((Thank you thank you Cynlee! I was hopelessly blocked until she helped out. Thanks as always to my reviewers. Keep'em comin folks!))

Michelangelo strolled through the sewers not really in any hurry to get to his destination. He figured it was just rats setting of the alarms anyway. It had felt kind of nice to just go check out things without having to account for every single second of where he would be. Sometimes his family took the "baby of the family" thing too seriously. Especially since no one knew for sure that he was younger. For all they knew, he could be older than Master Splinter.

For a brief movement Mike entertained the thought of sending his sensei to his room and making him do all the chores he hated most. He didn't think for one moment that he could get his father to buy into that line of reasoning. Mike was the baby and it was a position that had benefits and set backs. But for the day, Michelangelo was enjoying having a position of authority.

With a small whoop he leaped across the channel singing, "I got the power! I can feel the power!"

Trailing a few yards behind their brother, Leonardo and Raphael concentrated on not being seen or heard. It wasn't too hard.

"All that racket he's making, it would be easy as hell to sneak up on him and scare the piss outta him," Raph commented with a smirk.

Leo sighed shaking his head. "It would be easy for a marching band to sneak up on him. You know, I thought he was actually taking this whole thing seriously. Learning a little responsibility."

Raph snorted. "Right. This is Mike we're talkin' about. Think he was lyin' about the whole alarm thing?"

Leonardo fell silent for a moment considering that. "It's possible, I guess. If he did, I'll kill him."

"You'll have to stand in line." Raph said listening to his youngest brother's rendition of "What if God Was One of Us" as it floated back through the sewers to them. "Idiot."

Before Leo could reply, the sound of Mike's high pitched girl type scream echoed in the tunnels. The two turtles took off running in the direction of their younger brother's shouts.

Raphael hoped against hope that Mike had gotten snared in one of his modified security arrangements. But the closer they got, they could hear another voice as well. Weapons drawn, the two brothers rounded the corner ready to jump in the fray.

"Shit!" Casey jumped back several feet startled by the silent arrival of the battle ready turtles. He collided with Mike who also stumbled back barely avoiding one of Raph's rigged sensors.

"Casey!" Leo and Raph shouted at the same time.

"What the hell are you doin' down here?" Raphael demanded putting his sai back into his belt.

Before Casey could answer, Mike stepped forward, arms folded and tapping his foot in a great show of patience. "What are YOU guys doing out here? I thought that I, your great and illustrious leader, commanded you to stay in the lair."

Mike wasn't entirely surprised when his shell connected with the sewer wall, Raph's hand planted firmly on his plastron. "Listen here, FEARFUL Leader, the day you command anything is the day I take up ballet."

Raph's veiled threat did little to wipe the confident smirk from Mike's face. "Ah ah ah, Raphie. Now where is that pacifist, intellectual type we all know and love?"

Looking beyond confused, Casey spoke up, "Yeh speaking of the Brainiac…do you guys know why he came to April's only to just take off? Somehow April decided it was my fault and told me to go find him."

Leo sighed shaking his head. "It's a long story, Casey. Don's fine, though. He's talking it out with Sensei. And you can tell April it wasn't your fault."

"Yeh! It was Raph's!" Mike piped up peering over Raph's shoulder

Raph pushed Mike into the wall again to get him to shut up, which of course didn't slow his youngest brother down for a moment.

"And Donnie's just channeling his inner hothead. He always was an overachiever."

"Shut up, Mike," Leonardo snapped before Raph could, surprising even himself. But he'd already had his fill of this chatty turtle. "So Casey set off the alarm?"

Mike looked both indignant and insulted. "Well, I was checking out the situation before you guys showed up. And Casey said he didn't set off the alarm." He folded his arms and stepped around Raph to go and look at the sensor.

Leo glanced to Casey. "You're sure you didn't?" He looked around the tunnel a bit embarrassed. He had assumed that Casey had been the one the alarm was warning them against. If it wasn't him, then someone or something else had been responsible and if it was someone, they could still be nearby listening to them argue.

"I wasn't even near it when I ran into Mike," Casey defended. He too glanced around the sewers looking for some unseen enemy.

Raph smirked to himself watching his brother fiddle with the alarm. He wasn't even going to warn Mike. Let him trip the sensor. It would serve him right. He stepped back a couple of feet to avoid the splatter zone. A part of him would enjoy watching Leo and Casey get it too.

"Raph," Leo's voice broke into Raphael's musings. "Come on. You and I will scout further ahead. Someone may still be nearby."

Mike got to his feet. "Hey, hey, hey! Wait! That's MY decision remember?" He brushed off his hands. "You two minions just head back to the lair. Casey and I will investigate this little matter."

"Like hell!" Raph yelled. "You, who walks through the sewers fuckin' singing at the top of your lungs. If someone WAS here, they know YOU'RE here too."

In complete disregard for his life, Mike put one hand over Raph's mouth. "Shhhhh….you're not being very ninja-like, Raphael. Now, I know you have important things to fix back at the lair. And Leo…." He shook his head and wagged his finger at Leonardo like he was a naughty turtle tot. "You are already late for your lessons with Master Splinter."

Raph's eyes were wide with shock. He was so stunned at Mike's audacity, he couldn't muster a reply that would be both appropriate and painful enough. Leo, for his part was also stunned into silence at being lectured by Mike. He, like Raph, couldn't think of a response that would suit the occasion.

Mike moved his hand from Raph's mouth and turned to Casey who looked like he had just stepped into the Twilight Zone. "So, Casey, would you like to help me check out the tunnels just in case there's some unfriendly folks around?" He then committed a grave error. He turned his back on the ever growing anger of Raphael.

With a growl, Raph lunged for Mike, but as he did he hit a trip wire that was buried underneath the rocks of the tunnel. There was a snapping sound and then a woosh of liquid as everyone was covered in the most foul smelling of liquid waste.

Sounds of disgust and revulsion echoed through the tunnel, but they couldn't overshadow the cackling of one person standing on the other side of the sewer stream. Blinking the sludge from their eyes, everyone looked over.

Don waved a little from his vantage point. "Revenge is a dish best served cold….and smelly…and disgusting."

"Donnie!" Raph growled. "What the hell…?"

"You set this up?" Mike gagged trying to wipe the nastiness from his face.

"I tripped the alarm, I set up the barrel….much better than a bucket, don't you think Raph? Covers a wider area. It gets the annoying one, the overbearing one, and the one who thinks I live to be his slave." He grinned. "Sorry Casey. You should really keep better company."

"Donatello!" Leo yelled angrily. "You are so going to pay for this!"

"When I get my hands on you, Don…." Casey threatened.

Donatello, still reveling in his revenge, started to back away from the goopy mob. "Splinter said I should start saying no to you guys. Think of this as my way of saying no…in the past and in the future."

"You're dead," Raph vowed starting for him.

Don continued to back away. "Now Raph. Don't forget who you are." He smiled slightly. He had rationalized this payback being "Raph-ish" because it was Raphael who had initially set up the traps anyway. Not a great rationale, he knew. But then again, Raph wasn't one to let a silly thing like logic stop him.

"Oh, I remember who I am," Raph said, his eyes narrowing. He was the first to leap the channel after Don, but the other three followed.