So, I wasn't expecting to post anything today, really, but my pug dog, Hazel, died today... so yeah. Y'all get a new one-shot then! I'm sorry if there's a lot of OOCness... Although Raph's my favorite turtle and all, he's so bloody hard to write! Besides, I thought he was pretty upset after Spike/Slash turned all evil the Slash and Destroy, so I went for it. Enjoy!
Title: A Sad Day for Raphael
Rating: K
Idea: What if Spike were to die? Poor Raphie :( *SET BEFORE SLASH AND DESTROY*
"DONNIE! DONNIE!" Donnie yanked up his head and tumbled out of his chair. He'd fallen asleep at his desk again, he noted ruefully once he plucked off the stray piece of paper stuck to his cheek. "DONNIE!" A very familiar voice amplified with sorrow and panic was screaming his name repeatedly.
"RAPH!" He snatched up his Bo and raced down the hall to Raph's bedroom. "I'M COMING!" Holding his staff at the ready, he kicked in the bedroom door. Raph was sitting on his bed with Spike cradled in his arms. "What? What?" He shrieked, swinging his Bo as he looked around for anything dangerous. His brown eyes were wide with fear.
"What's wrong? What?" Leo burst in, gripping both of his katanas so hard his knuckles were turning white. Mikey staggered in not two seconds after Leo; he was still yawning and he hadn't bothered to put on his orange mask yet.
"It's Spike," Raph began, still looking down at the little turtle in his arms. "He-"
"RAPH! I thought you were in trouble! Don't ever scream like that!" Leo huffed and sheathed his katanas in one smooth motion. Donnie visibly relaxed too, putting his Bo back in the sheath on his shell, too.
"Wait, what's wrong with Spike?" Mikey interrupted. Leo paused his lecture to shoot a glare at Mikey. Donnie glanced at Mikey and then at the turtle in Raph's arms. "Raph?"
"I think he's dead..." Raph looked up at his brothers with tears glistening in his eyes. "He's cold, he hadn't touched his lettuce from last night. I thought he was sleeping! But he didn't even wake up when I picked him up!" He held up Spike in his hands. "Donnie?" was all he could bring himself to say as the purple clad turtle gingerly took him from his older brother's hands.
Spike didn't stir, so Donnie laid one finger over where his heart would be and carefully felt for vibrations. He gently moved it left, right, then down. With one hand he cradled Spike to his chest and with the other he reached in his bowl and pulled out a lettuce leaf. He held it in front of Spike's beak.
Nothing. The non-mutated turtle didn't react, and the lettuce didn't move with the signs of breath. Donnie let out a sigh that he didn't know he'd been holding. He looked from the limp body of Raph's beloved pet to the hopeful green eyes of the temperamental turtle.
"Raph, I'm sorry," Mikey quit shifting around, and Leo's eyes grew wide. "I think Spike passed away sometime last night in his sleep." All hope in Raph's eyes drained away in one moment.
"Did he... did it hurt?" Raph asked softly. Donnie shook his head no as he held out the little turtle back to Raph. Raph picked up his pet and gently stroked his shell. "He... he liked when I'd stroke his shell like this." Raph's eyes welled up with more tears at his loss. Leo was paralyzed; how was he supposed to comfort Raph?
Mikey was the first to react. He pushed past Leo and Donnie and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. He wrapped his arms around Raph's shoulders and rested his head in the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry, Raphie," Mikey murmured, his blue eyes lacking the twinkle they normally held.
Donnie sat down on the other side and wrapped his arms around Raph. "It's okay, it's okay!" Leo squatted down in front of them and put his hands over Raph's and Spike. He didn't say anything, but the sorrowful look in his eyes expressed all the words and emotions he needed to convey.
The brothers sat, mourning the loss of Spike with their brother. No words were spoken, nobody moved. They sat together, as a family, in a moment of comfort.
"You know what?" Mikey broke the silence. "Why don't we give Spike the best funeral a non-mutant turtle can have!" Raph looked up. "We can bury him in the sewer tunnels by the nasty green river you used to let him swim in." Leo looked up, his eyes alight with fury.
"Mikey! His pet just DIED!"
"Yeah, well a funeral is a good idea!" Donnie stuck up for Mikey. "Raph can all say his final goodbyes and something good about Spike!" He turned to look at Raph, who'd watched the entire conversation with sad eyes. "What do ya say?"
"Yeah," Raph whispered. "It's a good idea." He pressed the limp body to the lightning shape crack in his plastron.
"Leave it to us, bro! We're going to make this a funeral Spike would love!" Mikey grabbed Donnie's and Mikey's arms and pulled them out of Raph's bedroom. "Come on, we gotta do this for Raph!"
"Welcome," Leo said solemnly as he ushered Raph to a row of empty fold-up chairs in one of the many sewer tunnels. "I wish it was under better circumstances, but, you know..." Leo said awkwardly. When Donnie glared pointedly at him, the blue clad turtle shooed Donnie and Mikey down to the row; he made sure to wait until they were seated. He walked to stand in front of the row next to an empty hole and shoebox. "Today, we are going to bury a beloved pet and family member: Spike." He bowed his head in respect. "Everyone, come up here so we can talk about all the good memories with Spike."
"I always enjoyed performing his favorite show for him: 'Does Mikey Bend That Way.'" Mikey said, beaming. Usually, he didn't bend that way, but if it made Raph happy, then he was okay with it. "I also LOVED seeing Raph coo over him... I didn't know that big tough Raph could coo!" Raph shot him a toned down glare; he wasn't feeling up to his usual standards.
"He was the only person who could ever really calm Raph down," Donnie cowered a bit at the glare Raph gave him. "And now no one will be able to!" Donnie cringed as Raph smacked the back of his head.
"I was just glad that he was Raph's pet. Everyone deserves a pet!" Leo said, mentally counting the minutes until it would be over. "Right, Raph? You want to say anything?"
"Spike was the best turtle a turtle could have," Raph said, his eyes focused on the little box Mikey decorated with scribbles of turtles and leaves. "I could tell him anything, and he was a good pet, and he was a good friend." Raph said. Leo looked at him with an expression that said, 'are you done?' Raph nodded slightly.
Leo picked up the box and placed it in the hole he and Donnie had spent a good two hours laboring over. Donnie look at the hole with disgust; he dug the entire freakin' hole because Mikey kept getting distracted by rocks and trash floating in the sewage. Leo placed a bag of lettuce, and Donnie set down a little moth-eaten blanket he had given Raph for Spike a few Christmases ago. The three turtles scooped the dirt on top of the box with their hands; Mikey had accidentally thrown the shovel into the sewage water getting a crushed up old can... And there was NO way any of them was going in there to get it! Mikey placed a little rock where he had painted Spike's name on it at the top of the little mound.
"Goodbye, Spike." Leo, Donnie, and Mikey murmured together as they bowed their heads in a moment of reflection. The boys turned to go down the tunnel, each picking up a chair. "You coming, Raph?"
"Give me a moment. I'll meet y'all back at the lair!" Raph knelt down beside the grave. "I want a moment alone."
"Okay, don't take too long! April ordered a pizza, and she said she's going to bring it down for a movie night!" Leo smiled, and Raph gave a fleeting smile in return. The boys left the tunnel, leaving Raph alone.
"Don't worry, Spike. I'll see you again one day!" Raph hung his head before looking up with huge and watery eyes. "I love you, man." He stood up and brushed the dirt off of his knees. "Hold up, guys! I'm coming!" Raph ran off after his family. "Mikey, you better not eat all of the pizza!"
Hope y'all enjoyed it... Or that you enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy a sad-ish one-shot in the first place. In all honesty, I'm not very good with emotions in real life, so it was a little harder to write this one. Anyway, until next time!