Same but Different

Pairings: None

Warnings: Angst

Author's Note: I imagined this as 2012 turtles, but you could probably do any version.

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The mood of the lair had been really somber the past few days. The group of mutant turtles had been out patrolling late last week and had failed to elude the lens of a back-alley surveillance camera. Usually, they had no issues with this sort of thing. A while back, Donnie hacked into the nearest security systems and had them set to automatically delete any evidence that recognized their faces. Unfortunately, the video footage never revealed their profiles. The man who owned the street cam submitted the video to a news channel and it premiered on the television. On a good note, it was poor quality so the figures in the video could be mistaken for large burly men who carry dangerous weapons. Nonetheless, the turtles knew it was them. They didn't think much of it until the news anchors started referring to the unknown vigilantes as "Monsters of the Night".

Despite the story being pushed under the rug, the ninja turtles were still feeling the effects of the words left echoing from the news.

Donnie set to improving his system he had in place. He wanted to make sure that no camera would be able to catch sight of them again. He only came out of his lab when he needed to grab some coffee or a snack.

Raphael spent most of his time in the gym, expressing is rage though vigorous workout sessions. Part of him thought, "if they want a monster I'll give them a monster!" but then he'd calm down a bit and hate himself for thinking that. Then he'd remember what the news said and become angry all over again. It was a vicious cycle.

Leo didn't seem as fazed by it as the others. The only evidence was that he meditated alone in his room instead of in the dojo.

Mikey attempted to block out the harsh words by playing continuous amounts of video games. After a few days of nonstop virtual reality, he huffed and shut off his game.

He sat back and listened. The lair was silent, save for the sound of the fridge whirring in the kitchen. Mikey closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

You know, there's nothing wrong with being different! Just because I'm not human that doesn't make me a monster! he thought.

Mikey opened his eyes and sprung from the floor. He had an idea!

"Time to teach my bros something new," he said triumphantly, pointing a finger in the air.

Mikey checked the nearest clock and it read 9:23 p.m. "Perfect!"

He immediately called the nearest pizza place and ordered enough for the four of them. Next, Mikey managed to round up his brothers from whatever was occupying them. When he had them all in the same room, he quickly explained.

"There's something really really important I have to show you guys. We have to go up top, though," Mikey said.

Leo began to argue, but Mikey quickly added, "There'll be pizza too!"

Mikey gave them his cutest puppy dog face he could muster. Raph rolled his eyes, "How bad can it be?"

Donatello shrugged, "The security system is in the process of downloading new content right now so I guess I could take a break."

Leo concluded, "Let's get going then."

Mikey smiled wide and clapped his hands together before leading them out of the lair.

~~

After they had picked up the pizza, Mikey brought them to the docks. They found a closed off area that was hidden away by loading crates. This way, no one could see them unless they were on a boat that came too close to land for comfort. The turtles sat on one of the crates and let their feet hang from the edge.

For a while, they just ate and stared out at the ocean. The moon was only three-quarters full but allowed them to see each other's faces clearly. Boats would pass by in the distance as their lights would glide across the waters' edge. Finally, Raph asked Mikey the question he'd been waiting for.

"This is nice and all, Mikey, but why'd ya bring us here? "

Michelangelo sat up straighter, "I know we've all been thinking about that dumb news story lately."

Raphael and Leo tensed up a bit. Donnie stared at his lap.

Mikey continued, "Here's the thing, we might not be human, but that doesn't mean we're not all that different from humans. We actually have a lot in common. The same air, the same Earth, the same sky," he held out his arm and motioned at their surroundings, "Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different. . . well, who knows?"

Raph looked perplexed that Mikey could think this deep. Leonardo nodded his head in agreement. Donnie on the other hand, busted out laughing. His brothers looked at him thinking he was being inconsiderate.

"Did you really just quote Pokémon?" he managed to say when he could control his giggles.

Now it was time for Leo and Raph to eye Mikey.

Mikey smiled sheepishly, "It's a good quote! And it's true!" He threw his hands up defensively.

Leo snickered and Raph shook his head. Now all of them had grins plastered to their face as they reminisced of the old Pokémon movie they had received years ago from Splinter.

Raphael patted Mikey on the shoulders, "You did good, bud."

The four brothers continued chatting until it was time to head home. They didn't necessarily forget about "Monsters of the Night" but they knew in their hearts that it's okay to be different.

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Creds to the creators of Pokemon for the wonderful quote!