Disclaimer: TMNT does not belong to me

A/N: The conclusion towards TMNT; Mafioso, short but I hope it won't disappoint, it is meant to tie up loose ends.

Too soon... Too soon was the phrase that ran through all three of the remaining brothers heads as they stared at the new headstone next to Splinter.

Michaelangelo Splinterson

May 4 1988 - December 2 2012

A beloved brother who left us too soon.

But that was over a year ago. Now it was only Raphael standing over his brothers grave. "They say that death can either drive people apart or closer together." El mused aloud, hoping the spirit of his brother could hear him. "Splinters death pushed us apart... But when you died Mikey, you brought us closer together." Though his solemn expression remained the same, a lone trail of tears fell from the corners of both of his eyes.

After Mikey was drowned by Ricky the Rat, the turtles focused on first finding their brothers body; and they did hours later, he was pinned underwater by cinder blocks near the docks. He was dead... His lungs full of water, his skin almost black with death. They killed Ricky of course; they pumped the water out of Mikes lungs and buried him next to Splinter in a clearing near Casey's grandmother's farmhouse. The Ancient One had to explain to them that he lied when he said that if one of them died they would all die, so he removed the pain curse from them, and apologized that they had to experience the pain of death. In a way, it... humbled them.

El kneeled and placed a single lotus on his younger brothers graves. "Doc retired from being a vigilante, he took up the task of being the leader of the Dragon-Foots after your death, he's using them as a force for good now..." He paused to wipe the tears away "Leo became a ninja again, he's sorry he never got to make it up to you... Shadow was really sad when you died. Since Leo was training her to be a ninja, he gave her your mask. She's a lot like you, you know. She's a really happy kid, she loves video games, comic books and driving Leo up the wall... She even has nunchucks, it surprised us all how similar to you she is."

While her brother did not share her ambition to be a ninja, Cody Jones was an exceptional bright child now, he became interested in science like his mother April; he was under the tutelage of Donnie now. El found himself rather fond of the two now, not that he wasn't before but with his younger brother missing from his life he gained a whole new appreciation for his family.

"I'm not a Loan Shark no more Mikey." He croaked, his voice heavy with emotion "It was my fault that you died; you were involved with Ricky because of me, If I was never a loan shark... If I never beat the shit out of him in the first place... Maybe, maybe..." He stopped, he knew that it was too late now, he had to accept things the way they were. "Me and Carter are still tight though, I talked him into attending college if you would believe it, he wants to be a teacher." A small smile appeared on his dark green face "Me and Casey... He was there for me when he saw how much I was grieving over you, I was surprised how he forgot all about our falling out and was willing to be my friend again, we're friends again."

"Renet is back with Lord Simultaneous again; for housing her, he granted each of us one wish; we all wanted you back to life but he said he couldn't do that. I was bummed, but I used that wish to be as fluent in Spanish as I am in English; when I heard what my posse was really saying..." He found out that not only was Tito aware of him being a turtle, but he often badmouthed him to his face since he didn't speak English. El of course ranted at him in Spanish and he hasn't seen Tito since. "Since they couldn't bring you back, Doc and Leo declined their wish, saying all they wanted was for you to be alive again."

Raphael was silent for a long time, just staring at the headstone that marked the final resting place of his dead brother "I'm so sorry Mikey. Our family should have come back together regardless of your death, we never should have disbanded in the first place, I wish you could be with us now... Angel took it a lot harder than the rest of us, she really loved you bro. "

All he needed to say was said, and El left the grave-site.

A few seconds later two people came into the clearing.

The first to speak was an all-too familiar woman; black hair, sharp green eyes, red headband, a katana strapped to her waist, a white kimono with the design of a red phoenix. "How can you continue after hearing all of that?" She demanded.

Her companion, an equally familiar sea-green turtle with an oblique scar running across his face, blue eyes, orange ski goggles strapped to his forehead and a black kimono with bright orange flame design. "I just can't Karai... Not now." Michaelangelo replied.

The reason Lord Simultaneous could not bring him back to life was because he never died in the first place. He died for a split second, and used that split second to trace the chi flowing between him and his brothers and severing it, hoping it would stop them from suffering the same fate, unaware that the Ancient One had lied. Instead, his severing caused an odd backlash where he received a little bit of chi flowing backwards from the other three; he manipulated it in a way to keep him in a dormant, super-meditative state until he recovered where he did not need oxygen so his heart did not beat. However, his brothers who did not possess the same prowess in chi could not tell that the chi was preserving his body and they saw it as death, so they buried him. It took him six weeks to recover and wake up, and dig his way out of the coffin and out of the ground.

He never killed Karai; he staged the whole thing, he and Karai struck a deal that he would put a special drug into her food which would make her appear dead, instead of cyanide like he said. He gave her a new identity after stowing her away to a safe area, and she had been traveling the world as a Ronin this entire time. They had met up recently, Mikey had refused to resurface himself to his brothers, knowing that it might mess everything up, having already gone through the grieving process.

"They think I'm dead, and they've accepted it. There's no point in returning." Michaelangelo said grimly; the experience had freed him of the voices and insanity that had plagued him, and now he was almost enlightened; they were all moving on...

Sighing, he focused and bit and manifested chi, spun it with both of his palms he spun it until it was an orange portal. "Lord Simultaneous offered me a job as a Time Patrolman(1), would you like to come with me Karai?"

She shook her head "It was good to know you Michaelangelo."

He stepped into the portal.

"Your secret is safe with me." Karai called.

"Yes," Michaelangelo said, he looked back at the grave that his brothers did not know was empty "yes it is."

He was engulfed by the orange portal and when it collapsed into nothingness, Michaelangelo Splinterson dropped out of the timeline.

The (Actual) End

(1) Yes that is right, this story is actually a prequel to TMNT: Ludicrous Supper.

Mikey was in fact, intended to survive, but his brothers weren't supposed to know. If you want to see how Mikey ends up, read my other story "Ludicrous Supper"