This is a one shot fiction. I remembered writing this back in 2001 when my eleventh grade English teacher gave us a sentence to work on as the beginning of a short fiction. We never actually went through with it. However, about two months afterwards I wrote this. Though it is very different from what I wrote the first time.
The beginning sentence was 'He Knew He Was Going to Die'.
I do not own any of the Ninja Turtle characters. Laird and Eastman do. Please note the Turtle doesn't get revealed until the last paragraph of the first section of this fiction.
He knew he was going to die. But he didn't let it fully pass into his mind as he continued to fight his way. He dodged an oncoming katana and rolled to the right to avoid a hit from a Bo-Staff that came from behind. He blocked the Sais aiming for his plastron and managed to push hard on his attacker, causing him to stumble back into his ally's Katana.
The turtle witnessed the red blood trickling down the Foot Soldier's front from where the point of the Katana was showing through. But the bandanna wearing mutant turtle couldn't dare the risk of staying in that spot. He had to get away. Taking his chances, he sped away. But the escape attempt was probably feeble. They surrounded him, not giving him any chance of getting away.
He may be tired. He may be sore. But adrenaline was keeping him from dropping. He felt a splash of a rain drop from above, then the sound of thunder and a flash of lightening. He remembered watching the news just hours before he went out, it did forecast storms tonight.
Just thinking about it made him regret ever going out at all, especially the way he did. But then, how was he supposed to know that he was going to be sprung upon by the members of the Foot?
Wouldn't he give to be able to reverse time and apologise to his brother on just how wrong he was and for acting like the jerk he denied himself to be sometimes.
Inhaling deeply and exhaling just as heavy, he began to hold his ground once more. He used the skills he had learnt over the years. But nothing could have prepared him for the second the Katana blade came out of absolutely nowhere and feeling it slice against the side of his neck, piercing his flesh.
The Turtle cried out and fell to his knees, dropping his weapons in the process. He could taste the metallic liquid; he knew…he just knew…
The Foot Soldiers waited and watched for a moment, making absolute sure. The Turtle slowly went to get to his feet; his vision was starting to fail on him. But he wasn't going to go out without a fight. Unsteadily, he grabbed one of his Sai as he got fully to his feet and charged at the first Soldier he laid eyes on. Raphael felt the blade going through his chest and into his heart…
Slowly, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Casey lowered the casket into the freshly dug up earth. No-one would ever forget the moment they learnt of Raphael's death.
Michelangelo will never forget when he found Raphael's corpse upon the rooftop…just seven blocks away from home. Donatello will never forget when Michelangelo walked through the door, with tears streaming down his cheeks and carrying Raphael's lifeless body. Leonardo couldn't suppress the moment he and Splinter watched as Michelangelo placed their red bandanna wearing brother on the couch, the many tears that flowed that mournful night.
As all beared witness to the burial of their lost brother, son and friend, tears continued to flow down the many cheeks. April held a handkerchief up to her eye to wipe away an escaping tear.
"He may have been a real hothead," Leonardo began saying, once he and his remaining two brothers and Casey had finished replacing the rich brown earth, covering the casket that had been handmade by Donatello and Casey. "But he was a brave individual. He never held back…even if it got him into trouble. He always said he'd go down in a fight. Never thought it was going to be true. But…I wish it wasn't like this!"
Leonardo collapsed to his knees; he hadn't fully let out the waterworks until now.
"The last thing I said to him was…I wish I…"
A hand rested upon his shoulder.
"Do not dwell on what had been said," said the wise, yet saddened voice of Master Splinter. "He knew you never meant what you had said. He knew…"
Leonardo stared at the gravestone that stood at the head of his dead brother's grave, through blurry vision, reading what it head.
Raphael
April 12, 1984 – November 13, 2001
A Son, a Brother and a Friend That Surely Will Be Missed.
The Turtles, Splinter, Casey and April didn't return from Casey's farmhouse until December. Snow had fallen by then. It was months before anyone had the courage to even enter Raphael's room. There were even times when they could have sworn their brother was about to walk through the door at any moment with his huffy mood or asking at least someone to spar with him.
It wasn't until the 12th of April, the day Raphael was to turn eighteen, when it was decided that the Turtles and Splinter, with the help of April and Casey, would sort through their lost member's belongings.
"Whoa!" Michelangelo said when he found a stack of comic books. "Raphie boy was always telling me how much of a comic geek I was. Never knew he…"
He paused for a moment, when he opened the cover of the top one.
"What is it, Mikey?" asked Donny.
A birthday card was resting inside on the front cover. It was orange with the words 'Happy Birthday' on it in sparkly writing and a blue birthday cake with candles. Michelangelo picked it up and opened it.
Hey Mikey,
Hope you don't have these in your collection. If you do, well, gotta give points for trying right?
Happy Birthday Bro, Raph.
A single tear strayed down Michelangelo's cheek. Michelangelo's seventeenth birthday was two weeks after Raphael had died.
"Thanks, Raph," he muttered, placing the card back where he found it and closing the cover over it.
The birthday card wasn't the only thing they found amongst Raphael's possessions. They found a chest with old memorabilia inside it. From an old Yankees baseball cap to a poster of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'.
"He liked 'The Little Mermaid'?" said Michelangelo. If Raphael was alive, he'd be laughing his head off and making jokes, but now… "Who would have thought?"
"Oh, my shell!" said Donatello, picking up an old brown bear that was missing a button eye and had lost some of its fur and looked utterly saggy. "The teddy bear Splinter gave him when he was sick with the flu…remember?"
"Oh, yes. You were four years old then," said Splinter, giving a small smile. "Raphael was the last to receive the flu. He unfortunately got a nasty dose of it. Couldn't sleep. So I gave him the bear to help him sleep at night. It worked…it became one of those bedtime buddies for three years." He paused for a moment. "I thought he had thrown it away when he saw he didn't need it anymore. Guess I was wrong."
"Mr Ted wasn't the only thing he kept either," said Leonardo, taking out a shoebox, inside were all the Birthday and Christmas cards he was ever given.
"Hey look! There's a video tape," said Michelangelo, pointing next to an old drawing of Splinter and the Turtles that Raphael drew when he was six years old.
Donatello took it out. "What's on it?" he asked the very question everyone was thinking.
"Should we find out?" Casey asked.
"Do you think it's a good idea?" said April.
"I believe that Raphael wouldn't mind," said Splinter, seeming to just know.
So they went to the living room and put the video on.
For a second there was nothing but 'ant wars' on the screen. But that disappeared immediately and they saw Raphael waking away from the camera and sitting down on his bed in front of it.
"Hi," he said, "This here is Raphael. The Date is October 30, 2001. I thought I'd make this in case…I don't know…something happens to me sometime in the future. Not that I am saying that I'll be going any time soon, it's just that…everyone knows how I can be. So I thought I'd make this video." There was a pause for a moment. "What can I say on this thing…hmm…well…I don't know I have never really done this thing before." Another pause.
"Guess I can start with saying that if you found this tape, you have found my chest of old stuff. Stuff I have kept because of the memories. Admit it; you thought I got rid of old Mr Ted." Raphael held up the very old teddy bear that they had found just minutes before. "I couldn't get rid of this fella. Splinter gave him to me, as if I would throw away a gift from any of you.
"You probably also found that poster of that redheaded mermaid. I secretly went to see that when it first came out on the big screen. It was also the day I got grounded from Master Splinter from even going topside. But he, thankfully, kept my secret. How many six year old boys will admit to such a thing? Even at my age I would never admit to it.
"I believe what I am trying to say out of all this is that…no matter how many times I appear as though I am pushing away from you, please know this. I have always loved you. You're my family. I will never, ever forget any of you. Not even when I die. So I am going to address each one of you.
"Leonardo. Your lectures may be the pain in my shell. But I know that you're only trying to get me to see what may be the best solution or reason to something. I admire your leadership; you're more worthy of it that I will ever be. Keep the other two out of trouble. Believe me; Mikey especially needs the extra attention.
"Donatello. The one brains in the family. How you even manage to get the toaster to work again or how you can build a remote control car from scratch is beyond me, but at least we have someone who know how to do the things I probably won't even game myself into doing, like stopping a bomb for instance. Donny, remember what I said to you back when we were ten years old? About where I believe souls end up when they leave the body?"
Donatello remembered clearly. "They wind up being a new star in the sky," he quietly said, choking back the tears.
"Michelangelo. My youngest bro. I'm going to miss your jokes and your positive attitude. Even that cat of yours, Klunk. You and I both always talked of having a cat when we were little, remember? You were the one to beat me to it. Though, sometimes I pretended Klunk was mine, too. Cats rule! As you and I used to always say.
"Splinter. My Sensei, my mentor and, most of all, my Dad. I thank you for always being there when I needed that parental guidance. I thank you for teaching me what I know today and I don't just mean in Ninjitsu. You taught me to read and write. You taught me to appreciate other living things…even if I absolutely, one hundred percent hate bugs!
"But there was one thing you taught that I will carry on with me, even in my own death. It wasn't just you, who taught me, Master Splinter. It was also Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo. Even April and Casey. You taught me to care. You taught me about friendship. But, most of all, you taught me to love. The things that I am honoured to learn."
There were thin trails of tears rolling down Raphael's face. He wiped them away with the back of his hand.
"I'm going to end this tape now. But not without this final message. I love you all and I will see you when you reach the stars."
Raphael then got up and turned off the camera. The screen went blank. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.
"It was as if he knew," said Donatello.
"Knew what?" Michelangelo asked, before sniffing back and wiping his wet cheeks with a tissue.
"He recorded this on October 30, two weeks before…" Donatello couldn't continue.
Everyone fell silent and comforted each other the best they could.
Way above the skyscrapers of the city. The stars shone extra brightly tonight. It was one of those rare times one could see them. But one star stood out from the others. Was it a new star? Who knew? But it shone extra bright against the April night sky…
Well, I did mention that I have written it extra different from what I first wrote nearly six years ago. The Date on Raphael's gravestone is the Date I wrote the fiction.
Please tell me what you thought.