It was now a few weeks since Michelangelo had returned home he and his brothers knew The Kraang would repair the damage and their return and Invasion was imminent in fact they were surprised they were taking this long they had expected it by now!
The turtles informed Master Splinter of all that happened & knew and he had the turtles training hard preparing themselves for what was coming, the battle of their lives! Leo had been readying their weapons going over every tactic he thought up and was as prepared as possible, Donnie was beavering away trying to get the turtle Mech ready now he had the power source for it but not much time to spare the invasion was imminent.
As usual Mikey found he wasn't included in the planning of anything despite his ordeal and close up knowledge of The Kraang his family assumed he lost all that intelligence once he came back through the portal but they were incorrect in their assumptions and Mikey didn't want to correct them, they probably wouldn't believe him anyway.
Mikey was internally out of sorts on high alert and was doing a better job focussing which Sensei had picked up on, during training he was less disruptive but acted 'in character' enough to not draw much attention or concern but he wasn't his usual self and was still as loud mouthed and scatterbrained as ever & Splinter was keeping his eye on his youngest son feeling he wasn't quite himself & it was as if he was trying hard to act like his old self and being unnatural as he did so. He was calm too calm. He lacked interest in watching TV & was cooking healthy food & not showing any interest in pizza or junk food it wasn't like the Mikey they knew.
But Splinter decided not to address it for now & focus on getting his sons ready for the battle of their lives but Raphael had also noticed, he had picked up a few changes in Mikey while the other two brothers hadn't, too focused on their own priorities pay attention. They did notice the food changes but it didn't concern them to worry. But Raph always had instinct to protect his brothers seeing it as his role in the family and was always a little more vigilant especially where Mikey was concerned and he was concerned.
It was a late Thursday afternoon the turtles usually rested at this time ahead of their night time patrol, they kept the news on to see if anything was reported or happening regarding The Krang.
Mikey was sitting in front of the TV not watching it but doodling in his drawing book, he had drawn in great detail every creature he has encountered in Dimension X and written down it's abilities and tactics to use and not to use when fighting it, combining his knowledge & artistic skills as Raph peered over Mikey's shoulder noticed Mikey was so concentrated on what he was doing this was not like him so he got curious and had to look. It was out of character & Raph needed to know what was going on with him.
"What ya doing their knucklehead?" Raph asked keeping it casual addressing Mikey as he normally would, so Mikey would hopefully relax with him as they spoke, he felt it had greater chance than if he clammed up under pressure of scrutiny.
"nothin' just drawing" Mikey said, although he'd seen it a bit Raph asked if he would show him,
"Can I see?" he asked, Mikey nodded and handed it over, Mikey swallowed air thickly nervous,
"Hey, Mikey this is really good & useful too, good job little brother" Raph said as Mikey was looking wide eyed, Mikey felt uncomfortable and uneasy,
"What's up" Raph asked him,
"nothing, I thought you wouldn't like it & think it stupid" Mikey replied, trying brush it off,
"Why would you think that?" Raph asked,
Mikey shrugged "You usually... don't like my art" Mikey said in a flat tone not looking at Raph, he didn't understand his inner turmoil, and wasn't being honest with his feelings.
"I do, I just... well not when you hang it about everywhere but it doesn't mean I don't like it bro" Raph never realized until that moment how much his thoughtless digs affected his brothers self worth particularly as he seemed to self assured in many different ways even arrogant at times. And he internally kicked himself.
"Besides these could be useful... lets go show the others I think they're in Donnie's lab, come on little brother" Raph said getting up expecting Mikey to follow which after a brief hesitation he did.
The brothers were in the lab as Raph showed them Mikey's drawings, Leo was impressed,
"this is great Mikey, really great, now we can really prepare if they come here.... so you remember all you learnt out there huh?" Leo stated, Mikey nodded,
"Why didn't you tell us?" Donnie added,
Mikey shrugged, "Dunno, why did you assume I forgot it all?" Mikey replied,
"I never gave it much thought" Donnie replied,
"And you're supposed to be the resident genus!" Raph quipped and Donnie huffed in response.
"Ok look this gives us an advantage it's something we can really use, instead of patrol, lets spend tonight in the dojo and Mikey can talk us though everything he can before things start happening" Leo decided,
Mikey was surprised and nodded "sure bro" he added, feeling a little proud he actually contributed something and felt happy he's done something to help. Not knowing what would happen when the Kraang got there. But he still held back about the fact he could communicate with the Kraang & was connected to them in ways he found it hard to explain, he feared rejection or and he feared what he might do when the Kraang arrived could they control him? Force him to do their bidding Mikey wasn't sure . So any advantage he could offer ahead of time he was going to take it.
"Leo I already invited Casey to come with us on patrol, April's with her friend Irma tonight, so I gotta blow him off?" Raph added and asked, Raph was pleased his brothers were doing right by Mikey finally but missing patrol didn't sit right with them especially now with this threat looming.
Leo agreed in part "Well why don't you and Casey go and do the patrol & we'll stay here as we just planned, anything happens call us immediately got it?" Leo decided,
Raph nodded and after embracing Mikey he whispered "Show em what you got little brother" in Mikey's ear, and "you got this" trying to boost Mikey a little as he grabbed his weapons and headed out to meet Casey as Mikey was lead into the Dojo where they would talk to Splinter about it also.
Above Ground on the roof tops Raph and Casey were out on patrol, a lot was going on, the search for the mutated Karai was continuing and Casey was growing more smitten with April to the point he was developing real hostility with his love rival Donnie and not really paying attention to what they were doing as he was graffitiing April's likeness to a wall. Raph was still concerned By Mikey's out of character behaviour and unsettled by it & by how no-one else was picking up on it.
Across the city April and Irma found themselves together and were being chased, out of breath & feeling like there was no other option April decided to shelter underground taking a complaining Irma with her, she knew she shouldn't but she felt she could trust her friend as they headed towards The Lair. She wanted to shelter with the turtles.
As Raph wondered how things were going down in the lair with his brothers he grew more anxious as they waited for the invasion they knew was anytime now feeling helpless and took it out on Casey and the best friends descended into petty squabbles. Then suddenly Raph thought he saw Karai but before he could even think of going after her he became aware The Kraang were popping up and suddenly they were everywhere in huge numbers it was clear the Invasion had began.
Back in The Lair Things suddenly hit the fan Mikey was talking to his brothers about the different creatures he encountered telling them what each could do and what would take them down, Mikey felt like he was actually doing something to help they after a while decided to take a break and settled down with some noodles Master Splinter had made them, which was in it's self odd he usually left the cooking to his sons, Master Splinter seemed on edge sensing something was imminent but could not be precise as to what when April burst in with her friend Irma.
Splinter was aghast that she would bring someone to their lair, Leo set on trying to calm a freaking Irma down as April tried to explain herself when Irma's body began splitting apart and revealed to be the specialized Krangdroid of body of Kraang Subprime, the Kraang second-in-command and a undercover spy who had masqueraded as "Irma" to spy on April before they could even comprehend what this meant for them all Kraang Subprime was gloating and turning itself into weapons and attacking the turtles.
"Well if it isn't our former captive" Kraang Subprime spat out looking at Mikey who had become wide eyed and scared, he didn't so much fear for his life but what he feared his body might do around the Krang he truly feared he could turn on his family due to what they had done to him in Dimension X he could feel something in his brain & body prevented him from feeling able in attack the Kraang do he dodged but they were not even striking him either this worried him but at least he wasn't turning on his family yet he hoped that would continue.
But he feared he could be a Kraang plant, they altered his genetics for a reason but didn't know their plans. He feared he was a risk to them and realized he needed to get away from his family for their safety.
His thoughts were taken over with his Father's commands to run with his brothers to safety, Leo was reluctant to leave Splinter and as Splinter urged them to go Leo and Donnie began rowing about Donnie's wish to use the turtle Mech to fight the Kraang while Leo just wanted to escape and regroup outside the city Donnie became determined and argued hard then suddenly Donnie and Leo were being fired upon, Donnie was struck in the arm and hand, Leo ordered them to run while he went to find Splinter.
As they got above ground he received a call from Raphael he told him they were going to April's apartment and to meet them there because April wanted her dad with them so they went there to link up with him & regroup.
As they were just outside Mikey who had lead the way suddenly dropped to the back behind April & injured Donnie as they got inside April turned around and realized Mikey hadn't followed them in as Raph and Casey burst in right behind them Raph was furious to learn his family was fragmented Splinter, Leo and Mikey were all missing in the chaos.