Saying Goodbye

By: Phoenix Ride

Ch.1: Raph Disappears

"Kick! Twirl! Punch! Again!" commanded Splinter to his sons as they practiced thier skills in the dojo.

It was just another day in the New York sewer hole. Four, teen turtles were training to master their ninjistu skills, sharpening their senses for the day that Shredder and his Foot goons would attack again.

Things had really been peaceful during the last couple of weeks. Donnie was getting more time to work on his inventions, while Mikey tried to beat out his best videogame score, but Leo, the intrepid leader of the quartet, was more worried about Raphael.

The red-masked turtle's rage could be seen clear through all his actions today, and he had nearly destroyed the wooden dummy Master Splinter had him target with his sai. What could have gotten under Raphael's skin? Leo was determined to find out.

A few minutes later, Splinter tapped his staff twice against the ground, signaling that the training session was at an end.

"Well done my sons" said Master Splinter, turning to walk away, then stopped and said " Raphael, may I speak with you a moment?"

Raphael just nodded and followed Master Splinter to his room. Leo wanted to eavesdrop to hear what Sensei had to say, but resisted the urge when Mikey spoke up.

"Man" said Mikey " Raph has been getting more aggressive in practice lately. He must be bummed."

"Agreed" said Donatello " high performance usually comes when he's enraged."

"Well I haven't done anything to offend him lately" said Leo, looking at his two brothers " have you?"

"Nope," said Mikey.

"Not me," said Don.

"Well I say we figure it out" said Leo " he's been like this since last week."

"Yeah" said Don " ever since that little run with Casey."

"I figured that was because of the Purple Dragon activity they spotted" said Mikey " but come to think of it, he still seemed distracted even after we took them down."

"Maybe Casey has the answer to this mystery" said Don " we should call him up,"

"No" said Leo " Master Splinter is handling it right now. We'll give Raphael a chance to tell us, and hopefully he will in time."

Later that night, a silent shadow sneaked through the lair, perusing through rooms, and snatching items until he held it all in a little bag. He had to be careful and not breath a sound, or else one of his brothers would definitely wake up and sound the alarm.

He couldn't afford to be stopped anytime during his mission. Every delay was precious second he just couldn't lose.

Stuffing down the last item in his bag, Raphael creeped out into the dim light of the dojo and made his way over to the tunnel door. Once he reached the entrance, a big sigh of relief escaped his lips.

Looking around one more time to make sure that he wasn't followed, Raphael ducked into the darkness with his sack, the red tails of his bandana trailing behind.

The coming morn, three yawns escaped from groaning mouths as their bodies rose to greet the day. Leo stretched out his arms as he strolled out of his room, heading to the kitchen to where Mikey was undoubtly starting to cook, when a scream from his purple-banded brother jolted his nerves.

"What? Where's my...? Mikey!" yelled Don " What have done with my stuff?"

"Wasn't me!" yelled Mikey's voice from the kitchen " I didn't even touch your stuff dude,"

"What are you talking about Donnie?" asked Leo, when his brainiac brother stomped up.

"Some of my lab equipment has been stolen!" said Don, and began listing off items " My First Aid kit, some bandages, and a few essential cleaning supplies."

"Yeah" said Mikey, setting plates while his brothers walked in " well, there's some food missing too. Some water, a couple of cans of soup mix, and chocolate chip cookies I had stashed behind the ham."

"Strange" said Leo " does anything else seem gone?"

"Not that I've noticed" said Mikey " However, Raph's pancakes are going to be gone if he doesn't get down here soon to eat. Raph!"

"I'll get him," said Leo, leaving the room.

It didn't surprise the blue-masked leader that Raph had slept in that day. Giving the performance he was putting up yesterday, it had to be exhausting after all that work. Soon, Leonardo reached the upstairs to knock on his brothers, but was surprised when he found it opened and unlocked.

One peek inside and worry instantly flooded though his scales. Most of Raphael's stuff was gone, and his hammock looked like it had barely been slept in all night.

Leo pinched himself just be sure he wasn't imagining things, but the reality pushed in painfully clear. Raphael was gone.