Mindless Babble: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed "Red". I enjoyed each and every one of them! As a small thank you, I thought I would give you a small taste of one of the two stories that I'm working on right now. This one takes place a couple of years before the events in "Red" but has a bearing on the sequel. I'll most likely end up posting this as a really long one-shot. This is still in "rough-draft" form so by the time I post it there will probably be some changes. Please let me know what you think.

Oh yeah- Blame this plot bunny on Lioness-Goddess.

Dreams of Darkness

"That's it, Mikey! I've had it with you and your stupid pranks!"

Michelangelo's laughter turned to a shriek of fear as his brother charged at him, his deadly sais aimed for his heart. He managed to avoid Raphael's first lunge, but couldn't dodge the back fist aimed at his head. There was a sickening crack and Mikey fell to the floor.

"Raphael! What did you do?" cried Donatello as he rushed to Mikey's side. He had heard the commotion and had wandered out in time to see the sopping wet Raph attack his orange clad brother in the middle of their living room.

"He had it coming!" cried the 13 year old. "He keeps playing these stupid pranks just to piss me off!"

"Damn it, Raph!" Leonardo's blue bandanna tails fluttered as he brushed his brother aside. "Why can't you control your temper?"

"Why can't I con… Leo! It's his fault!"

Leo ignored him and knelt next to his purple clad brother. "How is he, Donnie?"

"Not good. He's bleeding."

Raphael felt something furry sweep past him. "Here is the first aid kit, Donatello."

Then Splinter turned on Raphael. When the turtle tried to defend himself, the old rat did something he had never done before. He struck his son across the face. Raphael was so shocked, he stumbled and fell. He looked up at his sensei. Splinter glared at him.

"You were trained to protect your brothers; not to kill them!" he growled, ignoring the fear that entered the young turtle's eyes.

"Master Splinter!" Donnie's terror filled voice caused Splinter to turn away from venting his fury. "Something's wrong!"

Raphael watched the rat move swiftly to his other sons. He saw the angered looks that his brothers threw at him before returning their attention to Mikey. He saw and felt the anger and hatred that radiated from the group of mutants. He touched his stinging cheeks and retreated to his room.

Sitting on his bed, the dark thoughts returned to taunt him. They had visited him almost every day for the past year. Today, they spoke with crystal clarity.

'They hate you. You were never meant to be their brother. You were meant to be alone. You bring nothing but Misery to those you love! You would have been better off never to have even been born!'

'It's true,' Raph whispered, as trails of tears made their way down his face. 'They hate me. And now I might've killed my baby brother, the one who might've actually loved me.'

He looked down at his hands and wasn't really surprised to find one of his kunai blades in his hands. He slowly traced a line in his hand with the tip of the knife, drawing blood.

The voices returned, whispering into his ear, cutting into his heart. 'Do it, do it! They won't miss you! They will be better off without you! They will forget about you easily!'

Raph choked back a sob, hearing only truth in their words. "I know," he whispered.

He picked up the other three knives from the floor. He found a ball of string under his bed and was inspired. He cut four strands off and tied one to each knife. Task completed, he took them and moved to the middle of his bed. He took each knife and laid them out in front of him. Mentally, he named each one. 'Donnie' found its resting spot in the crook of his right arm. 'Splinter', the one that hurt the most, was in the bend of the left arm, next to the heart. . 'Leo' was plunged into his left wrist. 'Mikey', saved for last, came to rest in the wrist of Raphael's right arm. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he silently said goodbye to his family. He picked up the four strings in his mouth and threw his head back, tearing the knives from his arms.

Anguish and sorrow guided Raphael into the darkness.

Shout-outs for "red" chpt 6:

Mickis: Thanks for that link! I went and read it and cried for hours after Raph died!
Thank you for all the kind words you had for this fic. Sorry about that crushed dream!

Lioness-Goddess: He is. I'm sorry. (I'm glad I made your friend cry too. Tell him thanks!)

Pacphys: That dream was a witch to write! It just would not come together! I'm glad you liked it! I have a special place for ol' Shred-head in the sequel! I can't take credit for that last line. Peter Laid and Kevin Eastman did that one! (But it did fit nicely, didn't it?)

BubblyShell22: I'm so happy you like this fic! Thank you!

Sassyblondexoxo: My favorite stories almost always have death and destruction in them!
'Pry' isn't quite the term I would use. More like RE defeated me! (After the 25th time of being hacked to pieces by a chainsaw-wielding psycho, I had to give up and do something rewarding!)
I'm glad you liked "Red". Please update soon!

Reinbeauchaser: I didn't mean to make you cringe and I am sorry. I did take your suggestion into consideration on the next fic and I thank you for your input.
I'm glad you like the ending. I'm not particularly religious but I do have my reasons for entitling the story like I did. I hope that you will enjoy reading that one as well.

Reluctant Dragon: I'm Sorry! I know it was short! As far as the whole bubble thing- think ghost.

Jewel-Gurl73: Well, as you can see, I am working on two more stories for all you wonderful reviewers out there! I promise to get them posed soon!

XXXElektraXXX: I'm happy I was able to help you out on that link. "Dark Journeys" is a really good fic. I'm glad I was able to help your day at work go better. (Please tell me you're not a therapist who works with depressed people!)

Dory's human replica: (Hands Dhr a tissue) I thank you for your kind words!

Castle-Cloud: THANK YOU! I went to your website and was actually blushing at how nice you made my fic look! Wow! I'm sorry about Raph dying but he kinda had to because… Oh wait. I can't tell you that! Thanks for loving this fic!

Lone Warrior2: I'm glad you like this story so far and hope that by this point you will still be pleased with it!