Master Splinter was not pleased to hear that 3 of his sons were killed during their previous battle, assumingly the Foot. Actually, he was devastated. However, he knew that he must be strong for his remaining son. When he heard his youngest son crying, he knew that he must convince his youngest son to be strong. "Michelangelo, may I speak with you for a moment?" Mikey looked up, wiped his tears before going into the dojo.

"Michelangelo, I understand that you are feeling down right now, but I think that you should listen on what I will say to you." Mikey looked up towards Master Splinter. "Your brothers may have...died, Michelangelo, but you must not be disheartened. Death may look like the end of a life, but some people see death as a beginning." "How...how can people see death as a beginning, Sensei?" Mikey asked with a slight hiccup. "Death is described as simply an open door towards real, eternal life, my son. Eternal life is something that even someone with the most riches in the world, cannot buy, my son,"

"Your brothers may have passed, my son, but do not be disheartened. Instead, be happy that your brothers are in a better place now, enjoying this eternal bliss." "...Hai, Sensei." Mikey thought for a moment, before replying. He quickly wiped away any tear traces before proceeding out of the dojo. "Thanks, Sensei!" Mikey smiled before going into his room. Master Splinter, for the first time that night, smiled as he knew that he was successful at cheering his son up. He also sensed 3 familiar presences in the lair. Though there was no one in the pit, the 3 presences were still there, lingering. Master Splinter smiled before going into his room. Sometimes, brotherly love can be a beautiful thing.

Next Day
April and Casey came into the lair. "Hey, Mikey, how are you coming along, so far?" "I am great! Well...kinda..." He stole a glance at the lab, which still contained the 3 bodies. They were cleaned thoroughly and bandaged as Mikey did not really want to see the blood flowing from the bodies, which reminded him of the tragic scene the night before. To distract Mikey from those memories, April started talking. "Hey, do you want to come with us tonight? We have some friends we want to introduce you to."

"Friends? Yeah boy! Are they cool? Awesome? Triple awesome with icing on top?" April giggled at Mikey's reaction. "No, Mikey. I think you will like them. They are...familiar, to say the least." "Really? Awesome!" Mikey replied. Oh, by the way, Master Splinter told me something last night." "Oh, and what is it, dude?" Casey asked. "Well, it's about how death is not truly the end, but how it is truly the beginning." Mikey started to mimic Master Splinter's way of speech.

"Woah, that's kinda deep," Casey commented. "Do you really understand all that?" "Uh, no, I don't really understand everything, but I understand a teensy bit though." "Ok, so Mikey, we will meet you in the lair tonight. Ok?" "Ok, April." Mikey agreed. The 3 figures smiled a bit knowing that Mikey is not feeling too disheartened...for now.

That Night
"Ok, Mikey. Here are those friends I told you about." Mikey looked in awe at the friends. No wonder April said that they are familiar. "Leatherhead?" "It's good to see you again, Michelangelo, it's been a while." "LEATHERHEAD!" Mikey jumped onto LH and gave him a hug. LH hugged Mikey back. "Well, it's great to see you guys again." Slash said. "Now, where's Raphael?" Suddenly, the whole atmosphere became tense.

"Slash, there's something you should know." "Oh, what's that?" "Raph and the others...they...they were killed...by the Foot." "W-WHAT?!" Slash got angry when he heard that his ex-owner/best friend had been killed ruthlessly by the Foot. The rest of the Mighty Mutanimals were all distraught. LH had to clutch Mikey tightly to make sure that Mikey is still alive and not dead like the others. "That is most unfortunate." Dr Rockwell commented. "Donatello...he was a great friend."

"HOW WERE THEY KILLED?" "I...I have no idea, Slash. When I got there, I...I saw tons of Foot Soldiers in the docks. The others were already b...bleeding to death." Mikey started to tremble at the gruesome memory. "So, the Foot killed them, huh?" Slash was furious. "Y...y...yeah..." "I'm gonna..." Slash dashed out, furious. "I will try and calm him down. Michelangelo, I advise that you calm yourself down. This is very unfortunate." Dr Rockwell said calmly. Mikey tried to find a place to sit down.

S, Dr R's Side
"How can they do such a thing? How can they kill Raphael and his brothers?" Slash grumbled. "And leaving that poor guy all alone. Have they no compassion?" Slash said. He then made a decision. "Where do you think you are going?" He was interrupted by Dr Rockwell. "I am going to the Foot Headquarters, and show the Shredder what it means by getting his own medicine." "You will do no such thing." "Why shouldn't I? They..."

"They may have killed our friends, they may have deserved a beatdown, but what if Raphael or Donatello was here? Would they be happy with what you've done?" Slash stopped in his tracks. "Michelangelo and their master are already upset about losing their loved ones. What if you got killed recklessly? How would they both think about this?" Slash paused to think for a moment. "I understand your feelings, Slash, but this is not the time to be reckless. Let's help Michelangelo and his master get over their sadness and come up with a plan to find the Foot and take them down. I'm sure that his brothers would not approve of us recklessly giving our lives to the Foot." Slash thought about it before nodding his head.

Mikey's Side
Everyone is trying to calm him down again. "Don't worry, Mikey, everything is gonna be fine." April soothingly told him. "Yeah, dude. We will be right by your side." Casey said. Soon, Mikey started to calm down. Everyone in the room sighed with relief. 2 of the figures also sighed with relief while 1 of the figures rushed towards Slash's direction. Someone had to make sure Slash did not do anything foolish.

"Thanks guys." "No problem." "Now, we have to come up with a plan to take down the Foot. They must not get away that easily." "I agree, but we must take Michelangelo and his master's feelings into consideration." Dr Rockwell and Slash came in. "Dr Rockwell!" "Michelangelo, when is the funeral?" "Well..." April suddenly interrupted Mikey's speech. "Master Splinter and Mikey had not decided yet. You know...unexpected timing." Dr Rockwell nodded his head.

"Yes, I perfectly understand. However, we can't take too much time. We also need time to organise and plan an attack on the Foot." "Why don't we plan both?" "Hmm, that's a good suggestion, Casey. I will call Master Splinter..." As they discussed about the time needed to plan both, Mikey gradually fell asleep. April saw this and with everyone else's permission, put Mikey onto a makeshift bed in another room. "Sweet dreams, Mikey." She whispered and walked into the main room.

Just then, a human went into the room through a window. After he made sure that no one was in there except Mikey, he opened the window and walked in. Judging by how the Mighty Mutanimals Headquarters was built, there was no way an ordinary human can climb in through the window easily. The human sat by Mikey's bed and gently lifted him out of the bed and hugged him. He rubbed Mikey's shell with soothing circles and rocked him back and forth. Mikey appeared to be having a nightmare, as some sad tears had dropped onto his cheeks. The human wiped those tears and hugged Mikey tighter.

"Don't worry, Mikey. We're still here. We will always be right here if you need us." When Mikey started to fall asleep more soundly, the human put him back into bed and rushed out of the Headquarters softly. He must find a place where he can get out of the human's body safely and join the other 2. "We will never leave you alone, Mikey. That's a promise." Donnie whispered.

-TO BE CONTINUED-