Sigh, school is simply taking too much of my time. I use most of the nights on reading Moby Dick for an assignment. And then I'm sore after practice... And need sleep. I am aware that this chapter is pretty short, but it will get better in the next chapter. I promise! But I'm sure none of you readers care for my bickering. I'm glad if anyone still follows the story, though I have a feeling that I have lost some of the readers. But to you still out there,

Enjoy...

The two large doors slid open, a grey cloud emerging from them. Two taller figures stepped out from the glowing chamber, their eyes scanning the lair for life. Their eyes instantly fell on Leo and Don, who both looked back. They knew who was coming. No other than Casey and April knew the secret elevator, that the turtles had once discovered by pure accident. Casey walked over to the couch, resting his arms on the back.

"Yo," he greeted them both, noting their glooming faces, "Who died?" Don and Leo both looked at each other before turning their faces back to their human friend. How was they supposed to say what was going on? All of them had kept it completely to themselves, somehow afraid of the reactions – especially Casey's. Sure, Casey was a good friend, and they had known him for quite some time. But he wasn't the brightest, a fact that had sometimes caused both trouble and some pretty funny situations.

Splinter approached April, the walking cane tapping the floor lightly as he walked.

"Good evening, Miss O'Neil," Splinter gestured, looking into the woman's green eyes, "For what do we have the honor of your visit?" April reached out to her back pocket in the worn out jeans she was wearing, fishing out a newspaper clip out.

"I actually came to speak with Don," she showed Splinter the article, "I thought perhaps this could have something to do with the blackouts, you guys have had." The old rat studied the paper, reading every word in a short time. It hadn't been a large article, something that the press had just barely pushed into a page where they had found room for it.

Rats going berserk in NY sewers

It hadn't been in the local news on the TV. Perhaps they didn't see it as such a big problem, as the rats were staying in the sewers – at least the "crazy" ones. Sewer workers had been attacked by these rats, when they had tried to do their job. They hadn't been in packs, it had sometimes been perhaps only one suddenly going for a bite at them. Splinter scratched his chin. Could this perhaps be even more important to them than it actually seemed? Letting his eyes go up from the paper clip, Splinter was about to handle it back to April, when he suddenly sensed a danger. He had to be quick. His sixth sense told him to move out of the way and he pushed April with him, barely getting her out of reach of Raphael flying past them. He flung across the room, skidding over the floor on his shell. Barely before he stopped, he pushed himself to his feet and rushed back in the direction he had come from. His eyes flashed, and Splinter knew that look: It was a blinded rage, filling out Raphael's mind and pushing all logical sense behind. And he was going for Angel.

"Raphael!" Splinter cried, fearing for the cat's sake. But before he could react, Angel was already at Raphael's throat, her claws drawn out to attack with full force – and she had the same look in her eyes. With a hiss, the feline swiped a claw at Raph, leaving deep scratching marks over his plastron. But he didn't notice. The adrenalin rushing through his veins made him forget all about pain. Instead, he thrusted a sai forward, aiming for Angel's stomach. As she sidestepped, the deadly weapon flung through her fur, ripping some of the flesh along and left a bloody trail over her side. Blood dripped on the floor from both opponents, as the sai suddenly hit a wing and Angel's claws found a mark at Raph's neck.

Suddenly Raph was grabbed from behind. But without turning to see who it was, Raph tried to jump forward to deliver another strike, but his arms were pulled tightly backwards.

"Raph, snap out of it," Leo hissed, trying his best to hold on to his brother's arm. Don was holding the other one. It was like holding a raging beast. Angel wasn't slow to react. Her claw reached up to attack once again.

Casey threw himself at her, slamming the cat against the wall to hold her. But she proved to be stronger than he had expected. His legs trembled, as he was pushed backwards. But no one was going to win that easily over Casey Jones. With a snarl, he pushed the feline back with all of his might, once again straining her to the wall.

Splinter stood in front of his son, looking into his eyes. This would take drastic measures. Or perhaps…Splinter grabbed a vase on a small counter and pulled out the flowers, tossing the water into Raph's face. April had had the same thought and had brought a glass of water from the kitchen, which she tossed into Angel's face.

Raph frowned, shaking his head to try and shake off the water. It was like realization hit him at that moment. The two sais dropped to the floor as his hands grew limp. His eyes starred at Angel for a moment, who was calm as well. Her eyes were closed tightly, as she seemed to recover from the fight. However, Casey was still holding her, unsure if it was really safe to let go of her. As the grips around his arms lightened, Raph fell to his knees, his breathing rapid from the fight. His eyes were fixated at the floor, as he tried to somehow find out what had actually happened. He had lost control. The fight wasn't even fresh in his memory, all he could remember was bits of the events. Like it had only been a bad dream.

Don placed a hand on Raph's shell, feeling how the turtle's body was trembling. It was too surrealistic.

Michelangelo stood in the doorway to his room, looking at the scene. He had come out upon hearing the commotion, but had stood motionless without knowing what to do throughout the fight. He took a step forward, feeling a knot grow in his throat. The blood on the floor had been dragged out into long trails from the feet running over it. As he looked to Raph, he could see the thin stream of blood running from his neck and land on the floor like drops of water. And Angel? Casey was standing in the way for Mikey to see the slash, but he knew it was there. He could see the bloodstains in Angel's fur, running down her leg.

If it hadn't been for Casey holding her, the feline would have fallen. A sickening feeling made her almost collapse, as the human made her sit down. She slid down the wall, her injured wing leaving red marks on the stone. Her hand reached up to cover for her mouth. It couldn't have been her doing that. She didn't dare look at Raph, afraid that her stomach would turn around at the sight of her friend sitting bleeding on the floor. A sob escaped her throat. It wasn't her intention to hurt him. Suddenly it had just snapped.

As he slowly placed the vase on the floor, Splinter kneeled down to look his son into the eyes. But the turtle instantly avoided his sensei's gaze, closing his eyes and turned his head the other way.