Growing Pains

Chapter 14

The sight of Raphael alone was strange, but now with April clinging to his shell and his three brothers propelling themselves through the water not far behind, the quintet undoubtedly reached a novel degree of oddity. That is, if in the indigo pre-morning light someone apart from the party were present to witness the strange pilgrimage of creatures to the sub sewer entrance. However, such concerns were far from Raphael's mind. Riding atop his shell, April was well aware of the stiffness that rippled up from each stroke of the massive turtle's arms. She did not have to see those emerald eyes to know they were laced with inner turmoil.

Even his voice was taunt, clipped by unsaid words, "Gotta dive."

"Okay. Go for it." April tried to disguise her own unease as she replied before the foreboding darkness of the river entrance. Upon her inhale, naturally Raphael smoothly dove, but they both could feel the tension gradually accumulating. Yet, they still continued their journey, and all too soon Raphael was hoisting himself out of spring-filled lake near his den.

It wasn't surprising that the monolithic turtle had gained a slight lead on his brothers who were still paddling far out in the center of the subterranean pool, but April found herself leaning forward in question when Raphael did not immediately offer up his palm to lower her as was their typical custom, "Uh, isn't the ride over?"

The turtle struggled to speak before muttering, "Sorry."

When it was obvious no hand was about to be proffered, April tilted her head, "For what?"

Raphael glanced over to ensure his brothers were still out of earshot before scowling adamantly at the ground, "Didn't mean to flinch earlier."

"Oh Raph," Recalling how he had pulled away from her touch, April felt her eyes sting, but she understood, "You have nothing to apologize for. I can't even begin to fathom how hard this must be for you."

He snorted, "That's an understatement."

"So?" April noted the three turtles getting closer, "You going to put me down or…?"

"I…" Raphael frowned at the mutants pulling themselves out of the water, "I just…" Embarrassment eked into the words he quickly spat out, "I just need you close right now." He huffed, "Okay?"

Lowering her voice so the others wouldn't hear, April murmured, "Whatever you need Raph. You want me to stay put, I'll stay put."

"Thanks." The softness of his voice abruptly vanished as he turned to address the three small turtles at his feet, "We're almost there. This way." Nodding in the indicated direction over his shoulder, Raphael pivoted only to find the trio eagerly weaving between his feet as they rushed to the front. However although irritated by their actions, it was Michelangelo who caused him to halt. The youngest turtle kept walking directly underneath his chest plates precariously close to his right hand. Not in the least bit amused he growled, "Mikey, do you want me to step on you?"

"What?!" Jumping at both the larger's sudden stop and being addressed, Michelangelo's shell smacked into Raphael's wrist. "Eep." He rubbed the short orange tails of his mask, "Sorry dude. My bad."

Noticing the disruption Donatello and Leonardo retraced their steps while Raphael cocked an eye ridge as he inspected his baby brother, but it was the eldest who asked, "What's got you so jumpy?"

"Oh you know…" Michelangelo clearly looked uncomfortable as he continued, "Just thinking about where we are…" He poked his two index fingers together, "And what could be down here…"

"I've been thinking about that too." Donatello eagerly responded, "For instance, have you noticed the unique blue-green bioluminescence of these fungi? Definitely not your typical toadstool. I'm thinking they must be in the order Agaricales. Mind, although morphologically they resemble Omphalotus illudens, their glowing colouration suggests they are more similar to Omphalotus olearius, which is curious considering that species is more typical to Europe…"

Ignoring Donatello's commentary as he examined a particular specimen in fascination, Raphael lowered his head closer to Michelangelo's eye level, "Don't worry. The only thing to be afraid of down here is me." He then straightened and stepped over the freckled turtle, "Especially if you keep getting under my feet like that."

"Uh hello?!" Not convinced in the slightest, Michelangelo blurted out, "What about the squirrelanoids?!"

Raphael stiffened, petrifying in place as Donatello – obviously exhausted of his one-sided fungi discussion – pondered, "That's another thing. Didn't John Jackson that mayoral candidate get taken out by squirrelanoids only a few months ago?"

"Yeah…" Leonardo folded his arms, "He did. You'd think this place would be crawling with squirrelanoids if they were getting prolific enough to pull those kinds of stunts."

"See?!" Michelangelo waved his arms in exasperation, "I'm not off my rocker on this one! We should be worrying about those things!"

"In theory…" Donatello tapped his chin, "Mikey's right on this one."

"Yet," The eldest turtle frowned, "We haven't seen anything remotely squirrelly since we came down here."

"Which begs the obvious question." The purple-clad reptile continued, "Where are they?"

An awkward silence followed Donatello's words and was only heightened as the three turtles turned their attention to Raphael. Leonardo stepped forward, "What did you mean by "the only thing to be afraid of down here is you?""

Before Raphael could even begin to piece together an attempt at a pitiful explanation, April cut in, "Hey guys, can we talk about this later? I'm still sitting in wet clothes up here and could really use something hot to drink. Let's get to Raph's and then we can play catch up, okay?"

But Leonardo was not about to let this one go, "Raphael," He smoothly positioned himself between his massive brother and the tunnel beyond, "Where are all the squirrelanoids?"

When Raphael refused to make eye contact in favour of boring his eyes into the ground, Donatello responded, clearly piecing together the truth as he spoke, "Wait… This is your system isn't it?" Mahogany eyes pierced in April's direction, "Or rather, Raphael is your system?!"

"What are you talking about Donnie?" Leonardo faced his purple-clad brother.

"Isn't it obvious?" Donatello folded his arms, "Raphael has been eating squirrelanoids."

"WHAT?!" Both Leonardo and Michelangelo blanched in unison while said accusing turtle continued, "I'm right. Aren't I?"

The behemoth ground out, "Yes."

For a second there was only condemning silence emanating from the surrounding reptiles, but then Leonardo's voice cut through the air, "Do you mean to tell me that all this time you've been ingesting mutagen?!" Any emotional control the eldest may have had vanished, "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Raphael began to feel his own bright brand of heat pulsing through his blood, "Don't start Leo."

"Hold on," Leonardo's cobalt eyes widened, "You cannot seriously be considering defending your actions?! They're monster squirrels chalk-full of mutagen, Raph. What did you expect would happen?!"

"I'm warning you, Leo." Digging his claws in frustration into the rocky ground, Raphael's voice was unnervingly quiet, "Don't talk about what you don't understand."

"What's there to understand?!" The eldest was clearly on the brink of hysteria, "Mutagen makes monsters. It's not rocket science!"

"That's what you think?" Raphael took a deep breath, "So I was right all along." Suddenly he plucked April off his back and placed her next to Michelangelo, "I was becoming a monster and now I am one."

Realizing his mistake, Leonardo tried to backtrack, "That's not what I meant. I meant-"

"Oh I know exactly what you meant, Leonardo." Raphael interrupted, "So, if I think I'm a monster and you think I'm a monster that must mean I am a monster."

April dashed forward, "No Raphael! That's not true and you know that's not what Leo meant! You are not a monster!"

"Don't touch me!" The giant turtle snapped, freezing April in place, "You were wrong April." He then addressed all of them, "Get out."

"W-What?" Michelangelo was twisting and retwisting his fingers together, "But we just got here, Raph."

"I'm not asking." His voice transformed into a snarl out of desperation after spying the heart-wrenching look Michelangelo was giving him, "If you won't leave. Then I'll make you leave."

"We're not going anywhere, Raphael." Leonardo retorted, "Not until we work this out."

"Fine." Emerald eyes narrowed, "I warned you." To even the expertly honed skills of his brothers, Raphael's movements were bewilderingly quick. However, the larger reptile had his siblings' experience as well as sheer size on his side, and both allowed him to catch all three turtles and April smoothly.

"Raph!" April cried, and although a subtle grimace crossed his face, Raphael did not answer. Instead, with April and Michelangelo in one hand, and Donatello and Leonardo in the other, the colossus stalked back down the tunnel towards the subterranean lake. With Leonardo practically sputtering by time they got to the shore, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Raphael continued to ignore any protests as he stepped into the water. When he was nearly chest deep, he ordered, "Inhale. We're diving."

The four had no choice but to do as requested, for only a moment later, Raphael dove beneath the surface. Earlier with his brothers in tow, he had swum far more slowly; however, now the turtle wanted nothing more than to get them all as far away from him as possible. It was with said startling speed that had the behemoth emerging at the river entrance in record time. Seamlessly dragging himself up from the depths, Raphael was then forced to sacrifice his grace in order to awkwardly crouch as he carried his prisoners on two legs. Finally, nearly bent double, the turtle dropped – albeit gently – his siblings and April at the mouth to the river. As he spun around he bit out, "Have a nice life."

However, despite his efforts, all four of his previous charges sprinted through his legs to plant themselves between the river's entrance and the vast subterranean monolith beyond. Raphael barked out flatly, "Move!"

April was practically emitting sparks, "Over my dead body!"

"Want to say that again?" Sinking onto all fours, Raphael brought his blazing green eyes inches from April's, "I'm the monster here, remember?"

Her azure stare was unfaltering, "No, you're not, Raphael."

Suddenly, Raphael's gaze broke away, but it was not because of April. In fact, all five party members turned their attention to Raphael's left triceps where at that precise moment a dart had just finished empting its contents into his arm. The larger turtle frowned out, "The hell?!"

However, not another second passed before a series of small whooshes could be heard from the cave's mouth. There, where the blazing beams from the rising sun had effectively disguised them, were a number of armed individuals. At the sound, Raphael abruptly shifted himself to protect the others at the expense of his skin being punctured by at least a dozen more sharp syringes. Cursing, the giant reptile snapped over his shoulder, "RUN!"

Following the sound of unsheathing weapons, Leonardo argued, "Not without you!"

Emerald eyes flicked over the stone entrance, but he knew from the smell that there were far more humans just outside the cave. They were probably at the ready for when the ones in the front lines fell. Feeling the drug start to diffuse into his veins, Raphael knew their options were dwindling. Desperate he called, "April knows the way." Before immediately body-slamming into the wall.

His years of living down below had served him well, for as soon as his shell collided with the stone, the roof began to crumble. He could hear the others fleeing back deeper into the tunnel and as his vision began to spin, he heard the eruption of the cave-in.

One glance over his shoulder told him that he had successfully sealed the tunnel beyond.

His family was safe.

April was safe.

And that was all that mattered…

Raphael fell to the ground.

He could think no more.

A/N Sorry for the delay! I decided I wanted to do a few major overhauls on my original draft and between that and vacay I got behind ^_^;; Hopefully I'll be updating more regularly until the end. Thanks for all your support!

PS I'll follow up with comments on the next chapter. I just didn't want to make you guys wait anymore!