The day dragged, Donnie had been secluded in his lab since the early hours of the morning, only emerging to grab a coffee every so often. Mikey, long lost to the virtual world of his games, wasn't the type of company he wanted to be seeking out, and alas it was school hours so April and Casey weren't available. Raph sank into the sofa with a defeated sigh, days like these had become somewhat routine at this point, mundane, uneventful and full of the same old same old. Raph craved something new, anything to revigorate these dull winter days. The loud gunfire and explosions that erupted from the tv sounded like mere background noise, muffled and distant, he was going stir crazy.
"I'm going out!" Raph declared abruptly shooting up from the sofa, barely glimmering any response from his entranced, brain-dead brother.
He knew going up top at this hour was dangerous, in all honesty, he knew better than to be doing this, but Raph really need some air and besides it was work hours so most people would be at school or their jobs so, he should be fine. Cautiously he lifted the manhole cover, scanning for any signs of life, yet the only things in this alley seemed to be scratty rats and street cats that scattered post-haste upon detecting him. Paying them no mind Raph proceeded to bound up the fire escape, feeling instantly better as he stood atop the high rise, soaking up the humble warmth of the sun as an icy breeze nipped at his skin, whisping through the tattered tails of his bandana. It was rare that any of them got to see New York at this time of day, but it was always a refreshing sight when they did, he always forgot just how good the city looked in the radiant light, made better by the light layer of frost that seemingly covered every surface in the city, that gave an almost sparkling appearance.
Raph began aimlessly strolling from rooftop to rooftop, slowly building up to a sprint as he explored the less populated parts of the city. Eventually, clouds cloaked the sun as hours passed and the temperature started to drop, before long Raph found himself in one the most scum ridden parts of New York home to all sorts of nefarious gangs and thugs. He came to a hard stop, his laboured breaths now visible in the almost freezing weather. It was getting late, Raph considered heading home, wasn't any point in lingering and catching a cold for no good reason, that was until an upper-class business car, far too classy for a neighbourhood like this, pulled into the alleyway of a shoddy, run down factory building. The car alone got his curiosity, the Kraang that stepped out is what truly got his attention, forget heading home, there wasn't a chance in hell Raph was going to miss out on some Kraang crushing action.
Slipping in through a rooftop window he sat perched on metal support beams, shrouded in shadow, silently watching from above. The scene below looked as Kraang-like as usual, an assortment of machines flashing and beeping, rows of brightly coloured bottles and test tubes holding god knows what, almost reminded him of Donnie's lab. One thing in particular that caught his eye was the obnoxiously large glass cylinder that stood in the centermost point of the room. It looked large enough to accommodate something as mountainous as Rocksteady, and was chock full of an odd cloudy liquid, whatever it was all signs indicated that they were researching it. Truthfully Raph couldn't care less for whatever it was that they were doing, he was just down to smash some alien scum.
Readying his Sai and dropping a smoke bomb, Raph pounced down, penetrating two suits in the back of the neck, within seconds the nubilous room was illuminated with purple strobes as loud gunfire erupted around the building. Swiftly and unseen, Raph tore apart Kraang after Kraang, widdling them down until they were mere scrap on the floor. The smoke cleared and Raph stood amiss the wreckage, panting lightly, admiring his good work. His adrenaline rush soon died down and suddenly the room felt eerily quiet, the thrill had been short lived, a lacking feeling returned as he defeatedly sheaved his Sai and made towards the exit. The movement alerted him to cool wet feeling at his feet, his gauze was drenched from the pool of water like substance that coated the floor. Raph tensed, his face held a look of confusion mixed with worry as his eyes followed the pool to its source. Shock froze him in place, His mouth hung loosely agape.
The glass cylinder had been shattered, its liquid contents spewed on the floor. What Raph couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from, however, was the suspended figure that hung limply inside held aloft by tubes and wires. what added to the peculiarity of the situation was its appearance, it looked staggeringly like Raph, it was slightly leaner, slightly paler and every inch of its body, shell included, was adorned with intricate swirls and designs that appeared burned or engraved into its skin. Entranced, Raph cautiously stalked over to the demolished tank, tentatively trudging across the drenched floor. The initial shock had dispersed, overwhelming curiosity replaced fear and caution. Disregarding the small shards of shattered glass that tore at his skin, he clambered onto the metal platform. He stood, taking in details up close yet the more Raph examined the figure the more knitted his brows became as questions began to flurry around his mind.
His eyes traced down the figure, taking note that none of the engraved markings looked explicitly Kraang like, Raph flicked his eyes back up to its face, stunned to find two deep, sapphire orbs gazing back. Raph staggered back, emitting a high-pitched shriek as he fell from the platform onto his shell, the figure just stared, unblinking at him. For a moment Raph just stared back, not entirely sure on what to do, soon enough, however, the sound of screeching breaks drew his attention to the door, undoubtedly Kraang reinforcements. Flicking his gaze back he knew he couldn't just leave it here, regardless of what it was the Kraang wanted it, and if they wanted it then he couldn't let them have it, for all he knew in their hands it could mean the end of the word.
Surging to his feet, Raph began haphazardly tearing at the wires until the figure collapsed onto him. It's cold and clammy skin a stark contrast to his, the creature seemingly craving the warmth that radiated from Raph's body. It was odd cradling something slightly taller than himself in his arms, however, it was surprisingly lighter than he thought it would be, not that he was complaining. Just as a dozen Kraang burst through the door, Raph slipped out through the upper window he entered in.
Snow had begun to fall leaving a thin white sheet across the rooftops, and the air was now painfully cold. Raph slowly sauntered through the snow, racking his brain for ideas on where he could take this creature, Donnie would surely want to identify what this thing was and how it worked, while the premise was good, his brother tended to be slightly overzealous in his methods, despite it being the smarter option, Raph didn't like the idea of subjecting this poor creature to more experiments, he wasn't that heartless. So, home was possibly a bad idea, Jones certainly couldn't be trusted, when it comes to keeping secrets the guy could barely keep a lid on show spoilers let alone possible world threatening alien creatures.
He let out an exasperated sigh, stopping and looking down at the shivering creature in his arms. What was he doing, he should just take it to Donnie or leave it to freeze, God only knew what this thing could do, what if it was some all-powerful being that the Kraang were researching or something they were making. Then again what if it wasn't bad at all, just a victim. He chuckled disbelievingly at himself, April would surely clip him across the head for this, he froze, April, of course just the other week she had offered her unused basement to him so he had space away from the guys to set up his drums and punching bag, he declined at the time but she insisted the offer always stood and gave him the key regardless. He broke into a sprint towards her flat, what better place to house this mysterious alien than the unused basement of a dear friend. He had lost his mind.
