All rights go to Mirage Studios and Warner Bros. This story takes place after Mikey's Job, so read that first for context. Warning: Language. Enjoy.
It had been a whole year since Mikey got his Cowabunga Carl gig thanks to his boss John and things in Mikey's life could definitely be better. On the positive side, Mikey was now making his own income, even though a large cut of that went to Donnie since Donnie didn't quite trust Mikey with money management. But still, Mikey was able to use the money he had to buy some new video games, movies, CDs, and a brand-new skateboard. Not to mention, upgrade the lair with a new widescreen TV.
On the negative side, his home life was crumbling. Donnie and Raph's nonstop arguments rivaled Raph's arguments with Leo but at least Leo pushed back. Donnie just…took it and he just let Raph do whatever he wanted. It was sad and it made Donnie look like a pushover but it's not like Donnie asked to be the leader in Leo's absence. It was forced upon him by Splinter so Mikey couldn't blame Donnie too much for his lackluster leadership.
With Splinter, Mikey didn't know what to think of his father anymore. He still loved him but his extremely questionable decisions (sending Leo to South America, making Donnie leader, banning them from training, and crime-fighting) have made him more and more annoyed and upset. He wondered if his father knew the damage that was being done to the family thanks to his decisions.
And then there's Leo. His oldest brother. No one had heard from him in ages. The last letter he sent was now several months old. Raph was convinced he was dead, Donnie had little hope left, and hope was all Splinter had. Mikey himself believed he was still alive but a very small part of him was bitter over the fact that he was supposed to come home already. At this point, he just hoped that Leo was alive and unharmed.
April and Casey were still in his life, but they had their own lives to deal with so right now, Mikey felt very alone. More alone than he's ever felt in his entire life. And it sucked. Big time.
After he was done with his Cowabunga Carl gig, he spent whatever time he had left in the day either in the living room (either watching TV or playing video games) or in his room (going online, listening to music, reading comic books, or pleasuring himself). And then he would usually cry in his sleep, so his family would only see the happy-go-lucky side of him but even that was starting to fade.
In short, life sucked for Mikey. But it was about to change in a way he didn't expect.
It was another Tuesday for Mikey, as he got out of bed, put on his signature attire (orange bandana, elbow pads, and knee pads), and left his room to get some breakfast. When he made it to the kitchen, he noticed that Raph was there, eating some cereal. It was now a rarity for Raph to be up this early and since he was the only one up at the moment, Mikey took the opportunity to talk to his distant, hot-headed brother.
"Morning, Raph," said Mikey.
"Morning, Mikey," Raph said with a tired and grumpy tone.
"Wow, you're actually eating breakfast for a change. You're usually asleep 'til noon," said Mikey.
"I couldn't sleep, and my body woke me up," said Raph.
Mikey then noticed the bruises on Raph's arms and legs and a big bruise on Raph's face.
"What's with the marks?" Mikey asked.
"What marks?" replied Raph.
"Raph, I'm not stupid. What's with the bruises?" asked Mikey.
"None of your business," said Raph.
"Raph, I'm not going to snitch. Just tell me," said Mikey.
"I don't have to tell you shit," Raph said aggressively.
"Raph, I just want to talk. We haven't talked in ages. Is something going on?" said Mikey.
"How about you mind your own fucking business?" replied Raph.
Mikey tried to be calm and collected with Raph. He knew Raph was upset over everything that's happened in the last year and rightfully so. But he's had about enough of Raph's piss-poor attitude, and he chose now to call him out over it.
"Raph, for once in your life, can you not be a fucking asshole?" asked Mikey.
Raph's eyes widened, as Mikey rarely swore, and he only swore when he was upset.
"What did you say?" asked Raph.
"You heard what I said," said Mikey.
"You wanna start something? You wanna fight? Because we can go inside the dojo and throw fists right now." said Raph.
"You know Splinter wouldn't allow it," said Mikey.
"You think I give a damn about what Splinter says anymore?" Raph fired back.
"Raph, what…what happened to us? We could talk to each other about anything. Now, it's like we're not even brothers anymore." said Mikey.
"Well, you can blame dear old Dad for that. I'm going back to my room and if you value your life, don't follow me." Raph said before putting his now empty bowl and spoon in the sink and walking out of the kitchen.
Once Raph was gone, Mikey muttered, "Asshole.", before fixing up his own breakfast and mentally preparing himself for today's birthday parties.
8 Hours Later
Mikey just finished his 2nd party for the day and his head was ringing from getting assaulted by several kids. He hoped it wasn't a concussion because that was the last thing he needs right now. He was currently sitting in his van on the side of the street with his feet up on the dashboard, waiting to get another call for some kid's birthday party.
While waiting, he was startled by someone knocking on his door. He looked to see who it was, and it was some kid in his late teens. Confused, Mikey rolled down his window to talk to the stranger.
Wearing the Cowabunga Carl head, he said in an animated voice, "Hey dude! How's it going?"
"Are you one of the New York turtles?" asked the teen.
"Huh. That's a weird question." Mikey thought to himself before saying, "Well, I'm Cowabunga Carl, the most turtle-rific turtle in the history of turtles!"
"No, I mean one of the four New York turtles that fight crime at night." said the teen.
Mikey was surprised and confused. How many random citizens knew about his brothers' existence?
Continuing to play dumb, Mikey said, "I don't know what you're talking about, bro. The only turtle I know is me."
"Okay, well, do you happen to know who these guys are?" the teen asked before pulling out his phone and showing Mikey some pictures of him and his brothers. And these pictures weren't from a far distance or were so blurry that you couldn't tell what you were looking at. These pictures were clear as day and that scared Mikey to death.
"These pictures have been online for a while, and you just happen to look like one of the turtles." said the teen.
Mikey panicked and said, "Wow, dude, would you look at the time?! I got a party to attend! See you later, dude!", before driving off as fast as he could.
After 10 minutes of driving, he called John to let him know he couldn't do any more parties today. John was confused but allowed Mikey to go home. Mikey parked the van in a secret garage Donnie and Raph built for him and made his way back to the lair. He would usually skateboard his way home but with his current headache, he decided to walk home instead.
When he finally got to the lair, he went on one of Donnie's computers and looked up 'New York turtles' to see how widespread they were online. Turns out the kid was right, as pictures of him and his brothers were spreading around online. There were forum posts, videos theorizing or debunking their existence, and whole websites dedicated to their existence. It was enough to make Mikey's jaw drop to the floor. It's amazing that he found out about this before Donnie.
"Holy shell," said Mikey.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It really feels nice to go back to the 2007 universe as although I'm not a humungous fan of the movie, it has a lot of ideas that I really like. And I always like the 'What if' concept of the turtles being discovered by the public (in this case it's online). I'm planning on this story lasting 10 chapters and the next chapter will be all about Raph and his Nightwatcher job. Also, I'm working on tons of stories right now, so stay tuned for more updates. Other than that, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Bye for now and stay safe.