okey dokey! here's the next chapter to Loneliness! as promised, this is an almost completely Raphael chapter, with just a little bit of Leo later on. sorry all my chapters are so short :/ i try to make them the same length and they started out short, i think the next one is longer though! enjoy and please please review!
Raph sighed, he had decided to look for Mikey after a few years of living in exile...he had started somewhere in the rocky mountains, he learned that from some random billboard. The red masked turtle had just gotten sick of living in caves, even the farmhouse had been better than that, the only problem was Raph knew the Rocky Mountains were in the west, the farmhouse and New York were in the east, so he had to cross the country again. It would be worth it, though, once he found his brother and made things right. Raph frowned, stopping for a moment, what if Mikey hated him? What if he was- no. Raph wouldn't allow himself to think like that, he would apologize to Mikey, and then what? He couldn't go face Leo again, and not Donnie either. The only reason he thought he could face Mikey was the special bond he'd had with his younger brother since they were little.
Raph frowned, looking around, he was currently somewhere between Colorado and New York, he had located a nearly deserted highway to travel next to, with only the occasional vehicle to let him know it was still in use. He had passed a sign a few days ago that told him he was in Wisconsin, making Raphael think he was a little too far north. The red masked turtle started walking again, glancing at the sky to make sure he was going east instead of north, he was an idiot and he knew it. If he wasn't an idiot he wouldn't have led to the destruction of his family. Raph sighed as he walked, this really was all his fault, but if he knew his brothers they'd all be blaming themselves right about now, except maybe Mikey.
Without thinking, Raph began to whistle. He was walking and bored, so he might as well do something. Not that whistling was completely fun and entertaining, but hey, when in the last three years had that been true about his life? If you didn't count surfing on rockslides. The red masked turtle took out his sai and stared at it. He had let it grow dulls and slightly rusted since he left, and he'd lost the other one when he fell off the top of a train into the Mississippi river. Well, it was more a jump because he was bored, but it wasn't his fault the impact made his sai get lost. With a sigh he tucked it back into his worn belt and scanned the road for any signs telling him where he was. Finally, he spotted one. It said something like Milwaukee, and Lake Michigan. Was he really near the great lakes already? He wasn't a geography geek or anything, but he knew that meant he had almost crossed Wisconsin. The sign said the lake was a hundred miles along the road he was on, and Raphael was sure he'd get there today, mostly because he spotted a large semi-truck. The red masked turtle took a running jump off the edge of the road, which was higher than the road, and landed softly on the top of the vehicle. Raph settled down to wait, laying flat and gripping the metal so he didn't go flying off, and kept watch for any more signs.
Raphael found himself waking up as the truck came to a halt, and he crouched to look around. The truck was in an abandoned looking warehouse garage, and Raphael felt a chill go down his shell. The door to the cab opened and he crept to the edge, jaw dropping. Kraang? Here? Impossible! The driver then walked around the truck and opened the back, Raph glanced out a window of the warehouse to see a bustling city. The date on the billboard told him he had slept through the night, and that he was in Chicago. He was more concerned about this kraang droid, was it alone? The answer came immediately. Nope. as Raph watched in horror, a small army of Kraang droids climbed out of the truck.
"This is the place that will do nicely for the rebuilding of the rebuilt plan of the kraang invasion." one stated in the broken speech of the kraang.
"Agreed, Kraang." another said, "it is far from the place called New York and the ones called the turtles." Raph gripped his sai, it may be dull but blunt force was one of the best forces. He grinned at his own joke and launched himself off the top of the truck, impaling two kraang with the one sai. It took them by surprise and he yelled in triumph, swinging around to stab a few more. And...this is where another sai would come in handy. Maybe he'd be able to find a weapons depot in this city. Sure, he could never replace the sai his father had given him when he turned twelve, but he needed a weapon. In his distraction, a Kraang had loaded and aimed his phaser. Raph's eyes widened when he spotted him pull the trigger, and he rolled away, landing a few feet away from the scorched mark on the ground.
Apparently, doing a few katas every day didn't help your reflexes, he made a mental note to find something fun to do that would. In moments, Raphael had smashed every kraang bot into the ground, and sent the brainy toy surprise scuttling away in terror. He stood back in satisfaction before walking to the truck and peering inside, his jaw dropped. Hundreds of canisters of mutagen had somehow been inside with the many kraang droids. That would have been really bad. for the first time since he'd left, Raphael wondered if it had been a good thing. He quickly dismissed that thought however, nothing would be better if he'd just never killed his brother. The red masked turtle froze, that was the first time he'd acted sure that his brother was dead, was he? It seemed impossible to him that Leo would survive, especially with Don in the state he'd been in. Raph and Leo had pretended not to notice the growing paranoia their brainy little brother was showing. Remembering that from years ago just added weight to the guilt on Raphael's shoulders.
Now there was the question of what to do with all this mutagen, Raph inspected the canisters. Returning to New York was out of the question, and besides, how could he be sure his family hadn't regrouped without him and hated his guts? Raph sighed, looking at his hands.
"This sucks." he uttered aloud, jumping. Was that his voice? He hadn't heard it in days, even weeks, in fact, when was the last time he'd spoken actual words aloud? He honestly couldn't remember. "Kraang in Chicago." yes, that was definitely him, so why did his own voice surprise him? He sounded...like Slash. Low and gravelly, like he hadn't had any water for weeks, come to think of it, Raph realized, he hadn't had something to drink for a few days. This discovery made him concerned, because he couldn't remember when he last ate, his muscles were smaller than usual, and he was thin. With a groan Raph slapped his forehead. Why did he have to be such an idiot? Without his brothers reminding him to do things, and with him travelling everywhere, he hadn't remembered to do the basic things to take care of himself. He leaned against the wall of the truck and frowned. He could leave this here, lock it up, and go find some food. Then he could come back and figure out what to do with the ooze. Nodding in agreement with himself Raphael pulled the back of the truck down and latched it before slipping into the shadows and out of the building.
Leonardo scowled, face screwing up in concentration. The kraang had left earth, why had he been seeing images like this? And why was Raphael of all people in his meditative dream? unless...Leo's eyes snapped open. Unless the kraang were back somewhere, and Raphael had found them. The idea seemed ridiculous, even impossible, but was it right? If so, Raph was in danger, and he hadn't gone home yet. The place he'd seen wasn't New York, it was Chicago, but what was Leo supposed to do? He was in self induced exile until he died, and he couldn't very well go back now.
But, Casey had seen him. And if Casey was still Casey he'd tell Donnie, and if Donnie was still Donnie… Leo hesitated. His younger brother had been terrified of being abandoned, Leo's heard him cry out in his sleep after Raph left. And he had cursed his brother to a life alone, unless their brothers came back. And if Raph hadn't...what of Mikey? Leo had no clue where Michelangelo was, let alone if Donatello was still sane, much less if they wanted him back. As a failure of a leader and brother, Leo was sure his brothers would be best off without him. Raphael could handle kraang, he was stronger than Leo, he'd proved it that night. Leo let go of the resentment that suddenly pierced him. He'd known goading Raph into a fight was a bad idea, yet he'd done it anyway, this was his fault and the blame belonged to no one else. With that in his head, Leo closed his eyes and continued his meditation.
ahh! the kraang! hehehe. i hope you enjoyed this chapter, i know i enjoyed writing it! thanks for reading this far and please review! the next chapter is a mostly B-team chapter with, again, just a little bit of Leonardo!