A/N: Second chapter! I'm glad you guys are liking it so far!

BTW, this entire story was originally supposed to be a one-shot t put on my Drabbles story, so it's kinda written in one-shot format, sorry about that XD I hope you still enjoy it regardless :)

I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Dude, you guys have a cat made of actual ice cream at your place?!"

"Yeah, dude! Her name's Ice Cream Kitty, and she's the most adorable little kitty in the whole world ever! She has to live in the freezer though, otherwise she starts melting, but she's still an awesome pet! She's also an awesome listener, and she's a real boss at card games; she even beat me at Pokémon, but she totally cheated I know it –!"

"And Splinter actually let you keep her? Even though he's, y'know, a rat?"

"What? Oh, yeah! Once I explained how she got mutated – which was not my fault, by the way – and once we knew she wouldn't try to eat him, he decided to let her stay. He actually likes having her live in the freezer. Plus, she's really good at keeping everything nice and cold, like the frozen pizzas and the cheese-sickles and stuff. Like I said, she's the greatest mutant pet ever."

"Dude, I wish we had an ice cream cat. Hey, Leo, can we get an ice cream cat too?!"

"…I'll definitely consider it, Mikey."

Michelangelo chuckled at his older brother's deadpanned reply from across the room, before turning back to watch his smaller freckled counterpart – dubbed as 'Mini-Mikey' – as he lay on his stomach on the floor, coloring in a cute little drawing he'd done of his mutant pet ice cream cat with some spare crayons he'd found for him in his room. Whilst the older ones were in the dojo with Master Splinter debating on their next move to find the creepy aliens and get Mini-Mikey and his family back to their own world, Michelangelo had offered to keep his jumpy other-self occupied for a little while. Or as Mini-Raph had put it, 'shut him up for a few minutes'.

Michelangelo had been more than content to watch the little guy color, and to listen to him talk about their world, especially about their versions of some of their closest friends – to learn that April was a teenager in their world was almost hilarious. But the best part of listening ti him was when he'd told him about some of their greatest adventures together.

He had trouble figuring out which one was his favorite story, because there were just so many; the time they'd first defeated the Kraang and their Technodrome ship, the time they'd ventured into Dimension X, the time they'd had to go to April's farmhouse in Northampton where they'd met Big Foot, the time they'd gone to the Spirit World, the time they'd gone back to Medieval times, the time they'd went to outer space to stop the world from getting sucked into a black hole –

Wow…now that he really thought of it, these versions of them had really been through a lot, more than he and his own brothers had ever been through. And if he had to put everything he'd been told into a single, solitary word, it would be radical.

However, Michelangelo had noticed something not too radical about Mini-Mikey when he'd mentioned the black hole thing; his eyes had lost their brilliant spark for a moment, turning downcast, with something dark, haunting, as his smile diminished into a frown. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone again in the next instant as he switched the subject to something lighter, his bright smile returning as he chatted away.

However, if there was anything Michelangelo was an expert at, it was reading people...and in this case, he was reading himself.

Whatever had happened to them during that particular adventure – and possibly every single other one before that – it had left a scar on him each time, one that would never go away. And every time he though or talked about it, it hurt, more than he could possibly imagine. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hide it behind a cheerful smile, or a dismissive wave of the hand.

Michelangelo's experience of being nearly drained to a husk in Sach's lab that day…that had left a scar on him too, physical and mental. It still haunted him, even to this day, to think about what would've happened if Raphael, April or even Vern hadn't been there to save them in time. But to think that his other self, a kid who'd been through and seen things that Michelangelo could never even conceive, a kid who'd been through hell and back…he still liked to draw pictures and color with crayons, he still liked to watch corny Saturday morning cartoons, he still laughed and made silly jokes…

If a kid, who should've been – and probably was – suffering from some serious PTSD after going through all of that, could still be a kid…that was wicked. No, better yet, that was awesome.

The same could be said for his older brothers, too. They didn't let their experiences bring them down. Instead, they used them as stepping stones to lift themselves higher and higher, making them stronger, faster, wiser…and yet, a part of them could still be just kids.

Michelangelo was no major genius like Donatello was, and he was no spiritual wiz like Leonardo, but he could still understand. And it was upon understanding all of this that he looked up from the comic book he'd been reading and watched Mini-Mikey as he started a new picture, humming a little tune to himself as he kicked his legs back and forth where he lay on the floor.

"Y'know somethin' little dude?" he said.

Mini-Mikey stopped humming and looked up at him, his baby blue eyes wide and expectant.

Michelangelo grinned. "You guys are badass."

Mini-Mikey blinked once in surprise, and then he grinned back. "Aw, thanks, other me! But come on, we all know the real badasses here are you guys!"

Nah, man. We're nothing compared to you, little guy…

Looking over his shoulder at where the others were gathered around maps and blueprints, Michelangelo deemed they wouldn't be done for a little while yet…which left just enough time for him to carry out his master plan as he set down his comic and stood up. "Hey, if you want, we can sneak into Donnie's place and look at some cat videos on his computer. I've got some wicked stuff that I know you'll love, little dude."

Michelangelo had thought the kid's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger or brighter, but he was quickly proven wrong when he shot up from the floor and whooped with joy. "Big Badass Me, lead the way!"

Laughing, Michelangelo let the freckled turtle climb onto his shoulders, and the two of them snuck off to fiddle with Donnie's things again. The resident genius wouldn't be too mad about it since it was only to watch some good old-fashioned cat videos, right? And possibly drink their secret stash of Orange Crush that Raphael still didn't know about, and eat the rest of the Poptarts that Donatello hadn't licked yet...

Michelangelo knew that nothing he did for Mini-Mikey today wouldn't take away the pain. An hour of happiness couldn't destroy years worth of painful, scarring memories. But he'd be damned for the rest of his life if he couldn't shed a little more light in his life, take at least some of the sting away.

After all, making people people happy was what they did best, right?

A/N: Whew! That was a pretty good chapter, I think? ^_^ I hope I did both Mikey's some justice, and I hope you guys liked it!