The Turtle and the Murderer

The Morning of the First Encounter

'Beep' 'Beep' it was 6:30 am and Mikey could hear his alarm clock beep over and over again. After the third, 'beep', Mikey clicked it off. He sat up and stretched with a yawn. He lightly rubbed his hand across the bruise on his head and got up. He shuddered as he remembered how he got that bruise...

Last Night
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It was another usual Patrol Night for the four Turtles. They were on a rooftop examining their surroundings. After about 15 minutes of silence, Raph spoke. "Man, there's nothin' going on, Fearless!" Raph spoke in an annoyed tone. Leo rolled his eyes. "Be patient, Raph. We'll stay out here for a little while longer. If there's nothing wrong, then we'll head back home. Deal?" The leader stated calmly. Him and Raph started to glare at each other. Leo and Raph have been getting into a lot of fights, as of late. Donnie would always intervene, while Mikey tried his best to stay out of it. He felt like it wasn't his place to get involved. However, they were still his Brothers, and he would do anything to keep them safe and happy.

Donnie sighed. He looked over to Leo and Raph while speaking. "Guys, now is not the time to be fighting. We need to focus at wh-" "Shut up, Braniac!" Raph shouted, interrupting Donnie. Donnie gave Raph an, 'I don't care' look. This whole time, Mikey looked down, not wanting to annoy his Brothers. Then, Raph caught him off guard. "What's wrong, Mikey? Not goin' to say somethin' stupid?" Raph asked bitterly. Mikey looked at him, sadness evident in his eyes. Leo looked at Raph angrily. "Raph, would you leave Mikey alone?! He was doing us a favor and staying out of it!" Leo yelled, making Mikey tremble. Donnie saw this and comforted Mikey.

Raph stomped over to Leo, who was now standing. Anger clear on their faces, Raph yelled at Leo. "Shut up, Fearless! Ya know just as much as I do that Mikey normally tells us to stop by now! He always gets in our way just so we stop fighting!" Raph yelled while pointing at Mikey. Mikey froze, tears slowly starting to pour down his face. Leo saw this and glared at Raph. "That is enough, Raphael! You're always pulling Mikey into our fights! Always asking him if you are right, knowing that I'M the one that's right!" Leo shouted at Raph bitterly.

Mikey slowly stood up and walked in between his two Brothers. He lifted his hands, each hand towards his two Brothers. Donnie stood up, too. With tears that were still in his eyes, Mikey spoke softly. "You guys are fighting over something that isn't worth fighting for. You guys have been fighting over the littlest of problems, turning them into big deals. What you should be doing is being Brothers again. You know just as much as Donnie and I do that this is only going to separate us. When that time comes, and no one is there to save everyone, you guys are going to blame each other. So, how about we stop fighting and-"

'Smack'. That's all that was heard. Mikey slowly felt a pain on the back of his head. He gingerly placed his hand on the spot. Leo and Donnie look at Raph, who had an annoyed expression on his face. "See what I mean? He starts to talk too much."

End of Flashback
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Mikey quietly walked out of his room, so not to disturb his sleeping Brothers. Once in the kitchen, he grabbed some eggs, bacon, butter, and oranges from the fridge. Then, he went to the cupboards to take out a frying pan, Orange Squeezer, and a Spatula. He heated up the butter in a pan and cracked the eggs. While doing that, he grabbed the salt and pepper, to add more flavor. After the eggs were done, Mikey cooked the bacon while squeezing the oranges. Once the food and drinks were done, Leo walked into the kitchen first. Once he smelled the aroma of breakfast, he went and sat down at his side of the table. Raph and Donnie walk in shortly after. Mikey finished first, dealing with his plate and cup, and walked to the Dojo. The three Brothers look at the door Mikey left from. Neither of them spoke while eating.

Once they were done, they walked in the Dojo to see Mikey meditating. They looked at him with shocked expressions. Mikey knew they were staring, but decided to ignore them. Splinter walked into the Dojo to see three of his sons staring at his youngest, whom was meditating. He looked at his three elder sons with confusion. "My sons, why aren't you in your seated position?" Splinter asked, gaining their attention. They froze. Splinter was about to ask again when Mikey spoke. "They're shocked to see me meditate, Sensei." Mikey spoke dully. Everyone turned towards Mikey. Splinter looked concerned, while the other three Turtles looked shocked. It took Splinter a moment to speak after hearing the dullness in his youngest son's voice. "Alright, my son..." Splinter spoke cautiously. After sitting down, the Turtles waited for their Father to speak. Splinter took a deep breath. "Today, we will Meditate; I sense something is troubling everyone." Splinter stated calmly, checking his Sons' reactions. Leo and Raph had annoyed looks, Donnie had a worried look, and Mikey had a numb look. Splinter was most concerned by said looks. He sighed before straightening his position. "Now, let us calm our minds and body; Do not think of anything, but your breathing. If you do this correctly, you will feel like you are weightless; Unbound by the Earth's gravity..." Mikey began to lose hearing of what Splinter was saying. Suddenly, the ground became nonexistent; The air felt - somewhat - softer. When Mikey opened his eyes, he held back a gasp. He was floating underwater, feeling a slight chill of the water around him. He looked up. There was barely a light above him, indicating that he was far below. He looked forward again to see something swimming towards him. He squinted his eyes to get a better look. The closer it got, the bigger it looked. Mikey gasped before narrowly avoiding a Mosasaurus snout. The dinosaur looked as if it hadn't seen him. Mikey bit his cheek. 'If it didn't see me the first time, then maybe it can't see me at all?' Mikey thought nervously. With a sharp breath, he dangerously swam in front of the dinosaur. It didn't even flinch. Mikey tilted his head. 'That is odd and cool at the same time...' Mikey thought calmly. He started to swim with the Mosasaurus, feeling a sense of familiarity with it. It had his colors, Lime Green skin to Dull Green "shell" color on the back. Mikey saw its Baby Blue eyes staring forward, undisturbed by Mikey's presence. Mikey sighed with relief. While swimming, Mikey continued to look around. It was dark, quiet, and oddly colder than earlier. Mikey began to shiver from said cold. He turned his head towards the Mosasaurus, only to be met with its Sakura Pink eyes. Mikey tilted his head. 'Mosasaurus don't have pink eyes...' Mikey thought matter-of-factly. The Mosasaurus huffed at him before looking forward; Mikey followed suit.

After several minutes of silent swimming, the Mosasaurus stopped. Mikey looked at what it was looking at. There, wedged in a crack in the stone wall, was an orange heart. Mikey looked at the Mosasaurus, who was ushering him to grab it. With a gulp, Mikey gingerly grasped the heart, being careful not to hurt it. When he brought it out of the crack, it began to glow. The glow started to warm Mikey and the Mosasaurus. Suddenly, memories flashed before their eyes, both having keen interest. There were images of when Mikey and his Brothers were younger, growing up, meetings, fails, successes, etc. One memory caught Mikey off guard. It showed Splinter yelling at the four. Mikey tilted his head. 'Was this when I almost died...?' Mikey thought quizzically. He remembered it as clear as Day/Night. They were battling the Shredder, bruises and scratches evident. Out of the four Turtles, Mikey was the only one to get a scar. He gingerly held his chest, feeling aware of the sudden pain. Mikey winced, the pain growing deeper. "You should head back..." A voice stated. Mikey turned towards the voice, seeing the Mosasaurus. Mikey raised an invisible brow. "You should head back before it is too late..." The Mosasaurus stated dully. Before he knew it, Mikey nodded and focused on heading back. When he opened his eyes, he saw his shocked Brothers and concerned Father. Mikey tilted his head. "Did I do something wrong...?" Mikey questioned calmly, unaware of the worry beginning to grow. Everyone looked at each other, unable to form words. Finally, a voice spoke. "No, my son; We were just surprised that you meditated for the entire Dojo time." Splinter stated calmly, worry glistening in his eyes. Mikey sighs before Splinter tells them to leave the Dojo.

After Dojo time, the four Turtles went their separate ways. Leo went to the TV to watch "Space Heros", Raph went to the couch to read his comic book, Donnie was in his lab messing with chemicals, and Mikey left to his room. He softly shut his door. He had his shell on the door while heavily sighing. 'What am I going to do?' Mikey thought sadly. Mikey was still worried about his Brothers. He wanted them to get along with each other again, but he knew that wasn't happening anytime soon. He shut his eyes, a few tears rolling down. He walked to his bed and sat there, crying, for probably an hour.

'Knock' 'Knock' 'Knock'. Mikey heard soft knocks on his door. He wiped his eyes and walked towards his door. Without opening it, he asked, "Who is it?" He tried to cover the sad tone the best he could. "It is only me, my son." Splinter spoke softly. Mikey raised an invisible brow at this. 'What does Splinter need?' Mikey thought, confused. Mikey grabbed his doorknob, turned it, and gently pulled his door open. He saw his father's Dark Brown eyes staring into his Baby Blue ones. Splinter looked at his son with concern in his eyes. Mikey had Puffy, Blood shot eyes from crying. He also had dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he was crying and tired. Splinter sighed before speaking. "My son, are you alright...?" Splinter asked his son with concern in his voice. Mikey sighed. He knew someone would ask him that. He looked back up at his Father and smiled. "Yes, I am alright." Mikey stated tiredly. He began to chuckle, which confused his Father. Splinter raised a brow. "My son, why are you laughing?" Splinter asked, more confused than ever. After Mikey's laughing fit was over, he spoke in a low, calm voice. "I am fine, Sensei. I just need to sleep before Patrol." Mikey stated. It gave Splinter a chill when he heard Mikey speak like that. He paused, unsure of whether or not he should say something. Finally, he manage to muster up some form of words. "Alright..." Was all Splinter could say. After Mikey shut his door, Splinter walked away. 'I hope he is alright...' 'I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen tonight...' Splinter thought while walking towards his Shoji.