"Those were your memories of when you were there for your family, especially your brothers. Do you see? They are proof of how important and useful you really are to them even as yourself."

"It…It really was me…I did those things…and I really did make them happy in the process ….and I did it…because I love them…so much…" Mikey said with a watery smile as he tried to wipe away his tears of joy that were falling from his eyes.

"Now you understand your true role as the Brother of Light," Master Yoshi said proudly to the young turtle.

"Brother of Light…yeah, that's right…it has a nice ring to it…" Mikey said with a nod before giving Master Yoshi a sunny smile.

Then, Master Yoshi's body began to glow and its visibility was slowly starting to become transparent.

"Master Yoshi? What's happening to you!?" Mikey said as he saw this going on in front of him.

"Ah…I'm afraid that it is time for me to go, Michelangelo...since your body is now almost ready to awaken from its healing slumber," Master Yoshi answered with a sad smile.

"R-Really…!? But will I see you again?" Mikey asked.

"I do not know for certain, but before I go, I need you to pass on a message for me," Master Yoshi said before his body began to fade a bit more.

"What is it?" Mikey asked urgently since he didn't want to waste any time.

"Tell Splinter and your brothers that a serious threat is upon them and to prepare themselves for it. Also, tell Splinter that I said 'hello' and that I am fine. Can you do that for me?" Master Yoshi said before the glowing light around him grew a little brighter.

"Yeah, I will. Thank you, Master Yoshi…" Mikey said before he bowed at the human ninja.

"You are welcome, Michelangelo… Farewell…" Those were his last words before Master Yoshi faded away completely and Mikey then shielded himself from being blinded by the glowing light in front of him, which grew bigger and shined throughout the darkness, before he heard a faint but familiar voice calling out his name.

"Mikey…?"