Disclaimer: I haven't cleaned up my room yet, so I still don't own any turtles. I do own a bunch of scientists, two college students and a bunch of snot-nosed kids. In other news, the new cartoon is airing now, but naturally it is showing at a time that I'm not available for.

Note: This fic is rated for language, adult scenes and character death. I don't know how you are going to respond to this chapter. I think I've been quite civil to the turtles so far, but now it's crunch time. Even Macbeth, one of the best tragedies of all time has its lighthearted moments. So, um… enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Transfiguration.

It was early morning. The lights had just been recently flicked on and the temperature was slowly rising. Venus and Raphael sat side by side; sharing nothing but quick glances and smiles. Raphael had no idea how much his feelings towards Venus would change. He had originally slept with her for two simple reasons; one was so that he wouldn't be kept in solitary confinement again. The other reason was that he was simply bored and he had nothing better to do with his time.

Yet after the incident, Raphael developed an indescribable sense of closeness towards her. He was protective of her, and started to admire the subtle things and behavioural quirks about the female. It wasn't love, but it was close.

Venus on the other hand grew more confused over time. She often thought about the event. Venus wondered if Raphael didn't arouse her when she was deciding, if her final answer would have been different. Yet Raphael did ask her when she was mentally weak, and they did commit the deed, and Venus couldn't do anything to change that. She was slightly guilty about what she had done, knowing that they didn't fully love each other at the time. She still didn't love him unconditionally, but she did care for him greatly and was pleased to find the angry turtle more at peace and happy within himself. Venus also started to admire Raph's personality, and figured that she could learn to love with time, as both of them were already starting to do.

Dr Aquel came into the outside room and opened Venus and Raph's steel door. Venus stood up and started to head for the newly created exit when she noticed that Raphael wasn't moving an inch. "Are you coming?" Venus asked.

Raphael crossed his arms. "Nope," he said stubbornly.

"Why not?" Venus asked curiously.

"Why should I? I don't wanna go out there and be gawked at. Besides, I haven't tried this tactic before," Raphael said with stubborn determination. Venus sat back down beside him, while the other three turtles looked on from their cell, wondering what the scientist was going to do to make Raphael move.

Dr Aquel eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the two turtles' unusual behaviour. She sighed and resorted to more drastic measures as she pressed the sleeping gas button. White gas was pumped out of the air vent above Venus and Raph's cell door. The two turtles coughed and spluttered and ran out of the room in order to breathe properly. The steel door snapped shut behind them, leaving the two stranded outside in the public enclosure.

"Damn!" Raph said with agitation after realising what had happened. Venus couldn't help but smile at him.

"Well, now you know what happens when you stay indoors," Venus told him lightly. Raph gave her a smirk back.

*****

Sarah looked into the mutant turtle exhibit along with her boyfriend, Peter. She stared at the two reptiles and jotted notes down into her clipboard. "So what exactly do you have to do for Biology?" Peter asked when Sarah raised her head to observe the turtles again.

"I have to think up an educated hypothesis to do with field research, and then see if it is correct or not," Sarah explained to her bored friend.

"And what's this got to do with mutated turtles?" Peter asked curiously, while playing with a strand of her dark brown hair. Sarah pushed his hand down, signaling for him to stop it. She turned to look at him with her hazel eyes.

"Well my hypothesis is: If the recently discovered mutated turtles can move similarly to a human, then their behaviour and habits should also be similar," Sarah said.

"Bit broad and a bit hard to prove isn't it?" Peter asked.

"It is, but it's nothing a little bit of observation won't solve. I haven't seen these guys before, so at least they'll be interesting for me to study," Sarah explained with optimism.

"You haven't seen them before? Girl, you must be the last one in New York to see these guys!" Peter said surprised. Sarah could only smile at him. She quickly went back to recording her observations through the glass and the electric fence. Sarah wondered if she should go up to the top viewing platform, but she figured that she'd be better off watching the turtles on the ground level.

A large number of adolescent teenagers walked past, all chattering loudly, obviously on a school excursion. Their single teacher tried to calm them down, but failed when half the group ran up the stairs to view the two turtles from up above. The other half ran to the window and pushed Peter and Sarah out of the way. "Aren't we getting a little too old for visiting the zoo?" Peter asked Sarah over the noise of ignorant teenagers.

"If you want to return to campus and listen to that lecture on plant life, then you're welcome to do that," Sarah said, becoming slightly annoyed with her boyfriend's attitude. "How else am I going to be an animal behaviourist if I don't visit the local zoo?" She added rhetorically. Peter grunted in defeat and tried to watch the animals over the kids' heads.

*****

Raphael hated these days and longed for the ones where the other three would go outside instead. He loathed the constant stares from the audience. A hand wrapped around his and in an instant his hatred resided as Venus stood close by him for comfort. Raphael gave her a smile as he gently squeezed her hand, not wanting to let her go.

A loud and annoying chatter filled the enclosure, snapping Raphael out of his daydream state. A large number of teenagers glared down at them from above. Raph turned his head and spotted some more of them squished up against the glass-viewing window. Their chatter grew louder and some of their comments and individual conversations were heard.

"Gross!"

"Aren't they ugly!?"

"Hey! Thomas! The red one looks like you!"

"I bet you they smell like the sewer!"

"Like a poo!"

"Good thing there's only five. There should be a law about not breeding any more of these ugly animals!"

"They aren't animals; they're freaks!"

"Mutants!"

"That female must have fun with four guys!"

"That's sick man!"

"I do not look like the red one!"

"They're not doing anything."

"This is boring!"

"Yeah, hurry up and mate or something!"

"Trust me, you don't want to see that. Have you ever seen tortoises mate on the discovery channel?"

"Yeah, but this one's got boobs!"

"Heh, bring out the other three and let's see some action!"

Venus crossed her arms over her chest and looked down over her body. Though the calls and outbursts were ignorant and originated from immature teenagers, the things they had said still hurt. She was ashamed of herself and looked as though she was about to cry. Raphael all too easily noticed this and emitted a low growl. He glared up at the pimply-faced kids.

"Shut up you little shits!" Raphael yelled at them. The teenagers fell silent.

"Holy crap! It talks!" one called out in shock.

"What a freak!" another accused.

Raphael growled angrily at the last comment, picked up a stone and threw it at them, barely missing one of the children. Raphael was about to do something else but Venus stopped him as she placed a hand on his chest. "Don't sink to their level Raphael. Just ignore them," she advised, though her voice still showed that she was upset.

All too suddenly Raphael relaxed, as though he was in a trance. He stepped forward and traveled over to the window that was guarded by the electric fence. The wire that carried the electric current was thin and fragile, but the turtle knew it packed a painful punch as he had tried touching it before when he was by himself.

Raphael then turned and walked in a trance-like state to the two trees in the center of the enclosure. "Raph?" Venus asked, concerned about Raphael's sudden change in emotions. The male stared up at the tree, completely ignoring the remarks thrown at him from the crowd.

"Raph?" Venus asked again when he suddenly turned and bolted towards Don, Mike and Leo's door.

"Hey Don. Can wood conduct electricity?" Raphael asked hurriedly.

"No. Why?" Donatello asked, sounding confused as to why Raphael was asking.

"'Cause I'm gonna get us outta here," Raph said simply. Raphael ran back to one of the trees and climbed up part of the trunk. He punched, kicked and twisted a moderately large branch off.

"Raph? What are you doing?" Venus asked again, still concerned.

"I'm gonna get us outta here," Raphael repeated as though he was obsessed. He jumped back down with his wooden prize in hand. He viciously ripped the leaves off the branch and calmly headed towards the electric fence. Then, like an enraged beast, Raphael battered the flimsy electric wire to a pulp. He was acting as though his mind had snapped in two; one half being eerily calm and collected, while the other side was a furious as a rhino. The evil comments and stress that Raphael had built up inside himself had caused his mind to become somewhat insane, and the isolation he had endured beforehand didn't do him any help. Raphael was crazy, yet was a genius at the same time as the fence soon became worthless under the power of Raphael's improvised wooden bat.

The once gawking teenagers were now screaming and as they watched Raphael slam his shell into the newly unguarded glass. To his utmost delight, a thick crack formed through its slick surface. The teenagers were called by their teacher and were escorted out of the area immediately. Sarah and Peter stood frozen as Raphael backed up in preparation. The turtle rammed his shell once again into the glass, and continued on through as the clear wall gave in.

Raphael stood outside of the enclosure where the audience was seconds ago. He ignored the two college students and the tiny shards of glass that bit into his body. Instead he focused on his new objective; to rescue his family. Venus stood in the enclosure, frozen in disbelief as she stared at the Raphael sized hole to freedom. A look from Raph was all she needed to get moving again. She jumped through the broken glass window and joined Raphael outside.

Without a moment to spare, the two escaping turtles ran around the other side of their enclosure wall. Other members of the public screamed where they stood when they spotted the mutated reptiles on the loose. As they followed the wall, Venus and Raphael soon came to a wooden fence and a padlocked door labeled 'Staff only'. With a solid kick, the obstacle was removed and the turtles continued on with their plan.

They entered the building relatively easily and bolted down the white corridor, scaring Dr Aquel and Dr Yesmal as they passed who were standing beside the vending machine. A cruel grin appeared on Raph's face as he received a wicked thought. He ran back up to Dr Yesmal and punched him square in the jaw, causing him to scream in pain. He continued to run back on his original path, this time with a large grin on his face. Venus just gave him a look, then smiled and shook her head.

Dr Welner exited his office and stepped into the corridor wondering what all the commotion was about. He jumped back into his room as Raphael and Venus swiftly passed and entered the room where the others were being held. Not knowing what to do, Dr Welner acted on impulse and pulled his revolver out from his desk draw.

Venus and Raphael stared at the glass prisons they once occupied. The other three held looks of astonishment, surprised to see them on the other side. After a quick wave, Raphael examined the control panel, yet he never got to press anything.

The shot rang through the room yet it was completely unheard by three of the occupants. Raphael looked down at his body and found blood dripping down his plastron. The bullet had gone straight through. He tried to lean his weight on the metallic control panel, but he quickly lost his balance and fell to the floor face up.

Venus gasped at the sight she saw and looked up to see Leonardo silently screaming. The wound was small, but the bullet had gone straight through one of his main arteries, most likely his aorta, proven by the pumping of bright blood that oozed down his front and back.

Dr Welner's mouth was agape when he realised what he had done. Dr Yesmal and Dr Aquel entered the room and saw the sorrowful sight, before hurriedly exiting again.

Venus kneeled down beside him, tears filling her eyes. She placed her hand on his wound, but it did little help. The tears streamed down her face knowing that everything was futile. Raphael tried to say something but Venus placed a finger on his lips as a message to save his strength. He raised his arms with great effort and caressed her weeping face with his weak hand.

"Don't leave me," Venus cried as she placed her hand on his. Raphael began to breathe heavily with some difficulty. He didn't have much time left. Venus leaned forward so her mouth was beside his ear. "Don't leave me," she whispered so that only he would hear. He responded with an involuntary buck with his body; the neural messages in his body slowly dying. His thick blood poured out onto the slick concrete. "Raphael, you're going to be a father," she whispered, her tears slowly streaming down her face and onto the cold, hard floor.

When she moved upright again, Raphael was gone. Yet gently planted on his face was the faintest of smiles, as though her final message went through to him and became his final thought. His expression was a look of peacefulness, as though he was content in his last moment of life.

Grief shuddered through Venus' body as the realisation finally hit. Sobs of despair filled her eyes as she cried in mourning, ignoring the commotion from the scientists behind her. The familiar sting of the tranquil hit the back of her neck. She caressed his face one last time before slipping into unconsciousness.

A/N: If you are wondering about the title of this chapter, 'The Transfiguration' was the last artwork Raphael Sanzio produced. Also it symbolises the change in Raphael's mental and physical state, as well as the soon to be change in Venus' physical appearance and the change in the story as a whole.