Chapter Three – Reflections

The Night Watchman sighed deeply. He had been two blocks away, dispatching two Minotaurs, when he had heard the screams. He turned away as the body finally went limp, the devils swarming all over it. He wished that his helmet had earplugs – to block out the soft sucking and ripping he could hear. He shook his head and walked away, shoulders slumped in sadness. Reaching a rusted fire escape, he climbed up to the roof. Sighing once again, he looked down – barely seeing the devils consume the last of the body, before slowly taking off his helmet.

Five years…

The Night Watchman stared at himself in the dim reflection of the visor. He still looked the same…no matter how hard he wished. He was one of four – now three – brothers. Sworn to protect the innocent, trained as Ninja. The fact that he was a giant, mutant turtle didn't help his cause much either. His name had been Raphael…five years ago. Now, his only name was the Night Watchman…no longer the Night Watcher. Everything had been so good…until that one night five years ago… after he had gone home…

Flashback

Raph didn't know what to do. His sai were still stained with his brother's blood. The colour of it was red – just like on his bandanna. He had fled the scene if fright and shame. He had gone too far and killed his own brother. All for what? A piss up contest – to see who was the strongest fighter. No, not even that. Raph had been ashamed of his nocturnal activities. He had wanted his big brother to admire him – for him to finally be recognized as a hero. To himself, he was a hero…but to other eyes – he was a menace to society.

He wandered the empty sewer tunnels in a daze. He hadn't bothered to change out of his Night Watcher armour – he wanted to hide behind it as long as he could. He didn't want to admit that he had done something wrong to his father…but he had to face up sometime or another.

He punched the wall in a rage. Why now? Why had he lost his grip on his berserker rage now? When the city – the world – was in danger of becoming infested? He didn't want to kill him…he had just…snapped. Gone too far…made a mess of things like he usually did. For crying out loud – the city was in danger and all he could think about was himself! He was SO stupid! Billions of lives rested in their hands…and his hands had destroyed all hope. He shook his head violently – trying to clear out the tears from his eyes. He wanted freedom – but he was shackled to guilt for life. Even so…he had to tell someone. Casey was a no go. April was with Casey, so that was out as well. There was only one option for him.

Squaring his shoulders, he walked solidly into the dojo, where his Master was practicing. The mutant rat was honing his skills for the upcoming fight. A fight that would not happen – not after he learned the truth. He opened his mouth to speak, but the rat was quicker. His tone was stern – as always.

"Raphael. What is the matter? I can feel your anger from here."

Raphael started to speak, but his words came out strangled. As the rat turned, he could see that his son was clad in a strange leather and steel suit. It was very similar to the one the Night Watcher wore…but then he should have known sooner. His son – the reckless one – was the Night Watcher. The old rat felt a surge of pride…but that fell away as soon as it had appeared.

"I…did something stupid. More stupid than stupid. I…I…they, the storm and…I lost control."

Now the rat was becoming concerned. His son had always had a tenuous grip on his rages, but he had never totally lost control yet. Another thing nagged at him – where was Leonardo? The eldest brother had gone out to look for Raphael…but if Raphael had come back alone…no. Raphael couldn't have…could he?

"I did it Sensei…I killed Leo."

End Flashback

Well, it had all gone downhill from there. An extended screaming match between himself and the family, being shunned by Casey and April, leaving on a self-imposed exile…not to mention the fireworks that had gone on that night. And the monsters…the hordes of monsters that had come barreling down the street. Millions – if not billions – of them, all shapes, sizes and colours. He hadn't had time to think about his actions before the screaming started.

Sure, he had run into his remaining brothers once or twice. Those encounters had been rather strained – with both sides not knowing what to say to each other. The only person…well, turtle…that didn't seem to mind was Michelangelo. That was due to the talk that they had shared on their first meeting. He kept bringing Raph information from home – monster tracking reports, footprint analysis and the like. In return, he gave Mikey and – by extension – the rest of the family information about the so called "Weak spots" – breeding grounds, nests and where the old and sick were. So far, it was a somewhat shaky alliance – but it was strengthening.

Raph sighed again, before sliding on his helmet. He kept thinking about those stone statues – what they were…who they were…and why he had heard reports that they were destroying the monsters. He also wondered about the Foot. Karai had not been seen for some time. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not but some of the Foot Soldiers he had come across…well, they were still deadly – but they were leaderless. Raph stood up and turned away from the city skyline.

He missed his brothers