Raphael: I can beat up hundreds of Kraang chumps no problem. I know I'm the best fighter out of us all. But I couldn't…couldn't save Leo from himself. The look on his face, when he held back Kraang Prime. He knew he couldn't save us all, but it isn't all up to him. When he jumped of TCRI, my heart almost stopped. The rush of wind drove all the water in my eyes into the sky, I wasn't crying, no. But he was metres from the ground when I tackled him, and the worst thing…the worst thing was the acceptance. The look in his eyes, knowing that there was now way out. And the worst thing was, I saw emotion in his eyes. It wasn't fear: Leo doesn't scare easy. It was relief. Relief to not have to care anymore, to not be the one having to make all the toughest decisions with no real reward. I…was a jerk. I admit it. "Stick it in your shell." I thought I could be a better leader, should have been leader: and I couldn't understand why Sensei picked Leo. Dorky, space heroes obsessed Leo. But holding Mikey in my arms that day, knowing I had failed, that.. was too much. I broke.
I pushed Leo after that, making him lead, be the one in charge. I thought he was fine being the Leader. But…I guess the stress got to him, the pressure. Mr Invincible, but he wasn't. Holding him in my arms, shrapnel raining down, being shot at by lasers…Leo was shaking. And I swore I would never let him do something like that again. I would be a better brother, help support the burden instead of shoving it in his shell. And I meant it.
Raphael: I stumbled, pretty easy to do in zero-grav, and nearly face-planted the ground, but Leo would never let me hear the end of it after this was all over so I shifted my foot and leaped over the gap. Stupid Aliens in their stupid spaceship. Mikey wailed something inaudible behind me and I twisted, but Leo had got it, reaching down to pull Mikey up from the alien crevice. Shhhhsp. Phhssshhhp. Everywhere I glanced, alien escape pods where shooting off into the sky, filled with 'bots and hostages alike. If we didn't hurry, I didn't see how we were ever gonna get out of this one alive. We'd nearly reached the end of the corridor: Donnie was in the lead, not surprisingly given his legs. I still don't see why he gets to be tall and I don't. Stupid growth spurts. Up ahead I saw a couple of kraang bots racing towards a last escape pod: I speared them with two spare shurikens and glanced behind me to see if my brothers had caught up. I stared. No…
Leo, stupid, dorky, hero Leo, had twisted behind the Kraang chump and was holding it fast with Mikey's kusarigama chain. "Go!" he shouted. "I can't hold him back!" I'd nearly lost him once: I wasn't going to again. "You Idiot!" I yelled, racing back, but Donnie and Mikey had a firm grip on my arm and practically threw me into the escape pod. I was up on my feet again instantly, but the stupid, alien pod had slammed it's door shut and I couldn't pry it open without my sai: that stupid lava barfing thing had stomped them back at TCRI. Pressing my hands against the door, I hardly noticed Donnie doing his geek thing to get the pod fired up: the glass door if aliens even have glass, muffling his voice but he was straining to hold the kraang prime back and it was obvious he couldn't hold it back any longer. With a phsssss the pod released and I was screaming Leo's name and the pod was twisting everywhere and Mikey started up as well and with a stomach plunging drop we hit the ocean, hard. Without Leo.
The stupid pod popped open way too late, damnit! And we emerged into a sea of bobbing pods: "Looks kinda like a big bath" Mikey joked, but my eyes were on the explosion 20 feet in the air. The shattered remains of the technodrome poured into the sea below, the fire still burning as it fell onto the shattered waves.Leo….My head was pounding and my breaths fell short as my legs gave way beneath me and I sat on the softly moving pod floor. Leo…is gone..? April clutched Donnie, silently sobbing, and for once the geek wasn't passed out with happiness. I stood, and dived into the cold waters.
We searched for hours, diving under the pods to hide as helicopters came to pick up survivors. April went with one of them: she couldn't swim as fast or deep as us, and the breeze was cold. I didn't care. As I surfaced for the hundredth time, Donnie grabbed my arm and held tightly. I could hardly feel the pressure. Raph? Donnie shook my to face him. Raphael! He nodded towards the sky. All the civilian helicopters had gone now, and sinister looking black planes were swooping in to the scene. "I think they're here for the alien tech." he said. Mikey surfaced a metre to my left and swam in closer. "we should…we need to ditch." Donnie said. I can't leave him. I promised…"Raph!" Donnie sounded harsher now. "We need to go: if the government finds out we exist…I don't want to scare Mikey." "We can't leave him." I said, trying to sound forceful but hating my voice for breaking. Mikey looked the saddest I've ever seen him, but that isn't saying much: Mikey's hardly ever down. "Donnie's right, man." He said. My brothers grabbed my arms and we dived just as the first of the military planes buzzed overhead. I'm not leaving you Leo. I promised…