Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT or anything related. I just own Maggie any my
originals.
A/N: Okay, sorry for the long wait between updates. I just wanted to make sure that I got this chapter just right before I posted it. A few more things are going to be revealed, but what those are, I'm not going to say. If anyone wants to know, you'll just have to read and see what's ahead. :p
Chapter 4: Target acquired
"That's Raph, ain't it?" Casey asked after a moment of silence.
Yes, it's him. I'm sure of it, Maggie nodded.
"Anyone else in there with him?" Casey said, pulling out his hockey stick again.
No, Maggie answered, He's alone.
"Good," Casey snorted," Now let's go in there and see what Raph's doin' all the way down here."
Fine by me, Maggie agreed.
As an afterthought, Maggie suddenly removed her gloves and stuffed them into her pocket. They had gotten wet from all the running she had done in the sewer sludge and were now a mess, as well as a bit uncomfortable when she moved her hands. Besides, since there were no other humans around besides Casey, there was no longer any need for her to keep her paws and claws hidden. Now, she could be a little bit more comfortable as she reached out and pushed the door open the rest of the way.
She used just enough force that the door swung open the rest of the way on its own. It continued until it hit the inner wall of the room with a small thud. Within the now open doorway, the pair was once again greeted by darkness. In the shadows, as before, many shapes of varying sizes were scattered about and it was hard to make out where one thing began and another ended.
Like he had done before, Casey shone his flashlight into the darkness to see just what he could find. At first, all he could see was scattered junk like he had in the first two rooms. With the light, he could now make out that most of these things were small, the biggest only being the size of a breadbox. The rest were just small trinkets and broken bits that could have been anything.
The fact that there was nothing larger than a breadbox actually made Casey a bit nervous. If that was the case for everything in this room, then that meant that there was no Raph to be found. Which also meant that they had come into this place for nothing.
He was about to ask Maggie if she was really sure about her sense of direction when a furred hand came down on his wrist. He glanced down and found that Maggie had moved up beside him. To be more exact, she had moved up beside him and was steadily moving passed him into the room.
"What are you doing now?" Casey asked.
You don't need that, Maggie replied as she pushed the flashlight back.
Casey watched her with deep curiosity as the girl continued into the room. When she was just beyond the door, she reached out and started to feel along the wall on the right side of the opening. After a moment of searching, Maggie found what she was looking for. With a flick of her wrist, she turned it upwards. Instantly, Casey heard a click followed by the room being flooded by light.
Without meaning too, Casey immediately recoiled from the brightness that now surrounded him. He closed his eyes, turning his head so that it faced the darkened corridor rather than the lighted room. Once he had done that, he could safely open his eyes again and give them a chance to adjust to the light that now filtered through the doorway.
I really wish she wouldn't do that, Casey grumbled as he slowly turned his gaze back towards the lighted room.
By then, if he squinted, he could look into the light. He was still a bit uncomfortable in being able to see, but he continued to get used to it. The entire time he was doing so, Maggie, still standing in the room, watched him almost innocently. But from the gleam he thought he caught in her eyes, Casey could have sworn she was secretly laughing at his reaction.
"Light switch, huh?" he replied, turning off his flashlight and sticking into his bag.
Yep, Maggie nodded, barely able to hold back a small smile.
"Kid, do me one favor. Next time, warn me before you do that," Casey grumbled as he stuffed his flashlight into his bag.
You keep asking me to warn you about everything, Casey, Maggie snorted with mock defiance, Geez, you're supposed to be a big, tough vigilante who beats up street punks with his hockey stick of death. But you're acting jumpier than Mikey when he's getting a lecture from Sensei.
Cocking an eyebrow, Casey almost asked if Maggie was being smart with him. But the words were caught in his throat as he caught sight of something or more rather, of someone, over the girl's shoulder. His face actually paled when he saw the person that they had spent so many hours searching for and the state he was in.
Maggie, not sure why Casey was now ignoring her, turned to see just what was so interesting behind her. Like the human, disbelief was the only thing that could be expressed by her when she saw what he did. For this was truly the last thing she had ever expected to lay eyes on.
Slumped in the far corner was none other than Raphael. His coat was in complete disarray while his hat, an old fedora that Raph seemed unreasonable attached to, was barely staying on his head. Both were stained in sewer sludge and something darker that wasn't quite identifiable at first. Yet these were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to his appearance.
The major clincher was what lay scattered about Raphael's feet and on the left side of him. There were bottles and a few cans all about him in these two areas. Most were completely drained, with no trace of the liquid that had once occupied them. But a few, mostly those that were closest to Raph, were still partially filled. From these, some of the remains were spilling out onto the floor and forming into a small puddle around whatever bottle it came from.
Raphael was nowhere near noticing any of this though. He seemed totally oblivious to the rest of the world and was staring off into space. The muttering that he had been doing before Maggie and Casey had entered had long since stopped. Instead, he was quiet now and seemed content to remain as such.
That didn't stop Maggie from worrying however. In all her days, she had never seen her brother in such a state. She more used to him griping about something and stomping around than anything else. And to see him otherwise could only mean, to her at least, that he was either sick or hurt. Not sure what else to do, Maggie decided that she had to be certain of what was wrong with Raph.
When Maggie tried to go forward to check on her brother though, she was stopped in her tracks when a hand came down on her shoulder. Surprised, she looked back to see that Casey had placed his hand there and was moving to place himself between the siblings. The look on his face had changed from the relief of finding his friend to one of wariness and a subdued understanding whose meaning Maggie couldn't quite interpret.
"Don't go near him just yet, furball," Casey warned," It ain't safe."
Maggie could only look at him in confusion when he said that. She couldn't understand why he would say such a thing. There was nothing to worry about that she could sense. At least nothing that was dangerous. All she could sense was the three of them, and one of those seemed to be really confused and out of touch with everything around him.
Why won't you let me help him, Casey? He might be hurt, Maggie protested.
"He's drunk, that's why ya can't go near him yet. He doesn't recognize up from down, let alone us," Casey snorted.
Shrugging off his hand, Maggie asked, How can you tell he's drunk? He might just have been hit in the head or something.
"Two things, kid. One, there's all these bottles he's got," Casey told her," And two, I can smell it on him. You keep sayin' you got that nose for a reason and that it's stronger than mine. Well, take a whiff and tell me what you smell."
Maggie couldn't help but look at Casey in surprise. She couldn't believe it. Casey Jones was actually telling her to use her senses. That meant that he had actually been listening to her instead of blowing it off like he did with just about everything else he heard. That such a thing was true was almost funny when one thought about it, since Maggie knew it was easier to talk sense into a brick wall than to get anything through Casey's thick head.
Well, far be it from her to ignore the advice of one who actually listened to her. For one thing, it would be rude, and even when in the company of a blockhead, Maggie wasn't one to forget her manners. So she took in a whiff of the air around them and what she received in return was definitely not something that Maggie had expected.
She finally picked up on a scent that she had never come across before. It mostly emanated from Raph's general area and it had such strength that Maggie was surprised that she hadn't picked up on it before. It was so pungent and sour that even a weak human nose would be able to pick up on something that made Maggie's stomach to flips as the scent ran its course through her senses.
What is that smell? she asked, trying desperately to resist the urge to pinch her nose to stem the stink.
"That's beer you're smellin', kid. Its comin' from Raph and those bottles there," Casey replied without hesitation.
Beer? Maggie echoed.
"Yep," her companion nodded," That's beer, kid. Never smelled it before?"
No, I haven't. Master Splinter says that stuff is bad for you and that you're not supposed to drink it, Maggie snapped.
Casey had no idea what her exact words were, but he had the general idea that she was saying no to his question. He knew that a strict parent like Splinter wouldn't keep beer or anything with alcohol in his home. Not when he had so many underage youngsters still in his care. He would keep that sort of thing as far away from his home as he possibly could.
That was something that Casey really couldn't blame him for. He might not have been a parent himself, but he was fully against kids getting mixed up with beer and drugs. That sort of thing would most certainly mess up a kid's life for good and just make them miserable. A result that Casey worked hard to prevent whenever he came across kids who seemed to be going down that particular path.
This time, he had been too late. Even if he had wanted to keep his younger friend from drinking like he had for others, he couldn't because he had been unaware of what was going through the Turtle's mind. That had left Raph wide open to take a wrong turn into a bar, grab the beer he would end up drinking, and being left in his present state. Which meant that he looked like so many other drunks, old and young, that he had come across in his time.
So he decided to forget about asking whether or not there was any reason for Splinter to keep alcohol in his home. Instead, he turned to explain things further to Maggie. He had to make certain that she understood that was going on and why he was doing what he was about to.
"Well, then you gotta know that beer can do weird things to your head if ya got too much of it in ya? Splinter told ya that much right?" he asked.
Yes, he did, Maggie nodded.
"All right," Casey continued," Then I don't have to tell ya that much about what it means to be drunk. But I can tell ya that I've seen plenty of guys who got stoned like Raph and they all acted the same way, kid. And that means ya need to be careful and try to keep'em calm before they try to do somethin' drastic."
Drastic? What do you mean 'drastic'? Maggie questioned.
"If these guys don't know what's goin' on around them, they might get on edge and start to fight back against what ain't there," Casey explained," And if that happens when they're around other folks, then someone's gonna get hurt."
If he had been able to see it, Casey would have seen Magnolia pale a great deal. But thanks to her a fur, he was unable to see the skin that lay beneath. And this was definitely going greatly pale at the thought of having to hurt her brother or him possibly causing harm to either them or himself.
When she had agreed to come along to find her brother, she had thought that they were just going to find him and hopefully bring him home. If he was in any kind of trouble when they found him, like if he had run into some street punks on his own or been taken by the Foot, then they would deal with that as it came. But she had never considered that they might have to hurt Raph in order to help him.
You're kidding me, right? Maggie asked.
"If you think I'm kiddin' ya, kid, then lose it right now. I'm not," Casey said evenly," Raph really might try to fight us if he gets mad."
Once again, that was not what Maggie wanted to hear. But at this point, even if she didn't want to admit it, she knew that Casey was right. If Raph was drunk and didn't know who was who, then he would most certainly try to fight in order to protect himself. It was just what he would do, no matter what kind of state of mind he was in.
Okay, Maggie conceded with a sigh, I believe you. So what are supposed to do now if that's how he'll act?
Casey recognized that she now believed him. It would certainly make things a little easier while he tried to deal with the more pressing problem of Raphael. He already had a general idea of what he wanted to do, but hadn't been sure if he could get Maggie to go along with it if she was insistent on making sure Raph wasn't hurt. Now he knew that he would be able to count on her.
"Just let me try to talk to him first and see what I can do, kid. Then if that doesn't work, we'll think of something else. Okay?" Casey replied.
All right, Maggie nodded.
She stepped back and watched whatever the human had planned. She was still nervous about what that just might be, but she was willing to take at least one chance with it. After all, he was obviously more experienced with these types of situations. Why else would he say that he wanted to try things his way before letting her get involved?
Once he was certain that Maggie wouldn't interfere, Casey moved forward. He kept himself calm and acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Anything else could have well gotten Raph upset and then they'd really have some trouble on their hands. Not a welcomed scenario, so better to take it in a slow, but still casual and calm manner that wouldn't arouse the drunk Turtle's limited suspicions.
"Heya Raph, how's it going?" Casey replied.
As much as he was able to, Raph turned his head in the general direction of Casey's voice. His vision was still fuzzy, so he wasn't able to focus on anything just yet. But he managed to find the human's vague shape and instinctively associated it with the voice that he had heard.
"Who. 'ou?" the Turtle asked slowly.
"It's me, Raph. You know, you old pal Casey Jones?" Casey coaxed," I'm here with yer sister, Maggie. We came to make sure you were okay."
He slowly gestured for the girl to come closer so that Raph could get a look at her. He made certain that she didn't come too close though, just enough so that she was seen. Casey still wasn't sure how Raph would react to either of them yet, so he was being careful with Maggie's position until he was.
For her part, Maggie came forward as Casey gestured. She sensed how agitated Casey was under the calm exterior that he emanated and that he wanted her to be careful until he said so. This was something that she was willing to work with, since she did exactly as Casey both unconsciously and consciously gestured to her. So she kept her gaze completely on him in order to help Casey make this go smoothly.
Casey may not have known this, yet in the back of his mind, he recognized that Maggie was trying to help him in the best way that she could right now. Somewhere, he appreciated this effort and might have thanked for actually doing as he asked for once tonight. But for now, he just kept his attention on Raphael.
The entire time that Casey had been talking to him and Maggie was approaching, Raphael had just been watching the pair with a sort of glazed light in his eyes. He still showed no sign of recognizing neither his friend nor his sister and looked more agitation than pleased with their continuing presence. He growled in their general location, looking like he wanted to say something to make them go away. But thanks to his clouded mind, nothing reasonable seemed to come and so he just held his tongue, choosing instead to ignore the intruders. If he did that, then maybe they would go away and wouldn't annoy him with their chattering anymore.
That was not the plan that either Casey or Maggie had in mind however. They were determined to help the Turtle, whether he wanted them to or not. That was after all, the reason why they had come all this way in the first place.
"We came to find ya, Raph," Casey said after a moment's consideration," So we could make sure ya were okay. I mean, ya had me worried there for awhile when ya just took off."
Part of those words managed to find their way through Raph's hazed filled mind. Part of him almost seemed to understand what Casey was saying to him. Part of him saw it as a big joke when the human said that. Part of him saw no truth to what Casey was saying and even if he wanted the human gone, Raph tried to tell him just what he thought of that.
"Don't 'are 'bout dat. 'ot true," Raph grumbled," 'o one 'are 'bout me."
The words were so slurred that it was hard for Casey to make out. He honestly didn't know if Raph was talking about not caring if they were there or if he was referring to himself. Either way, it was only part of a greater puzzle that had to be solved if they were ever going to find out just what was going through Raph's head.
"You making any sense of this, kid?" Casey asked, glancing over at the girl.
Maggie shook her head. She was just as confused as Casey was. Because his words were slurred and broken, it was hard to make out just what her brother was saying. What little she managed to translate was that he was upset about something. She just had no clue as to what the cause might be or what it had to do with him getting so drunk.
I know you said you wanted to handle this your way first, Casey, but I think we should try to get Raph home. We aren't getting anywhere with this, Maggie said.
Taking a guess, Casey asked," You wanna try and get him home 'cause this isn't workin' so well, don't ya?"
Yes, Maggie nodded.
"You might be right, kid," Casey sighed," This guy's too stoned to make any sense, so just talkin' to him won't do us much good. It'll just waste time that we ain't got right now."
No kidding, Maggie replied, But how are we supposed to get him home, Casey? You said that if we don't keep him calm, he'll get upset and someone might get hurt if he tries to fight us.
Even if he had known her exact words, Casey really wouldn't have had an answer for Maggie. Because honestly, he didn't know what to do now either. He already tried talking to Raph and all that had gotten out of him was a garbled response that Casey didn't fully understand.
More than I thought I'd get out of this punk, Casey considered, That's gotta be worth somethin' I guess. Couldn't hurt to try again. Who knows, he might listen to me for a change.
Glancing over at Maggie, Casey warned," I'm gonna try to talk to him again, kid. I'm gonna see if Raph will come with me. Just stay there, all right?"
A-all right, Casey, Maggie promised uncertainly.
She had seen how Raph reacted the first time when Casey talked him, so she wasn't so sure that would do any good. After all, Raph had just tried denying something in Casey's words and told him to go away. When he did that, Maggie knew that he would stick with that answer as long as he was drunk. That was how he was when he was sober.
That wasn't going to stop Casey from at least trying though. He was more determined than ever that he was going to get through to Raph. Even if the only answer he kept getting was a simple 'go away' from the hardheaded ninja.
"Come on, Raph. We're gonna take ya home so ya can rest. That sound good?" Casey said, offering his hand to his friend.
The gesture was ignored. Instead, Raph turned his gaze away from Casey again and started to focus on his feet instead. For some reason, he had found them so interesting that the rest of the world seemed to melt away again. Which caused Casey to again groan to himself, as this was just another side effect of the beer that Raphael had had.
We are getting nowhere with this, the human growled, Guess that means it's time to try something a little different.
Clearing his throat, the human said sharply," Raphael!"
That certainly got the Turtle's attention. Probably because Splinter often used that tone with him, he immediately paid attention to whomever spoke as his Master did. His head lifted away from his from his feet and his attention was again returned to Casey. Just the effect that the human was hoping for.
"Don't ya wanna go home, Raph?" Casey asked again.
Raph's head just started bobbing from side to side. It was hard to tell if he was answering Casey or if he was just reacting to the alcohol in his system. It kept up for nearly a minute before Raph started to react otherwise.
"Nah, do' wanna 'o wif ya. 'ine 'ere. Go 'way," Raph slurred.
Casey couldn't help but shake his head as he watched his friend. What he had suspected was now confirmed. However much he had had to drink, it was definitely enough to put Raphael seriously out of touch with reality. Unfortunately, that also meant that he would probably stay that way for awhile to come. After all, that was how it had been for Casey himself whenever he had gone out drinking like Raphael had obviously done.
He could remember plenty of times when he had gotten himself drunk and why he had done so. It was so that for just a little while, he could forget his problems and just drift in a world of blissful nothingness. In that nothingness, he could find a peace that he didn't find in the real world and to him, for just that short time, that felt good.
The good feelings always gave way to something far worse in the end though. Once the high of drinking wore off and the body began to return to its normal state, that was when the experience of a hangover began. Depending on who it was and how much they had had to drink, a hangover could be anywhere from mild to extreme.
In both cases, there was always a throbbing pain that ran through his head with any unnecessary motion. The stress of these motions then went straight to his stomach and caused a great deal of queasiness that could bring up something, even when a stomach was empty. That queasiness may or may not give way to other unpleasant details, a fact that was never certain.
Either way, it was not a very enjoyable experience. Once one did experience a hangover, it was enough that it might deter someone from repeating their actions for at least awhile. If it would be enough to stop them from drinking again depended on the person and their strength of will. If they were strong, they might be able to resist the temptation to drink again or at least keep such things in moderation to prevent becoming drunk. But if they were weak and only wanted the euphoria that came from drinking, then they would continue down a path filled with drunkenness and probably misery.
Thankfully, Casey had proven to be a strong-willed person and was able to keep his own drinking to a minimum. It had been more than two years since he had gotten himself so drunk that he resembled the state Raphael was in now. Instead when he drank, it was one or two at a time and other times, he just stuck with sodas or something similar.
Too bad that this wasn't the case now. Raphael had obviously had enough that he had put himself into a very deep stupor. And that was what upset Casey the most. For as hard as it was for him to admit, it now seemed that his younger friend had finally turned onto the same path that he had once taken. Though he wasn't much of a role model as far as many people were concerned, including himself, Casey was truly sad that Raph had chosen this route. He had thought that even with his temper and rash nature, that the Turtle would have sense enough to stay out of drinking alcohol.
It might seem to help forget whatever problems he had at first, but it always brought pain in the end. There was no reason to bring him and his family unnecessary pain because of a bad habit. If he kept at this, then he would probably end up becoming withdrawn from his family when they tried to help or their becoming unnecessarily wary when around him. Which would only end up making everyone miserable in the end and that was not something that Casey wanted to happen to Raphael.
He would never admit it to anyone, but he was jealous of the strong bonds that Raph and his family shared with one another. They had a trust that went beyond what was normally found within a family. For them, it was an important factor if they were to survive in a world where they were basically alone because of their mutation. Otherwise, they were all as good as dead.
It was a strength that Casey was sure that could get them through anything. After all, it had in the past when four lone Turtles and their feline sister had been forced into leaving them home and trusting a pair of humans they hardly knew to help them. It had also held them together when no one had been certain whether a captured Splinter was alive or dead then. And it was what held them together through each trial and danger that had come and gone since those first tragic events.
This time, that strength obviously hadn't been enough. For whatever reason, Raphael had given into his need to forget and had taken in more than his fill of alcohol. This had made him totally out of phase with the rest of the world and had left him in a state of complete incoherence.
That incoherence was what made it more difficult than usual to deal with Raphael. It was that made him uncommunicative on even a basic level and what his attention span so short. And that was seriously limiting the options Casey had when it came to dealing with his friend.
That was how Casey came to a decision on how to proceed. Knowing his friend as he did, Casey finally realized that there was only one course of action. He knew that Raph would probably hate him later or at least try to get a little revenge, but Casey knew that it was for the best. It was the only way that anyone was going to get out of here without a fight starting with a grumpy Turtle or their being stuck here until Raphael was sober again.
Just hope he appreciates this, Casey sighed inwardly.
He knelt down again so that he and Raph were almost at eye level with one another. As before, the Turtle just looked at his friend with a glazed, confused look in his eyes. He grunted something that Casey couldn't quite make out and waved one arm weakly to usher the human away. Casey could only sigh once as he watched Raphael and prepared what had to be done.
"Sorry pal," Casey said simply.
Before Raphael even had a chance to blink, Casey's fist swept forward and caught him right in the jaw. The blow came at full force, causing the Turtle to expel what food remained in his stomach as he saw stars and fell unconscious. Casey barely managed to get out of the way as he tried to avoid the vomit and sooth the pain that was coming from what he was sure was now a broken hand.
A/N: And there we end it. Once again, I wrote too long a chapter and seriously needed to find a way to shorten it. And since I didn't want to get rid of all the hard work I've put into this chapter, I decided to just cut it in half somewhere. That should make sure it's easier for everyone to follow instead of having you guys try to read it all in one huge lump. But don't worry about the other half, it'll be posted sooner than you think. ;)
A/N: Okay, sorry for the long wait between updates. I just wanted to make sure that I got this chapter just right before I posted it. A few more things are going to be revealed, but what those are, I'm not going to say. If anyone wants to know, you'll just have to read and see what's ahead. :p
Chapter 4: Target acquired
"That's Raph, ain't it?" Casey asked after a moment of silence.
Yes, it's him. I'm sure of it, Maggie nodded.
"Anyone else in there with him?" Casey said, pulling out his hockey stick again.
No, Maggie answered, He's alone.
"Good," Casey snorted," Now let's go in there and see what Raph's doin' all the way down here."
Fine by me, Maggie agreed.
As an afterthought, Maggie suddenly removed her gloves and stuffed them into her pocket. They had gotten wet from all the running she had done in the sewer sludge and were now a mess, as well as a bit uncomfortable when she moved her hands. Besides, since there were no other humans around besides Casey, there was no longer any need for her to keep her paws and claws hidden. Now, she could be a little bit more comfortable as she reached out and pushed the door open the rest of the way.
She used just enough force that the door swung open the rest of the way on its own. It continued until it hit the inner wall of the room with a small thud. Within the now open doorway, the pair was once again greeted by darkness. In the shadows, as before, many shapes of varying sizes were scattered about and it was hard to make out where one thing began and another ended.
Like he had done before, Casey shone his flashlight into the darkness to see just what he could find. At first, all he could see was scattered junk like he had in the first two rooms. With the light, he could now make out that most of these things were small, the biggest only being the size of a breadbox. The rest were just small trinkets and broken bits that could have been anything.
The fact that there was nothing larger than a breadbox actually made Casey a bit nervous. If that was the case for everything in this room, then that meant that there was no Raph to be found. Which also meant that they had come into this place for nothing.
He was about to ask Maggie if she was really sure about her sense of direction when a furred hand came down on his wrist. He glanced down and found that Maggie had moved up beside him. To be more exact, she had moved up beside him and was steadily moving passed him into the room.
"What are you doing now?" Casey asked.
You don't need that, Maggie replied as she pushed the flashlight back.
Casey watched her with deep curiosity as the girl continued into the room. When she was just beyond the door, she reached out and started to feel along the wall on the right side of the opening. After a moment of searching, Maggie found what she was looking for. With a flick of her wrist, she turned it upwards. Instantly, Casey heard a click followed by the room being flooded by light.
Without meaning too, Casey immediately recoiled from the brightness that now surrounded him. He closed his eyes, turning his head so that it faced the darkened corridor rather than the lighted room. Once he had done that, he could safely open his eyes again and give them a chance to adjust to the light that now filtered through the doorway.
I really wish she wouldn't do that, Casey grumbled as he slowly turned his gaze back towards the lighted room.
By then, if he squinted, he could look into the light. He was still a bit uncomfortable in being able to see, but he continued to get used to it. The entire time he was doing so, Maggie, still standing in the room, watched him almost innocently. But from the gleam he thought he caught in her eyes, Casey could have sworn she was secretly laughing at his reaction.
"Light switch, huh?" he replied, turning off his flashlight and sticking into his bag.
Yep, Maggie nodded, barely able to hold back a small smile.
"Kid, do me one favor. Next time, warn me before you do that," Casey grumbled as he stuffed his flashlight into his bag.
You keep asking me to warn you about everything, Casey, Maggie snorted with mock defiance, Geez, you're supposed to be a big, tough vigilante who beats up street punks with his hockey stick of death. But you're acting jumpier than Mikey when he's getting a lecture from Sensei.
Cocking an eyebrow, Casey almost asked if Maggie was being smart with him. But the words were caught in his throat as he caught sight of something or more rather, of someone, over the girl's shoulder. His face actually paled when he saw the person that they had spent so many hours searching for and the state he was in.
Maggie, not sure why Casey was now ignoring her, turned to see just what was so interesting behind her. Like the human, disbelief was the only thing that could be expressed by her when she saw what he did. For this was truly the last thing she had ever expected to lay eyes on.
Slumped in the far corner was none other than Raphael. His coat was in complete disarray while his hat, an old fedora that Raph seemed unreasonable attached to, was barely staying on his head. Both were stained in sewer sludge and something darker that wasn't quite identifiable at first. Yet these were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to his appearance.
The major clincher was what lay scattered about Raphael's feet and on the left side of him. There were bottles and a few cans all about him in these two areas. Most were completely drained, with no trace of the liquid that had once occupied them. But a few, mostly those that were closest to Raph, were still partially filled. From these, some of the remains were spilling out onto the floor and forming into a small puddle around whatever bottle it came from.
Raphael was nowhere near noticing any of this though. He seemed totally oblivious to the rest of the world and was staring off into space. The muttering that he had been doing before Maggie and Casey had entered had long since stopped. Instead, he was quiet now and seemed content to remain as such.
That didn't stop Maggie from worrying however. In all her days, she had never seen her brother in such a state. She more used to him griping about something and stomping around than anything else. And to see him otherwise could only mean, to her at least, that he was either sick or hurt. Not sure what else to do, Maggie decided that she had to be certain of what was wrong with Raph.
When Maggie tried to go forward to check on her brother though, she was stopped in her tracks when a hand came down on her shoulder. Surprised, she looked back to see that Casey had placed his hand there and was moving to place himself between the siblings. The look on his face had changed from the relief of finding his friend to one of wariness and a subdued understanding whose meaning Maggie couldn't quite interpret.
"Don't go near him just yet, furball," Casey warned," It ain't safe."
Maggie could only look at him in confusion when he said that. She couldn't understand why he would say such a thing. There was nothing to worry about that she could sense. At least nothing that was dangerous. All she could sense was the three of them, and one of those seemed to be really confused and out of touch with everything around him.
Why won't you let me help him, Casey? He might be hurt, Maggie protested.
"He's drunk, that's why ya can't go near him yet. He doesn't recognize up from down, let alone us," Casey snorted.
Shrugging off his hand, Maggie asked, How can you tell he's drunk? He might just have been hit in the head or something.
"Two things, kid. One, there's all these bottles he's got," Casey told her," And two, I can smell it on him. You keep sayin' you got that nose for a reason and that it's stronger than mine. Well, take a whiff and tell me what you smell."
Maggie couldn't help but look at Casey in surprise. She couldn't believe it. Casey Jones was actually telling her to use her senses. That meant that he had actually been listening to her instead of blowing it off like he did with just about everything else he heard. That such a thing was true was almost funny when one thought about it, since Maggie knew it was easier to talk sense into a brick wall than to get anything through Casey's thick head.
Well, far be it from her to ignore the advice of one who actually listened to her. For one thing, it would be rude, and even when in the company of a blockhead, Maggie wasn't one to forget her manners. So she took in a whiff of the air around them and what she received in return was definitely not something that Maggie had expected.
She finally picked up on a scent that she had never come across before. It mostly emanated from Raph's general area and it had such strength that Maggie was surprised that she hadn't picked up on it before. It was so pungent and sour that even a weak human nose would be able to pick up on something that made Maggie's stomach to flips as the scent ran its course through her senses.
What is that smell? she asked, trying desperately to resist the urge to pinch her nose to stem the stink.
"That's beer you're smellin', kid. Its comin' from Raph and those bottles there," Casey replied without hesitation.
Beer? Maggie echoed.
"Yep," her companion nodded," That's beer, kid. Never smelled it before?"
No, I haven't. Master Splinter says that stuff is bad for you and that you're not supposed to drink it, Maggie snapped.
Casey had no idea what her exact words were, but he had the general idea that she was saying no to his question. He knew that a strict parent like Splinter wouldn't keep beer or anything with alcohol in his home. Not when he had so many underage youngsters still in his care. He would keep that sort of thing as far away from his home as he possibly could.
That was something that Casey really couldn't blame him for. He might not have been a parent himself, but he was fully against kids getting mixed up with beer and drugs. That sort of thing would most certainly mess up a kid's life for good and just make them miserable. A result that Casey worked hard to prevent whenever he came across kids who seemed to be going down that particular path.
This time, he had been too late. Even if he had wanted to keep his younger friend from drinking like he had for others, he couldn't because he had been unaware of what was going through the Turtle's mind. That had left Raph wide open to take a wrong turn into a bar, grab the beer he would end up drinking, and being left in his present state. Which meant that he looked like so many other drunks, old and young, that he had come across in his time.
So he decided to forget about asking whether or not there was any reason for Splinter to keep alcohol in his home. Instead, he turned to explain things further to Maggie. He had to make certain that she understood that was going on and why he was doing what he was about to.
"Well, then you gotta know that beer can do weird things to your head if ya got too much of it in ya? Splinter told ya that much right?" he asked.
Yes, he did, Maggie nodded.
"All right," Casey continued," Then I don't have to tell ya that much about what it means to be drunk. But I can tell ya that I've seen plenty of guys who got stoned like Raph and they all acted the same way, kid. And that means ya need to be careful and try to keep'em calm before they try to do somethin' drastic."
Drastic? What do you mean 'drastic'? Maggie questioned.
"If these guys don't know what's goin' on around them, they might get on edge and start to fight back against what ain't there," Casey explained," And if that happens when they're around other folks, then someone's gonna get hurt."
If he had been able to see it, Casey would have seen Magnolia pale a great deal. But thanks to her a fur, he was unable to see the skin that lay beneath. And this was definitely going greatly pale at the thought of having to hurt her brother or him possibly causing harm to either them or himself.
When she had agreed to come along to find her brother, she had thought that they were just going to find him and hopefully bring him home. If he was in any kind of trouble when they found him, like if he had run into some street punks on his own or been taken by the Foot, then they would deal with that as it came. But she had never considered that they might have to hurt Raph in order to help him.
You're kidding me, right? Maggie asked.
"If you think I'm kiddin' ya, kid, then lose it right now. I'm not," Casey said evenly," Raph really might try to fight us if he gets mad."
Once again, that was not what Maggie wanted to hear. But at this point, even if she didn't want to admit it, she knew that Casey was right. If Raph was drunk and didn't know who was who, then he would most certainly try to fight in order to protect himself. It was just what he would do, no matter what kind of state of mind he was in.
Okay, Maggie conceded with a sigh, I believe you. So what are supposed to do now if that's how he'll act?
Casey recognized that she now believed him. It would certainly make things a little easier while he tried to deal with the more pressing problem of Raphael. He already had a general idea of what he wanted to do, but hadn't been sure if he could get Maggie to go along with it if she was insistent on making sure Raph wasn't hurt. Now he knew that he would be able to count on her.
"Just let me try to talk to him first and see what I can do, kid. Then if that doesn't work, we'll think of something else. Okay?" Casey replied.
All right, Maggie nodded.
She stepped back and watched whatever the human had planned. She was still nervous about what that just might be, but she was willing to take at least one chance with it. After all, he was obviously more experienced with these types of situations. Why else would he say that he wanted to try things his way before letting her get involved?
Once he was certain that Maggie wouldn't interfere, Casey moved forward. He kept himself calm and acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Anything else could have well gotten Raph upset and then they'd really have some trouble on their hands. Not a welcomed scenario, so better to take it in a slow, but still casual and calm manner that wouldn't arouse the drunk Turtle's limited suspicions.
"Heya Raph, how's it going?" Casey replied.
As much as he was able to, Raph turned his head in the general direction of Casey's voice. His vision was still fuzzy, so he wasn't able to focus on anything just yet. But he managed to find the human's vague shape and instinctively associated it with the voice that he had heard.
"Who. 'ou?" the Turtle asked slowly.
"It's me, Raph. You know, you old pal Casey Jones?" Casey coaxed," I'm here with yer sister, Maggie. We came to make sure you were okay."
He slowly gestured for the girl to come closer so that Raph could get a look at her. He made certain that she didn't come too close though, just enough so that she was seen. Casey still wasn't sure how Raph would react to either of them yet, so he was being careful with Maggie's position until he was.
For her part, Maggie came forward as Casey gestured. She sensed how agitated Casey was under the calm exterior that he emanated and that he wanted her to be careful until he said so. This was something that she was willing to work with, since she did exactly as Casey both unconsciously and consciously gestured to her. So she kept her gaze completely on him in order to help Casey make this go smoothly.
Casey may not have known this, yet in the back of his mind, he recognized that Maggie was trying to help him in the best way that she could right now. Somewhere, he appreciated this effort and might have thanked for actually doing as he asked for once tonight. But for now, he just kept his attention on Raphael.
The entire time that Casey had been talking to him and Maggie was approaching, Raphael had just been watching the pair with a sort of glazed light in his eyes. He still showed no sign of recognizing neither his friend nor his sister and looked more agitation than pleased with their continuing presence. He growled in their general location, looking like he wanted to say something to make them go away. But thanks to his clouded mind, nothing reasonable seemed to come and so he just held his tongue, choosing instead to ignore the intruders. If he did that, then maybe they would go away and wouldn't annoy him with their chattering anymore.
That was not the plan that either Casey or Maggie had in mind however. They were determined to help the Turtle, whether he wanted them to or not. That was after all, the reason why they had come all this way in the first place.
"We came to find ya, Raph," Casey said after a moment's consideration," So we could make sure ya were okay. I mean, ya had me worried there for awhile when ya just took off."
Part of those words managed to find their way through Raph's hazed filled mind. Part of him almost seemed to understand what Casey was saying to him. Part of him saw it as a big joke when the human said that. Part of him saw no truth to what Casey was saying and even if he wanted the human gone, Raph tried to tell him just what he thought of that.
"Don't 'are 'bout dat. 'ot true," Raph grumbled," 'o one 'are 'bout me."
The words were so slurred that it was hard for Casey to make out. He honestly didn't know if Raph was talking about not caring if they were there or if he was referring to himself. Either way, it was only part of a greater puzzle that had to be solved if they were ever going to find out just what was going through Raph's head.
"You making any sense of this, kid?" Casey asked, glancing over at the girl.
Maggie shook her head. She was just as confused as Casey was. Because his words were slurred and broken, it was hard to make out just what her brother was saying. What little she managed to translate was that he was upset about something. She just had no clue as to what the cause might be or what it had to do with him getting so drunk.
I know you said you wanted to handle this your way first, Casey, but I think we should try to get Raph home. We aren't getting anywhere with this, Maggie said.
Taking a guess, Casey asked," You wanna try and get him home 'cause this isn't workin' so well, don't ya?"
Yes, Maggie nodded.
"You might be right, kid," Casey sighed," This guy's too stoned to make any sense, so just talkin' to him won't do us much good. It'll just waste time that we ain't got right now."
No kidding, Maggie replied, But how are we supposed to get him home, Casey? You said that if we don't keep him calm, he'll get upset and someone might get hurt if he tries to fight us.
Even if he had known her exact words, Casey really wouldn't have had an answer for Maggie. Because honestly, he didn't know what to do now either. He already tried talking to Raph and all that had gotten out of him was a garbled response that Casey didn't fully understand.
More than I thought I'd get out of this punk, Casey considered, That's gotta be worth somethin' I guess. Couldn't hurt to try again. Who knows, he might listen to me for a change.
Glancing over at Maggie, Casey warned," I'm gonna try to talk to him again, kid. I'm gonna see if Raph will come with me. Just stay there, all right?"
A-all right, Casey, Maggie promised uncertainly.
She had seen how Raph reacted the first time when Casey talked him, so she wasn't so sure that would do any good. After all, Raph had just tried denying something in Casey's words and told him to go away. When he did that, Maggie knew that he would stick with that answer as long as he was drunk. That was how he was when he was sober.
That wasn't going to stop Casey from at least trying though. He was more determined than ever that he was going to get through to Raph. Even if the only answer he kept getting was a simple 'go away' from the hardheaded ninja.
"Come on, Raph. We're gonna take ya home so ya can rest. That sound good?" Casey said, offering his hand to his friend.
The gesture was ignored. Instead, Raph turned his gaze away from Casey again and started to focus on his feet instead. For some reason, he had found them so interesting that the rest of the world seemed to melt away again. Which caused Casey to again groan to himself, as this was just another side effect of the beer that Raphael had had.
We are getting nowhere with this, the human growled, Guess that means it's time to try something a little different.
Clearing his throat, the human said sharply," Raphael!"
That certainly got the Turtle's attention. Probably because Splinter often used that tone with him, he immediately paid attention to whomever spoke as his Master did. His head lifted away from his from his feet and his attention was again returned to Casey. Just the effect that the human was hoping for.
"Don't ya wanna go home, Raph?" Casey asked again.
Raph's head just started bobbing from side to side. It was hard to tell if he was answering Casey or if he was just reacting to the alcohol in his system. It kept up for nearly a minute before Raph started to react otherwise.
"Nah, do' wanna 'o wif ya. 'ine 'ere. Go 'way," Raph slurred.
Casey couldn't help but shake his head as he watched his friend. What he had suspected was now confirmed. However much he had had to drink, it was definitely enough to put Raphael seriously out of touch with reality. Unfortunately, that also meant that he would probably stay that way for awhile to come. After all, that was how it had been for Casey himself whenever he had gone out drinking like Raphael had obviously done.
He could remember plenty of times when he had gotten himself drunk and why he had done so. It was so that for just a little while, he could forget his problems and just drift in a world of blissful nothingness. In that nothingness, he could find a peace that he didn't find in the real world and to him, for just that short time, that felt good.
The good feelings always gave way to something far worse in the end though. Once the high of drinking wore off and the body began to return to its normal state, that was when the experience of a hangover began. Depending on who it was and how much they had had to drink, a hangover could be anywhere from mild to extreme.
In both cases, there was always a throbbing pain that ran through his head with any unnecessary motion. The stress of these motions then went straight to his stomach and caused a great deal of queasiness that could bring up something, even when a stomach was empty. That queasiness may or may not give way to other unpleasant details, a fact that was never certain.
Either way, it was not a very enjoyable experience. Once one did experience a hangover, it was enough that it might deter someone from repeating their actions for at least awhile. If it would be enough to stop them from drinking again depended on the person and their strength of will. If they were strong, they might be able to resist the temptation to drink again or at least keep such things in moderation to prevent becoming drunk. But if they were weak and only wanted the euphoria that came from drinking, then they would continue down a path filled with drunkenness and probably misery.
Thankfully, Casey had proven to be a strong-willed person and was able to keep his own drinking to a minimum. It had been more than two years since he had gotten himself so drunk that he resembled the state Raphael was in now. Instead when he drank, it was one or two at a time and other times, he just stuck with sodas or something similar.
Too bad that this wasn't the case now. Raphael had obviously had enough that he had put himself into a very deep stupor. And that was what upset Casey the most. For as hard as it was for him to admit, it now seemed that his younger friend had finally turned onto the same path that he had once taken. Though he wasn't much of a role model as far as many people were concerned, including himself, Casey was truly sad that Raph had chosen this route. He had thought that even with his temper and rash nature, that the Turtle would have sense enough to stay out of drinking alcohol.
It might seem to help forget whatever problems he had at first, but it always brought pain in the end. There was no reason to bring him and his family unnecessary pain because of a bad habit. If he kept at this, then he would probably end up becoming withdrawn from his family when they tried to help or their becoming unnecessarily wary when around him. Which would only end up making everyone miserable in the end and that was not something that Casey wanted to happen to Raphael.
He would never admit it to anyone, but he was jealous of the strong bonds that Raph and his family shared with one another. They had a trust that went beyond what was normally found within a family. For them, it was an important factor if they were to survive in a world where they were basically alone because of their mutation. Otherwise, they were all as good as dead.
It was a strength that Casey was sure that could get them through anything. After all, it had in the past when four lone Turtles and their feline sister had been forced into leaving them home and trusting a pair of humans they hardly knew to help them. It had also held them together when no one had been certain whether a captured Splinter was alive or dead then. And it was what held them together through each trial and danger that had come and gone since those first tragic events.
This time, that strength obviously hadn't been enough. For whatever reason, Raphael had given into his need to forget and had taken in more than his fill of alcohol. This had made him totally out of phase with the rest of the world and had left him in a state of complete incoherence.
That incoherence was what made it more difficult than usual to deal with Raphael. It was that made him uncommunicative on even a basic level and what his attention span so short. And that was seriously limiting the options Casey had when it came to dealing with his friend.
That was how Casey came to a decision on how to proceed. Knowing his friend as he did, Casey finally realized that there was only one course of action. He knew that Raph would probably hate him later or at least try to get a little revenge, but Casey knew that it was for the best. It was the only way that anyone was going to get out of here without a fight starting with a grumpy Turtle or their being stuck here until Raphael was sober again.
Just hope he appreciates this, Casey sighed inwardly.
He knelt down again so that he and Raph were almost at eye level with one another. As before, the Turtle just looked at his friend with a glazed, confused look in his eyes. He grunted something that Casey couldn't quite make out and waved one arm weakly to usher the human away. Casey could only sigh once as he watched Raphael and prepared what had to be done.
"Sorry pal," Casey said simply.
Before Raphael even had a chance to blink, Casey's fist swept forward and caught him right in the jaw. The blow came at full force, causing the Turtle to expel what food remained in his stomach as he saw stars and fell unconscious. Casey barely managed to get out of the way as he tried to avoid the vomit and sooth the pain that was coming from what he was sure was now a broken hand.
A/N: And there we end it. Once again, I wrote too long a chapter and seriously needed to find a way to shorten it. And since I didn't want to get rid of all the hard work I've put into this chapter, I decided to just cut it in half somewhere. That should make sure it's easier for everyone to follow instead of having you guys try to read it all in one huge lump. But don't worry about the other half, it'll be posted sooner than you think. ;)