# Raphael's Angel #
Chapter Two: The Past

Leo's POV

I was awoken by the sound of the entrance door sliding open, followed by footsteps and soft singing. The footsteps passed my bedroom as the singing continued.

"Here I am, Lord, and Im drowning

In your see of forgetfullness

The chains of yesterday surround me I yearn for peace and rest..."

At the sound of his voice, I automatically knew he was home. The hotheaded turtle had finally returned at a late time as usual.
I swiftly got out of my bed without making a sound and crept towards the door. I opened the door a crack and waited. When no sounds came, I walked out into the hall and went in the direction to Raph's room. Only halfway to his room, I could hear his music through his closed door.
I rolled my eyes. "What a delinquent..."
I finally made it to the front of his room and now I could clearly hear his music. I recognized the song immediately. He was listening to Hear Me Now by Hollywood Undead.
"Like always." I mumbled as I turned the knob slightly. I was about to open the door when a strong force pulled the door wide open and I fell flat on my face.
"What are ya doin', Fearless?" Said the rough Brooklyn voice.
I picked myself off of the floor. "Where were you?" I asked sternly, ignoring his question.
His eyes widened at the words. Raph didn't say a word. He just stood there, frozen. He seemed to be thinking of what to say. After a moment of aggravating silence he finally choked out, "I- I was out w- with a friend."
I was about to ask him another question when he turned me to face the exit and pushed me out. "Now, stay outta my room." And with that, he slammed the door in my face.

Raph's POV

"That was close. Too close." I slid my back against the door and untied my mask. The music played at its normal volume, but, even though music meant everything to me, it was nothing that would be able to calm my nerves. I crawled towards my duffle bag, grabbed my phone that was a gift from her while sitting down on my hammock, and dialed her number. The phone rang only two times until I heard her soft voice say, "What's up, Raphie?"
I chuckled softly and slightly whispered into the phone. "Nothin' is up. I just wanna see how my Gothic Angel is doing."
"I'm good, babe. But, why are you whispering?"
I bit my lower lip and replied, "My family's all asleep at this time, remember? They get knocked out cold when they watch an MMA fight."
"Hehehe! Well, you should know that tomorrow is Monday and I can't stay up that late tonight. It's passed 1:00 am." She yawned a little and continued. "I really think I should go to bed and you need the rest, too, for hanging out with me for three hours straight."
I groaned slightly and said, "Fine. I'll let ya go to bed. But, before ya go, I wanted to ask ya something about yer birthday with The Nightwatcher. How are ya gonna come with me without letting people know who ya are?"
"Don't worry. I got it all taken care of. Now, go to bed 'cause I don't wanna pass out while I'm doing my exam at school tomorrow." She said.
I questioned her plan and how confident she sounded in my mind. What was she up to this time? I ignored my thoughts. "Okay. Bye, babe." I hung up and layed down on my hammock. I was gonna have to put on that Nightwatcher costume this Saturday and I was pretty worried. I barely got out of the act two years ago, what if I never got out of it this time?
"All Hell is gonna break loose if Fearless finds out, that's for sure." I mumbled. I stayed laid down, staring up at the ceiling. "But, just to see if it fits, I should try it on real quick." I got the duffle bag from under my hammock, dusted it off, and opened it. The suit was still in good condition and the helmet still glistened in the light. I put the helmet on, remembering how the visor brought everything I saw dim, and pulled on my suit. It was exactly how I left it, nothing had changed whatsoever. The zipper was still gliding smoothly, the gloves fit my hands perfectly, and the boots were as clean as any boots could ever be. I went towards my mirror and looked at my reflection. I looked exactly the same as I did two years ago. "Wow. Who knew that something from the past-" A memory had suddenly flashed before my eyes. A memory I had forgotten in all this time. The fight... the fight on the rooftop... the fight where I had nearly killed Leo.

~~Flashback~~

I had barely finished beating up that monster from the diner when I realized that Leo had found me. I jumped from roof to roof when I noticed that the building I had landed on was far from other buildings and was too high for me to jump. It had started raining and it was getting hard to see through my visor.
"I want you to know that I appreciate your intentions, but you can't change the world like this." He said as I turned around. At that point he continued.
"Is he kidding? He's lecturing me!" I said under my breath.
"So I'm gonna give you one chance to just walk away and stop this vigilante nonsense."
Why must he get in everyone's business? It's bad enough he gets his way through my real life. I don't want him butting into the life I kept away from everyone I know.
"Okay, Leo. Time to teach you a lesson..." I mumbled as I drew out my chains.
"Look., trust me when I tell you. You don't wanna do this." He said, raising a hand.
At that point I didn't have control of my body anymore. I charged at him and swung my chains at him multiple times, but he dodged all my blows.
"Hoho! Yeah! Well, I've noticed you've got quite a temper." I swung the chains two more times, missing him as he did a few back flips and landed on his feet.
"Hey, have you ever done this before?"
I growled as I threw my chain's end at Leo. He did another back flip and landed on the edge of the roof. "Come on. You call that an attack?!" He said through laughs. I threw one more blow with the chain. He jumped over my head as the end with the small cannon ball broke as it hit the edge. I turned around to find him staring at me in a slightly cocky way.
"Hmph."
I dropped my chains and got into a fighting stance. "All right! Finally, some excitement!" He got into his normal fighting stance and waited for me to strike first.
I charged at him and once I got close enough I threw punches and kicks, but he dodged and blocked them all. He hit me a few times but I knew I couldn't back down. I punched him, making him stumble back a few feet.
"Finally, a taste of his own medicine." I whispered.
We ran at each other and continued our battle.
"Funny thing about anger. Let it consume you, and, soon enough-" He jumped up and I didn't see him land. Where was he? It seemed like he just disappeared into thin air!
Then, I heard him whisper behind me, "You lose sight of everything."
I tensed up as I heard his voice. I swung my arm as I turned around but he wasn't there. I looked down quickly and saw him knelt down on the ground, looking up at me. Before I could react, he threw one more punch that hit me right under my chin, sending me flying up into the air and landing with a hard thud a few feet away, my helmet landed right in front of me.
I could hear him coming towards me. "Goodnight, Dark Prince."
I got to my feet and didn't face him. I could tell he saw my eye mask because once I got up he didn't say another word.
"Raph?! What?!" I realized that he must have moved closer because now I could feel him breathing down my neck. I didn't want him near me. Not now, not ever! I mule kicked him in the stomach, making him hit a metal part of the roof.
"You are so smug, you know that? You think the world revolves around you, don't ya? That we couldn't possibly survive with the 'Mighty and Powerful Leonardo' to guide us through our problems, huh? Well, I've gotta news flash for ya. We got along just fine without you!" I confronted as he stood up.
"Oh, and this qualifies as just fine?! Dressing up as Halloween every night?! Risking the safety our family?! I mean, come on! What were you thinking?!" He said flailing his arms angrily.
"Don't push it, Leo! You can't leave home and come back, expectin' us to fall in line again, like your little soldiers." I glared at him as I spoke.
We began to circle each other. "Hey, I was training! Training to be a better leader! For you! Why do you hate me for that?"
"And who ever said I wanted to be led?! I'm better off calling my own shots now, get used to it." My voice began raising quickly and my temper was bigger than it ever was before. I couldn't hold back my rage anymore, I was too far in.
"You aren't ready!" Leo confirmed, pointing a finger at me. "You're impatient and hot tempered! And, more importantly," he lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I'm better than you!" Leo raised his head sharply, his words harsh.
What a lie. He isn't better than me! I began to laugh a couple of times until I said, "Oh, you know somethin', Big Brother? I'd have to disagree with you on that one." I took out my sai and got ready to fight.
"Don't do this Raph."
"I'm done taking orders."
He didn't say another and took out his katanas. None of us said another word as we charged at each other. Are fight was harder than hit was when Leo was fighting The Nightwatcher, but none of us hit each other. We would either block or miss because we both knew we had to beat the other.
Deep into the battle, our weapons connected. Leo began adding more force to push my sai out of my hands but I was much stronger. I added much more force against his katanas. He began to become worried at how hard I wa

s trying to push him off. And, just what I had intended to do, I snapped his katanas in half. He looked at them in astonishment and back to me as I jumped into the air and did a roundhouse kick that hit him in the face, knocking him down. I landed on my feet quickly and, just as he was going to get up, I stabbed one of my sai into the roof, just inches away from his face. At that moment, I had control of myself again. I got off of him slowly and backed away. He got up, holding his arm. I regretted what I had done. I had to get away before I created more damage, so I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I held back the tears of regret and agony as I jumped from roof to roof, being soaked by the pouring rain.

~~Present Time~~

I awoke to the sound of Don's alarm clock. I raised myself up and looked around frantically. Had I fallen asleep? Why was my vision so dim? I looked down at myself and realized that I was still in my Nightwatcher costume.
"Oh, right." I said as I took off the helmet and looked at my reflection through the visor. I exhaled slowly, remembering that horrid memory. "Why must that moment always catch up to me?"