Rating: K+

Words: 726

Author's Note: I must really have Mikey on the brain lately… all the stories I've been writing lately have been influenced by the little cutie. I'm a little nervous that with this prompt, I made Mikey's actions a little OOC, but I spent a lot of time this Halloween season wondering what it would look like if Dr. Prankenstein ever pulled a prank that went too far. Anyway, enjoy!

This was going to be the best Halloween prank of all time. All Mikey needed was the perfect person to play it on. Donnie would spot the fake right away, so he couldn't play it on him. And he'd already pulled a great prank on Raph earlier that morning. He was probably still scrubbing the paint and glitter off of his shell at this moment.

Looks like it would be his favorite leader in blue. Lucky turtle.

Michelangelo admired his handiwork in the bathroom mirror, tipping his chin to better see the creation of theater putty and green makeup he'd just finished applying. The wound looked really convincing. It actually looked like someone had slit his throat from ear to ear. He'd even made the cut jagged and exaggerated for effect. The fake blood that ran down his neck and plastron looked just like it had been applied by a makeup artist. He'd watched a thousand YouTube tutorials to get the look just right and he felt like he had pulled it off.

He knew that Leo would be meditating in his room about this time, so there was no way that anyone would be around to spoil it. On stealthy feet, he slipped out of the bathroom and sneaked down the hall until he reached Leo's bedroom. He could hardly contain his excitement and he fought back a giggle as he stopped outside of the door. The door was open a crack and he cautiously peeked inside.

Leo was sitting on his floor in a lotus position, the room only illuminated by a trio of candles. This was too perfect. The candlelight would make the effect even scarier and the prank even more successful. Abruptly, he threw the door open and staggered into the room.

"Leo!"

He gasped as he leaned against the door, making sure that the fake blood was visible as he pressed a bloody hand to his throat. The look on his brother's face was priceless. His jaw dropped, his eyes grew to the size of saucers, and all the color drained from his face.

"Mikey! Oh my God…" Leo sprung to his feet and sprinted to Mikey's side. "What happened? Who did this?"

This was going just as well as he had hoped. He had successfully scared Leo out of his shell. Now for the coupe de grace. He gulped theatrically, emulating a fish out of water before croaking out a response.

"It… was…"

He slipped to the floor and coughed roughly, really hamming up the performance. Leo's strong hands turned him over onto his shell and pressed into his throat as if to staunch the bleeding.

"Mikey… Mikey, I'm sorry…. I couldn't… Please stay… HELP!"

Mikey was pierced by the agonized scream that tore from Leo's throat. This had gone far enough. He sat up and put his hands on his brother's shoulders.

"Leo! It's okay! Look!" He peeled back the clay that made up the slice so that Leo could see the undamaged skin beneath. "It's just makeup! It was a prank, bro!"

Leo stared at Mikey for a second in stunned disbelief, then a look of uncharacteristic rage distorted his face in a way that made him look like a monster.

"What the hell, Mikey?! You scared me to death! I thought…."

He stood abruptly and left the room, not bothering to look back when Mikey cried out to him.

"Dude! I'm sorry! Come back!"

He chased after him and caught up with him just as he was about to stalk out of the lair. He tackled him in a bear hug, clinging to Leo's shell with a death grip. Over and over, Mikey apologized and begged for his big brother's forgiveness. Leo just stood there, stiff and cold, so the younger turtle plead harder. For a long time, they just stood like that, then the leader spoke.

"Mikey?"

Leo's voice was tight and choked with emotion, making Mikey feel even worse.

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever do that again."

Mikey nodded against the plates of Leo's carapace. No more grisly Halloween pranks. He had seen true fear in Leo's eyes when he had entered that room and it should have stopped there. But he'd gotten caught up in the moment and had taken it too far. Now he was going to be working hard to regain his brother's trust.