Weavings
A/N I do not own TMNT, but I am forever grateful for their existence!
IV.
Once more Raphael found himself hidden in shadows silently observing his brothers as they patrolled New York City's skyline. Donatello often carried his computer in his bag and all Raphael had to do was wait for his chance to slip both the machine and the floppy disc from the duffle undetected. Then after a final memory alteration, in which he erased a week's worth of recollections, he could go back to his immortal duties while his brothers lived out the rest of their days in ignorance… Great.
That was why he had to get the stuff without his brothers' notice. If Raphael spoke to his brothers now, he would lose his nerve, and then there really would be no going back. No, he would do it without a word to them, and would leave their world for good. No more torturous visits, no more agonizing observances, and no more turtle brothers. Raphael would be strong and would not bow down to his weakness. All he had to do was to wait for the right moment.
Leonardo paused to point towards the Chinatown district, "Okay, so remember the plan. We only want to confirm if it really has been the Foot behind these recent attacks on the Purple Dragons. This is a recon mission only. Get in, observe, and get out. Got it?"
"But what if it is the Foot, Leo?" Michelangelo gave his eldest brother a wide-eyed frown, "You don't think the Shredder is still alive do you?"
Raphael smirked to himself. The Shredder was definitely not behind whatever was going on in this part of town. The former Tin Can of Terror was The Soul Collector's prisoner for eternity, and Raphael only had to shift his attention briefly to the threads within the Nexus to know that Oroku Saki was not about to go anywhere anytime soon. However, he was curious as to who the new leader of the Foot could be. Last time he checked, Karai had left for Japan indefinitely with her tail between her legs after her father was killed (in a manner of speaking) by Raphael's own hand.
"No Mikey, I don't." Leonardo straightened, "But we still need to check it out."
The three mutant turtles whipped out of sight to the streets below, and Raphael followed. For a moment, as he plummeted to the earth with the wind ripping against his scales, he could almost pretend things had never changed. That it was just him and his brothers delighting in the comfort of their often ninja-related adventures. The swarm of new threads that demanded his attention rocketed him back to reality.
Wait.
Where had all these threads suddenly come from? Unless… Raphael snapped his head up to see the shadows crawling with Foot. Crap.
The turtles racing ahead had no idea of the ambush they had landed into the moment they stepped into this part of town. Double crap.
Of course the Foot were completely unaware of Raphael's presence, but that did not lessen his anxiety. Why the hell were there so many Foot? Who was behind this? Raphael began rapidly sorting through threads to find a familiar string of light. It was uncanny; the moment he found what he knew to be the thread leading to the Foot's new leader, a voice came from an alleyway not far ahead. "Even after all these years and you still fall from the same old tricks."
Leonardo's grim voice only echoed what was in Raphael's mind, "Karai."
Great. Leonardo's girlfriend apparently was back from Japan and apparently was back in with the Foot. What a freaking amazing day this was turning out to be.
"You don't look happy to see me, Leonardo." She smirked as she inspected the leader before glancing over his brothers, "Only three? Now I'm disappointed. It's no fun if I can't destroy all four of you at once."
Triple crap.
All three turtles exchanged silent looks before Leonardo stepped forward, "Four? What are you talking about Karai?"
"What? You hit your head or something?" Karai chuckled, "Come on Leo, even you're not that dumb."
"Maybe you should just spell it out for me," Leonardo hissed, "You know, for old time's sake."
She snorted, "Seriously? What would your brother think taking lessons from the enemy?"
"I don't hear Mike or Don complaining," the leader retorted.
"Don't be dense. I don't care about them."
Michelangelo and Donatello both cried, "Hey!" but Karai just ignored them.
"They're not fun like you and he are."
"I don't know who you are talking about, Karai." Leonardo ground out in frustration.
For the first time the kunoichi bore an expression of genuine shock before quirking an eyebrow in amusement, "I wonder what must have happened between you two that you would go so far as to pretend he doesn't exist."
Leonardo suddenly drew his blades, "Enough of your games, Karai. I would never treat Michelangelo or Donatello that way."
"Right," she slid out her own katana, "He says while purposely leaving out Raphael's name."
Crap. Crap. Crapity crap.
Of all people, it had to be Karai – naturally with an army of ninja at her disposal – that would slam his brothers' minds with the truth. How could he have forgotten to blank her memory? Was he that much of an idiot? Who would forget to blank their eldest brother's psycho girlfriend? Apparently the guy who's supposed to keep this realm's souls in check. Yeah… His domain was in great hands alright.
Raphael examined the multitude of threads belonging to Karai's Foot army. There had to at least be a couple hundred. His brothers were good, but not that good. Besides, while they had been having their lovely little stroll down trash talk lane, he had counted twenty archers on this block alone. Karai wasn't here to play fair, and the odds practically avalanched in her favour.
Yep. The universe hated him.
He grumbled, "Oh sewer apples."
Abruptly, Karai and his three brothers whipped their heads to the direction of his voice, but as Raphael dropped his cloak of invisibility, he wrapped his fist around each of the Foot soldiers' threads, including Karai's. Just as his brothers' jaws began to drop, he summoned hoar frost. Suddenly the entire Foot army was incapacitated, for each and every solider was coated in a film of blue ice. Raphael knew they'd be fine; they just needed to thaw out first. Mind, given the balmy November weather, they'd be there for a while. Oh well. He never much cared for Karai anyway.
With that out of the way, he braced himself as he slowly turned his glowing green eyes onto Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo, "Uh… Hi guys."
All three looked utterly flabbergasted, but eventually Donatello's brain chugged back into action, "Y-you're h-him. The fourth turtle from the disc, from the files."
"Wait." Michelangelo took several steps closer and Raphael had to admit it was strange to have his youngest brother look down at him from his older body, "If you're our brother, how come you look so much younger than us?" The orange clad turtle's eyes widened, "And why are your eyes glowing?!"
"Look, you got to take my word that there's a really good reason for all of this, but I need Donnie's laptop and that disc. Then you can forget all about it and go on as though none of this ever happened."
Raphael approached Donatello who defensively hugged his duffle. Suddenly, Leonardo was blocking his path, "No."
The Soul Collector sighed, "Leo…"
"I said no." Leonardo glared down at Raphael – god, he hated being the shortest – "You can't just come here and take Donnie's stuff and then disappear. Besides, what the hell is wrong with the Foot? We're supposed to be fighting it out right now and now they're Footsicles."
"That's because I froze them." At Leonardo's look of shock he quickly assured, "Don't worry. Once the sun's up they'll thaw out and be perfectly fine."
"You… Froze them…?" Leonardo still appeared shell-shocked.
"Yeah that's what happens when you coat someone in ice," Raphael stepped around him and gestured to Donatello, "The bag Don."
"S-stop talking like you know us!" Donatello inched away.
Raphael growled in frustration, "Didn't you hear Leo's girlfriend? I'm your brother, brainiac."
At the girlfriend comment, Leonardo whipped his swords in Raphael's direction, "If you're our brother why can't we remember you?"
The red-clad turtle lifted an eye ridge as he inspected the blades pointed at his throat, "You know bro if you were anyone else I'd rip your soul right out of you for that."
"You'd do what?" Michelangelo squeaked, "What kind of dude threatens someone's soul?"
"The kind who controls every soul in this realm – my realm – Mikey." Raphael did not remove his stare from Leonardo's, "Which is why I'd put those swords down, Leo."
Cobalt eyes narrowed. Under other circumstances, Raphael would have found the turtle leader's tense posture's juxtaposition to his own relaxed one humourous, but any cheer he felt was immediately blown away when Leonardo hurtled a smoke bomb at his feet. Raphael clenched his fists at his side glaring at the purple cloud of smoke. Moments later, when the air cleared, the three brothers had vanished – or so they thought. They did not realize that no matter where they fled, Raphael could find them. Their threads of life would always betray them.
However, despite the infuriating origin of the entire situation, Raphael found himself grinning as he vanished. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to openly defy him. Sure, his brothers did it because they had no idea who they were dealing with, but it still gave him a jolt of excitement. He did love a good chase, and reappearing in front of his fleeing brothers causing them to skid to a stop on the rooftop was all the more priceless when paired with their horrified expressions. Acting as though not perturbed in the slightest at their attempt at escape, Raphael extended his hand towards his brother once more, "The bag Donatello."
"We are so screwed dudes," Michelangelo nervously fingered his nunchakus.
"H-how…" The purple-clad ninja merely gawked, "D-did y-you…?"
"I told you," Raphael shrugged, "This my turf. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide, your souls will always call to me and I will find you."
"Cocky much?" Leonardo stepped in front of Donatello shielding him from Raphael, "If you're so powerful why don't you just take it?" Seeing Raphael subtly tense he probed further, "Or maybe this is all an elaborate display to trick us into giving you what you want."
Green eyes blazed as The Soul Collector attempted to quell his anger, "You're on thin ice bro."
"Somehow I doubt that." Obviously believing he had the upper hand, Leonardo drew his katana once more, "If you could then logically you would have taken it by now, but you haven't. So I'm thinking you're all smoke and mirrors, Raphael."
The way Leonardo's tongue cut through his name emphasizing his confidence in his belief that he had successfully seen through his opponent's deceit was just such classic Leonardo, but with the knowledge of knowing just how wrong his elder brother was, despite his anger, The Soul Collector burst out laughing, "Are you challenging me?"
If Leonardo was unnerved by Raphael's sudden humour, he did not show it. Instead, he silently raised his swords in preparation for combat, and Raphael smiled darkly, "Oh this is priceless. You know it's been over fifty years since someone challenged me?" He pulled out his sai, spinning them, "If the god of dreams couldn't take me, you sure as hell don't stand a chance."
"Why don't you shut it and let my swords do the talking," Leonardo hissed as he lunged forward.
Amused by his brother's unusual impulse to deliver the first blow, moving like lightning, Raphael easily side-stepped him before lightly tapping his brother on the carapace with his sai's hilt, "Too slow Leo."
Leonardo spun around to slash at Raphael, but his opponent was already gone. Instead he was grinning from several feet away, "Nice form, but it's better when you hit your target."
In response, Leonardo glowered before whipping out several throwing stars at the red-clad turtle. Raphael knew what he was trying to do. He even gave Leonardo the luxury of staying put as he deftly flicked the three shuriken to the ground with a twirl of his sai, but when a silver blade came from above to slice into his face, Raphael had had enough. Sheathing his weapon with incredible speed, The Soul Collector used his free hand to grab the blade. A mortal would have lost his limb, but to Raphael it was no different than catching a roll of wrapping paper. At Leonardo's wide-eyed gasp, Raphael smirked, "Don't look so surprised. I haven't even attacked you yet."
The blue-clad turtle's skin paled as Raphael tore the sword from his grasp before snatching his second blade just as easily. "Let's get rid of the sharp stuff first," The Soul Collector shoved them into the roof's concrete as though it was butter. He was well aware his brother would not be able to withdraw them without Raphael's tremendous strength. "Now for some fun. Let's spar."
No longer hiding his confusion, Leonardo shifted into a better stance, which allowed him to block Raphael's first punch. "Glad to see you can still take a hit."
The first few kicks and punches Raphael delivered were nothing special, and as expected Leonardo blocked them all. Then gradually, The Soul Collector began to speed up. He had to admit, his former leader was doing an admirable job keeping up, but even Leonardo had his limits. As his blows began to lose visibility, Leonardo started to falter. Not even breathless, Raphael remarked, "Gotta work on your other senses bro. Vision will only get you so far." He vanished to reappear and kick Leonardo in the shell, "See?"
Huffing, Leonardo spun around to face his smiling opponent, "Who are you?"
"You already know that answer," he swept Leonardo off his feet, "I'm Raphael."
Breathing heavily from the ground, the turtle gawked as he was offered a hand up, "Don't give me half an answer!"
"What more do you want?" Raphael flicked his eyes from Leonardo to his hand, "I don't bite you know."
Considering the proffered appendage a moment longer, Leonardo finally sighed before grasping it, but he only held it for an instant before flinching back, "Ah!" Staring at his hand from where he sat, sharp eyes slowly looked up, "You were holding back."
The Soul Collector did not withdraw his hand, "Now you believe me?" Carefully, Leonardo grabbed his hand once more. Raphael could feel him shiver, but this time the blue-clad turtle allowed himself to be pulled up. Once the leader was standing, Raphael walked back to where he buried Leonardo's katana, and blithely drew them from the stone, "Here. Sorry, you'll probably need to sharpen 'em now."
"Uh thanks," Leonardo took the blades, "So now what?"
Raphael felt his brief bubble of bliss pop. While sparring with Leonardo, he had actually gotten lost in the moment. It was as though nothing else mattered except him and his brother. Folding his arms, he nodded in Donatello's direction, "I take Don's computer and that disc then blank your memories. By morning you won't remember any of this."
"And we forget you." Leonardo stated flatly.
"And you forget me." Raphael echoed miserably.
"So all that stuff on the disc was real?" Donatello frowned.
"Yeah," Raphael couldn't meet their eyes, "It's all stuff from when we were kids."
"So it was you?" Michelangelo wandered closer, "You're the one that erased our memories?"
His ethereal green eyes remained fixed on the cement, "Yeah…"
"But why?" Michelangelo's voice shook and Raphael refused to identify the emotion tied to it, "Why would you want your brothers to forget you?"
"Because…" He unfolded his arms to squeeze his fists at his side, "It's complicated."
"That's not a good reason and I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like you get the short end of the stick here."
Leonardo responded with genuine curiosity, "What do you mean Mikey?"
"Well if I've got this right, it sounds like we get to live together in ignorant bliss because you can't miss what you think you've never had right? Meanwhile, Raphael goes off to…" He paused in thought for a moment, "Wherever, and is stuck all alone with all these memories of his family. Even now I bet he's going crazy with us talking to him like he's a stranger."
Raphael hated the way his eyes stung from Michelangelo's words while Donatello replied, "If it's so painful why not just give us our memories back?"
"Based on the way he's looking at the ground," Michelangelo gestured, "I don't think he can or has a very good reason not to."
Under the pressure of three pairs of eyes boring into his scales Raphael mumbled, "He's right. If I give you your memories back, I risk losing you permanently. It's bad enough I'll have to watch your bodies die. I can't bear to lose your souls too."
"Watch us die?" Leonardo's voice held new concern, "Do you know something we don't?"
"It's nothing like that Leo." Raphael finally peeled his eyes from the pavement, "All mortals die. You're mortal so you'll have to die eventually, but I'm not mortal."
"What?!" Donatello and Michelangelo gasped almost in unison.
"What do you think I meant when I said this is my realm? That I control souls? I brought it up to freak you out, but it's still the truth." He gestured to himself, "Mikey pointed it out earlier: I look younger. Why do you think that is?"
"Because you're immortal." Leonardo stated flatly.
"And I'm not just any immortal either." Green eyes flashed in the darkness, "I'm The Soul Collector. The god essentially in charge of every soul – every life force – in the universe."
"Dude…" Michelangelo walked closer to Raphael to inspect him closer, "How did that happen? If you are our brother you had to be mortal once right?"
"I was born mortal yes, but certain… events… Changed me. Over five years ago in your time, by Chronos' Master Clock 563 years."
"You're 583 years old!?" Donatello immediately calculated.
"Something like that," Raphael shrugged, "Time gets messed up when one jumps from plane to plane all the time. Especially at the Nexus Gate where it seems to stop altogether."
"Looks like you're no longer the oldest, Leo." Michelangelo smirked at his big brother.
"Hmph." Leonardo folded his arms, "I was still born first. Besides, other than what's on Don's computer I have no recollection of Raphael and apparently won't for much longer."
"Seriously dude," Raphael found himself face-to-face with his pouting freckled blue-eyed brother, "You really gotta wipe our memories, again?"
Why did Michelangelo have to have those stupid puppy dog eyes? Besides, weren't gods supposed to be immune to such emotional ploys? "Don't make this harder than it already is Mikey."
"It's obvious you don't want to do it though." His brother insisted.
"None of this has ever been about what I want Mikey," Raphael snapped, "I never had a choice."
"I thought you were a mighty and powerful god!" Michelangelo wildly waved, "Isn't the very definition of that getting to do whatever you want?"
Raphael rolled his eyes, "Not if I want the universe to stay whole."
"Doesn't your happiness and wellbeing kind of tie into that?" Donatello pointed out calmly.
Suddenly Michelangelo jumped on Raphael, giving a massive twitch, "Whoa it's like hugging Don's electric ball thingy!" Before wrapping his arms back around his carapace.
"It's a Van de Graaff generator, Mikey." Donatello muttered, "And you are not supposed to hug it."
Raphael stood frozen under Michelangelo's grasp. The only one who dared give him this much physical contact was Tenebris and to a lesser extent Ala Os. Everyone else hated touching him for the sheer jolt of energy they felt on impact. Zephyr tried to hide it, but Raphael wasn't stupid. He knew it hurt his friend to be in contact too long. "Michelangelo, this isn't good for you."
"Well neither is this whole memory-wiping deal and you're still doing it."
"This is different," yet despite himself, Raphael found himself wrapping his arms around his younger if-slightly-larger brother.
"See? It's not so bad. You know, besides the whole skin-tingling thing, this does feel kind of familiar."
"That's because when you touch me you form a conduit into my heart's harp. So you have access to some of my own emotions. That's what you're feeling now."
It was true, even as he explained it, he could see images from when he was kid holding his baby brother just like he was now. It made his heart swell and quell at the same time, and at this surge of emotion, Michelangelo had to yank free, "Ow! That hurt!"
It was becoming too overwhelming. He practically felt himself physically tearing at what his duty demanded and what his heart wanted. Hugging his brother, despite Michelangelo's good intentions, had not helped. It only made Raphael miss his brothers all the more fiercely. Staggering back Raphael shook his head, "This isn't right. I – You – None of this is right."
Leonardo took a step forward, "Look, Raphael..."
"No!" Raphael's ethereal eyes blazed at his elder brother, "If you had just given me the stupid bag, I wouldn't be in this mess! Fuck! I knew this would happen if I talked to you. I'm such an idiot!"
"Come on maybe we can work something out," Leonardo grabbed his brother's forearm, "Just relax."
"Let go of me!" Raphael jerked his arm away before another conduit of memories could be unraveled. When Leonardo tried again, in a panic Raphael plucked all three of his brothers' threads, "I said GET AWAY!"
In an instant, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo were simultaneously thrown to their knees moaning in pain. Blinking rapidly at his brothers' prone positions, Raphael stuttered, "I… I'm sorry."
Then he fled to his Nexus leaving the three turtles staring anxiously at the spot where their brother had vanished, surprised their memories had somehow escaped further alteration.
A/N Ahh poor Karai, between "Threads" and "Weavings" I am such a jerk to her. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not.
Maizy C.C: Oh wow! Thank-you so much (I'm assuming you're the Guest reviewer from August 9th for "Threads"). I am genuinely thrilled that you loved it so much and are enjoying "Weavings" too. Haha I sometimes fret that I'm getting too carried away with my "creativity" when I write and so I always get super pumped to see that someone enjoys it! Let's see… Currently I have up to eight chapters written as drafts, but chapter 8 is not the end. I'm thinking if I keep more-or-less to my Master Outline (thus why I can be all awesome and look organized XD) I should end up around 13 give or take. Also, your friend makes me a wee bit sad… I must be getting old…
Raigon: Nope. I can't let it be that simple otherwise this would be a pretty dull fic lol. Thanks for continuing to read and review!
Gwydion: What can I say? Am I good or am I good? XD Haha I tots had to restrain myself from telling you about Ala Os (btw did you appreciate what his name means/did you figure out what it means?) sooner, especially when we came up with a certain awesome idea. Oh yes… There wasn't much more world building in this chapter, but just wait and see… I think you'll be pleased ;)
Oh and thanks for letting me know. I swear I read my chapters over and over and yet just when I think they're perfect and I finally got everything I still miss the smallest things!
Haha, I love the canon sharing! I like to think certain episodes didn't happen between "The Wrath of Tiger Claw" and "The Invasion" and that Northampton still happened but panned out how I wrote it in "Love or Blood" *cough* Raphril *cough.* Then if I ever finish a certain epic saga (you know the one) it will take place after that. Yep yep. It's a beautiful canon indeed ;)
