They were safe. Raphael and the body he dragged through the city's underground had finally come to a clearing. A safe haven far enough from the ravenous beast Raph once called friend. He was exhausted. He had spent the night challenging the monster, protecting his family. .

The boy had no time to think. When given an opening, he fled hoping to somehow find a solution in the safety of solitude.

The boy had no time to feel. Reality had not set itself into Raphael's mind yet, only survival dictated hi actions.

Then it struck, as if lightning had coursed through his veins. The boy fell to his knees, pulling the body over his legs. He pressed two of his fingers against its neck.

"Cold."

Tears streamed down the child's face. He closed his eyes as tight as he could, as if blindness would somehow bless him with ignorance of the matter. He grabbed the body, and embraced it with all of his might. The arms fell lifeless over the turtles back. His tears streamed down the body's back, rolling off unhindered into the sewage where they rest.

"…Mikey."

Raph could not save his brother. No matter how hard he tried, he could not harm the creature. He could not harm his friend. Every offense was met with hesitation. Every evasion was met with guilt. No matter the action, he could not view the beast as anything else but a friend. A mistake he would soon regret. As now, he holds the corpse of his youngest brother in an unknown sewer tunnel, responsible for his death, and he is still unsure what to do.

The beast was murderous; a menace that would have easily slain Raph without a second thought.

But he was still a friend.

Raph was given several opportunities to down the monster, preventing any harm to his family.

But he didn't.

All Raph could do then was hesitate. All Raph could do now was cry. The guilt overwhelmed the turtle: his sobs grew louder. They echoed through the tunnels, continuing on for several yards. This was unlike him. He was ninja, they took honor in their stealth. At this point, Raph had abandoned all sense of honor.

"…Raph?"

It was the voice of his older brother, echoing in a calm tone from another tunnel. Raph grew even more conflicted. How would he explain the death to his family? His friend killed his brother and he couldn't stop him? His own hesitation led to Mikey's death, and he is to blame? And how would life be like without Mike? Would they ever be happy again? Would those lazy nights watching T.V. as a family ever be the same again?

Thousands of questions raced through the child's head as he embraced his loved one's corpse even tighter. The stream of tears became a river, still slipping off the body's back uninterrupted.

"…M…Mikey"

All Raph could do was sit there, sobbing, thinking, blaming. The footsteps of his older brother grew louder, and suddenly, Raphael could only regret retelling what had transpired that night.

Reliving his greatest nightmare, all over again.