Raph's POV:
Something didn't feel right to Raph. This was the third possible Krang storehouse of the night and they had found nothing so far. The one on Third Street had only been a warehouse for wharf equipment and then the one near the grocery store had contained old Krang bot remnants but had no mutagen stores. He huffed and looked out over the rooftops into the New York skyline. Even though they were up on buildings all the time, the view was still pretty cool.
If only the people of this city knew how much we risk our necks for them every day.
Raph listened to the sirens of distant ambulances and the laughter of people walking on the main street a few blocks over. Usually, Raph and his brothers stayed closer to the more remote parts of the city if they could. Lots of people weren't really their style. But tonight, this warehouse brought them closer into the more flashy parts of New York.
Starting to get antsy, Raph slid his sai out of its sheath and glanced over at Leo. His leader crouched next to him, peering into the third story of the warehouse that they stood on through the skylight.
"Do you see anything?" Muttered Raph, unexpectedly.
Leo shook his head but continued to stare downwards into the darkness. Raph sighed and shifted his weight to relieve his tired muscles. Hearing scuffling behind him, he glared over his shoulder and growled. Mikey, his younger brother, was dangling from a ledge on the next building trying to pet some pigeons.
"Mikey! What did I tell you about touching random animals? Get over here and stop attracting so much attention." Raph barked.
Mikey jerked at Raph's exclamation, lost his footing and tumbled down onto a fire-escape below him. He sat up and rubbed his head, looking very displeased.
"Hey! I was just trying to pet him! Stanley likes to be petted." Mikey pouted as he jumped from the fire-escape and landed back onto the roof with Raph and Leo.
"You named him?"
"Well, uh, YEAH! Stanley follows me around whenever we're out looking for mutagen hangout spots. It gets sooooo boring and he helps to pass the time. He's a cool dude. He even sits on my hand sometimes when I feed him!" Mikey held up his hands to show Raph the process.
Raph rolled his eyes at Mikey's lack of caution. Dangling over the side like that could reveal them to the streets below and everyone would see that they have mutant turtles living among them.
Now that would be just great.
A tap on his knee brought Raph's attention back to the skylight.
"I think that there might actually be Krang here. I saw movement on the stairwell. You guys ready?" Leo asked, taking out his Katanas from his sheath.
Raph nodded, tensing his muscles in preparation and situated his sais between his fingers. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Mikey had done the same with his nunchakus. They leaped into the skylight, landing softly on the concrete floor.
As Leo noiselessly disappeared into the second-floor entrance, Raph dashed into the shadows near the stairwell with Mikey and together they waited for Leo to give them the signal. A few moments later, a reflected flash of light from Leos sword told them to join him. They moved through the doorway and onto an unwalled stairwell which descended into the middle of a large warehouse. Looking about him as he went down, Raph recognized a familiar green glow coming from the corner of the room. Around twenty canisters of mutagen were sitting in neat rows and were guarded by three Krang Bots. Making a complete sweep, he counted thirty-five Krang in all. Some were sitting at computers that were haphazardly installed in the walls, while most were sitting around, looking bored.
Now, this is what I'm talking about! First real fight in days!
An elevated landing, about halfway up from the floor to the ceiling, greeted them at the end of their descent. The remaining stairs jutted out in a different direction, leading steeply to the floor. Leo had positioned himself behind the railing that rimmed the platform, gazing out at the robotic aliens. Raph noticed these droids looked a little beat up and squeaked as they moved their robotic arms and legs. Being separated from reinforcements now that Raph and his brothers had destroyed their main base must've made life difficult for them. These remaining stragglers were dwindling, thanks to the efforts of the turtles.
Leo waved at Mikey and Raph to draw their attention and pointed to each of them. He sectioned off the room into three parts and assigned them all to each one. Raph and Mikey nodded.
On the count of three, they leaped over the side with a loud "BOOYAKASHA", each taking out a droid as they landed. The floor met Raph's feet with a cold thud, sending a chill up his shoulders. Around him, the entire room erupted in clanking and screeching. Raph was immediately targeted by the Krang bots near him, five in all. He charged forward and stabbed the nearest one with his sai, taking it by surprise. He yanked off its head in a blaze of sparks and ripped wiring. Chucking it at the nearest one, he jabbed backward to stab at two more that were coming up behind him. He jolted as something hot hit his shell and whipped around to find six more droids firing laser guns at him. In the close range, they had surprisingly good accuracy and Raph had to draw back towards the stairwell. As he ran, he jumped onto a Krang blocking his path and rammed his sai down into its shoulders, severing off the arms. The green-eyed mutant used this momentum to spring into the air and catch the railing and hauled himself onto the landing. For a split second, he scanned the room for his brothers and saw Mikey whacking through his attacking bots cleanly in a far corner, while Leo was trying to claim the mutagen from a large group of guards. Thankfully, none of the other Krang seemed to be using laser guns except his own attackers.
As if in response to that observation, a hot streak of purple, carbonated light glazed his bicep. He growled in irritation as the wound sent a burning electric feeling through his upper arm. His droids were climbing up the stairs and pursued him as he backed up into the third floor. He realized he would have more advantages on this floor with the deep shadows and more room to attack. He quickly used his ninjutsu training to stealthily disappear up into the shadows of the overhead beams.
The Krang burst onto the third floor, guns blazing lasers in every direction. The laser shots pierced the walls and ceiling, sending down bits and pieces of rotten wood. He rushed down on top of one from the roof beams, dismantling it and sending the pink fleshy creature squealing. He quickly dodged the new onslaught of concentrated laser fire by dashing behind a load-bearing post. He dished out two ninja stars that made contact with two of the bots' guns, quickly overloading and blowing them up, taking their owners with them.
As the shock waves of the explosion made the top floor quake a little, a slight concern crossed Raph's mind, but he quickly was distracted with the remaining five. The explosion allowed Raph to dart to the other side of the room and cut up the remaining unarmed Krang. Now he only had to deal with the last four droids who were armed.
He turned to find that all five of the Krang had disappeared. Startled by their sudden acquisition of stealth, he widened his stance in preparation for an attack. Keeping his shoulders loose, he stalked around the floor, keeping to the shadows and alert for surprise attacks. Suddenly, two Krang shot out from behind a post right behind Raph and fired several shots right into his leg. Raph cried out in shock and pain as the lasers corroded his skin. A rage-filled yell came from him as he whipped around to behead both of them. The pain heightening his agitation, he plunged into the middle of the room with a vengeance, throwing ninja stars around the room to provoke the rest of the bots out of hiding.
The remaining two Krang were forced out into the open and started firing madly in desperation, whizzing and creaking as they fought. Their wild firing blasted everything, furthering the downpour of wood and scrap metal from the old, rotten roof. While dodging the shower of laser fire, Raph suddenly became aware that the roofing was giving out and tried to quickly jump out of the way. A large piece of the ceiling caved in, crushing the two last bots. As he attempted to jump to safety, Raph was struck with a board and he fell onto the floor with a painful crash.
And then, all was still for a moment. Dust that had flourished in clouds around the heap started to settle around him, filling his lungs and making him cough. Raph's head throbbed a little from hitting it on the floor, but, upon a quick inspection, the cave-in had done its job. The droids were buried.
Raph let out a weak huff and relaxed on the floor. Below him was quiet as well, so he assumed that the fight was over. He anxiously listened for any shred of his brother's voices to tell him that they were ok.
A sudden awareness of a sharp pain in his leg drew his attention. He reluctantly raised himself off the floor, tossing the indignant board that had crashed on top of him out of the way to examine at his legs. The laser marks had not burned his skin as deeply as he had though which gave him some relief. He turned to his right leg and discovered the cause of the harsh pain. The board had sliced open his calf, though thankfully not deep enough to cause real damage. It was, however, bleeding profusely which was probably the result of how long it was. It stretched a good six or seven inches down from right below his knee guard towards his ankle. Raph grumbled in annoyance and tried to press on it to stop the bleeding. He bit his lip at the stinging sensation that was produced from his touch.
"Raph? Raph?" Called his brothers from downstairs.
Raph sighed in relief from their voices.
"I'm up here!" He yelled back.
"Hey, are you ok? Why haven't you come back down yet? What was that crash?" This was Leo's voice.
"I... I got hurt." Raph stammered back in embarrassment.
He scowled as his brothers came up the stairs to find him in a pitiful heap, his leg bleeding enough to be crowned a river. Leo and Mikey were taken aback by the scene before them and walked over to Raph with bewildered expressions.
"Raph! Are you ok?" Mikey kneeled down and looked at him with scared eyes. Raph's embarrassment softened as he saw the concern in his younger brother's face. "What happened to your leg bro?"
Raph grudgingly explained what had happened, leaving out a few parts about how the bots had scored his leg a couple of times.
"I think Donnie needs to take a look at your leg. I'll tell him to bring you some bandages when he brings the boxes for the mutagen." Leo said sympathetically. He gave Raph an encouraging smile and then pulled out his t-phone and walked down the stairs to make the call.
Raph crossed his arms to lean on his knees. He winced as the pressure made the wound shoot pain down his leg. He hated to feel weak, and this new injury was doing just that. Thankfully, by the look of it, it wouldn't take a long time to heal.
But gosh, does it ever hurt right now.
Raph gritted his teeth as he tried to stand on his good leg. He successfully got upright but felt a little lightheaded.
"Mikey... Can you come help me onto the roof?" He mumbled.
Mikey's eyes brightened at a chance to help. He came over and hooked Raph's arm over his shoulder. Carefully, they made their way up some shelves that were against the wall, Raph stubbornly using his arm strength to climb to the window, with Mikey helping to haul him up.
Once on the roof, Raph sighed and sat down. The constant searching for mutagen stores had really taken it out of him the past few days, and this annoying injury put his body over the edge. He closed his eyes and grudgingly laid down, listening to the familiar sounds of New York's busy streets.
"Raaaaph..."
"What Mikey?"
"Leo texted me and said hes going to bring up the mutagen on the roof. Oh, and also said Donnie's coming with your bandages."
"Ok thanks, Mikey."
"Raaaaaaph..."
Raph growled and opened one eye at Mikey. He was standing over Raph with a sparkly grin.
"Ugh... what is it, Mikey?"
"You wanna play a game while we wait for Leo?"
"Shouldn't you be helping him bring the mutagen onto the roof?"
"No, Leo said I had to stay with you and make sure you don't pass out."
Raph grunted and mentally rolled his eyes. He wasn't a baby who needed to be taken care of. Raph sat up and glared at Mikey who was waaaay too energetic for this time of night.
"Look, why don't you go help Leo. I'll be fine." Raph narrowed his eyes, hoping to discourage more protesting.
Mikey didn't take the hint.
"Nope, I gotta stay here with you dude. Gotta make sure all that blood coming out of your leg doesn't make you go all kooky. Just consider me... your protector!" Mikey jumped up and took an extravagant ninja stance.
"Hey! Bring that back!" Leos voice wafted up from the alleyway.
Raph and Mikey looked at each other with confused expressions, and as quickly as they could, hobbled over the edge of the roof. Just in time, they witnessed two young boys, about the ages of seven or eight, streak out of the building and down the alley. Leo appeared two seconds later and pursued them, vaulting over a trashcan with an agile swiftness. They disappeared into the darkness, leaving Raph and Mikey confused on the roof.
They waited and waited but nothing happened. Leo did not reappear and neither did either of the two boys. Raph's leg began to ache, so again he allowed himself to sit down. They waited.
Mikey tried again to get Raph to play a game with him.
"Ugh, enough Mikey! Look, why don't you just go call Leo or something. Ask him where the heck he went." Raph huffed. His leg ached and all he wanted to do was sleep.
Mikey pouted but grumbled in agreement. He took out his t-phone and was about to dial when all of sudden his eyes widened as he focused on something past Raph's head.
"Stanley!"
Mikey dashed past Raph, and on turning around, Raph saw that the pigeon had indeed come back and was perched on a high ledge on the next building.
Raph's bleeding leg and Leo's whereabouts completely out of his mind, Mikey proceeded to climb said building in pursuit of his bird.
Raph sighed deeply and chuckled.
Mikey will always be Mikey.
Raph took the opportunity to try and find a place to rest, somewhere where Mikey would leave him alone. He tightened his jaw as he used his good leg to stand. Thankfully, one-legged squats were apart of his everyday routine, so this was not difficult in itself, but the jolting of his other leg proved to be quite the annoyance.
Raph looked around and saw a fire-escape, the opening of which was very easy to access. He limped as gently as possibly over to it and, with one last glance at Mikey, who was succeeding in petting his pigeon, he slowly lowered himself onto the stairs. He climbed down a few steps and rested. Raph leaned his head onto the railing, breathing a little uneven. He looked down at his leg and, to his agitation, discovered that the jostling had reopened the dried blood and was now flowing as free as when the wound was new. He silently cursed the board that had caused this and vowed to burn it when he got the chance. He willed the blood to stop flowing, but it didn't seem to listen. It trickled right along, making him queasy and he finally started worrying what would happen if he lost much more blood.
He looked around for anything that could stop the bleeding. He scoffed at the rusty iron railings and lifeless brick walls on either side of him, providing no comfort.
All of a sudden, his eyes locked onto a slim piece of curtain, sticking out of an open window on the landing below him. He questioned whether it was smart or not, but a surge of pain from his leg shut up the paranoia. He limped down the remaining stairs and was about to start sopping up his leg when he notices a roll of paper towels on a desk, inside the room beyond the window.
No Raph... This is stupid Raph. You can't go in the apartment, you idiot... But, I mean, whoever owns this apartment is going to be wondering who the heck wiped blood all over their curtains... then they'll probably call the police and get it tested and realize it's not actually normal blood... ugh...
He looked back, hoping Donnie would be at the top of the fire-escape, holding gauze and pain relievers, but all he saw was a hazy, light-polluted sky. His leg began to feel super weak and realized he needed to stop the blood. Like, now.
Crap... Ok, well I've got nothing to lose.
Raph leaned into the window, peering into a dark room. Adrenaline started to pump into his system as he realizes it's a bedroom. He frantically scanned for a person but did not sense anyone there. The paper towels were perched on a desk on the opposite side of the room from the window. He shifted his weight nervously, actively aware of a fear that he isn't used to feeling, making him doubt his actions. One last complaint from his weakening leg forced him to make up his mind.
He crawled through the window and onto the ground.
The room was small, containing a bed with a crumpled-up comforter against the outside wall which also held the window that Raph had just climbed through. Underneath this window, Raph had to carefully step over a low bookcase, containing lots of little books and knick-knacks. Clothes lay strewn all around the floor, with a pile of books and paper stacked on the floor by the bed. Raph perceived all of this, taking it in through his fear heightened senses. His muscles were as tense as they could be, holding himself rigid as he stalked silently to the other side of the room. His bad leg ached to be relieved, but Raph bit his lip and pressed on, knowing he had to get the paper towels and make it back outside before he could rest.
He crossed in front of a doorway that was slightly open. Glancing inside, he saw a somewhat roomy closet, full of clothes but also loads of papers, art supplies, pieces of equipment, and lots of other things.
Slowly, to Raph's incredible relief, he reached out and grabbed the paper towels that had now become in reach. Victory coursed through him and with a sudden surge of energy, he jerked around to make his escape.
Bad idea.
Pain. Burning pain raced up his leg and he had no choice but to collapse on the floor as his legs buckled underneath him. Sudden cramps raced their way up and down his calf muscles and Raph had to force himself not to vocalize the discomfort. They finally subsided and Raph breathed, but only for a moment.
"Hello?" Came a voice from the bed.