A/N: Wow, let me just thank everyone for their great encouragement here! I'd been struggling a little bitwith this story, but then last night the writers' block left! I hope this chapter lives up to the last one..!
Chapter Four
Raphael spared no hesitation in bolting towards the being that had Leonardo pinned down. With a roaring battle cry, he launched himself into it before the sai could cause any damage. They rolled away from Leo and came to a stop, where the two began to tussle relentlessly on the ground. As Donny, Mikey and Splinter approached to check Leo was all right, Raphael had the darker turtle pinned down.
"I don't care who the hell you are, there's no way you hurt my family!" Raphael snarled venomously. He looked into the enemy's murky eyes, and tried hard to ignore the sinking feeling deep in the pit of his stomach.
"Too late," the enemy sneered with a malevolent leer. His voice was almost identical to Raphael's own Brooklyn tone, only deeper, with a harder edge.
"What?" Raphael hissed uncertainly. He stood up, jumped back with his sais drawn, and placed himself between the creature and his family.
"Where are my manners? I didn't get to introduce myself – but then, being rude is what I do. I'm your Dark Half, Raphie-boy," the sinister turtle enlightened him. "I'm the uncontrollable rage in you. Each time you've ever lost your self-control, that's where I come in."
"No way," Raphael whispered fearfully, now fully comprehending what the creature was talking about.
"I'm your worse nightmare, pal," the Dark Half finished rancorously.
"The hell you are! I defeated you! You ain't coming back, I won't let you," Raphael swore boldly, trying to hide the trace of hesitance in his voice.
"So, you really think you've changed? C'mon, don't you still wanna tell Leonardo what you really think of him? That he is a paranoid, kiss-ass, obsessive wannabe-Splinter?"
"Shut up!" Raphael roared. He could see that this only pleased the turtle further, and sneered irately. "I've never thought that about Leo! Never!"
The Dark Half pulled a face. "Coward," he tutted.
Raphael knew the Dark Half was trying to push all his buttons, and he endeavoured to ignore the Dark Half's taunting. However, the fact that his family was witnessing this, and seeing his hidden side in the flesh, so to speak, was very disconcerting.
The Dark Half frowned at the silence, before changing tack. "How about Donatello? You gotta remember all those times you wished you could tell Don to get himself a life, and quit spending whatever pointless life he leads fixing stuff!"
"Donny's smart! The smartest guy I know! And if he didn't do what he does, fix all that stuff, we'd all be screwed," Raphael countered confidently.
"But smarts don't help you in battle," the Dark Half pointed out. "Maybe he should spend less time at the computer and more in the dojo, huh?"
"Ha! He'd kick your shell any day of the week! I'd lay my life on it!"
Donny grimaced and turned to Leo. "I hope he doesn't carry that out – nine times out of ten, Raph wipes the floor with my shell!"
Leo shook his head. "He knows what's he doing," he said solemnly, not really knowing how else to interpret the situation.
"What about your father? I lost count of how many times you wanted to tell him where he could shove all his rules and boundaries," the Dark Half snickered.
Raphael knew he wasn't getting anywhere, and he'd rather not hear anymore of what gloomy memories the Dark Half was dredging up for him. He backed away towards his family, and hissed, "how do I get rid of this guy?"
"Raphael, this is your nightmare," Splinter said clearly and concisely. "We believe only what we hear from you. If you want the nightmare to go away, you have to beat it."
"I thought I did it once, and that took me almost forever," Raph sighed.
"And you can do it again," Splinter assured him.
"We know you can do it, bro," Donny added, placing a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.
Whilst the family gave Raphael a much-needed pep-talk, the Dark Half suddenly appeared where they stood. "I ain't finished," he said indignantly. He kicked Raphael out of the way, and grabbed Michelangelo by the leg. In one smooth swoop, Michelangelo was upside-down, being held up by his ankle.
"Whoa," Mikey said dizzily. "Raphie-boy, I didn't know the pissed-off side of you was, like, World's Strongest Turtle!"
"Put my brother down!" Raphael bellowed furiously.
"Heh! And drop him on his head? And risk him losing brain cells? Oh yeah, that's right, it wouldn't make any difference, would it Raph? Huh?"
"Hey! Dark Raph! This is payback!" With his good hand, Mikey grabbed a thick tree-root, wrapped his free leg around the Dark Half's neck, and pulled the creature to the ground.
"All yours, bro!" Mikey said, gesturing to the turtle.
However, the Dark Half was not finished taunting Raphael yet. He stood up, and adopted a solid fighting stance. His voice changed from Raph's laid back articulation to one more formidable. "Disobeying your father, fighting with Leonardo, pushing around Donatello, and hurting Michelangelo, all out of anger and spite," the Dark Half continued, taking great pleasure in the dread-filled look on Raphael's face, "even when you did not want to, you had no choice. You succumbed to me, and your family suffered at your hands." There was a pause, before he continued. "I have not been around so frequently though, of late. You disappoint me. You have been learning to control your anger. Gradually, yes, but as with most changes, there was a turning point..." he trailed off, glancing to look at Michelangelo.
Raphael gasped as memories flooded his vision. The last time he had lost all control of his rage, Michelangelo had taken the brunt of it. Almost. If his family hadn't been there to stop him...
The red-banded turtle became consumed within the flashback, and unknowingly lost his focus. The shadowy turtle took full advantage, and with a flying kick sent Raphael rolling into a thick part of the undergrowth.
"Raph!" Leonardo called out, trying to awaken his brother from his trance.
"Raph, get up!" Donny shouted, thinking that the Dark Half would attack his brother.
However, the Dark Half proved him wrong with a shake of the head. "Quite incorrect, Donatello – and that would be a first for you," he added maliciously. "I will not attack him. Yet. You obviously do not waste as much time watching movies as Michelangelo does." Mikey sneered, but said nothing. "You have yet to learn that the most effective way of hurting someone is by hurting those closest to him!" With that, he sped towards the group, and jumped high in the air, before landing in the heart of the four. With a seemingly effortless split-kick, he took care of the two youngest, sending them spinning away from the heart of the clearing, before engaging in battle with Splinter and Leonardo.
"Master," Leonardo called out between breaths, "if we hurt this, this thing, do we hurt Raph?"
"No," Splinter said gruffly. "This is not part of Raphael in body, only in mind. We cannot defeat it, only he can." He ducked quickly, before adding, "though I think it would be prudent for us to defend ourselves against it."
Having got to their feet, Donny and Mikey started to head over to where Raph lay, but the Dark Half saw them out of the corner of his eye. "Not so fast!" He shouted. He pushed his way out of his current battle, and placed himself between Raphael and the two youngest turtles. "I am not finished with any of you, yet. Though I may appear separate from him now, I am the rage that drives inside Raphael. And separate from him, he cannot control me. He will not hold me back as I destroy each and every one of you!"
Mikey threw Donny a sidelong glance. "Erh, I'm not liking this new side of Raph. How about you?"
"Well, he doesn't look happy," Donny observed.
Leo and Splinter ran to join them. "What have you done to Raph?" Leo demanded harshly.
"He's merely stunned," the Dark Half informed them disinterestedly. "No need for you to worry. You will all be long gone by the time I come to deal with him." The being stormed at them, and with one foul swoop, knocked the family flying.
"We have to spread out," Leo instructed. "Mikey," he called to the turtle who was farthest away from the Dark Half, "check on Raph!"
Michelangelo did not need to be told twice. Whilst his brothers and Splinter kept the creature busy, he tore across the long grass to reach his brother. He found him on the ground, his glazed eyes open and staring intently at nothing. "Bro, we gotta go!" Mikey said anxiously, shaking Raph's shoulders.
Raphael shook his head and sat up. "Mikey! Guys! I'm so sorry, I let him control me, I should have..."
"Forget what you should have done, and work on what you should do now," Mikey said, pointing to where the Dark Half battled with his brothers and Sensei. "We can put you on Oprah later. For now, take care of that thing!"
"How?" Raphael asked despairingly.
"I don't know," Michelangelo admitted. "All I know is, you're the strongest of us. You can do it, whatever it is. Maybe Sensei knows how to defeat it."
Hearing his name, Splinter left the battle and approached them. He nodded to Michelangelo to take his place in the fighting, and crouched down next to where Raph sat, still dazed and confused.
"Sensei, how can I fight this thing? He's my anger, he's my drive. And now I haven't got control over him, all over again," Raphael poured out.
"You may not control this, this being," Splinter said, throwing an arm to gesture to the darker turtle, "but you can beat it. Think, Raphael. When were you most vulnerable in battle?"
Raphael thought quickly to come up with the right answer. Without weapons? No. When I was alone? Not even then. Before long, his Master's teachings flooded back into his mind, and he began to think clearly. "When I was angry," he said tentatively.
"Correct. And why was this?"
"Because I wasn't in control of it." The look from Splinter told him he needed to develop this answer. "I wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't concentrating properly."
"Correct again." He glanced towards the Dark Half. "Look at this creature. How is he fighting?"
"Heh, like Leo. He's really focused. He knows what's going on." The penny dropped. "I gotta make him angry!" He turned to his father and smirked. "Hey, Sensei, you're good!"
"Thank you, my son. Finally," he added, "do not listen when he taunts you. Do not let him get to you."
"I won't," Raph said, standing up, before adding, "as long as you guys don't, either."
Splinter smiled and nodded.
Raphael shook his head vigorously once again, and snapped back to reality. He stood up defiantly, and took a sai in each hand. With a final nod from his Sensei, he pounded over to where the Dark Half battled, and threw a sai to disarm the turtle. The weapon wrapped in the tatty black fabric disappeared into a dense part of the undergrowth, and the disarmed turtle looked up to the source of this new attack.
"Hey, Raph," the Dark Half said, feigning offence in a patronising tone. "I thought we were on the same side here. Partners in crime. I thought I'd taught you better. What went wrong?"
"Nothing went wrong," Raphael said firmly, "things went right. I got rid of you. Things went great!" He added with extra pep.
"But we were unstoppable! We were great together!"
"Hey, man, we're not divorcees," Raphael said cockily, rolling his eyes. He wanted to irritate the Dark Half, and he'd had lessons from the best in the business – his youngest brother.
The Dark Half's eyes narrowed. "Don't toy with me," he threatened. "I own you. Every spiteful thing you've ever said, every violent act you've ever committed, I drove you to it. I've done it before and I can do it again."
"Uh, I don't think so," Raphael said, calmly strolling towards the Dark Half. "Well, you did it in the past, sure. But not anymore. I'm in control. You ain't."
Raphael smugly looked on as the Dark Half became increasingly angry.
"What's the matter, man? You're looking a little pissed off." He grinned and in a sing-song voice said, "I think someone needs a time-out."
That did it. The Dark Half hit boiling point, and with a wild howl he dived towards Raph, sais in hand. Raphael smartly stepped to one side, and used the Dark Half's velocity against him by easily tripping him up and sending him sprawling to the ground. Taking swift advantage of his vulnerability, Raphael pinned the turtle's two hands down with his two sais.
"Any last requests?"
The Dark Half's eyes narrowed, and he looked away. As Raphael lowered his sai to the creature's neck, the being disappeared into nothingness.
Breathing heavily at the physical and psychological battle, Raph remained hunched over on his knees, staring at the ground, holding his sai above the grass with an unsteady hand. He finally relented with a shaky breath, lowered the sai into the ground, and closed his eyes.
Michelangelo made a move to go towards his brother, but Leo held him back and shook his head. He ushered Donny and Mikey away from the area, whilst Splinter slowly padded towards his second-eldest.
Splinter patiently waited for his son to make the first move, saying nothing whilst the turtle's harsh breathing to slow down. Once Raphael had partially recovered, he turned his head sideways to glance at his master. The half-questioning, half-expectant look in his eyes was all Splinter required, to know what Raphael needed to hear.
"I am proud of you, my son."
Raphael sighed hoarsely, before looking up with a grateful smile. "We'd better go," he said, straightening up. "If that was the warm-up, those three bozos are gonna be in for a shock when this place serves the main course," he added, jerking a thumb towards where his brothers stood, quietly talking. "Someone's gotta warn them what's in store."
Splinter smiled and nodded, and the two walked over and rejoined the group.
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