Chapter 4

Two pairs of white eyes peered out from the darkness of the alley, one lined with red, the other a dark ocean blue. Raphael crouched down behind Leonardo, eyes flicking around at the adjacent streets while they waited for their brothers to appear. So far, everything was silent, but they all knew that meant nothing at all when it came to the world of ninjas. Battling enemies with the same skill set meant that silence was dangerous, not to mention suspicious; it was never very safe. It was for that reason that Raph could feel the tension radiating from Leo as his brother watched for movement. His brother was ready for anything, waiting for the ambush, or the inevitable attack that was bound to come along at any moment.

As Donnie and Mikey dropped down beside them in the shadows, Raph could see the confusion in Leo's eyes as he glanced over at his brother before taking the watch while Leo shifted back to talk to them. He didn't even have to ask the question of where April was, Donnie gently shaking his head as his brother looked at him. He nodded back up to the apartment above them, giving a soft sigh.

"She needs to keep Mr. O'Neil from coming out to see. He's supposed to be going out so she's trying to find a way to keep him out of the crossfire."

Leo nodded in understanding, sighing softly as he moved back to Raph's side. Raph could tell he was disappointed, but he didn't mention it, eyes locked on the sight of the mutant dog and the few elite soldiers accompanying him. Rahzar was tense, his glowing amber eyes glaring around at the streets, but he seemed to be focused on the one ahead of him. The robots around him stayed silent, keeping their ground and keeping a watch out. Pulling back into the alley so he didn't get spotted as one of the robots turned to look their way, Raph shot a look at Leo, a slight growl under his breath as he spoke.

"They're waiting for us. There's no way this isn't an ambush." Raph muttered, glancing around at his brothers. Donnie gave a sigh, shaking his head as he pulled his staff out from its sheath on his back, while Mikey took out his nunchucks. His brothers seemed as displeased with this as he was, but that was to be expected. Leo held up his hand, glancing at them before looking back out of the alley, eyes narrowed. Raph let his hand pause on the handle of his sai, confused on why Leo was getting them to wait. All he wanted to do was lunge in and beat the bones out of the mutt, but he was pretty sure Leo wouldn't appreciate that.

"If they were waiting for us, they wouldn't be watching the street. They'd be on the rooftops. They know we wouldn't just walk out into the open like-"

"-Like we are now?"

"Yes, Raphael, like we are now." Leo retorted, giving his brother a look as he turned back to them. "The point is, they aren't waiting for us. There's got to be someone else they're here for. Maybe if we wait a few minutes, we'll find out who."

"Yeah, right, cause waiting and watching has always worked out well for us." Raph huffed, rolling his eyes as he let his hand take his sai out of his belt anyways. He hated waiting, because there could be something else they were doing. They could already be battling, but no, Leo wanted them to wait and see. Cue four hours of silence and stiff joints cause they weren't going anywhere for a while. But at least he had enough imagination to contemplate what he was going to do once he finally got his hands on that dog's mangy face. Maybe beat it into the ground for thinking he could come out here without being driven off. Maybe carve a friendly letter into his skull to take back to Shredder… now that was an amusing picture.

To his surprise, their wait didn't take long at all. Raph jerked in surprise as he heard a vehicle come down the street, peering out again. Rahzar had tensed up, and his eyes were locked on the end of the street, as well as all of the elites. This didn't seem like it was going to end well. That conclusion was confirmed as a familiar white van came shooting around the corner, a flash of shock shooting through him as he immediately clung to his weapons, ready for an attack.

"The Kraang are back?"

"Looks like it." Leo muttered softly, drawing his katana from their saya. This was no longer a stealth mission, this was turning into a defensive one. Donnie and Mikey had their respective weapons in their hands in a second, tensed and ready to go. Raph growled softly as he kept his eyes on the van as it rushed for the small group of Foot, listening to the engine slowly get louder as it sped up. It wasn't going to stop and they all knew it. Including the Foot, as Rahzar changed his stance to brace himself, a grin spread over the canine's face.

The van slammed into him at full force, but with the preparation, that didn't seem to stop the mutant at all. Rahzar gave an audible grunt as he was rammed into, but dug his long claws into the sides of the van, before suddenly slicing them down through the metal and into the tires. There was a long squeal as all of the air flooded out of the tires, the van stuck now as the Elites lunged forward, tearing into the doors to get them open. Blasts from Kraang lasers followed, and Rahzar stalked towards the back of the van, picking up a glowing blue-green canister from where it had fallen out.

Mutagen. Raph's eyes widened as he watched, glancing at Leo. The look on his brother's face was grim, and told him all he needed to know. If Shredder was sending his lackeys out for mutagen, setting ambushes and raids for the Kraang… then whatever the reason was, it couldn't be a good one. Adjusting his grip on his sai, he waited for Leo's hand flick, and bolted out with his leader's call of warning from behind them.

"Not a single canister of mutagen goes with them! Donnie, Mikey, go around that side, me and Raph will cover here."

He didn't bother listening to the rest. Raphael leaped up and slammed his foot into the side of Rahzar's face, stabbing his sai into the edge of the van's back doors and using his momentum to swing himself up on top of the van. Glaring down at the Foot henchman with narrowed eyes, Raph gave a low growl, though his lips drew back into a cocky grin. He waited until the dog shook off the daze from the kick and turned his glowing amber eyes up to him, a snarl coming from his throat. Raph flipped his sai in his hand, tilting his head mockingly.

"What's the matter, fleabag? You didn't think you were gonna get away without a fight, did you?"

"I'll take this, thanks!" Before Rahzar could respond, Michelangelo shot between the two of them, tackling the mutagen out of Rahzar's hand. He fumbled with it for a moment before turning and flipping up on top of the van to land just behind Raph, grinning as he gave his older brother a fist bump. Their moment was short lived, however, as Rahzar slammed into the side of the van to throw them off, his claws swinging dangerously close to Raph's face as he and Mikey scrambled back. Glancing at his brother, Raph pointed up to one of the rooftops, teeth grit together.

"Get up there and hide! We'll be right behind you with the rest." Raph snapped, turning to face Rahzar head on. He didn't wait for Mikey's response, lunging back towards the dog and giving a few sharp jabs to the chest before jumping up with hard spin kick to his face. Ducking away from a swipe to his head, Raph grunted as he was kicked in the chest, skidding back before rolling back up onto his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mikey's flicker of orange and screen bolt up the side of one of the apartments, Donnie backing him up on the ground.

"You should have stayed home, turtle." Rahzar's snarl brought him back to the fight. Raph shifted his feet to brace himself, bringing his sai up in front of his face, taking the moment to glance around. He could hear Leo struggling to keep the Elites away from the van, and to keep the Kraang from shooting him in the back. Mikey was on the rooftop, and he couldn't see Donnie anymore, but he could hear his yell from further off.

We're all separated. This isn't good.

Shaking himself to focus again, Raph cursed as he stumbled back, Rahzar's claws slicing into his arm. Focus, damn it! Mentally slapping himself to get back into the fight, Raph lunged forward, but Rahzar was ready for him. A blinding pain slammed into his head as the dog's jaws snapped down on his shoulder, and then there was nothing as Raph tumbled through the air. Flailing to try and get a hold of himself, the turtle smashed into the supports of one of the concrete balconies, slipping back down onto the ground. In the groggy daze that followed, the vague realization that Rahzar must have thrown him drifted through his head, before something else slammed into it.

Pain radiated from his temple as he was kicked back beneath the balcony again, his vision blurry as Rahzar's dark form hovered over him. Raph flinched at the sound of shuriken whizzing past his head, panting as he trembled, trying to push himself up. He could hear Leo yelling a threat to Rahzar, unable to really make out the words, before the dog gave a dangerous scoff and whipped around, slamming his claws through the supports.

I just want to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. College got back into the heavy parts and it was hard to keep up with it, but now that my muse is back and everything seems to be back on track, I'm looking forward to continuing the rewrite and keeping the story moving!

We FINALLY have some action going on, and don't worry; the next chapter will be out later this week. I'm looking forward to getting back onto regular updates every weekend, either Friday nights or Saturdays.

Thanks for your patience, guys! See you again soon!

~Jeli