The day went by just fine... Until Raph looked at the clock and realized he'd have to go on patrol. A feeling of dread filled him before it occurred to him to ask someone to babysit. But then the dread came back when he realized that Leatherhead was currently away, and so were April and Casey. Who could he ask? Biting his lip, he started pacing.
Mikey gave a cry that informed his brother he wanted to be held and he wanted it NOW. Absentmindedly, Raph picked him up on his way back past his little brother and patted his head while continuing to pace. It was rather interesting, seeing Raph pace back and forth with one arm behind his back and the other supporting Mikey.
Mike swung his legs against Raph's arm, his feet occasionally hitting Raph's plastron when he turned. If Leo and Don had been there, they would have stared. Raph didn't tolerate this sort of behavior! But Raph just smiled and rubbed Mike's head, burying his face in his little brother's neck.
Mike giggled when he felt Raph's breath on his skin, and Raph came to the conclusion that the city could take care of itself for a day or so. April and Casey would be coming back on Tuesday, and until then, he could make up for ignoring his little brother like he had. All Mike seemed to know was that he'd got his brother's attention off whatever was troubling him, and he was pleased. "Waphiel, pizza!" Raph chuckled.
"Demandin' li'l twerp aren't ya?"
Up to Monday night, Raph developed an easy routine. Put the TV on for Mike, read, eat pizza whenever, play tag and hide and seek, give Mike a bath (how he managed to get dirty without going into the sewers, lab, or kitchen was a mystery), then chase him until he became tired enough to easily submit to going to bed. Raph would go tuck him in and then go to his room and go to sleep. Not this night though.
He was awoken by someone loudly (a.k.a. NORMALLY) opening his door, and he tensed. "Waphiel?" He relaxed and rolled over so he was facing the doorway. "What is it Mikey?" he asked, before remembering that Mike had only spoken two words. Of all the idiot things he could have asked... "H-had a..." Mikey paused. "Bar dram," he finished. It took Raph a moment to realize Mikey meant 'bad dream'. He sighed.
"Come on, you can sleep with me tonight." Mikey's face lit up and he scrambled over as fast as he could, and Raph picked him up. He had forgotten how quickly they'd actually been able to construct sentences after they'd said their first words. Before he dozed off, he heard Mikey mutter something. "What's that?" Mikey smiled at him, tired little eyes drooping.
"My hewo, Waphiel," the turtle toy managed to say before falling asleep. Raph froze, looking at the toddler incredulously. Hero? Him? No way, Leo was Mikey's hero, not him! Right?
The next day, April and Casey just HAD to visit when he was feeding Mikey. He didn't notice them for a few minutes because Mikey decided to be funny and start blowing spit bubbles. Luckily, they had just missed him doing the mouth to mouth feeding, and spoke before he started again. "Hey big guy! How's it going?" April asked. "And who's the new turtle?"
"He- He ain't exac'ly new. April, Casey, meet Mikey. Again."
"Mikey?"
"Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how he managed this. Hey Mikey, this is April and Casey." Mikey gave April a huge grin and hugged her arm.
"April's pretty!"
"Oh great, ya can say 'April', but ya can't say Raphael."
"Can too!" Mikey countered. It was actually funny, watching Raph and Mikey face off when one was a teenager and the other a toddler. Raph already missed the previous day where Mikey hadn't known how to talk.
"Oh yeah, squirt? Show me!"
"Ra- Raphiel- Rapha-Raphael!" Mikey finally managed to say, after bending his mind around the name for a minute or so. Raph actually smirked.
"Pretty good kid. How 'bout Casey then?"
"Nightmare!" said Mikey, giggling and hiding behind Raph's shell.
"Why I outta-" started Casey, automatically reaching for his hockey stick. Raph instantly turned aggressive and had Casey pinned to the wall.
"I don't care if he calls ya the worst name in tha universe, lay a finger on 'im, and you're gonna get it."
After the two older males calmed down, they discussed April babysitting Mikey while Raph and Casey went to kick Purple Dragon butt. April agreed, and the two left after Raph did everything he could think of to ensure Mikey would give her no problems. Then he left with Casey, already discussing why Mikey was a toddler. April set up some pizza and Mikey ate it, looking a little forlorn without Raph. "Come on buddy, let's watch a movie." When they sorted through the DVD collection, April came to the conclusion that Despicable Me and Monsters vs. Aliens were the only kid friendly videos in the bunch. Naturally, Mikey chose the one with aliens.
Raph downed another Foot ninja with a grunt. "What, no sarcastic wisdom today?" asked Casey.
"I'm thinkin' about Mikey," was Raph's short explanation before he resumed fighting. Casey hit someone in the face with his hockey stick, thinking of what Raph said. True, with Mikey as a toddler, Raph had more to worry about, like sharp objects lying around. But didn't Raph also say he sometimes wished Mikey would just shut up and be quiet and content to live a day without annoying him in some manner? "Casey look out!"Casey ducked and a bat swung over his head. Growling, he whirled and kicked the offender in the stomach before taking the bat.
"Using sports gear for fighting is my thing! Go get your own!"
Mikey knew April was asleep. How? His turtle sense told him so! Sneaking along like a giant in a china shop, he knocked over a couple chairs, accidentally broke some dishes, and yelled when he tripped over a pole. "Ouch, cowabunga dude," he muttered. Amazingly, April slept through this. Mikey decided she had to have been possessed by the evil Dr. Snuzticus!
So he rushed to the turtle cave (a.k.a. his room a.k.a. Raph's room) to grab a cape and a weapon with which he could defeat the evil doctor. When he emerged, he was practically tripping on the blanket, and had a circular object tucked firmly under his arm.
He broke even more things on his way back to April, and then turned on the device in his hands once it was on the couch beside her. The alarm clock seemed pleased to be being used after all those times where Raph would just turn it off before it got to ring. Mikey supposed that this was because the clock wanted to be an opera singer, and needed practice. April woke with a scream and tossed the alarm clock against a wall, where its career ended. "I saved you!" he cheered, hugging April's knees.
"From wh-? Never mind, I don't want to know."
Off in the sewers, where Mikey WASN'T allowed, a very different conversation was taking place. "For the last freaking time, share! It won't kill ya!" Michael huffed.
"But Leofric..." whined Michael. "Donato and Radboud started it by stealing my drumsticks!" Leofric leaned dangerously far into Michael's personal space, getting so close their faces were almost touching.
"Let's try again, Michael. Where did you find the drumstick? In a crate? Nice. Were there MORE drumsticks? There were? Lovely! Where did most of those go? Down your gullet? Why ever not?" Leofric straightened. "If they wanna have the remaining drumsticks, let them." Donato hesitated a moment, something he did not normally do.
"Aren't you having some?" Leofric shook his head.
"No. I want to find out exactly what time you dumped us in." Donato smiled.
"I programmed the machine to send us to our counterpart's time and then self destruct."
"We have no way back?" Radboud yelled.
"Of course not. If we go back we'll either be hunted by the Peacekeepers, O'Niel, or Darius, even though he already disowned us."
"Wonder what it's like to lose the guy who you consider father," Michael suddenly said.
"Are you sayin' we should consider that human as our father?" Michael scoffed.
"Yeah right, as if. I'm thinkin' of how our counterparts have that Master Splinter guy. What's it like to have a dad and lose 'im?" None of them had any answer to that.
When Raph came back, April was screaming her head off, and four huge turtles were standing over her and Mikey. Before Raph's instincts could kick in, he heard what they were saying. "Look, lady, we aren't going to hurt you," said the blue one.
"Yeah, you totally don't look delicious. At all," said the red one, rolling his eyes.
"Come on lady! Would we attack you if we help little old ladies cross the street?" asked the yellow one. April actually stopped screaming to join in with the group's incredulous staring. "What?"
"Michael, your method of helping them cross the street is quite unconventional and besides, you've only ever done it in video games."
"So? Doesn't it count?"
"Yeah, before the monsta ya playing eats the grandma due ta ya fingers bein' too big for the controller," said the red one. Michael huffed.
"You're so mea- hey look! Red-head's home! Red-head, you've gotta tell Screamo we ain't gonna hurt her." Raph bristled.
"I'm RAPHAEL, not 'red-head'."
"Duly noted, Red-head," said Michael cheerfully, long tongue hanging from his mouth. Before Raph could explode, the purple one stepped forward with his hands up placatingly.
"Pay no attention to Michael, Raphael. He's an idiot and none of us really listen to him."
"Hey!"
"We were hoping we could seek shelter here. We had to flee from our home due to our creator seeking to kill us. This wouldn't have been a problem if Michael wasn't so useless."
"Yeah, him and Plan guy ova hea," said the red one, jabbing a thumb in the blue one's direction. Leofric gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to attack his brother. He knew that doing such a thing would not be conducive to a good relationship with Raph, seeing as they'd probably smash up the lair.
"Oh yes, we haven't introduced ourselves. I am Donato. The senior-saving moron is Michael. Big and ugly is Radboud."
"I'll show ya ugly ya lizard-tailed-!"
"And 'Plan Guy' is Leofric."
"Or you can just call us the Dark-" Donato whacked Michael on the head before he could finish.
"None of your stupid team names, please." Raph frowned.
"I dunno, this place wouldn't be able ta handle a second Mikey.." That was the last straw for Michael, and he swept Mikey up in his arms as the two bawled their eyes out (in Mikey's case, he only started because Michael was).
"NOBODY LOVES US!" sobbed Michael. The group stared for awhile, then the two red turtles spoke in unison.
"I'm not related to that."