Chapter 21
Donnie grabbed the telescope from Leo and put it to his own eye, following the Kraang's movement.
"By the basis of their trajectory and flight pattern, I'd say they were heading for TCRI."
"But we blew up that place." Mikey tipped his head. "Seriously, I'm not even kidding. Leo had the light saber that Justin made out of his swords and then stabbed it into the computer thingy and for once everything just went BOOM."
Raph growled, looking up and watching the Kraang pass by. He whirled around to Leo.
"Well, what are we doing waiting here?! Let's go get them!"
Leo grinned. Raph knew that look. Now that they had their chance to relax, he was ready for a fight. Blow off some steam. In a millisecond, all of their weapons were out and Donnie put the telescope back in his belt.
PSSSSSSHHHHHHHCK!
Raph jumped back as the arrow shot past an inch from his face and lodged itself into the top of Donnie's bō. The others whirled around to see the Foot gathering on the adjacent rooftop, Karai in the lead. She was smirking.
"It's not the Kraang you have to worry about."
Raph ripped the arrow out of his brother's weapon and whirled around, flinging it back up at the Foot, his eyes blazing. Karai raised her blade and turned it. The arrow hit the sword and sliced cleanly in half, falling to the side harmlessly. Karai looked up and then jumped back, bracing herself as Leo came for her.
The reaction was instantaneous. The others jumped into the fray and within seconds all you could hear was clashing weapons and yelling. Raph threw a Foot to the ground, deflecting another one easily and glanced over at his siblings.
Mikey was grinning, as usual, swiping his nunchucks across a ninja's face and then kicking him in the gut, driving him back into his comrade. Donnie was beside him, whirling his staff and then lunged out with practiced precision. Leo was clashing with Karai, rage clear on his face. Even April was doing well, holding up her own with her tessen slicing as fast as Leo's katanas.
A blow on the shell brought Raph back into his own fight. He whirled around, his sai in hand. He felt an intense anger rise up inside him. How dare they hit him? How dare they think they could even stand a chance against him? He growled and swiped his sai around, hitting the ninja clean in the side of the head. He meant to leave him to unconsciousness, but something had snapped inside him.
Something was set loose. Like a fiery inferno of anger, it burned inside him, spreading to his limbs and letting the strength of the blaze flow. It clouded his judgment and blurred his vision until all he could see was his soon to be victim. The soon to be dead man.
The sharpened tip of the sai streaked towards the Foot, slicing through the fabric and tearing a gash on his shoulder. Another swipe, and another, and another, tearing open flesh and making the ninja pay for what he thought he could have taken on. Raph panted, his fists clenched. He pulled his sai back, ready to stab it into the man's head and end this.
What the shell am I doing?!
His grip relaxed and his arm fell to his side. Raph jumped up, backing away from the bloodied form before him. His eyes grew wide, filled with horror at what he had done. At what he was. Who he was. He didn't lose control like that. Not that badly. Never that badly.
He'd almost killed a man.
He'd almost…
"Raph!"
Raph shook his head quickly and turned around at Leo's yell. He gulped and walked towards his brother. Leo was watching as the Foot retreated across the rooftops. Raphael glanced behind him to see two Foot soldiers picking up their injured comrade and vanish into the night. Leo nodded.
"Good. That lasted longer than I thought it would. Karai was ready for us. She was wai-! Raph! What happened?!"
Raph barely heard him. He was staring at his hands, eyes wide with horror. What did he do? His hands were covered in blood, and none of it, not a single drop of it was his. His breath froze in his chest. Why did it feel so… so wrong? The Foot, Karai, Shredder and the Kraang would all kill them without hesitation, if they had the chance. So why did he feel so horrified with himself? One less Foot to deal with. Wasn't that a good thing?
No.
Splinter always said that taking one's life was the absolute last option. Raph could have left the ninja. He could have gotten up and jumped back into the fight without a second thought. Normally he would have… Why was this time so different?
He felt a hand on his shoulder. Raph shook his head again and looked up. Leo's concerned face swam in front of him. His head throbbed painfully and he noticed his mask was wet. Raph realized he was shaking. And on his knees. Leo slipped his arm under his own and pulled his brother to his feet. Leo looked at Raph, his worried eyes searching his face.
Raphael took a single step and felt the ground sway beneath his feet. His head throbbed again, more painfully than before, and he felt Leo's grip fade away as his knees gave out and the ground rose to meet him.