Little Brother: a Mikey Story.

Allies

I saw Karai watching a park full of strangers. What was she—

"I followed some Kraang moving mutagen this way. How's Michelangelo doing?"

"How did you know it was me?"

"You almost fell off the roof on your way here." I blushed and felt my T-phone vibrate. I sat down next to Karai and flinched at the text.

Raph: Sensei threw out Mikey. we're headed to April's for the night. want me to grab anything of yours?

Leo: bag under bed for emergency travel. Don't forget ICK, Mikey will never forgive us if we leave her behind

Raph: k k k, everything going good with plan B Romeo?

Leo: just found Karai, catch up with you at April's

Raph: ok, fearless leader

Karai chuckled. "Why am I not surprised you're called the fearless leader?" I felt my face go red as Karai continued. "What's an ICK anyway? Something Mikey made?"

"I guess you could say that. See, April needed a place to keep a stray cat, so she brought it to the lair. Donnie was messing with mutagen and Mikey was there, so Ice Cream Kitty was created."

"A cat mutant made of ice cream? I'll admit, you have much more interesting pets than I do."

"Thanks, I guess. I hate to ask but we need a favor."

"There's an abandoned building in China Town my father owns. We talked it through, and if you four, plus O'Neil and Jones, want to use it as your base and home, then it's yours. It has water, electricity, everything you need."

"That sounds perfect! How long can we stay there?"

"As long as you want."

"I mean how long can we stay there before we owe Shredder something."

"He would like to talk to you about becoming allies, if you're interested in being free agents. He told me that Hamato would most likely want to kick Mikey out of your lives."

"He was right. We didn't anticipate that it would be so soon though."

"He promised not to force you to fight Hamato. Although, I know I would want revenge, but that's Michelangelo's decision, isn't it?"

"We've never been able to defeat our Sensei in practice before. Mikey could try going after him, but he would probably try talking instead of fighting."

"From what both you and my father have told me, how do you trust him not to kill Mikey?" Leo sighed, his mind going back and forth.

"Sensei has had his moments when we've doubted him. And honestly I thought this was just a problem he would get past. He told me..." he wandered off, unsure if Karai knew about Splinter's past with the Shredder.

"My father mentioned how he was once his friend. His brother even. Is that all?"

"He believes that the Shredder's 'lazy demon spirits' that possessed him are the reason why his father is gone."

"He told me how the father who raised him was sick and how he went to get a doctor but he didn't make it. He said he woke up by a river, and was halfway to town. He tried to make it, and as for a 'demon spirit', there's no such thing. It was just bad luck."

"I understand that. I think Splinter is still angry and made up his own story about how seizures happen."

"Which is why I made sure you would have somewhere to go in case you needed help. You can stay there for as long as you want. Dad agreed. He just wants you to consider becoming allies with the foot."

"Alright, you have allies. We'll check the place out tomorrow night then. I don't want to leave Mikey for too long."

"That's understandable. Leo?"

"Yeah?" I looked back, both of us standing.

"Think you can back me up with a Kraang bash before you go?" I smiled at her.

"I think I feel the need to do so. Release some stress as Raph would say."