Chapter 24-Reunion With Mikey

After their near-death experience with a giant troll, the three turtle brothers were now located outside in what looked to be the centre of the castle with a large garden.

"Mikey…Where are you, bro…?" Donnie called out, with more worry building up inside his heart since there was still no sign of the youngest turtle.

"Don't worry, Donnie; I'm sure he's not too far away now…Let's go check this next room up ahead.." Leo assured his purple-banded brother before he walked over to a door ahead of the trio.

Leo unlocked and opened the door that lead to the next room, and when he peered inside, he immediately spotted Mikey who was sitting on a long chair in front of a fireplace.

"Mikey! Guys, he's in here…" Leo hissed in surprise as he fully entered the room.

"Oh, thank shell…" Donnie whispered back as he and Raph followed Leo inside.

As they got closer to Mikey, however, the three older brothers immediately heard the sounds of sobbing coming from him. They knew that the poor turtle would be upset about what had happened to him earlier, because having his body controlled by someone else via an internal parasite had been a horrifying experience for him. He was always known to never hurt anyone through his own free will; he was too kind-hearted and innocent to do that.

Leo was the first to be near Mikey, who instantly sensed someone nearby and looked up to see his oldest brother with Donnie and Raph standing next to him. However, instead of feeling happy to see them, he became horrified and started to withdraw away from them.

"N-No! S-Stay away from me…! I-I'm a monster!" Mikey cried fearfully.

"Hey, hey, hey…Mikey, it's ok…" Leo soothed as he slowly moved closer.

"N-No, it's not! I-I don't know what happened to me back there! I-It's like…someone else was in my body and controlling my moves, but I couldn't stop it! I-It was too strong! I-I'm so scared, bros!" Mikey denied with a terrified look on his face as he looked at his now veiny hands. The poor turtle was almost on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Easy, Mikey, calm down…We know that it wasn't really you when you attacked us…" Donnie assured his immediate younger brother as he sat next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Mikey, what happened back there must have been terrifying, I know…" Leo started talking as he slowly moved towards Mikey, who instantly shuffled away slightly.

When the orange-banded turtle looked back up at him and was about to move away again, he noticed that his oldest brother's arms were covered in the exact same black veins that he had.

"No…No, no, no, not you too…!" He gasped in a panic.

"That's right, Mikey…I too have been infected, so you're not alone in this…" Leo confirmed calmly with a sad nod as he sat next to him on his other side.

"D-Did you two already know about this?" Mikey asked Raph and Donnie as he turned to them, feeling a bit hurt due to not being told about Leo's condition sooner.

"…We weren't sure at first, Mikey, but as soon as you started showing the same symptoms as Leo did earlier, we realised then that he has also been infected with this 'Plaga' thing that Luis told us about…Raph and I haven't been infected, though…" Donnie explained with Raph nodding in agreement.

Mikey's eyes widened even more before he looked away and lowered his head again. Even though he was glad that not all of his brothers were infected with the same parasite, he couldn't help but feel extremely guilty for getting them into this horrible mess, despite the fact that they had pushed him into running away in the first place.

"T-This is all my fault…Y-You shouldn't've come looking for me…! I'm not worth saving!" Mikey cried out in a heartbroken tone.

"Hey, don't say that! You're important to us, bro!" Leo countered, placing a hand on Mikey's other shoulder.

"Y-You're wrong! None of you wanted me around anymore, that's why I left! But now, you're all here wanting to bring me back home!? Make up your minds!" Mikey denied before he sobbed in his hands.

The three older brothers looked at Mikey with shocked expressions on their faces before they realised the reason why he would say that.

They had once again jumped to conclusions on Mikey's actions during their last mission as a full team, and their harsh words had made their youngest brother run away from them before being taken away by an unknown kidnapper. They immediately regretted their actions when they thought back on what happened during their mission shortly after Mikey ran away, but by the time they went back out to find him, their youngest brother had already disappeared without a trace.

Out of the three older brothers, Raph felt the most guilty for causing a negative impact on Mikey. He moved in front of his youngest brother, knelt down to his level, and placed a hand on his knee before he spoke.

"Bro, I…I'm really sorry…"

"H-Huh?" Mikey said, looking at Raph with wide eyes after he was not expecting to hear an apology from him.

"Da things I said ta ya back home…I was so angry, I just let my mouth run on its own without thinkin'…" Raph specified sadly.

"B-But you told me you hated me…!" Mikey reminded in a heartbroken tone.

"I know, I know I did…but I lost control of my anger at da time, to a point where I didn't think twice on what I was sayin'…What I said was not true, bro…" Raph instantly told him softly, but Mikey was still unsure.

"He's telling the truth, Mikey; what he said was hurtful, and I know that Donnie and I weren't as supportive towards you as he was, but we're all here for you now…We wouldn't have come this far if we didn't care about you…!" Leo said to back up Raph's words.

Mikey thought for a moment before he nodded slightly, telling his older brothers that he had finally accepted their words, before he started sobbing in his hands again. Leo, Raph, and Donnie immediately did their best to comfort him until he calmed down.

When that happened a minute later, Leo became a bit more serious and decided that now was the time to give him some words of wisdom.

"Listen, Mikey; it's ok to be afraid…But you can't run away anymore…There will be times where you need to be brave, face the dangers head on, and keep moving forward…"

"Right, and we will help you and Leo beat this! With all of us together as one!" Donnie added in determination. However, Mikey still didn't look convinced.

"B-But, bros, you know I can't-"

"You can…There have been so many times where you've been strong and brave for us over the years, so we need you to do the same for us now in the present…!" Leo immediately told him encouragingly, cutting Mikey's sentence off.

"Yeah! But a lil' advice first, bro; remember ta give us a heads-up when yer tryin' ta stab one of us, alright?" Raph joked with a smirk.

Mikey blinked in confusion before he started to laugh at the joke, making the others laugh with him, before he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes with his arm.

"You feeling alright now, little brother?" Donnie asked with a warm smile.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good…Thanks, bros…" Mikey answered with a small smile of his own, now feeling a bit braver.

"No problem…Now, let's get moving…" Leo replied as he stood up from his seat and held a hand out for Mikey to take.

Mikey looked back and forth from Leo to his hand before he nodded and accepted it. Leo helped his youngest brother up before he and all of his brothers walked out of the room to continue their search for a way out of the castle.

Then…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Leo's communicator started ringing, so the blue-banded turtle answered it to find out who was calling him.

"Hola, my turtle amigos!" Luis's voice was immediately heard.

"Luis? Where are you? You weren't in the courtyard…!" Leo questioned firmly.

"Ah, sorry…I screwed up…Come to my rescue, Prince Charming…!" Luis told him.

"Oh, we'll show ya charmin', pal!" Raph threatened in annoyance when he caught the last part of Luis's sentence.

"C'mon. I'm in the ballroom past the courtyard. Don't be late to the dance!" Luis replied before ending the call.

"I can't believe dat guy…" Raph sighed in frustration.

"But he's in trouble! We can't just leave him, right?" Mikey urged in protest, not wanting to ignore a person's request for help.

"Don't worry, Mikey; we'll help him out, as long as he doesn't mess up his location again…" Leo assured his little brother.

"Well, then…Let's get goin' already…!" Raph demanded impatiently before he and his brothers pressed on.