A Misshaped Mutant

Ep 8 - Daily Morning Routine

"G'morning mi hermanos! Would you care for our ablutions?" Leo sing-song said, bursting into the center of the lair where the turtles had gathered up in the morning. Donnie looked up from his tablet with his usual frown from 'I-haven't-slept-in-god-knows-how-long' face. Raph was standing besides his weights he uses as in part of his morning daily routine. Mikey was laying upside down on the beanbag, kicking his legs in the air.

Raph turned to Leo. "Oh hey Leo! What're you up to now considering you're strangely in a good mood today." Raph crossed his arms. He knew Leo for his sense of humor 'pranks' he considered to be funny. Leo raised his hands up with a dramatic tone. "Oh so now I can't just randomly be in a good mood?" Leo dramatically put a hand on his chest. "Such cruelty. Oh how will I ever recover from this..."

Donnie let out a groaned sigh. "Ugh alright Leonardo. That's enough. I don't want to hear OR see any of your guilty acts." Donnie placed his tablet down on his lap. Donnie sighed and rubbed between his eyes. "As I'm very sure that you all are very well aware of the... incident yesterday," Donnie gestured his hands, pausing for a moment. Donnie opened his mouth to speak. "Woah woah woah, hold it up a moment my Donatello." Leo cut off.

"It's waaaay too early to add that to your list of concerns and worries." Leo shrugged. "Yeah I mean, it's not really likely that we'll encounter him again!" Raph chimed in. He didn't really want to deal with anything crazy nonsense right now. Donnie raised a brow at Raph. "You sure Raph? Cuz I know for sure you'd be the first to side with me when it comes to these situations." Donnie responded.

Raph chuckled nervously. Donnie narrowed his eyes at Raph. "Sigh. I guess I'll allow this slide past BUT-" Donnie held up a finger. "If we encounter that feral mutant or yokai two times again, we're about to have some work to discuss." Donnie pointed at Raph, shooting him a look telling him he couldn't avoid this topic forever. Raph nodded silently.

Raph turned to Leo. "Leo. How's your shoulder coming along?" Leo held his shoulder and moved it around. "I'll manage just perfectly fine." Leo replied. "See? I'm all good now. Nothing can beat Leo's immune system." Leo turned his back to Raph, flexing his arms. "Uh, actually. Immune systems are for when dealing with viruses and bacteria. Not wounds." Donnie corrected him. "Oh whatever. Same thing. Get iver it." Leo groaned, shoving his hand into Donnie's face. Donnie pushed the hand away, growling.

"We're still doing our daily morning patrol, right?" Mikey squeaked in. Everyone turned to Mikey laying upside down on the beanbag. "Oh of course we are. Nothing a little morning patrol can do." Raph replied. Leo and Donnie sticks their tongue to each other in the background. "I don't know. I got a bad feeling about that weird yokai." Mikey frowned. Raph gently picked up his baby brother with a reassuring tone. "Don't you worry big man! Raph's gonna protect you guys!" Mikey smiled a bit as he was put back down.

"Last one to the rooftop has to pay for pizza!" Leo called out, slipping into his portal as he spoke. "LEO!!" Donnie shouted, running after him. Raph and Mikey glanced at each other.

———                 ———

Raph gave a quick scan around his surroundings. Just buildings and buildings. Leo was munching on the freshly delivered cheese pizza. "Ah. What a perfect way to start out." Raph muttered, staring at the sunrise. The cool air at mornings was nice and refreshing. Donnie was staring at his phone, holding his bo-tech staff in his arms. He was typing something. And Mikey–

Wait. Where was Mikey?

Raph looked around.

Mikey?

Spotting his youngest sibling at the other side of the rooftop which was covered in shadows, Raph let out a relieved sigh. Mikey was standing near the edge, staring at something. Raph walked up to Mikey, leaning onto the side to get a peek of what Mikey was staring at. "Hey Mikey, what are you looking at?"

Mikey flinched, startled from the sudden voice. "Oh! U-Uhm..." Mikey stuttered, fiddling with his fingers. Mikey glanced away from Raph. "I can't help it but get this..." Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "I get the feeling like when you feel like you're being stalked or something." Mikey confessed. Raph widened his eyes with worry. Mikey was usually care-free and wasn't really bothered by many things. In fact, it was usually Leo who was getting all the bad feelings. "Mikey. Is this still from the Krang?" Raph asked with a soft voice.

Mikey shook his head. "It's not the Krang. It's just an uneasy feeling." Mikey's eyes wandered off into the space in front of him. From time to time, Mikey would get an eerie or uneasy feelings from the Krang and the sensation of his hands burning from his own ninpo. Like phantom pain. Raph also had phantom pain but as of late, the phantom pain seemed to occur less often. The sensation of the pink flesh wriggling inside of his own flesh and head creeped in his skin. Raph abruptly shook his head. Raph didn't want those thoughts now. That was all in the past. It's all over.

Raph looked at Mikey again. He was spacing out again. Raph let out a sigh. Tapping lightly on Mikey's shoulder, Raph gently said "C'mon Mikey. We should grab a slice before Leo gets all the pizza again." Mikey looked up at Raph then glanced away again. He silently nodded his head.

The head peeked out of an alleyway. Looking at the spot where Mikey was once at, the head slowly creeped back into the alleyway.