Four

Seeing Red II

Guest: Thank you for reading it! When the other turtles meet, it shall be nothing short of epic!

Kittyfan12: I have some interesting stuff planned for Raph and the other turtles. Being African American myself, i thought that since Raph is from the streets, i tried to make him as 'street' as possible without going overboard. Thanks for reading friend!

Lunexa: Thank you so much for the constructive criticism!


Raphael and Casey ate brunch with Sebastian, while they watched the news. A girl in a black vest and yellow hoodie spoke about the attacks of the Purple Dragons.

"This is April O' Neil with Channel 6 news. The streets of Chicago are getting more and more dangerous; the Purple Dragons exercise their reign of terror through West Division Street and beyond. Will no one stand up to these miscreants and give us justice? In other news, the organization known as Saki Corps, has just donated a charity for the elementary and high schools."

Casey's eyes were glued to the TV. Raph looked at Casey for a split second and immediately burst out laughing.

Casey's thoughts were thrown off by Raphael's laughter.

"What? What's so funny?"

"You, you is what's funny my dude! I see you ogling that O' Neil chick. You wanna tap the news reporter bruh?"

"No! She's not anything special, man….so what if I find her mildly attractive, it's no big deal!"

"My mind's tellin' me no…but my body, my booooody's tellin' me YEAH!" Raphael dramatically quoted lyrics from 's Bump n' Grind.

"I believe that is enough teasing Master Jones, Master Raphael." Sebastian had a small smile on his face.

"Alright, I'll lay off em' Bastian." Raph wiped his laughter-induced tears away.

"Case, can you do me a solid?" Raph ran a hand through his dreads, a habit that he was beginning to develop quickly.

"Sure thing pal, what'cha need?"

"Two things, we have to set you up with O' Neil AND I need a ride to Mona's crib." Raphael stood up dusting off his all black clothes.

Casey looked at him with a smile.

"What'cha need a ride to Mona's house for, huh Raph?" His blue eyes glinted with a mischievous spark.

"Casey, don't give me that look! I'm just gonna check on her, that's all."

"Just gonna check on her my ass! You know good and damn well that I don't believe you for a second, pal! Every single time you go over to her house, something happens and you end up screwing her. It never fails, man." Casey got up and put his unfinished food in the fridge.

"I resent that shit—no, actually you right, it do happen every single time." Raphael's expression changed to one of mortification as he ran a hair through his dreads in an embarrassing fashion.

Casey gave him a knowing look. His arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the fridge. Sebastian looked between the two of them with a small, conserved grin.

"What? You know yo crazy ass would be doin' the same shit if it was that O'Neil reporter chick!" Raph pointed an accusatory finger at his best friend.

Casey stood there dumbfounded, because he knew he was right.

"That's what I thought, Jones!" The wild youth looked at his friend with his famous sardonic grin.

"Raphael, I gotta talk to you first. Sebastian, can we have a bit of privacy?"

"Of course, sir…I shall leave you be." The butler spoke as he went into the other room.

The silence of the living room was a little eerie for the street tough.

Casey's facial expression became instantly serious.

"What's up bruh? Is you aight, b?" Raphael looked at his friend with a face of concern.

"Not really. You know where Mona Lisa lives, right?"

"Yeah, why you ask?" Raphael's brow shifted up in inquiry.

"So you know that she lives on West Division street right?"

"Yeah what's yah point?" Raph had an almost dry chuckle.

"I just want you to be careful. I know you heard what O'Neil was talkin' about on the news."

"So you do wanna tap that ass, Jones!"

"Damn it Raphael! I'm being serious here!" Casey smacked the kitchen counter to further emphasize his point.

The young man's devious smile disappeared quickly.

"You know the Purple Dragons are gonna be in the area. I'm just sayin' you need to watch yourself, because I don't want you getting' hurt or worse, endin' up dead!"

"I get it, damn! Besides, I got protection." Raphael crossed his arms in a defiant fashion.

"You better not have a gun, Raph."

"Hey chill Jones; it's just some brass knuckles. Also that's some racist ass shit." The young man pulled out a pair of black brass knuckles from his black jeans.

Casey breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Don't kill anyone, okay?"

"I hope you know you bein' racist again right Casey?"

"Alright then, you startin' to remind me of that red echidna who hangs around with that blue hedgehog and yellow fox. Is that better?"

"I know yo ass didn't just compare me to a video game character. Don't make me use these knuckles." Raph could feel a small smile approaching his face.

"So what if I did? What are you gonna do about it, huh?" Jones smiled.

"Don't get me started on you fam, with yo wannabe Jason lookin' ass."

"Let's go before I get my machete." Casey chuckled and walked to the door as Raphael went and got his bag from upstairs. He looked under his bed and pulled out an all-black glock seventeen with a silencer included. He put it in his duffel bag. He thought of what his parents told him when he was younger.


"Why are you associating yourself with these hoodlums, Raphael? I thought we taught you better than this?!" His mother spoke in a sour tone.

"You didn't teach me a damn thing!" The young boy yelled.

"Don't you yell at your mother like that, boy!"

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?! You damn sure ain't my father! The Purple Dragons the only family I got!"

"You're just like your alcoholic father! Always making rash decisions before thinking! No wonder why he drank himself to death!" The mother's husband yelled.

"AT LEAST HE GAVE A RAT'S ASS ABOUT ME!" Raphael swung at the older man, breaking his nose.


Raphael ran out and made his way down the street, vowing to never come back.

He made his way downstairs, and was approached by Sebastian.

"Master Raphael, please be careful."

"How did you-" He began.

"I am old, old enough to see inner turmoil in a young man's eyes. I saw it in Master Jones…I see it in you as well." The butler gave him a small smile and comforting pat on the shoulder. "I will not judge your decisions, but please for Master Jones…stay out of trouble."

Raphael was stunned, no ever cared about him this much next to Casey.

"I'll try. Thanks, Alfred." Raphael smiled with the nickname, when he knew he had just told this man a lie.

The man he had told it to, known it as well. He could see it in his eyes. The steely grey orbs gazed at his emerald with a hidden sense of determination, almost as if he wanted to keep him here. That way he couldn't make a decision he would most definitely regret.

But Raphael was his own man and he couldn't stop him from making the decisions he wanted to make.

Raph walked out and got in Casey's truck, putting his duffel bag in the backseat.

"Try not to screw Mona THIS time, okay? That poor gal is eventually gonna catch feelings for yah." Casey looked at his brother-figure.

"Even if we do end up messin' around, she knows what she gettin' herself into. This is a no-strings attached type deal."

"Yeah, whatever man." Casey said as he drove off.

On the ride there, Raphael was teasing Casey about O'Neil when he got a call from Angel.

"What's up Angel?"

"Raphael, PLEASE HELP! Hun and the Dragons are after me!" He heard her scream from the other line.

"What, where are you at?!" Raph shouted into the phone.

"I'm near where Mona lives! PLEASE HEL—." The line went dead. Casey gave him a look of worry. He stepped on the gas, burning rubber down the

street.


When they reached the street where Mona lived, the duo began frantically searching for her. It was around nighttime when they got there.

"ANGEL!" The two screamed. Raph's blood was pulsing as he felt his heart was about to burst from his chest.

"ANGIE! Oh my god, Angel is you okay?!" Raph found her body slumped near a wall of an alleyway. Her left leg and right arm seemed twisted and her face was badly bruised. She was the new owner of a black eye, broken nose, and missing teeth. He cradled her unconscious body like he would a child. Her purple hair was matted with dried blood and dirt.

"CASEY, COME QUICK! CASEY!" He called for his friend in a desperate plea. His eyes widened in disbelief and shock.

Casey came running with his hockey stick and mask. When he saw the sight he dropped his stick and ran over to her.

Raphael was teetering between the state of utter despair and wrath. One could almost swear that his acid green eyes were glowing from the pure anger he was generating. His tears felt like hot, salty coal running down his face.

"They did this to me for leaving the gang! I'm killing that motherfucker Hun!" Raphael barked through his tears. He shook with uncontrollable rage and sorrow, complete with growls and snarls.

Casey couldn't help but cry as well as he gave his brother figure a crushing side hug.

"Raph, I know yer angry, fuck, I'm angry too. But you go after the Purple Dragons and they'll kill you. I'm not letting you go kill yourself." Raph looked to his friend and saw the infamous white mask and heard crying and strangled noises. It would've been odd if the situation wasn't a dark one.

"I know you not gonna let these assholes get away with this shit?! You'd do the same fuckin' thing!"

"You ain't me! You either gonna die slowly or go to prison! Both situations end you up in a living hell!"

"Is she still breathing?" Raphael simply asked Casey.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take her to a hospital. You go to Mona's house and STAY THERE! Do not and I mean do not fuckin' look for the Dragons! I'll take care of them myself when I get back." He picked up Angel's body and gave it Jones delicately.

The angered street tough stayed deathly silent, and still as a statue.

"Raph look at me! I'm dead serious, don't go lookin' for them! Do you hear me?!" Casey yelled as he ran to put Angel in the backseat of his truck.

He ran to go give Raphael his duffel bag.

"Do you understand me, Raph?!"

Raphael gave the smallest nod to indicate that he was still alive.

With that, the vigilante burned off into the night.


Raph knocked on the window to Mona's fire escape. His hands were shaking violently as he kept breathing in and out short bursts of air. The Chicago night was very cold, but the flames in his heart kept him warm.

The window opened and he hopped in. When he saw his longtime friend, he was slightly thrown off from the fact that she was only wearing a pink bra and black basketball shorts. He knew how attractive she was. She was a good eight point five…borderline nine. This is the exact reason why he kept his face down.

A couple of her strands of curly brown hair were dyed green. Her Hispanic skin was a light sandy color in slight contrast to his caramel.

She was clearly doing something with her vanity mirror, when she turned around to face him.

"So Raph, what brings you—holy shit what happened?" She dropped everything and walked up to him.

Raphael gazed at the pink floor of her carpet; he didn't want to look at her gorgeous face and hazel eyes.

Those eyes always calmed the beast inside his soul. No, he wanted to stay infuriated, it was the only thing that made him feel like he was himself.

"Raphael, look at me. Tell me what happened." Her soothing Spanish accent made him not want to become angry any longer.

No, he needed to resist those soulful chocolate windows to his soul. He needed to stay enraged; his anger was all he truly had.

Yes, you could very well argue that he had Mona, Casey, Angel, and hell even Sebastian. But his rage is the only thing that made him…well, him.

"Look at me, Uno Rojo." She calmly spoke as she tilted his chin slightly upwards. He couldn't help but relax whenever she said his nickname, especially in Spanish.

When he finally made eye contact with her, his anger disappeared instantly. He was a head taller than her, so she was looking up at him.

"What are you crying for, Raphael?" His ears were secretly delighted in her concerned tone.

"They put Angel in the hospital." His voice slowly said as he tried his hardest to let any more tears flow.

"Please don't tell me you mean,"

His face told her everything. She walked around in a circle slowly.

"Ay dios mios." Her voice sounded stressed, because Angel was a good kid. She was a good kid, just caught in the middle of this glorified scheme of revenge.

She walked up to him again and hugged him as tight as she could.

"It's gonna be okay, she's gonna make it. She's the strongest girl I know." She looked at him once more, chocolate brown clashing against acid green.

Raphael looked at her again, and then he decided he couldn't take it anymore and smashed his lips against hers.


The two slept peacefully in post-coitus until Mona poked Raph in his toned chest. He instantly felt better about everything; it took his mind off of what happened.

"What's up?" He groggily spoke.

"What are we?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"We're besties. What else would we be?" He sat up in the bed.

"Oh," She began.

"Why'd you ask that, Mona?"

"I think I'm in love with you."

Raphael stiffened in shock. His left eye twitched slightly.

She looked at him in sadness; for she had a strong feeling she made a huge mistake in telling him that.

"You don't love me back do you?"

"I dunno what love is, Mona. We've been two peas in a pod, who have mind blowing sex on the regular. That's all I've ever known."

"You don't want to be more?"

"We can be exclusively non-exclusive." Raph looked down at her small form.

"What does that even mean, burro?" She lifted a brow in confusion.

"We have causal, toe curling sex but don't date each other….we also don't date other people."

"How does that even work?"

"Lemme give you a demonstration." He said as he caged her in with his lean body. He started up round number two.


Raph exited the fire escape fully clothed with his duffel bag, leaving behind an exhausted Mona Lisa in her bed.

He walked down the street in the Chicago night. He made his into a bar. The Morning Wood was its name. A bar that was known for its great drinks and great bar fights. The reason why they were so great is because the owner knew 'mad Kung Fu'. He looked around, observing the crown and sat down.

A bald Japanese man with a medium length grey beard approached him. He wore a burgundy dress shirt, black slacks, and white suspenders. His sleeves were rolled up to showcase the fact that on both of his hands, laid tattoos of a Sakura tree and a brown rodent of some sort.

The elderly man looked quite intoxicated himself, yet somehow perfectly conscious and stable.

"What will you have?" His accent was somewhat thick, but not so thick to the point where you couldn't understand him.

"Uh, I'll take a kiwi strawberry soda and rum on the rocks."

"Fine choice, young man."

Raph felt like he knew this old man, but he couldn't just put his finger on him.

After a couple of those drinks he had, he felt pretty good. He wasn't wasted; he just had a little buzz going on.

He walked outside and checked his phone. He had eight missed calls and fourteen texts. It was around eleven thirty at night. They were mostly from Casey, with one being from Mona.

He turned the corner and ran into the Hun and the Purple Dragons.

His buzz was instantly vanquished as he sobered up quite quickly.

"Hey look it's the fuckin' traitor!" One of them yelled. He pulled out his gun from his duffel bag and shot one of them in the head. The gang member dropped like a fly. He was about to fire off another shot when Hun picked him up and choke slammed him into the pavement. The pain shot through his back like fire.

"So you think you can just leave the Purple Dragons and not suffer the consequences?!" Hun yelled.

They beat him down, with their boots and fists and chains. Hun, the giant blonde thug picked up a lead pipe and beat him continuously with it until Raphael saw stars. His blood painted the streets like a sick and violent art display. The pain was blinding when someone stabbed him in the abdomen with a switch blade. They beat the life outta him again and again until he was slowly accepting the fact that he probably wasn't gonna make it.

It wasn't until Raph was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, that something…more like someone interrupted his beating.

Like a flash, the gang members and Hun were limping like cowards. He felt himself being picked up as he caught glimpses of the ground being littered with...broken wooden pool sticks?


"Get up." A voice kept telling him.

He slowly opened his eyes to see the very same man who served him his drink.

"Where the hell am I?' That was the first thing he asked, for he noticed two things.

He was alive and he felt like he was in some old school martial arts movie. He looked around a room that looked like a Japanese dojo. There was a giant tree in the middle and banners of the that same Sakura tree around the area.

"You are welcome, young man. I have saved your life." The old man spoke.

He rose up quickly only to have shooting pains flare in his abdomen. He looked down to see bandages wrapped around his stomach…and pretty much everywhere else on his body.

"Where am I though? Thanks, I guess."

"You are in the back of my bar."

The old man gave his clothes, cleanly washed.

He got dressed and staggered around a little bit, still being disoriented from almost having his life taken from him.

"So I noticed you had a feud with the Purple Dragons for leaving them, eh?"

"How did you know that old man?"

"You have a Purple Dragon tattoo on your arm. You were almost killed. Be glad I was there you would have been on a journey to meet Kami."

"Thanks, but I gotta go." Raph was beginning to walk towards the entrance when the old man tripped him.

"What in the fuck was that for?!"

"Your friend Mister Jones gave me a call, told me you needed training."

"How do you know Casey?" The young teen raised back up in a kneeling position.

"We've known each other since you were a teen." The old man walked over to a weapon rack and tossed a strange pair of weapons towards the hardwood floor.

"You seriously gonna train me, old man?" He took one look at the weapons and was instantly confused. "I know you didn't just give me some…ninja forks."

"They're called Sai, perfect for your aggressive and defensive personality."

"Okay, I'll play along, Jackie Chan. Speaking of funny names; you still ain't told me yours. If you gonna be my teacher or master or something, I gotta know your name." Raphael looked at the man's brown eyes.

"Others call me Yoshi…but you can call me Master Splinter."