A response to a challenge issued at Stealthy Stories. I should have posted this here ages ago, but seem to have forgotten. My bad. Anyway, we were given a set of quotes and characters that went with the quote. A nice challenge that pretty much threw plotbunnies at you. I know there are a few more trying to get my attention. We'll see if they succeed.

I would like to thank my brother (even if he's not going to read this since he never visits this place) for helping me with Mikey's line in the beginning. I suck at Mikey's one-liners.

Warnings: None that I can think of. Apart from a joke so cheesy it's beyond horrible.

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I probably wouldn't bother studying chemistry. And I certainly wouldn't have to take loans to afford said studies.

"I think Shredder's gonna need a new toaster."

Raphael groaned along with his two remaining brothers. Trust Mikey to crack a joke like that, even after a battle that almost took them all out. They had barely escaped this latest robotic ninja-thing the Shredder had sent after them, and it was only by making the building they had been in seconds earlier collapse they had done it. Raph was still processing the fact that they had gotten away without more than minor scratches, and Mikey cracked a joke.

Then again, that was what Mikey did best. Joked in every situation. Saw light in every situation, turned the world into a big, colorful and happy place.

To see the world as one big, sunny playfield was a gift Raph had never possessed. Not even when he was little. He had never believed in happy endings, never thought there was one true love for everyone to find. Never thought every person was good deep inside, or even that everyone deserved to be happy.

He saw the world for what it was. A dark, cruel place without any real justice. A world where people didn't even respect each other. Sure, the humans had their "system", but it didn't include everyone. And those who really deserved justice never got it. He saw.

He saw women walking home alone on unsafe streets. There were too many things wrong with that for him to even bother counting them. He saw nice people who had been less fortunate be looked down upon or even ignored by people who didn't deserve what they had. He saw people who had to steal to survive be punished by people who could afford to give only a little of their own wealth. Give someone a meal for a day.

He saw, and he didn't like it. Had never liked it. But he knew that was the way it was. He couldn't pretend not to see, couldn't pretend everything would be fine in the end. Because even if it turned out fine for him in this battle, what about all the people who didn't end up "fine" tonight? What about all those who would end up bleeding in an alley, watching the last moments of their life pass by alone.

He didn't hate the world. He knew there were good things in it too. He just couldn't ignore all the bad things, couldn't stop thinking about them. No matter how many good things happened, how many people they saved, they would still lose some.

There were times when he just wanted to look away and pretend he didn't see. But he couldn't. The world would still be there, even if he tried to ignore it. Even if he tried to hide in the sewers with his family or escaped to Casey's farmhouse. Because he had no right.

He was another one of those homeless people. Another one of those who at times had to steal to survive. There were times when he really hated this life. Times when he would give almost anything to become human.

And then he would think about being human. Think about their lives, what they did all day. Those with good lives woke up in the morning, went to work and stayed there for eight to nine hours, then went home to a family. Played a little with kids they might have, or buried themselves in more work, went to bed. And the next day was the same.

It was then he came close to seeing what Mikey saw all the time. That their lives were good. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.

Only, Raphael knew that wasn't all his youngest brother saw. His youngest brother could see more than that. He could face death and make a joke. A corny, stupid one that made everyone want to slap him. But it was a joke, an attempt to lighten the mood.

Without Michelangelo, Raph doubted their family would have lasted long. He thought his younger brother knew this as well, because while he was an attention-loving child at times, he still knew when it really mattered. And without his jokes to take their minds of things, they would go crazy.

The world was dark and unfair. Mikey saw this, but he also saw that it could be bright, happy and fair. He focused on that, and he did what he could to make his brothers focus on it as well.

These were abilities Raphael really admired in his little brother. The ability to see the world in a bright light despite everything that happened. And the even more important ability to pass it on to others.

And sometimes thanks to that, even if it was only for a few seconds, Raphael could pretend the world was really only one big happy place. Those moments where his true moments of relaxation. They kept him from going insane.