Chapter 6

I came to feeling as though I had just been squeezed into a box that was way too small. Again it took me a moment to remember where I was. The sounds of lasers and my brothers' shouts quickly brought me back. That's right – I fell into that tank full of… Something…

However, there no longer was any sensation of liquid around me. I was just pressed up against cold hard steel. If it weren't for the all too familiar sounds around me I would have thought I was dead or a prisoner somewhere, but upon opening my eyes I confirmed that I was still in the tank. Except the liquid was gone… That's weird…

I didn't have time to ponder it though because I was brought out of my confusion when I heard unfamiliar voices, "Orders confirmed Captain Mortu we shall capture the remaining terrapin creatures so we can cross examine them with the rat."

I felt my anger explode to the surface. I may have gotten my brothers into this mess but there was no way I was going to let these goons experiment on my family! I needed to get out of this thing now! I slammed my arms with all my might on the sides of the container and was utterly astonished to hear the sound of metal tearing. What the hell?

I heard Don hiss in pain. No time to think just go. With that I pushed and the metal tore away like tissue paper. Then as I emerged from my confinement several things demanded my attention. First, the tank was positioned on the ground floor of the warehouse and yet from my view point I was higher than the catwalk which had to be at least twenty feet. I wasn't that much higher than the catwalk, but still… I could feel my breath catch in my throat. I needed to look down, but I had a very bad feeling as to what I would find. As I steeled myself for the inevitable I realized that the warehouse had grown eerily quiet. If it weren't for that I doubt I would have heard Mikey's tiny whisper, "Raphie?"

I looked in the direction of Mikey's voice. There in a corner surrounded by robots were Leo, Don, and Mikey. Mikey was on the ground leaning against a wall and looked like he was ready to pass out. I then noticed Don and Leo slowly backing up towards Mikey. Both of them still had their weapons raised (well in Don's case he had one piece of his broken bo in each hand). All three bore new wounds and I could see blood running from a wound on Leo's shoulder. That wasn't what made a shiver run down my spine though. All three of them were looking at me and they looked petrified.

I couldn't wait any longer I had to look down and as I did I felt bile rise to my throat. I was a monster

I felt myself panicking and then I heard the sound of a gun go off and a laser hit me in the shell. I felt nothing, but it was then that I knew I lost it.

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I was frozen in terror. I had no idea what to do. Was that really Raphael? And if it was did he remember who he was? Did he remember us? I was about to look at Don for answers when I heard a gun go off and suddenly an explosive roar erupted from the monster in front of us. Total chaos erupted.

The behemoth was now on all fours and was definitely pissed off. He tore through the robots with his claws like they were made of butter. I couldn't even slice through these guys with my katana but that was no problem for him. He struck them with his tail and they flew away like rag dolls. We no longer seemed to exist to the robots, now all of their attention was completely demanded. I felt the building shake as the giant's tail ripped through one of the walls and I made a decision then. "Don, Mikey we need to get out of here now!"

Mikey stared at me, "but what about…." His eyes tore from mine and looked at the direction of another roar, "Raph?"

Another vibration rolled through the building and Don nodded to me, "Leo's right Mikey. At the rate he…. Raph…. Is going it won't be long before the building collapses. We can come up with a plan once we're outside."

Mikey again looked at…. Raph…. He turned back to us and slowly nodded. It looked like he was ready to cry. Don and I went on either side of Mikey and put his arms over our shoulders and we quickly moved to the nearest window. With all the commotion most of the windows had been blown out. Since my shoulder was wounded, Don pulled Mikey into a fireman's hold and jumped out the window. Before I followed my brothers, I turned around and looked at my remaining brother. There weren't that many robots left now and although the remaining robots were undoubtedly pulling out all stops to take down Raph he looked completely unharmed. Then as if on cue, Raphael looked in my direction and anger seemed to leave his eyes as he stared at me on the verge of leaving him behind. He opened his mouth, "Leo…"

Suddenly another great shudder ran through the building and the roof started to cave. I had no choice. I jumped out the window and as I felt the cool night air on my skin and ran to catch up with Don and Mikey who were now in the Shell Raiser. I couldn't shake what just happened from my mind. My eyes watered as I saw Raph's eyes in the collapsing warehouse. They were full of such sorrow and anguish... But what made me start to shake like a leaf as we drove away was when I heard him say my name. His voice was full of more terror than I had ever heard from Raph before. Worst of all, I did this to him…

A/N Just to get some perspective into Raph's growth spurt: The warehouse is around 3 stories tall (just over 30 feet or 9 meters). Since the catwalk is around the 2 story mark (20 ft or 18 m) Raph is standing at full height just above said catwalk. So I settled on him being about 22 ft or 6.7 m tall. I know I like comparisons when thinking about heights, weights, and whatnot a male giraffe is usually around 19 ft or just shy of 6 m tall. So basically Raph is now slightly taller than an adult male giraffe. Thanks for reading!