Practice was running late, heavy panting filled the dojo. The crack of blade against blade began to slow as even the eldest students eyes wandered to their master to await a sign to cease. Michelangelo shoved his blade beneath his arm pit and stumbled a few steps.
"Bllaaaaah!" He declared, falling to the ground, rolling out of the way of his sparring brothers. Don and Leo both stopped to watch the melodramatic preformance. Their chests heaved as if they had been running for many miles.
"Hai." Splinter grunted, getting to his feet. Donatello set his hands on his thighs and leaned over, drawing in long breaths. He watched with mild fascination as his master came to Michelangelos playfully writhing side and knelt.
Leonardo and Donatello moved around Mike with their master and looked down at him. Mikes eyes popped open and looked around to everyone standing around him. Splinters brow was furrowed deeply.
"Um... I din' really stab myself. See, I just put it here like this an'-"
"Thank you, Michelangelo." Splinter rested his hand on his sons shoulder to keep him from displaying his masterful trick. "I have seen it before."
"Oh. Right."
"Is practice over?" Don asked, trying to hid the hopefulness in his voice. Splinter nodded.
"Yes. I apoligize for holding you here so long.... I have been trying to link my mind to your brothers. He has acted very strangely this day."
"Yeah, now that ya mention it, he was actin' all wierd before practice too." Michelangelo whispered, going to sit up. Splinters hand pushed him back down again.
"How so, Michelangelo."
"Uh... I dunno. Someone called. He was acting really suspicious about it I guess." His eyes became shifty.
"Who called."
"Mow, Now." Mike shrugged.
"Do you think somethings *breath* wrong, Master *breath* Splinter?" Leonardo asked.
"I have sensed a new entity in Raphael. It has blocked me out thus far, but it is there." Splinters brow deepened. "I am not sure what it has planned for your brother. We must purge it as soon as possible." Three pairs of eyes trained onto Raphael, begining to slink out of the room. "You may need to restrain him." Michelangelo rolled back to his feet beside his brothers. Leonardo began sending minute signals to his brothers as to box Raphael in. He was almost out the door though. "Do not startle him." Splinters hushed voice came from behind. Mike acted first.
"Hey Raph!" He spun around to face them all. "You wanna.... take a shower?!" An akward moment past. "Uh, I mean... I'm gunna take a shower! You wanna come?!" Mike and Leo were closing in.
"Uh.... that's ok." Raph backed out of the dojo.
"Well you still need to run your laps. You didn't do anything today." Leonardo filled in. Don had slipped out the side door and was coming in around the right.
"I'll do 'em later." Raph gave him a nod, walking backwards faster. His foot caught on one of the computer cables and he stumbled back a few steps. Klunk came out from one of his hidey holes. "I'm uh... going to a movie. See ya."
"Hi Raph!" Don stopped Raph in his tracks as he turned around. "Wanna play a computer game?"
"Huh?" Mike and Leo jumped in from behind, grabbing either arm. "Hey!" He began struggling and writhing like alittle girl. "Lemme go!" The awe inspiring strength and dexterity of Raphael was clumsily put to use in making an escape. He screamed and kicked as they dragged him into Splinters room, a simple subway car. Mike and Leo forced him into the chair and continued to hold him down. Donatello took a second to retreive the nylon rope from his workplace and return. He tied Raphael down around his arms, chest, and legs. To make extra sure Leo had him grab the duck tape too.
When Splinter returned he found Raphael bound like an escaped prisoner to his chair, and three guards standing by. Dispite their hours of sparring, they appeared to have more than enough energy to hog tie their brother. With such precision he suspected they had done so times before.
"Thank you, my sons." They each nodded modestly. "If you'll excuse us now." Leonardo became instantly upset, as he had a custom to.
"But master, are you sure?"
"Yes, Leonardo. Please wait outside until I call you." He said softly, clasping his hands together over his stomach. His sons filed out upon his command, closing the door quietly behind them.
"This is insane. You can't do this!" Raphael insisted. Splinter nodded to himself and took a seat on the end of his bed. "Aw damn it."
"Calm yourself. And we will both leave here faster."
"Yeah right." Splinter pulled his old legs up onto the bed to sit. Ignoring the further pleas of his son, he closed his eyes, begining the focus.
A painful pressure brought Raphael from his dream like state. Something new and uncomfortable. It was dark out, but it didn't take him long to remember what had happened to him. Losing a good hundred pounds and a shell was the big tip off.
He must've fallen asleep. The whole place was quiet and dark, as if a blanket of shadows had descended silently durring the night. The sounds of soft breath whispered not far off. Both of the blankets had been pulled over him and Gwen, and two pillows had been propped up in the gathering of the hammock. She was laying right beside him. Still fast asleep. Her arm had wandered over and rested on his chest, fingers twined about his hair. He found one of his legs inexplicably wound around hers as he worked his way out. It became more difficult than he had anticipated. His leg refused to free itself after the top of him was already halfway climbing out of the hammock. As he turned back to rectify the situation his foot inexplicabely became free and he fell to the floor.
"Ohw-why-I-grum-dum-all" He grumbled quietly as he picked himself up off the floor. He held onto his shoulder which had bore the brunt of the fall, and went back to the hammock. The blankets were half falling off and he pulled them back straight. Gwen had rolled onto her stomach without him there. He lifted the veil of hair off her face from where it had falled. She let out a slow breath. He couldn't wake her up now.
Raphael stepped away from her side and went to the door break. He stuck his head outside and checked around. No one was outside, he could see the telephone from where he was. One good thing about being lighter was that it was even easier to stealth about. He slipped to the phone silently and regained his bearings. His eyes adjusted well to the darkness and he spotted the outline of a door. He couldn't tell if it was closed, so he snuck up to it as well, placing his hand against the door jamb. He got the sense it was open. No sounds came from within.
He slipped inside equally as noiselessly and closed the door. His hand trailed up and down the inside of the wall. Eventually it hit a switch, and a lamp turned on by the door. Easy as pie. Raphael gave himself a hardy adulation. Yes, he knew what he was doing. Nothing to be afraid of.
Raph stealthed to the end of the bathroom and looked down at the toilet. Yeah… nothing to be afraid of. No way.
****
Authors note
****
For the sake of mankind I am not going to show this part. I'm sure you yourselves can think of something suitablely hilarious and humbling for Raph to do. Alright then. On with the story.
****
Raphael returned to Gwens room, his face, he was sure, was completely red. He couldn't wait for the day when he would at last forget the entire 'bathroom episode.' But he could tell it wouldn't be for a long time.
He found Gwen still fast asleep. She hadn't appeared to have moved at all since he had left. The grey cream colored hair had fallen back over her face. He pulled it out of her mouth carefully, and ran in around the back of her ear. A tiny shiver went through her as the tip of his finger ran over her earlobe. His hand finished running down the lock of hair, and returned to his side. That helped him forget.
Raphael spread the sides of the lower hammock out as he sat down. The hinges squeaked and he jammed his feet on the ground to stop the swinging. Keeping still for a few moments, the hinges refused to make another noise. He brought his legs up slow and laid them in. The fabric opened as he laid back. The hinges began squeaking again and he struggled around to grab them. They squealed and he swore to himself.
"Damnit!" Pretty soon he gave up and laid straight in the hammock, waiting with impatience for it to stop swinging. He noticed his skirt was lying over the edge and dragging about on the ground. He sat up to fix it and the whole thing started swaying like a pirates boat. "God-" His fist jammed into his mouth to stifle the rest of his cursing and he laid back quickly, his shoulders tightened up against him. "Grrrrrrrrr."
A moan came from above and he stopped his grumbling. Gwen shifted about, her arm fell over the side. She seemed alleiviated and fell back asleep.
Her hand was so small. Delicate. Fingers which loosely curled in on themselves looked like they might shatter if they fell the the ground. Those hands… were for playing piano, or holding a paint brush… the right way. They could never hold on to the leather grip of a sai, or a sword.
His hands had become thick and course from his early years of weapon play. The heavy fingers which would wordlessly hoist the side of the couch seemed a clumsy feint memory now. Hands which could stop a mans heart with one jab…. he could see the their counterpart now. This new hand, so full of motion. These hands wouldn't hurt. They wouldn't take shit. They were so…. human?
He ceased his examination of his fingers, and gazed at Gwens hand. Tentatively aligning his fingers, he brought them as close to touching tip to tip with hers as he dared. He could feel a familiar electric energy coming from them.
Her fingers closed around his, holding him with a tired gentleness. He slid his hand back and rested it over his stomach. Her hand limped and rested back in it's place. Maybe he'd like to learn piano sometime.
"Bah! Cut it out!" Leonardo gave a wary glance to the locked door of his sensei. It had been many hours since he had even heard noises from the room. Many looooong hours. It was now sometime in the early morning. Neither he nor his other brothers would go to bed, not without hearing word from Splinter. That stayed up, absently watch tv together. No one thought to speak.
Hopefully that their brother was safe. That he had contracted some simple disease *emphasis on simple* that had confused the energies in him. That their was something they could treat.
"Damnit! You suck!" But his recent outbursts, which could likely be heard far into the bowels of the underground, were less and less encouraging. Sick or no, none of them could ever utter a sharp or condescending word to Splinter. Even in some hallucinatory drug induced frenzy, it seemed almost proposterous. Even for Raphael. "Leave me alone!"
The door slid open, with Splinters back facing them. At least a dozen new grey hairs were visible in the bright lights. Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo stood and stepped forward, failing to disguise their eagerness. A reheated bucket of fried chicken sat only half empty on the computer table. Perfunctionarily nibbled upon.
"Michelangelo.... Donatello. Go talk with Raphael." Splinter turned his head only enough for the words to reach their ears from his mouth. Leonardo watched his brothers jog swiftly into the car. Splinter stepped out and closed the door. Leaving it ajar.
"What is it Master?" Leonardo hastily ventured. Splinter let out a long sigh. Leo took it as a sign to draw him some tea and quickly made his way to the kitchen. The water seemed to take forever to boil, but soon he had the cup ready. He returned to the den to find his master in his seat. Kneeling before it, he offered to cup. "What is it Master?" It was taken and a shorted sigh ensued.
"It is true, Leonardo. Raphael has.... a new entity has inhabited Raphael. He is... no longer your brother." His stomach leapt up his throat. No matter how many times Leonardo wished it would happen, he never really anticipated anything of such a magnitude occuring. Splinter took a long sip. "This new... person... is reluctant to admit, or express her intentions with Raphael."
"Her?"
"Many of the energies she has given off are very feminine. I strongly believe this is a girl who has taken over your brothers body. But that is not important now. What is important is returning Raphael to his body.
Leonardo, when an entity chooses inhabits a form, it does so because the form is vacant of a life force. But... *sip*.... When this form is already inhabited by a life form, either the space must be shared between the two.... *sip*.... or one of the two must be eliminated from the body."
"What does it mean?" Splinter looked down at his son.
"Raphaels life force is a very strong one. It is one which I did not sense.... Although this new entity seems to have no ill intentions, I fear she has.... eliminated Raphael from the body so she may inhabit it." Leonardo swallowed hard. He feared something as such had occured. Maybe not in such detail. "If this is so, than Raphael will still be near somewhere."
"Then we must reverse it all. Put Raphael back." Leonardo interjected. Splinter paused, then took another long sip.
"It may be too late for that Leonardo. Most life forces cannot exist on their own, without a body. They must join with something to give them form. I regret to say that I had not taught you or your brothers yet to become one with new objects. It can be a difficult skill in astral travel.
But there is a chance that Raphael found a way to a new host. If so, then we can still rescue him. I have come out to try and search for him here in the lair, where he is likely to be. Speaking with...." Splinter gave a long gaze toward the door. "....Kept me from extending my senses." Leonardo followed his gaze to the door. "She is a clever one. I fear she may wreak more havoc in our home if her mind is not occupied."
"That's why you sent Mike and Don." He nodded.
"She should be entertained by conversation for some time. Hopefully enough for me to find Rapahel." ....Should he even be here.... Leonardo finished in his thoughts. Where would his brother go if he couldn't find a new host? He'd be dead you fool. If that was so, he would kill that bitch. Get rid of her parasitic energy once and for all..... Bitch.
Shhhhhhhhhhh-lip
stack
stack
stack
Shhhhhhhhhhh-lip
stack
stack-
It felt like only minutes after Raphael had dozed off that he was awakened again. The bittersweet strands of rest slowly drained to the back of his mind, begrudgingly settling back down for a few moments. An irritated eye squinted open. The room was still clouded by darkness. That didn't necessarally mean it wasn't morning. But it sure didn't feel like it.
Raphael rolled over to his other side, a single eyes looking over the edge of his bed.
Shhhhhhhhhhh-lip
stack
stack
stack
A series of cards were drawn and laid out on the cool floor. Although his vision was blurred, he could somewhat make out pictures on them. Bigger than playing cards. What did they call those.... Taro?
"Tarot." Gwen mumbled.
"Mmn." Raphael swung a leg out and rolled out of the hammock, letting it sqeak and squeal in protest. He dropped to his knees heavily opposite her and looked down at the cards she now glared at. Picking one up he studied it carefully now. There was a naked man on it. "....You sure about that....?" He flipped it between his fingers to face her, catching it when it nearly flung out of his hands. She seemed to have been hit with a jolt.
"These are Eve's!" She insisted.
"Mm hmm." He laid it back down again in it's place. Maybe she didn't like looking at naked guys. Well, neither did he, so he shouldn't fault her for that.... wait....
"I'm trying to see what's keeping her." She whispered, straightening the card out again. "She's... um.... doesn't usually take this long."
"Oh." He yawned. "What does it say?" She frowned at that.
"It won't tell me about her. This is the second draw, and I keep getting almost all the same cards." Her fingers dotted over some of them. "They're not answering me at all."
"That's too bad." She nodded and proceeded to collect them back up again. "You gunna try again?" He watched her stand back up and return the deck to the dresser. She stood by it after the drawer was closed. He could sense something heavy on her mind. Something that wasn't there last night. "What is it."
"....Something's wrong."
"What's wrong."
"I don't know.... Eva is usually back in about fifteen or twenty minutes. Hour tops. Something's just.... very wrong."
"And hour tops?"
"Evas in trouble. I... we... think.... um...." She turned around to face him, begining to chew on her finger. Raphael nearly bolted to his feet.
"What do you mean trouble, what's wrong, why am I not back yet-"
"I don't know." She hissed to quiet him. "I... she was supposed to call back and reverse the spell. Something must be stopping her, otherwise she would have."
".....Then where the hell is she?!" Gwen continued to chew her pinky, looking into the photographs. "Arrgh!"
"Come on, we have to tell Tabitha." She reluctantly took his hand from him and began the walk out. Raphael followed behind obediently. Being a human had been a trip *no thanks to having been a girl* But he realized he had become accustomed to his turtle form. Even if he was a normal human male now, he could never be fully comfortable without a shell, and a big beak. Or all the extra fingers and toes. Hair, clothing, retarded human maintenance. He was actually eager to be back in his old body. Although the new face had been kind of funny, it would be some time before he could look back on the whole 'breasts' thing and have a good laugh.
Gwen lead him out into part of the lair he hadn't seen yet (which would be most of it), and into a sort of alter room. Two woman kneeled by a long alter doing something. Five or six candels were lite, making the room the brightest of all. It was a little cold. On the floor some giant symbols were carved which Raphael didn't understand. A fountain of running water and censer of inscense were going.
The two woman at the alter both wore long yellow robes, tied around the waist and with large hoods which covered their faces for the most part. One was heavy set, and a bit shorter than the other. This one turned about first. She stepped aside as her friend turned to them, and they both pulled the hoods back. The first woman had dark hair which was cut in a bob around her chin, she looked in her mid forties. The second was older. Or looked so. Her hair was a breeze blown greying brown, which looked as if it would rest around her shoulders if she unpinned it. Her eyes were soft shade of blue, and were gently accentuated with many crows feet. She looked to be somewhere in her mid fifties.
"Evangeliene, Gwendolyn. Is something the matter." She asked. Her voice was commanding, but soft. A little on the deep side. Gwen cleared her throat and stepped forward, dragging Raphael behind her. The three of them sat on the floor and she began explaining the whole tail.
From start to end, it was shorter than he had expected it to be. Gwens explaination left out the repeated spells Eva had done and all about the exchange for wishes. Other than that all the basics were there. Even about the tarot cards. It seemed to just spill out of her mouth. And as it did, Raphael found himself drawing his knees closer and closer against him as Tabithas eyes drifted to his.
"You brought an outsider down?"
"We do it all the time! I mean, everyone does."
"People we know, Gwen. People we know." Tabitha corrected "We don't invite strangers.... we don't force strangers." Gwen hund her head.
"I know...."
"If you truly knew you wouldn't have done this. Both you and Evangeliene will be punished in time." Gwen nodded. "But.... we cannot have any more strangers learning our secrets." Tabithas gaze shifted back to Raphael. Gwen nodded again. "I think even one is too many."
"What," Gwen looked up. "No, Raph can keep a secret, Right Raph?" They both looked at him. He nodded.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Course."
"Yeah." Gwen looked back to the high priestess.
"No Gwen, he can't-"
"Tabitha!"
"We don't know him. He can be a wolf is sheeps clothing for all we know!" The whole idea that they were talking about this in front of him didn't make him feel confident about his chances of getting back.
"But he's not! If you had a chance to know him you would see! But there's no time! We have to find Eva!"
"I agree we must find Eve, but as for him-" Gwen had already grabbed Raphaels hand and was running out the door. "Gwendolyn!"
