Mikey floated amidst his brothers. Each of them seemed to be in a box of sorts, all experiencing their own version of reality.
Raph was punching a punching bag, or rather, beating the life out of it. He landed blow after blow, with little regard where or how they landed.
Donny was hunched over his desk, typing endlessly at his laptop. He wiped his brow, hand shaking. While he seemed to be stressed, he never stopped.
Leo was the calmest by far, simply sitting in place, rocking ever so slightly. His eyes were glazed over, gazing at a far off place.
.
Mikey had slept well last night, mostly due to the fact that he hadn't slept on anything cushioned for the last two days. The sun crept in through the window, landing squarely on his face.
He blinked his eyes open, immediately blinded by the light. Groaning, he rolled to the side to escape, blearily sitting up. He was taken aback for a moment, having woken up in a place he didn't expect.
In a recliner next to the couch sat Goo, holding a controller and wearing a pair of headphones. Mikey followed their gaze to the TV, which displayed Blockcraft on its screen. He observed the game for a moment before Goo noticed he was awake.
"Oh! Mikey, you're up!"
They quickly saved the game and shed their headphones, facing the turtle.
"You want breakfast?"
Mikey blinked, not yet awake enough to be able to process the question, let alone the fact that Goo had spoken at all. When his brain finally did load, he jumped up and turned towards the kitchen.
"I'll make breakfast!" He shouted, rushing towards what he assumed to be the pantry, eager to see what goodies he was working with.
"What!?" Goo shouted after him, following him into the kitchen, "You can cook?"
"Yup!" Mikey answered cheerfully, examining a pack of pasta, "Every since I had my first taste of the awesomeness that is pizza, I wanted to make something that would taste just good the first time!"
The turtle selected a few items, making his way to the fridge. Goo sat on the counter and watched him.
"What's so special about pizza?" Goo asked, watching Mikey gleefully pull out a carton of milk. "I mean, you've pretty much made your personality around pizza,"
Mikey glanced around the kitchen in search of a pot, opening cabinets before Goo tapped their heel on the cabinet below them, Mikey kneeling down to look through it. He soon stood triumphantly, holding a mid-sized pot in his hands.
"Oh shell, it was awesome!" He began to fill the pot under the faucet. "It was our fifteenth mutation day and we finally got Splinter to let us go topside! And, dude! It was so cool! There was this window with a hand, but then it turned into an eye! It was crazy!"
Mikey set the pot on the stove, igniting the burner.
"I was standing in the road, having the time of my life when this guy on scooter almost hits me! We just kinda looked at each other before Raph scared him off, but when he turned around he dropped a box of pizza. We didn't know what it was, so we took it and opened it,"
He dropped the pasta into the pot, cutting up some cheese he found.
"It smelled like heaven and tasted even better! After that, I vowed to never eat algea and worms again."
Goo made a face.
"Algea and worms?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, Splinter couldn't exactly go grocery shopping with-" Mikey gestured to his face, "-this whole situation,"
He returned to stove.
"He had it pretty rough after we all mutated, but he still did everything he could for us, even if he was suffering," His voice had gone quiet, barely above a whisper, "It wasn't perfect, but it didn't need to be. We were happy and together,"
Silence blanketed the two, a bittersweet feeling in the air. Goo dropped from the counter and made their way over to Mikey, standing beside him as he busied himself with their breakfast.
"When I was younger, we used to go to the food pantry to get food. I hardly remember it now, but it was still a pretty big part of my life. I didn't get it at the time, but I learned pretty quick that I couldn't ask for anything, we probably couldn't afford it. Even now I find it hard to ask for anything,"
They leaned back against the counter.
"We're better off now, but I'm still terrified that I won't have enough money to get through college." They chuckled. "My Dad's still irked that we consider Olive Garden a 'fancy restaurant',"
"I've only been in Murakami's." Mikey tapped his chin. "So I guess that's the fanciest restaurant I've been in,"
"Oh, who's Murakami?"
"April found his restaurant awhile ago and found out that Murakami, he's the cook, was blind. So she snuck us in-" He turned off the burner- "And it was awesome! He made us pizza gyōza!"
Mikey drained the pasta, placing it back on the stove. He poured in some of the alfredo sauce he found along with some cream of mushroom and a splash of milk. He swiftly chopped up a sausage and added that in too, turning the burner back on and stirring the mixture.
"We thought that there was no way he'd know we were mutants, but we definitely underestimated him," He continued, "But he accepted us anyway! He's a really cool dude!"
Goo smiled before looking into the pot.
"Wat'cha makin?"
"Pasta," Mikey replied, "With alfredo and mushroom sauce."
Goo raised an eyebrow at him.
"Have you made it before?"
"Nope!" Mikey dropped in the cheese. "I've never even seen that mushroom stuff before, but I thought it might taste good if I put it in with some white sauce,"
Goo gazed curiously at him for a moment before looking away while chuckling.
"You might wanna add some salt then," They giggled, "I don't think the alfredo is enough to flavor the nothing that is cream of mushroom,"
Mikey took a taste of the mixture, and added the recommended salt. Breakfast was great that morning.
.
How Mikey found himself in the middle of a mall with a face mask taped to the sides of his head he couldn't entirely say, but he was at least going unnoticed by the people around him. He watched the people walking by, not even taking a second to notice his un-humaness, almost like he was a normal person and thus didn't get any unnecessary attention.
The pair had an amiable breakfast, sharing even more of their experiences. Goo was stunned by how little Mikey had been, even if he was a mutant. They had assumed they'd all have at least tried to sneak in somewhere.
"You've seriously never even considered it?"
"Not really. Sensei really made sure we didn't,"
Apparently, that was unacceptable. Goo got him into his human costume, throwing him one of their dad's old hoodies, pulled up the hood and taped the mask to his head. They even made him put on his shoes.
"Goo, this isn't gonna trick anybody,"
They chuckled, giving the turtle a smirk.
"Oh buddy, you have no idea how un-observant people are,"
He wasn't so sure about that, but Goo was going in a similar outfit so he wasn't going to look out of place. Of course, he was incredibly anxious walking through the parking lot and it wasn't until they took a break on a bench that he saw just how unnoticed he went.
It wasn't crowded, mostly because it was midday on Tuesday, but there was still a number of people, mostly small groups. They walked by, bags in hand, lost in conversation, gesturing wildly while telling a story and laughing loudly at something or other. Or they'd walk by quietly, perhaps enjoying simply being together without distraction.
He even saw single people walk by with headphones on, simply having a nice time by themselves. He was barely spared a single glance as they walked by, but never once noticing him fully. Sometimes it wasn't like they were looking at him at all, more like looking through him.
Maybe it was all his ninja training or him making himself as small as possible because of his anxiety, but his invisibility in this moment made him much more comfortable. Goo returned, handing him a soda and taking a seat next to him.
"Whaddya think?" They asked, "Still think they're gonna look at you?"
Mikey cracked open his soda, slipping down his mask to take a sip before quickly pulling it back up. He glanced around again, watching the people go about their day.
"They miss more than me,"
Goo laughed and took him by the hand, leading him into a nearby store. They claimed that this was their favorite shop in the mall and Mikey believed it, seen as they were almost immediately enraptured by the items in there.
"There's so much witch stuff," He whispered, running a hand over some skull statues, "Shinigami would really like this store,"
Goo nodded, looking over some books. They all had interesting subjects, moon magic, in depth tarot, rune stones, even Chakras and auras. Goo grabbed the moon magic book, turning over the cover and reading the intro page.
Mikey looked over the rest of store, finding a wall full of t-shirts, a section with jewelry, and a wall of items he didn't recognize. He took a step closer to try and see what they were only to become incredibly flustered when he realized what they were.
He turned back to Goo and grabbed their arm, distracting them from the books. He pointed at the wall.
"They sell, that stuff here?"
Goo looked at the wall of sex toys confused for a moment, before giggling at the turtle.
"Yeah, this chain is kinda known for that." They stood and pulled Mikey closer the wall. "You want one?"
Mikey was mortified.
"No! No way!" Mikey pulled away and covered his face. Goo laughed on, attracting the attention of the employee at the counter.
"First time?" She asked, leaning towards the pair. Mikey quickly turned away pulling on his hood. Goo chuckled, slyly stepping between him and the employee.
"Haha, yup!" They put their book on the counter. "Told me he's never been in here, so I just had to take him!"
The employee scanned their book, nodding with Goo.
"We get groups of middle schoolers sometimes, and they always lose it at the back wall," She chuckled, "Do you have a number with us?"
"Uh, yeah," Goo tapped at the key pad. Mikey glanced at the employee, catching sight of the way her hair melts from black into red. Her eyes darted to him before quickly looking back at Goo.
Once the transaction was finished the pair swiftly left, Mikey letting go of the breath he'd been holding. Goo nudged him with a concerned look, but he just smiled and gave them a thumbs up.
So, with that encounter over with, the two continued on their way through the mall. From the anime store (Goo bought Mikey some mochi they had available), to a store called Zumez that had a skateboard counter in the back ("This is the store I might go broke in," Goo had told him. He could see why.)
Eventually, they stopped at the food court, ordering the 'best Mexican tacos on this side of Blanesville'. They had a fun talk over their food and Mikey had to agree that the tacos were, in fact, the best on this side of Blanesville. However, on their way out, Goo noticed that their wallet was missing.
"Shoot! I don't have it!" Goo frantically dug through their bag, only to come up fruitless. "Did we leave it in a store? Let's go b-"
"Excuse me! Ma'am?" The two jumped, Goo once again stepping to block Mikey. It was the cashier from Goo's favorite store. "You dropped this,"
She held out her hand, offering up the wallet that had gone missing. Goo grabbed it, profusely thanking the girl, turning to usher Mikey out of the mall.
"That was weird," Mikey said, glancing back behind them, seeing that the girl was no longer there, "Why did she leave the store?"
"Uh, Mikey? Look-" Goo held a small note in their hand like a bug that might bite them- "It was in my wallet,"
Mikey looked at them, confusion and unease spreading between the two.
"It's an address,"