The Sage of the Next Generation - Romea III

By: Red Turtle

Epilogue:

Freaked the Foots, Mangled the Mousers and totaled the Technodrome. That's .. Turtle Power! But, what about the Shredder and Krang ...? Burned to toast ? Vaporized to milkshake ? Or..escaped to dimension X ? Until we know, none of us can sleep safely in our beds.. Er, shells!

…Wait…that's the legendary Epilogue from the Arcade Game…

Okay, for real now.

This is for my ninjas.

Romea:

This was it. The final good-bye.

Every day for three months I've come here to say good-bye, even though I was going to be back the next morning.

But now I'm leaving for good. College in France. Music scholarship.

The graves aren't the only thing I'm saying good-bye too. My living relatives are heartbroken that I made this decision so soon after our epic battle. Especially Julian, who failed both French and Music, and has no hope of accompanying me. He's just attending a community college with our twin cousins and Christopher. Christopher wanted us to all be together, but…I don't want that. Christopher is now the patriarch of the family, but as much as I love Christopher he doesn't hold the same weight as our parents did in making me do stuff I don't want to do. Besides I need to do as much living in my short life as I can to make up for our loss family members.

I'm not the only one to leave. Our real-time uncle Mike joined the future army with our cousin Huxley Anne. I think he'll defiantly do better in there, since beer-production didn't seem to be a big focus of that society. Surprisingly Judaism and Catholicism joined him for some family bonding. I actually miss them, and I only knew them…maybe a day. I would have liked having Catholicism around, as both an adult female and a non-turtle (she seemed more bird than turtle).

Endrame took care of our other younger cousin Shiitake, who knows if we'll ever see them again. Donatello and William showed no real interest in being with their last brother, but they never really bonded with Chicken or Pie either.

The original-era version of our family was returned to their own time, minus original Donatello whose body was cremated here. I don't know the full reasons for that, but myself I would have found it too weird to bury him here in this time. At least we all got to attend the funeral, and Grandfather Splinter said we all gave the most beautiful speeches and songs. Well…we did have some practice from the first funeral.

Many more relations came in for the other funerals, which we held all in one day. My mother's mother and two sisters, whom I had never met, Michelob's mother, Donatello and William's mother, Chicken and Pie's Mother, Tatiana's brother, we even included Master Sheno in this, since he had been tied to our genocide, and his family also came. I didn't know he had a son, a cute son that I would have flirted with if we weren't at a mass funeral. I was also a little resentful that all these female role models only show up at funerals. Maybe if they were around a little more for the living part we wouldn't have as many funerals. But that's not really fair to them, they have there own lives to lead just like I do.

As with our Donatello's first funeral, we received many gifts and condolences from around the world, far-reached acquaintances of all our parents. Most of these we actually gave to Splinter, although I guess it must be weird for those versions of our parents who are still alive. He really appreciated them though, for he mourned for the versions he had never met as extensions of his own sons. I suppose they'll get passed down through their own family in their time stream which will be…weird.

Knowing that I won't be back here again for probably years, if ever, I take the time to mourn each grave individually, instead of the group mourn I usually do. The loss of my parents hadn't affected me as deeply as one would think, the last couple years they hadn't been around, and I had already gone through a significant mourning when they first announced those plans. It is Rowdy that I truly miss, that I regret not having done more with, that I still cry over if I start to think of him and what he might have accomplished in a few years. Sometimes I replay the whole fight with Saber Khan and his army in my head, but this time Rowdy is thirteen or fourteen and just kicks everyone's ass. I drew a crude representation of this vivid fantasy it in my journal, so that he might accompany me in my travels, wherever they take me.

Wherever they take me…

The End

(bows)

only took me aboutthree years…

Won most complex plot in 2003