Summary: Raphael's known for making mistakes, but he went too far. After slitting the throat of an enemy, his life begins to take a turn for the worse. As he is about to meet his end, one of Bishops scientists saves his life, and everything changes. Above his angst and drama, however,
a sinister plan emerges and all Raphael has ever known is at stake.
Rated: T for strong language and strong concepts
Disclaimer's note: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Mirage Studios holds the rightful ownership.
Author's note: Oh my gosh, I'm so happy that you all like where the story is heading! *bows* I hope that you all like this chapter! And a big, big, big, thank you to ChelleNorlund and Kaaayyytteee and BubblyShell22 and Huntress of Light! You guys are the best! I hope this chapter is good!
Kristine
"Yes, sir. I was just caught up thinking." That wasn't a lie.
"I see. Well, try to think more about walking." He walked away with a sneer. What was his problem? Was it because he thought I was a bumkin from the Midwest? If he did, I would show him how tough we bumkins can be! Or…or maybe he knew about the dots. The last thought terrified me.
Luckily, it was five o' clock, and I could get out of the lab, find some answers, and curl up with a nice cup of tea. I sighed at the simple pleasure of being comfortable. When I looked at my hand, however, all comfort was gone. The address was at least eight blocks in the opposite direction of my apartment, if I left quickly, they'd know something was up. I swallowed my discomfort and forced myself to work a little more on the graphs until Bishop told me it was time to leave.
He shooed me away and told me, "I have some actual scientific work to do, if you'll excuse me."
I felt like screaming at that bastard. I HAVE BEEN DOING ACTUAL SCIENTIFIC WORK! EVERY DAY! IT'S YOU WHO'S JUST LYING AROUND DOING NOTHING! WITH FUCKING THEORETICAL HUMANOID TURTLES! I felt like killing someone. I felt like killing Bishop. How dare he look down on me? I probably worked way harder to get into this project than he did, because someone made a rule that anyone with a vagina couldn't become successful.
I growled and stomped my foot on the ground. First theoretical humanoids, then purple bumps and the terror that followed them, and now Bishop looking down on me like I'm a school girl with a play-chemistry set?
"Can the day get any worse?" I whispered and looked down at my shoes as it began to rain. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" I screamed.
"Woa, I didn't know they used that sort of language in North Dakota. You okay, bumkin?" The beauty seemed to come out of nowhere with an umbrella.
"Okay, we use the same exact language you 'SOPHISTICATED' New Yorkers do." My chest heaved with anger, and I knew my face was burning bright from embarrassment and anger.
"I was just kidding, it's okay." She laughed and put up her hands in a mock surrender. "I was just wondering how you were doing, and if you still wanted to find the truth." She motioned to my forearm.
I sighed. "I'm not feeling so hot. I'm afraid of what'll happen with…you know…and Bishop and the teams keep looking down on me." I felt exhausted, my stomach was sour, and I was drenched.
"Sorry about that, Fargo. Hey, are you gonna stand in the rain all evening or join me under this umbrella?" She moved over and made room for me beside her.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for swearing earlier." I sheepishly apologized.
"Fugedabodit, I swear all the fucking time." She flashed a pearly white smile.
"Oh cool!" I grinned and she began to laugh.
"Oh man, Fargo, you're too damn adorable for your own good."
I frowned. "I wish I wasn't. I think that's the reason why no one takes me seriously."
"No. They want you to keep your innocence. We're dealing with some fucking scary stuff. I think the teams want to protect the rookies. And with Bishop, he looks down on all of his student teams. He thinks he's an amazing scientist, and he's given baboons to work with." She gave me a little smile.
"That's a paradox. Me being innocent." My mind traveled back to a tougher time, when my spirit was rough and calloused, when the only person I could trust was myself. I had to rush myself back to the present and scold myself into the loving person I was before my parents started drinking.
She laughed. "Yeah, me too. I swear, spring break '09, crazy times."
I laughed with her, even though I never had enough time or money to be crazy.
"Okay, so my house should just be a few blocks further. This rain sucks hairy balls." She groaned. "Here's what you'll learn about New York, kid: the air is almost never clean, the rent is too damn high, and there's almost never a sunny day."
I nodded. "Oh, that's too bad. It's good that the project is paying for our apartments though!"
"Yeah, I guess so. But did you wonder why they did that?" She asked conspiratorily. "They've bugged the crap out of those apartments. Nothing you say in those things is private."
I looked down at the puddles on the street and shuddered. What had I gotten into? I just wanted to go back to Fargo where the puddles weren't as oily.
"But don't worry, Fargo, I'm living with my aunt right now in a completely safe place. She has too much money for her own good, and she bought an apartment to use over the weekend with her lovers. So don't mind all the sex stains and stuff."
I resisted the urge to vomit. We entered a simple apartment complex and entered the room farthest away from the road. "So are you just going to tell me something or show me a graph or…"
She flung the door open wide for me to see millions of pictures strewn on the carpet, bed, table and television. "These are all the documented cases of mutations in the United States of America." I noticed her tone had taken on a professional, scientific tone. I wish I could do that. "We have mutation number 64." She held up a picture of a little boy with purple spots covering his face. I felt sorry for the kid; I had acne when I was younger, and that wasn't fun at all.
"Poor little guy." I whispered and took the picture.
"Yeah, it's especially tough for kids. They usually die from melanoma."
I gasped. "Are we going to die?"
"Melanoma in adults with the mutation is rare. What happens to adults is strange, though." She picked up a picture on the desk and showed me a tall, angular purple monster with pointed joints and cheek bones.
"Oh no." I shuddered.
"There's others too." She showed me a picture of a man with a bright purple circle enclosing him. "Some of them are able to project the electric reactions in their systems and amplify their gravitational pull to create a sort of forcfield. However, when these forcefields are created, the subjects suffer from second and third degree burns. Their immune systems are overactive though, in both the children and adults, so death from infection is limited. The leading cause of death in adults is suicide."
"If I was a big purple monster, or if I was covered in nasty burns, I'd kill myself too." She nodded her head.
"There are other rarer cases, but these were the only ones I was able to steal from the project."
"What are all of these random ones on the floor then?"
"I had to go through all the possible mutations to narrow down our specific one." She smiled. "It helps to be a girl when you want something badly."
Her eyes drifted down to a note addressed to Zoe with hearts and sappy words. So her name was Zoe.
"So what does this have to do with humanoid turtles and the green ooze we were working with?" I asked.
"I was hoping you'd help me out." She shrugged.
I groaned and covered my eyes. "I was hoping for answers, but I only have more questions.
"What's going to happen to us?" I uncovered my eyes and looked at her hopefully.
"Well, all of the changes with mutation 64 are triggered by emotional stress, so we'll be good for a little while. And here's what will happen if we let that change take place." She lifted up a picture of the purple monster cut open with its organs draping over the table.
I gagged and ran to the bathroom. It was too much. I puked in her toilet and began to cry. Nothing was going right.
Raphael
Nothin's going right. I thought as I watched the sunset. It made the anger less noticeable. If anyone had asked me if I thought watching the sunset was cool, I would've told them that watching stupid things like that is for girls. I felt my mouth twitch into a smile. I was a hypocrite and a girl.
"Stupid." I whispered. Stupid Don, I didn't even talk to him that day. He knew just how I felt about him searching for love on the internet. I told him a million times, we're unlovable. No one could love a big green freak. Unless, you know, they were a freak too. But who would want a freak?
It was totally hypocritical and stupid to think, but I wanted a cute girl. My mind wandered to a time where I had saved a hooker from being raped by an asshole. She had thanked me and kissed me on my lips. It was amazing. She tasted like beer, and she didn't smell the best, but I liked it. I liked it because of the feeling it gave me. That entire day I was happy. That's how I knew I liked cute girls.
But then again, I would go for any girl that looked my way. I was so desperate. And maybe it would be best if I dated a freak. Freaks are meant for freaks, right?
I was shaken out of my desperate thoughts by Bishop's voice. "All right, you go left, and you go right. We'll find at least one." All my angry thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind, and I felt myself moving away from the ledge of the building. Bishop was looking for my family, I just knew it. I couldn't let him find them. As stupid as they were, they were my family, and nobody would hurt them if I could help it.
A crazy, stupid idea began to form in my mind. If I kept Bishop distracted long enough, maybe he'd lose track of the lair. I'd keep him and his team on the run until morning, and then I'd hide in an abandoned warehouse. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
I looked over the edge of the flat and saw the back of Bishop's head. I took a deep breath and jumped as noisily as I could over his head and onto the roof of the next building.
"There! There! I saw one! Everyone, circle back to me! I just saw one!" Bishop yelled as if he had just been given an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
I smiled at the adrenaline that coursed through my veins; it had been a while since I had been chased. My mind flashed back to the time where Leo and I had been chased by the giant albino crocodile in the sewer. I shook my head. I had to keep my mind on only one thing. Staying away from Bishop and his bands of fucked up scientists.
"Shit, shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck, shell, shell, shell!" I cursed as a helicopter sneaked up in front of me, blocking my escape route to the industrial area. I turned, but only saw military men behind me. I gritted my teeth and ran left, into the residential area. They surely wouldn't bring a helicopter in that suburban hell hole. I realized how wrong I was as the helicopter started to shoot at me. I jumped off the building and onto the alley way, hopping to get some cover from the machine gun fire.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, the mighty Raphael, all curled up and scared like a little bitch." I growled and turned to see the purple dragons wielding pipes, chains, and guns.
"Fuck!" I growled, "You pussies picked the wrong time to start a—" I was cut off by a gunshot. I felt an intense pain in my shoulder as I collapsed to the ground. "What the fuck was that?"
"That's just a taste a what we gonna do ta you tonite." The fat one laughed.
"Stop! You mustn't damage it! I need it in relatively good condition for the experiments!" Bishop yelled.
The dragons grumbled, but they stood down at the sight of Bishops miniature army. "Shell." I whispered. It was the end of the line.
I'm probably not going to be posting any more chapters for the next week, so I'm hoping that you all like this chapter! I will be back next Saturday, friends!