(3844) Words

"Come one man! Hurry up! We gotta go!" Mikey yelps. Donnie was standing in the bathroom, staring into the mirror and messing with his ponytail. "I can't leave until this is right Mikey." Donnie says, squinting and tightening his hair again. "But we have to get to practice! Dad's been at the dojo for like an eternity and we're totally holding him up!"

Donnie shakes his head and pulls at his hair once more. "Just hang on okay?" He hovers his hands over the ponytail for a minute, waiting to see if it felt okay. "Alright. Let's go." They walk downstairs, Mikey much faster than Donnie. "I seriously don't get how you're okay with being late in favor of your hair. Normally you would rather die than be late... Or early for that matter." Mikey says thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but I also won't be able to focus if all I can think about is how my hair feels weird." Donnie says pointedly. They go to the kitchen and both go separate ways. Donnie goes to the pantry where he grabs a couple granola bars for a snack later and Mikey goes to the fridge, taking out a box of leftover pizza.

He flings the box open and frowns. "Awe, what? I thought there was four pieces left? Now there's only one?" Mikey slumps. "Sorry." Mikey looks up to see Raph standing in the doorway, eating a piece of pizza. "But to be fair, I only took two. Someone else took that other one." Raph finishes, taking another bite of the pizza.

Leo sheepishly walks into the kitchen past Raph. "Uh, that was me, sorry." Leo mumbles, picking up his bag from the floor. "Oh, dude, don't sweat it. You only had like one piece last night too." Leo shrugs. "We should get going." He says, taking on a leader type tone. "We're going to be late."

"THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING!" Mikey shouts. Raph gets a smug look on his face. "Yeah, but now that Leo said it, it's important." He jokes. Mikey rolls his eyes "Oh, ha ha. Hilarious." Leo stares at the group with annoyance. "I'm leaving. Anyone who's coming better get outside within the next minute otherwise I'm leaving without you."

Mikey hops up on the counter, swinging his legs around. "You know, I could do with a day off." Donnie pushes him off. "No, you already had multiple days off." Raph watches as they bicker for a moment before walking out the door himself, following about a minute behind Leo. Outside Raph huffs, looking around at all the trees and their color changing. It was almost beautiful.

As he gets in the car he casually wonders if this family did anything for Halloween. "Uh... Are you okay?" Raph asks from one of the middle seats in the van. Leo had his head resting on the steering wheel and was breathing deeply. "Yeah, I'm fine." Leo mumbles. He picks his head up just as Mikey and Donnie come rushing out the door, butting at each-other in order to get the front seat.

"GUYS." Leo says, loud and annoyed. "If you don't get in the freaking car, I'm going to make Raph take the front seat and you'll both ride on the roof." Both Donnie and Mikey immediately stop, staring at Leo to see if he was serious. Leo's face did not waver. Mikey slides the side door open and climbs in the back and Donnie closes it as he follows suit, sitting on the opposite side as Raph in the middle.

Leo makes a small huffing noise and starts the vehicle, pulling out of the driveway and driving quickly down the street towards their dojo. "Hey Raph, aren't you gonna get hot, you know, training with that long of a shirt on?" Mikey says. Raph looks down at his quarter length sleeves. "Nah, I'll be fine." He says nonchalantly.

The four boys stand in a line before Yoshi. They hadn't done any sort of training yet, just standing there, waiting. Yoshi sighs and looks the boys all in their eyes. "My... My sons. I regret to inform you that this may very well be the last time we practice here in this dojo." Yoshi says sullenly.

A chorus of 'what'-s and 'why'-s are thrown into the air before Yoshi holds up his hand to stop the fray. "We just do not make enough money to keep the dojo and the house." He explains calmly. The boys are all about to start speaking once again but Yoshi stops them. "I have found a substitute for both nearby." He says quickly.

The boys all look at each-other in confusion. "We will be moving to an apartment closer in town with a dojo below it." Mikey and Donnie almost look ecstatic while Leo looks mildly surprised. Raph just shrugs. He doesn't want to show it but he's just as excited as Mikey or Donnie. He hated the house he was in. That room never left him nightmare-less and it filled him with panic just sitting in there.

"When!?" Mikey almost shouts. Yoshi closes his eyes. "Two weeks. This dojo will close after tonight and relocate under us a week after we move." Yoshi smiles, cracking an eye open to see the excitement on their faces. He could tell Raph was hiding how excited he was.

"Now, let us begin." Yoshi says. They begin and Raph sits on the side, watching the three brothers train. He thought he'd be able to just jump right in but his chest had constricted when they were about to start. He had said he'd sit out for the first round but he continues to sit through two hours of practice.

"Raphael, would you like to try sparring?" Raph snaps out of a haze and looks up at Yoshi standing over him. "Oh, uh... Sure." Raph stands and tries to keep his focus up. He steps onto the mats and Leo steps forward. The freakin' chosen one. Raph swipes his hair out of his face and gets into a fighting stance.

Yoshi was about to speak when Mikey pipes up. "Can I say it Sensei?!" Mikey says loudly. Yoshi sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I guess so Michelangelo." He says, a small smile creeping onto his face. "Three... Two... One..." Mikey starts. "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEE!" He shouts, throwing his arms up into the air.

Donnie stifles a laugh as Leo and Raph start their sparring. Neither boy felt very up to sparring but at the same time neither of them wanted to show it or back off. Leo lunges at Raph, jabbing at his chest. Raph spins back, elbowing Leo in the back, making him stumble forward a little. Leo's vision spins and he has to take a couple seconds to recuperate.

He hadn't been this dizzy throughout all of training but he was exhausted very quickly. Raph takes these couple of seconds to slam Leo back, making him fall to his back. He goes to stand up but falls back once which gives Raph once again an opening to attack. He straddles his chest and goes to pin him when Leo takes him by surprise, flipping the situation over completely.

Now Leo was now sitting on Raph's chest, holding down his shoulders with his knees and grabbing his wrists. Raph's eyes go wide and he stops struggling for control, laying stiffly below Leo. The older boy senses something went wrong and immediately stands, stepping back from Raph. He stays laying on the ground, starting to shake.

"Raph?" Leo asks. The room was silent except for the sound of Raph's quickening breathing. Yoshi briskly walks over to the pair, kneeling down next to Raph. "Raphael, you are okay, you are alright. Can you hear me?" Raph Keeps staring straight up at the ceiling as Yoshi hovers over him.

"Raphael." Yoshi calls again. Mikey makes a noise behind them and snaps Yoshi back to the reality that his sons were all still in the room. "Boys, go wait in the other room." He says firmly. Donnie and Mikey leave quickly, but Leo is almost frozen in place. He didn't mean to do this. It just happened. "Leonardo. Go." Yoshi says, looking back at his son with a twinge of anger in his eyes.

Leo couldn't tell if the anger was at him or the situation or something else but he runs from the room, taking it as he was a piece of shit and he would never be good enough again, and- "Oh God..." Leo mumbles, rushing past his brothers and straight into the bathroom, throwing up his single piece of pizza.

Back in the dojo Yoshi attempts to get Raph to snap back to reality. He reaches out and touches Raph's face, feeling how feverish he was. Yoshi, seeing that Raph hadn't reacted badly to the touch, lifts Raph's head into his lap, brushing the long strands of black hair away and placing his hand on Raph's forehead, knowing full well his hands were normally cold.

Yoshi spends seven long minutes murmuring comforting words to Raphael until he comes out of the flashback. Raph sits up quickly, looking around frantically. "It's alright Raphael, You are in the dojo, you are safe." Raph digs his short nails into his upper arms, standing quickly. "I-I wanna go." Raph says quickly. He was so embarrassed this happened. He just wanted to lay down and die.

Raph walks stiffly and quickly out of the dojo, not waiting for anyone to follow. They had been at the end of training anyways so even if he had to wait outside the car it'd be better than being in there. Raph leans up against the van, glaring at the ground like it'd just called him a name.

He had seen that bastard Matthew. He was right there again and he couldn't move. He couldn't get him off. Raph shivers and stares up at the darkening sky it was pretty beautiful. There was streaks of pink and orange and red, all around in the sky. Directly above him however was a dark grayish blue. How fitting.

"Yo, Raph, you gettin' in?" Raph blinks and looks at the van. Everyone was sitting in their seats, waiting for Raph to get in. Mikey hung out the side door, looking at Raph innocently. He nods silently and Mikey sits back down to make way for the distressed boy. Raph sits in the far back and tries to act like nothing happened.

Raph barges into the bathroom, pulling the door shut and locking it tight. He stares at his frantic expression in the mirror, his too long black hair frazzled and tangled. Raph's heart goes a million miles a minute and he slams his fist into the mirror. Everything was too much. Life hurt. He wanted to die.

He smashes the cracked mirror again, snatching up a sharp piece of glass and without a second thought digging it into his skin, dragging it down through his flesh and into the fat tissue. It didn't hurt, it felt like he was washing off a layer of dirt that had been there for far too long.

His hair. Oh god his hair. It was growing. It grew longer and longer, intertwining with itself and wrapping around his arms, torso, and his neck. It tightened and he chokes, grabbing at the strands of hair. They keep tightening and he starts to see spots. He had wanted this to happen. He really did. But now...

"NO!" Raph chokes out as the hair tightens once more. It was too late. His skin kept peeling and his strangling tangling hair starts feeding itself down his throat. There was a knock at the door and he hears Leo's voice muddle through the wood. "Raph!? Raph, let me in! I can help you!" Raph tries to reply but he was dying. He couldn't do anything.

"Raphael!" It was Yoshi. He was banging on the door. "Raphael, open the door!" Raph tries to go to the door but falls to his knees, his hair growing and tying him up. A chorus of voices follow after. "Open the door Raph!" "Raphael open the door! Please!" "L open up!" "Open the fucking door!" He couldn't handle it. There was too many, too many telling him to do the impossible.

He collapses completely, letting himself slip painfully into the darkness.

Raph shoots up in bed, flinging off the sweaty, tangled sheets. He didn't want a reminder of that dream. He grabs his hair and feels the frayed ends tickling his neck. He jumps up off the bed, without thinking, and leaving the room. He stumbles quietly down the stairs and sneaks out the front door.

He didn't know what he was doing or why he was doing it, but he knew where he was going and that was enough. He walks quickly down the streets of Manhattan, arms crossed over his body trying to keep any heat he had left. It was twenty minutes before he arrived where he wanted. It was an old apartment building with a fire escape unprotected on the side.

Raph climbs up onto the dumpster below the ladder and wills himself to let go of his arms to start climbing up to the first platform. He climbs up to the third floor and taps on the closest window, knowing he had the right place. He waits a minute before tapping again. Muffled voices come from inside. "Hang on, hang on."

Raph watches as Casey comes to the window, staring behind him at an unknown figure. He turns his head as he opens the window and his eyes widen. "Raph? What are you doing here man?" Raph stays quiet for a moment. "I-I needed some air." Raph mumbles. "At two in the morning?" Casey asks. "Casey what's going on?" April walks up behind Casey, a pen and notebook in hand.

"Oh, uh... Raph just came over to hang. Wanted to finish out this movie marathon with us." Casey says, lying. "Casey, I told you we should shut off the movies and actually study." April says with a roll of her eyes. She puts a hand on her hip and tries to change her expression from annoyed to welcoming. "Anyways, shouldn't you like, I don't know, invite Raph in?"

"He's not a vampire, he can come in if he whenever he wants." Casey says, walking towards a torn up couch. "You know, that technically counts as inviting him in. He could be a vampire. Especially with that long black hair." April comments, sitting a foot away from Casey. Raph grabs onto his hair.

"You know, I really want to be a stylist. You should let me do something with your hair." April says to Raph, pointing and motioning with her pen. Raph tugs on his hair. "D'ya wanna practice dummy?" Raph asks. April starts to laugh but realizes quickly he was serious. "You're serious?" She asks.

"Damn straight." Raph says tiredly. "It's like two in the morning do you really trust me to keep it clean?" April asks, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to hate her if she did this. "I don't give a damn. I' been wanting a haircut anyways." April looks at Raph for a moment. "Well Casey, I guess you're getting your wish."

Casey fist-pumps the air. "Yeah! Movie time!" April grabs a taller stool and sets it to the side of the couch. "Oh, Casey, I hope you don't mind the hair, I'll clean it up when I'm done." She says, too excited to try styling hair to think weather it'd be a good idea. "I don't give a shit." Casey says, pressing play on their movie.

April smiles and goes to the bathroom, finding some scissors and a comb quickly and rushing back to where Raph was sitting. "So, what do you want?" She asks, combing through some of the tangles. Raph pauses. "... Anything short." He says dully, a hint of anger in his voice. April smiles and snips the scissors in the air.

Nearly an hour later April is brushing Raph's shoulders off with a towel, hair littering the floor. Raph reaches up and feels his now short, spiky hair. "Nice." Casey comments, pointing at Raph's head. Raph smirks tiredly. "Thanks man." He stands up and stretches out his legs and arms. "It's a good look for you." April says, a hand on her chin.

Raph rolls his eyes. "You would say that. You did it. If you said it looked bad you'd be saying you did a bad job." He grabs his wrist and stares at the floor. April looks at Casey awkwardly, nodding her head towards Raph. Casey's expression doesn't change. "Hey Raph, y' wanna stay over tonight?" He asks, not letting his true intentions show.

Raph shrugs and plops down on the old couch. "Why not?" He grumbles. April starts sweeping up the hair and tosses it in the overflowing garbage. "Well, I should get going. My dad's going to start getting worried, if he didn't already call the police." April says with a laugh. She puts a small stack of books into her backpack and swings it onto her back.

"I'll see you guys later." April says, walking out of the apartment. Raph tries to sit normally, not look like he'd been panicking earlier. "You doing okay man?" Raph shrugs and picks at the bandages on his arm. He knew it wasn't going to look like his dream but he honestly wanted to check. To make sure it didn't look like what he thought.

They sit, silent. The only noise coming from the TV playing explosions and swears. It couldn't have been long before they both fell asleep. If anyone had been watching they would've seen two boys, their heads together and sleeping soundly.

"CASEY GOD DAMN JONES!" Both boys bolt up, one looking around in confusion, the other in panic. A plump man stands over the two, hands in fists and teeth bared. "Who the hell is this!?" The man yells. Casey stands up, crossing his arms. "Just a friend." He says defensibly. "You lying faggot, this is probably your fuck buddy." Casey glares. "You'd know about those, wouldn't you."

"Fucking disrespectful piece of shit!" The man backhands Casey and Raph pushes himself up from the couch, impulsively slamming his fist into the man's face. The man grunts. "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" Raph holds his ground, glaring at the man for Casey who had turned from his glare to a shocked stare.

Raph feels his heart race. His face gets hot and his hands twitch. He'd been dealing with asshats like this since he was little. He could take one more. "I'm Raphael and I'm going to fuck you up if you keep messing with Case here." Casey raises his eyebrows even more. Raph knew this probably wasn't the most rational thing to do in this situation but then again, who said Raph was rational?

"You mother fu-" The man doesn't get to finish his profanity. Raph slams his knee into his beer belly and shoves Casey towards the window. Casey nods awkwardly and climbs out, rushing down the fire escape. Before the man could recuperate Raph lands a solid punch to his chin before bolting out the window, following his friend down to the ground.

He sees Casey walking down the street, looking like nothing had happened at all. Raph jogs to catch up to him and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Casey, what the hell!?" Raph asks. Casey shrugs. "He's totally piss drunk right now. He won't even remember any of this once he goes to sleep."

Raph shakes his head. "No, what the hell as in, WHAT THE HELL." Casey shoves his hands in his pockets and the two look as if they were just taking a morning stroll. "'S my dad. He just does that sometimes." Raph crosses his arms. "I don't know if you know this man, but parents aren't supposed to hit their kids." Raph hisses.

Casey rolls his eyes. "Of course I know that Raph. Just can't change it." Raph tightens his grip on his arms. "Well, why didn't you tell me?" Raph says, distressed. "'Cause man. You have your own problems to deal with. You don't need to hear about mine." They were quiet for a while. "Why didn't I see him last time I was over?"

Casey smirks. "Business trip. I got in so much trouble but I totally got back my shit he stole." Raph can't help but laugh. "You're an idiot." He says. Casey nods. "Yeah, I know... But I got my old game boy back, so that's cool." Raph looks at him and laughs again. "You did it for a game boy!?" Casey nods.

"That and a few other things. Like, there was this thing that was supposed to help with spelling and shit... Then there was this picture of like me, my mom, and my sister. It was literally the only picture we had without my dad hovering over us." Casey laughs a little. "The fucker probably wanted it because it was also the only picture where we're happy."

Raph's heart drops a bit. "That's sad dude." Casey nods. "Yeah, I know."

You know,

You know I'm not alright,

This is where I draw the line,

I've tried to run, I've tried to hide

But I'm so badly broken

You know you swept me off my feet,

And now I'm stuck beneath

The bridge you burned on top of me

And I'm so badly broken.

Badly Broken

Get Scared

Heeeeeyyyyy... Sorry for that really bad slur up in there. You know the one from Casey's dad? I had to put it in there for the effect but I absolutely hate it. Anyways, I forgot to say this in the last chapter but there was a joke in there that only the MOST youtube savvy will get. I wonder if anyone can guess it.

And I hope you guys really appreciate this chapter because I literally wrote it instead of doing school today. I'm going to have to work through the night here...

Anywho! Thank you so much for reading! All your reviews are so encouraging!