Trying to Prove Yourself

Trying to Prove Yourself  

Summary: Through the POV of Michelangelo. Mikey doesn't like the lack of bonding he has with his father. He wonders why his sensei doesn't connect with him as much as he thinks he should. Mikey believes that Splinter thinks of him as weak. As a result, Mikey starts disobeying Splinter in order to prove himself.

Rated: PG for a bit of language and violence

Disclamer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Note: This is for Rachel Erica's Mikey/Splinter Contest. Feedback is appreciated.



Today, we had our usual long and tiring practice. Master Splinter was putting us through the usual motions. As the weeks passed by, the criminal activity in New York City kept on getting higher. More and more foot soldiers started wandering around the streets without a care. Didn't they realize that New York City is "the City that Never Sleeps"? A random onlooker could easily pass by and freak after seeing a bunch of freaky looking goons in black pajamas. I guarantee they would call the cops. Then again, if someone called 911 what would they say? "Hey there are ninjas snooping around NYC. Can you please arrest them?"

Yeah, Donnie told me once that you can't rely on the police for everything. At least, I think that's what I think he meant. When we were talking about the police in NYC Donnie said something along the lines of, "The police forces are ineffective when it comes to deterring the Foot Clan." All I heard was, "The police forces are (smart talk smart talk) when it comes to (smart talk smart talk) Foot Clan." Luckily, Leo was somewhat fluent in smart talk and was able to translate, "Donnie thinks the police won't help us stop the Foot."

Anyhow because of the rise in criminal activity, my brothers and I had to feel the wrath of the Overly-Protective Splinter. And who can blame him? We and the Foot Clan aren't exactly buddies who attend potlucks together every now and again. If the Shredder had invited us to a potluck, we'd start thinking he either was drunk, was drugged, suffered from a life-changing event, or had an identical good twin. In other words, we knew Shredder would rather slit each of our throats than invite us to a potluck.

Master Splinter had restricted our time up in topside. We also had to hide in the shadows constantly and we could only intervene on criminal activity when it was absolutely necessary (basically when Leo says it's okay to attack). After several days of being limited to how much we could go to topside, it got to the point where we weren't allowed to go to topside at all. My dear brother Raphael was pretty pissed off at the whole ordeal. If Master Splinter wasn't constantly in the same room as the hothead, (what a coincidence wink wink) Raph would've sprinted out the lair when he had the chance. Even "the Obedient One" Leo was fed up with how much we were in the lair. I swear, any second now he and Raph were going to start plotting their escape.

But life in the lair wasn't that unbearable. I guess. Master Splinter kept Donnie preoccupied by suggesting random projects. A lot of the ideas were unoriginal, like upgrading random gadgets and exploring the sewers for new material. If the goal was to keep Donnie preoccupied enough so he wouldn't lose sanity over the lack of fresh air, then mission accomplished. My smart brother was constantly in his lab working on who-knows-what. One day, I went into the lab to see what he was doing. But he as politely as he could Donnie shooed me off. Well…it wasn't exactly THAT polite. His exact words were, "Mikey would you please go away. I'm busy and I don't want you ruining anything." It was painfully obvious how annoyed he was when he said it. But he said "please." I'll give him props for that.

Keeping Leo entertained wasn't that hard. It didn't hurt that he was the most disciplined by far out of four of us. If Splinter made us all watch a marathon of his soaps, Leo would be the last one to go psychotic over the terrible acting and overly cliché storyline. My eldest brother was already entertained by extra training, meditation, reading, and television. For several days, Splinter's perfect son seemed to entertain himself just fine. But then one day, he was overheard implying boredom to Raph. Leo wasn't even complaining! All Leo said to Raph was, "It can get a little boring in here." And God forbid the Great and Wonderful Leonardo ever get bored! So what ingenious idea did Splinter come up with that would cure Leo's mild case of boredom? A book the size of Pluto! I'm not even kidding. That book that Splinter carried out of his private bedroom was too big to even be considered a book. But it's probably been months since the last time Leo had ever come across a book that he had never read before. I'm pretty sure every book his shelf has been read to the point where he could recite each one word for word. Nowadays, I'm curious to know what that book is about. There's no picture on the cover and I can never get a good look at the title. It must be a really interesting topic, because Leo is constantly reading it. I'm kind of disappointed that Master Splinter had come up with a not so creative method of entertaining Leo. Part of me was hoping that Splinter would make Leo learn how to cook. He never does anything in kitchen. My older brother barely knows how to pour of bowl of cereal let alone cook. Then again, who knows if cooking will preoccupy him more than that book? But even the book doesn't seem to be the cure for boredom. Leo has mentioned to me numerous times that he's still bored. Master Splinter doesn't seem to care about Leo's boredom anymore though. Our rat father must have come to the wise conclusion that boredom was incurable. Darn. I guess keeping us from going insane is all that matters.

Keeping Raph distracted was a once in a lifetime challenge on its own. My bro was absolutely miserable when he heard we had to stay down here for a little while. And frankly, that misery spread like the plague. Raph got everyone down. He was constantly moping complaining, sighing, pacing, ect. Some of the anger that my older brother was feeling was taken out on the punching bag in the dojo. The poor punching bag was abused to the point of being a sack that was broken off the chain. I know a punching bag isn't even alive or anything, but I kind of felt sorry for it. It was kind sad just seeing it laying there with sand pouring out of it. Just think, the sand could be like the punching bag's guts. After the punching bag practically died, Raph took his frustration on Leo. Although Raph resorted to venting rather than physically assaulting our oldest brother like he did with the punching bag. Irritating Leo is a well known hobby of Raph's that's been going on for years. In my opinion, Leo is one of the worst people to try annoying or even play pranks on. He's the hardest out of all of us to get a reaction from. Donnie and Raph are the best prank victims, because their reactions are hysterical. Then again, part of me thinks Leo not losing his temper as much as the rest of us is the reason why Raph likes to pick on him. The whole world knows that Raph is a sucker for challenges. But of course, Raph bugging Leo is not going unnoticed by Master Splinter. Fortunately, our father always seemed to have a solution to every problem. Even if that problem was Raph. It wasn't a predictable solution either. No, this solution was very "innovative" as Donnie would call it. Master Splinter decided that Raph should give April lessons in ninjitsu.

And yes, April is here with us too. She's pretty much been in here ever since Karai chased her down the streets of New York City. Who knows what would've happened if Karai had truly captured April? But now she's living in the lair with us. In fact, she's been here ever since. April is kind of like Leo in some ways, because she took having to live down in the sewers twenty-four seven pretty well. Although unlike us, April has only known this place for a few months. My brothers and I have been living here since we can remember, and I don't have any memories of ever not being sick of this place.

But back to the topic at hand, Raph teaching April ninjitsu is kind of a weird idea. Out of all four of us, Raph would've been the last turtle I'd pick to be April's personal sensei. Not that he makes a bad teacher, which on the contrary he took teaching April ninjisu like a pro. And dare I say it, those two have made real progress with her training. But Donnie and Leo would've by far been one of my first picks as April's ninjitsu teacher. Donnie and April have gotten really close and I'd like to think of them as BFFs. (I watch a lot of teen flicks, don't judge me). They're constantly talking and laughing with one another. Donnie would've loved to take April on as a student. Leo on the other hand would've made a great ninjitsu instructor. Raph would say that Leo would only make a great ninjitsu sensei because he's a teacher's pet and bossy. I just think Leo would make a great sensei in general. He knows more about ninjitsu in general, he's good at planning, giving orders, and he's wise. Wise compared to us anyways. But, that's not saying much because Raph, Donnie, and I aren't exactly the wisest knuckleheads you will ever see. Donnie and Raph may sometimes like to brainwash themselves into thinking they're wise and know what they're doing. I'd be the first to say I'm not the wisest fool in the bunch, but I try. I also think another reason why Leo would make a great sensei for April, is because those two are also close. Leo does feel somewhat responsible for April's wellbeing as much as any of us. Pfff…Typical Leo. Anyhow, April is like a sister to Leo now. He'd make sure she was properly trained enough so that she'd be able to protect herself. I'm kind of jealous that Raph gets to take April on as a student. I think it'd be awesome to be the master of someone. When you're sensei, you're the one in control! If I were a sensei, I'd like to think I wouldn't be that bossy. Because I know what it feels to have people boss you around constantly. I'm fourth-in-command of the team after all. Leadership opportunities don't come by me often enough. But when Leo, Raph, and Donnie are away, I FINALLY GET TO LEAD…...myself.

Master Splinter has been getting on my last nerve as of lately. And I'd like to think I'm someone who doesn't lose their temper that easily. Not a lot of things bother me. Splinter on the other hand does bother me. Now I know how Raph feels when he wants to hit something or more likely someone. But I've never been so confused about someone as much as Master Splinter! And he's my dad! You'd think I'd know him better! But I don't. I feel like I don't have connection with him at all. Master Splinter and Leo do meditations together, they talk about ninjitsu stuff all the time, and they even sit down together while having small talk. Donnie and Splinter bond over Donnie's big brain. Splinter compliments Donnie on his big brain over and over. He tells us never to take Donnie for granted because his intellect will save our necks time and time again. Splinter even makes an attempt at listening to Donnie's smart garble, even though like the rest of us he has no idea what our genius brother is saying. But he tries to talk to him at least! Splinter and Raph are a lot closer than they seem. Our rat father constantly disciplines Raph for his actions. Anyone would think all this discipline would annoy Raph. Disciplining Raph usually involves them having long talks about pretty much anything. You'd think Splinter would be lecturing Raph about his behavior or something. But he doesn't. Lectures to Raph are overrated in Splinter's eyes. Nowadays, Raph and Splinter have meaningful conversations for no apparent reason. Their conversations are rarely ever a result of Raph getting in trouble with Splinter nowadays. The conversations are random if anything. The more the conversations increase, the more content Raph seems to be especially when he's around Splinter. Splinter has also been giving Raph more compliments as well. The only other brother who has been getting more compliments than Raph on daily basis in Donnie. Leo probably gets about the same number of compliments as Raph. But for Leo, it's hard to tell if something is a compliment or it's just him fulfilling his expectations. Like when Splinter says, "Leo you have performed that kata nearly perfectly." To most people, that would be considered a compliment. But Leo is always expected to perform a perfect kata anyways. As a result, it's more of an expectation than a compliment.

Master Splinter rarely ever compliments me on anything. He doesn't even compliment me on my cooking. Which by the way, I'm the only one who can cook! And Donnie making instant ramen doesn't count as cooking! AND HE EVEN GETS COMPLIMENTS FOR THAT! But it's not the lack of compliments that's bugging me. It's the lack of having anything to do with Splinter that's bugging me! We don't bond, we hardly talk, and we never once had a cheesy father and son moment like the ones in the movies. Sometimes when Splinter even glances over at me, I feel like he's mentally cursing me. He's probably thinking that he drew the short stick the second he took me in as his son. I am hoping I'm overreacting to the whole thing. Maybe I'm over thinking it. But then again, I usually am a man of action who doesn't think about the action I'm doing. So, over thinking things shouldn't be a problem for me. GAH! I dunno. This is too much for my tender mind to process.

Everyday we seem to go through the same general routine while we are confined down in the sewers against our will. We'll wake up at the crack of dawn, eat, train until we can't feel our legs, take a nap from exhaustion (or pass out, whichever comes first), and then do whatever. Today was no different. Master Splinter seemed to be pushing us past our limits. A favorite quote of Master Splinter is, "The heart sometimes doesn't care about limits." Obviously whoever came up with that quote has never trained under Master Splinter. My heart was on the verge of cardiac arrest by the end of training. My heart always cared about its limits. I really do wish whoever came up with that quote would send it back in for a rewrite.

After doing pretty much every single kata imaginable, multiple spars, different workouts, yoga, all four of us had enough. My brothers and I were drenched with sweat. April walked into the living room right at the end of practice and casually asked us, "Did you guys just go for a swim in the sewer waters? You guys are soaking wet."

Who could blame April for thinking we just came back from a swim? We were all breathing so hard that it looked like we might as well have been underwater for thirty minutes. The canal of clean sewer water running in the background solidified the idea of us going for a swim. Oh how I so wish that were the case. Donnie's eyes quickly widened at the sudden realization of how disgusting sweaty mutants must be to April. He gave Raph and me a sharp glare as if he was trying to telepathically tell us, "Don't you dare tell April that we are dripping gallons of sweat from practice."

"April we didn't go swimming. We are all dripping gallons of sweat from practice," Raph answered quickly purposely going against Donnie's facial warnings. Donnie flashed Raph an angry look. Raph gave Donnie an unfazed smirk back. In Raph's eyes, Donnie was as threatening as a newborn kitten. But Raph's honest answer was worth it. April's facial expression to this was priceless. The second she realized it was sweat a not sewer water (because apparently sewer water is better) her face contorted into an obvious cringe. If I had a camera with me, I would be flashing pictures, because April makes the best facial expressions when she's grossed out.

"Okay…well, I'll talk to you guys later," April replied quickly before turning to leave the room as soon as possible. The second she left the area, Raph and I broke out laughing. Master Splinter was standing behind us giving the face palm.

Donnie rolled his eyes at us while half smirking. He seemed to come to the conclusion that April will get over the disgusting situation she had the misfortune to walk into. And at least we didn't make her smell my pits or anything. That would be unforgivable. My genius brother then declared, "I'll go take the first shower then."

"Where's Leo?" I questioned after noticing my eldest brother was no longer in sight. But I wasn't too surprised by this. If Leo was bored or uninterested in what was going on in the room, he'd just leave without a single soul noticing. That's one of the perks of being a stealthy ninja. My eyes wandered across the room before I quickly realized where Leo had run off to. An amused grin spread across my face, "He's taking the first shower now isn't he?"

"Ya think? Well, so much for taking the first shower Donnie," Raph grumbled while trying to contain his amusement. I don't think it's fair to assume Donnie is the only genius out of the three of us. Leo can be a genius in his own right too. Like right now, when he was able to claim the first shower while we were all distracted. I wouldn't call Leo an ordinary genius though. Leo is more of an evil genius in my opinion. Donnie shrugged before quickly dashing towards the showers himself. He wasn't going to let the treasured second shower be taken either. Raph quickly followed our genius brother towards the showers after randomly sniffing his shoulder. Whatever his shoulder smelled like, it probably didn't smell like roses. It was comical seeing Raph trying to contain his gag after sniffing his shoulder. The smelly shoulder must've made him come to the inevitable conclusion that he needed a shower as well. I didn't really feel like taking a shower. As uncomfortable as the sticky sweat was, lines were worse. Especially if that line is for the shower. The only thing you can do while waiting in line for the shower is start striking up awkward conversations with your brothers. Most of the time when things get awkward among my brothers and I, it's usually while we're waiting in line for the shower. I don't know why it would be awkward for us, it just is. It's one of the many things that's weird about us.

Before I could even get away from Master Splinter who was still in the room, my rat father gave a gruff "ahem." This "ahem" forced me to stand front of and center giving Master Splinter my full attention. Every time Master Splinter gives an "ahem", he means business. When Master Splinter gave that "ahem" though, I let out a tiny sigh on accident. I didn't mean Splinter disrespect at all, but his eyes narrowed at the sigh nonetheless. But I knew what this "ahem" was about. I knew why he didn't want me to leave the room. Heck, I even knew what he was about to say.

"We need to continue training some more," Master Splinter told me firmly. Yep. I knew he was going to say that. Splinter's been making me do extra practices after regular training for days now for whatever reason. I've been doing so much training, that he probably thought I didn't need any extra entertainment while being trapped down here. As a result, I didn't get a book, a special job, or suggestions for things to do like my other brothers did. Master Splinter was probably trying to turn me into a training monkey like Leo. But even Leo on his best of days wouldn't even think about training as much as I have. The first few days of hard training didn't bother me too much. I'll be the first to admit that I am kind of an attention seeker. Receiving Master Splinter's undivided attention was something precious to me. I was willing to go through the grueling extra practices with no complaint, just as long as I have Splinter's attention and approval. At I thought that maybe Master Splinter would start giving me compliments and try connecting with me. But day after day, the extra practices became more and more intense. At any moment I was waiting for Donnie to walk in and give a speech about the terrible consequences of too much practicing. But there was no chance of my brother ever bailing me out. My bro was probably passed out from the previous practice.

"Why are you making me do all these practices?" I demanded forcing myself not to sound too irritated. But to be honest, I did want to lose my temper on my own father. These practices were getting so bad to the point where I was feeling nauseas. Now, I know I'm not in the best of shape compared to someone like Raph, who could give professional body builders on steroids a run for their money. But I was by no means in that bad of shape. Not to brag or anything, but I felt that I was in tip top condition already. The fact that I can barely handle these extra practices is saying something. These practices felt like something that was used to punish a criminal, rather than to help a student. I understood Raph's anger at that moment. And Splinter knew that I was angry about these practices. He always knew. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew how to read minds. It was creepy how much he understood us. Splinter's eyes narrowed down at me in worry and concern. In any normal day I would appreciate the concern he was expressing judging his facial expression. But right now it was too late. I was ready to do a dramatic exit.

And I did end up doing a dramatic exit. Sort of. I mean it wasn't as dramatic as I would've liked. The dramatic exits done on TV are a lot more impressive than the pathetic attempt I had just done. I just ran out like  normal, before Splinter could open his mouth to speak. Raph probably would've thrown a hissy fit if he had to deal with one too many extra practices. But hissy fits weren't really my thing. Avoiding the situation or not making a big deal about something is my thing. The last thing I heard before I left the room was Master Splinter calling my name to come back.

I was kind of disappointed when I didn't hear Master Splinter's footsteps behind me. That meant he either wasn't following me or he was just really stealthy. But Master Splinter has always been be Mr. I-Know-What-You-Are-Up-To, so he should know that I am leaving to Topside (AKA Utopia). I mean it's pretty obvious, since I just left right through the front door. It's not like I'm not going to take a stroll through the sewers or mess around on the train tracks. Nowadays those activities are as boring as watching paint dry. Although I've never watched paint dry, so for all I know it might actually be exciting.

While sprinting through the pitch black sewers in search of a designated manhole, an unusually large number of questions popped through my head. Like why did Master Splinter make me do all this training? Did he think I was weak? Did he think I was helpless? Did he think I was useless? Did he think I was a baby who needed to be toughened up? Does he not like me in general? Am I not working hard enough in practice? Did he not like the Udon noodles I made? Did I forget to put the toilet seat down? Does he think I'm in danger of being killed by the Foot? Am I overreacting? Is Splinter overreacting? Why am I being so rebellious? Does Splinter even care? These are all very good questions. And I'm pretty sure not all of them have an answer. I'm a man who goes through life by instinct. I don't care about all the trivial details of how and why. I just wing it.

After a few minutes of running, I was already pathetically gasping for breath. The last practice took a lot out of me. Luckily, the extra practices Master Splinter made me  did help condition me a little. I was still capable of staying conscious. My legs were burning from the overuse. But I didn't care, which was weird because usually I do care about the pain in my legs. Leo is usually the one who has a high tolerance for pain usually. Someone could stab both of Leo's legs, and he'd move on with his life as if nothing had happened. I finally reached my destination when I came upon the glorious manhole. Without even thinking about it, I quickly climbed up the latter and uncovered the manhole.

My head poked from out of the manhole before I took my first breath of wonderful fresh air. Or as fresh as you could get while in a polluted city. But I'm not complaining. I could sniff this fresh polluted air all day if I wanted to. But as tempting as that sounds I've got better things to do.

Actually, I really don't know why I am in the city right now. Maybe I'll take the Raph method and start looking for trouble. A part of me was hoping to run into some foot soldiers that I knew were lurking about. Beating up the foot soldiers will show Splinter that I'm not weak and I don't need all this bogus training. It'll also show that it's safe enough for my brothers and I to do up to topside if I am able to defeat a flock of foot soldiers myself. Hmmmmmm… Now that I think about, bashing some black robed goons doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Once I had an idea in my head, that idea isn't going anywhere. I hopped out of manhole and crept through the shadows of New York City to find some gullible foot soldiers. They shouldn't be too hard to find since they're all over the news that Leo insists we keep watching. Hopefully a pile of unconscious foot soldiers will also be on the news by tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I didn't know the streets of New York City as well as I thought after I crept through alleyway after alleyway. I didn't want to travel through the rooftops just in case there was a search party coming after me. All the alleyways looked the same! I mean, I probably should've seen that coming. An alleyway is an alleyway. It's not like they name alleyways like they name streets. Sadly I couldn't get close enough to a street sign without being spotted. Even though it was in the middle of night, the city still seemed as busy as ever. I really wish the City that Never Sleeps would take a quick nap and let me look for these foot soldiers. The obnoxious sounds of the city itself didn't help either. When I think of "night time", I think of "quiet time". But these New Yorkers couldn't care less about their noise in terms of the time of day. Some people are laughing and screaming on the sidewalk. Cars seem to be beeping for the fun of it. It's madness. There's probably an old man trying to sleep in one of those buildings. But nobody cares about the sleep-deprived old man. Unfortunately, I have to deal with all this noise while trying to listen for foot soldiers. I barely even know what a foot soldier sounds like. On top of that I don't exactly have the best concentration skills in the world. Listening for the sounds of foot soldiers in every alley I come by was more than a challenge.

After a while of searching, I nearly bumped into an innocent old lady who just casually walked by. It scared me out of my shell. Human contact was not part of the plan at all. As a result, I ended up running scared back into an ordinary dark alley. I knew that if the old lady had seen me that she'd be scared senseless. I didn't want to give the old lady a heart attack just from seeing me. Nor did I want to be smacked in the head by that heavy-looking purse she was carrying either. After nearly walking into someone, I came to the conclusion that I'm going to have to travel by rooftops. The foot soldiers make it no secret that they travel through the rooftops all the time. Plus,old ladies unless they're ninjas don't travel by jumping from rooftop to rooftop. As a result there'd me a slim chance of me bumping into an old lady if I travel by the rooftops. Being spotted by the Splinter-organized search party was a risk I was going to have to take.

I easily made my way up the nearest narrow fire escape, before hopping on to the rooftop that was above. The second I made it onto the roof I felt a cool breeze hit my face. There was no barrier protecting me from the wind. Running aimlessly through the rooftops in hopes of conveniently bumping into the foot soldiers was an awful idea. Fortunately, my eyesight is better than anyone would think. Even though it was nighttime, it wasn't foggy or cloudy. I could see the tops of rooftops for miles. Since rooftops didn't usually have people on them, spotting foot soldiers in the distance would be easy.

It took a few minutes for me to let my eyes wander  the rooftops before I saw several black figures just standing there in the distance. They weren't running, which made it easier for me to reach them. More than likely, they were probably foot soldiers. A normal group of people don't just stand on rooftops in the middle of night dressed in black. I decided to sprint closer to the group. It was nice to finally be able to jump from rooftop to rooftop. Surprisingly, I had enough focus not to let the exhilaration get to me. The temptation of doing acrobats while moving from rooftop to rooftop was strong. But I knew that doing a bunch tricks between rooftops would distract me. Distraction always seemed to be my downfall. I was going to do everything in my power not to make it my downfall this time.

There was about a dozen foot soldiers just standing there on the roof. And not a single one of them spotted me by the time I landed on the rooftop next to them. They were probably getting used to the lack of ninja turtles that were around to beat them up. Even though they were dressed in black in the middle of the night, they seemed to stand out more than ever. I was about to jump in and announce my presence with a stupid battle cry. But then I realized declaring my presence to the enemy was another one of my downfalls. Catching them by surprise would be the safest option. Yes, even reckless me cares about my own safety every once in a while. Plus, one of the best things about a sneak attack is you can take out two enemies right off the bat before anyone can even think about attacking you. I really do wish they weren't wearing masks. The look on their faces after catching them by surprise would have been hilarious. Sadly, the foot soldiers value their identity, which is why they're wearing the masks. Why do they value their identity so much? Good question, Donnie probably knows why.

As quietly as I could, I carefully hopped on to the same rooftop as the foot soldiers. I was holding my breath the whole time just in case they could hear, feel, or smell my breath. Luckily, neither one of them twitched at my presence. In fact, they all seemed to be just standing there waiting for something from the looks of it. I don't know what someone would wait for while on the rooftops. All I know is that they're probably not waiting for drugs. Drug dealers don't usually go roof hopping. The foot soldiers were talking, I just couldn't make out what they were talking about. Their conversation probably didn't matter anyways. The conversation was probably something ordinary like the weather. I wasn't going to risk my neck to find out that they were talking about the weather the whole time.

Without anymore hesitation I elbowed the closest two goons in the back of the head. The other foot soldiers heard the gentle thud behind them and turned around quickly. Their masks hid their expressions, so I couldn't tell if they were surprised or not. I'd like to think they were surprised by my sudden appearance though. Not a single member of the foot said anything, as usual. Before they could start attacking me I kicked two of them in head knocking them both out. Several of them finally took out their katanas and charged right at me. Fortunately, they were no Leo when it came to using the katana. In fact, all they seemed to do with the katana was swing it blindly in all directions. Did Shredder even bother giving these guys proper training? I could imagine the Shredder telling his foot soldiers, "This is a katana. It's a weapon that none of you know how to use. NOW GO AND DO MY BIDDING!" Yes, I know that probably wasn't Shredder's exact words. But I'm willing to bet he was thinking it.

Even though I was still overworked from Master Splinter's torturous practice earlier today, I was still able to take down these foot soldiers with ease. Although if anything, the earlier practice was the reason for me beating these soldiers to begin with. Splinter enraged me enough to the point where I wanted to beat these guys up to prove a point. My nunchucks were able to wrap around every single katana and throw them to the side. They were all panicking without their little weapons now. But I wasn't done with them. I was able to knock them all out with any sort of kick to the head or a simple hit with my nunchucks. It was kind of freaky being alone and being surrounded by all these unconscious bodies though. I wasn't sure what to do with them. But I wanted to send a message to Splinter and Shredder with the unconscious foot soldiers. The first idea that came to mind was  to give one of them the cliché flagpole wedgie. (I watch too much television). But I'd figured that would not get the message I wanted to be sent across. It has to be a mature message. Contrary to popular belief, I am a very mature individual. I just tend to twist that maturity into a very childlike fashion. That's all.

Before I could make my final decision on what I had wanted to do with the unconscious foot clan members, a familiar deep voice spoke up behind me. "I see you have fallen into my trap turtle."

That voice instantly sent chills running through my spine. I knew that voice. Everyone in my family knew that voice. The owner of that voice was in nearly every single one of my nightmares. The owner of that voice was someone who I had wished would just go die in a hole. The owner of that voice nearly ended of the happy life of my brothers and me. Part of me wanted to run from this voice. But running would have been cowardly and pointless. My brothers would want be to stand and face this voice, even if it kills me. Which, it does want to kill me. I timidly turned to face the voice. My eyes widened in shock. The sight of the Shredder came before my very gaze. I wanted to pinch myself to make sure that it wasn't a dream. But I didn't pinch myself. I'd look like idiot if I was just randomly started pinching myself in front of my worst enemy. Sure, I always knew that I'd meet him again. But I have always thought I'd be better prepared and my brothers would be right behind me. And even then, the Shredder is huge! I mean what are they feeding him to make him so big and creepy looking?!

"Well…well….surprised to see me turtle?" the Shredder asked almost mocking me. I didn't answer him right away for two reasons. One, I think it's pretty self-explanatory judging from my "surprised" facial expression that I'm surprised to see him. Two, if someone isn't going to put in the effort to learn my name then I'm not going to even bother acknowledging them. My name is Michelangelo. Not turtle. I was given a name, and I'd much rather he'd acknowledge me by that name. Instead of answering the question, I just gave Shredder the death glare. My brothers give me the best death glares, so I'd figure I was born to give a good death glare too. But the death glare didn't seem to scare Shredder, but I wasn't expecting it to anyways. The death glare more than anything seemed to annoy the creepy man behind the metal armor, because he gave me the death glare right back. But I didn't even flinch. Sorry Shredder. But I'm a Hamato. And we Hamatos cannot have our death glares be outglared. But Shredder wasn't going anywhere. He cackled at me as any evil villain would and told me, "I must say I am very surprised. I knew that one of you turtles would be foolish enough to leave the lair on your own. I also knew that one of you would be predictable enough to use the rooftops when you come here. But this trap wasn't meant for you. It was meant for your brother Raphael. I overestimated your foolishness because I was not expecting you to come here by yourself and go out of your own way to attack my soldiers."

My heart sunk the second he said those words. I knew right away that I had made a horrible mistake. What was I thinking coming here?! It was stupid! Master Splinter knew that if any of us had come here, we could've easily encountered the Shredder. And look at that, one of us did encounter the Shredder! And of all the people to be dumb enough to encounter the Shredder, it had to be me. If I survive this I know I'm not going to hear the end of it. And what's the deal with the Shredder acknowledging Raph by his name and not me?! That's a low blow by the Shredder by itself. I have a NAME you jackass! But I'm not going to remind him of that. I knew that the Shredder was trying to rile me up. I'm not going to make another mistake. I've made enough mistakes already today.

While standing right in front of the Shredder, I stood up a little straighter and gave him another death glare. He doesn't scare me. So what if he scares me in my nightmares. I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of scaring me in real life. This wasn't the time for baby Mikey, this was the time for new and improved Mikey. If I had the chance to escape the Shredder's clutches, I would. But for now, I'm going to have to fight him. In fact, we both knew we were going to have to fight each other. The Shredder didn't set this trap just to say, "hi." No. This trap was either so he could kill or capture one of us. Pardon my language. I don't normally mentally cuss like this. BUT THAT BASTARD IS GOING DOWN!

The Shredder's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets from surprise when out of nowhere I suddenly attacked him. I figured, if I'm going to fight Shredder anyways I might as well take advantage of this opportunity to attack him by surprise. But the attack I threw at him wasn't really an attack. It was more of me making sudden movement at helmet to take it off. That helmet was protecting his head. And a protected head was harder to work with. I had no intentions of killing the Shredder. I just wanted a chance to knock him out and then make my escape. It would be a weird sight having an unconscious Shredder lying next to his unconscious soldiers. That sounds like a perfect Kodak moment actually. But once the Shredder's unconscious, I am out of there. I'm not taking the risk of having the Shredder wake up seconds later before he slits my throat.

I did successfully take off his helmet by jumping at him to grab on to the helmet before flipping back down. After doing that, I swung around to keep my eyes on my opponent. After all, the Shredder is probably pissed that I took away his shiny helmet. But the second my head spun around to meet his gaze, I dropped the helmet in pure shock at the face before me. Keep in mind, I'll be the last one to judge someone by their looks. Because frankly, I can't be the one to judge since I'm an ugly mutant turtle myself. But wow…..WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS FACE!? At that moment I kind of regretted taking off the helmet. The face the Shredder had underneath the helmet was the ordinary face of a Japanese man. But the scars and injuries to that face were just nasty. I didn't mind the fact that his eyes were two different colors. If anything I thought that having two different eye colors was kind of cool. I also didn't mind all the scars, although I didn't care for them either. What bothered me was purple burn on one side of his face. It was awful. I can imagine skin melting off his face as he is screaming in agony from the burn. I know it's the Shredder. But I can't imagine the pain he went through to get that burn. No wonder he's all evil and vengeful. What happened to this guy? My guess is he was in a fire of some sort. Lava and fire are the two things I can think that can give you that kind of burn. Boiling water alone won't do it. More than likely, this guy was in a fire. It must have been a pretty traumatic fire too. The burn on the side of his face also explained why the eye on the burnt side was bloodshot and had a white pupil. The Shredder must half blind from the burn. He had to be! Nobody gets that kind of burn without becoming partially blind! This guy actually had a weakness!

I must have spent too much time thinking. Because the Shredder had plenty of time to quickly punch me hard in the mouth and then hard in the stomach. This is why I don't try to think. Stuff like this happens. I'll be sure to tell Donnie that thinking almost got me killed by the Shredder. If I survive this that is. Those two punches made me feel like I was getting run over by Mack truck. None of my brothers ever came close to giving me this kind of a punch. Both punches sent me on to my shell, causing me to cry out in pain. The cry of pain was the first and only verbal sound I made to Shredder all day, which is actually humiliating now that I think about it. My head felt nauseous and achy. I was losing the battle for my consciousness. To make things even worse I felt myself coughing blood while lying down. I began to panic wondering if I was going to choke on my own blood. On top of that, there was this dark shadow hovering over me laughing.

"Foolish turtle. You let distraction get the best of you." The Shredder chortled horrifically at me. No! I told myself that I wouldn't make the mistake of getting distracted! Why do I keep on making the same mistakes?! Now I have an evil dude dressed in metal standing over me ready to kill me. This is something that could've easily come out of one of my nightmares. But this is no nightmare. Otherwise I wouldn't be feeling to burning pain in my stomach from the last punch. Before closing my eyes to let unconsciousness take over. The last thing I saw was the Shredder's ugly face smirking down upon me with one of his hand claws in the air ready to strike me.

The last thing I heard was a familiar panicked voice.

"Stay away from my son!"

Then. Nothing.

I woke up yelping from severe pain in my mouth, head, and stomach. It felt like my mouth, head, and stomach were on fire. My eyes quickly shot open to see where I was and to figure out why I was in so much pain. The first thing I saw was the ceiling of the lair. I quickly sat up to look around. After a while, the pain started to becomes a lot more bearable. It took me a few moments to collect my thoughts and recall why I am in this position to begin with. It's not everyday that you wake up on your living room couch in agonizing pain. Somebody must have beaten me up pretty good. That must have been embarrassing. Who could've done that though? Raph would be the one to beat me up the worst out of anyone currently in the lair. But if he does punch me, it's mostly to scare me not cause me pain. This works by the way, because his punches still scare the heck out of me. Because I do know Raph is truly capable of producing serious pain. But Raph wouldn't stoop low enough to punch me to the point of unconsciousness. Why don't I remember?! Is my memory just that awful? I scratched my head while laying down in confusion before I suddenly remembered how I had come to this position. I remembered everything.

I suddenly sat up dumbfounded. What the heck am I doing here? Shredder was going to kill me. I'm supposed to me dead. Then I remembered hearing Splinter's voice a second before I had lost consciousness. It hit me that good ole' rat daddy must have saved me. Which that was something I didn't want to happen. Splinter is probably furious with me right now. I have never seen Splinter lose his sensei-like cool. In fact, it's probably physically impossible for Splinter to lose his temper. He's just not programmed to get angry. But if anything was going to cause Splinter to become like the Incredible Hulk, it was what I had just done.

"Michelangelo," a calm voice called to me. Speak of the devil. I felt a furry claw grab on to my shoulder. While sitting up straight I tentatively gazed up at my rat father. I fully expected him to be angry with me. I'm angry with me. Why wouldn't he be angry with me too? But of course, leave it to Master Splinter to prove me wrong. Proving his sons wrong should be a hobby of his, because he is very good at it. When I looked up at is eyes, they weren't full of anger at all. They were full of warmth and concern. It was pretty much the classical "Worried Splinter" eyes. Which is a bummer, I kind of wanted to see Splinter get all angry Incredible Hulk on me. Then again….maybe not. I actually want him to forgive me. But he seemed to have forgiven me because he then told me, "Forgive me. This is my fault."

"What?" I quickly asked. But then I winced in pain, because the second I started talking my mouth began to hurt. It felt like knives were stabbing me in the jaw. Fortunately, I didn't make a fool out of myself by yelping in pain again. Although making a fool out of myself in front of my own father wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. This was the same guy who potty trained us. (Don't even wanna go there.)

Master Splinter seems to quickly understand my situation because he began to explain himself. "I should have thought about what I was doing more thoroughly. Out of all your brothers I'd thought you'd be the one who would be most content being down here and be less likely to run off. You're probably also wondering why I have been training you more and more. And that was because I thought you were holding yourself back the most out of your brothers. I saw so much potential in you to do great things. The potential you have exceeds the potential any of your other brothers have. I do believe you are capable of defeating the Oroku Saki. That thought alone made me want to push you past your limits in hopes that you would reach your full potential. But I was wrong."

There was so much I wanted to say to him right now. It's a bummer this stupid jaw won't stop hurting. I was flattered. Who wouldn't be flattered by this? Your own dad just said that you had more potential than the rest of your brothers. That's almost like saying "you are better than your brothers." Leo would probably be the first scoff at the word "potential." He believes that how good you are comes with how much hard work you put in. This is kind of true. Look at Leo and look at me. Leo is hands down the better ninja. But I can be a skilled ninja. At least way more skilled than I am now. For a while, I've always put myself in the submissive role of not working as hard as my brothers. But things come to me more easily compared to the rest of my brothers. That must have been the potential Splinter was talking about.

I really wanted to tell him that it was not his fault. Splinter wasn't the one who forced me to run away. He wasn't the one who made me lazy, as a result preventing me from reaching my full potential. He didn't push to my death at the hands of Shredder. If anything I should be THANKING him. Why is he even asking for forgiveness? Darn. Stupid jaw. I really wanted to punch my jaw out of anger for being so achy. But punching my jaw because it hurts would obviously be counter-productive.

"I know you may not think that this is my fault. But do not put this on yourself Michelangelo. What you did was unwise, but it was reasonable. You have all been trapped down here for far too long. Let us leave this whole thing to rest. You are tired. I will speak to you tomorrow morning," Splinter told me as if he could read my mind. And he was right. I was tired. I felt like I could have fallen asleep while sitting up. But falling asleep while sitting up would hurt my neck. The last thing I needed was even more pain.

I nodded to my father kind of relieved. The negative feelings I had felt towards him were gone. Master Splinter and I will connect. In fact  we do have a connection. He's the closest thing to a father I have, why wouldn't we have a connection? Since I'm a man of action, I ended up giving Splinter a well deserved hug. I'm a hugger after all. I probably hug people more than I should to the point of awkwardness. But nobody is going to stop me from hugging unless my hugs prove to be toxic. Master Splinter hugged me back, which proves he tolerated the hug at least.

I think I fell asleep in his arms after that. On any other occasion I would've not been vulnerable enough to do something like that. But Splinter just saved my life and he's my dad. So.....why not?