Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles... I don't have that kind of money.

SGTT: Thanx to all who have reviewed... I look forward to more in the future. And I am REALLY SORRY that I couldn't update sooner... Who knows... If I'm lucky I might have the fourth chapter done soon after March break this week.

Oh. Slanted lettering is memories.

Chapter 3

Painful Memories

Suddenly, a figure emerged in the shadows of the doorway and flicked on the lights. The figure was a woman looking to be in her mid-thirties. She scanned over the girls and paused when she came to me. "To which of you do I owe our visitor to?" she inquired.

Mika and Rachael turned to Penny in the middle of the couch. I quickly turned away from them my attention now focused on the clock. I tried to suppress the memory of the night I had found Toby.

Master Splinter came in and turned on the lights. We were all sitting on the couch, Leo and Don on either side of me, Raph on the right arm and Toby on my lap sucking on my left index finger. Splinter was inquisitive about her if not a little nervous.

My brothers and I were seven, the prime age for the blame game, and when Sensei asked who had found Toby Leo and Don just looked at me. Whilst Raph had turned and was watching as he swung his feet back and forth several times.

I must have been visibly shaking because when I snapped out of my trance I could hear one of the girls asking me if I was ok. I turned toward the voice, it was Penny. My vision was cloudy and I could barely see her. Damn! I must have been crying again.

"Just memories..." I mumbled semi-coherently. "Memories?" the unknown woman said immensely puzzled, "They must have been bad for you to shake that much. I'm Heather by the way." I took a quick look down to see my hands were balled into violently shaking fists. "Yeah," I sighed, "I thought I could trust them... but... I guess trusting isn't something I'm good at. Nice to meet you, I'm Michelangelo."

"The pleasure is mine Michelangelo-san," Heather said, from my right, "Would you mind my asking where you got that scar?" Mika and Rachael turned and glared at Penny, like Leo and Don had to me. "It wasn't my fault!" she protested, as I had. I nodded in agreement. "It wasn't her fault," I said, "No, this one's from my most hated enemy, Leonardo. It still bleeds in places at times."

The sheer mention of the scar, its origin and the brother who had given it to me chilled me to the bone. This was the first time I had ever told anyone, including myself, how I truly felt about Leo since he attacked me over a year ago. It brought a great feeling of relief to me. Finally admitting I had issues with my blue clad brother. For once, in roughly a year and a half, I smiled and actually felt happy doing it.

"Do you have any family?" Mika asked. I could tell she was trying to change the subject. Though admittedly, this subject was a far worse area for me to tread. "Yeah, I do," I replied, pulling my wallet out. Inside were a few pictures of me and the others.

I don't know why I kept any of those pictures. Splinter had taken some of them on an old Polaroid camera he found in the sewers. The newer ones, however, were taken on this digital camera Donnie found at the junk yard and fixed up. My guess was that they were of some sentimental value to me.

I took glances at the photographs as I handed them to the girls, making sure very few of them had Leo in them. I paused a moment when I came to a trio of pictures, all of which depicted me very differently.

The first was taken of all of us when we were five, I had two black eyes, a fat, cut, lip, my left arm was in a sling and my hands were wrapped in bandages, to control the bleeding. Let me explain why I had those injuries.

My brother had called attention to my fear of the dark and were teasing me about it, saying I was afraid of everything. So, to prove them wrong, I went topside with a video camera and planned to spend the night in a dumpster. Unfortunately, when I surfaced, I saw a group of boys thrice my age picking on a girl.

I couldn't just sit idly by as this poor girl was being hurt. So, hastily, I ran out between the boys and the defenseless girl. "Leave her alone!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The boys didn't listen and advanced further upon the girl.

They struck a blow to the back of legs and another to her stomach with a lead pipe. Though I was the youngest one there, I thought it was my duty as a ninja to protect the girl. She screamed as another of the boys drew his pocket knife.

I lunged forward, trying to grab the lead pipe, and succeeded. "I said leave the girl alone!" I shouted brandishing my newly acquired weapon at the boys. "Stay out of this you little freak!" one of the boys demanded. He grabbed my left arm and twisted it behind my shell as the rest of the gang surrounded the girl.

I heard a horrible crack behind me as my arm broke and tears of pain streaked down my green cheeks. The boy who had broken my arm had joined his friends thinking I'd draw back. I couldn't let them kill the girl, as far as I knew she was innocent of any wrong doing. I had decided that it was futile to try to talk some sense into the brutes.

The details of the fight are a bit sketchy due to the concussion I received. All I know is I won and was proud of it. I had woken up in my bed in the lair. Raph was at the side of it and crying. "Raphie?" I asked breathlessly. He looked up to me and smiled. Raph yelled something to the doorway and the others came running in.

Master Splinter was relieved to see I was ok. "Are you alright Michelangelo?" he asked. I nodded and turned to Don. He was examining my wounds and muttering to himself. Leo was talking to Raph about something and had turned away from me.

Shaking my head swiftly I returned to now, in Japan. The girls were staring at me in my trance. "Memories again?" Heather asked. I nodded not really knowing what to say. Once more I was shaking, only this time I wasn't crying. No, this time I was gritting my teeth in anger and frustration.

"Are these you brothers?" Rachael asked, showing me a picture. This was the one April toke of me and the guys. We were sitting on her couch. I was in the middle laughing my head off and had my arms rested on Raph and Don, who didn't look too overly pleased with me. Leo was sitting on the back looking about ready to kick me in the head. He did when to photo was done.

"Yeah," I sighed with a nod of my head. "What's their names?" asked Penny curiously. I sighed again and toke the picture. "This is me, my brothers, Donatello, Raphael," I explained, pointing to the turtle at hand until I had come to Leo, "And that's... that's..." I paused, unable to speak the name of the, vile, blue clad individual I had once called my brother.

I glared at the image of Leonardo, unaware of the looks I was receiving, from the others. Pure anger and hatred coursed through my veins. He had hurt me, that was unfathomable. He had killed Klunk, that was unforgettable. Neither of those were as bad as the other thing he did. Leo let Toby get poisoned, allowing her to nearly die. That was unforgivable.

"That's Leonardo, isn't it?" Heather asked, as she put her hand on my shoulder. "Yes, it is," I said as I slowly nodded my head. "Wow," Penny breathed, "For someone to have their own brother cut them up that badly." "Especially since I'm the youngest," I sighed.

"You're the youngest?!" Mika asked, "No offence Michelangelo-san, but you look older than the others." "None taken, and call me Mikey," I replied sullenly, "Yeah, this past year on my own took a lot of the youthfulness out of me. You know, having to take care of myself." The turtle girls stared at me and shrugged.

"Who are these two?" Heather enquired, showing me another picture. I toke a glance up to the photograph and smiled. It was one of the ones taken two years ago at April's, who by then we had known for a year, at Christmastime. In the picture was me, Toby and Dianne. The guys had forbidden me from bringing my girlfriend, but Dianne Blade came nonetheless.

"That's my ex-girlfriend," I explained, "And my little cousin Tobrina." "They're both beautiful," Heather beamed, "Why'd you and the girl have to break up?" I smiled remembering how impressed my brothers were I had a girlfriend, let alone an older one. "Age difference," I said, "She's four years older than me. She'd be twenty right now."

"Wow!" Penny grinned, "That mean's you're sixteen! I'm thirteen!" "Um, Mikey-san?" Mika asked, "If you do not mind my asking this, why did Leonardo-san cut you so badly?" Ouch! That question hurt, I thought to myself, Better answer. "I don't mind Mika," I lied. I toke a moment to regain my composure before I began.

"In all honesty I can't believe he didn't do worse. I had been acting out and started my own little vigilante group. I guess he found out that Dianne and I were doing that and wasn't too impressed," I explained, "I was on my way out to another mission. I didn't even know he was up. I was about to leave when Leo jumped infront of me..."

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