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Chapter 03

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"What're ya goin' soft on me?"

He gave Casey the slightest turn of his head as he said it, and then his attention went forward. The Foot soldiers were making tracks and Raphael didn't want too much distance to get between them. Hours had passed now since he'd stormed off during the topside training session with his brothers, but he was still feeling pretty pissed.

Casey, though following behind, argued the point. "I jus' think maybe we could let it go man. Jus' feels weird, is all. I mean, we were kickin' ass an' all, but they still outnumbered us. Why would they jus' run off all'a the sudden?"

If Raphael heard, he made no indication. The night was cool and there was a slight wind. There are ever so few perfect nights for a fight. There are some times that the weather is just right, but it's more than that, he thought. The city was loud, full of static, burning with intensity… he could feel it. His senses were on point tonight, every nerve felt like it was on fire. Leo had been on his case for days now and their argument hours earlier tonight had sent him boiling over with rage. No better outlet for that aggression than crushing a few bad guys. Oh yeah, he was feeling it tonight. Those Foot assholes were going to wish they hadn't screwed with him.

"Raph! 'ey man! Hold up!" Casey was doing his best, but that damn turtle was too fast. Struggling to keep up, he followed to the next rooftop – and tripped in the process.

"WhaaAAAAAAHHHHH!"

SMASH! …clunk. Raphael, who'd been ignoring the human up until now, snapped back, concerned. "Case!? You a'right!?" No answer. Raphael was running back now.

Raphael peered over the side of the roof – two stories up – and saw something moving in the garbage below. Shit, he thought, heading down the fire escape, well, he's movin', so he must still be alive. Still, a two story drop could mess someone up pretty bad. He hurried down.

"Hey Case! You alive?"

"…uuuuuuhhhhnnnn…"

"Casey! C'mon man, are ya with me?" The turtle reached into the garbage pile and pulled out an arm. Out came the renegade hockey player, bruised and dazed, but otherwise still together. "…ooohhhhh… what the hell just happened…?"

"Yer dumb ass just took a two story drop, dipshit." Relieved but now annoyed, Raphael continued, "aaaaaand… now those Foot soldiers are miles away. So thanks a lot, sidekick." He helped Casey to his feet.

"You're the sidekick," Casey managed, holding his head with one hand, "sidekicks are always the goofy green alien-looking guys… us heroes are the rugged manly types. Ugh. Feel like I been hit by a truck."

"Yeah, well, ya look like it too," Raphael countered. "An' for tha' record, I may be green, but I ain't goofy OR an alien – you must be confusin' me with Mikey."

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Back on the roof Raphael was restless. Crouching, he perched on the edge, looking out for any source of excitement. He looked over at Casey, covered in cuts and bruises. It was a goddamn miracle the guy hadn't broken his neck. Whatta klutz.

"You look like hell," Raph smirked.

"Yeah, I feel pretty shitty…" Casey stretched, rubbing a bruise. "But I'm tellin' ya, it felt like something hit my foot and tripped me up back there."

"Right. Most likely yer otha' foot."

"Naw, man, I'm serious. Somebody coulda' been tailin' us."

"If ya noticed, Casey, the Foot were in front of us, not behind. An' thanks to yer clubfoot, now they ain't even that." Still smirking, Raph went on, "Huh. Shoulda' jus' left ya there and kept goin'."

Casey shrugged, smiling and clapping Raphael on the back. "We'll get 'em next time, buddy." Casey stood up. "Ah, I guess I should call it a night. Ape's already pissed at me for stayin' out so late all week... she's gonna flip when she sees how beat up I look." Sheepishly, he went on, "So, yeah, uh, if you could not mention to April that I fell offa' roof tonight? That'd also save me an earful later."

"Heh. Yeah, well, only if you promise not to tell the wife you saw me tonight." Casey chuckled. 'The wife'….guess he and Leo are at it again. Some things never change.

"Ah, hell, guess I'll give it up tonight myself." Raph said, but he knew it was a lie the second it left his lips. The last place he wanted to be was home right now, and he needed to burn off some of this unspent adrenaline he'd worked up earlier.

"Awright man, I'll hit ya up tomorrow night or somethin'," Casey turned and hobbled off towards home. Yeah right, by the way he's movin', Raphael thought, he's gonna be pretty useless for the next week. Well, that sucked. It was always better having Casey around when Raph felt like picking a fight. Casey wasn't nearly as skilled a fighter as his brothers, but he could definitely hold his own. When he wasn't falling off of a roof, that was.

Raphael sat for a while on the rooftop, listening to the city. He breathed in deep. He closed his eyes, replaying the earlier events of that evening in his head.

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The training session was not going well. Raphael was exhausted and it showed. He knew that he was making mistakes, and what's worse, he knew that Leo could tell. They raced across the rooftops, following Leonardo to a deserted part of town. Most of the buildings on this side were condemned and had been so for years, so it made a pretty good place to train without the fear of being seen.

Leonardo slowed to a stop, turning then to face the others. As Mike and Don joined him, Leo said, "Let's break here and do some sparring practice."

Raphael was panting more heavily than the others. "What's the matter, Raph, having trouble keeping up?" Leonardo's voice sounded stern.

"Can it Leo. I'm jes' a little tired is all."

"Mmm. Can't imagine why. But hey, I'm sure if the Foot were to show up right now, you could just explain to them that you're tired. I'm sure they'd take it easy on you." His arms crossed and his posture changed, entering the 'lecture' pose.

"I swear ta god, Leo, do not start in with yer shit tonight. I ain't in the mood for this."

Leo turned towards the two younger turtles. "Don, Mike – you two go ahead and begin," he pulled out his katanas and crouched into a fighting stance. "You. Come at me." He narrowed his eyes, looking at Raphael.

With a sardonic grin Raphael armed himself. "Huh. With pleasure."

They traded blows for a while. Raphael was keeping up fairly well, but he was still more sluggish than usual. Leo wasn't about to take it easy on him though, and he knew it.

"Heard you come in last night," Leo's katana blocked an oncoming sai. "or, this morning, rather."

Raphael said nothing, catching the butt of Leo's sword in his side with a grunt.

"Well?"

"Guess I was sleepwalkin'." Goddamnit, can't get a moment's peace, he thought.

"Oh, right. So maybe we should start locking your door from the outside every night. I could get Donnie to put the lair on lockdown, you know." Leo moved in for the kill. "You want to try telling me that it's not affecting your training now?" He threw his weight towards Raphael, knocking him backwards.

He saw Raphael stiffen up; yep, that struck a nerve. He knew Raph hated getting shown up in practice, and Leo was being especially hard on him tonight.

"Don wouldn't do that, and besides, I can be more persuasive than you can," he growled, thinking about what he'd do to Don if he actually did lock Raph in. "So I'm havin' a bad day, s'nothin' to get yerself all worked up about."

"Been a lot of 'bad days' lately, little brother. Your lack of seriousness in your training is becoming a burden to us. How the hell am I supposed to lead this team when one element constantly defies my orders?"

Ha, 'little brother'…twist the knife, Mr. high-and-mighty. He exploded. "Yeah, well Leo, you SUCK at being the leader, and you SUCK as a brotha'." His sais clashed against Leo's katana with a loud clang. "Now get outta my fuckin' FACE!" He pushed Leo back hard, his eyes daring him to return the favor.

Leonardo, his eyes fixed on Raphael's, lowered his voice. "Go ahead and get yourself killed if you want then. That's one thing. Hell, get me killed, if that's what you really want. But what about your brothers, or Master Splinter? April or Casey? Just try to imagine what it would be like if one of them had to pay for your carelessness."

Raphael threw his sais to the ground and lunged at Leonardo. Before Leo had time to react, Raph's fist connected with his jaw, sending Leo backwards. Damn… didn't… didn't expect him to move so fast… Rubbing his jaw, Leo looked up at his brother and their eyes met. Without a word, Raphael turned, scooped up both sais and took off.

"Raphael!" Leo called after him, but he knew Raph wouldn't stop. Leo didn't really feel like going after him, either. Whatever. Let him go off and pout, then.

They didn't hear from Raphael again until much later that night; little did they all know how that call was going to change their lives forever.

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Remembering, Raphael felt the anger sweep over him all over again. Casey was long gone now and the night was waning. Friggin' Leo. His head hurt from the frustration. If I was leadin' this team we'd be seein' a lot more action, that's fer sure. An' on that note…

Raphael stood up. He was tired of thinking about Leo, and he was tired of thinking in general. It was time to get some exercise. He flexed, getting ready to break into a sprint. Suddenly, as he was contemplating which route to take, he caught movement to his right. Before his head had fully turned in that direction, his sais were both out of his belt and firmly grasped in each hand. Probably just a cat. His eyes squinted, looking for whatever it was. Not seeing anything right away, he slipped into the shadows, and slowly advanced in that direction.

He reached the area where he thought he'd seen something, but there was nothing there now. Ah, who'm I kiddin'. Now I'm seein' things. Then he saw it. One lone Foot soldier, crouched, unmoving and watching him, further away along the roof. What the hell?

"Well, look what we got here. You must be lost or somethin'." Raphael raised his sais and began running towards the Foot soldier. The Foot immediately took off running in the opposite direction. Heh, I love it when they run, thought Raphael. Just one guy, but it could still be fun. Maybe tonight wasn't going to be a total bust after all. I almost feel sorry for the guy. A satisfied grin crept up as he gave chase. Almost.

Rooftop to rooftop, Raphael pursued. The Foot soldier was fast, but he was steadily gaining on him. Eventually there was no place left to go. The Foot grunt was backed against a brick wall, too high to climb, and no real escape on either side. Raphael stopped, walking slowly towards his prey. Maybe it was the satisfaction of the hunt, of the impending fight to come, that caused him to let his guard down.

"Nowhere left to run," he growled sadistically, "looks like you ended up in tha' wrong place at tha' wrong time, buddy." Raphael entered his stance and made ready to strike. That's when he realized his mistake.

Foot soldiers came pouring over the wall in droves. Raph took a step back and glanced behind him. More were climbing up onto the roof from below. A quick assessment told him around fifty enemies total – he was totally outnumbered. Of course it was a trap. One Foot soldier, leading me in… I am so fucking stupid. He just had enough time to hit the panic button before the first wave hit.

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