Imaginary Friend

Prologue

Context for the first part. I originally had them written as just one part, but it ended up being too long, so I moved it here.

Enjoy!

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Days in the Lair were normally peaceful. No sounds could be heard deep in the sewers, and, even though a bit of natural light could enter through the manholes, the place was still pretty dark, giving the air a sense of stillness that couldn't not be broken, like a spell.

"AH! MIKEEEEY!!!"

Well, there were a few exceptions. The little spell-breaker was currently on the move, dodging toys and scattered objects, as well as furniture. Michelangelo, or Mikey for short, the youngest brother and son of the Hamato clan, was putting all of his ninja skills into test, running as fast as his little 5 year old legs could go and trying desperately to find some sort of shelter to avoid the mighty wrath of his older brother, Raphael, who was chasing him and, Mikey noted, closing the distance between them more and more with each step.

"AHHHH! I'M SOWWY RAPHIE! I SWEAR I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!!" He screeched, running straight for the dojo, where he knew his daddy was. He surely wouldn't mind him hiding there for a bit, right? After all, Mikey knew the old rat was probably meditating, or whatever. Honestly, he thought it was a bit dumb...wasn't meditation just sleeping? He could never close his eyes for long before falling asleep when they were training, and that had earned him quite some mocking from Raph.

"Mikey, I swear, when I find ya, ye'r so gonna get it!" Said brother threatened, and Mikey got out of his train of thoughts, suddenly remembering he was in danger. He bolted through the sliding doors to find his daddy in a sitting position, with his eyes closed. The little turtle halted his running and tried to sneak past his sensei as fast as he could, aiming for the young tree his daddy had planted when they first got here. He was sure he wouldn't be seen there! After all, he was the best at climbing stuff. He smiled, showing off his tooth gap, from when he had fallen over while trying out his new skateboard, and took the first step towards it. However, he didn't get a chance to hide, because his storm of a brother entered the dojo then, nearly ripping the delicate doors in the process. Sensei didn't react at all at this situation, merely twitching his ears a bit, accustomed to these little chases between his sons. Mikey yelped and scrambled away from the 9 year old's grasp, hiding behind his daddy on instinct.

"Ya can't hide from me Mikey!" Raph smirked evilly, easily rounding the rat and diving straight for his little bro. The five year old felt his brother's hand on his shell, and, half-screaming, half-laughing, he jumped out of the way quickly, leaping over the red-masked turtle's head and getting out of the dojo. He smiled widely. Being somehow a little short for his age had its perks sometimes, even if his brothers teased him about it. Now he had shown Raph what a good ninja he was! The look on his face was priceless! He tried to muffle his giggles with his hands as he scurried over to his next location: Donnie's lab. Donnie had so much stuff in his lab that he could surely hide under a table or something!

"Wh–Mikey? What–" The purple-masked turtle began, only to be cut off by a panting Mikey, who quickly glimpsed a big stack of books in a corner, and ran towards them, tripping Donnie in the process, causing one of the weird tubes he was holding in his hands to almost fall to the floor. Donnie took a sharp intake of breath, tightening his grip on the tube, and when he managed to stabilize himself, he went to scold Mikey for his recklessness, only to be shoved over again by Raph, who was on the freckled turtle's trail. The hotheaded brother almost immediately found his baby brother's location, behind the pile of books. Mikey wasn't really the stealthiest turtle, it just wasn't in him to be silent. At least not for long periods of time. Raph jumped over a table, knocking over one of Donnie's experiments, and promptly snatched Mikey away from his hiding spot, lifting him in the air in a weird hug, fully intending to deliver his punishment. Preferably, in the form of tickles.

"RAPHAEL!" The shout had both brothers frozen in place in a second. Mikey turned his head to look at Donnie. The turtle had his eyes full of tears, and his fist trembled, as well as his lower lip. Raph sweat-dropped and looked down to see his mistake. Colorful liquids covered the floor, and shards of broken glass were sprawled here and there. A couple of books were now unreadable, as the pages had been soaked up in the water and fluids the purple masked turtle was preparing (for weeks, he remembered), and from a piece of melted metal on the edge of the table, a trail of smoke was crawling up, slowly dissipating in the air. They had made a mess. He had made a mess. Raph felt the guilt turning in his stomach. He was supposed to be the responsible one. He was supposed to help his brothers. He knew Donnie was awfully smart for his age, and he almost never lost his cool, but he had messed with his experiments. With Donnie's space. He never wanted to hurt the 7-year old, but the deed was done, and he was now watching his little brother cry out:

"DADDY!!"

As he began to wail, the heart breaking sound was interrupted by Splinter, who came running at the sound of his child's distress. In his mind, dreadful scenarios were playing. What if there was a threat? Was he hurt? Had someone broke in? A human? A monster? Had...Had Saki finally found them? His worries were eased, however, when he found the lab his second eldest son had built for himself completely trashed, the owner crying his little heart out, and two gulilty-looking turtles in the middle of it all. The old rat sighed, massaging his temples. He was massively relieved none of the possibilities he had thought of were true, but he really wished this accidents stopped once and for all. Waking up abruptly from meditation to hear his child's screams was not fun. At all.

"What is happening here?" he asked sternly. Donatello looked up, hiccuping, and flung himself into his arms.

"WAAAAA-HA-HAAA!!" he cried, and Splinter patted his head while hugging him, trying his best to calm him down. Michelangelo, who didn't like seeing his brothers hurt or crying, had tears in his eyes too, and Raphael was looking down to the floor, scratching his arm guiltily. Splinter called.

"Raphael, Michelangelo"

Said turtles met his father's eyes hesitantly. Mikey stuffed his thumb in his mouth and began sucking anxiously.

"...Yes Dad?" Raphael asked.

"We need to talk."