Chapter 2-Goodbye

Later that night…

Mikey woke up from his slumber sometime later, and was now sat by the window sill gazing at the stars in the twilight sky above the farmhouse, before he looked at his sleeping brothers with a sad and guilty look on his face.

He found it difficult to sleep properly, anyway, because he just couldn't stand the fact that he was still failing them and that, one day, they would all be killed in his name if he continued with letting them down during missions and intense battles.

He then thought about Master Splinter. Despite being firm with his words and strict with his teachings, his sensei and father-figure was always there to give him advice and comfort whenever he was behind in training or feeling down after a mission gone wrong.

However, what did Mikey do in return for his help?

Looking back now, Mikey realised that he had hardly repaid his sensei and father for saving him on a number of occasions. Instead, he just made things more difficult for Master Splinter by remaining in his childish and immature ways and causing him to take the hits for him whenever his guard was down.

Lowering his head, Mikey soon came to a heart-breaking decision; he felt that it was time to leave his family for good in order to protect them from himself.

With his mind now made up, he quietly walked over to his bed, sat on it, and took out a pen and paper pad before writing a farewell message on it. After doing so, he slowly tore the note off, folded it, and placed it on the bedside table. He then untied his mask and looked at it with sad eyes.

"I don't deserve to wear this anymore…I'm no longer worthy of it…" He whispered sadly before he placed it next to the note, and then he reached for his nun-chucks.

"And I definitely won't be needing these anymore either…" He then said before placing them next to his mask.

With his ninja gear now put aside, Mikey moved on to packing his bag; he took out his cloak from it and wrapped it around himself before he placed an extra blanket and a small pillow inside next to a few packets of snacks that he managed to stash from the farmhouse cupboards, in case he ever got peckish in the evenings.

A slight shuffling noise suddenly stopped him in his tracks. He nervously turned around to see Leo moving in his bed and turning his body to the left, but to his relief, the blue-banded turtle's face showed no signs of waking up, making Mikey breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

"Forgive me, Leo…" Mikey whispered to his oldest brother as he turned back to his bag and slowly zipped it up to avoid making a noise.

He then placed one of his pillows under the blanket to make it look like he was still asleep in bed before he tiptoed quietly back towards the window.

After double-checking to make sure that everything was done and packed, he lifted the window whilst being mindful of the possible squeaking sounds that it might make during the process, crawled through the window, and turned around to look at his family one more time.

"Goodbye, everyone…I love you…" Mikey said quietly with tears developing in his eyes before he slowly closed the window shut to prevent it from making any noise that would wake up his brothers.

Once it was fully closed, Mikey made his way down the roof, landing on the ground without a sound, and then ran towards the darkness of the forest, with tears now falling down his face.

/

The next morning…

Leo, Raph, and Donnie all woke up with a stretch as soon as the morning sun rose up in the sky, marking the start of a new day.

As they got up and made their way towards the stairs to grab some breakfast, Donnie was the first to notice that Mikey had not moved from his bed, and he knew his immediate younger brother long enough to know that he would never skip a meal like breakfast. He was about to go and wake him up when Leo stopped him.

"There's no point in waking him up, Donnie; he's no longer training with us anymore, remember?" The blue-banded turtle said flatly with a scowl before he made his way down the stairs, with Raph following him from behind.

Even though Donnie wanted to protest against his oldest brother's words, he didn't want to cause another argumentative fight, especially when it was still pretty early in the morning. Instead, he looked over at Mikey's bed again with a sad expression before he sighed and walked down the stairs to let the others know about Mikey as well as get some breakfast.

As lunchtime approached later on, however, he and the others (except Leo) all started to worry when there was still no sign of Mikey coming down from the shared bedroom.

"Mikey's been in bed for a while now…I wonder if he's ok…" April stated in a concerned tone as she looked at the staircase leading towards the turtles' shared bedroom.

"Who cares? He can stay up there forever, cos I don't want to see his face ever again!" Leo suddenly spat out bitterly, shocking the others.

"Alright, that's it!" BANG!

Everyone jumped with a start as they heard Donnie shout and slam his now empty coffee mug hard on the table before they watched as he got up from his seat and looked at Leo with a seething look on his face as he spoke in a loud tone again.

"What is the matter with you, Leo!? Ever since we came here to recover from our battle with the Shredder, you have done nothing but treat Mikey like he's just committed a murder!"

"He almost did! He deliberately let his guard down and caused Master Splinter to take the attack and almost die from it!" Leo replied angrily.

"That was not how it went down…! He couldn't move because he had not one but two broken legs!" Donnie countered defensively.

"His hands and arms were still intact, though! He could've moved easily with them!" Leo bit back in denial.

"Whilst in shock from the pain!? Come on, Leo; even you wouldn't be able to do that!" Donnie countered again.

"I've been through a lot worse than him, remember!? That huge ambush by the Foot clan a while ago almost killed me, so two broken legs are nothing compared to that and being wounded by someone who you trust!" Leo said with his face full of anguish.

"Yer talkin' about Karai, aren't ya?" Raph questioned curiously.

"…" Leo didn't respond and just turned his head away with a frustrated sigh.

"Look, Leo…I'm sorry for what happened between you and Karai, but we're not talking about her and past events…we're talking about Mikey and what's happening now in the present!" Donnie reminded his oldest brother firmly but caringly.

Leo still said nothing, and he just crossed his arms whilst turning his shell-covered back on his purple-banded brother.

"Now, I'm gonna go check on Mikey…whether you like it or not, Leo..." Donnie then said with a sigh before he turned away and headed upstairs to see if Mikey was awake yet, even though he was oblivious to the fact that his little brother was gone.

"You know what; you're all just as bad as each other when it comes to Mikey…" April said with a sigh after a moment of silence.

"What da shell's dat suppose ta mean!?" Raph questioned with a stunned look.

"I'm just saying that you guys never appreciate him for who he is as himself!" April snapped firmly with her hands on her hips.

"What's so good about a ninja who behaves in such a childish way and gets everybody close to being killed!?" Leo questioned in frustration.

"How can you say that!? Mikey always puts his family first, and he has never put anyone of us in danger!" April shouted defensively.

"April, you don't-"

"Guys! Mikey's missing!" Donnie's frantic voice was suddenly heard, cutting off Leo.

"What!?" Everyone said in unison with wide eyes as they heard and saw the purple-banded turtle rush back down the stairs with Mikey's mask in one hand and a folded piece of paper in the other.

"What makes you think that he's missing, Donnie?" Leo questioned, sceptical that Mikey would just leave out of nowhere without a good reason.

"A large pillow was under the blanket instead of his body and he left a note next to his ninja gear!" Donnie answered firmly as he lifted the folded paper in the air to show him and the others.

"Can you please read the letter aloud for us, Donatello?" Master Splinter asked calmly despite the feelings of worry and anxiety building up in his heart.

"Yes, Master Splinter!" Donnie said with a nod before he shakily unfolded the note and read it aloud.

'To my family,

By the time you read this, I will already be far away from the farmhouse…

I did a lot of thinking last night, and after realising how much of a terrible burden I've been to you all throughout the years, I've decided to respect your feelings about me by leaving this family for good.

You don't have to worry about getting badly hurt or have missions go wrong anymore, cos I'll no longer be around to cause all that.

Whatever happens to me from here on out isn't important, cos as long as you guys have a more safe and peaceful life without me being around to ruin it, then that's all that matters.

My love for you all will always remain strong, no matter how much you hate me or want me dead.

Take care of yourselves, and please look after Klunk for me…

Your former brother, son, and friend,

Mikey'

As soon as he finished reading the letter, Donnie refolded it and covered his eyes with one of his hands as he looked down with tears falling down his face.

"No…" April whispered in shock with tears in her own eyes before she felt Casey wrap an arm around her to comfort her.

"My son…" Master Splinter said softly with his head bowed down in sorrow for his youngest son.

"Tsk…What a coward…" Leo said snidely.

"Leo!" "Leonardo!" Everyone shouted at Leo with a shocked glare.

"I'm just stating the obvious! He left everyone behind instead of facing and accepting the truth!" Leo stated without any remorse for his youngest brother.

"Now, hold on a minute, Leo! Weren't you the one who told Mikey that nobody would care if he either died or ran away?" Donnie questioned heatedly.

"Yeah! And we all know that cowards pick on the weak!" April pointed out in agreement to Donnie's words.

Whilst this was happening, Casey noticed some dark clouds gathering in the sky.

"I don't like da look of those clouds…It looks like a storm's brewin'…!" He said grimly.

"Then, we need to go and find him!" Donnie said anxiously.

"But he could be anywhere by now! It's like what he said in da note; he's already far away from da farmhouse!" Raph pointed out.

"We don't know if that part is true, Raph…! He could've written that to throw us off the scent!" Donnie countered in theory.

"Then where could he have gone?" April questioned.

After a minute of silent thinking, Donnie spoke after a theory popped into his head.

"…He's gone into the forest…"

"Huh? Why do you think he went there, Donnie?" April asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because it's a familiar place to both him and us, and I have noticed him go into the forest alone a couple of times before…When I asked him why one day, he told me that he goes in there to clear his mind and stay out of everyone's way whenever he got told off…" Donnie explained sadly.

"But we don't know what's in da forest other than those green creatures we met long ago…!" Casey pointed out anxiously.

"Yeah, and besides; Mikey's a big boy and he can take care of himself, ninja or not!" Raph said in agreement.

"I don't care! Mikey's our brother, son, and friend, and yet we've treated him like he's not! All because of what the Shredder did to us!" Donnie reminded heatedly.

"Donatello is correct; you must go and look for Michelangelo…There is no telling what might be out there that could cause harm to him! Will you all join him with the search?" Master Splinter said wisely.

The others looked at each other with looks of uncertainty on their faces, whilst Leo just turned away with his back facing them again.

"Guys, please…!" Donnie pleaded desperately, not wanting to waste any more time.

"I'll go with you, Donnie…I've been worried about Mikey after speaking with him yesterday…" April said finally. This immediately shocked Leo.

"So, you did speak to him yesterday! I can't believe you disobeyed me!" Leo shouted angrily.

"Yes, I did! And I'm not ashamed of doing it! But we'll talk about this later, Leo!" April snapped at the blue-banded turtle.

"Thanks, April…Let's go!" Donnie said gratefully before he and April made their way out of the farmhouse to start their search for Mikey.

"Now what do we do?" Casey asked anxiously after a moment of silence.

"All we can do is wait and have patience, Mr Jones…" Master Splinter answered with his head hanging low with sadness.

"I'm gonna go and meditate upstairs…" Leo said in a huff as he got up from his chair and made his way upstairs.

"What a hothead…" Raph said with a frustrated sigh before he noticed Casey and Master Splinter staring at him with surprised looks.

"I hate it when he reminds me of me…!" He then said with his arms folded.

Master Splinter watched his oldest son go before he looked out of the window with sorrow and worry in his heart as he suddenly had a terrible feeling that something bad was about to occur within the forest.