It wasn't true. There was no way it could be. He had taken all the necessary steps possible to prevent this outcome. Yet there he was-stone cold dead.
Donatello had a hard time breathing. It was no longer automatic. With every step he took towards Mikey, his hands would shake even more violently than before. Manually, he took in a sharp sting of air that held in his chest until finally, he collapsed to the ground beside the once cheerful Michelangelo.
"Mikey..." The name exhaled through stagnant, parted lips. He took hold of his cracked shell and turned him over from his side, hearing the small scraping sounds of shell on asphalt and wincing at it. "Please..." Donnie's lips pursed together now, an egg growing in his throat as he tried holding back the wails that threatened to escape his throat.
"It's not a game...this isn't a game, you idiot!" He could only half-heartedly yell at the youngest of the brothers before him. Blood pooled out of shrapnel-made holes in his body. The worst of the lesions bore welts across his neck and head. His life's blood had no chance to well up before pooling under him. The initial blast from Metalhead's malfunction had not only caught Donnie by surprise, but also his brother, who had the habit of playing with things when he wasn't supposed to.
But the cost of this?
"I should have kept better watch for you...I'll get rid of Metalhead! Come on, Mikester..how 'bout some pizza, huh? How about a slice? Wouldja like that?" Donnie had tried shaking Mikey awake as he spoke, feeling his head lull and nestle into the crook of his elbow. The sweet, gentle Mikey that he knew was gone. Just like that. In one giant explosion that just...shouldn't have happened to begin with. There was too many calculations done. Too many sleepless nights spent perfecting what would have helped them against the kraang and Shredder. Too many idle moments lost in calculus and brainstormings, there was just simply no way for this to have happened!
Unless...he was wrong. His calculations were wrong somewhere. Somehow, somewhere, he had carried the one too far off to the right. Maybe it was as simple as a loose bolt, or even just a momentary lapse where the data was not read correctly...
"No..." Donnie's face contorted in agony as tears began sobbing uncontrollably. The memory of Mikey suddenly losing his breath all at once and then flying into his wall of tools and jars replayed in his head all at once. Blood had splattered against the wall in the initial impact and smeared until it formed a puddle under the once lively turtle.
"I'm sorry...Mikey I'm sorry...please don't go..." Donnie kept repeating the same words over and over again, his forehead pressed against Mikey's as he cradled him close. It was no use. The big blue eyes that brought so much mischief and love had seen their last in a final blast. No more to see the big blue sky; it didn't have a reason to be jealous of his eyes anymore. No more water balloons, no more pranks, no more kraang knowledge...
"What happened?"
"Is everyone alright?"
Raph and Leo's voice came from across the doorway, yet Donnie had no idea how to address them. The two older brothers shared a look as they heard the sobbing and ran over to their younger brothers. There was just no explanation for what happened. No reason than his own sloppiness that ended up killing his brother. Raph was right. He did mess up in the end. Now they all had to pay for his mistake-especially Mikey.