A loud arrangement of heavy metal woke Raphael up. "Ahh," he screamed as he rolled off his bed. From the floor he reached for his alarm clock. He slammed it off. He tried to stand up but fell back down again because his blanket was wrapped tightly around his legs. He struggled to get them off until at last he succeeded. He leaned back and hit his head off of his dresser. "Argh," he shouted. He stood up and stomped towards his door. While getting up he stubbed his toe on his bed stand. By now Raph was already exclaiming all of the (*cough) "colorful vocabulary" that he knew.
He opened up the door as violently as he could and slammed it with a loud boom. He didn't care whether the others were up yet. He stormed through the hallway to the kitchen, making as much noise as possible. Michelangelo was sitting at the table eating some cereal. "Raph, are you ok," he asked. He took a spoon full of cereal and swallowed. He swallowed and said "Do you need a hug?" Raph grumbled as he pulled out a chair and started to pour his milk into his bowl. He turned his head to glance at the clock. "Raph," shouted Mikey. Raphael jerked back and spilled the milk. "You were going to… spill it," Mikey said with a quiet voice.
Raphael had enough of this morning already. He slammed Mikey's face in his cereal bowl and left. Mikey licked his lips as Raph left. Raph was about to sit on the couch when he saw Leo sitting there. The nightmare haunted him of when Leo got injured. He froze in place behind Leo. Donnie came out of his lab wiping his hands on a cloth. He was covered in grease. He pulled his goggles to the top of his head. "Hey, has Mikey finished breakfast yet. He said he'd be back in ten minutes. It's been like—" Donnie was interrupted when Raph tackled him to the ground.
"You should've saved him. You were there. You could have saved Leo," Raphael shouted at Donnie. Donnie scratched at Raph to let him go. 'I don't know what you're talking about. Stop it Raph," Donnie replied back. Leo split them up by now. Leo looked at Raph. "Raphael," he said in a low voice. Raphael felt like he was waking up from a dream. He looked at Leo and back to Donnie. Donnie now had a fresh black eye. "Donnie, I…" Raph choked up but he didn't cry. He didn't want to show his weakness to his brothers. Mikey ran into the room. Milk was all over his face. "Dude, what happened to your eye," he said. Donnie glared at Raph.
They heard a creak from Master Splinter's room. He opened his door and looked at the scene. He didn't look angry but disappointed. "Raphael," he said. Raph turned to his brothers. Donnie was already walking back to the lab and Mikey to the kitchen but Leo just stood there. Did he hear about how Donnie should've saved Leo? Of course he had, why would he break up the argument if he didn't hear it? "Raphael," Splinter repeated. "Yes, sensei," responded Raph. He walked into the dojo silently and ashamed. Master Splinter closed the door silently.
The dojo had the scent of freshly burned incense. Splinter had been meditating. Raph turned to his father and pleaded "I didn't mean to. It just happened." "What happened? You mean where you dunked Mikey's face into the cereal or when you tackled Donnie for no good reason," Splinter responded. Raph looked down. He felt Splinter's hand on his shoulder. "Raphael, I know that you are having more than just a bad day. Is something bothering you?" Raph looked up into master Splinter's face.
He looked sad and old, unlike his usual self. "Yes," Raph said with a sigh, "I, uh, had a bad dream." "What happened that has troubled you about it?" Raphael broke away from Splinter's grip. "What hasn't bothered me about it," he shouted in frustration. Raph sat on the floor and held his head in his hands. Splinter leaned down next to him. "Perhaps, you will feel better if you seek guidance," suggested Splinter. Raphael sighed. "Alright, but I don't think it will do anything," he said. Raphael began to talk about his dream. Master Splinter sat there quietly only interrupting once or twice to clear things up. "And I'm afraid," continued Raph, "that I have already chosen what I would do." "My son, you have reached a maturity that I am proud of," Splinter said. "What do you mean," asked Raph.
Splinter chuckled as he said "You and your brother Donatello are head over heels for a girl. Donatello spends his days thinking about her but he does not realize what is important. You however know the consequences of love. Donatello is only thinking about the positive things." "I don't understand." Splinter sighed. "Your brother, he does not always stay with you," he said, "He often goes to April to protect her. He does not realize that both April and his brothers need him. You however know that and know that sometimes you must sacrifice things for those who matter. What I am saying is that you know that your brothers need you more, but you still want to be there for Cori."
Splinters looked directly into his eyes and said "But remember that your family comes first. You may not understand this at first but you will eventually. Cori is waiting outside for you if you like." Raphael stood in his spot. "That doesn't mean you can't talk to her," teased Master Splinter. He shooed Raphael out of the room. Cori was about to knock on the door when Raph walked out. "Oh, hi Raph. I was looking for you," she said with a smile. "Uh, I need to talk to Donnie real quick. And the others," Raph said quietly. He left her and walked over to the lab to talk to Donnie.