OMG! Another update? So soon (not)? :O WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO ME? A sick idea. No seriously, read on and you'll get the not-so-clever joke I made with what has gotten into me. Anyway... the FANFORCE (the mediators between the Fangirl and Fanboy forces) has delivered it's stamp of approval on this. I'm so pleased. ^_^ Raph isn't of course, seeing as he says it's biased, ya know, livin' in my head and all. ^_^
Consciousness hit him unexpectedly. Literally. "WAKE UP RAPH!" Mikey happily yelled, jumping up and down on Raph's midriff. How in the hell had Raph even wound up in a position where that was possible. As he cracked his eyes open while rhythmically having the air knocked out of him, he noticed he had somehow been pushed onto the floor. Somehow, his head took this as a cue to start throbbin' somethin' awful. He put a hand up to it and found a good sized lump on it.
"Ouch," he muttered, then reached up and caught Mikey and lightly tossed him onto the couch before getting up. "Okay shorty, why'd ya knock me off the couch?" he asked, sitting on the coffee table instead. Donny wouldn't mind... much.
"You fell off yourself," said Mike, giggling. "You started talking about not wanting to give me piggyback rides!"
"And believe me, it sounded sickeningly cute." Raph shot up, and saw the Dark Turtles standing by the door.
"April kicked us out, she had enough," said Leofric, sending a particularly venomous look towards Donato.
"What did you do?" asked Raph, inwardly groaning. Brother time, it was always cut painfully short.
"Donato kept asking if she was cheating on Casey with you."
"WHAT?" yelled Raph.
"Well she was taking longer than she said she would yesterday."
"Donato's been reading about K-I-S-S-I-N-G on the internet," said Michael. "All that yucky 'OOOH, I love you Caspian!' and 'KISS ME ANNA!' stuff on the internet." When he finished saying that, he realized everyone was hiding behind the sofa (though Radboud and Leofric were having less success with this than Donato, Raph, and Mikey). "What?"
"Are you sure you're related to him?" Raph whispered to Radboud.
"I swear I've never seen him before in my life," the red turtle whispered back.
"Ah come on! That ain't nice!" Michael said, pouting.
"Yup, DEFINITELY not related to me," Radboud said.
OoOoOo
"Come on Mikey, ya have ta press this button to make him kick..." Mikey pressed it, and was elated when the character on the screen did exactly what Raph said he would. "Ya know Mikey, ya usually kick my ass in this game..." Raph inwardly sighed, missing Mikey's ability to play a game with him and then gloat until Raph had to hit something. Mikey's smile fell slightly, though Raph didn't see. He looked at the videogame controller, and stared at the buttons hard.
"Raph?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I try playing in practice again?"
"Sure Mike." Raph watched, surprised, as Mikey practiced against the alloys and managed to beat at least fifty before he got hit, and even Michael could tell it had been a lucky shot. However, Mikey didn't see it as that, he saw it as utter failure, and the smile completely slipped off his face. "That was great Mike!" Raph said. "I only eva manage ta get ta forty before they get me, and even then it's because I made a stupid mistake."
"That alloy only got you through a lucky shot," Donato said. "If only Donny had-" Donato shut up abruptly.
"If only Donny had what?" Raph asked.
"Well I was just thinking, if Donatello is so smart, why hasn't he created anything like a cyber portal yet?" asked Donato, phrasing it carefully. Raph shrugged, not knowing how close he'd come to learning the Dark Turtles were from the future.
"I dunno, Mikey'd get way too into his games if that was the case." Donato snickered.
"Ain't that the truth." Neither seemed to have noticed that Mikey had slipped away from the living room and was sneaking out into the sewers, not wanting to go up the ladder to his room (Leofric had set it up almost as soon as he got back, having heard from April about Mikey scraping his knees).
OoOoOo
Raph was frantically searching for his little brother, and had left the lair with the Dark Turtles a little over an hour ago. The five of them had split up so that they could find Mikey faster, and Donato had hooked up some rather advanced shell cells for the four who didn't have any. Raph wasn't particularly curious about this though, as long as it meant they could stay in touch if one of them found Mikey, he wouldn't have cared if they'd carried toasters for communication. "Mikey!" he called, the last segment of his nightmare coming to mind. "MIKEY!" he yelled, hands cupped around his mouth.
"R-Raph?" a small voice called back, and Raph gave a relieved sigh as he saw Mikey poke his head around the corner up ahead.
"Mikey!" Raph yelled. "Thank shell you're safe..." he muttered as he swept his little brother up and hugged him to himself. "Why'd ya leave?" he asked, pulling out his shell cell so he could call the Dark Turtles.
"I disappointed you," Mikey said, eyes downcast.
"You wha-? Where the shell'd ya get that idea?"
"I couldn't play the game well," Mikey muttered. Raph actually started laughing, causing Mikey to look up, confused.
"Oh Mikey, ya little goofball. I was bein' stupid." Mikey blinked. Raph? Being stupid? The thought was inconceivable to him in his current state. "I was expectin' ya ta be a game whiz like ya normally are when I handed ya the controllers. And I was sorta missin' the fact that ya usually kick my ass in games then gloat 'til I have ta hit somethin'."
"Really?" asked Mikey, incredulous. Raph's expression softened.
"Really. Come on, let's go back." He dialed the other shell cells.
"Hello?"
"What?"
"Did you find him?"
"THERE'S FRIGGIN' BUGS DOWN HERE!" Oh yes, life was a little out of balance, what with Mikey being a tot and his brothers and Master Splinter being gone, but the other turtles were definitely not people he'd rather have never known about.
OoOoOo
"Yeah I've gotta be outta my mind... CRAAAAZZZZEEEEEEHHHHH..." The music was suddenly clicked off. "Hey! What the shell was that for?" Michael whined.
"You listening to 'Crazy' by Icehouse does fit your mentality title-wise, but it's driving the rest of us up the wall."
"So? Just go over the railing and have a nap." Leofric dragged a hand over his face.
"Michael?"
"Yeah, Fearless?"
"You either choose something else to listen to, or you're going to get seriously smashed around in the dojo." Michael pouted, then grinned.
"What if I put in headphones and only hum?"
"As long as that humming doesn't change ta singin'. I'm gonna have nightmares about it," growled Radboud. Michael rolled his eyes.
"Ya know ya like my nightingale voice," he said.
"If that was a nightingale voice, then it must have been being bludgeoned to death," Donato said.
"Will you keep it down?" Raph barked after coming out of his room and closing the door. "Mikey only got to sleep a couple minutes ago and he's already stirrin' again!"
"Sorry," said Michael. The other Dark Turtles exchanged a look. Michael seemed to have taken a liking to Raph, even though he had been the one to enjoy beating up the turtles the most in the future. Michael had actually started imitating Raph's voice sometimes, and was becoming a pretty good mimic, surprisingly enough. And when Raph said to be quiet... Michael became quiet P.D.Q. Of course, Michael had been temporarily lent Mikey's room, and due to the fact that Mikey and Raph's walls were a bit thinner where they separated the rooms, Michael was the only one who knew that Raph would sing Mikey to sleep. Of course, Michael would never admit that he never heard the end of these lullabies because he'd fall asleep before they'd finish.
Raph, who had no idea Michael knew this, went back into his bedroom and closed the door before turning to the bunk bed, only to find Mikey sitting up, wide-eyed. Quietly cursing the turtles downstairs, he walked over to the hammock. "What's wrong Mikey? Did they wake you up?" Mikey shook his head.
"Is Leo not going to come back so Cowabunga Carl has to go to birthday parties again?" Raph blinked.
"Mikey, you were Cowabunga Carl. And no, Leo isn't going to stay away, he'll come back." Raph lay down again, and Mikey curled up beside him.
"Raph? Could you hum that song from Pan's Labyrinth?" Raph stared at Mikey for a moment. Mikey had only seen Pan's Labyrinth once, and that was before Leo had left before. Shrugging it off, he nodded.
"Mercedes' lullaby?" he asked softly. Mikey nodded against his arm, and Raph smiled before starting to hum. Mikey visibly relaxed and smiled as he fell back asleep.
OoOoOo
When Raph woke up again, Mikey was sleeping still, though his brow was furrowed slightly and he had a small frown on his face. The older turtle rubbed Mikey's shell and kissed his forehead, then frowned and put a hand on Mikey's forehead. Warm. Oh brilliant. Quietly, he got up and exited the room, then went into Mikey's room and prodded Michael awake. "Huh? Oh hi Raph." Michael yawned, his tongue waving around. "Whatcha want?"
"Mikey's sick."
"Mikey's wha-? Oh snap. I'll go wake the others."
"Thank you, I'll be in the kitchen if ya need me."
"Sure thing." Both leapt downstairs then went their separate ways. Michael to go wake up his brothers, who were snoozing on the couch and chair, and Raph to the kitchen to see if they had any orange juice.
AH'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! :D Again. How surprising. *rolls eyes* And AWWWWWWWW! Michael idolizes Raph, how sweet! :3 I wonder, to escape some stress, will Raph dress up as the Nightwatcher again? O.o And yes, I'm using the TV show turtles, but I'm also including the whole CGI movie stuff, seeing as I felt like it. The only difference would be that Casey and April would have actually been married during the whole Stone General thing. I only watched the CGI movie recently (it is now one of my three favourite movies, the others being Ponyo on the Cliff and Ip Man 2) but I instantly knew how I could fit it in. ^_^ And yes, Mikey's sick. I was thinking of making Raph get sick (perhaps I should do that too? I gave them both nightmares after all...) and I have an idea for something that can happen while Mikey's sick! :D It's evil, but will have incredibly cute moments in it. And yes, the Dark Turtles came back ahead of schedule, mainly because they BARGED INTO MY HOUSE and demanded more story involvement. Pushy not-so-little characters, aren't they? ¬¬
Michael: What was that?
AWWWWWWWW! COME HERE YA CUTIE!
Michael: *screams and runs*
And Raph humming Mikey to sleep... I just pictured it as something Raph'd do, and I can imagine that when Leo left, he'd have done it for Mikey so Mikey wouldn't have nightmares. 'Course, when Mikey didn't sleep in his room, it would be impossible for him to do it without Donny finding out. XD Soooo... yeah, the chapter is WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too short, but it just HAD to end there, honestly. And I got the idea for the whole 'sick Mikey' thing due to the fact that Sneefee (on dA) uploaded a pic of kid Donny being sick and having his three bros taking care of him (they were kids too). The idea hit me and it was WAY too cute to not use. :D