Sooooo...this is how I'm going to be doing this: I'll be getting my phrases from this random word generator, boringly titled "random word generator." I am going force myself to make sure the chapters stay ONLY at 5 pages of less. Everything will revolve around 'family' because I'm a sucker for sappiness. And I won't update this every single day. :( But I can tell you now that my next update WILL be Wednesday.

Oh, and there's this phrase on here - "No one is coming to save you" - that I am compelled mention IS NOT MINE. It's actually from the wholly amazing TV show: Person of Interest. If you haven't watched it...I'm sorry. :P

Anyways, now THAT'S done and over with, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer - thank you so much for stopping by!

General Warnings: Every character included may be considered OOC. Every chapter from here on out will also be considered AU to the original plot lines of the 2k3 series and the CGI 2k7 movie.

And the word for today is:

Masterpiece

"No."

Donnie, Mikey, and Leo watched with wide, taken aback stares as Raph stood up abruptly, horror painted all over his amber irises. His own stare never strayed from the piece of paper he held tightly in his hands, wildly roaming all over the page as dismay began to form a boulder in the pit of his stomach.

"Ya gotta be screwin' with me," Raph slowly growled out, his eyes flashing as he reread–for the third time–the top lines of the paper he was given. "You just gotta!"

Master Splinter gazed at him without an ounce of pity in his eyes.

"Raphael." The aforementioned turtle flinched. "Leonardo and I have told you, time and time again in these past weeks, to avoid going to the surface for the time being. And yet you continuously treat our words as if it is nothing more than thin air," Splinter spoke in grim voice.

It was an unfamiliar sound, one that has only escaped Splinter's mouth merely a few times each year. But all the same, it was shame-inducing and painful to even listen to; it couldn't help but make the three other turtles wince. And they didn't even have any idea what the heck the punishment was.

"The Foot Ninja have doubled their efforts to bring the greatest of evils upon you and your brothers," Splinter reminded in harsh words. "The Purple Dragons now have a plan to expose our nature to all who has eyes and ears. And tonight, you have risked such things to go gallivanting off–" Master Splinter spat out with contempt. "–with Casey Jones. This is of utmost foolishness, Raphael, and I tolerate it no longer."

Sparks of guilt burned in Raph's eyes, but even then, he stood his ground firmly as he finally tore his eyes away from the accursed page. He looked back at his sensei with his lips pulled to the side pleadingly. "But Masta Splinter, I was careful! Each and every friggin' time, I've always been careful!"

Splinter shook his head once at that.

"Even the most careful men fall victim to chance," he pointed out with a sigh, his eyes softening as guilt began to finally enter his son's eyes. "You must understand, my son, while you would never intentionally put either of your brother's life on the line…" Splinter's stare and voice began to waver at his words. "…You have carelessly put yourself in danger. And in doing so, you have also put your brothers in harm's way with you."

Raphael opened his mouth slightly before immediately snapping it shut again. He had always known that, somewhere in the back of his mind (in the form of Leo's voice, of course), he had honestly been doing just that. How could he not know, with all the countless times his brothers followed him into the darkness just because he was too stubborn to stay out of it?

But the thing is…it was…it was simply easier to believe no one was coming to save him. That the only person he was going to hurt in the end was himself and no one else was going to have to suffer the consequences for his own choices.

Because even though that thought was painful, it wasn't nearly as painful as knowing that the same people you live for, fight for, die for…would do the same thing for you.

Everyone watched as Raph flinched for no apparent reason.

'Don't take 'em down with you,' his little voice whispered urgently inside of him. 'Don't take 'em down with you...'

Raph rubbed at his forehead as he took a deep breath. And closing his eyes briefly, he began to steel himself for what he was about to do.

"I'm sorry," Raph whispered, his words bouncing loudly off the walls as he got onto his knees, fists clenched tightly against his thighs as he bowed his head forward in submission.

Mikey and Donnie's mouths dropped wide open.

Splinter's onyx irises melted instantaneously at that, forgiveness rimming his soft, kind smile.

Then Leo…well, Leo felt his heart stop beating for a second.

And suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Master Splinter!" Leo blurted out before his mind could catch up to his mouth. "I…I take responsibility for Raphael's error tonight." He gulped when he saw his sensei turn abruptly towards him, surprise set deeply on his face. "I should've been there to stop him from sneaking out the way he did," he explained, nervousness beginning to coat his words. He was suddenly very aware of the three other stares glued his way. "I'm the eldest and for that, I have to be aware of everything and–"

A balled up piece of paper smashed against his head.

Mikey immediately pressed both hands against his mouth, hard, to stop the snorts of laughter from morphing into peals of laughter. Even Donnie, himself, had to suck in his inner-cheeks to stop himself from cracking up. He did feel bad for it but really now…Leo's FACE!

And speaking of that turtle…

"What the shell was that for!?" Leo furiously exclaimed, glaring vehemently at the mirroring scowl sent his way.

"YOU don't take responsibility for crap, Fearless!" Raph snapped, leaning forward on one hand as he pointed accusingly at Leo with the other. "Stop wantin' to take the fall for us all the time! We gotta learn from our own mistakes at one point, so will ya quit bein' some helicopter mom and let us FALL!?"

Leo grimaced at the undeniable truth behind his brother's words. He knew, even now, that he shouldn't feel as horrible as did for Raph…and it really would be a good experience for the younger one to be taught a lesson for his impulsivity. But he had never been good at keeping a detached heart whenever one of his siblings was involved.

He sighed and pressed a heavy hand against his eyes before letting it fall onto his lap.

"I'm not sure if that's even remotely possible for me, Raph," Leo grumbled, in a hesitant, tired voice.

Raph's glare softened up volumes at that. "Leo," he sighed out, rubbing the back of his head. "Ya gotta try at least," he continued in genuine tones before he hesitantly added, "My punishment isn't even really that bad." Well, it wouldn't be to them. They would think it was a walk in the park. Not even Mikey would feel the same dread that was threatening to eat Raph's mind alive right now.

"Hey," Mikey piped up, blinking several times as a peaked interest began to seep into his cerulean irises. "What is your punishment?"

And as if Donnie was several steps ahead of Mikey…

"Oh. My. Shell," Donnie suddenly drawled, looking incredulously at the torn, crumpled, and ruined piece of paper he had smoothened out in his hands. "Raph, are you serious?"

Leo's daunting imagination jumped up to new levels. If Raph's punishment was bad enough for Donnie to react that way…"What is it, Donnie?" he asked, his amber eyes darkening with anticipation.

He never once noticed Splinter shaking his head exasperatedly in the background, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

"Yea, yea, what horrible thing is Raphie gonna be forced into doing?" Mikey asked, with a bit too much excitement coloring his voice. He scrambled onto his knees and swung his arm around Donnie's shoulders, butting his head in to get a better look at the page.

And it took around three seconds for Mikey's jaw to drop open for the second time in that same hour. "Aww! That's it!?" he exclaimed, a complaint in his voice. "Raph, you're such a baby!"

Raph gave a death glare towards the ground before him, grumbling inaudible obscenities as a garish crimson began to mix in with his emerald green skin.

Leo's anxiety became replaced with absolute confusion over Mikey's reaction, furrowing his eyebrow ridges together as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. His helplessness began to mount further inside of him as he looked back and forth between his disbelieved brothers, his pouting other brother, and his wholly amused father.

Of course, it didn't take long for him to crack once again.

"What IS IT!?" he finally yelled, his patience molecules knocked out cold by his mind-controlling curiosity.

Silently, Donnie handed the wrinkled piece of paper over to the elder turtle, shaking his head slightly as he stared dryly at Leo.

Then Leo laid his eyes on the page for a moment and suddenly…he got it.

A relieved grin lit up his countenance and with a slight laugh, he turned towards his sullen-faced, red-tinged younger brother. "Only you, Raph," Leo teased, "Only you."

Because written in a four, self-explanatory sentences at the top of the page, in Master Splinter's precise, neat handwriting…

Hands are meant to do so much more than the limits you place on them. To show you that, I will give you one word each day and you will write at least one page of whatever you would like to based on that word. You may ask for assistance from me or your brothers, but you are not expected to show us until thirty days later. That is how long I expect for you to do this, Raphael, and I expect for you to acquire certain values from it.

And below those sentences laid a simple, single word that promised them all a new possibility in the making.

…Masterpiece…

Alright, so now that you have actually reached the end of this chapter, I would like to get this out of the way: Please Read.

I'm very worried on how I rated this. I have already made chapter 2 and I'm almost done with chapter 3. While I have NO sexual content (and I'm not planning to), I do have torture included in the second chapter, death included in the third chapter, and gory violence included in both. While I do not think my material is that bad or explicit, I've grown up in a more...open household, so I'm not sure if I'm correct with rating this story T.

So depending on what your guys's opinions are and how many people agree with it; I will either leave this as it is, increase the rating, or take it off the site completely and move it somewhere else.

Well, either way, I hope to see you guys the next chapter! I'm glad you made it this far...well, glad and surprised. :D