Raphael could feel every eye in the old factory looking at him — and for once, he didn't mind at all.

The Foot contingent were spread out across the weedy concrete yard before the factory; many of the ninja were cleaning their bloodied swords or nursing bullet wounds. A few black vans had pulled up nearby, ready to transport any severely wounded individuals back to the Foot headquarters for immediate treatment.

And of course, to transport Marino.

Raphael pushed the captured man ahead of himself, keeping a tight grip on the cord that bound his hands behind his back. A path had cleared itself through the small sea of black-clad ninja, who parted as they saw their target being marched toward the vehicles. And as they passed, Raphael could feel everyone watching him — realizing that he had captured Marino singlehanded, the whole point of the mission.

It sent a delicious thrill through Raphael. They were seeing that he had earned the right to stand alongside them, and be seen as being a true ninja, not Shredder's pet mutant. They were seeing that he could hold his own.

Marino was cursing and snarling in both Italian and English as Raphael dragged him towards the nearest van. One of the nearby ninja pulled the side door open. When Marino dug his heels into the gravelly ground, Raphael gritted his teeth and gripped the man by the belt, hoisting him an inch or so off his feet. With a loud grunt, he tossed Marino into the van, a spidery mass of limbs covered in blood-spattered Armani.

Raphael glanced briefly over his shoulder at the still-silent ninja watching him, their eyes still taking in the strength he had shown. Then he climbed into the van with his prisoner, and sat silently in the back seat.

Most of the Foot ninja would return the way they had come, but a few rode in the vans with Raphael and Marino. One of them was Karai, although thankfully she chose a different van to ride in. Her expression was stony, but at least she kept any criticisms or predictions to herself.

And Raphael could feel that the scrutiny of the other Foot ninja had not diminished during the ride. Though no one said a word to him — or to each other — he was acutely aware that they were acutely aware of him. A scrap of hope began to build inside him, hope that they were reconsidering what they had believed about him all along.

The vans swerved towards the headquarters, and drew up in front of the entrance. Karai sprang from the passenger seat of one of the vans and swiftly made her way inside — presumably, Raphael thought, to try to minimize his accomplishment before Marino was even in the building. He still had no idea why the woman hated him so much. Granted, she seemed to hate everyone except Master Shredder and Toshiro-sensei, but Raphael seemed to have offended her especially.

He scrambled out of the van, and watched as four genin dragged a screaming Marino out of the side door. The man was doing his damndest to stay inside the van, but the ninja easily extracted him like a nut from a shell. He was still tied up, with blood trickling from where he had strained against the cord. As he looked around, his eyes fell on Raphael, and his face contorted.

"You're dead, monstro!" he bellowed, his eyes glittering feverishly as he looked at Raphael. "Dead!"

Raphael watched as they dragged him into the building, still screaming about revenge against the mutant turtle. Idly his hand went to his sai, and the sticky coating of blood reminded him that he still had to clean it.

"Raphael?"

He stiffened and turned around, his hand clutching his sai harder. But it was only another ninja, who stood very upright as if standing at attention.

"Yeah?" Raphael said.

"Master Shredder orders you to his throne room in one hour's time," the ninja said, reciting the message in a mechanical manner.

Raphael glanced down at his body. Now that the rush of his first successful mission was over, he realized he was dirtier than he had ever been in his entire life. Dried sweat caked his green skin; he was liberally spattered with blood from where Marino's men had gotten too close; and his entire body reeked of the sewers, especially his legs, since the wraps that ran from his feet to his thighs were soaked in filthy, stinking water.

An hour was just long enough for him to shower, clean his sai and start washing his mask and wraps, he decided. He couldn't appear in front of Master Shredder looking — and smelling — the way he did now.

"I'll be there," he said.

His guards were already waiting outside his door when he arrived at his room, even though he hadn't been to bed yet and it was the middle of the night.

One of them grinned as he approached. "Good news, huh?" he said.

"The best," Raphael responded with a small smile. "I got 'im."

"The master's gonna be happy about that."

Yes, he will, Raphael thought as he stepped into his bathroom and flicked on the light. Although one thing did puzzle him — Master Shredder couldn't possibly have known that Raphael would be the one to capture Marino. There had been dozens of ninja there, including Karai. So why had he been summoned when Marino had barely even entered the building?

He mused over it as he stripped off his blood-stained mask and his sewer-drenched wraps, and left them to soak in the sink. His belt was the only one he had, but fortunately it had suffered nothing worse than a few spots of blood. His body was still crusted with various fluids, and it was a relief to step into the shower and begin scrubbing himself furiously, letting the hot soapy water pour over him. Blood and sweat circled down the drain, and Raphael closed his eyes, letting the anxiety he felt flow away with the water as well.

He felt much better when he emerged from the shower, and donned his spare wraps and mask. Then he caught a glimpse of his sai on the table, and remembered that they needed cleaning — desperately. He glanced at the clock on the wall, and saw that he still had enough time to keep his weapons in working order.

When the sai were clean and gleaming once again, Raphael slipped them back into his belt, and left his room behind. His heart was already beating faster as he came closer to Master Shredder's throne room, and he felt a thrill of anticipation at the idea of telling him what had arisen on the mission. Perhaps he would be sent out more often after this, just as he had hoped. He had enjoyed the mission, getting a kind of savage joy from fighting his way through the chaos.

As he stepped into the throne room, he felt a flicker of surprise. Marino was kneeling on the floor in front of Master Shredder, his arms still tightly tied, and the cord pulled down to bind his ankles as well. Someone had stuffed a rag in his mouth. His bloodshot eyes stared frantically at Raphael, as if terrified of the mutant.

Master Shredder rose from his throne, light shining off his steel helmet, and stepped down to face Raphael.

"You have done well, Raphael," he said at last. "You have pleased me greatly."

"Thank you, Master," Raphael said, bowing.

"Karai has told me a great deal about your triumph this evening, and I must say that you fulfilled my directives perfectly."

Karai? Raphael frowned, and his gaze immediately went to the young woman standing at Master Shredder's right side. She was staring blankly ahead, her face as impassive as stone. That couldn't be right, he thought. Karai would never go to such lengths to praise Raphael to her grandfather…

"I hope to use you again in future missions to similar results," Master Shredder said, coming towards Raphael. "But for now, there is something to be done. Consider it a final test of loyalty and obedience."

Raphael blinked.

Shredder's hand dipped down to Raphael's waist, and pulled one of the sai from his belt. He held it out toward the turtle, who slowly took hold of it.

"Execute him," Shredder commanded.