Alright, I'm writing for a new fandom. This is based off of the 2007 TMNT movie, though the plot is slightly different (and a few details, like the layout of the Lair, may be slightly incorrect). Leonardo did leave for training and not return until two years later, but Yaotl, the monsters, and the stone generals aren't involved. It is just a dark, twisted version of the relationship between Leonardo and Raphael.
There will be two endings- the first will be my original, dark ending. The second will be more… happy I suppose? It is by no means happy, but it is better than the first. It also has a t-cest warning. The endings can be interchanged after the double asterisk **. The second one is the second chapter.
Rated M for: language, dark themes, violence; gore and character death in the first ending, t-cest in the second.
It had been two years. Two years since Leonardo had been shipped off to Central America by Master Splinter. One year longer than it was supposed to last. One year, Splinter said. One year to help Leo become a better leader.
"Bullshit. You said one year, Leo. One year…" Raph muttered. He sat alone on the top of a building. The darkened streets of New York below him had remained the same. They shouldn't be able to continue on while he suffered. He knew his brothers were in pain as well, but not as he was.
His eyes drifted over the horizon of his city. The sky slowly lit up as the dawn approached, giving Raph the signal to head home. Every night was just like this- he donned his Nightwatcher armor and roamed the streets, searching for any thugs that pissed him off. This night had been quiet, but he was still tired enough to sleep.
He quickly headed home, easily sneaking into the Lair. His brothers were both awake and currently watching a movie. Oddly enough, Master Splinter's door was currently open and the light was on. Instead of having to speak to his brothers, which always tended to end in some sort of fight, he decided to investigate what his master was doing. When he peered inside, his heart skipped a beat.
Standing in his Master's chambers, acting as if nothing had happened, was Leonardo. His brother, who had left them- no, who had abandoned them- for two years had returned. Master Splinter caught Raphael's eye. "Ah, Raphael. Your brother has returned safely." He gestured to the eldest turtle as Leonardo turned to Raphael. A very small smile came to his face.
"Hey, Raph. I'm back." He ducked his head slightly, waiting for Raphael to respond.
Raphael cocked his head slightly and looked down for a moment before meeting his brother's gaze. "Oh, uh, hey, Leo. Welcome home." He spread his hands a bit as he stared in disbelief.
"You should greet your other brothers, Leonardo. They have been waiting a long time to see you again."
Leonardo turned to his master and nodded as he stepped out of the room. Raphael stepped back to let his brother pass, turning to follow immediately after him. Leonardo walked towards the chair on which Donatello sat, watching a movie. "Hey, Don, I'm back."
The purple-masked turtle glanced up before standing with a large smile. "Leo! You're back!" He embraced his brother quickly. Raphael walked behind the couch, hitting Mikey on the head. His sudden awakening knocked him from the couch.
"Hey, shell-for-brains. Leo's back. Better say hi," he muttered as he stalked to the kitchen to fix a sandwich. He concentrated on preparations as his peripheral vision allowed him to watch Mikey jump onto Leo to hug him. Raphael scoffed as he grabbed his sandwich and headed up to his room. The mushy reunion was too much for him to take.
He walked into his room, slamming the door behind him. His brothers all glanced up at the door, shrugging simultaneously. It was Raph, what could they say? He set the sandwich on the ground near the hammock as he flopped into it, putting his arm over his face. A few seconds later, the same fist made impact against the wall hard enough to leave cracks rippling out from the spot he hit.
"How can he do that? Just waltz back into our lives like nothing happened? He was gone for two years. Two fucking years. What the hell, Leo!" He grit his teeth as he closed his eyes. He wasn't going to cry, he was just trying not to go berserk and destroy his room at this point.
The sounds of laughter and banter floated up from downstairs, making Raphael groan in anger. It was too much for him, but he didn't have the energy to go topside or head to the dojo. He turned over to try and block out the sounds from downstairs, which resulted in him instantly falling asleep.
The next week or so had most everything returning to a quasi-normal state. The brothers trained together under the orders of their sensei. They were not allowed to fight until they could do so as a team. Thus, Leonardo was using a strict training regimen. He had learned much in his time away from his family and was planning to teach it to them all.
During the training, Raphael barely seemed to try. His blocking was poorly-timed, and his attacks barely landed on their targets. Leonardo had little patience. "Raphael, what is your problem? You have no focus at all!" he scolded. Normally Raph was all for fighting. He didn't understand what was up. "Come at me again, Raph!"
The younger turtle narrowed his eyes angrily at his leader. With a growl, he threw himself at Leo. A few moments of brawling later, Raph had Leo pinned. His forearm was barring Leo's throat against the wall as he gasped for breath. Raph's eyes went wide for a moment before he stepped back. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again as he ran out of the room.
Leo reached up to massage his sore throat as he watched Raph walk out. His gaze stayed on his brother until he had cleared the room. He then gazed around at Donatello and Michelangelo. "Training is over. I'm going to my room."
The three turtles walked out, heading their own ways for the time being. Leo wanted to go after Raphael, but he didn't think it was a good idea. His hot-headed sibling wasn't someone to mess with while angry. He had learned from past experiences to try and let him calm down first.
For the rest of the day, all he did was meditate and train alone. The thought s of the earlier training session kept running through his head. He had obviously irritated Raph, but never before had Raph ever been that truly violent towards him. Rough housing and wrestling were one thing, but near-choking was completely another.
As night rolled around, Leonardo decided to head out and look for his brother. It had been almost 12 hours since their encounter and hopefully Raph would have cooled off by now. He stepped out of his room and glanced around. Donatello was engrossed in his work and Mikey was playing his games yet again, so he chose to ask his master.
"Master Splinter, do you know where Raphael went? I… need to talk with him." He managed to meet his sensei's gaze, but only just. He had heard what had happened in the dojo and was not pleased by the behavior of his red-masked son.
"I believe that he went out. I do not approve of him leaving at this late hour." He gave a meaningful glance to his son. Leonardo nodded once before running towards the entrance to the lair. He didn't know where Raphael went, so he would just have to comb the streets for a while.
Once he was top-side, Leonardo reveled in the feeling. He had enjoyed his many runs through the jungle, but there was just something different about running through the city at night. The view from the roofs and the feel of the wind made it an unforgettable experience.
It took him a few moments before he noticed anything. It was Raphael, but it was definitely something. It looked like a walking suit of armor. Was that… it was that vigilante that he had heard about, wasn't it? The Nightwatcher. Leonardo's eyes narrowed as he watched the vigilante. He was on the roof across the street from him. He would not put up with this ridiculous act any longer.
He set off, heading off the man across from him. After a few minutes of chase, Leonardo landed on the roof behind the armored man. "Alright, Nightwatcher. Just give it up, will you?" The armored being turned to face Leonardo as he spoke. After a moment, he pulled out two chains that ended in pointed blocks of metal. One began to swing ominously behind his head.
Leonardo let a smirk cross his face. "If you're sure, then bring it." He flipped backwards onto the ledge of the roof, squatting down and training his gaze onto the helmet of Nightwatcher. Raphael growled as he flung his chains towards his brother. Leonardo easily avoided every attack, taunting more and more with every miss. "You call that an attack, Nightwatcher? Come on!"
Raphael paused in his attack to drop his weapons. He curled his fingers into fists as he prepared himself for hand-to-hand combat. Leonardo smirked as he leapt down towards Nightwatcher. "Finally, it gets interesting!" They both ran at each other at the same time, leaping at each other in perfect synchronicity.
Blows were thrown and blocked equally, though Leonardo eventually gained the upper-hand. He found that his opponent was very easily angered, and he played to that weakness. "Do you even call that fighting?" That last taunt gave him the perfect opportunity to strike. A strong uppercut to the jaw sent Nightwatcher flying one way, his helmet the other.
"Alright, now let's see who you-" Leonardo froze midsentence as Raphael stood. "Raph? What the hell, man! You're Nightwatcher?" His eyes narrowed in anger as he glanced at his younger brother. "How could you be doing this vigilante crap?" His voice rose in anger as he spoke. Thunder clapped overhead as the clouds started to release their rainy burden.
Raphael growled. "At least I am doing something!" He stood and turned to face his brother. "I have been protecting the people of this city from thugs while you were off in the goddamned jungle! You haven't become any better of a leader, you just abandoned your family!"
Leonardo stepped forward and glared at his brother. "Regardless of whether I fully succeeded or not, I am still the leader. I am calmer, more patient, and I am better than you, Raphael." He smiled smugly at his little sibling as he kept his glare trained on him.
Raphael pulled out his sais, aiming one menacingly at his brother. Leonardo narrowed his eyes. "You don't want to do this, Raph." Even as he spoke, he was pulling his own weapons free from their sheaths.
An angry grimace spread over Raph's face as he spun a blade. "Yes I do, Leonardo, because I am sick of you!" He shouted the last word as he sprinted towards his brother, blades ready. Leonardo followed suit, knowing that this battle would not be a simple sibling fight. It was for leadership and honor.
Their blades clanged against one another as they struck their first blows, aiming for each other's heads. Both were evenly skilled with their blades, matching each other perfectly- parry for parry, thrust for thrust. The fight raged on through the downpour, the red light of the neon sign above them giving an eerie glow to the entire scene.
Raphael managed to back Leonardo up against the sign, their blades still clanging. The katanas aimed squarely for Raphael's head, but were caught in his sais. Both brothers leaned towards each other, each trying to assert their power and dominance. **
Everything went wrong in that moment.
Leonardo's sword both snapped in half, the blades flying away from his. Raphael lost his balance, his left blade plunging straight before him. Though he tried to stop it, the point of the blade found its place. A small crack in Leonardo's plating had enough space for the tip, and the rest of the blade followed with Raph's weight to propel it.
Time seemed to stop. Raph froze in place as he realized what he had done. Leonardo's eyes went wide as he felt the pain. At first, he barely felt anything. Then the pain blossomed. It started in his abdomen, slowly spreading through his entire torso. His head jerked forward, blood spurting from his mouth as he fell backwards against the wall.
"Leo…" Raphael choked. "Leo, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen!" He watched as his brother slumped down the wall, groaning in agony as his hands grasped at his abdomen. Raph fell to his knees, tears starting to flow freely as they mingled with the rainwater soaking his face.
Leo looked up at Raph, a mixture of pity and regret in his eyes. "Raph…" he coughed, "I didn't… I didn't mean to leave you…" He reached out a hand to weakly grasp that of his brother. "I'm sorry, Raph…" he whispered. Leo's dimming eyes met those of Raph for a moment that seemed like eternity. A last, shuddering cough wracked Leonardo's body before his hand fell limp.
Raph closed his eyes, head falling down as he let out a sob. He gently pulled his blade from Leo's stomach, the blood continuing to soak both bodies. Raphael pulled his brother's body into his arms as he cried out into the night.
His brother, his dear brother, was dead. He hadn't meant to kill him. He had wanted to hurt him, to show him the pain that he had felt while Leo was gone. He had wanted to show that he could be a leader too. But it had gone too far.
He was dead.
The truth was something that he didn't want to accept. But he had to. What was he going to tell the others? That he had killed their leader, their brother, out of rage? He couldn't face them. He couldn't take their anger- no, that was a lie. He wanted their anger, but he wouldn't get it. They would only give him shame, sadness… or worse, pity. That he couldn't handle.
He couldn't handle the pity and forgiveness that his dying brother had given him! He angrily punched the ground beside him as he wailed into the night, the rain pouring down upon the brothers.