Rise of the Mighty Mutanimals

Chapter 2- Why does Draxum do Zumba?

Although sneaking out was considered a timeless teen angst cliché, Mikey had never considered doing it before. He had no reason to, after all. He loved being around his family, he was a homebody by nature, but even homebody's get tired. Even homebodies deserve freedom. And he couldn't deny, despite his anger and frustration at his siblings, he felt a sense of thrill when he climbed the ladder towards the surface. He decided that he quite liked being a rebel.

No more Mr. Nice Turtle! I'm gonna do whatever I want. Eat pizza? Sure! Get a tattoo? Probably not since I'm afraid of needles. Sing opera at the top of lungs? Why not! This night belongs to me and I'll have no older siblings bothering me!

He lifted the manhole cover with only minimal struggling, and immediately was greeted with a chilly breeze hitting his face, and the faint smell of weed wafting in the air. He clambered out and closed the manhole cover hastily behind him. He gazed up longingly at the skyscrapers that could touch the moon, the gorgeous colors popping out from different areas, and of course, the visible air pollution scattering around.

"Ahhh Manhattan." He breathed, watching a rat nibble on some moldy pepperoni pizza by the dumpster. "It's so beautiful." Sure the after smell reeked, but it was so familiar and oddly comforting.

It was true, at night was when the city was most alive. Even when he wasn't in disguise, he didn't need to worry about being gawked at. Everyone else was too busy focusing on their phone screens to give the green teen a second glance. He laughed and whooped, his heart thumping to the rhythm of the music being played by a street band. He gave each member (the saxophonist, guitarist, drummer and vocalist!) an eager wave. The guitarist nodded in his direction, which only made his grin widden. Without a second thought, he tossed a few dollars into the instrument cases.

"Thanks kid," said the guitarist. Mikey noticed the musician had a lot of piercings and the coolest afro he had ever seen. "You got some cream for that green skin of yours?" He remarked with a smirk.

"Nah, my skin's permanently like this!" He replied cheerfully. "But don't worry, it isn't contagious!"

The other band members laughed, even though what he said wasn't a joke. He laughed along with them until he was pushed away by disgruntled New Yorkers trying to get where they were going. Living in the city all his life, Michelangelo was used to the ongoing train of people. Donnie once said the people of New York are like a colony of ants scrambling to get to their assigned locations, each with a set goal in mind. Mikey wasn't sure all about that, but he did know that New York was always buzzing with all sorts of characters.

Once a gap was made, Mikey slipped back to the nearest alleyway, hoping to find a less crowded path. Lo and behold, the brick building he was standing behind happened to be the best apartment building in the entire city. It was home to not only Baron Draxum, his kinda father and kinda creator- but April O' Neil herself. He knew Draxum wasn't a huge fan of unannounced visits (not since that surprise birthday party) so Mikey decided to pay his favorite sister a proper visit. It had been a while since he had one on one time with her anyway.

Mikey checked his phone. It was only 10:03! Perfect. He reached for his mini grappling hook, twirled it around, and silently cheered when it latched on to the fire escape scaffolding. Using most of his upper body strength, he climbed to the top, hoisted himself over the ledge, and silently cheered when he made it to April's window. He sent a quick text to let her know, and the second he pressed send, his oldest friend opened the window. Although she looked tired, she seemed happy to see him.

"Mikey?" She yawned. "What's going on?"

"Hi April," He looked sheepish. "Can I come in? I just need to talk to someone."