A/N: Once again, I had to make this scene worse than it already was and kill many of my feels! I went back and edited this as well, adding a little more of Casey's background to it. WARNING FOR BLOOD.

Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Ambushed

Raphael paced back and forth angrily on the roof of the apartment, his hands clenched into tight fists as he stomped, his breath coming out in ragged huffs as he picked up part of a chimney and threw it across the roof, not caring where it landed. "Damn!" he cursed under his breath.

Leo…that jerk! Who the heck did he think he was?

So what if he had an attitude or a temper? Raphael was still without a doubt the best fighter they had on the team, and if anything, his anger made him a better fighter…

Raph stopped his pacing. His fists unclenched as he felt the fall limply to his sides, staring at the floor with slumped shoulders

He couldn't help but agree with Leo on one thing; his bad attitude wasn't going to get them anywhere. If he kept this up, they would never be able to work together, and they would never find Splinter…

Raph remembered something that Splinter had told him; something to cool off his anger. He closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "...like a river over stone..." he whispered to himself.

He opened his eyes again, and with a nod, he decided to practice some basic katas to clear his head and calm himself down. Training always helped let off some steam for the red banded turtle. He would do this for a few minutes, and then go talk to Leo…

…and maybe even apologize.

That is, if he didn't punch him square in that smug, little, 'Captain Ryan' fan-boy face of his first.

A few buildings away, the infamous vigilante Casey Jones sat was out on the fire escape of his apartment, with his radio softly playing rock music, and his scrap book and a pair of binoculars at his side. He liked to come out here to clear his head or calm his nerves now and again.

Being a vigilante in the city of New York was rougher than it looked, you know. Especially when you lived with a father and a hyperactive younger sister.

Sighing, Casey picked up his scrapbook, flicking through the pages until he found the one with a small doodle of him, all proud and muscular, standing with a foot planted on top of a defeated, green bald headed punker. He smriked at the picture, then lifted up his shirt a fraction to reveal a very nasty bruise. He sighed again. That little shiner had given his father, who had no idea about how he spent his nightly outings, even more suspicious, and he continued to probe him with endless questions upon how he got it, until Casey was finally able to shut him up with "I got into another fight with Sid again," and he left him alone.

His little sister wasn't so easy to get ride of however, and she had 'invited' him to a tea party in order to 'gossip' with her and her stuffed animal friends, and once again, he had managed to escape interrogation.

Despite how cute she was, even big brothers had their limits.

He flicked out his pen, and began to write next to the doodle. "It's been almost three days, and my body still feels like a punching bag. That punker in the park was a wothy opponent, I'll give him that..."

As he looked back up, gazing over the busy city as the sun slowly began to set behind the skyscrapers, his eyes suddenly set upon a large moving green figure a few apartment buildings away. Interested, he got out his binoculars to get a better look…and his eyes instantly widened.

"…h-holy crap…a giant freaking turtle…" he breathed, adjusting the binoculars in case he was just seeing things.

Nope. He was definitely seeing a giant, mutant turtle on a roof, looking like it was practicing some actually pretty impressive moves.

Wait a second… he remembered that red mask…it was the same guy he fought in the park a few nights ago!

He was a giant turtle?!

"Huh," he said to himself, his arms dropping limply onto his lap as he stared nonplussed at the turtle in the distance, "I knew that guy wasn't normal. Shoulda' known from the big green bald head thing…wait, what's that?"

He brought his binoclars up again quickly, and looked away from the turtle, instead focusing on what was slowly creeping up behind him. He could just see several black figures hopping across the roofs, silently closing in on the unsuspecting creature.

There were more than he could possibly count, and the turtle couldn't even see them.

"Uh oh…" Casey muttered.

Taking off his binoculars again, Casey gazed nonplussed at the scene, pondering on whether or not he should go out there and help him. The guy didn't seem like such a bad guy now that he looked back on it; he was actually pretty fun to fight and mess around with, he had to admit that much. But then again, he had no idea what he could get himself into if he did go and help. For all he knew, that giant turtle could be some kind of green alien from another dimension, and those guys in black could be disguised government agents sent to capture him and interrogate him or something bizarre like that. He knew without a doubt that he would be putting himself in real danger, but he was a hero, wasn't he? The 'Last Hope' for the people of this city.

Heroes were supposed to help people, no matter the danger, weren't they?

But then again, he wasn't just any hero. He was the Casey Jones.

With his decision firmly in mind, Casey quickly leapt back through the window and into his room. "Dad!" he called out as he grabbed his mask from off his bed and retrieved his 'weapons' from his closet.

"What is it, Casey?" his father called back, unaware that his son was already hopping out of the window.

"I'm goin' out!"

After several minutes, Raph finally stopped his katas, having calmed down a fraction as he walked out towards the edge of the roof to lean heavily on the balcony. He stared out forlornly into the city that was buzzing with life, hundreds of humans carrying on with their daily lives as the sun set behind the towering buildings, another day coming to an end.

Raph sighed as guilt began to rise again in his chest. Leonardo was right. This whole mess was all his fault. If only he hadn't been so stupid and carless and just looked behind him, or just made sure that he had taken all of those goons out instead of being so cocky…

Their Sensei could be dead by now, and it would be all his fault.

He remembered the words his Sensei had told him that night, after the scuffle he had with that 'Casey Jones' punk.

"I am here, my son…"

Raph rested his head in his crossed arms as he looked down at the city. "…I'm so sorry, Sensei…" he whispered into the sunset, somehow hoping that somewhere, his father could hear him.

A sudden loud thud form behind him brought Raph out of his thoughts. Raph lifted his head up and was about to turn around to investigate.

A firm hand came across his mouth, muffling his yelp of surprise as he was dragged backwards across the roof.

"C'mon! You're letting him run right by you!" Michelangelo cried in exasperation. he and Donatello were both watching the well-known children's cartoon, 'The Tortoise and the Hare', and Michelangelo was taking it far too seriously, most likely to due with the fact that the turtle was losing. Donatello could only smile and roll his eyes at his brother.

"Can you believe this guy, Donnie?" Mikey grumbled, but didn't wait for an answer as he turned back to the screen, "Don't just…Ninja kick the damn rabbit! Do something!"

"Technically, Mikey, it's a hare" Donnie began, going into what was known to his brothers as 'Geek Mode'. "You can tell by its size compared to the rabbit, and the hare have far larger ears and tails and are actually capable of walking whilst rabbits have to –"

"Donnie...it looks like a rabbit, hops like a rabbit, eats carrots like a rabbit...I'm calling it a rabbit." Mikey deadpanned.

Donnie scowled at his younger brother, and was about to retort before he heard the jingling of keys, and the front door opened.

Both turtles instantly shot up from the floor, pure ninja instincts kicking in as they drew their weapons and posied to attack.

Only when the familiar red head entered the living room did they lower their weapons and sigh in relief. With everything that had happened, it was only natural that they would be more on edge than usual. They couldn't be too careful anymore.

Both turtles relaxed at the familiar sight of April O'Neil as she strode happily into the room. Well, apart from Donatello that is, who began blushing as he waved at her awkwardly. "H-hey April!" he stuttered.

Michelangelo ran over to her and lifted her off her feet with a bear hug. She whooped with laughter as he spun her around. "Hiya, April! We saw your interview! You were totally awesome, sister!" he laughed as he finally set her down.

April grinned at the young turtle and hugged him back. "Thanks, Mikey!" she said, and dropped a kiss on his cheek as she went to put her coat away.

Mikey and Donnie stood dumbfounded, Donnie staring at the spot where April kissed his little brothers' cheek. "Dude, she totally kissed me! And she called me Mikey!" Mikey said with a laugh, flexing his muscles and posing smugly. Donnie scowled jealously.

As April hung up her coat on the hanger next to the door, Leo came out of her room and approached her hesitantly. "Hey, April," he greeted, "So…hear anything yet?"

April looked at him sadly. "Sorry Leo, not yet," she replied, "They're gonna repeat the interview later on tonight, so we're just going to have to wait and see if it helps generate any new information. I asked them if they could call me here immediately if anyone calls the station."

Her heart felt heavy as she watched him visibly deflate, but he tried not to show his disappointment, attempting to hide it with a small but genuine smile of gratitude. "It's alright. Thanks, April. You did your best," he said, sliding his eyes to the floor.

April couldn't take it anymore as she shook her head and flung herself forwards, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing. She couldn't believe how strong he was trying to be, not just for his brothers, but for himself. But she kknew that the young blue clad turtle could only take so much before he crumbled, and April wanted to make sure that she was there to give him all the comfort and support he needed.

Leo stood there as she suddenly embraced him, dumbfounded for a moment as she squeezed his shoulders with all the force she could muster in her tiny body, before his arms reflexively wrapped around her waist as he hugged her back with equal force.

"Don't worry, Leo. We will find him," she said firmly but reassuringly. "I promise you that."

Leo nodded non-verbally. He silently hoped she was right. The sooner they were reunited with their sensei, the better.

And the sooner he could apologize to Raph for everything he had said…

April slowly released the blue banded turtle and smiled at him. He smiled back, much to her delight. She turned and looked at the other two turtles who stood behind her, and they both beamed back also.

It was then that she realized that one turtle was missing. "…hey, where's Raphael?" she asked.

The turtles lost their smiles and glanced at each other. Leo looked to the side in shame, playing with the wraps on his hands idly. April did not miss the gesture and knew that something had gone down whilst she had been gone. She was about to ask when Donatello interjected, "Ummm…he's up on the roof. Don't worry, though. He's just blowing off a little steam."

Raphael landed with a thump on the roof, bruises appearing all over his green skin as he climbed back to his hands and knees. He glared viciously at the Foot ninjas surrounding him, preparing to strike out again at the fallen turtle.

Training helped him cool off and to clear his head, but he did not fancy getting jumped and having the snot beaten out of him by a dozen of those guys in pajamas. How they had managed to sneak up on him, grab him, disarm him and then have the gall to beat him up was beyond him.

He didn't know what they wanted, but he didn't care; if they wanted a fight, they would get one!

He stood up shakily on his feet and got back into a defensive stance. "Heh…is that all you've got?" he said with a cocky smirk, wiping the blood off his chin with a flick of his thumb. "There's only a few of you ninja wannabe's out here. How do you expect to beat me?"

It was then that more Foot ninjas appeared, their numbers flooding the roof in a seemingly endless sea of black-robed figures as they surrounded the lone red turtle.

"Oh…good answer…" he said as he prepared himself for the worst.

"I am so screwed" were his final thoughts before he charged into battle once again.

"Why's he on the roof? What happened?" April asked with concern. The boys glance at each other again, but Leo still refused to look April in the eye. "Well, I was going to give you guys a tour of the shop downstairs. Shall we go get him?" April asked, deciding to let the issue go for now.

Mikey was quick to shake his head, "Nah, I wouldn't. We should leave him alone for a little while. He'll be fine in a few minutes."

Raph had to admit as he hit the ground hard once again, that these 'armatures' were good.

Very good.

Especially in numbers.

He could barely knock one down and defend himself, for with every one down, another rose to take his place, and beat him up some more. Even now, as he tried to get up again, they were kicking him and punching him all over. One had even managed to pick him up and throw him into the spinning back-kick of another.

He spat out blood as he lay there on his knees.

He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

"Here we are. My aunts' Antique Store," April said with a smile as she flicked on the lights of the shop in the lower half of the apartment building. The turtles gasped and looked around them in wonder. There were dozens of shelves filled from top to bottom with various old tea pots, toys, lamps, music boxes, you name it; it was there. The ninja teens wandered around the store, picking up and inspecting various objects in awe and curiosity, just like little kids in a toy shop, especially Mikey, who picked up anything and everything that interested him, asking April countless questions such as "Ooh, what's this?" or "How does this work?" or "Ooh, what does this button do…?"

That last question caused April's heart to leap a mile, for he was about to press the big, shiny red button that would signal the fire brigade before she ran over and stopped him. "Mikey, that button calls the fire brigade! And it even says 'Do NOTPush Unless There Is a Fire'!" she scolded, folding her arms over her chest crossly.

Mikey looked blankly from the big button and back to her, and then he smiled sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry," he said, pressing his fingers together shyly.

April sighed and shook her head, and ushered him away from the big red button.

"April, this place has everything!" Donnie said, taking out his T-phone and snapping pictures of various objects around the room. He seemed absolutely fascinated at the assortment of old tools and devices, rusted and dusty from its long life on the shelves of this old shop, "I've never seen so much stuff like this before!"

April smiled at his enthusiasm. "It really does, doesn't it? I used to come in here and play 'detective' with my dad all the time. He would have me memorize the stuff on a shelf, then take an object off whilst my back was turned, and then have go and find it somewhere in the shop." She smiled fondly at the memory.

Donnie gazed at her reminiscing expression, and he smiled. "You're dad sounds like a great guy," he said.

April smiled back at him. "Yeah. He really is…"

On the other side of the room, Leo was carefully examining a shelf of various small statues of incredibly detailed animals. His eyes locked upon a particular statue and he picked it up carefully in his large green hands. It was a tiny statue of a family of four turtles gathered around a large, beautiful yellow flower.

One of the turtles was slightly cracked on the top of his shell, and was in danger of being broken apart from the rest of the turtles.

A small, bitter laugh escaped his lips. "Heh…cruel irony…" he whispered.

He was so deep in thought that he did not notice that Michelangelo was slowly creeping up on him, with two large cymbals in his hands. Donatello and April saw this and covered their ears, but were unable to stop the grins that split their faces; this was going to be funny.

Spreading his arms out wide, Mikey slammed the cymbals together. Leonardo jumped and screamed in terror.

Laughter filled the shop.

Raphael could barely stand now. His body was aching, bruised and bleeding badly, and his breathing was ragged and labored.

They just kept coming. They just kept hitting. He just kept bleeding.

"How many o' you guys…are there, huh?" he panted, his speech becoming slurred. He staggered to his feet one last time, raising his trembling fists in front of his face as they surrounded him again. He couldn't go down now. Not yet. If he went down, they would go after his brothers and April, and do the same to them.

He couldn't fail his family again.

Suddenly, another ninja flipped into view, and landed inches before him. Raph raised an eye ridge as he stared at the newcomer. This one was different from the other soldiers, one of the main differences being that they were female.

She looked at his bloody beaten form and smirked behind her mask, her eyes dancing with cruel mischief.

He growled at her. "W-who…the heck…are you?" he panted, struggling to stand on his own two feet.

She shifted her weight to the side and put a hand on her hip. "You're a strange looking one, aren't you? This town's more interesting than I thought. My name's Karai…" she said coolly, before her voice turned dark as she glared at him.

"…and I'll be your 'Grim Reaper' this evening."

After they had finished 'exploring' the shop, the turtles and April made their way back up the stairs and back into her aunt's apartment. Leonardo had kept the turtle statue and put it in a box, hiding it in his shell. He was sure April wouldn't mind if he borrowed it for a little while, would she?

"Hey, hasn't Raph been gone a long time?" April asked as she turned back to the boys, "I'm starting to get worried."

"Yeah, me too" Mikey agreed. He turned to Donnie and asked, "Should we go look for him?"

Donnie shook his head and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Mikey. I'm sure he'll be here any second now,"

Which was when Raphael suddenly came crashing through the skylight with a scream, his broken body falling to the floor in a pile of bloody limbs.

"RAPHAEL!"