In memoryand honor ofLonesome George'spassing.

We will always remember you, Lonesome George.

Now in Heaven… you won't be lonesome anymore.

…

New York City.

Four ninja mutant turtle brothers were enjoying their time away from the surface, for once blissfully ignorant to the stresses and hardships of New York City's many inhabitants, and just happy to be home.

When suddenly the bo wielder's voice came from the lab. "Oh my God! I… I can't believe this!"

The other three turtles left their respective activities immediately; they ran as fast as they could and stormed into the genius' sanctuary.

"What's going on here?" Raphael said twirling his sais and taking his battle pose.

"What happened?" Leo seconded him.

"Did the toaster explode again?" Mikey said casually.

"Lonesome George, the last of the Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni, died this morning. Now the whole specie is extinct!"

Leo, Raph and Mikey looked at their genius brother in puzzlement. "Uh, dude? We're kinda lost here" Mikey said after a moment of awkward silence.

"I was checking my e-mail and this appeared: Lonesome George is-" Don stopped talking and corrected himself "-was… a giant tortoise of the Island Pinta in the Galapagos Islands. The last! He was estimated to be about 100 years old- only a young adult, by their standards"

"All this yelling and just for some random article on a website?" Raph said angrily placing his sais back in his belt.

The leader rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, that would make him like us?"

Mikey's eyes focused on his eldest brother now. "What are you talking about, Leo?"

"Think about it, we're pretty much young adults and the only ones of our kind, just like Lonesome George"

The three young turtles stared at Don's computer but they weren't really focusing on the article. Leo's words made sense… maybe too much sense.

Raphael cleared his throat, killing the silence again. "What does it say about how he died?"

"They don't know his cause of death yet; but he was known as the 'rarest creature in the world' so… the death cause might remain a mystery even after the postmortem examination" Don commented.

"Hey, now he is dead… and since there is only 4 of us… that could make us the rarest now!" Mikey said cheerfully.

"Yeah, but humans in general will never know us, Mikey" Leo replied.

"Don, how are you sure the whole specie is extinct?" the sai wielder asked "I mean, animals breed, have their babies and stuff"

"George wasn't lucky" Don said with a sigh "His keepers tried to breed him with similar species but his hatchlings always died"

"And with no babies…" Raph started.

"… his specie disappears… forever" Leo ended.

Again, silence reigned in the laboratory. They had never thought about this topic before… or maybe they had; they just had decided to ignore it to not make their existence more painful. Like Lonesome George, they were unique; four mutant talking turtles, the last four of their kind and with their ninja lives their existence was always in jeopardy.

"Guys, I feel like this is almost a foreshadow of our own demise" The youngest of the team said gloomily.

The three eldest looked at him and noticed moisture in his baby blue eyes; he was also shaking slightly. Raph approached him carefully knowing how sensible his youngest brother was.

"Mikey, you ok?"

"We… we'll die someday… and we've be extinct!" Mikey commented, his voice shaking "With us gone and with no children, it'll be the extinction of our race!"

"Aww, c'mere kid" The red masked ninja pulled the youngest close to him in a one-arm hug while Leo rubbed Mikey's shell.

Don stared at the screen of his computer and let his head rest on his hand. "You know what is sad? Humans started this"

"How?" Leo asked curiously.

"Tortoises were plentiful on the Galapagos Islands until the late 19th century, but were later hunted for their meat by sailors and fishermen to the point of extinction. Their habitat furthermore suffered when goats were introduced from the mainland"

Raph growled. "Those are the moments when I really hate humans"

The purple masked ninja turned off his computer, not wanting to know more about the subject. The four ninjas made their way outside the lab and sat in the old worn out couch. Leonardo offered to make some hot chocolate to encourage his brothers to cheer up a little bit.

Sure those were sad news for all turtle lovers in the world, and terrible news for them as well, but that's how life works.

Someone lives, someone dies; species disappear… just like they would do someday.

"We may not be hunted like those tortoises but… is that our future? To die alone?" Mikey said in a tiny voice, snuggling closer to Raph's side.

"I… guess so" Don said sadly "I mean, we're just four of our kind"

"And I don't think there will be turtle chicks appearing magically into our lives" Raph added.

The blue masked ninja sighed and sat in the middle of his brothers, pulling them all close to him in attempt to comfort them all.

"True, we may die without leaving a little part of ourselves here. But unlike George… we're not completely alone"

"We're not?" The three ninjas said in unison looking up at his brother questioningly.

Leonardo smiled warmly. "We have each other. We have Raph to give this family strength and courage; Donnie to provide knowledge and to take care of our bodies and Mikey to be our laughter… our sun…"

"And you for guidance and protection" Mikey ended with a small smile.

Leo chuckled. "Yes, and believe me… having you guys with me, it's more than enough"

Raph snorted. "Always the sappy one, Fearless"

The sword wielder gave him a mild glare."Shut up, you know I'm right"

The four brothers laughed and remained snuggled in the couch, reminding themselves they weren't totally alone, they had each other, till the end of their days on this troublesome Earth.