Hey'all! So…. I'm supposed to be working on some one-shots for my main story. Shall My Brother Be. but this isn't in that Au….. hehehehe. Just a little idea I thought up… tell me what you think? Thanks a ton! 3

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT!

You'd expect life-changing events to seem slow, like in the movies how the people turn, eyes wide, everything freezing around them while the ancient artifact shatters on the ground. Or like the scenes where two characters stare at each other in anticipation, hearing words drone on but not able to hear them correctly beneath the thumping of their own heart, and then they say the vow, and the slow part is over. This one was probably expected to play out like those scenes at the end of a movie, a slowed lunge toward the other character while they silently scream their loved one's name, falling to the earth with glazed eyes, and then finally the noise returns with sobbing. After that, a montage of the funeral; grief and despair written across everyone's faces. That's how heroes are supposed to die. At least, that's what I thought. That's not how it happened, though. I didn't die like that, in front of my brothers with time bending around us. I died alone, very very alone.

I never liked being alone, hated it really. Crazy I guess, how I loved everything about the world but hated what most people relished? Silence, peace, calm? Those were all present when I passed beyond the veil, and I hated every bit of it. It's not like they don't know I'm gone, and I wasn't the last either. I was the first of us, actually. They found my body a few hours later, and that's when the screaming and sobbing happened. I remember it like it was yesterday because I was there. Not in my body, not anymore. That was dead, broken beyond repair no matter how hard Donnie tried to stop it. It was too late, they were too late. I would never blame anyone for my death, never resent them for not finding me. There was no way anyone could see it coming, not really.

I hadn't died from a giant battle with a great enemy, I hadn't been cleverly poisoned by a spy, and I hadn't been sick for years and finally lost the fight. No, I didn't die like that. It's a rare breed that does, but I think at least one of my brothers will. Possibly Raph, but he could also just be an idiot and end up dead. Most likely, Leo would die fighting. Raph would die being hot-headed, and Donnie would die in the peace and quiet with a cup of coffee, we'd already be dead for years by the time he was. But that's not how my death worked. I died from injuries, yeah, a whole lot of them. They hurt like shell, but got numb after a while. Especially after I was dead. I died from what I can only say would be weakness.

I got jumped, y'see. And it was really stupid, to tell you the truth. I can fight back, I can beat Purple Dragons black and blue any day I want. At least, I could when I was alive. But this time was different. This time, they had the upper hand. That upper hand happened to be a gun, tricky little devils. Not only that, but they had a hostage too! Hope nothing bad happened to that kid after I was gone… they let him go once I dropped my chucks and knelt, hands up. I should have called their bluff, I shouldn't have let them do it, but I couldn't' let that kid get killed because of my stubbornness.

As soon as I was down, they started hitting me, hard, with all their stupid weapons. Bats, clubs, chains. They didn't use the gun on me, though. I think they just wanted me to suffer, maybe they didn't even realize the wounds were fatal. Whatever it was, it was bad. I know my shell was knocked loose, maybe cracked, and I'm positive both my arms were broken as well as several ribs. The one on the head though, that really did me in. my vision was so blurry, my movements so slow and uncoordinated, they kicked me to the side and left me for rat food. Despite that, though, I couldn't let other humans find me. Leo'd kill me if I did that, at least that's what I thought. Turns out he didn't have to. I let myself fall into the sewers, but then I started coughing up blood. That was the end, for me. I lay there on my shell, staring through the manhole at the stars. After a long time, I was numb and closed my eyes. Then I was gone.

My brothers found me an hour or two later, and man that was not a pretty sight. For one thing, I never see Raphie cry. Not a lot, at least, not before I died. Donnie tried his best, but I had a punctured lung and brain damage, internal bleeding too. And lying in the sewage for two hours hadn't helped, either. He didn't have the tech to bring me back, and I'm okay with that now. I understand. If there was one thing I could change about my death, it would be that my brothers didn't blame themselves. They're stupid like that sometimes.

Leo, for one, always blames himself whenever we so much as stub a toe. It was no surprise that he thought it was all his fault. After all, he figured. Wasn't he the one who was supposed to die first? Geez, Leo needs an ego check for real. But, I think he got that a few weeks later. That's for later, though. This is about them.

Raphael was actually closest to being at fault, at least the way he saw it. He had been the one to chase me out of the lair, with threats of barbecuing and feeding me to an alligator. Raph hated himself the next little while, that wasn't good seeing as he always had self-esteem issues.

Donnie, of course, beat himself up about not being able to save me. That was idiotic, really. I'd been dead too long when they found me, and my injuries weren't completely visible… Donnie's no 'doctor'. Sure he knows the most but… how is he supposed to save me from that? My brain was filling with blood, as well as my lungs. There was no way he would be able to save me, even if I'd been alive when they found me.

In all honesty, it was better that I died alone. If I'd died with them, it may have been worse. Of course, they'd never believe that. Shell, I dunno if I believe it. That's not the point. The point is, I'm gone. Adios, have a nice life while I'm up here watching. Right? Haha nope!

A lot of people believe in a heaven, a hell, and maybe there is for people who aren't like me. But… I am like me. That's kind of the point. And I, being me, wasn't quite ready to leave earth yet. And no, before you ask, I'm not a ghost. Geez, everyone asks that! Even my own brothers thought I was haunting them. Ah well, that's gonna happen I guess. What I'm trying to say, is that I'm here and with my brothers every step of the way. A guardian angel, you might suggest calling it. Whatever it is, I don't regret anything. Not dying alone, not dying total. Not staying on earth, that's for sure. I don't even regret the pranks I pulled to make Raphie so mad at me. Those were good ones.

So yeah, I guess that's the story. The story of how I died, and how I feel about it. It's kind of a weird feeling, knowing you're dead. Like, I can contact my brothers when I want to. Not too much though, they have lives and I have an… afterlife… I'm not just a guardian to my brothers, you see. I'm a guardian to everyone. That means that I'm a guardian to you.

Thoughts? Please review! Whether you loved it hated it or somewhere in between, I wanna know what you think! Thanks so much for reading!

Until next time,

-Jelly