While in the midst of re-posting, I should fulfill the dying curiosity of my faithful readers. So, I'm back and rearing for more TMNT action! Everyone's back for the ride; Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, April, Casey... but wait, where's Emma?
Oh yeah, THAT happened. I wonder how the turtles are dealing with the aftermath of THAT. Well, read to find out! And if you're lost on what THAT even was, go to my profile to read 'Optimum Illusion'.
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Master Splinter enjoyed all of his teas, but it was his 7:43 brew that was his favorite. It was after dinner and his sons' evening training, leaving him enough time between cooling off and when his soap came on at 8:00. Plenty of minutes for his herbal vanilla to steep. Master Splinter was on the couch at 7:59, steaming cup in one paw and the remote in the other. Patricia is sure to find out who murdered Cody before she could!
He was barely into the theme song however, when the mad stomping of Raphael across the den- and across the TV screen.
"Screw him!" Raphael spun on a dime to stomp in front of the screen a second time. "Screw all of 'em! I'm entitled to my opinion and they can't tell me not to have it! A turtle doesn't need this aggravation!"
No, he does not. Master Splinter sighed, placing his tea on the coaster in front of him. "A problem, my son?"
"I got no problem, sensei." Raphael whirled to face the rat, beating his chest with both hands. "It's your other sons that got the problem."
"Do they now…" Master Splinter threw a glance at the TV. He had maybe thirty seconds… "And what is it this time?"
"Mikey's got that necklace out again." Raphael rolled his eyes. "And when I told him to throw it out already, Leo and Donnie gave me those looks." He air-quoted. "I mean, am I the only one who is thinking rationally around here, anymore? Are the fumes from the van clogging everybody's brains!?... or whatever Mikey's got up there."
Master Splinter knew what necklace Raphael was talking about because it had been the subject of every argument for over a month now, when he'd first caught Michelangelo staring at it. It was a rose gold dolphin attached to a delicate chain of the same metal. It had been an intended gift for Emma Dewitter. But upon her leaving, Michelangelo had kept it. Master Splinter would admit that he did worry about his youngest son in regards to Emma- and not just because he still didn't know where Michelangelo had coughed up the money for that necklace.
Raphael punched the pillow beside Master Splinter, who waited for him to punch it twice more. Like Michelangelo's grief, Raphael's opposition toward his brothers lingered. Master Splinter didn't like the way he'd been watching it build and boil under the surface, then exploding in the most sporadic of moments across their home. Yet, he knew better then to beat the proverbial dead horse. He'd said all he could on the matter, and could only hope that Raphael had heard some of it.
"I'm going topside." Raphael huffed, a pillow still sandwiched between his fists. "Might be awhile, Dad."
"Ummhmm." Master Splinter settled back into the couch, Raphael stomping back out of the den. Master Splinter listened to his son swing himself onto the catwalk of the lair as he took his first sip of tea. The TV screen back in his focus, he was met with a close-up of Patricia's anguished face. "It was you! You killed Cody!"
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Shoulda torn that chain right outta his hands. Raph ranted to himself, sprinting over the tight knit rooftops of Queens. He'd gotten pretty far and still his blood was hot. Probably because, he could travel as far as he wanted, but when he got home… Mikey would still be whining over his lost girlfriend and Donnie and Leo would still be coddling him. They'd switched over to his side since Emma had left two months ago. It was wrong to drive her away.
Raph could have blown a gasket the first time he heard Leo 'admit' that. You nuts, bro. She leaves, the danger leaves with her.
Raph, we're always in danger. Donnie had reminded him.
Ok, so he had a point there. They sought out the Shredder and Purple Dragons on a nighty basis. Emma's presence didn't diminish that. But to find two personal connections that tied back to their two biggest enemies? C'mon! And he got why they had rescued her from the Kraang lab; sort of.
The lost, kicked-puppy look on Mikey's face clouded Raph's brain again. Why's it so hard for you to believe her?
That… Raph didn't know. Except that he felt more at ease now that she was gone, attending some fish school down the coast. He lived with his family on a fast, tittering edge, but he was never on an edge he wasn't certain about. Except for that one time…
BTWOO!
The single split of sound halted Raph in his tracks, two steps short of jumping another alley. He turned toward it, listening. Two more gunshots followed. That was all Raph needed and he took off back up the block. He spotted a slight wave of people along the sidewalks, all running the opposite way. But he stopped above a gaping alleyway when he noticed several figures not running. And one of them trying to run.
"Get off me, man!" a scrawny kid with a backpack and a beanie over blonde hair kicked out wildly. He was trying to keep from more then one guy holding onto him. Pretty pointless since the group- three bearded and two clean-shaven- were moving him to a car parked askew in front of the alley.
Hang on, kid. Raph vowed, leaping over the edge. He free-fell two stories then caught himself on the fire escape. The clang got the group's attention. Raph somersaulted down, letting his sai fly. The handle pinged between the bearded baddie between his shoulder blades at the same time Raph landed. It threw him off balance, letting the kid go free.
"What the?" Beardie spun around, but Raph's fist was already there to greet him. "What, indeed."
The kid backed up, only to be deterred by the block of mighty men and their car. One of them grabbed the kid by the arm as Raph picked up his sai and stepped over the unconscious man. "Here I was, having a nice stroll through the fair city of New York, and I find my evening interrupted by a couple of Godfather wannabes, picking on Home Alone over there."
The kid stopped struggling to glare at Raph. "Do I look like I'm eight?"
Raph shrugged and took what element of surprise he had left. He leapt forward and dragon-kicked the nearest clean-shaven goon. That was one beard, one clean-shave down. Their clean-shaven friend was next, Raph barely ducking his brass knuckles. Raph laughed. I give 'em points for flair.
He hopscotched away from the next four punched that Clean Shave threw. "Plenty of speed, but…" He head-butted the guy, sending him down flat on his back. "You're leaving yourself wide open. Gotta keep that left up."
"That's enough, freak." A broad, bald man in a white windbreaker spoke up. His arm reached out to Raph, a gun leveled at the end of it. Raph grinned. "Is it?"
"Run!" the kid cried as Baldie's finger squeezed the trigger. But Raph was already flying at him. He caught Baldie's wrist, pushed the kid back, and twisted Baldie's arm around. His fellow goons ducked wildly to avoid the sporadic bullets that Raph let fly. Raph found the kid's shoulder and shoved. "Stay behind me."
"Not that hard." The kid snapped. But he listened for the twelve seconds it took Raph to render them all as unconscious as the first guy. Raph draped three of them over the hood of the car so as not to clutter the sidewalk. He stepped back, putting his sai back on his belt. He looked over at the kid, who was inching past the back fender of the car. They stared for a moment, sirens turning onto the street. Raph knew he didn't have long. "What, no thank you?"
The kid's brown eyes flickered from Raph to the direction of the sirens. Then fear overtook the uncertainty and he ran. Raph had seen the reaction often enough, when sticking to the shadows wouldn't get the job done. But when you got used to April and Casey's laidback attitude, it hurt. Raph moved to follow, darting back up to the rooftops. He couldn't afford to be seen anymore then he had already been… but he could at least make sure that the kid made it home safely.
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"Mikey put the necklace away." Donnie sighed at his brother, who laid upside down on his bunk, twirling the necklace above his face. "Let's play some video games."
"I've played them all." Mikey sighed, eyes swaying with the glittering dolphin. "I've played them all, heart and soul. I don't have my heart anymore… it's in North Carolina."
Donnie rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Then he looked back at Leo, who had nothing more to offer then a meditative spot beside him. This was getting ridiculous; Mikey was whooping and hollering with them over the city just last night. Maybe getting rid of that necklace wasn't such a heartless idea.
"You… haven't played Mars Solo in a long time." Donnie tried the last attempt he could think of. "Because you could never get past Level 16."
Mikey's tilted his head to better view Donnie. "Yeah, I guess."
"Well," Donnie brought his voice down low. "What if I show you how to beat Level 16."
Mikey turned himself upright, placing the necklace on his pillow. "Is that possible?!"
"Let's put the game in and find out." Donnie urged him on like he might a Labrador, or Klunk.
Mikey leapt off of his bed and soared through the hole that led to the main living room. "I call the platinum controller!"
Sometimes it's just too easy. Donnie jumped down after him. Thank goodness for that.
Off to a good start? I've been wanting to do a stand-alone with Raph for awhile. I'll keep it coming, if you keep reviewing. And should I repost some of my older stories? Let me know.
Happy New Year!
