The war of the blind one

Chapter 21 - Sheltering

After a short while, Mikey bumped into his friend, who helped him and his brothers get to a more deserted area where the squad was hiding in, everything was calming down, the battalions seem to be moving away, across the battlefield, the squad and the three turtles were hiding under a small thorn apart hill, everyone was anxious, some were even hurt, Leonardo volunteered to help them and treat their wounds, which they gladly accepted while still formulating a plan, Riley had gone along the other soldier to chase the enemies away, it'll probably not work, so they'll need a plan, and who better to guide them in those difficult times than Michelangelo Ha.... ma... oh boy.

Mikey was sitting in the corner, having an existential crisis as he cried in confusion, he was freaking out, his friends tried to calm him down but it just made the situation worse, he was nervous and scared for his and everyone else's lifes, but it all boiled down into a fight with his own brother, who was trying to help.

🔵 - "Hey, Hamato, I know stuff seems crazy right now but we need..."

🟠 - "SHUT UP!! Shutupshutupshutupshutup!!! Don't talk to keep like I'm a child, we're gonna die!"

🔵 - "Hey now! Let's not lose our heads."

🟠 - "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die and I'm never gonna have the chance of telling my family how much they mean to me!!"

🔵🔴🟣 - "!!"

The sudden phrase caught everyone's attention...

🟠 - "I don't know how I got here... I don't know why I'm here... I just don't know anything!!! I'm just a little.... stupid... CHILD, who can't do anything on his own!! My brothers were right about me! I'm too weak to do anything by myself! I'm too dumb to figure things out! And I'm too incompetent to do anything right!"

Mikey was already in tears, laying on his knees and hands as he screamed his insecurities out.

🟠 - "I never got to show them that I can be on my own without dying... there's so much stuff I didn't do for them still, I had everything planned... birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, even a family trip I was hoping we could go... and not even that I could do, I couldn't even be there for them, to surprise them with fruit of my own effort... and now I'm gonna die in here, surrounded by empty achievements that I can't even pretend to be proud of having... all of them either came from tragedies or bloodshed, I feel disgusting for doing those things, I... took away so many lives.... I hated it, I hate this, it was fun to kick some imperial butts at first but when things escalated to murder, i-it just got out of hand! My family doesn't condole things sort of stuff, they'll probably disown me if I go home now! Either that or they'll never look at me the same way, in their eyes... I'll be a monster..."

🔵 - "Mikey, I..."

🟠 - "And I'll never get to apologize to them...."

🟣🔴 - "...?"

🔵 - "Apologize?"

🟠 - "For being a terrible brother. I wasn't even able to do the one thing I'm good for..."

🔵 - "What do you mean by that?"

🟠 - "I-I wasn't able to help them... that's all I was good at, making sure they were happy, I always played the family therapist because I was afraid that... if they didn't take care of themselves, no one would, that's when I'm supposed to come in, my role in my family is to take care of their mental health since they don't know how to do it... it's the least I could do... after all, I'm always being a burden on them, being weak and making them get in trouble to save me all the damn time... I'm tired of just being a dead weight! I wanted to help them, somehow, just like they always help ME out. I can't be as strong as them, I can't be as smart as them, or even as competent, I'm nothing without them for comparison, all I ever did here was just me pretending to do this like them, nothing I do will ever be as grand as the things they did, it feels like I'm just gonna be in the shadows for the rest of my life..."

🔵 - "I... had no idea you felt that way."

🟠 - "Big deal, what's the point now? I'm gonna die in here and I'll never see my family again, both literally and physically, I just wanted a second chance... to talk to them, y'know?"

🔵 - "And... what would you say to your brothers if they were here right now?"

🟠 - "I'd say... that despite everything we went through, I still love them, maybe too much for our own good, I would let them know that... if I had to pick between saving the world and saving my family, I would pick my family, in every turn... I would kill and die for them, it doesn't matter how much it would break me, if they told me to kill myself, I probably would, just to show them how much I love and trust them... they're everything to me, and... I think I was something like that to them too, but I don't know, they are the reason I get up in the morning and the reason I go to bed, I wake up everyday hoping to see them again, I want them to feel as secure and love as they make me feel, that's all I ever wanted, for my family to be happy... I wish I was there... I feel like... if I pushed harder, maybe this dream could come true... but I know that eternal world peace is a bit too much to ask...."

This speech brought all of Mikey's bothers and commarades to tears, Leo couldn't help himself, he hugged Michelangelo as hard as he possibly could and refused to let go for a while, until Mikey picked up on something strange, the fighting seemed to have stopped, Mikey pulled away from Leonardo's embrace and placed his hands against the floor, trying to get a glimpse in the distance, meanwhile, everyone got a notification on their communicators, a warning for them to stop fighting, soon then, Buckley got a message from Riley, saying that the enemy forced were waving the white flag, they surrendered!!

The whole group was shocked and a bit uncertain about the situation, not knowing whether to believe it or not, so they just remain in position until further notice, but it didn't last long, suddenly, the communicators went wild, notifications straight from the masses detailing the procedures of a peace treaty as the two parties came with their own terms of surrender, the negotiations were made in the middle of the fields right after the conflict was over, the two captians came forward, standing face to face and shook hands in agreement, the revolution has won!

The troops were told to return  to the camp immediately because this event demanded a celebration, the squad gathered all of their gut and went back to their base, when they arrived, there were shipping vehicles ready to take them back to the HQ, were they were welcomed by a big party, fireworks were being set off, free drinks for everyone, and a great feast awaited for them later that night, everyone had a different reaction, Jerry froze as he watched that unhinged party going on, Luka immediately jumped heads first into the party fun, Buck went out for a drink while still processing everything, Nick joined Luka in the partying.

Leonardo was amazed by how beautiful the celebration was, Raph got hypnotized by the fireworks and Donatello was just looking around, until he saw Mikey, staring at the sky, probably trying to see the fireworks but to no avail, he approaches his little brother with the intention of comforting him, but then he heard Mikey... laughing? Michelangelo turned to him in an almost drunk way, with a river of tears under his eyes as Michelangelo began jumping in excitement.

🟠 - "I lived!! I can't believe I lived!! Now I have a chance to meet my brothers again, WOOOOOHOO!!!"

He screamed from the top of his lungs as he lauched up blasts of fire from his hands to the sky, basically making his own version of fireworks, Mikey's brother only watched happily as their little brother's smile came back, Donnie finally put a hand in Mikey's shoulder and gently turned him towards his family, now that Mikey's mind was kore clear now, he could finally notice the familiar grip of the three fingered hand, his brothers all rested their hands on him, Donnie's was on his left shoulder, Raph's was in his right shoulder, and Leo's was on top of Mikey's head, Mikey was confused and flustered, he didn't know what was going on, but his subconscious seemed to already have figured out who was standing in front of him, the pool of emotions between the four brothers caused their ninpōs to activate, and revealing to Michelangelo their real identities, Mikey's eyes are flooded with tears and he jumps into his brothers, who all catch him wholeheartedly and hug him tight, not wanting to let go so soon.

(To be continued...)