Feeling Worthless (Turtles, Splinter)

[Donatello]

(OCC: After a couple posts, you want me to bring Splinter and Raph back?)

"Aw mikey, of course we wanted you. We're just too serious. We needed your lightheartedness. Honestly, I thought we were being too harsh on you most of the time. You really knew how to cheer me up" Donny replied, feeling immensely guilty now. It explained why Mikey kept insisting on being funny, maybe to try to see if his brothers really cared. But it wasn't fair that they were so unfair to Mikey. It really was his, raph and leo's fault in a way. Donny vowed to change.

"No but I'm a hundred percent sure I'd be terrible. And that's not true, you are a warrior. You have a lot of determination. Sure you don't feel it now, but when it comes down to it, we always know you have our back. You're the most loyal, pleasant, ambitious and quick out of the four of us, Mikey. Believe me, I really do think you're more of a warrior than me" Donny replied insistently, glad to see Mikey smile a bit. It seemed that his method was working. But slowly.

"You may feel safe with him around but he feels the same around you. With you around, he feels like anything is possible. Just ask him" Donny insisted again, determined for his younger brother to see the light. He then beamed a little at his brother's praise before continuing to talk "Yeah, and I'm the smartest right? If I was as smart as you thought I was, I'd know I shouldn't have got nicked. I won't really forgive myself for hurting you Mikey. I can't. You're my brother and one of my best friends"

"Because we love you, and it doesn't matter if we were busy. We shouldn't have taken our anger out on you. It's not fair to you. I'll definitely change my behavior when it comes to that. You're not annoying mikey. You make things fun. You make things unpredictable. And it's okay. I can always fix inventions. But you're irreplacable mikey" He then gave his brother a huge hug, determined to show his love.

[Michelangelo]

(ooc: sounds good.)

Michelangelo sighed.

"I felt like I was more of a court jester than an actual warrior." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo shrugged.

"I've screwed up too many times. Nearly got one of us hurt or worse. No matter what I try I'm never good enough." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo was shocked as Donny said Raph felt safe around him.

"He really feels that way?" asked Michelangelo.

Michelangelo smirked.

"Even geniuses can make dumb mistakes." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo listened to his brother as he hugged him. He hugged Donatello back.

"Now I know everything's screwy. You're trying to cheer me up." said Michelangelo.

[Donatello]

"Well everybody has moments of doubt, Mikey. You are a warrior though. You're born into a family of one, so you're one yourself. Nobody can take that from you" Donny tried to assure some more. He sighed softly, patting mikey's shoulder as he commented on his mistakes "You don't need to try to be good enough, you already are. So stop trying so hard. And don't be so upset when you make mistakes" Donny tried to keep assuring again. He smirked right back as Michelangelo commented that even geniuses could make mistakes "Oh they do. Definitely"

"Of course he does. We all do. You're our glue. And he feels like he's worth something as long as you're around" Donny kept assuring Mikey. He was being honest and sincere. Raph has stated this many times to Donny when Mikey wasn't around. Hell, he had been trying to be more public with his affection with mikey. Ever since the ask thatguy twist, the two have been thick as thieves. He chuckled a little "Hey maybe it's time you get some attention for once" He hugged his brother tighter "I really love you, mikey. You're my little brother"

[Michelangelo]

Michelangelo sighed.

"We were all trained to be warriors. Leo and Raph always made it look so easy. And you're not only a great fighter you're a genius." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo nodded.

"I'll never be good enough. Always falling behind. You know I thought the five of us would always be together then Leo left for a while. And we were separated when we came here. There was even time I thought I should have gone. I wanted to see the world and not hide anymore. But the world would just likely see us as monsters. Even here we're still hiding." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo shook his head.

"You all were mine. It's the main reason I didn't go. I didn't think I could survive out there on my own." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo smiled weakly as Donny hugged him.

"I love you too Donny. I love all of you guys." said Michelangelo.

[Donatello]

"They do. But it isn't always easy. I mean, I usually prefer the inventing rather than training. But my point is we're all warriors and it can't be taken from us" Donatello replied assuringly. He got his brother's point of view but it didn't need to define Mikey that he screwed up. If that was the case, of course Mikey wasn't a warrior but Donny knew better than to judge.

"That isn't your fault that the world can't really understand you. It's more on them. There have been plenty of times we'd like to see the world. I mean leo, raph, you and me, we always had dreams of fitting in. But that doesn't define us either. We're good the way we are. I'm trying to learn that and maybe you and me together can learn to accept that we're different. We do have a lot more friends here to be fair. And Leo will come back, and we'll be all be what we once were. We can't lose hope. I thought I'd never see you or Raph again yet here you are" Donny replied honestly. He was maybe being a bit preachy but maybe this was what Mikey needed. Donny wanted to give his brother more optimism and hope.

"We wouldn't really stick together without you, Mikey. We may be your glue but you really know how to keep this family together" Donny said, smiling softly. He knew his brother was not exactly optimistic by this point but then again, a lot of people weren't. It wasn't exactly his fault. He then hugged his brother a little tighter as Mikey replied back that he loved them too. "Don't give up on yourself just yet mikey. Please" He replied softly. He then sighed "Well maybe we should go back down. Sensei and raph might want to check in on you"

[Michelangelo]

Michelangelo shrugged.

"I guess I've always preferred having fun to training. Playing video games, eating pizza. I guess I really trained cause I didn't want to feel left out. But maybe I was just only fooling myself this whole time." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo sighed.

"But you're smart. Leo's a born leader. And Raph is awesome. I'm sure you guys could fit in easily if people could accept us. But they'd probably just see us as monsters." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo shook his head sadly.

"We were separated since we got here. Everything's falling apart. Raph and I worked for the bad guys. Leo was brainwashed. Splinter was really hurt. If we'd all come here to Critic's army in the first place none of this would have happened. Or maybe we shouldn't have come here in the first place." said Michelangelo.

Michelangelo sighed.

"You really sure about that? Half the time you guys just seem angry or annoyed with me. Sometimes complaining I don't train enough or don't take things too seriously. Sometimes even before I got here I wondered if you guys would have been better off without me. Every team has a weak link and I think that's me." said Michelangelo.

He sighed at Donny.

"I don't think I'm ready to face them again. I'm just a disappointment right now. It's hard enough just talking to you right now. I don't know if I can handle three of you ganging up on me." said Michelangelo.

[Donatello]

"Everybody prefers fun over training. I totally understand, mikey. I mean I'm not a video game expert like you but I prefer inventing or making things. It's normal to not want to do work. Work is boring" Donny replied with a shrug. It wasn't anything new that people didn't like to train. He didn't want Mikey to really feel bad for being a normal teenager. He was still learning to accept responsibility. Donny was learning in ways too.

"But we aren't perfect, Mikey. Leo's got the ego the size of mount everest, Raphael's temper is the worst and I tend to get timid during fighting" Donny objected gently. Sure he was being a tad mean but it seemed like the only way to get through to Mikey. The fact mikey still found them perfect but himself a screw up bothered donny greatly. He then sighed, sympathetic to Mikey's disappointment with fitting in "We're mutants. People won't understand maybe for a long time. But we have each other, and that's what's important I think"

"No, you were lied to and manipulated by Ask Thatguy. Leo will come back to us. He's been through a lot, he'll come back eventually, until then I'll try to keep hope for all of us" Donny replied, sad that leonardo was brought back up. Not because he didn't want to talk about it, but because he missed Leonardo greatly. He was better with encouragement, Donny was better with comfort. If he ever saw Malachite, he probably would consider sending him a nice trap. He then listened as Mikey pointed out he felt like they tended to complain about his lack of focus "That doesn't make you any less important Mikey. You're still one of the most sweetest, bravest people I know. I don't think we'd survive without you. We'd be devastated without you"

Donny then sighed more as Mikey hesitated to see Raph and Splinter, feeling like a disappointment. Donny shook his head and patted his brother's shoulder "You're not disappointing them. They are probably disappointed with themselves. They're so desperate to make you feel better. They probably feel terrible that they can't help you. I know I do. I'd do anything to make you believe you're as great as I think you are" He then replied "I think they'd want to try to apologize for pressuring you"

[Michelangelo]

Mikey nodded.

"I guess that's kind of a bad example." said Mikey.

He couldn't help laugh as he covered his mouth at Donny's less than flattering words.

"You better not let Leo hear you say that." said Mikey.

He nodded.

"How are going to get him back? I've fought against him Donny. For a moment he was back. But they took him away from us. They've messed with his head so he doesn't remember us. I just want him back. I always felt we could do anything with the four of us together. And this is worse than we left before. At least we knew he was ok." said Mikey.

Mikey was blushing at the compliments Donny was giving him.

"You really think that?" asked Mikey.

He paused looking down as he said that. He didn't even remember the last time someone complimented him like that. He was sure they had but it was probably mostly about his training like finally getting a move right or something. But sometimes they way they said it felt like an insult too even if they didn't mean it that way. Like you should have gotten it sooner like we did.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." mumbled Mikey.

He paused at Donny's words.

"I guess I do want to make sure Splinter's ok. He nearly died fighting that vampire to keep me safe and he hurt himself trying to cheer me up. And I even screwed that up. Story of my life." said Mikey.

He sighed getting up and pulling Donny into a hug.

"Thank you. For trying to cheer me up. I don't think I'll be feeling happy for awhile but I'm still glad you guys care." said Mikey.

Mikey paused and smiled weakly.

"Race you to the med bay." said Mikey.

He then took off running before Donny could respond finding himself in the med bay. The first thing he did was hug Splinter not caring if he really won the race or not.

"I'm sorry I took off like that. Are you ok?" said Mikey

He turned to Raph and pulled the turtle into ah ug. He knew Raph wasn't a very huggy person but he was still grateful he was here.

"Thanks Raph for everything." said Mikey.

He let go with a weak grin. He wasn't back to normal yet but for the first time since this mess had started, he was starting to think that might be possible. But he wasn't sure if he'd stop feeling like a weak link. He would have to figure things out one day at a time.

[Master Splinter]

Donny couldn't help but shrug and nod as Mikey warned him to be careful with what he says. Leo was still his brother and insulting the only one not here to defend themselves wasn't good. He then frowned at the mere mention of Leo, Mikey was right to wonder how exactly they could bring him back. Leo was completely under those monsters control and it seemed it was strong enough to keep him for this long. He sighed softly "I don't know how exactly. But he will come back. Leo is still hiding underneath all that dark magic. We can't lose hope on him, then he'll be lost for sure"

"No don't be sorry. And yes, I do really mean what I say" Donny sincerely responded, not taking much offense to mikey's lack of confidence. Donny seemed to be the only one trying to tie things together. He did miss Leo a lot. He felt like Leo could do this much better. It was why Leo was leader after all. But donny did seem to be doing better than he expected. He at least got mikey to not run away from him. Donny sighed at mikey mentioned splinter "Splinter loves you mikey. Sensei is always gonna look out for us. He's our dad remember?"

"Well I don't expect you to be sunshine and rainbows mikey. Just don't keep things from us. We're family. We gotta stick together" Donny replied hugging back tightly. He then nodded, satisfied mikey finally was going to come out. He then raced Mikey down, not caring about winning either as he chased him. He then smiled as Splinter whispered that he was very proud of him. He whispered back to splinter "Aw thank you sensei. I was just trying to be a good brother"
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Splinter and Raph meanwhile patiently waited. They then saw mikey come down and relief was on both of their faces. It was not clear when mikey would go back to his normal self but it seemed like Donny finally got through to him. At least in some places. Like that they wanted him around and to be with them. Splinter hugged back, minding his injuries and shook his head as Mikey apologized "My son, you have nothing to apologize for. You are hurting and it is alright for you to be hurting. You must go at your pace and be patient with yourself. Just know I am here for you. Always" He then turned to see raph and mikey hug, he then saw Donny come and splinter waited for him to sit. Splinter pulled donny close and whispered "Donatello I am so proud of you"
XXXXX

Raph wanted to ask if mikey was fine but it seemed they both knew mikey was still going to take some time. But at least he was content enough to be with the rest of them. Raph had his family and that was really what mattered. Soon they would get leo then they would be complete. But right now he was just happy mikey was out of isolation. He gave a wink to donny before hugging Mikey back "You don't have to thank me bro, you'd do the exact same thing. Hell you HAVE done the exact same thing. You're my little bro. I'm gonna stick by you no matter what"