In all my years of being a teenage mutant ninja turtle, I had always heeded the ancient saying 'Never bite the hand that feeds you.' Well at the moment I'd like to tear off the hand that feeds me. My name is Raphael and the hand that feeds me well the one who handles all the pizza transactions is my youngest brother Michelangelo. Why do I want to tear his hand off? Simple, he's beating me.
"I am Michelangelo, Battle Nexus Champion!" He danced around me, blocking my every move. Finally Mikey stopped and I struck hard with my sai. "You know what your problem is Raph? You're just a little too slow," He grabbed my handle and threw me to the wall of our sewer home. "Actually a lot to slow." I sat up gasping for air. My anger was well over boiling point.
"You think you're better than me? Huh do you?!" Blocked again. With no sai I jumped and sent my feet straight out waiting with the foot-shell connection. Instead Mikey moved so he could grab my leg and send me flying into the table smashing it to bits.
"Winner and reigning champion, King of Ninjitsu, Michelangelo!" I stood and let my anger engulf me, clutching the only weapon close to me, one of Donatello's wrenches, I jumped and struck Mike in the shell, spinning him around and pinning him to the ground I stood over him with the wrench. I could hear his muffled voice trying to reason with me but nothing broke through my wall of consciousness. I swung the wrench don with all my strength, my hand stopped; someone was pulling at my arm and shouting.
"Raphael have you completely lost your mind?" It was Leonardo, I dropped the wrench, my anger fading and I came back to reality. Don was helping Mikey to his feet as I turned to look over at my two youngest brothers.
"Leo I, Mikey…" My voice faltered as I struggled to explain but Master Splinter beat me to it.
"Anger, my son consumes the soul it is an unbeatable enemy." My sensei's heavy Japanese accent calmed me, but not enough.
"Master I… I need some air." I sprinted from the room grabbing my sai in the process.
I was leaping from roof to roof until I couldn't move a muscle. I knew this was the only way I would ever calm down enough to go home. I really didn't know what calm was, I was always mad. Finally I collapsed on a roof overlooking central park. That's what I needed, a shadowing walk in the park. I pulled the trench coat and hat from my shell, and jumped off the roof landing softly in the alley. Emerging I walked across busy east 60th street to central park. Sticking to the shadows like the ninja I am, I walked along the sidewalk. That's when her voice carried over the hedge to me, a voice that my brothers and I would never forget.
"I still don't know what I did to you!" She sounded angry and confused a dangerous combination if she was anything like me. I snuck into the hedge for a closer look. Three people stood in the clearing. A pretty, Asian girl with short thick black hair that I almost mistook for Shredder's daughter, Karai, a tall boy with glasses and brown hair and another pretty girl with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a petite but agile figure that made her look like she had been practising in some kind of martial arts.
"More like what you didn't do!" The Asian girl screamed in frustration not caring who heard. I could see both girls' anger like the red on a thermometer rising steadily. The boy looked scared as he gazed between the two.
"Kei, I don't know what you talking about!" So the Asian girl's name was Kei. The brunette whose name had still not been said turned to the boy. "Erin you talk some sense into her, unless you know what in the Sam hill is going on here?" Her voice was tinged with a forgotten southern accent as she skewered Erin with a glare that lit her eyes on fire. With a smirk Kei realized what was going on.
"You really don't know do you?" The brunette shook her head in response. "Perfect, let me enlighten you then. You know Erin your beloved boyfriend of two weeks? Well he is my boyfriend of a month!" The green eyes on the dark haired girl widened and she opened her mouth nothing came out except a sputtering noise. "Yes he was two timing us and I blame you, you and your 'I'm better than everyone else because I can kick all of your butt's because I work for."
"Don't! I told you I quit."
"I work for him now too and you can't quit!"
"I did and if Erin really was cheating then I'm done and you can have him all to yourself." She ripped a necklace from her neck that I hadn't noticed before and threw it at him.
"Good." She spun on her heel and started stalking away but the brunette's laughter stopped her.
"Ha Kei are you really that stupid to stay with him? He did it once who knows if he'll do it again."
"I'm not stupid!" She screamed again, the thermometer red reaching breaking point. Kei bolted for the green eyed beauty that at last minute held out her leg in a perfect 90 degree angle, and boom Kei hit the ground. Erin dashed to her but when he turned to look for his ex, she was gone and I with her.
I had followed her through rows upon rows of hedges, through empty clearing after empty clearing. Until we came to one with four foot ninja's in it. They had a big bag from which they were pulling tools of all sorts. The female stopped and lifted a hand to her mouth to quiet her breathing. Somehow the foot had not heard her arrive. I drew my sai, I'd let her fight her own way till she needed help although with that perfect stop kick and the way Kei was talking earlier I doubted she would. Her cowgirl boots crushed the grass as she walked stealthily up behind one of the foot, put her leg out again though this time she pulled up and did a nice back flip. Her boot had caught between his legs and he sailed through the air landing hung over one the branches unmoving. The other three ninja turned to face her. As she moved into defensive mode a second ninja lunged for her and she stepped out of the way only to bring her left fist around to punch him hard enough in the back of the head to send him stumbling into the same tree as his partner. What happened next happened to fast for me to process much less act upon. The third ninja rushed to her and as she went to meet him he jumped over her petite figure, landing on the other side of her, causing her to turn and leave her back uncovered. A rookie mistake, the fourth ninja unsheathed his katana and brought the hilt down on her head rendering her unconscious. I hurled myself out from the bush and split kicked them both swiftly to the head. I tied them all around the tree and picked up her small form in my arms I carried her to the only safe haven I knew of… home.
Setting the brunette gingerly down on the couch and lifting her head on the pillow. Leonardo's voice whispered out of the darkness.
"Raph what happened? You just up and… who is that?!" he hissed pointing to the girl. I shrugged helplessly.
"Leo! She… ah well she jumped four of the foot. What was I supposed to do leave her there knocked out?" I could feel my anger rising again and mentally shook myself. "Master Splinter, I need your help." I called out knowing no matter how quiet I was he would always hear me. The shadow of a rat loomed on the wall beside me as I turned to see my Master. "Sensei I had to bring her here." He nodded once and went straight to work taking a cold cloth he massaged her forehead.
"Go fetch your remaining brothers, bring them here." I bolted for Michelangelo's room which was closest. I'd all but forgotten about the wrench incident earlier but when I put one foot in the room it all came rushing back. Shaking myself once more I knocked.
"Mikey I… I just wanna say I'm uh I'm sorry whole thing before and Splinter wants all of us in the living room." I figured if I told him why he'd flip on me for bringing 'another one' home. Which really both times I brought a human home they'd been hurt by foot. I turned to go when he answered.
"Raphe boy it's not your fault. Sensei says I should watch my mouth." Mikey laughed hopping up from his bed scattering the piles of comic books strewn everywhere. Jumping up to the second floor I realized Donnie probably wouldn't be in his room. Out of all us turtles Don was the level headed one, the smart one, so he was probably in the garage working on one of the many transportation vehicles that he's made for us or he was in him lab working on some scientific stuff. Considering the elevator was across the lair I took out my shell cell and called him praying silently that he would hear it.
"Hey Don where are you?" I asked trying to keep the urgency out of my voice.
"I'm in the garage trying to reconnect the GPS to your shellcycle for the fifth time." He answered accusingly. It was true I had broken it off more than once. I sighed, I loved my brother and Donnie was my only brother that I didn't blow up on but I really hadn't meant to break it. "I'm thinking about upgrading it into your shellcycle so you can't break it off."
"Uh yeah that's great listen Splinter wanted me to bring you all to the living room there's someone you kind of have to meet."
"Raph..." I hung up before he could finish his sentence and headed into the living room which consists of a couple couches and fourteen T.V. sets that Don configured together. Our sewer home wasn't a real house but it was home enough for me, my brothers and our rat Sensei. With two levels, six rooms, a kitchen, and living room/training area. It worked fairly well. The top level held three rooms, a guest room, my purple brother's room and my own. Whereas the bottom there was Master Splinter's room which doubled for a small part as a meditation room, Leo's room, Mike's room, the kitchen, living room, Don's lab, elevator, and training area which shared space with the living room and Don's lab the only thing separating them was a small pool and a bridge.
Finally we had all gathered around Master Splinter including Donatello who was ringing his hands in a cloth that used to be somewhat white.
"My sons, fate has brought upon us a friend or foe of which we do not yet know. Prepare yourself for anything for when I wake her she will be confused and disoriented." Taking the damp cloth once more he massaged her temples but this time harder and with more persistence. The brunette stirred and her eyes fluttered open. Piercing and beautiful those emeralds bore into mine. Confusion flashed across her features before she sat up to survey the room.
"Where in the sam hill am I?" She asked the once forgotten accent had come full flushed out so she twanged. "I have got to be dreamin' because ya'll can't be real. I mean four turtles and a rat? And all human sized wowee." She held out her arm and pinched herself while her eyes were closed as if hoping when she opened them she would be home. Master Splinter reached out and took her hand gently in his paw.
"Kodomo, you are not dreaming. I know it may seem hard to understand but our story may help." He said soothingly using the Japanese name for child.