Hey sorry for the wait you guys, I was in Europe for two weeks and then got really sick when I came home but I'm back now! Thanks for sticking with me!
Raphael
Five stories. My bare feet dangled over the ledge as I sat on the edge of a five story building.
Five stories.
A rough shiver coursed through my body shaking me violently. The night was slightly warmer than the others but still icy. Especially for me. In my hurry, the only thing I grabbed was a worn out aviator's jacket. Mikey's I think, judging by how tight the sleeves were over my biceps. I didn't care as much as I should've though. The numbness was welcome… I was sick of feeling.
Exhaustion, nightmares, anger… for God's sake I saw horrible things that weren't even there! Life was eating me alive now, and there was no escape. Everything was trapped within my mind. My head was in my hands. I was just so tired.
Five stories, huh? Would it even be enough?
Sure it could, I could do it… definitely. But where would that leave my brothers? It wasn't their fault they didn't know what I'm going through. They didn't know that my goal of finding Serena wasn't just some lovesick whim of mine. She could be the answer to getting over this… this feeling of incompetence. This crippling fear of ever being at another's mercy or of losing someone I loved. No, I couldn't let them know that I feared losing the power to protect them.
Though, I feared even more that I had lost that ability already.
But I couldn't hurt my brothers like that. Force them to recover my corpse, broken and bleeding from some trash strewn alley. Make them carry my dead weight all the way back to our home. Sensei, my father, forced to look down at my lifeless frame and regret whatever he could have possibly done wrong. I can't bring to them something I fear myself.
I stood up on the raised edge, feeling how painfully cold I really was. I stared down at the sheer drop before me. Not today.
Just as I was ready to step back and head back to face my family, a voice boomed from behind. "RAPHAEL! NO!"
Shaken up and already feeling weak, I made the mistake of stumbling forward. The problem was there was nothing to stumble forward onto. I spilled forward over the side screaming the whole way down.
Serena
It was terrifying to be back. Out of all the places I had been, all the battlegrounds I had visited, nothing was more unnerving than New York City. I ambled along the shady city streets. It was night, and I was swallowed in an oversized parka hood. Even if anyone I had once new saw me, I doubt they would recognize me. I had lost so much weight (unwillingly), my hair was nearly white now cut short and edgy, and I wore too much makeup so that my features were enhanced to something… well different.
I hated not feeling like myself, but it was my best bet to search the city in peace. "Hey, hey, hey, look at this sweet little honey, boys." Of course, life liked to throw curve balls.
Please, let them be smart enough to just keep walking.
"You're right. Hey doll what's the hurry? Where's the fire, sweet thang?" A second voice replied. Judging by the footsteps, sounded like three men. By the smell, drunk assholes looking for trouble on the way back from the bars.
All at once they hastened their paced and they surrounded me. Yup, three men, most likely late twenties with greasy hair and second hand clothing. "Come on, baby. Won't you have some fun with us for a bit?"
"I could, but I don't think you'd enjoy my kind of fun." I snarled a warning. This was their one chance.
But no, they pushed their luck. Two grabbed my arms and pushed me back into the dark of the alley closest by. The third pushed up close to me. His face was pushed close enough to mine that I could make out his blond stubble across his chin. "Come on, baby. If you behave, I can be very gentle and very… good." His hands began stroke my thighs, and I lost my patience.
My lips curled in a cruel grin, "Alright sweetheart." He looked at me briefly in confusion just as my knee slammed with amazing force into his groin. He stumbled backward coughing horribly. The others were even easier. My shoulders groaned a bit, but I pulled both arms forward with men attached and slammed then right back into the wall. One smacked his head and slumped to the ground. The other kept his hold.
On the ground, Touchy was barking orders, "Hold that bitch tight. We ain't done yet."
The other goon still standing linked his arms through my elbows, pulling them behind me. He was definitely a little tougher than his comrades. "You shoulda played nice. Now, imma mess you up."
"Good luck," I laughed before changing my grasp on the man behind me. Freeing my arms and gaining a steely grip on his behind me. Using my legs, I rolled him over my left shoulder and tossed him into his friend. The one who held me was out the second his head connected with the ground. Now Touchy struggled under the weight of his larger, unconscious friend.
"Who the fuck are you?" He asked wide eyed.
I squatted down near his face. From inside my jacket, I pulled a single tessen. "I'm the spirit of all the women out there that fight rapist pigs like you and your friends. I give what they all wish they could do to you. I am no one's sweetheart."
My weapon slid open. I held it strongly, raising my arm. Just as I was about to make a single clean swipe so this man wouldn't rob women of anything ever again, a loud yell rang through the air. The source must have been not more than a few blocks away. It wasn't the volume that stopped me in my tracks.
"It can't be," my focus quickly fell back onto the whimpering man below me, "If you ever touch another woman, I will kill you without any hesitation. Do yourself a favor and find some way to redeem your pitiful nature."
I stood silently and booked it from the alley. I didn't know for sure why, but tears stung the corners of my eyes. He was lucky that I recognized that voice, that deep, pained call. "Raphael… please let this be you."
Raphael
"Shhhhiit!" That basically summed up my only thoughts as I tumbled through the air. Focus you moron. I heaved a huge breath and scrambled for my sai. Pulling out one in my right hand, I angled myself to get closer to the wall. The blade stuck itself into the brick about halfway down, slowing my fall until I lost my grip. Slower, I fell again. My body dropped, and I had no time to try anything more.
My back, of all things, slammed into a dumpster. The metal dented under me as I felt the edge cut into my arm. With a grunt, I rolled over the side and landed on the pavement. "Oh you've got to be kidding me."
"Raph!" Leo hollered above. Fully clothed in his own winter gear, he dropped himself down the wall using the drain pipes. He rushed over to where I laid on the ground. With much effort, I looked over myself. Nothing looked broken, but everything was sore. Blood ran from rip in my jacket's sleeve. Great, I owe Mikey a new coat. "Raph are you okay? What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking anything you idiot. I didn't jump, I fell because you scared the shit out of me." I groaned, trying to breathe through the sudden shock of pain, "Can you grab my sai from the wall."
"No need, fell over there. Are you okay bro?" Leo asked, helping me to a sitting position while reaching behind to grab my weapon. The blood from my arm smeared across the chest of his dark leather coat. For a split second, I thought it had somehow been his own and I felt a wave of panic spread over me. I tried pushing myself away, confused by what I had done or failed to do.
My breath was raggedy and quick. I could feel Leo reaching for me and trying to calm me down but I felt suffocated. "Raph, hey Raph! Let me help you… Come on, you're bleeding. RAPH!"
The last call snapped me back to where I was. God I hated this. "I'm… I'm sorry Leo. I really am."
"It's okay brother. Donny's fine, I'm fine, and I'm going to help you." My older brother pulled me into a big hug. I didn't want to at first, but then I slowly eased into it.
"Thanks, Leo."
"God Raph, you're freezing. Come on, let's get up." Leo helped pull me up, holding my arms as I steadied myself. I kept one arm around his shoulders for support. My right knee ached and threatened to buckle with too much weight. "Here, put these on."
A drawstring bag was shoved into my chest. Inside, a pair of sweatpants and my black leather boots. "Thanks again."
"Just stop with the whole storming out business… Nothing good ever comes out of it." Leo laughed as I struggled into my pants and boots while mainly balancing on one leg.
"Haha, whatever you say Splinter Junior." I sighed as he helped me gimp over to the manhole cover nearby.
"Hothead."
In the heat of the moment however, neither of us noticed the set of eyes locked onto us as we re-entered the sewers.