For My Brothers
Title: For My Brothers
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Raphael
Rating: R/M
Summary: Raphael's going to wipe out the Foot.
Word Count: 1264
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 361: Foot
Warnings: Character Deaths, Dark Future AU
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Ninjas don't scream when they die. They are trained for years to be silent killing machines so even in the throes of death, they still do not make a sound. They do not cry out, but their bones do. It's music to my ears. A much better beat than any old rap fills the sewer as bones break and skulls crunch. They don't make a sound, but they fall. Every damn one of them's going to before the night is over, and I'm going to make sure of it.
My blood and muscles are pumping. I'm dancing on their heads, their backs, breaking bones and vertebra underneath my toes. I used to try not to kill. It often took everything I had in me not to finish off scum like this, but out of respect for my Sensei, I always held back from delivering the killing blows. Not so tonight, not so any night any more. They have killed my family. And as I dance on top of their dying bodies, their breaking bones making a nice thumping rhythm to keep me swaying, I have to wonder...
Did my brothers scream? Did they cry out when they died? I was gone that night, after another spat with Leo, came home from working the streets and protecting innocents but not killing the creeps who wanted to kill, rob, and rape them to my own brothers slaughtered. Who died first? Did he have a chance to warn the others? Who died last? Did they think of me? Did they wonder where I was, if I was safe or already killed?
Did they... Did they blame me? At any time, at any chance, with their last breaths, did they blame me for not being there, for not protecting them? Anger, grief, and sorrow are all warring for dominance in my spirit, but that's nothing new. I slam Donnie's staff down in the middle of one Foot's back and use it to flip myself into the air.
Numchuckas on bones already poking out of a ninja's head do a rap-tap number on him and he falls. I slice the next one through the middle with Leonardo's katana, then throw my own sais over my shoulder, striking one onrushing Foot in the head and another right in the heart. They thought they could surprise me. Nothing ever will again. Nothing else matters anyway, except this crescendo of death.
I could succumb to the sorrow. They probably would have. But I'm not going to let myself. I can't, because if I do, their killers were never be brought to justice. They'll keep killing instead, and that's exactly why I never understood why Sensei always wanted us to just let them go. If they live, they'll kill again. These couple hundred won't. I've made damn sure of it.
"WHEW!" My voice echoes off the slime-streaked walls of the sewer as I land, full weight on broken ribs.
Casey looks at me. "We did good tonight -- " he starts to say, reaching out a hand.
I glower at him. I've told him to get lost. I've told him a thousand times, but the damn idiot is intent on getting himself killed. I won't be held responsible for any more good people dying. I'm not good. Sensei tried to make me good, but I was never good. I was never like my brothers. I didn't have the pure innocence of Donatello or Michelangelo. I've never had it. I've come from my fishbowl fighting.
I should have come killing. If I had, maybe they'd still be alive. I wonder how Sensei feels now, looking down on what's left in this ugly ass world. I always tried to reason with him and Leo. It never did any good. Did either of them regret it before they died? The way their bodies were, I think Leo was the second to die.
Did he see it coming? I wonder as I have countless times before. Did he stop and think for even one second when he saw our little brother dead that if he had only let me do my duty, if he had let me kill the bastard, our brother might not have died? Donnie and Mikey were both so innocent, and Donatello could've saved the world a thousand times over with just his brain. This world will never know the genius they lost, or the advancements that he could have brought them.
Not that they should have. This world never deserved us. I regret not killing faster. My guilt is a constant weight, and it doesn't come only from the fact that I wasn't there that night. I could have stopped the attacks way before then. All it would've taken was standing up to Master Splinter and actually doing what I should've done, actually killing before we were killed.
Before we were slaughtered. My brothers' blood was everywhere throughout our childhood home that night. It's almost like the Shredhead took their bodies and spilled their blood in every damn room. I wouldn't doubt it. I see their bodies, and their blood, every moment I close my eyes. So I don't close them any more.
Movement catches my eye, and my hand grips my sai. It takes me half a second to realize that Casey is only withdrawing his hand. He makes a sheepish expression as he scratches the back of his head underneath his mask instead.
"You're gonna get yourself killed," I growl at him. I should whup his ass just for insisting on being here. But I don't. I can't. I don't have it in me to fight my friends anymore, what few I do have left. He's probably the only one, but I've heard there are others. I still see April on the news. I can't go anywhere near them. It'll only get them killed, and they're going to get themselves killed too soon like it is.
"What about you, bro?" Casey asks softly.
I glower. "I don't matter," I whisper. The truth of my words rings in this dead sewer. I turn away, walk away, but I know the fool's already following me. He doesn't let me out of his sight for long, hasn't since I rescued his ass the other night. I'll ditch him, but I haven't found a way to yet. It's kinda nice having someone besides death following me, but it'll get him killed. I won't have anybody else killed on my watch. Nobody but the Foot and Shredder, and that bastard's gonna die slow.
I step on bodies as I walk through the sewer. There's one Foot with entrails hanging out but his one bleeding eye still open. I bend just low and quickly enough to slash his heart with my sai. No survivors. I wish they would've had the same mercy on us.
But if they had, I wouldn't be alive to avenge my brothers' murders. There's a reason for everything, Sensei used to tell us, and he was right. He was right about that one, but I should've been killing my whole damn life. I shouldn't have let any of the Foot live. I should've been done wiped them out.
But I will. Before I'm done with this city, the Foot Clan will be eradicated. And Shredder will hang over the city and will slowly bleed to death, with all my brothers' weapons and my own sliced deeply into him. I'll stick him like a pig and roast him like we're at a luau. But I will kill the bastard. I'll kill them all. For my brothers.
The End
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Raphael
Rating: R/M
Summary: Raphael's going to wipe out the Foot.
Word Count: 1264
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 361: Foot
Warnings: Character Deaths, Dark Future AU
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Ninjas don't scream when they die. They are trained for years to be silent killing machines so even in the throes of death, they still do not make a sound. They do not cry out, but their bones do. It's music to my ears. A much better beat than any old rap fills the sewer as bones break and skulls crunch. They don't make a sound, but they fall. Every damn one of them's going to before the night is over, and I'm going to make sure of it.
My blood and muscles are pumping. I'm dancing on their heads, their backs, breaking bones and vertebra underneath my toes. I used to try not to kill. It often took everything I had in me not to finish off scum like this, but out of respect for my Sensei, I always held back from delivering the killing blows. Not so tonight, not so any night any more. They have killed my family. And as I dance on top of their dying bodies, their breaking bones making a nice thumping rhythm to keep me swaying, I have to wonder...
Did my brothers scream? Did they cry out when they died? I was gone that night, after another spat with Leo, came home from working the streets and protecting innocents but not killing the creeps who wanted to kill, rob, and rape them to my own brothers slaughtered. Who died first? Did he have a chance to warn the others? Who died last? Did they think of me? Did they wonder where I was, if I was safe or already killed?
Did they... Did they blame me? At any time, at any chance, with their last breaths, did they blame me for not being there, for not protecting them? Anger, grief, and sorrow are all warring for dominance in my spirit, but that's nothing new. I slam Donnie's staff down in the middle of one Foot's back and use it to flip myself into the air.
Numchuckas on bones already poking out of a ninja's head do a rap-tap number on him and he falls. I slice the next one through the middle with Leonardo's katana, then throw my own sais over my shoulder, striking one onrushing Foot in the head and another right in the heart. They thought they could surprise me. Nothing ever will again. Nothing else matters anyway, except this crescendo of death.
I could succumb to the sorrow. They probably would have. But I'm not going to let myself. I can't, because if I do, their killers were never be brought to justice. They'll keep killing instead, and that's exactly why I never understood why Sensei always wanted us to just let them go. If they live, they'll kill again. These couple hundred won't. I've made damn sure of it.
"WHEW!" My voice echoes off the slime-streaked walls of the sewer as I land, full weight on broken ribs.
Casey looks at me. "We did good tonight -- " he starts to say, reaching out a hand.
I glower at him. I've told him to get lost. I've told him a thousand times, but the damn idiot is intent on getting himself killed. I won't be held responsible for any more good people dying. I'm not good. Sensei tried to make me good, but I was never good. I was never like my brothers. I didn't have the pure innocence of Donatello or Michelangelo. I've never had it. I've come from my fishbowl fighting.
I should have come killing. If I had, maybe they'd still be alive. I wonder how Sensei feels now, looking down on what's left in this ugly ass world. I always tried to reason with him and Leo. It never did any good. Did either of them regret it before they died? The way their bodies were, I think Leo was the second to die.
Did he see it coming? I wonder as I have countless times before. Did he stop and think for even one second when he saw our little brother dead that if he had only let me do my duty, if he had let me kill the bastard, our brother might not have died? Donnie and Mikey were both so innocent, and Donatello could've saved the world a thousand times over with just his brain. This world will never know the genius they lost, or the advancements that he could have brought them.
Not that they should have. This world never deserved us. I regret not killing faster. My guilt is a constant weight, and it doesn't come only from the fact that I wasn't there that night. I could have stopped the attacks way before then. All it would've taken was standing up to Master Splinter and actually doing what I should've done, actually killing before we were killed.
Before we were slaughtered. My brothers' blood was everywhere throughout our childhood home that night. It's almost like the Shredhead took their bodies and spilled their blood in every damn room. I wouldn't doubt it. I see their bodies, and their blood, every moment I close my eyes. So I don't close them any more.
Movement catches my eye, and my hand grips my sai. It takes me half a second to realize that Casey is only withdrawing his hand. He makes a sheepish expression as he scratches the back of his head underneath his mask instead.
"You're gonna get yourself killed," I growl at him. I should whup his ass just for insisting on being here. But I don't. I can't. I don't have it in me to fight my friends anymore, what few I do have left. He's probably the only one, but I've heard there are others. I still see April on the news. I can't go anywhere near them. It'll only get them killed, and they're going to get themselves killed too soon like it is.
"What about you, bro?" Casey asks softly.
I glower. "I don't matter," I whisper. The truth of my words rings in this dead sewer. I turn away, walk away, but I know the fool's already following me. He doesn't let me out of his sight for long, hasn't since I rescued his ass the other night. I'll ditch him, but I haven't found a way to yet. It's kinda nice having someone besides death following me, but it'll get him killed. I won't have anybody else killed on my watch. Nobody but the Foot and Shredder, and that bastard's gonna die slow.
I step on bodies as I walk through the sewer. There's one Foot with entrails hanging out but his one bleeding eye still open. I bend just low and quickly enough to slash his heart with my sai. No survivors. I wish they would've had the same mercy on us.
But if they had, I wouldn't be alive to avenge my brothers' murders. There's a reason for everything, Sensei used to tell us, and he was right. He was right about that one, but I should've been killing my whole damn life. I shouldn't have let any of the Foot live. I should've been done wiped them out.
But I will. Before I'm done with this city, the Foot Clan will be eradicated. And Shredder will hang over the city and will slowly bleed to death, with all my brothers' weapons and my own sliced deeply into him. I'll stick him like a pig and roast him like we're at a luau. But I will kill the bastard. I'll kill them all. For my brothers.
The End