"Donnie's gone and I'm not staying here to watch you two fight." Tears streamed down the orange clad turtles face. Leo felt pity for Mikey, he was the youngest brother and it had always left him at the bottom of the food chain. "Mikey, you cant mean that." Leo placed his hand on his little brothers shoulder and sighed. "I do Leo, you and Raph need to stop fighting." The young turtles body shook in between sobs, "I already lost Donny, I cant lose you guys to." Leo did his best to calm Mikey down, but neither of the remaining elder brothers were very good at it. The task of calming Mikey down had always been Donnies job, and without him everyone was a little disoriented. "Mikey, I will never leave you. That's a promise." Leo gave Mikey a fake smile in hopes of cheering him up, "I mean come on, who'd watch your sorry butt if me and Raph weren't around." He wrapped Mikey up in a big bear hug. "Promise?" The little brother let out a small squeak. "Promise."
"This is awesome!" Mikey let out a cheer as they rushed around atop the buildings. "Mikey's right. We haven't been out in forever." Raph agreed with their half wit brother. The air felt incredible against their skin as they challenged nature itself. Suddenly Leo noticed a small movement towards the shadows. "Guys, we got company!" Leo pointed towards the swarming foot. "Wow, how many of them do you think there are?" Mikeys light blue eyes opened in awe at the sheer number of foot ninjas that poured out of the shadows. "Im gunna guess fifty, at the least." Leo mumbled as the three brothers went back to back. "Good, I've been a itching for a fight." Raph drew his sai and took a defensive position. The three terrapins soared into battle, their weapons making contact with everything that didn't have green on it. Mikey had just take out five ninjas when a smoke bomb went off right next to his face. "Leo! Help!" He desperately called out for his older brother. The fearless leader turned to check on his brother, and once he thought Mikey was safe he turned to face his attacker. The ninja before him struck out with his katana, nailing Leonardo directly across his face. His infamous blue mask fluttered to the ground. His hands clamped around his face, blood plumping out profusely. Raph looked over and noticed his brother in dire need of help, "Leo, you ok?" Suddenly a shiruken nabbed Raph in his left eye. His large green mits reached up and yanked out the star, allowing the blood to drip into his hands.
"You cant hit me." Mikey stuck his tongue out as he took down his next assailant. "Gotta be quicker than that!" He whooped as he dodged three stars. "I've fought better ninjas at the retirement home!" Mikey was to busy taunting the ninja in front of him to realize the one standing directly behind him. The ninja stuck his hand onto Mikeys shoulder, the light blue eyes filled with mortal terror as he realized his mistake to late. Mikey was forced into submission as the Shredder materialized out of nowhere. He clamped his eyes closed as the Shredders claws came slashing down upon his arm. Mikeys nunchucks fell to the ground as blood spurted everywhere. His left arm rotated in mid air before it came crashing down beside him. With his only arm left Mikey desperately clung to the gory stump. "Look up, and watch as your Master meets his doom Michelangelo." Shredders voice filled the youngest turtles head as he slowly opened his eyes and faced the Shredder. Master Splinter was being dragged upwards, the Shredders claws racing right for him. "No!" Mikey reached out to save his father but was to late when the rats blood splattered across his shocked face. The Shredders hand had gone clean through Sensei's body. "Father." Mikey could feel himself going into shock. The world gradually began to spin faster and faster around Michelangelo before there was only darkness.
"We could have saved him!" Raph's angry and desperate voice shrieked. "You know we couldn't have!" Leo's own enraged voice called out, but his had a sense of authority in it. "I don't need this!" A crashing noise signaled Raph had definitely thrown something. "Neither do I! But you have to think about Mikey!" Something crashed in the kitchen again. "So the chuckle head managed to have his left arm almost completely cut off? Its not my problem Leo! Mikey needs to grow up and you know it!" The youngest turtle tried to wipe away his tears with his left arm, only to be reminded it was no longer there. Mikeys teary eyes fell to his favorite comic book, Silver Sentury. He gradually flipped through it, looking at the beautifully done ink work, but for the first time Mikey felt no pleasure and excitement from reading his little story books. They filled him with longing and despair. Why couldn't he just make everyone happy like he used to. Was he broken? Not good enough? Or did their little family just fall apart? He shook his head feverishly. No, it was his fault, he hadn't been good enough to keep everyone here with him. The world around Mikey was blurry with tears as he gathered up all of his comics and walked down to Donnies lab. He slowly sat down on Dons work bench and scribbled out a little note.
With every comic that I burn,
I release a little bit of my childhood,
In hopes that you come back Donny.
He lay the note beside Dons favorite tool and got to work. He watched as each one of his comics burned right before him, the flames casting shadows of despair and hatred across the youngest turtles once innocent face.
Leo and Raphs fighting had moved to the living room now. Mikey clutched his head in agony as he listened to the only family he had left tear itself apart. Only Mikey knew that once their family was gone, he'd be the one left with the shattered pieces. Somehow Mikey even knew those shattered pieces would cut open old wounds and diminish every last ounce of innocence he had. "Im out of here Leo! You and the one armed wonder can have a nice and happy family now that I'm leaving!" Mikey was sure his mask was stuck to his face from the tears. "Stop calling him names like that Raph! Do you know what hes going through!?" Leo, even blind, reached out and grabbed Raph by the collar of his aviator jacket. "Are you gunna put me out of my misery, Fearless?!" Raphs yell echoed around the now empty home. Mikey steps out of the shadows as he watches both of his brothers dart from the home. "You promised Leo." Mikey was choking on his own sorrow. The words that he wanted to say only came out as grunts of pain. His only hand repeatedly pounded into the floor as all the memories of their once perfectly dysfunctional family flooded forward. He just wanted to give everyone a final goodbye hug, with both arms, before they left for good.
Mikey watched as the noose swung back and forth, his only way of escaping the horrible place he and his only two brothers left had come to reside in. He reached out and traced the outline of his freedom, his pathway back to Donny. He sighed before he grabbed his nunchuck and left. Leaving their old layer in a manner that made him realize they were never going back. He no longer had any family to cling to, he didn't have a father to support him and tell him it was going to be alright, and he didn't have his older brothers to guard him and shield him from the real world. "Tough shit." Mike growled to himself as he fled the sewers for the last time.