Cold Fire Rising

Chapter 22

(Author's Note: Someone told me that I could probably make a boring scene seem interesting. Like, say, Donnie reading a science textbook to Mikey. I took it as a challenge. Actually, the whole chapter kind of feels like that.)

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Chapter Twenty-Two

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"Sooo, we're not going back to the ship any time soon?"

""I'd say we have an ideal opportunity here. Mikey can work with Sirra, and we can take a transport to Risal when he's ready."

"Aww, awesome, guys! Leo, you're the best."

"Donnie, you're really not one for revenge like this, what do you think?"

"It's for Mikey. Also, the Alchemist killed him twice. Turnabout and all, you know."

"D'awww, D, you're the best!"

"Hey! Who read you comics when you were in that coma?"

"Okay, Raph, I have one more line on my Best Brother card here..."

Beyond the room, they heard giggling. "Come on in, Tirren!" Leonardo called, smiling.

Tirren skipped into the room, playing with a set of holographic spheres. "So, how long will you stay? Sirra says as long as you want. I say forever!"

Michelangelo pet him on the head and grinned. "Well, we gotta go back some time, little guy. We still have a mission to complete. Gotta save our home, right?"

"Yeah, but I'll miss you!"

"We'll miss you too, Tirren," Donatello said. "But we'll spend as much time here as we can, until Mikey takes care of the Alchemist."

"Okay, that's fair. Nobody's been brave enough to, anyway."

Humming, Tirren skipped back out, making the spheres dance around his head. The turtles looked at each other, looked at the four futons laid out for them in the huge room with a computer terminal, a bureau, a bookcase with science text e-readers that translated to any language, an attached bathroom, a huge window overlooking the backyard. They were going to stay a while, weren't they? They had already contacted Honeycutt, April, and Casey, who worried and fretted in frustration and fear but let their explanations win. They wouldn't be able to move on with someone actively attacking one of them.

Michelangelo flopped overdramatically onto his back, arms all the way out. "Ugh. I hate this. Maybe you guys could, like, go back to the Ulixes and I'll just call you when it's over. I mean, this is a really weird side situation."

Three stunned faces stared at him.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Really, Mikey? You really think we're leaving you behind?"

"Mikey, I know your brain is undergoing changes, but I hope you didn't mean that."

He pouted. "What? This is my thing, not yours. You have Casey and April, and April already is psychic. You can take on the Triceratons from here."

Donatello opened his mouth, shut it, and shook his head. "Unbelievable."

Raphael affectionately, but gruffly, knuckled his head. "Moron."

"Mikey," Leonardo said patiently, "I know we give you a hard time a lot, but trust me. We need you. You're our brother, our clansman, and we're all we have. So don't start thinking we don't actually need you."