The Frenemy

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE FRANCHISE, THIS IS STRICTLY JUST A FANFIC!

2 ~ A Hard Day's Night

"AGAIN!" Splinter ordered. The four mutant brothers groaned. "Sensei," Leonardo, the oldest, sighed. "We've been practicing the same moves for almost an hour, can't we rest for just a minute?" He pleaded.

The elderly rat shook his head and rested his palm on his snout. "Guys, let's not forget that we got our asses kicked by the Shredder." Raphael recalled.

The three other brothers whipped their heads in Raph's direction. "I can't believe it," Donatello raised his non-existent eyebrows. "Raphael isn't complaining-for the first time!" Raph rolled his eyes at the sarcastic remark and approached Leonardo.

"And might I remind you, Raph, that that happened FOUR months ago!" Leo objected. Raphael opened his mouth to tell his brother off but was quickly cut short. "That's a poor excuse, my son." Splinter admitted, appearing behind Leo and Raphael. He rested his paws on both their shoulders.

The two brothers never seemed to get along ever since Leonardo was chosen as leader of the group. Leo had tried his best to bury the hatchet, but Raphael wouldn't budge. Of course that's usually how Raphael is.

"At any giving moment that you four are up there, the Shredder can reappear and challenge you again. We can't let history repeat." You could hear the sadness in Splinter's voice. He spun around and took a deep breath, then turned towards the four mutants that stood before him.

"You may rest." Their sensei announced. He disappeared out of the room in a swift motion, it almost seemed like an illusion.

Leonardo turned to Raphael, who was leaning up against the wall clutching a magazine to his face. Leo charged over to where his brother stood and snatched the magazine.

"What the hell man?!" Raph whined. "How can you agree with sensei?" Leonardo hollered. Raphael pushed past his brother and picked up his sai from the floor.

"I understand that Shredder could've killed us-" "THAT'S EXACTLY MY POINT!" Raph debated. "We could've died! We can't let that happen again." He tossed his sai to the floor and crossed his arms.

Donatello and Mikey, the youngest, quietly observed the argument from a far distance. "And for that reason, I think that we should use the time we have now training for our next battle." Raph declared.

"And when is that gonna be?" Leo testified. Donny sighed and rested his head in his hands. Mikey wrapped his arms around his knees and looked away. It wasn't the first time the two bickered, but it was hard for the other two to adjust to it.

"If we stay cooped up here training, we may never battle again." The oldest turtle assured. Donny and Mikey both looked up to see Raphael's facial reaction. He just seemed stiff, like always.

"He's got a point, Raph." Donatello joined in. Raphael stared at his little brother with sharp daggers. "We've been training for months. How are we gonna know if we're good enough if we don't go up and try?" Donny reasoned.

Raphael looked at Mikey, waiting for his opinion. Mikey stared hard at the floor, avoiding Raph's stare. He looked back at his other brothers, who were also looking away.

"You can all rot in hell!" Raphael blasted, before storming out of the room. Splinter reappeared shortly after Raphael had left. The three look up at their master, with concerned eyes.

"He'll get over it." Splinter reassured his sons. "He doesn't take defeat very well." The three turtles nodded in agreement. Leo stared at the front door, as if he was waiting for it to swing open and Raphael would appear good as new. 'Why does he hate me so much?' He wondered.

"Oroku Saki is giving you time to think about all of this before you make any final moves, so at least you have something to celebrate." Casey Jones reassured his best friend, resting a hand on her knee.

Elisa let out a humorless chuckle and met his gaze, quickly breaking it after what seemed like five minutes. She always had a huge crush on Casey, but forced herself out of it as soon as she entered 'the friend zone.'

"I don't feel like celebrating. I don't like this deal one bit, I feel my stomach do somersaults even thinking about it." Elisa stated, shaking her head. She looked out at the starry setting. It had been two days since Shredder offered her the deal.

"Well with or without Oroku, we're gonna find Dylan." Casey declared. He adjusted his pearly white mask and began to fiddle with his fingernails, an in breakable habit.

"Okay, enough with the mask." His best friend demanded. He looked up and grinned. "It's not like I haven't seen your face before." She continued, shaking her head.

They were sitting by the window sill of Casey's apartment, watching the life of Manhattan go by. There wasn't much to see at this time of night, just a few stray cats digging in garbage cans trying to find a scrap for the night and a few chavs loitering outside the complex.

Casey took off his mask, revealing a pair of electric blue eyes and neatly combed, shoulder
length black hair. He was very handsome, according to Elisa of course. His face was always very well shaved and he had a cleft in his chin which Elisa found adorable.

"Happy now?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow. Elisa bit her lip and ran a hand through his jet black hair. She quickly looked away as soon as she heard him chuckle.

"So back to our depressing topic of the day," Casey said breaking the silence. Elisa met his gaze with concerned eyes. "What're you gonna do?" He asked. Elisa threw her head in her hands and groaned.

Casey stroked his friend's back, comfortingly. Elisa looked up at him again, running a hand through her corkscrew brown hair. "Go with it, I guess." She shrugged. Casey raised both eyebrows at her. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Wow," He murmured. Elisa furrowed her eyebrows at him. "I never thought you'd actually go through with this-" "Hey," She cut him off. "Let's not forget, I'm doing this for my brother." She reminded him, using a sharp tone.
The droplets of rain began to play a beat on the window, catching Elisa's attention.

"He's gotta be out there." She whispered.

**********
Meanwhile...

Raphael sat at the very edge of the roof of an apartment complex, letting droplets of rain descend upon him. "Why does everyone have to agree with Leo?" He wondered aloud. "He's like the fucking golden child of the family." Raph observed.

Ever since Master Splinter chose Leonardo to be the leader, Raphael lost all respect for his brother. He felt as if the whole world turned on him, including his brothers. Everyone "worshiped" Leo, everyone followed his orders, and everyone agreed with him no matter what the situation was.

Raphael let out a sigh, he was hurt. He was an expert at disguising his true feelings, especially when he was hurt. That's mostly why he was angry all the time, he was too afraid to reveal how he really felt.

A distant but loud scream broke Raph away from his thoughts. "LEAVE ME ALONE! STOP FOLLOWING ME!" A feminine voice begged. Raphael looked down trying to find where the voice was coming from. There! Just below where Raph sat was a young woman surrounded by three well dressed men-Kraang.

Raph watched closely as the men drew closer to the girl. Raphael slowly and carefully slid down from the edge of the roof where he sat, landing on the escape ladder of a nearby window.

He was only three apartments away from the ground. He quickly climbed down from the ladder and leaped to the next emergency escape. He repeated the pattern till' he reached the ground.

"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T KNOW WHO APRIL IS. JUST STOP FOLLOWING ME, PLEASE!" The helpless dame pleaded. Raphael approached one of the four quietly, sai in each hand.

"We will not rest until we find the one in which you call April." One of the Kraang revealed. "Why don't you leave the girl alone, unless you want some real trouble?" Raph quipped. The four spun around quickly.

The girl let out a sigh of relief. Raphael stood in full fighting stance, ready for the Kraang to attack but instead they quietly stepped away from the young woman.

The three disappeared into the night, leaving Raphael extremely confused. "Well...that was unusually easy." Raphael commented. The girl ran a hand through her dark brown, corkscrew curls. "Thank God." She panted. "Hey!" Raph whined, facing the young woman "That was too easy!" He repeated.

The girl shrugged, "At least you didn't get hurt, I mean those guys are pretty serious." She said, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand. "I'm Elisa." She held out her hand. Raph grabbed her hand gently and shook it, still distracted by the previous scene.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Raph-Raphael." He replied, still looking around hoping to see another Kraang-bot. Elisa shook her head in disbelief. 'This guy seriously doesn't take defeat very well, considering there was no battle at all.'

Raphael finally gave Elisa his undivided attention. "Why are you out here anyways? Do you know how dangerous-" "How dangerous it can be for someone as delicate as me to go strolling in the streets of Manhattan at this time of night- yes I understand." Elisa sighed, exasperatedly.

Raphael threw his ends up in defense. "Didn't mean to press, I was just concerned." Raph reassured her. The rain began to pick up, descending even harder. "We better get going, before you get sick." He grabbed her wrist and pulled into the nearest building.

Once they were inside, Elisa wrapped her arms around herself. Raph rested his hands behind his head and sighed. "Do you have a place to stay?" He asked, meeting her gaze. Eliza quickly turned away and bit her lip. She felt a knot form in her throat. Her and her brother had been foster kids for as long as she can remember.

That's why she was so determined on finding Dylan. They had been tossed around from one orphanage to another, then finally became foster kids. That didn't change anything, no one really cared about them. Dylan had been missing for five years and their foster family couldn't give a rat's ass.

"Elisa?" Raphael'a voice pulled her away from her thoughts. She quickly wiped her tear tracks and turned towards him. "No actually, well, I was staying with a friend but-" "I know we just met but if you need a place to stay, you can bunk with me and my brothers for the night." Raph offered.

Even though Raphael was an asshole 99% of the time, he spent the 1% of kindness mostly towards girls. Elisa hesitated for a moment. "It's just for one night, I'm not proposing." Raph joked. Elisa smiled nervously, then nodded slowly. "Okay." She replied.

Leo continued to stare at the front door. "Is it just me or has April being acting kind of distant recently?" Donatello asked, leaning against the kitchen table. Mikey chewed viciously on the slice of pizza in his hand. "What do you mean?" He responded.

Donny shrugged, "I don't know, she's just..not herself recently. Haven't you noticed?" Mikey shook his head. He opened the pizza box and licked his lips. "Alright, did everyone eat, cause I spy one last slice of pizza with my name written all over it." Mikey announced. "Leo?"

Leonardo was frozen by the door, staring at it. Donatello sighed, he had been standing there since Raphael stormed out. "He's gonna come back." He reassured his older brother. Leo sighed and plopped down on the couch.

Donny grabbed the last slice of pizza, placing it on a plate and walked over to Leo. "Cheer up," He said handing him the plate. "You know Raph doesn't hate you, he's just worried that's all." Donny always had a way of making things seem less complicated.

Leo forced a smile and chomped down on the slice of pizza. Master Splinter strolled into the living room. "Still not here?" He asked. Mikey and Donatello shook their heads in response. Splinter let out an exasperated sigh. "We're gonna have a serious talk when he arrives." He mumbled.

And as if on cue, the front door swung open and Raphael appeared with Elisa behind him. The three turtles let out a sigh of relief and got up to greet their brother. "Where've you been, man?" Mikey asked, greeting his brother with a slap on the back.

"Don't worry about it." Raph replied. He cleared his throat as soon as Splinter appeared before him. "Uh, this is Elisa. We met outside one of the apartment complexes." Raphael stepped to the side, revealing a soaking wet Elisa.

"Hi." She whispered. Donny raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I'm Donatello and this is our littlest brother Mikey." He said, gesturing to his brother who was trying his best not to laugh.

"Hey!" Raphael spat. "It's not like that, she was attacked by the Kraang." He explained. The three turtles gasped in awe and crowded the two. "Well, not really attacked." Elisa corrected him, rolling her eyes. She never liked being the center of attention.

Master Splinter cleared his throat. The four brothers stepped to the side, giving their father some room. "You're welcome to stay as long as you wish, the Kraang are serious business and we shouldn't risk sending you up there again... Not until we know its safe." Splinter said.

Elisa rubbed the back of her neck. "I just need some rest, it's been a long day." She sighed. "Of course, you can bunk in my room." Leonardo offered. Raphael rolled his eyes. "No Leo, don't sacrifice your room, she'll sleep in my room." He said, emotionless.

"It's really not that big of a deal, really, I'll just sleep on the couch." Elisa decided. "No it's fine, I don't sleep anyways." Raph insisted causing Elisa to smile. She cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her soaking wet hair.

She turned to Splinter. "Um, is it okay if I shower?" She asked, ever so politely. Master Splinter smiled warmly. "Of course, I'll show you where it is." He led Elisa out of the room.

Raphael turned towards his brothers and sighed happily. Donatello and Mikey burst into laughter as soon as Splinter and Elisa disappeared from sight. "So?" Donny pressed. "Who's the chick?" Mikey nudged Raph.

"It's not that serious, she was getting cornered by the Kraang so I decided to help her out." Raph explained. Leonardo scratched the back of his head. "I-we were worried about you." He revealed.

Raphael raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?" He challenged. "Cause given by the way you, the leader of our group, turned on me I would've expected you to throw a party while I was gone." Leonardo scoffed. "Whatever." He murmured, walking away.

"On a more important note, where's Spike?" Raphael headed for the kitchen table. "Raph," Donny sighed. "Hey, did you guys feed him while I was gone? He can't go an hour without-" "RAPH!" Donny shouted. Raphael turned around and crossed his arms.

"What?" He responded. "Don't you see how hard Leo is trying?" Donny said, gesturing to the door leading to Leo's room. Raphael shrugged, turning back around to pet Spike, who was nibbling on a piece of celery.

"Ever since Splinter chose him o be leader, you've been treating him like-" "Shit." Mikey finished the sentence while he set up his video game. "Yeah." Donny raised his eyebrows at Mikey, given that he's never cursed a day in his life. He was the most laid back out of the four, you wouldn't really expect that from him also since he was the youngest.

"Your point being?" Raph said in an uninterested tone. Donny mopped his forehead with his palm. "Raph, Leo's trying to make peace with you but you keep pushing him away." Mikey asserted.

Raph sighed, letting his shoulders drop. "It's really not a big issue, I'll talk to him in the morning if it bothers him that much. Let's just drop it for now, 'kay?" He suggested.

Donny threw his hands into the air. He had given up trying to make things work between his two brothers. Mikey simply shook his head and began his video game.

Raphael held out his hand, allowing Spike to crawl up onto his hand and climb onto his shoulder.

Elisa reappeared into the room, wrapped in a robe and her hair tied up in a bun, looking less stressed than before. "Hey," She greeted, sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs.

Raphael glanced at her, before heading towards the couch. "You okay?" Elisa asked in a concerned tone. "I'm just peachy, can we just let it go please?" Raph begged.

Elisa shrugged innocently, "You just seem...tense." She said. Raphael glanced at her, gesturing her to take a seat next to him. "Everything's just been tense lately, between me and my brother. Kinda seems like we aren't brothers anymore." Raphael looked down at his hands.

Elisa tilted her head in an observant way. She wasn't really a peacemaker but she knew how to give advice and when to give it.

"Look, I may not know you very well but you seem like a cool guy." This caused Raphael to look up at her. His emerald eyes met with her light hazel brown eyes. "I'm sure whatever you have going on with your brother will clear up before you know it." Elisa reassured the mutant.

She smiled, revealing a dimple in her right cheek. Raphael broke their gaze, turning towards the TV. Mikey was playing some racing game, as usual. He looked up at Leonardo's door and sighed.

"At least you have a brother-brothers." Elisa said, breaking the silence. Raphael looked back at Elisa. She cleared her throat and began to twirl a strand of hair around her index finger.

"My little brother, Dylan, has been missing for almost five years now." Elisa fixed her gaze on the 8-bit graphics of the video game Mikey was playing.

"Sometimes I wonder if he really is out there... It almost seems like it's all a dream and one day I'll eventually wake up and everything will go back to normal...whatever normal is."