The fire engulfed the building and raged around him. Trapped on the rooftop with his nemesis who murdered his father in cold blood.
Fresh broken shards of glass lay across the blue meditation mat, ruining the soft but worn fabric. Leonardo appeared somewhat mesmerised by his broken reflection whilst flexing his bloodied knuckles. Little did his brothers know that this self-destructive act was in a desperate attempt to re-establish his identity. He felt corrupted, violated, insane from the bitter feeling of rage that had grown inside of him, but he needed to remain strong for his brothers now that their sensei was gone.
You killed him! He was your brother, and you killed him!
Leonardo winced, not from the stinging pain burning through his hand but from the heartache. He started to unwrap the black fabric around his arms which he often wore since their encounter with the Shredder on the rooftop. This was in a desperate attempt to hide the numerous red marks that were engraved in to the skin across both forearms. Anything to release the inner torment before inflicting harm on his brothers. He felt this was his only option, although he didn't want to. This was no longer an urge but a need, despite retreating to a meditative state whenever he wasn't in training in order to grieve peacefully.
Subconsciously, Leonardo had pulled out one of his tanto blades and instinctively reached over to his left forearm. The demeaning voice in his head kept replaying Splinter's death over and over, with a commentary of self-punishing thoughts. Leonardo begged for it to stop, applying pressure to the tip of the tanto blade and began to dig. He tried to focus his attention on one of the flickering candles in front of him as he felt the recognisable sharp pain sear through his arm.
He imagined the heat and flames engulfing the building where his brothers last fought the Shredder. He watched as Saki threw each of his brothers off the building, isolating him. Battling through and reliving this memory was his method in fighting off the Shredder every night, however it wasn't real without pain.
He was your brother Saki, your best friend. How could you do that?
Splinter was cursed to become a loathsome rat! It was his fate, his destiny!
Leonardo felt the oncoming waves of darkness as he started to leak crimson fluid on to the ground, feeling violently sick inside from the act of self-harm he was committing. Every wave was equivalent to the blows the Shredder inflicted on him during their last physical encounter. His energy drained through his body in to the floor, but he fought back the urge to pass out, just as he did that night on the rooftop.
You're a monster! A demon! Is that your destiny? The Shredder paused in self-doubt, questioning what he had become. Leonardo seized the opportunity and struck forward with his katana blade, however Shredder caught his arm too easily. The blue banded turtle cried out as the Shredder twisted his arm, emanating a sickening crack as the limb was removed from its socket. The Shredder continued to torture his enemy, striking blows against Leonardo's carapace and throwing him against the burning surface of the imminently collapsing building. Leonardo's body lay weakly over the edge of the building. Shredder's blade extended as he stood menacingly over his victim's ragdoll form and prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
And now, you die!
The leader had no intention on fighting back. This was it…Leonardo acknowledged defeat as his eyes glazed over, succumbing to his body's broken state. I'm sorry father, he thought.
His breath hitched from the ongoing pain in his ribs and he raised his head to the ceiling. Several new wounds had appeared on both of Leonardo's arms.
Someone then gave him the spirit to finish this, but Leonardo couldn't remember whom. As Leonardo charged Shredder for the final strike, he dug in deeper. He absentmindedly fell to the floor, feeling nothing, not even on the relief that the voice was gone. The tanto blade lay loosely in his palm.
"Shredder…is finished…" Leonardo dropped his victim's helmet on to the ground
