I do not own TMNT.
"Raph!"
Donatello whipped out his staff, quick as lightning, and struck a Foot ninja on the head. There was a sharp thwack as the wood collided with the soldier's head and he quickly crumpled to the ground, revealing he had been right behind Raphael. Raph whipped around suddenly, his green eyes bright with anger as he glanced at the knocked-out foot ninja beneath him, then looked back up at Donnie furiously.
"What was that Donnie?!" he growled.
"What was that-?!" Donnie snapped, "That was called me saving your shell!"
"I don't need your help!" Raphael yelled, "I was doing fine on my own!"
"Of course, I'm sure you meant for that Foot soldier to almost decapitate you!" Donatello shouted in fury, "Seriously, the least you can do is say thank you, you ungrateful-!"
"Would both of you just shut up?!" Leo said in exasperation, cutting into their argument as he took out a Foot soldier with the hilt of his katana, "If you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of a battle!"
Donatello threw another glare at Raphael before he turned to strike a ninja over the head. Raph rolled his eyes. Honestly, he didn't need anyone's help, much less did he want it.
Raphael turned around and started with surprise, suddenly coming face-to-face with a Foot ninja. Acting purely on instinct, he swung out his fist at the mans head. The Foot soldier ducked at the last moment, just barely missing Raphael's well-aimed punch. Raph was about to throw another punch at the ninja and maybe use a couple of tricks with his sai, but suddenly there was a yelp and Mikey came out of nowhere, crashing ungracefully into the man as they both toppled to the ground.
"Mikey?! What the heck?" Raph shouted, gritting his teeth. Can't I fight without any of my brothers getting in the way?!
"Oops. Sorry," Mikey said, grinning mischievously, "I know how much you hate it when I break your toys before you get the chance to."
"Oh would you just-" Raph grabbed Mikey's arms and yanked him to his feet, "Go find your own guy to beat up."
"You should see your face right now," Mikey laughed, "You look sooo mad."
"Get. Out." Raph growled.
"Fine fine. To be continued," Mikey said before he launched himself at another Foot soldier. Raphael made a mental note to stick some spiders in Michelangelo's bed when they got home, although he'd probably end up giving him a good whack on the head as well.
Suddenly a Foot ninja lunged at Raphael. Despite the fact he hadn't had his focus in the fight mere seconds ago, Raph quickly evaded his attack and then took him out with a couple of blows to the head. He smirked with pleasure. This is almost too easy.
He spun around, briefly glimpsing a Foot soldier charging at him before found himself being whacked on the head with a wooden plank. He yelped as the plank collided with his head, and quickly fell onto the ground, his head becoming light and dizzy. What the-? As the world started to fade into blackness, he saw something sharp and thin descending towards his arm. A knife? But before he could figure out what was happening, he was lost to unconsciousness.
….
Leonardo watched as the remaining Foot soldiers fled from the rooftop, running off and disappearing into the dark streets of New York City. He was grateful for their victory, but something had seemed...off. The Foot had suddenly pulled back and retreated without warning. It hadn't yet been clear which side was going to win the skirmish, and suddenly they had fled. The Foot weren't the best trained ninjas...but they weren't cowards.
"Another win for the turtles!" Michelangelo shouted, pumping his fists and drawing Leonardo out of his thoughts. It's probably nothing important, Leo assured himself, After all, who am I to complain about a victory?
"Well, now that we're done with that, we should head back-" Half smiling, Leo turned to face his brothers and was surprised to see that a familiar red-masked mutant turtle was not present. Only Donnie and Mikey were in view.
"Where's Raph?" Leo asked, his half smile dropping into a frown.
"Umm...dunno," Donnie said, glancing around and shrugging. Mikey just continued to pump his fists and whoop.
"Great, Raph is missing," Leo sighed in exasperation, "Where could that bonehead have gone this time? Probably chasing after the Foot or something stupid like that..."
"Raph is missing?" Mikey said, freezing mid-fist pump and suddenly paying attention to the conversation, "Oh no! What if the Foot took him, or what if he fell off the roof, OR WHAT IF A FLYING MONKEY GOT HIM?!"
"Really?" Leo said, rolling his eyes.
"What? It's possible," Mikey said, crossing his arms and glaring at him stubbornly, "Maybe Rockwell mutated again with a bird and grew wings."
"This is serious Mikey. We have to find him," Leo said, "Split up and search the area. Hopefully he hasn't gone too far."
Quickly the three turtles branched out and began to search. Donatello leaned over the edge of the roof and scanned the pavement, his brown eyes mostly calm but a hint of worry starting to creep in. As usual, Mikey picked the strangest spot to check as he poked his head underneath a satellite dish. Leonardo quietly walked over to one of the elevated rooftop skylights and peeked behind it. To his surprise, he found Raphael lying on the ground, face down. That didn't take long.
"Hey guys, I found him!" Leo shouted.
"What?" Mikey snapped his head up and banged it on the satellite dish. He yelped in pain, rubbing his head. Donnie ran over to join Leo, and Mikey crawled out from underneath the dish to follow him. Donnie approached, leaning over Raphael and squinting, his eyes focusing on a large bruise forming on the back of Raph's head.
"Hmm," he said, picking up a wooden plank that had been tossed carelessly next to Raphael, "Looks like one of the Foot soldiers used this wood plank to knock out Raph."
Donnie jumped back in surprise as Raph groaned and shifted slightly. He blinked open his bright green eyes and looked up at his brothers. Inwardly he cringed. God, this is embarrassing. I got taken out by a Foot ninja with a wooden plank?!
"Dude, those guys gave you a beating," Mikey said, "Are you ok?"
In terms of my pride? Not a chance. "Yeah, I'm fine," Raph grunted, standing up and brushing dirt off his knees.
"If you're fine, then…" Mikey grinned, unable to contain his amusement, "I can't believe you got taken out by a Foot ninja with a wooden plank!"
"Pfft, and you said you didn't need my help!" Donnie laughed, "You need all the help you can get Raph!"
"The mighty Raphael, taken out by a mere Footclanner with a piece of wood!" Michelangelo said in his best sports narrator voice, "The crowd goes nuts!" Even Leo couldn't stop a small snort of laughter from escaping his lips.
"SHUT UP!" Raphael practically roared out the words, his eyes burning with rage and his face flushing. Donatello immediately shut his mouth, swallowing down his laughter. Mikey snorted once, trying to stop, but he quickly burst back into laughter, doubling over and holding his stomach.
"He's so dead," Leo muttered to Donnie.
"THAT'S IT!" Raph yelled, baring his teeth. He lunged at Mikey and Mikey quickly bounced out of the way. Raph turned sharply and began to chase after Michelangelo, anger pounding through his veins. Mikey gave a fake scream and turned sharply around the elevated skylight, still grinning like an idiot.
"You know he's trying to make you mad on purpose, right Raph?" Donnie shouted.
"I don't think he cares," Leo snorted.
Raph suddenly pounced at Mikey and they both tumbled to the ground. Raph gave Mikey a quick, hard punch in the nose before he stood up, frowning angrily.
"Seriously Raph? You gave me a bloody nose!" Mikey whined, tipping back his head to keep the blood from escaping.
"And you deserved it!" Raph growled, "Can we head back home already?"
"Ok ok," Leo said, rolling his eyes. Quickly he led his brothers to a fire escape and they clambered down the stairs loudly, the metal clanging beneath their feet as they laughed and talked, creating quite a ruckus. Raph paused for a moment, cursing under his breath and kicking the railing on the stairs angrily. He rubbed his arm, still frowning, and found that it was strangely sore. Stupid arm. Stupid foot ninja. Stupid Mikey. Suddenly he felt a flash of pain in his head, and he winced a bit. His head felt rattled and he leaned on the railing for a moment, becoming dizzy.
"Are you coming Raph?" Donnie shouted from the bottom of the fire escape.
Then, as quickly as the headache had struck, it faded away. "Yeah, I'm coming," Raph muttered, passing off the headache as an effect of him being knocked out earlier. He kicked the railing one last time before he quickly raced down the stairs to join his brothers. Leo lifted up the manhole cover and one by one, the four turtles slipped in, disappearing into the sewers of New York.