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Chapter Text

Dark Mikey's always been the dumb one of the group. The impulsive one. The leap-before-you-look genetically altered freak of nature kind of turtle. Still, even he has, you know, a survival instinct and all that. 

Or, at least, that's what he'd thought. 

(He should have known better to assume that he was smart enough for even that.) 

Leader comes up with a plan to attack the turtles during broad daylight. Which is a stupid idea, but Dark Mikey's not going to be the one who mentions it first. 

Purple takes them on his flying robot machine thingy, and the three of them jump onto the rooftop, where the turtles are already waiting.

"Knock-knock!" Dark Mikey calls out mockingly. "Wanna play?" 

Leader growls at him and Red, stopping them from moving forward with a raised hand. "For once, you morons, try and stick with the plan. Got it?"

When neither of them say any kind of retort back, Leader drops his hand.

All the originals are already in some kind of battle formation. Original Blue calls out, "C'mon you guys, a daylight assault? Even you guys can't be that dumb."

"We got a message from Darius," Red growls. "Rest in pieces!" Then, he lunges forward with a snarl, and the battle begins.

As always, Dark Mikey goes straight for his original, tackling him around the middle. Annoyingly, Original Mikey manages to throw him off, spinning his nun-chucks super fast. Dark Mikey keeps punching them, trying to break through his defense. 

Meanwhile, Original Mikey keeps taunting him. 

"Looks like I really sent you for a spin!" he laughs, and Dark Mikey can't help but find that funny. Remembering Leader's orders, however, he keeps punching at the spinning nun-chucks. 

Using his weapon, Dark Mike manages to sweep the legs out from underneath his Original, jumping away before the turtle can retaliate. 

Then, he hears someone call, "Cody!"

When he turns, he sees that Leader has just knocked Original Leo down. "No, no, no!" Leader shouts at Red, "Don't waste time on the boy! We discussed this already, you moron!"

Red snarls at Leader. "I'm a moron?! I ain't the sucker who came up with this stupid attack!"

While avoiding punches and kicks from his alternate, Dark Mikey laughs. "Yeah! Even I could have told you that, and I'm the special one!" Grabbing Original's hands, he knocks him back with his shell, sending the turtle sprawling onto the ground. 

Another one of the turtles jumps on his shoulders, and Dark Mikey stumbles around, trying to get that stupid turtle off him.

Leader, fending off attacks from The Rat and Original Purple, yells, "You wanted a plan, and I got you a plan! So, stick with it!"

The turtle on his back-who turns out to be Original Leader- leaps off, tackling Red. While down, Red grabs one of his swords, throwing him across the roof.

Original Red says something, his voice sounding annoyed, but Dark Mikey doesn't pay any attention. 

Then, he hears the sound of a laser being fired. Looking up, he sees a red laser coming from Purple's ship, heading towards the kid.

Dark Mikey knows how powerful that laser is.

The Kid keeps backing up, arms crossed in front of him in an attempt to protect himself. The laser keeps coming. 

He's the only one close enough to...

Without thinking, Dark Mikey begins moving toward the kid, leaping in front of the laser with his arms outstretched. 

Then-

PAIN.

PAIN.

PAIN.

PAIN.

Darkness.

Awareness comes to him slowly. 

Am I...dead?

It doesn't feel like he's dead, but, then again, he's never been dead before. 

Dark Mikey opens one eye. Then another.

He's lying on a tilted bed. In front of him, looks like some kind of blue force field. 

Dark Mike kind of wants to lick it, just to see what will happen. Before he can do that, however, someone says, "Hey...uh...guy. You've been unconscious for almost a week."

Sitting up slightly, Dark Mikey turns and sees Original Purple standing in front of the force field. "How do you feel?" Original Purple asks.

Dark Mikey just looks at him, not really sure how to respond. 

Several feet behind Original Purple, is Original Red and Original Blue. Even further back, is Original Orange.

"Here," says Original Blue, pressing a small remote control. A food tray that Original had been holding begins hovering in front of the turtle. "The force field is calibrated to accept that tray. Understood?"

The food tray floats over to the force field, easily passing through. 

"Yum-yums go innie!" Original Orange says cheerfully. "No you come outie!"

As soon as the tray enters the force field, Dark Mikey quickly grabs both the sandwich and the carton of milk with his long tongue, pulling them back. Once both reach him, he lets the sandwich and carton go into his arms, which he crosses over his chest, just in case any of them get any funny ideas. The sandwich gets a little squashed, but it'll all taste the same, anyway. 

"Uhhhh...." Original Orange says, "You do know that food goes in your mouth, right?"

Dark Mikey rolls over, shielding his supplies from view, making sure to hiss loudly, just in case any of them decide to change their minds about giving him food.

"Oh, this is gonna be swell," Original Red says in a sarcastic sounding voice.  

Later that night, he hears someone come in.

"Why did you save me? I mean, you could have just...not, you know?"

It's The Kid.

Dark Mikey shrugs. "Dunno. I'm the stupid one, remember?"

The Kid looks at him straight in the eyes. "I don't think you're stupid at all!" he insists, and Dark Mikey can't help but laugh at the joke.

But the kid just keeps looking at him, and Dark Mikey stops laughing, because the kid was actually being serious. 

"You do know who I was cloned from, right?"

"Yes, I know. But Mikey isn't stupid, and neither are you."

Dark Mikey can't help but whirl his finger in a circle by his head, clearly indicating that he thinks the kid is insane. "Wow, I actually found someone dumber than I am!"

The Kid just sighs. "Never mind," he says with a scowl, starting to leave.

"I mean, it's not like we were told to fight you or anything. Leader said not to fight anyone but the turtles. I dunno why, but it felt like it was a good idea at the time. Saving you, I mean. Cause you didn't do anything wrong. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time or something."

Turning back, The Kid smiles at him. "Thank's for saving me."

"Uhhhh....okay?"

Man, humans sure are weird.

Chapter Text

A couple weeks later, Original Purple actually turns off the force field. Original Purple looks nervous, as though expecting Dark Mikey to leap up and start attacking him at any moment. 

"Good morning?" Original Purple says awkwardly. "How do you feel?"

How do I feel?

"I'm.....uhhhhhh...." Dark Mikey trails off, not sure what the correct answer is.

"There isn't any right answer," Original Purple tells him.

Dark Mikey eyes the other turtle in suspicion. "How'd you know I was thinking that? Can you read minds? That's so cool! Do it again, do it again!"

Original Purple smiles. "No, I can't read minds. You just said that last part out loud."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Original Purple says after a short pause, "you might be wondering why the force field is down. Well, it's because I've come to take you to breakfast."

Breakfast?

"Um...okay?"

Dark Mikey swings his legs over the side of the bed. "So, this breek-fast thing. Does it hurt?"

"What? No, why would- never mind." 

More than slightly confused, Dark Mikey follows Original Purple out of the room into a long corridor. 

Turns out, "breakfast" involves everyone sitting in chairs around a table, using sharp objects to stab their food before putting it in their mouths. 

Apparently, this is scrambled eggs. 

In his sling, there's a sort of pouch space between his arm and the cloth, perfect for storing food in. Dark Mikey grabs a handful, shoving said food into that space so he can eat it later.

When he looks up, everyone's staring at him.

"What?" he asks, long tongue lapping at the remaining eggs on his plate. "Do I got something on my face?"

(Just to be sure, he runs his tongue over his face, but feels nothing unusual.)

"Dude," Original Orange says, "why are you doing that? You do know how to eat, right?"

"Yeah, course I do! I may be an idiot, but I'm not THAT stupid."

Original Red scoffs into one hand. "Doubt it," he sneers. 

The Boy turns back and starts eating his breakfast, followed by Original Purple, Original Orange, and The Rat.

Original Leader jabs Original Red in the arm. "What?" Original Red says irritably. 

"I just realized something," The Kid says, "we've been calling you Dark Mikey all this time, and we never thought to ask you what your name is."

"You mean...my designation?" Dark Mikey says uncertainly, scratching his head with his good hand. "Uh....are you asking what my designation is? Darius sometimes calls me CT12_M. I mean, I think that might be my designation. You should ask Purple or Leader, they'll know for sure."

"Purple? Is that what you call your version of Donny?" Original Orange asks.

"I mean, I call him Not Original Purple in my head sometimes, but that's kind of a mouthful. So, he's just Purple."

"So, if he's Purple, then must mean you guys call me-" Original Purple starts to say, before Dark Mikey interrupts him.

"Original Purple!"

Original Red's scowl gets even angrier. "What, you think you're too good to remember our name's or sunthin'?"

"Raphael," Original Leader says in a warning tone. "Don't pick a fight." He reaches toward Original Red, who slaps his hand away.

"Don't Raphael me!"

While they're distracted, Dark Mikey sneaks a bit of the sandwich they'd given him a night earlier, chewing on it as silently as he can. 

"Dude, what are you doing?" asks Original Orange, no, Mikey, in an appalled voice, looking slightly grossed out. Everyone else turns to face him again.

"Uhhhh....eating? What does it look like?"

"Didn't we give you that sandwich two weeks ago?" Mikey asks, and Dark Mikey nods.

"Yeah, but I didn't know if I was going to get any more food, so I didn't eat most of it. What, are you guys stupid or something?"

"Then why did you hide it?" Original Leader-Leonardo- asks.

Dark Mikey snorts. "So no one would take it, duh."

"Well, that may what you're used to, but around here, we don't steal stuff from each other," Mikey says.

Dark Mikey just stares at him. "Then...what if someone has all the stuff?"

"We share it, then, dude! In our family, we look out for one another!"

"...That's stupid." Dark Mikey eventually concludes.

"Well, thanks to you saving Cody, you're now eating breakfast in a luxurious penthouse apartment," Leonardo says with a smile. "Would you call that stupid?"

Dark Mikey shrugs his uninjured shoulder. "Guess not." 

Chapter Text

The next day, they take him to one of the balconies, where The Rat is waiting.

"It's too bright!" he whines, covering his face with an arm. "Nature is stupid."

The Rat chuckles. 

Dark Mikey scowls. "If I weren't injured, I'd..." he pauses, trying to think of something. "I dunno. But it would be really really evil."

The Rat is still smiling. "I'll give you time to think about your plans later," he says placidly. 

Now that the light isn't as blinding, Dark Mikey can see that The Rat is holding a pot with a tiny tree inside. 

"That's a really small tree. Is it mutated? Can I touch it? What's your actual designation- I mean, name?"

"My name is Splinter," The Rat says, his whiskers twitching in amusement. "And this, my friend, is a bonsai tree."

Dark Mikey stands up. "Can I touch it? I promise not to break it."

Splinter eyes him. "Perhaps later, once you have thrown away all the food you have stored in your bandage." Despite his harsh words, he sounds...sad. "I understand that you want to be prepared, but there is no need to worry."

His bandages are starting to smell a little.   

"You will feel much better once your bandages are changed."

Dark Mikey shrugs. "I dunno...are you sure you're not trying to trick me? The others do it all the time."

"I give you my word as a ninja."

"Um...that sounds kind of official? I guess? But...do I have to do it if I don't want to?"

Splinter shakes his head. "You will not be forced to do anything here."

"Okay."

(When Original Purple comes back a while later, Dark Mikey lets him change the bandages, and even lets him toss out the scraps of food inside.)

"We got you something!" Original Orange says with a smile. "Ta-dah!"

It's some paper and colorful sticks.

"Um...thanks?" Dark Mikey responds. "I guess?"

"It's not food, so don't eat it!"

Original Orange puts the paper and colorful sticks on the same tray they used to give him food, sending it through the force field. 

"What do I do with it?"

"You can draw on the paper, dude! Just use the crayons!"

Dark Mikey looks at the blank piece of paper, then at the "crayons". There are seven in total, the colors of a rainbow.

"What's the catch?" Dark Mikey asks. "Is this some kind of test?"

Original Orange laughs. "Not at all, dude! You just draw whatever you want to!"

Dark Mikey picks up the orange crayon first. 

"I'll leave you alone to color, dude." Orange says.

Dark Mikey barely notices him leave.

A little while later, all four of the turtles come to visit him. 

"Hey....you," Original Leader says awkwardly. "I see you've been drawing. Uh...what have you made so far?"

Original Red scoffs, muttering something under his breath. 

"I drew a klunk."

"A klunk?" Original Red says with a derisive snort. "Ya gotta be kidding me! What even is a klunk, anyway?"

"You mean, you don't know what a klunk is? Are you some kind of idiot?" Dark Mikey asks, really surprised. "They're small and fuzzy, and they make different kinds of sounds. I thought everyone knew what a klunk is!"

Original Red growls in frustration.

"I'm sorry," Original Purple says carefully, "but that doesn't sound familiar to any of us. Would you mind describing it more?"

"Gimme a break," Original Red scoffs, "we're really going along with-"

"Klunks make vibrating sounds with their throats. They like jumping on things! You know, klunks! They're...klunks! You can pet them, and they talk to you like this!"

Dark Mikey meows, imitating a klunk. "Like that!"

"Oh, a cat!" Original Purple says with a small smile. "You mean, cat."

"Are you sure about that?" Dark Mikey asks.

Original Red rolls his eyes. "Gimme a break. You can't be that stupid, can you?"

"...Uh, you do know who you're talking to, right? I'm the 'special one', remember?"

Original Leader lets out a deep sigh. "Raph, we've gone over this before."

"Whatever," Original Red says, before stomping out of the room in disgust.

Chapter Text

The next day, Dark Mikey's arm feels a lot better. It still hurts when he presses down on his sling, but that's a familiar pain, almost like the kind of pain that comes from the shocks Darius gives the Dark Turtles whenever they're being bad in the wrong way. 

That's what he tells Original Purple when the turtle asks how he's feeling. 

Original Purple looks up from his hand-held gadget thingy with a strange expression. 

"Can you...can you tell me more about that?" Original Purple asks.

Right now, the two of them are sitting in the living room- why is it called a living room when the room isn't alive?- on a really big couch. There's still the movable force field thingy, but Original Purple is sitting inside the force field with him, just a few feet away.  

They'd been sitting in a sort of comfortable silence, with Dark Mikey drawing on a piece of paper with the coffee table-which isn't even made of coffee-to lean on, and Original Purple doing...something with the weird gadget.

Then Original Purple asked, "How's your arm feeling?" and Dark Mikey told him that, "It only kinda hurts when I press down on the sling, but that only hurts as much as those shocks we get sometimes whenever we're being bad. Actually, this hurts a lot less."

And now Original Purple's actually looking at him like he has no idea what controlled shocks are, which is super weird. Or maybe Original Donatello does everything perfect all the time? Still...

"Shouldn't you know already?" Dark Mikey asks. "I mean, I get that you've probably never been shocked, as well as Original Leader, but the other two must have been shocked a ton of times already by The Rat."

A thought suddenly occurs to him.

"Ohhhhh...you're from the past! Now I get it! They didn't have the technology and stuff back then to implant things in your brain." 

Original Purple's hands are shaking a little. 

"I'd wondered what those implants were," Original Purple breathes, "but I'd assumed they were there because Darius wanted to improve your cognitive abilities, not to..."

Dark MIkey has no idea what "cognitive abilities" are.

"Cognitive ability is defined as a general mental capability involving reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, complex idea comprehension, and learning from experience," Original Purple explains. "Cognition usually refers to things like memory, the ability to learn new information, speech, and understanding written material."

"Uh...I dunno what that is, either." 

"In basic terms, cognitive function is the ability to learn and remember new things."

"I think that makes sense? I guess?" 

Original Purple is holding his device thingy tightly, almost like he's forgotten it's even there. 

"What sort of...behaviors does Darius refer to as being bad in the wrong way?" Original Purple asks, emphasizing the word wrong. 

Dark Mikey picks up a yellow crayon, and adds some whiskers to the klunk  cat. Not exactly right, but since he doesn't have a black crayon, this is as close as he can get. 

"Not listening to Darius," Dark Mikey explains as he adds some red shading. "Red gets shocked the most 'cause he keeps trying to attack Darius. Red can be really stupid sometimes, 'cause he keeps forgetting that we can't actually attack Darius 'cause of the thingy in our brains. We got hypnotized and stuff as well to stop us from attacking Darius as well as the electro thingies."

"Do you...would you mind if I scanned your brain more thoroughly?" Original Purple asks, dropping the device thingy on the coffee table. "Don't worry, it'll be non-invasive, and you won't feel a thing. It just might take a while, that's all."

"Uh...."

Is he allowed to say no? Or is this a trick question?

"You're allowed to say no," Original Purple says.

"Did I say that out loud?" Dark Mikey asks, despite already knowing the answer to his question. It was still possible, after all, that Original Purple had gained the ability to read minds somehow in less than a day.

Original Purple nods, a small smile on his face. "I do that too," Original Purple confides. "When I'm working intently on a project, sometimes I start talking to myself without realizing it. The others tease me about it, sometimes," Original Purple chuckles. "Not in a mean way or anything, of course."

What Original Purple's saying doesn't really make any sense, but Dark Mikey doesn't feel like asking anymore questions for now, not when his brain already feels a bit weird. 

"I guess you can do the thing. The brain scan thing," Dark Mikey agrees, still feeling a little doubtful. "As long as it doesn't hurt or anything."

"It won't, I promise. Turtle honor."

Chapter Text

Dark Mikey is lying back on the bed and completely bored out of his mind. None of the others are around, and he's used up all his drawing paper. 

"Ugh," he groans. "There's nothing to dooooooooooooooooooooooo."

He could start drawing on the floor, but then he'd get in trouble and the crayons would get taken away. Besides, his vision is acting all wonky again. 

Dark Mikey's left eye is a little smaller than his right one, and he can't see as well through it. When his eye starts acting up, objects and people are way harder to focus on, even with his good eye. All of his brothers know this, so they always approach from the left side when they want to attack him. 

He tried licking the force field earlier, but it just made his tongue tingle a little, so it wasn't worth getting out of bed for. 

So now he's just lying down with his eyes closed, trying to imagine something interesting. He's usually good at this, but all he can think about now is when Darius will create another clone to replace Dark Mikey. Darius is pretty smart, so maybe he already created a new Dark Mikey. 

Maybe this new one isn't "special" in the head at all.

"You awake? Don made me get ya breakfast in bed," Original Raph huffs. 

Dark Mikey opens his good eye to see Original Raph standing by the force field, a tray of food in hand, looking like he'd rather be somewhere, anywhere, else. 

The tray floats over to Dark Mikey.

There are two orange balls sitting in the middle.

Dark Mikey picks one up. "What's this?"

"It's an orange," Original Red tells him impatiently. "Just eat the dang thing already."

Dark Mikey takes a bite out of the orange, marveling at the blend of sweet and sour taste on his tongue.

"No, no! Ya gotta peel it first!" Original Red chuckles. "Here, lemme show you."

For the first time, Original Red heads inside the force field.

Taking the second orange, Original Raph says, "You're not meant to eat the peel, got it? Watch closely."

Original Red tears off various sections of the peel in large chunks, dropping the pieces on the ground. 

"Here," Original Red says gruffly, passing over the orange. "Now eat up, cus I don't want to stay here any longer than I hafta."

Dark Mikey takes a bite of the second orange, which is a lot sweeter without the peel. Chewing on it thoughtfully, Dark Mikey tries to think of something to say.

"You good? Cause I'm leaving now," Original Red says after Dark Mikey finishes the orange. 

"I'm bored," Dark Mikey quickly complains, not wanting Original Red to leave. 

"Yeah? And what do you want me to do about it?" Original Red asks. 

"Uhh.....you could....uh....read something?"

"Read something? Like what?" Original Red asks incredulously. 

"Can you read me a story?" Dark Mikey begs. "I'm soooooooooooooooooo bored."

"Fine, I'll get you a book. You want anything in particular?"

Dark Mikey considers the question. "Uh....I dunno. Oh, wait! Can you get the book? The book that I like?"

Original Red snorts. "Now that's specific," he sarcastically drawls. "Look, I'm just going to get you the first book I find. Beggars can't be choosers."

The tray floats away and lands on a nearby table as Original Red stomps out of the room.

About an hour later, Original Red returns with a thin book. "Alright, I found ya something. Now, since I borrowed it from my bro without his permission, I can't let you actually hold it. So...I guess I'll read it out loud. Now, budge over."

Dark Mikey scoots over, leaving room for Original Red to sit.

"Alright, I'm only gonna do this once, so don't get used to it."

"...'Kay."

"Alright, it's called," Original Red takes a deep breath, mutters something that sounds like, 'Can't believe I'm doing this', before continuing with, "It's called, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendack."

"That's the book!" Dark Mikey says excitedly. 

"Quiet from the peanut gallery," Original Red snorts.

"Sorry."

As Original Red reads, his voice becomes less grumpy and mean. Even though Dark Mikey's never heard of the story in his life, the words are familiar somehow. 

Being read to is familiar.

As Raph continues reading, Dark Mikey closes his eyes.

He feels...safe.

Chapter Text

Dark Mikey collapses, and for a moment, the world stills along with him. His thoughts continue to loop on the last thing he said to Dark Mikey, which was-

"You wanted a plan, I got you a plan! Now stick to it!"

A large rough hand grabs his arm. 

"What are you doing?!" Dark Raph yells. "Don't just stand there, come on!"

As if on autopilot, Dark Leo runs to the waiting ship, leaping on top with ease. 

"Let's go already!" Dark Raph shouts, hitting the roof of the ship. "They're gonna catch up if we don't hurry!" 

The flight back to the warehouse takes only seven minutes, but it feels like an eternity. 

"I shoulda known that your plan would be garbage!" Dark Raph growls, reaching out to hit Dark Leo, who easily blocks the punch. "Attacking in broad daylight? What kinda ninja are you?!"

"I told you before," Dark Leo snaps, unsheathing his swords threateningly, "all you had to do was stick to the plan! No attacking the kid, no attacking the rat, no attacking the robot! Just attack the turtles! But apparently that was too complicated for you both!"

"I ain't the one who-"

"If you imbeciles keep shaking the ship, I will be forced to do some drastic measures!" Dark Don threatens, his voice crackling over the intercom. 

Swearing under his breath, Dark Raph stills.

The rest of the trip back is spent in silence.

"Yet another failure," Darius sneers, pacing back in forth of them, his giant robot companion copying his every move. "Not only did you lose to your pathetic originals, but now I have to create an entirely new turtle from scratch! Do you know how long it will take for me to grow and then train another one of you idiots?!"

"Wait a minute," Dark Raph protests, "I thought we were gonna-"

"Rescue that pitiful failure? I think not," Darius scoffs. "There's no point saving something that has no survival instincts whatsoever. Far better to start over with a clean slate."

"I thought you said-" Dark Leonardo begins.

"No more talking about this," Darius says, lip curling in disgust. "I have enough genetic material from the original copy to create a new one. In about two months, it will be fully grown and ready for battle. For now, you will have to work as a group of three. Oh, and one more thing. Never forget that you are all replaceable."

Dark Leo grits his teeth together.

"Replaceable?!" Dark Don sneers. "Those two behemoths may be of lesser value, but I, on the other hand-"

"CT12_D, you are already on thin ice for having a large part in the destruction of CT12_M," Darius growls, pointing threateningly at Dark Donatello.

As he does, the large robot behind him mirrors him.

"Don't test my patience," Darius threatens. "I find that I have very little of it. You wouldn't want to make me angry now, would you?"

All of them, even Dark Raph, remain silent.

"Good. Now, try not to kill each other while I'm gone. If you behave, I might even feed you all when I get back."

As soon as Darius is gone, Dark Raph punches Dark Don in the face.

"Moron! Why did ya hafta-oof!" 

Grabbing Dark Raph's leg with his very long tail, Dark Don flips the other turtle onto his shell with a loud thud.

"The only imbecile is you, my dear brother," Dark Don spits, standing over Dark Raph with a fierce scowl on his face. "Was I not the one who built the ship that flew us here? Am I not the one who repairs our weapons? Am I not the- agh!"

Dark Raph kicks Dark Don in the kneecaps, sending the taller turtle crashing onto the ground.

Immediately, the two of them start brawling.

"I'm going to get him back."

The fighting instantly stops.

"What are ya saying? Ya think he's actually still alive? Ha!" Dark Raph laughs bitterly. "The boy genius over here made sure to blast Mikey into little itty-bitty pieces."

"For one thing, I did not 'blast', as you crudely put it, that...that...idiot on purpose! He willingly got in the way of my laser targeting system!" Dark Don shouts. "This wasn't my fault! I'm not the one to blame!"

"I don't care who's to blame," Dark Leo interrupts. "All I know is that I'm going back and getting him. If Mikey's still alive, Darius won't have to waste time cloning another one. If the new Mikey is anything like the old one, he'll be just as annoying, but this one will have less experience. He'll be a liability."

"The idea of tryin' to get used to a new Mikey does seem the worst," Dark Raph grumbles. "But what are we supposed to do, huh? Walk into the tower and ask politely if he's still alive?"

Dark Don rolls his eyes. "The odds of Mikey surviving a direct hit is less than 0.001%, although his odds increase if he had immediate medical treatment...which, now to think about it, sounds exactly like something those idiotic original turtles would do."

"Exactly," Dark Leo agrees. "They have a high sense of honor, and after Mikey's moronic stunt saving that kid...they undoubtedly felt indebted to save him in return. Knowing them, though, they're probably doing their best to convert him to the "good side", which means we need to be prepared for the worst."

"Ya mean, he might turn traitor?! No way am I savin' that idiot if he's already changed sides!"

"Even if he does turn traitor," Dark Leo argues, "this is the perfect time to launch a secondary assault. They won't be expecting us so soon, especially since they think they've defeated us."

Dark Don rolls his eyes. "If you think I'm going to listen to one of your idiotic schemes, you must be out of your mind. Do what you want, just know that I will have no part of it."

"Me either," grunts Dark Raph. "I ain't doing this unless we know for sure that he's alive, and even then, I dunno why we gotta rescue him."

"Fine! I don't need any of you!" Dark Leo snaps. "Just try not to feel like an idiot when Darius rewards me for not only returning our brother, but for destroying the turtles myself."

Chapter Text

It's been two weeks already since their..."visitor" showed up, and Raph is already losing his mind. Two freakin' weeks of his family treating that monster like some kinda house guest instead of, you know, a dangerous, not to mention mentally unstable, captive. 

Enough is enough.

Clearly, it's time for a team meeting.

"Alright, we gotta talk about what we're gonna do next," Raph says bluntly, crossing his arms across his chest. "It's been two weeks- we better start chargin' Mr. Crazypants rent if we're running a hotel here!"

"Most of his bandages come off tomorrow," Don informs them. "He'll need to wear the one on his arm for a couple more days. Once the bandages are off, we'll do a few tests, and then he'll be good to go."

"Have you guys noticed?" Cody hesitantly begins. "It's like...he seems to be struggling with something."

Hang on, is Cody trying to suggest...

"What are you getting at Cody?" Leo asks calmly, threading his fingers together. 

"Well, he did save my life. I was just wondering if we could help him, you know, not be so bad? In theory."

No, he can't be...

"Technically, Dark Mikey does share significant genetic traits with our Mikey. And the nature versus nurture debate raises some interesting possibilities," Don says thoughtfully. 

"Yeah!" Cody says eagerly. "What if we stopped treating him as a monster and more like a regular guy?"

Shell, the others look like they're actually considering this!

"...Okay, when did this bus take a left turn into Crazy Town?! Leo, come on!" Raph begs. "You're not buying this, are ya?"

The first thing Dark Mikey does after sitting down at the table is to pick up a handful of scrambled eggs, quickly shoving them into his sling.

Gross! Is he insane?! Why would he do something like that?!

"What? Do I got something on my face?" Dark Mikey innocently asks, lapping up the remaining food on his plate with his freakishly long tongue. 

The weirdo then actually licks his own face, saliva dripping from his tongue onto the table.

Even Mikey looks grossed out, and that's sayin' something. 

"Dude," his brother breathes, "why are you doing that? You know how to eat, right?"

Dark Mikey actually looks offended. ""Yeah, course I do! I may be an idiot, but I'm not THAT stupid."

"Doubt it," Raph mutters under his breath. 

Apparently he wasn't quiet enough, because Leo has the nerve to sharply jab him in the arm.

"What?!" Raph hisses. 

Cody actually smiles at the weirdo. "You know, I just realized that we've been calling you Dark Mikey all this time, and we never once asked what your name was."

Dark Mikey stares at Cody for a while with a blank expression. "Uh....are you asking what my designation is? Darius sometimes calls me CT12_M. I mean, I think that might be my designation. You should ask Purple or Leader, they'll know for sure."

Purple? Leader?

"Purple?" Mikey asks, quirking his brow. "Is that what you call your version of Donny?"

Dark Mikey nods, a stupid grin on his face. "I mean, I call him Not Original Purple in my head sometimes, but that's kind of a mouthful. So, he's just Purple."

"So, if he's Purple, then must mean you guys call me-"

"Original Purple!"

Is he for real?!

"What, you think you're too good to remember our name's or sunthin'?" Raph snaps, rage starting to build up inside his chest.

"Raphael," Leo says in his irritating leader voice, "don't pick a fight."

His brother then has the nerve to try and give him another jab to the arm, but this time, Raph's ready for him. 

"You ain't the boss of me," Raph hisses to Leo under his breath. 

Leo rolls his eyes.

Suddenly, Mikey lets out a loud gasp. "Dude, what are you doing?"

Dark Mikey is chewing on a sandwich. Not just any sandwich, but the very first sandwich they gave him two freakin' weeks ago.

"Uhhhh....eating? What does it look like?" 

"Didn't we give you that sandwich two weeks ago?" Mikey asks, looking a little sick to his stomach.

"Yeah, but I didn't know if I was going to get any more food, so I didn't eat most of it. What, are you guys stupid or something?"

Before Raph can retort, Leo asks, "Then why did you hide it?"

Dark Mikey snorts. "So no one would take it, duh."

"Well, that may what you're used to, but around here, we don't steal stuff from each other," Mikey says.

Dark Mikey just stares at him. "Then...what if someone has all the stuff?"

"We share it, then, dude! In our family, we look out for one another!"

"...That's stupid." Dark Mikey eventually concludes.

"Well, thanks to you saving Cody, you're now eating breakfast in a luxurious penthouse apartment," Leonardo says with a smile. "Would you call that stupid?"

Dark Mikey shrugs his uninjured shoulder. "Guess not." 

Alright, Raph's done with playing around. "I'm outta here," he grumbles, scrapping back his chair loudly as he stands up. "Got trainin' to do, and I'm sick trying to pretend this...ugh."

With that, Raph leaves the room, quick enough that he doesn't hear if his brothers happen to reply. 

And if that makes him a little childish, so what? It's not like his family have been acting mature, either.

Chapter Text

Apparently, not all mealtimes are called breakfast, as Dark Mikey soon finds out. There's lunch, which takes place in the middle of the day, and dinner, which takes place in the late afternoon. It's kind of weird, because all these words basically mean the same thing- sitting at a table and eating food with other people. 

Dark Mikey is getting better at the whole "eating at the table" thing. He usually remembers to keep his mouth closed while chewing, and tries his best to use the forks and knives, which are way too small for his big dumb hands.

It's weird that he's starting to care what the others think about him, that he wants to impress his...his...

There's a word he's searching for, but what is it?

...Eh, it's probably not that important, anyway. 

Not when it's time for more food!

brrrr brrrr brrrr

Cody is in the middle of brushing his teeth when his holowatch starts vibrating. According to the caller id, it's Lorenzo on the other end; after spitting the toothpaste into the sink, Cody accepts the call. 

"Hey," Lorenzo says blandly, brushing a stray bang from his face.

The other teen is standing in the antique shop that Lorenzo's uncle owns, leaning against a probably priceless cabinet with a bored looking expression on his face. "Just wanted to give you a heads-up that my Old Man is planning on dropping by at some point."

"Wait, I thought Uncle Darius had something set up so that he couldn't get within fifty feet of the building?" Cody asks, placing his toothbrush back in its holder.

Lorenzo lazily shrugs. "The Old Man's pretty good at sneaking into places. Anyway, I'm not sure why he wants to come over today, but I thought I might as well give you guys a heads-up. I mean, this isn't the first time he's broken into your tower, but-"

"Wait, what?" Cody splutters. "When did this happen?"

Lorenzo rolls his eyes. "Last week, to liberate the tower from its stash of not-so thin mints."

On the other end, the view briefly switches to a desk with a small pile of the not-so thin mint cookie boxes stacked atop it. 

"But this time he seemed a bit more serious, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up. Anyway, that's I'll I have to say right now, so...bye."

With that, the line goes dead.

"Sheesh, does he always have to end his calls like that?" Cody mutters under his breath. "Was he serious about the Old Man breaking in a week ago? The others will probably know, it's not like he could have gotten past experienced ninjas like the turtles or Master Splinter."

"Hey guys, sorry I'm a bit late," Cody apologizes, plopping himself down on an empty chair by the table. 

Dark Mikey doesn't look up from his stack of waffles, which he is currently inhaling at a frightening speed. Sitting next to him is the original Mikey, who also isn't paying attention to the rest of the room, but his gaze is on a comic book in his hands instead of food.

Leo nods a greeting, before turning back to his conversation with Splinter.

"I just got a call from Lorenzo," Cody explains. "You guys remember Lorenzo, right?"

Raph's face screws up in confusion. 

"Wasn't he the one who said he hated us all?" Don asks, taking a long sip out of his coffee mug. "And then went up to his room without saying anything else?"

"Oh, now I remember dat guy. Real charmer," Raph snarks. 

Cody awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. "Aha, well...Lorenzo can be a bit blunt sometimes. I'm not excusing his behavior, I'm just, well, um...anyway, he said his uncle was coming over again."

"Again?" Raph asks, raising his brow. "I don't remember dat guy visiting us."

"You guys!" Cody huffs. "I know you don't want to worry me too much, but it would have been nice to know that the Old Man broke into the tower last week."

Mikey looks up from his comic. "Dude, there's no way someone could have broken into the tower. I mean, don't you have that super advanced security system?"

"I do, but..."

"And we're ninjas!" Raph scoffs. "Seriously, nobody could have gotten in without us noticing first. Besides, why would the guy try and sneak in if you already know him?"

"Uncle Darius banned him from getting within 50 feet of the building," Cody explains, pouring some maple syrup on his waffles. "I've been trying to convince Serling to lift the ban, but Serling doesn't like him, either. To be honest, Matthias- that's the Old Man's real name, by the way- never seemed interested in coming here after he got banned, so I hadn't considered it to be an issue."

"I'm assuming dat the ban involved more than jus' paperwork telling Matthias to bug off," Raph theorizes with a lazy smirk. 

Cody laughs nervously. "Well..."

bzzzt bzzzt

"Hang on, I got a message from Matthias."

>hey kiddo!

>>i'm inside rn.

>>>brought a friend, too! ^_^

>>>>he may have caused some damages to your windows but i'll fix it.

>>>>>anyway, i'm in your living room with my new friend! i met him outside the building ten mins ago actually. said his name is dark leonardo? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>>>>>>anyway, sorry about stealing your thin mints but i needed them for the cause.

Chapter Text

Wow, it's been awhile. Not gonna lie, I completely forgot about this fic, especially with everything that was going on in my life back then, but I took a look back and found, to my surprise, it had a lot more views than when I last checked up on it. While I don't know if anyone's still interested, I do want to get back into this fic. 

So! 

Quick confession: When I starting writing this story, I didn't really have a plan for how everything would turn out. I didn't even have an outline. I just wrote until I couldn't think of anything to write anymore, then I'd post the chapter. 

And that- being my lack of writing experience- clearly shows here. 

I do want to finish this story, and I want to do it right. It's a New Year, after all! That's why I'm posting this chapter, to let anyone interested know I'm reviving this story from its long-awaited coma. And this time, I'll actually plan things out in advance. 

Sincerely yours,

Tinybox

PS: It's like 1AM rn but I am so INSPIRED

happy new year