Mikey's P.O.V:
"Wait, before you continue, let me ask you something," said LH.
"What is it?" I asked.
"How long have you been dealing with depression?" asked LH.
I looked down. "Well, I've been depressed for about 2 years now."
LH gasped. "What?! And you never tried talking to anyone before?"
"Well, yeah, it was my family. But I don't think they believed me. Or at least don't understand what I said. I'm the happy turtle, remember? I don't get sad," I said gloomily.
"But, how come you never told me?" asked LH.
He looked sad. But also confused. "No, LH, it's not like that," I tried to reassure him.
"I thought I was your best friend. Did you not think I wouldn't help you?" questioned LH.
"Well, my own family didn't help me. That alone was enough to bring me down. If I went to you, and you couldn't help me..." I took a pause.
LH was looking at me with understanding eyes. "I just couldn't risk it."
LH grabbed me and squeezed me into a hug. "Michelangelo, I will always help you, no matter what."
I squeezed him back. "B-but what if it's something bad? Would you help me in that?"
LH let me go and looked into my eyes, "Michelangelo, I already know you. You wouldn't do something bad unless it was for a good reason. So, in my book, that means I'll always be there for you."
I smiled. "Thanks Leatherhead."
"Now, let's resume the story," said Leatherhead.
"Okay, so what happened was..."
Rewind back to the lair...
Leo's P.O.V:
(A/N Mikey isn't actually narrating this part since he was knocked out, this was just something that happens after Mikey was knocked out.)
Everyone was breathing heavily, except for Master Splinter. "Geez, when did Mikey learn to fight so good?" panted Raph.
We all looked at Master Splinter holding Mikey's limp body in his arms. "Well, I always knew Michelangelo had potential. I even know he was a little better at fighting then you all," replied Splinter.
"Huh? How did you know?" I asked.
"He told me," said Splinter flatly.
"What do you mean he 'told' you?" questioned Donnie.
"Well, I kind of caught him first, then he told me. One night, when I was in my room, I couldn't sleep. That's when I heard someone enter the dojo. At first, I though it was you Leonardo, because from what I could see, that person was doing very well in training. When I saw them finish, I was getting ready to congratulate them. It was dark, so I turned on the lights. I saw Michelangelo."
We all looked at each other, then back at Splinter. "He tried to lie and say he was just looking for his nunchaku, but I told him that I saw everything. That's when he started begging me not to tell anyone else."
"What? Why would he want to hide this from us?" asked Donnie.
"Well, he was mostly focused on making sure Leo didn't know. This is because he knew how much Leo enjoyed being more skilled in fighting than the rest of you, and if he found out he was better than you, you'd be heartbroken," said Splinter.
"Was he?" I asked nervously.
Splinter sighed, "Yes."
I looked down. "See? Already you're sad. He knew you would act like this. That's why he didn't want to tell anyone," scolded Splinter.
"Okay, now that we have all this out of the way, what do we do about Mikey?" asked Raph.
"Well, from what Master Splinter said, he seems to let things slip to people he fears. Maybe if we get someone he fears to interrogate him, then maybe he'll tell us what's going on," said Donnie.
That was a pretty good idea. We would expect that from the family genius. "So, who do we know that Mikey fears. Obviously he doesn't fear us or Master Splinter anymore if he was willing to go toe-to-toe with all of us at the same time. And he doesn't fear April. Or anyone from the Mighty-Mutanimals. He sees everyone as friends. Who does he fear that we're friends with?" asked Raph.
"Well, while you are all thinking, I'm going to take Michelangelo to his room," said Splinter while he bridal cradled Mikey.
"You're just going to leave him in there? What if he wakes up and goes beserk again? We need to tie him up," exclaimed Donnie.
"Donatello, this is you're brother," retorted Splinter.
"Yeah? Well he also tried to kill my friend. That's enough for me not to trust him," said Donnie.
Splinter didn't say anything. In the end, he decided to go along with it. When Donnie and Splinter were walking away, Donnie called out, "Good luck trying to find someone who he fears!"
"Wait, where's April and Casey?" I asked.
"She carried Casey to my lab. I'll be there to help Casey ASAP," called out Donnie.
Donnie and Splinter entered Mikey's room. After a few minutes of suggesting and thinking, I finally came to a conclusion. "What about Karai?"
Raph looked up at me. "No way. That's a nope. We're not going to her."
"Oh come on. She's perfect. Mikey fears her, and she's friends with us," I argued.
"No, she's your friend," reminded Raph.
"Actually, if you think about is, she's our sister," I said.
"Adoptive," retorted Raph.
"We're the ones who were adopted! Not her!" I yelled.
"Whatever. And besides, how do you know Mikey fears her?" asked Raph.
"What kind of a question is that? Of course Mikey fears her. Almost everyone fears her," I said.
"Why would you EVER want someone on our team when everyone is afraid of them?" asked Raph.
"People are scared of her, but in a friendly way," I answered.
Raph groaned. "We really don't have that many options now do we?"
"No we don't," I replied
"Fine, give her a call. But I still don't trust her," said Raph.
I smiled. 'Finally, maybe Karai can redeem herself this way.'
I whipped out my T-phone and looked for her contact.
3 hours later
I was right outside of the lair. I turned on my phone to reveal the time to be 11:49. I called Karai and told her everything that's happened. She said she would arrive shortly, but that was three hours ago. She was really taking her sweet time. I already told Splinter, Donnie, and April about it. Then, a cloud of black smoke appeared a few feet from me. When the smoke cleared, Karai was standing in front of me. "Hey Leo," she said in a flirty tone.
"Wassup Karai," I said.
"Nothing much, you?" she asked.
"I'm splendid," I replied.
Karai walked up to me and gave me a hug. "Good."
We separated and we walked into the main room. Raph was sitting down with his arms crossed. Donnie was sitting adjacent to Raph and facing Karai with his Bo staff in his left hand. Splinter was walking up to Karai. "Miwa, my daughter, how have you been?" asked Splinter as he gave Karai a hug.
"Good, father, but I know reunion is not why I was called," she said as she was released from Splinter's hug.
"No, it is not. I assume Leonardo has told you everything?" asked Splinter.
"Yes, and you were smart to call me," implied Karai.
"Were we?" asked Raph sarcastically.
"Yes, Raphael, we were. Karai has the training for this," said Splinter.
Karai then began to tell us how she would be able to search Mikey's soul and maybe cleanse him. We were in awe, but also horrified. The fact that Karai could do this stuff was kind of concerning. But she assured us she will only use this power for good. "So, where's Casey and April?" asked Karai.
"They're in my lab. You wanna say hi?" questioned Donnie.
"Nah, we should probably get ready to start interrogating Mikey. Let's go," said Karai.
"Who made her leader?" muttered Raph.
Of course, he didn't get a response. Apart from Master Splinter, we all started walking to Mikey's door.
Mikey's P.O.V:
I woke up. I was tied to a chair with ropes. My arms tied to the armrests and my legs tied to the legs of the chair. Other than that, I wasn't really tied, though I couldn't really move. My gut was hurting. I looked around to realize that I was in my own room. The lights were off, but my door's windows were bringing in light so that I could see. 'Why am I in my room?' I thought.
But immediately, I thought, 'Sirds! Are you there?'
'Yes Mikey. I'm here,' replied Sirds.
'Oh thank the pepperoni gods. What happened?' I asked.
'Nothing much. Leo knocked you out and the others tied you up.'
'Where are you?'
'I'm behind you.'
'Doing what exactly?'
"Nothing much, just waiting for you to escape."
'Can't you just use your powers and bust me out?'
'In the entirety of the time we've known each other, have I ever been able to physically touch something?'
'Okay, dang, you don't have to get sarcastic.'
'Sorry,'
Just then, my door opened, and stepped in Leo, then Raph, then Donnie. Donnie had his staff while Raph and Leo were just crossing their arms. "So, who exactly is gonna interrogate me? Fair warning, I'm not gonna say anything," I said.
Donnie smirked. "Mikey, we're only gonna ask one more time, before we take drastic measures. What. Has. Been. Going. On. With. You?"
I stayed silent, but I sent them a hard glare. "Okay, have it your way," said Raph.
Leo just shook his head, "Come on in."
I made a confused noise. Who was coming in? I looked at the door and my eyes widened. "Oh please, not that person. That's way too cruel."
"We wanted to do this the easy way, but you refused, so here's your consequence," said Raph.
This was not good. "Well, it's nice to see you again. Michelangelo." said Karai.
I gulped.
End of chapter 12
We finally introduced Karai. Took me long enough. She's gonna be important as time goes on, remember that. BYE!!!