The regrets we hold

Chapter 12: The Aftermath

As Midnight went down a hero and Leo stood a villain that didn't stop the others from having their last moments of memories of when they were both good and fighting for change rather than making change happen. Now making change can be good and bad but the way Midnight wanted change was worse than anyone imaged. You'd think the so called heroes would be glad of Midnight death. No, it was rather the quite opposite. 

Leo couldn't handle himself after what he'd done, in fact Leo locked himself away in his room. Some nights he'd go above surface, trying to get a whiff of clean, fresh air, only to take in a breath of polluted air that smelled and tasted quite awful. He chocked back and sighed upon the rooftops. He assumed the reason for it was karma, though he couldn't complain. Leo's whole entire family, well what remained, was entirely frightened of what he had become. 

Master Splinter always put on a face of disappointment when he noticed Leonardo wondering around the lair or whenever he came out his room. Deep down Master Splinter wasn't scared but worried for the young brave soldier. He wanted to help his child through his hard times but could never get across to his eldest son. The main reason being Leo shut everyone who ever cared about him out of his life. In fact Leo was afraid of himself, he broke or got rid of any mirrors that remained inside his room. He couldn't bare look at himself, not after what hes done. He was a cold-heart blooded murderer. 

Raphael however dealt with the death of both of his younger brothers differently than what his father would have anticipated. He expected Raphael to punch and break anything in his sight out of pure rage and anger. Raph however didn't do that, he instead took time to process the newly found out information. He fell into a deep depression, most nights he would cry himself to sleep and have nightmares. Raph felt he could've, should've done something. He felt worthless for not being able to save them. He knew Midnight dying was he and his family's fault. He should've spoke up when he had the chance or realized how his younger brother felt at the time, rather than screw everything up worse than it had to have been. 

Karai on the other hand handled thing much similar to Raphael. She felt if she ran faster she could've saved them or at least saved Midnight. She had nightmares about the incident for weeks and often woke up sweating as if she ran a marathon. She had a case of survivals guilt and suffered depression, similar to Raphael. 

After the death of Midnight she informed Shredder right away who was away on a business trip. The call ended short, Karai mainly spoke the whole time and Shredder kept quiet. Karai feared the worst and expected him to be home as quickly as he possibly could. She knew when he'd return he'd be out on the streets of New York every single night until he stumbled across the blue masked murderer. Shredder would be out for blood.

Nigtorra had heard the news from Shredder. Midnight somehow persuaded her to follow along the Shredder and take action in his business trip. He told her it'd certainly help with her combat and leadership. She was hesitant at first but Midnight told her he'd be okay and would have Karai by his side if he ever needed help. Though that didn't appear to be the case, not one bit. Once she heard the news she couldn't help but spill the tears she didn't know she was holding back. She fell to the floor the second she was informed of his death. She couldn't help but feel if she stayed back she could've been the one to perish, not him. Midnight had so much to live for, he had a brightened future ahead of him, a future where he made up for his past mistakes, rather than a future he couldn't change and would forever regret. She took a stand to get revenge on the one who caused his death and the pain both sides of his family dealt. In fact the whole footclan, along with Shredder, Karai, and even Azrael set fourth to get Midnight's murderer's head on a stick. 

Azrael never felt depressed or even all that sad, he felt angry instead. He was mad the one in blue made him look too weak to finish Midnight off himself. He wanted to gain control of the one's Midnight loved just to see him break. Thou he couldn't even do that, not anymore. He had always held resentment for Midnight, he didn't even know why he did but he felt it was for a good reason. Therefore he made a deal with the Shredder to be by his side and to keep an eye out for the cold blood killer, in return he'd get the first blow as Shredder wanted to finish Leonardo off himself. 

Even though everyone experienced different feelings and emotions, they all thought the same thing. "Sometimes I wish life was written in pencil so we could erase it and write it all over again."

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A/N: I promised an Aftermath chapter and you shall be granted one! The quote towards the end was written by 'Thisuri Wanniarachchi' 

Word Count: 903

Date: 11/15/22