Warning: Beware of suicide idea.

Author's note: Most of the conversations near the end are taken from the game script.

Just finish reading IDW#62. Love Raph and Mikey's bonding time. I like how Raph tried to be calm then Mikey said 'You sound like Leo' and then he exploded lol.

Mikey felt relaxed in this particular magic hour. When the sun dyed everything in gold, clouds parted, allowing some sun rays to reach the town. The view was so beautiful, washing away the ill feelings he had about this dimension. He spent a few moments before jumping down from the balcony, landing perfectly in front of Leo and Sam who were having a quiet conversation in the garden. This could be a nice evening stroll if he didn't hear Leo reminded him to be careful in case infecteds came. Yeah, they were in the different dimension, far away from home with ugly mushroom heads everywhere. Mikey snorted.

"I didn't make a noise. Besides, those things are like white belt level. They're no match for us."

Leo frowned at his comment, not approving when he took lightly of the situation. "That's not true. We're not invincible."

"Zombies don't have brains, bro. They can't fight strategically. With your plan and my impressive skills, together we can conquer them all!" Mikey ended with dramatic pose which earned a giggle from Sam. Leo realized that his little brother was just fooling around so he sighed.

Henry was walking back with more canned foods in his hands and called them to continue walking, the boys followed him. Even if the humans stayed with them for a while now, Sam still had loads of questions for them.

"What's your world like?"

Mikey tilted his head. "It's the same actually. We have New York city too, minus the catastrophe. Our world is where humans and mutants can live together forever and ever."

Sam looked at them in awe. Only Leo knew Mikey was exaggerated.

"What's mutants?"

Leo coughed. "Mikey."

He put his hand behind his head and said awkwardly. "Sorry. No spoilers."

This topic seemed interesting enough that Henry decided to join in. "Hey, do you think we can go to your world?"

Leo raised his eye ridge, didn't expect this question. He pondered and replied carefully. "We have the human in our world too, so I think it's okay."

"If we find Kraang, you can go back to your world, right? We want to tag along if it's possible."

Leo and Henry continued their conversation about the difference between this dimension and their world, leaving both little brothers to follow them from behind. Mikey caught the boy staring at his big brother's shell with great respect.

"Your brother is kinda cool," Sam whispered to him, and Mikey smiled.

"That's Leo. Of course he's cool. The coolest brother you can have."

"You're very lucky then."

"Hey, Henry's superb too." Mikey nudged him playfully with the elbow, remembering an advice he got from the man to let him overcome his troubles.

"It's not that I want to compare who's better bro. He's just… different from Henry." Sam returned his gaze on Leo's back. "He's kind, tough, and willing to place himself between me and those things. He has a lot of patience too."

Well, he probably practices it with me every day. Mikey thought. He was impressed that Sam had learned a lot about Leo in short period. But then again, Leo always had this kind of effect on everyone around him. He hooked his hands behind his head and continued walking.

"So, what else do you want to know?"

"Umm, did you really mean it when you said you used to eat algae?"

Mikey heard Leo coughed again.

He should have known the peaceful time was over. He should have seen this coming.

Mikey tried his best to put the football into his backpack. The result came out rather comical as the top of backpack had a round shape of the ball. It looked as if Mikey grew another head. He hoped he had a marker so he could put a smiley face on it to make the round shape became 'a real face'.

Some time ago, Leo said they were in the enemy area, but the town was quiet and peaceful that they began to forget about his warning. They were really close to the radio tower and would get there before dark, so they hadn't expected the ambush. Mikey was the first one who walked down the stone stair. From distance, anyone could mistake a football inside his backpack as a head, which was a good thing because the sniper mistook it and fired at the ball instead of his skull.

A bullet, which he knew because he heard it piercing through the air a second too late, hit his shell from behind. There was a loud pop from plastic football when it hit, meaning the bullet went through his backpack, the ball, and then his shell. Mikey yelped. The impact was hard enough to send him to fall from the stair. It hurt so much he couldn't get up.

Still lying on the ground, Leo quickly jumped after him and dragged him to the nearest car, hiding from the sniper.

"Hunter!" Leo gasped.

"Damn straight. This kind of people is everywhere." Henry gritted his teeth, crouching down behind the car with Sam next to him, his gun was ready in his hand. "Can you tell how many?"

"One sniper, I think. Most people are on the ground." Leo heard the hunters taunting about the car wouldn't protect them forever. He suppressed anger that boiling inside him and focused on his little brother. "No bleeding. Good. Mikey, talk to me. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Ow… No. Saved by the shell. But it hurts so bad. Are you sure there's no hole in my shell? I feel like the bullet's still stuck in it."

Leo bit his lip, removing Mikey's backpack (full of foods and water and toys, mostly toys) and fumbled over his little brother's carapace. He didn't want to perform surgery. Actually, he didn't want his little brother to get hurt at all, if possible. The shot was a close call. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if Mikey didn't pack the ball. "No, it bounced off, which is good."

"At least I can prove to Raph that our shells are bulletproof." Mikey managed to smile.

Leo glanced over the car and made a quick decision. They couldn't stay here for long. He knew he could take all of them with a sneak attack. "Mikey, you stay here with Henry and Sam. Distract them as much as you can. Don't let the hunters come near you."

"What about you?" Mikey scrambled hurriedly on his knees.

"I'm going after the sniper, and all hunters in this area."

Mikey swallowed. That meant they must be separated again. They always got separated in the worst moment. He knew Leo could take them all. They were white belt level. They won't stand a chance against the master of Ninjitsu like Leo.

"I'll be back."

Say something, Mikey thought. This is a scene in a blockbuster movie where they have to say something meaningful to each other because they don't know if they can make it out alive. Ugh, I hate bad kind of cliché, and I hate being melodramatic. We'll be fine!... right?

But he found that he couldn't utter a word. Leo was about to run off, but he looked at Mikey one last time and patted his head. Mikey blinked. A second later Leo jumped off his sight, climbing the tree and disappearing behind the red brick roof.

Now he realized he was the only one they could rely on. Henry could fight, but he was not as good as Mikey, and Sam could only hide behind them.

Okay, what's Leo told me? Distract them. Yeah, I can do it. A piece of cake, Mikey told himself, gripping on nunchucks. Hunters kept throwing taunts at them.

"It's those damn tourist from the city!"

"Thought you could get away from us, huh!?"

Mikey quickly jumped behind the nearby car. If he was going to distract them, at least he had to be sure that Henry and Sam were on the safe side. One hunter shot at them and tried to get closer. But then a mysterious chain lunged at him out of nowhere and wrapped around his ankle, sending him to fell on the ground.

"That's a payback for my shell!" Mikey shouted back.

"Is that green clicker from the city?!"

"Geez, how many time I have to say I'm not a clicker! Do I look like I have a mushroom growing on my head? I'm a turtle!"

Obviously, those hunters didn't care, so Mikey focused on kicking and hitting whoever came too close. Then he heard an engine sound. Mikey craned his neck and found that an armored combat jeep was coming toward them. The machine gun on the jeep started shooting at their hiding place, and the car gave a jolt from the impact.

Isn't that a bit overkill!?

"H-Henry, is that a tank?" Mikey yelled, tempting to pull his head into his shell to avoid the bullets.

"Oh shit." Henry stopped shooting and lowered his head. "They must have stolen it from the military."

Mikey wanted to take a good look at the jeep, but Sam warned him before he could stick his neck over the car.

"Mikey! Look out!"

A bullet from the sniper scraped the car hood. Mikey ducked his head in time.

"Ow, thanks, Sam." Mikey smiled at the boy, then he turned to Henry. "I can fight hunters but not the tank. What should we do?"

The man's expression was mixed between seriousness and fear. "We need to kill the driver before-Damnit."

"What?" Mikey squeaked when he heard a faint clicking noise from his ultimate nightmare. "Clickers?! Here? Now?"

"The noises attract them. They'll come here soon. We've gotta move!"

"Dude, we're out in open. I can't hold them off." Mikey was close to being hysterical. He hastily observed the surrounding for their exit, never loosening his death grip on his weapon and thinking how to get them out alive. He wasn't used to be in charge of the action. That was Leo's department, and sometimes Raph's. But he feared that if he didn't do anything now they would be doomed. So he pointed at Henry.

"You need to move. I-I'll distract them. I know bad guys always follow me."

As expected, the man argued back. "No, there's no safe place here. You can't hold the jeep and those things at the same time. We have to stick together."

Perhaps it was a sincere touch behind his words that made Mikey felt like he was arguing with his own brothers. He calmed down a bit, thinking it must be a big brother's effect from Henry.

Then Sam's voice brought him back.

"Hey, you noticed? That sniper stops shooting already."

"Leo," Mikey breathed, grinning widely, knowing that his brother had accomplished on getting rid of enemies just like he said. "Then at least we're safe from random bullets."

True to his big brother's words, there was no hunter running to them anymore, meaning Leo got all of them. The thought about his brother boosted his confidence instantly. Now it was his turn. Only two problems remained: the armored jeep and clickers. The machine gun kept shooting at his position. He was sure the car which became his shield would be destroyed soon.

"Henry, get out of here before clickers come. I'll go to say hi to the driver."

Henry looked about to protest but then change his mind. He still didn't like an idea of Mike facing the jeep alone, but he knew that Mike was the better fighter and had more chance than him to take it down. So he just nodded.

"Be careful, Mike."

"I always am!"

Mikey rolled to the next car to get out of the shooting range and quickly sneaked behind the jeep. Using a little shade of shadows provided by the trees and houses, he jumped on the commander hatch, hitting it loudly.

"Stop it! Whoever you are! You make too many noises! Clickers are coming because of you!"

"What the hell, kid? You're even louder than us." As planned, the hunter inside opened the hatch with a gun in his hand, but he startled at the sight of a green creature named Mikey grinning at him. "What-"

Not wasting a time, Mikey swang the nunchucks and hit the hunter's temple before he could pull the trigger. Then he kicked the human back into the combat jeep. It was a bit cramped inside, but he managed to slip in.

"Hey! What are you-!?"

"Stop the tank!" Mikey kicked the driver in the face, sending him to collapse against the controller. "Thank you."

There was only two person in the combat jeep, so his task was done. Except the man's face was on the steering wheel, the tank didn't stop and drove forwards until it crashed into the nearby house. Mikey's head hit the metal piece inside, his sore shell slammed into the control panel.

"Ow ow ow." He got up and rubbed his head, a small red stain was on his palm. Groaning, Mikey hoped the cut wasn't too large and would stop bleeding soon. Then he heard a clicking noise outside.

The crash must attract all of them, Mikey thought, panicked. It'll be one shell of a party outside.

Mikey climbed out of the hatch painfully. His squinted eyes caught the movement behind the rusted car.

"Henry? Sam?"

The person revealed himself behind the car, it was one of those things, and it didn't come alone. Three… four… nine… twenty… at least thirty clickers emerged from the shadows and ran into this area. They were disoriented as soon as the noises ceased, yet they ran around out of instinct to find some noises. Mikey widened his eyes and thought this was a high time to get real panicked.

He jumped to the ground, standing unsteadily because of his injuries. His once defeated ankle began to complain again. Mikey still felt a bit dizzy from the crash, but he prepared to attack any clicker that came too close. He didn't have to wait for long. A clicking noise came from the side, and when he turned he saw a human face distorted by the fungus plates all over its head.

It was different from the fight in the sewers where he had the advantage from climbing and kicking off the walls. Fighting clickers in the open area was difficult since those things could come from any direction. In the wide space, he couldn't avoid fighting at close-range as clickers ran to him so fast.

He was about to hit its head when Leo stamped on that clicker, impaling its skull with one of his katana effortlessly, giving an instant kill. Mikey was surprised at his brother's sudden appearance. Leo didn't say anything as he summoned a shuriken and threw behind Mikey, hitting another clicker that ran straight to him. Their second weapon only slowed them down, so Mikey sidestepped and smashed its head, sending it to the ground.

"You okay?" Leo panted heavily.

Mikey saw some blood on his brother's face and arms, but he couldn't see any wound. Probably not Leo's blood. Mikey hadn't come down from his hysteria yet so he only gave a nod. At least Leo was back, he didn't have to be scared anymore, right?

"Where are Henry and Sam?"

Suddenly their heads whipped toward the direction of the shout. Mikey startled and quickly gained his composure. Leo was already on his feet, following Henry's voice and using the katana to clear his way from clickers. Mikey ran after him but screeched to a halt when he heard Sam's voice from another direction.

"Sam!"

Clickers swarmed all over the place. One of them was on Sam's back. He ran at full speed to reach him.

'We're not invincible.'

Leo's words came through his mind. Mikey shook his head.

I hate it when Leo's right. Well, he's always right. I'll stop joking about these clickers.

He could throw a shuriken, but it won't be killed easily by a small metal piece, and it won't get distracted by a small metal star. Switching to Kusarigama, he sent the sickle through the air, directing into its head and pulling it back. The blade cut through the hard plates on its head. That clicker jerked back and released Sam.

Mikey helped the boy to get up. Other than a minor scrape on his elbow, Sam looked fine so far. The boy looked very frightened even after the clicker was dead.

He hadn't seen the one that coming from behind, knocking him to the ground, going face first into dirt and grass. He heard Sam yelling. The rotten hands were crawling aggressively on his shell. He was frozen in fear, too terrified to lift the sickle in his hand. Maybe this was the best time to try pulling all limbs into the shell. Maybe the clickers would leave him alone. Maybe... Get it off, get it off, get-

A gunshot rang two times, causing two clickers on his carapace fell off him. He raised his head to see Henry, unharmed, running to him. Leo wasn't far behind as he killed three more clickers on his way. Mikey drew his breath at the sight of his own brother, reaching out for him.

"Leo!"

His big brother grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. Mikey wanted to hug him, telling him he was so scared, but he knew that they needed to get out of here first.

"There're too many of them. We have to quit this place." Leo told Henry, letting Mikey clung to him. "Is everybody okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." His voice was trembling, his back hurt, but he would tell Leo about it later. Now Mikey wanted to go anywhere that didn't have clicking noises.

"We're good," Henry replied, holding Sam close. "Let's get out of here. We're close to the tower now."

Together they ran to the wooden fence toward the radio tower. Leo stayed behind to make sure no clicker followed them. He glanced back and thought about how Leo stayed adamant even when they were in the middle of massive zombie-clicker horde.

Maybe that's why he's our big brother, Mikey thought.

They found plenty of clean water in the tower. Someone used to live in here and collected rainwater into large plastic bottles. Leo took one of them and a rag he found to clean himself. Before he started the process, he sat still on the floor like he was meditating, recalling what he had done today.

Mikey took a peek at him and reluctantly tiptoed into his personal space, settling himself beside him. When Leo opened his eyes, he met bright blue eyes full of worries. Mikey shifted uncomfortably and tried his best to offer a smile. At first, he was confused, but then he realized his little brother was nervous because he wanted to help but didn't know what to do.

And more importantly, Leo knew Mikey was weighing his options whether he should go or not because he was afraid to approach his big brother.

Since Mikey waited for him to start a conversation, he decided to ask. "Do you want to help me?"

Mikey nodded eagerly and took a rag from him. He watched Mikey poured some water on it. He didn't know there was blood on his face until his little brother began to clean his face first. Closing his eyes, he allowed Mikey to rub his face. Having a familiar presence around wasn't too bad, it helped to relieve him from cruel memories today.

"You know you can come to me anytime." He said it with his eyes closed.

"Y-Yeah," Mikey gulped. "But I don't know if you want to meditate alone to clear your mind."

That's excuse. You've never had a problem jumping at me before, Leo thought. "You still can come to me."

There was a long pause between them. Mikey was still rubbing his biceps with the rag but didn't say anything. He opened one eye and saw Mikey grinned cheerfully.

"Is that a permission to bug you anytime I want? Like, anytime?"

Under normal circumstance, he would scold him and tell him to mess with someone else, but for once he would allow him to do so. After all, they had only each other. He should know no matter what happened Mikey would be the same old Mikey. He probably had to kiss his privacy goodbye. Leo sighed. "You could say that."

"Awesome!" Mikey continued his task happily, but he stopped when he reached his plastron. "Umm, did you get hurt anywhere?"

"No, it's not my blood," Leo averted his eyes. He didn't want to explain why he got so much blood on his body. He didn't want to explain why he killed humans today. "What about you?"

"I'm fine. No bleeding, just a scratch. Henry checked my back for me. Clickers can't bite my shell, well maybe they tried but I'm glad they couldn't. And last time I checked you can't get infected by the scratches. The infection will happen only when you get a bloody wound from their sharp fangs..."

He leaned to his brother and mimicked its sound by clicking his tongue repeatedly. Leo grabbed his face and pushed away with a smirk. Mikey rolled away and laughed before gathered himself back to the same position. Then he did a very serious face, holding up three fingers (which were all he had in one hand) in a scout honor style.

"All right. Fine. I won't make a joke about them anymore. It's kinda creepy to see them running around today. I'll admit that click-click sound scares me to death."

Leo caught a hint of fear in his voice as he stared at his little brother. A wave of guilt washed over him. "I'm sorry for getting back to you so late."

Mikey shook his head. "It's cool, dude. Don't worry, I won't let them think the baby brother of Hamato clan will go down without a fight."

"You did good," Leo told him, caressing his little brother's cheek. He caught a small blush on his face before it disappeared quickly. Mikey ducked his head and continued cleaning in silence. After he finished on his plastron, he moved to his carapace.

"You know what I was thinking when we fought them? I thought Raph should be here. He must love a hardcore challenge like kicking a bunch of zombies and destroying the tank." Mikey stopped cleaning and tapped his chin, thinking. "What do you say? I fought the tank and came out alive. It went KA-BOOM! but I'm still in one piece."

Leo chuckled. "It's not really the tank, you know. More like an armored jeep."

"Details, details." Mikey shrugged, rubbing a last red spot on Leo's carapace. "'Tank' sounds cooler. Hey, don't forget to tell Raph that I fought the tank and won!"

The conversation flowed normally as if they were in the lair. He didn't want to admit it, but it felt nice to have Mikey here. If he came to this dimension alone, he wouldn't know what to do. To be truly alone in the foreign place, he would have gone mad.

His track of thought was interrupted by Henry who poked his head into their room. "Are you done? Let's come to have dinner."

"Foods!" Mikey threw the rag away and ran after the man. Leo rolled his eyes. Typical Mikey.

He frowned when he didn't see Sam joining their dinner in the room. "Where's Sam?"

"He already ate and went to rest in the room. I guess he's too exhausted to play with you." the latter referred to Mikey who was holding a bowl of canned soup. Mikey's eyes widened, he pushed the bowl into his big brother's hands and ran to the bedroom.

"I'll go to check on him!"

"Hey, hold your horses." Henry opened his mouth to say something then he changed his mind. "Just don't wake him if he's sleeping."

"I won't!"

They watched Mikey carefully opened the door and slipped in. Henry smiled, putting his hand on his waist. The man pointed a spoon at the door.

"I've learned from someone that I shouldn't say 'no' to that kid."

Leo stared at the bowl in his hands, still impressed that his brother left the food and went to play with Sam. "I apologize. Mikey is single-minded when it comes to his friends."

"Friends, huh? Sam probably thinks about his friends right now." Henry shook his head slightly and said quietly. "I don't think anyone from our group's gonna show up. Worst part about it all-explaining it to Sam."

Leo turned to look at the man. It wasn't like Henry gave up, more like he was accepting the truth. Their journey from the city to the radio tower wasn't easy, and they probably won't make it without the help from ninjas.

"He'll understand, and he still has you." Leo reminded him. Henry nodded slowly. They sat down on the floor and had dinner quietly. The man seemed to be lost in his thoughts, so Leo decided to tell him about what he had learned from Sam to distract him from the loss.

"When we were in the sewers, Sam told me many things." Henry perked up at his own brother's name. "He's really concerned about you and scared when you have to fight alone. Sometimes you can let him help, just a small task is fine."

The man put down his spoon and sighed. "It's not like I don't trust him, but it's been so long since we're in the normal situation."

"You're a team," Leo explained. "Just like Mikey and me. I know it's not a fair comparison because Mikey can fight, but you have to give him a chance."

"Okay, I'll try." Henry looked at him with amusement, "Is that what you're talking about the whole time? About me?"

"Not really. I merely gave an ear to him so he could tell me his problems. He was pretty upset when we were in the sewers."

It seemed that Henry knew what he did to make his little brother upset. "Damn."

Leo gave him a reassuring smile. "Mikey can be a real handful too. But you're family, I know you can work it out."

Henry observed him for a moment before giving his comment. "You know a lot about how to deal with little brother."

"To put it mildly, I have two little brothers back home and we have… very different personalities. So yes, I have a lot of experience." Leo bowed his head a little when he thought about Donnie and Raph. He couldn't deny that he missed them.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Is it possible for us to go to your world?"

Leo remembered this question back when they were walking in the town. He tilted his head. "I don't see why not. If we find the Kraang, we might have a clue about the portal."

"I want to take this kid anywhere but here," Henry confessed finally as if he waited until Mikey and Sam weren't around to express it out loud. "If your world is totally opposite of this nightmare, I want to give him a second chance to live."

Leo stared at him for a long time. Understanding why Henry wanted to speak with him privately, he gave a nod. "Alright. Let's find Fireflies together."

Mikey closed the door quietly, not wanting to wake the boy. But he found Sam was still awake, the boy was sitting on the chair, arranging their canned foods on the table. Mikey walked toward him and asked. "Are you mad?"

Sam was startled a little, not expecting the question. "Huh? About what?"

"I'm sorry our football got destroyed. We can play something else." Mikey mumbled timidly.

"I don't wanna play, Mike." Apparently, Sam was in a bad mood. He asked him irritably. "Did Henry send you?"

"What? No." Mikey blinked. "Why would Henry send me to see you?"

"To make sure I don't screw anything up again." The boy crossed arms on the table and rested his cheek on them. "Henry said I always screw up"

Mikey put his palms on the table, keeping his voice low. "I can feel you, man. That's story of my life. But I think we all did pretty good back there. Nothing bad happened."

Sam winced. Mikey raised his eye ridge before the boy got up abruptly and went to the window.

"Uh… Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mikey wasn't sure why the boy was moody. It must be the football, He thought. He could practically see a bright pink neon sign with the words 'I-don't-wanna-play-today-just-leave-me-alone' hanging on Sam's head, so he thought it might be the best to let him sleep. After all, they could play together tomorrow before heading to Fireflies' base.

"Umm, well, then, good night."

He turned to leave, missing his food already. But he heard Sam's voice before he could reach the doorknob.

"How come you're never scared?"

Mikey turned to face him. Sam was acting weird but he didn't know why. "Umm… Dude, I'm sure you heard me scream all the time. Of course I'm scared."

Sam shook his head in annoyance. "Not about those dead bodies. You're not scared to jump into the fights."

"Because I'm a ninja. We fight Foot-bots, triceratons, and Kraa-I mean, alien robots before. I guess it becomes our instinct to be ready for battle."

"But are you afraid of clickers?"

Mikey cringed. "Well, yeah, they're super creepy, right?"

"You're scared, but you still fight them." It was a statement. He began to worry about their serious talk. It was like Sam had changed after the fight. The boy continued to shoot a question. "Aside from those things, what else are you afraid of?"

"Squirrelanoid!" Mikey answered without missing a beat. It was Sam's turn to look confused. Obviously, the boy didn't know what it was. Mikey didn't want to explain about Squirrelanoid so he tried to change his answer. "And… umm… the reason I fight even though I don't like mushroom heads because..." He trailed off, thinking very hard to come up with a decent answer.

Then he realized he already knew the answer.

"Because I have to go back home no matter what. Because I… I'm scared of ending up alone." Mikey said finally, and then he cleared his throat nervously. "Yeah, that's my answer. And you?"

"I…" Not finishing his sentence, Sam pointed his finger to the window instead. "Those things out there. What if the people are still inside? What if they're trapped in there, without any control over their body?"

Mikey blinked. He never had this kind of thought before. His sense told him that those things were bad guys so the good guys could bash their heads freely. He knew he didn't want to accept it, he didn't want to think that they killed a dozen of trapped humans today. It didn't feel right. "There's a theory in zombie science. It said something about they might still look like people, but that person is not in there anymore."

"What if you're wrong? They might be inside… I'm scared of that happening to me." Sam met his gaze for a moment then he stared at the floor intently.

Mikey spread out his arms. "Hey. Don't worry. Just don't think about it. We're going to help each other from now on. And you said you want to come to our world, right? So we're going to find the Kraang together."

"I want to visit your world..." Still, not meeting his eyes, Sam whispered to himself. "I really want to, Mike."

He stood awkwardly, wondering why he couldn't comfort the boy. It seemed something deep inside the boy's mind troubled him and Mikey couldn't figure it out. He decided to solve it in his own way. Reaching out to his backpack, Mikey picked up the Kraang's mark he got from the robot.

"You know what? I'll give you this." He put it on the table. "This is from my world. Back home I have a lot of action figures. This is not really a figure, but you can play with it."

Sam looked at the mark without saying anything, so he took it as his cue to leave. "Okay, gotta go now. See you in the morning."

He hoped the boy would be in the good mood again in the morning. Mikey would make sure to remind him that being little brother didn't mean they would 'screw up' every time.

Mikey didn't know that Sam threw the Kraang's mask on the floor when he left, not caring about playing anymore. Then he walked back to sit down on the chair, tugging his pants and looking at a bite mark on his leg. He got it from clicker when they were attacked on the street. The wound was still bleeding, which was a sign of the first stage. It would never close and continue to bleed until the host was fully turned. Sam looked at it with a fear in his eyes, hoping he could make it til the morning.

"I really want to go to your world, Mike."

Mikey was the last one who woke up. He rubbed his eyes and turned around to find his own brother. Leo was standing near the window, admiring the morning sunlight. Henry was cooking for them using a picnic stove.

"Good morning." It was Leo who turned to greet him. Mikey mumbled something incoherently as a response. He was not an early morning person and couldn't function until he had breakfast.

"Hmm, fooods." He sniffed toward the pot. Henry smiled at his silly act.

"Hey, Mike, do me a favor and wake that kid."

"Okay!" He sprang to his feet and ran to Sam's room. Opening the door widely, he called the boy with enthusiasm. "Morning, sunshine! Breakfast is ready!"

He found Sam stood in the middle of the room, making a choking sound. Mikey walked slowly at him, thinking that maybe he had a bad habit every morning, or he was sleep-walking.

"Uh, Sam? You okay? Dude, you act a little weird."

Then the boy lunged at him

Mikey was screaming.

Leo wondered if it became his routine to scream every day, but he pushed aside that thought as Mikey screamed inside the room. It meant the enemy was here in the tower. He grabbed his katana and ran to the door. But before he opened it, the door swung out as Mikey's shell slammed on it.

"Sam!"

He tried to find the sight of the enemy but he found none. Then Mikey yelled again, squirming under Sam's weight. Leo couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Sam straddled his little brother, trying to gnaw his way through Mikey's guarding arms.

"Mikey!?"

He gripped on the hilt of katana. Leo couldn't bring himself to hurt the boy, even if he was turning and trying to hurt his brother. Henry was too shocked to move as he couldn't take his eyes off Sam. The boy who he had protected since birth turned into a monster he despised, a mindless clicker.

"Ahhh! Help me!"

Leo hesitated, but Mikey's voice brought him back to the reality. He steeled himself to stab the boy, possibly on the area where he would be less painful. But before the blade touched the boy, Henry shot at a space near his feet as a warning.

"Stop! That's my fucking brother!"

Suddenly he was channeling Raph. His little brother was calling for him. How dare you come between Mikey and me?

"No..." His low but deadly voice directed at the man. "That's my brother too."

He turned away, ignoring Henry who was pointing the gun at him. He didn't care anymore. He had killed humans before. This was just another corpse to add on his list, but he found himself shaking.

This is Sam I'm going to kill. He's not the hunter from the city, he's not the sniper, he's just a kid...

When Henry shot again, he braced himself for a shot. But he realized that this time Henry aimed at his own brother, killing Sam on the spot.

As soon as Mikey was free, he shoved the boy away and threw himself at Leo squeezing oxygen out of his lungs. He whimpered on his big brother's plastron.

"Mikey! Are you alright?" Leo felt his heart pounding as Mikey shook his head rapidly. Then his tearful eyes glanced back at Sam who was twitching on the floor.

"No way… Sam..." Unable to hold his tears, Mikey cried on his plastron. Leo only put his hand on his little brother's back to soothe him.

Henry whispered slowly in despair. "Sam… Why? Why-"

Everything happened so fast. Half an hour ago, he was talking to Henry about their next destination, laughing together when they shared the stories from their home. Now Henry was forced to kill his own brother, and the gun was still in his hand.

"Henry..." Leo knew the man was emotionally wrecked and he must try to calm him down in any way he could. "Henry, please, put the gun down."

The man didn't move. He pried Mikey out of him, but Mikey only tightened his embrace.

"Leo!?"

"Mikey, stay there." He said quietly, trying to get out of his death grip. Mikey involuntarily released him and stared at him the whole time. Leo used his soft voice to approach the man. "Please, listen to me, Henry."

"What have I done…?"

"Henry, I'll get that gun, okay?" Leo moved toward him carefully, but he froze when the gun was now pointing at his head. "No..."

"This is your fault..."

Like an ice blade piercing his heart, he was speechless for a moment.

"It's nobody's fault, Henry." He whispered.

"You let this happened!"

"I-I didn't know he got bitten."

"This is all your goddamn fault!"

Henry's shaky voice kept getting louder and louder. Leo swallowed, knowing Mikey was looking fearfully at his shell from behind. He couldn't die here, not by the hand of their companion. And he couldn't let Henry shoot Mikey too. Leo stood bravely in front of his little brother, hoping he could reason with the man before it was too late.

But he hadn't expected Henry to do something recklessly. Even with his speed, he couldn't prevent it from happening.

"No!"

Henry turned the gun on himself, and shot.