TMNT contest: Killing Everybody

WARNING: Mild violence.

:::

Raph flipped the couch and Mikey had to dodge for cover behind Leo. It took everything he had to separate the hot-head and the prankster of the family. Raph still had steam escape from his head while Mikey kept taunting him:

- You watched that wrestling match for the third times already! – Mikey screamed.

- I never gotta finish it, and this is the last re-run! – Raph gritted his teeth, he wouldn't want to press Leo's button for something petty like this, and yet…

- No way dude, it's the premier of the Justice Force show, and I'm gonna watch it even if it kills me.

- Leo, would ya step aside so I can kill him? I'm sure masta Splinta won't mind!

- Raph, Mikey, enough! – Leo stretched his arms to keep them as far away from each other as possible – You guys are not babies anymore, why don't you guys act your age for a change?

- Fine! – They both shouted and turned away.

Raph stopped in his track, giving a hard kick to the TV stand causing it to collapse before storming to his room. Mikey did the same, slamming the door so hard it vibrate against its hinge. Don witnessed the whole scene but could do little to intervene. He quietly carried his tool box over the TV and put it back together. Leo said:

- You need any help Don?

- Nah, I'm good – He waved a hand dismissively – I'll keep an eye on them if I were you though. This seem to be a little too much even for a fight over the remote.

- I know, they never act that harsh toward each other like this before. Heck, even Mikey didn't step down. Do you think something happened between them?

- Likely, but we'll have to take care of that later. I need to fix this for master Splinter before he start complaining about missing his soap.

Leo left his purple-clad brother to do his work and went to the dojo. Talking to each of them right now would probably cause more harm than good, so he decided to wait until things died down a bit…

:::

Since that night, both of them had become distant. They wouldn't appear within ten feet of each other, excluded the time for training. Mikey had stopped his jokes and pranks, and Raph was even grumpier than usual. Don had tried to talk to Raph and Leo had gone to Mikey but with little success. Today morning was more intense than normal. Hateful glances were constantly thrown between the other two. Leo chose to ignore them for he would talk to them later, separately. Thankfully master Splinter decided to supervise their training session that morning, so both Raph and Mikey didn't try anything extreme, although Leo could have sworn he saw a spark in their eyes, a spark that looked too similar to one another…

- Mikey, can I talk to you for a minute? – Leo called his youngest brother, making sure that Raph was still in the garage and out of earshot.

- I know what you want to say bro – Mikey answered with his comic book still in front of him – I know what Raph and I was doing. It's not good for our teamwork, blah blah blah, and I'm sorry about that, ok?

- You doesn't even sound a tiny bit sorry – Leo frown, putting a hand on the book to push it away – what's wrong between you two?

- What's wrong between us? – Mikey repeated, his eyes narrowed – what's wrong is that Raph really need to learn how to control his temper sometimes and give me some personal space. I'm not a pushover and he knows it, so why does he keep pissing me off?

Leo was taken aback a little by this. The sound of his little brother's voice was never this bitter, never this… full of hatred. He sounded so much like a copy of his red-clad brother.

- One day, I swear, one day I'm gonna make him stop going after my tail – Mikey's voice was dangerously low.

- Mikey! You know you don't mean that – Leo clapped his hands on his brother's shoulders – Both of you are having a hard time right now and can't think straight. Why don't you just… stay away from each other for the time being? – Pausing for a minute, he continued - I'm gonna talk to Raph about this. I'll talk him to cool down a little, and when you both calm down, we can sort things out, ok?

Mikey's body tensed up while Leo talked, but he relaxed a bit. He nodded:

- Ok! I'll try to stay away from him. You better make sure he'll do the same, or there won't be any 'sort things out' at all.

With that, he picked up his comic and walked to his room.

Leo turned to head for the garage when master Splinter called for him from his room. Leo sighed heavily kneeling in front of the rodent.

- Leonardo, I know the situation between Raphael and Michelangelo is troubling you – The rat said with a calm voice – Do you wish to speak about it?

- I don't know master – Leo shook his head – Everything was perfectly fine until last week. I still can't believe they became hostile toward themselves just because of a TV session.

- We need to find the source of their conflict soon my son, for I fear that their hatred would intensify if we let them be. I chose to attend your training this morning for that very reason – Splinter's tail flickered as he mention this morning.

- I'll get to the bottom of this master. I won't let a petty bickering tear our family apart – Leo clenched his fists in determination.

- Do not strain yourself while you do so. Sometimes it is best to step back in order to see the bigger picture.

Leo's shellcell chose this moment to ring. He picked up to April's voice:

- Hey Leo! Is master Splinter home?

- He's right here April, just a sec – Leo passed the phone over to Splinter.

- How may I help you Ms. O'neil?

- I'd like to ask for some of your advices. It's a little sensitive so can I talk to you tonight in my apartment?

- Certainly Ms. O'neil. I'd like to help however I can. I'll meet you at 8 o'clock tonight if that's convenient for you.

- Thank you master Splinter. I'll see you tonight then! – She hung up after that.

Informed Leo about his appointment, Splinter sighed:

- I'm afraid I have to leave your brother in your care for tonight, my son. During this time, it is best to keep them within the lair. Can you do that for me?

- I promise, master! – Leo bowed decisively, though he couldn't be sure about his hot-head brother…

:::

Leo walked out from the shoji only to bump into one of the said problems. Raph threw him a glare before continuing to the kitchen. Leo followed suit and saw Raph put a knife to the knives holder. The knife was different, with the blade reflecting his image and its shape was more like…

- Raph, was that knife came from one of those Purple Dragons? – Leo asked incredulously.

- Yeah, so what? That little twerp always complains that our knives are too dull he can't even cut properly, so I guess I'll surprise him with that.

A protest was about to shot out from Leo's mouth before he can stop it. Raph considered making up with Mikey, this could be a good sign:

- April can buy us a sharpener, but… this could do too.

- Yeah, and ya can get off my nerve about me and that bozo. I know we screwed up big time, so I'm gonna fix it, no need to poke ya nose in.

Before Leo could say anything more, Raph made a bee line to the stair and jumped to his room.

:::

It was quiet, tranquility.

For a moment Leo didn't have to worry about Mikey and Raph trashing the lair. They both have calmed down remarkably. Mikey was in the kitchen preparing dinner, while Raph was in the garage tinkering his bike. Don had locked himself in the lab again so he had some quiet moment to meditate. Maybe he would try and talk to them over dinner. Just as he was about to stand up, a loud bang erupted in the kitchen, following by Raph's roar:

- MIKEY! WHAT DID YA DO TO MY BIKE???

Leo dashed to the kitchen to find his brothers at two end of the table, their whole body on flame.

- I did nothing to your stupid bike. I was in here all the time fixing dinner.

- Oh yeah! Who else in the house could've messed up the wires? – Raph bellowed.

- WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ME?  - Mikey roared back – Something broke, it's Mikey. There's a prank, it's Mikey. It always has to be me, hasn't it?

- Then tell me… - Raph grabbed the table and flipped it aside - …WHO ELSE CAN MESS UP MY BIKE THAT BAD!

Raph lunged at Mikey and before Leo could do anything, he saw from something on Mikey's hand, something shiny…

- RAPH! NO! – Leo yelled.

Too late. Raph and Mikey stumbled upon each other in a tangle. Leo dashed forward to pull his red-clad brother back, only to find no resistance…

- Ha! Serve you right! – Mikey gave both of them a kick and Leo landed on his shell, his eyes caught on something red…

- Mikey… – Leo stared at his little brother in horror.

Mikey stood up, his face smeared with blood. He yanked off his orange mask and wiped it around his head and face, leaving a trail of crimson around his eyes. He laughed hysterically:

- You see Leo? I told you one day I'm gonna make him stop pushing me around, and I did it!

Leo's words died in his throat as he looked down to Raph, now limped in his arms. Red liquid flowed down from his chest. His still opened eyes doze into infinity…

- Step aside Leo! I'm not done with him yet? – Mikey coldy said.

- No! – Leo set his brother down and stood up to a defensive stand.

- I said STEP ASIDE! – He roared and lunged forward.

Leo dodged to the side and slapped his armed hand in the process. Mikey held back and brought his knee up, connecting it soundly to his stomach. Air gushed out from his lungs as he buckered forward, but Mikey choked on his neck and slammed him to the nearby wall.

- So you wanna mess around with me, too? Do I have to cut lose some circuit in your brain? – Mikey eyed him madly, waving the knife over his temple.

Leo found sweat pouring from him and fear started to sink in.

- This can't be right Mikey. Stop this! We can still talk about it!

- Too late Fearless! I don't wanna talk about anything anymore, just die! – And he plunged the knife into his chest.

Leo's eye widened in shock, prepare for death to come. He could feel something dripping down his body, but there was no pain, nothing… He re-focused his eye on Mikey. They still flashed with madness, but there's something else…

- Ya should have seen ya face, Leo! – Raph sniggered from the floor.

- And you might wanna put some ice on your head. I slammed it a bit too hard! – Mikey grinned wildly.

Leo looked from one brother to the other, completely speechless.

- I got it on tape guys – Don's voice drew his eyes to him. He was holding a camera.

- Wha… what just happened? – Leo asked sheepishly, still confused about the whole mess.

- It's April's fool, dude! – Mikey beamed got Leo's jaw to drop.

- Little Mikester here got it all planned out just for ya, Leo – Raph sat up to look at his brother, wiping the blood from his chest and licked it eagerly.

- Man! It took me forever to set up all this. I gotta admit, it's super hard to trick you bro – Mikey released his hold on Leo 'neck to tap on his shoulder – the fake war, the fake knife, the ketchup... I had to ask April to lure master Splinter away. I guess he'll find out soon enough. Even Donny had no clue of your prank until the last minute.

- I didn't want to have anything to do with it at first – Don said apologetically while Raph curled up on the floor to hold his laugh – Then again, I never see your face this dumb before.

- HA ha ha ha! – Raph roared with laughter – This is priceless Fearless. I never thought we could ever pull a prank on ya. Mikey, ya're a genius!

- Thank you! Lady and turtle! – He stood up and bow dramatically – Now that the show's over, I guess we can clean all this up and put the tape on so we can watch Leo's dumb face later… Leo?

During the whole time Leo had his face downcast, his eyes out of his brothers' view. He slowly rose up:

- So, this whole week… this whole façade… just to pull my leg? – Leo asked; his voice neutral.

- You gotta admit that's a lot of work. I thought I popped a vessel thinking a way to fool you – Mikey's grin split his face in two, but then… - Uhm, Leo, what are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that? Uhm, Raph! Raphie, a little help here? Donny! Come on Leo, it's just a joke, just a joke… IT'S JUST A JOKE! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!