CHAPTER ONE

The stone cave was deep underwater, with imprints of seashells and fish bones. A soft blue glow encircled the cave but the most recognisable feature were the creatures swimming about it. Their skin was as dark blue as the ocean, their eyes black and shaped like deer eyes. They were shaped like humans but with webbed hands and feet and glowing teal lines and specks covered their bodies. All of them were busying about the cave, carving out stone pillars and crafting a glowing path – all of them, but one.

This one was separate and he remained ignored by the others. His teal coloured fur had tinged pink and he stared off into the depths of the ocean. He was sad, grieving a loss. But he was angry also; infuriated, frustrated, feeling betrayed.

"I will find you." His voice was only quiet, soft, but it sent fear down Mikey's shell and he woke from the dream with a start. He was breathing deeply and felt a presence. He almost jumped out his shell when Leo all but materialised out of the shadows.

"Jeez, Leo," he said, clutching his heart.

"Are you alright? You were crying out in your sleep."

Mikey's cheeks burned and he swiped at the tears that had dribbled down his cheeks. That old man's grief had been all-consuming and had left his chest feeling hollow. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream." An easy smile slipped onto his face. Leo regarded him for a moment from the dim light of the doorway. He then walked into the room and dropped a box of tissues on the bedside table. Mikey rolled his eyes but took one, "Thanks."

After he finished blowing his nose (or 'beak'?), Leo asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nah." Mikey waved the matter aside, "It was just a dream, really."

Leo nodded. "You should go back to sleep and get some more rest before practice."

"What time is it?" Mikey grinned, "Maybe I can get a head start on making breakfast and watch T.V. before the news comes on."

"Or get some extra practice in." Leo suggested, "You could benefit from some meditation."

"Bleh," Mikey stuck out his tongue, "On second thought, sleep sounds good."

Leo chuckled, "Goodnight, Michelangelo."

Luckily, there were no more creepy dreams about creepy old blue people under the water. Leo ended up having to come back into the room to wake him, and he was much less excited about getting out of bed now. But he pulled himself from his mattress and met the rest of his brothers downstairs in the kitchen. Don had already poured himself a hot cup of coffee and Raph was grumbling at the kitchen table.

"'Bout time ya' got up." He groused.

Mikey prepared some slightly undercooked eggs with a side of burnt toast for breakfast. Leo was leading practice again today, while Splinter watched from the sidelines. When Leo first overtook practice, Mikey thought they'd finally get a break. He'd been very, very wrong: Leo pushed them just as hard, if not harder than Splinter had.

By the end of it, Mikey's muscles felt like goo and his limbs had turned to lead.

"Agh, man!" he whined, "I can't feel my back!"

"Ya' don't have a back, Mikey," Raph said with a roll of his eyes.

Mikey grinned sheepishly, "Right." He glanced over at the exit and saw the television array gleaming at him, "Sweet! I dibs the TV!"

He jumped to his feet and ran, and Don murmured behind him, "Wasn't he dying just a second ago?" Mikey would have laughed and called back some taunt but stopped dead in his tracks. Right next to the TV stood the old guy from his dream, staring him cold in the eyes. Mikey looked over to see if his brothers had noticed the guy, but when he looked back, he was gone.

"Freaky."

"What's that?" Leo asked. He was coming out of the dojo and headed towards the kitchen, no doubt to brew some tea.

"Nothing."

Leo arched a brow but didn't push. Mikey plopped down onto the worn leather couch. He played a few rounds of the new game Don had gotten him, which put him in higher spirits by lunch time. He paused his game with a great deal of effort and headed into the kitchen to make some sandwiches. Raph turned up, sweaty and smelly from doing lifts, and Leo arrived with Donatello at his side. Their father was not far behind and sat at the head of the table. The banter around the table was light and Michelangelo was feeling much more like himself by the time lunch was over. He decided to give his game a rest and instead went into his room and fished out a comic book he'd found earlier that week, mint condition, thrown in the trash. He'd had no time to read it up until now and so found a quiet spot in the lair to read it, which wasn't hard – after all, 90% of the Lair's noise came from him directly.

He went to bed after dinner without a thought of nightmares or blue people, but that night, another dream haunted his sleep. It was the same place as before, except… different.

The columns were finished; carved out of ivory and sandstone and gold. Intricate fish and horses were carved into them and the glowing road had finished being built. Mikey was aware it was a dream and aware that he wanted to wake up, but his curiosity was piqued. He couldn't see the old guy anywhere. Or anyone, for that matter. He took a few tentative steps forward. Nobody stopped him as he walked into the cave. It was empty. There weren't even any fish or sharks or coral.

But then he heard it; a voice, deeper down in the cave.

The world swayed before him as he followed it, like he was in some kind of trance.

There was a stone basin, filled with something glowing, and the old man – his hair now completely bright pink, which almost made Mikey want to laugh – stood staring into it. He looked up slowly, his dark black eyes reflecting off the green glow.

"I see," he murmured, staring directly at Mikey, "So you are why."

"W… What?"

The old man took slow steps towards him, which looked strange underwater. "Bring him back to me, or you will suffer."

"Bring who back to you? Who are you?"

"Do not play dumb, you insignificant, dull," the old man sucked a mouthful of water in through gills on his neck, "bring him back to me," he repeated, his voice sharp, "or you will SUFFER."

The world flashed black and Mikey jolted awake, shivering. The man's voice echoed in his head, but was drowned out by the worried voices of his family.

"Mikey?" "Michelangelo, are you alright, my son?" "Mikey, you okay?" "Mikey!"

He blinked. His room. He was on the floor, surrounded by his scattered toys and comics. His blanket was wrapped around his legs. His bedside lamp was on. Splinter knelt before him and his hand cupped his cheek, his deep brown eyes filled with worry. Mikey still felt like he was in a daze. He knew, now that he was awake, what the name of the old man was. He wasn't sure how, exactly, but he knew.

"Michelangelo?"

"I'm… okay." His voice came out small.

"You scared us all half to death," Leo said.

"Sorry. I…" he looked over each of his brothers' faces. Bring him back. He shivered.

Don was in front of him instantly, his hand on his forehead, checking his temperature, "He's freezing. Raph, go start a warm bath."

"No, I'm fine," Mikey said, but when he went to push Don's hand away, it felt burning beneath his fingertips. Okay… maybe fine wasn't the right word.

"That must have been some nightmare," Don said lightly and grasped his brother's hand.

Mikey leant into Don's embrace, thankful for the warmth.

"Sure was." He muttered.