So joshua aquino106 requested this "Expendable" one-shot in which Raph sacrifices himself to save Mikey from Super Shredder and dies instead. This is a companion piece to "For A Sister" and "A Brother's Remorse". Better write it now while I'm inspired.

NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.

"Bye, guys. I love..."

Before Mikey could finish saying goodbye, Shredder slashed him right across the face. He fell to the floor and spat out bits of blood. As the others cried out and begged Shredder to stop, the monster slashed at him again. And then again. And again.

Raph struggled with every fiber of his being to break free from Fishface's hold, ignoring the scratches that the other mutant's claws were making on his arms.

Mikey groaned and even began to whimper as the blades continued to assault him. He briefly squinted his eyes open and looked directly at Raph. In that short timespan of three seconds, Raph saw the endurable pain that Mikey was putting himself through all for his brothers and Karai. He was doing this to save them. To save him, even though he didn't deserve to live after all the horrible things that he said to his little brother.

"S-Stop..." Raph softly pleaded to the Shredder.

But Saki never looked his way and continued to slowly kill Mikey. The freckled Turtle choked on more blood and puked it out.

That did it.

With a roar, Raph reverse headbutted Fishface, hitting him in the nose. The mutant fish let go of him and the Turtle charged straight at Shredder, whose glowing blue eyes enlarged in surprise.

Splinter finally looked up at the sound of Raph yelling and frantically struggled to break the chains that bound him. "Raphael! No!"

Saki stopped attacking Mikey and raised his blades in preparation for a fight. But to everyone's shock and Splinter's horror, Raph instead flung himself on top of Mikey, who had lost consciousness.

The older brother narrowed his now white eyes and let out a terrifying hiss. "Just try and hurt him again, you monster," he snarled.

Unimpressed, Shredder lifted a hand and slashed Raph across his left cheek. But the Turtle remained where he knelt, even after the impact of the blow, and he slowly looked back up at Saki and spat out a bit of blood at his feet in defiance.

With a guttural growl, Shredder struck him again, this time on the other cheek. But the Turte was like a rock, immobile and strong, and even though both of his cheeks were now bleeding heavily, he sneered up at his enemy, daring him to strike again.

"RAPH!" Leo screamed, desperately trying to pull away from Tiger Claw and get to his immediate younger brother.

"NO!" Donnie hoarsely yelled, tears now sliding down his cheeks.

"Saki, STOP!" Karai pleaded. Even she was starting to shed tears for the Turtle with whom she had the most strained relationship.

Splinter could only stare in horror, his brown eyes wide and his ears flattened.

Fishface smiled sadistically along with his friends, enjoying the show.

"Go on, tough guy," Raph gave him a bloody, toothy grin. "Hit me again." A single drop of blood that ran down his chin fell onto Mikey's now scarred cheek.

That single touch brought Mikey back to the world and he slowly regained consciousness. He groggily looked around and noticed that Raph was kneeling over him protectively. "R...Raph...?" he rasped.

Shredder sneered beneath his mask. "Very well," he coolly said before he dragged his blades across Raph's shell.

Raph threw his head back and screamed in pain, but he still refused to budge.

Mikey's blue eyes widened with fear. "R-Raph!"

The next body part Shredder picked was Raph's right arm, then his left, then the back of his head. Not a single part of Raph was spared from Shredder's assault. But Raph was determined to protect Mikey, even if it meant his life, and compared to Mikey's, it wasn't worth much anyway.

"Raph, stop!" Mikey pleaded, too weak to try and push Raph away. More and more blood splattered everywhere and dripped from Raph's body and onto Mikey, soaking his shell. He could see Raph's arms trembling and could hear his unstable heavy breathing.

He knew that Raph was quickly fading away.

"Stop, Raph," Mikey shut his eyes tight and the tears leaked out. "Please...!"

"M...Mike..." Raph grunted with each blow and it hurt to talk, but he needed Mikey to hear this. "It...ngh! It's...ok-ahhh! O-Okay...Little Brother."

Mikey opened his tearful eyes and shook his head. "Don't do this. Don't die."

Even through the pain, Raph managed to smile. The life in his emerald eyes was fading, but not the love for his little brother. "B-Better me than-ahhh! Better me than...you."

Before Mikey could retort, a terrible crunching sound echoed in the room and Raph became very still and stiff, his eyes wide and blank. Mikey's eyes slowly lifted to Shredder, who loomed over them and was pointing his blades downward.

The youngest Turtle swallowed and began to fear the worst.

Then he saw the tips of the blades sticking right through Raph's plastron.

"NOOOOO!" Both Leo and Donnie screamed at the top of their lungs. Mikey wanted to scream, but it was stuck in his throat.

Shredder pulled his blades out and immediately Raph went limp, falling on top of Mikey. Their cheeks were pressed together and Mikey began to gently nudge at Raph with his beak. "R-Raph...?"

But his brother never responded and remained still, his body only moving whenever Mikey nudged him.

Just then he heard a very faint whisper that only he could hear.

"S...Sor...Mike..."

Then he literally felt the life leave Raph's body. A gentle breeze brushed past everyone, as though Raph's soul had flown out of the building at that very moment.

"...Ah-Ahhh...!" Mikey let out a hushed, strangled scream as he struggled to embrace Raph, but he couldn't even lift his arms.

Shredder walked away from the two Turtles and toward Splinter, roughly grabbing him by the collar of his kimono and lifting him off the ground. The mutant rat hung limp in his grasp, not having the will to even fight back.

"Look, Yoshi," Saki forced him to look at his sons on the floor. "Look what you've brought upon yourself and your sons. Because of you, your youngest will forever bear scars both on his body and his heart. You will bear this guilt for the rest of your miserable, pathetic life." He carelessly tossed Splinter aside and ordered his men to let go of the other two Turtles, who immediately ran to Mikey and Raph.

"Farewell, Yoshi, Miwa," Shredder bid them goodbye as he stopped out of the warehouse with his henchmen following close behind.

Leo carefully rolled Raph off of Mikey and gingerly held his scared head. His bloodied red mask lay on the floor in pieces along with Mikey's. He felt so cold to the touch and the once brilliant emerald orbs in his eyes were now a dull grey-green.

"Raph," Leo whispered, his tears dripping onto his brother's pale cheek. He brushed his palm over Raph's eyes, closing them. With a choked sob, he brought Raph closer and buried his face in his bleeding neck.

Donnie cradled Mikey in his arms and reached to grab Raph's hand, gently rubbing his thumb over his older brother's scars. He sobbed along with Leo, bowing his head.

Karai, who was still in chains, completely lost it and collapsed to the floor, her entire body shaking with sobs of anguish and remorse. All of this happened because of her, and now Mikey had lost a brother.

All Splinter could do was lay and stare blankly ahead, completely broken and numb.

"Wh-Why is everyone crying?"

Everyone but Splinter looked at Mikey, who wore an unsettling grin on his face. "Did I miss something?"

Donnie stared down at Mikey, concerned about his brother's strange behavior. "M-Mikey?"

Mikey looked over at Raph, who was still being cradled in Leo's arms. "Raphie? Why are you taking a nap right now? And what happened to your face? Did you get your head stuck in a scratching post or something?" He started to giggle, but it sounded...wrong. He reached over to shake Raph's shoulder. "Come on, bro. Wake up. It's too early for bed."

Leo, whose face was caked in Raph's blood, glanced back at the door with wild eyes. He wasn't about to let Oroku Saki get away with this. Gently laying Raph's body down, he got up and unsheathed his katanas, heading for the exit doors.

Splinter heard Leo walk past him and lifted his head. "Leonardo," he called after him. The Turtle stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait. Do not go after the Shredder. Please."

Leo slowly turned his head and glared murderously at his Sensei. There was nothing but pure hatred in those cold white eyes. Hatred toward him. "After I'm done with the Shredder," he hissed as he pointed a sword at Splinter, "you're next."

With that, Leo slammed the doors behind him, out to avenge his brother's death.

...

Outside the warehouse, Casey and April were having an argument over whether or not they should move in to save the Turtles.

"That's it!" Casey kicked a nearby trashcan in frustration. "I'm going in!" But before he could reach the doors, Leo kicked them open and marched right past his friend, never even noticing him. "L-Leo?"

The Turtle stopped to briefly glare at him. The blood all over on his face made him look even more sinister.

"Leo, what-" April slowly and cautiously approached him. "What happened? Why is there blood all over your-?"

"Raph is dead," Leo snapped, his grips on the swords tightening even more to the point that his hands began to bleed.

Casey's eyes widened and he dropped his hockey stick. "Wh-What...?"

"Raph is...dead?" April choked out the word, finding it hard to believe.

Without saying another word, Leo continued on his way, revenge being the only thing on his mind at the moment. Casey and April sprinted inside to find a horrible, gruesome sight.

"Raphie, come on. You can't sleep forever."

Mikey was completely wrapped in bandages, and he joked to the others that he looked like a mummy. Of course, everyone else was too devasted to laugh and they knew that Mikey wasn't of sound mind.

He knelt over Raph's body in the dojo and sighed when his brother refused to wake up. "Fine, be that way." He tucked his teddy bear under Raph's limp arm. "You can sleep with my teddy until you wake up." He then rested his head on Raph's scarred plastron and circled his finger on it, being mindful of the lacerations. "It used to be your teddy bear, remember? Then you gave it to me so that I could sleep better."

The dojo door opened slightly and Karai peeked in. She was heartbroken to see Mikey like this, broken inside his mind and clinging onto the fantasy that his brother would soon wake up.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped her head around.

Donnie looked at her very tired, sad auburn eyes. "Is he still in there?"

Karai bit her lower lip and somberly nodded.

The genius Turtle sighed and slid the dojo door all the way open. He approached Mikey and knelt down on the floor next to him. "Mikey, I told you...you have to stay in bed or else you'll open up all those wounds again."

Mikey shook his head. "I'm fine, Donnie. You need to help Raph. He just can't seem to wake up. Maybe it's those Dream Beavers again."

Donnie noticed a growing red spot on the bandage around Mikey's left leg. "Look see? You're bleeding now."

"Donnie, I said I'm fine," Mikey repeated, growing more impatient with his older brother. "It's just a scratch."

Now Donnie was beginning to lose his patience. "'Just a scratch'? Mikey, you almost died! And if Raph hadn't have shielded you from Shredder's attacks, we wouldn't be sitting here taking right now!"

"Well, right now I want you to wake Raph up so that he can be talking with us!" Mikey screamed, before he went into a coughing fit. Specks of blood appeared on the carpet of the floor and Donnie immediately ran to the drawer for a handcloth.

"Mikey..." he tenderly wiped Mikey's mouth, "Raph's...never going to wake up, okay?"

"NO!" Mikey slapped Donnie's hand away. "You're wrong! He will!" He turned back to Raph and started to slap his cheeks. "Come on, Raph! Wake up!"

Raph's head snapped back and forth with each slap, but he never awoke.

This aggravated Mikey even further and he slapped Raph with more force. "WAKE UP!"

"MIKEY!" Donnie wrapped his arms around his brother and held him close. "Calm down!"

The youngest Turtle began to kick wildly as he screamed in fury. "NO! I WANT MY RAPHIE! I WANT MY BIG BROTHER!"

His foot accidentally kicked Raph in the face, and Mikey immediately stopped fighting. "Oh! Raph!" He managed to free himself from Donnie's hold and crawled over to Raph's body. "I'm so sorry, bro. I didn't meant to kick you." He wrapped his arms around Raph's neck and nuzzled him on the forehead. "I'll take care of you, Raph. Like how you always take care of me. I promise."

Donnie sighed in defeat and left Mikey alone with Raph, closing the dojo door behind him. He walked past Karai and headed straight for his lab.

"What are you going to do?" Karai called after him.

He stopped to briefly glance back at her. "I'm going to have to sedate him. He's not going to leave Raph's side and he can't keep hurting himself like this. I really hate to do this, but it needs to be done."

She watched Donnie step into the lab and sat down on the couch with a heavy heart. The Hamato family was falling apart before her very eyes, and Donnie was doing everything he can for his brother and father. Splinter had locked himself in Raph's room, reliving that horrible night when he lost his baby over and over again in his head. No one could persuade him to come out, not even to eat something. Donnie talked to her about resorting to a feeding tube should their father continue to refuse to eat or drink.

She jumped when she thought she heard a noise and reached for her katana, looking over the couch and directly at the entrance. When she realized that no one was there and it was probably just rats scurrying about in the sewers, she relaxed but only a little.

She had been preparing for his return, and although she didn't want to fight him, if he presented a threat to her father or any of hey brothers, she would not hesitate to kill him where he stood.

It wasn't Oroku Saki she was worried about. No, she figured that the monster was dead by now, slaughtered by none other than Leonardo. It was the Turtle's return that she dreaded. After all, he promised to come after Splinter once he was finished with Shredder. And after seeing that crazed look in Leo's eyes last night, there was no doubt in Karai's mind that the Turtle meant what he said and was going to go through with it.

The once honorable sword-yielder was no longer her friend, but was now her enemy. The question was, which one of them would walk out of the lair alive should he ever come back for Splinter?

With a deep sigh and her eyes brimming with tears, Karai hugged the sheathed sword close to her chest and waited...

And in case you're wondering...nope, I'm not gonna expand on this story. Sorry! :/