Hello everyone. Sorry this took me two days to update. I was feeling pretty stressed over the past few days, so I decided to take a break. Sorry! But everyone needs a break once in a while. You are all so smart already, that I don't need to tell you what this chapter is going to be about! I hope you all enjoy it, and you won't find out unless you read!
Raph was running as fast as he could go.
He didn't know where he was or what he was running from...but he knew whatever it was, it must be bad.
The floor beneath him and the narrow passageway he seemed to be running through were as black as night. He couldn't see anything, and felt quite uncomfortable not being able to.
The hallway before him seemed to go on forever, reaching out to the infinite edge of the earth and into the void.
Then, he heard footsteps behind him...and they were coming closer. So, Raph tried to speed up his pace.
But the faster he ran, the louder the footsteps became.
Ah, shell, Raph thought to himself. I'm never gonna get away from this thing.
He was breathing heavily and his legs felt like lead. He wanted to drop to the floor and rest, but he couldn't. He didn't know what the shell was behind him, and he didn't really want to know.
"Raph!" someone called from behind him.
Raph knew instantly who that voice belonged to. His eldest brother...Leo.
"Leo!" Raph whipped around, only to find himself staring at the darkness. "Leo! Leo, answer me, bro!" he screamed.
"Raph, help!" Leo's voice yelled again, farther away now.
Raph sprinted in the direction of his brother's voice. He was eager to find him. He knew that Leo needed him.
"Leo, where are ya!?" Raph yelled. "Leo! Leo!"
He continued to run, fearful for Leo. He hoped he could get to him, and he kept running. Even though he was as tired as ever, he was not going to give up on his brother. This was the only chance he's got to rescue him, and he sure as shell wasn't going to let Leo get taken again.
"Leo!" Raph called out again. "Leo! Bro! Say something!"
No response.
"Leo, please!" Raph said.
Then he heard it.
A loud, shrill, painful scream that echoed through the passageway. Raph recognized it instantly as...as Leo's.
He stopped, dead in his tracks, too shocked to do anything.
Leo. What, what happened? Nothing could cause him to scream so loudly...nothing. He, he was their fearless leader. He could take care of himself, couldn't he? No...Leo's in trouble.
Then after a long moment, a cold splash a reality slapped him back in his face, and he continued to sprint towards his brother's cry.
"Leo! Leo, please bro! Where-" he was cut off.
Suddenly, he felt his foot get caught on something, and tripped, only to fall flat on his face. The ground was cold, and it sent chills up his spine.
When he managed to get back up on his feet, something strange happened.
He, he could see. He could see his hands, his legs, and everything around him.
It was like an invisible light shone its way down onto the spot where he was standing. The walls and floor were still black, and when he stared down the narrow hallway, he couldn't see a thing.
But he turned around, looked down at the floor, and saw something that made his mind go completely blank.
He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't even move. It felt as though he was hit by a huge block of stone.
It was something so shocking, that Raph wanted to look away. But, he couldn't.
It was blood. Blood was everywhere, splattered on the walls and the floor. It was Raph's worst nightmare come true, because right in the middle of all of that thick, red liquid, was...was Leo.
There is no way Leo could survive with losing that much of his blood. No possible way...Raph knew, he just knew, that Leo was dead. He couldn't even see him breathing. Leo was motionless, his lifeless body sprawled out on the floor right in front of him.
If only he had gotten there sooner. If only he had turned around fast enough. If only...if only...
All Raph could do was crash down to the floor next to his older brother, and start to cry.
He cried and cried until he felt as though he could cry no more. It felt as though he was going to be sick.
"L-Leo..." Raph managed to whimper. "I- I failed ya, b-bro. I- I couldn't get th- there fast enough...I- I was just too- too late..."
Raph couldn't believe what was happening. He just lost his eldest brother. He just lost the one who he played games and trained with. He just lost the one who would stay up late at night with him when he wanted to practice. He just lost the one who was always fearless and who was the team's leader. He just lost the one who would give anything and everything to protect him. He just lost his best friend. He just lost, he just lost Leo...
Raph knew it was his fault. It was his fault that Leo died. If only he had gotten there fast enough, maybe he would still be alive...
He couldn't take it anymore. Losing Leo...it was more than he could ever handle on his own.
"Leo!" he screamed loudly as he threw his hands up in the air.
-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMTNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-
Then, all of a sudden, Raph sat bolt upright, finding himself staring at his younger brother, Donnie.
"Donnie! Donnie, where, where am I!? Where's Leo!?" Raph frantically questioned.
He didn't know what happened or where he was, but all he knew was that he had to get back to Leo.
"Raph! Raph, calm down," Donnie said in a reassuring voice. "You're in my lab, and everything is okay now. I was in the kitchen when I heard you screaming and I thought something was wrong, so I sprinted back in here, only to find you still sleeping. Then I realized that you were having one terrible nightmare, bro, so I woke you up," Donnie finished.
"But, but Leo..." Raph trailed off.
"Was that what it was about, Raph? Did- did you see something about Leo?" Donnie questioned.
"It- it was so real, Donnie," Raph said in a shaky tone.
Donnie was very surprised by this. Raph never, and I mean never, opened up like this about one of his dreams, especially with him.
"I- I was runnin' down a narrow hallway, and it was black. I couldn't see nothin'. Then I heard Leo's voice and- and he needed help. So, I ran in his direction, and then...and then," Raph couldn't finish.
Donnie could tell this was really troubling Raph, so he sat down next to him and said, "Take your time, Raph. It's okay. You can tell me."
With a reassuring comment from his younger brother, Raph then continued, "And then Leo screamed. He screamed so loud, Donnie...I never heard anything like it. And then I started to run in that direction again, because I knew Leo was hurt. And I tripped over somethin'...little did I know it was, it was..." again, Raph was speechless. He held his head down, too scared to say it.
"It was Leo," Donnie finished, for he knew the answer, even though Raph never told him.
"Ya, Donnie. It was Leo. There- there was so much blood, Donnie. So much of his blood...I knew he was dead. He had to be. No one could survive like that. And then I just, I just lost it. I started to cry, and then I screamed his name...and then I woke up," Raph said, his voice now as shaky as ever.
Raph would normally just shake the whole thing off and act like it was nothing, but with Leo and Mikey taken by the Shredder...this dream felt more real to him than any other. Ya, he's had nightmares before, but nothing was this realistic. He never felt this way before, and he just wanted it all to stop.
He wanted his brothers back, and he wanted them now more than ever.
But, he was so hurt by all of this, that he couldn't even prepare himself for what he did next.
Raph just cried. He cried and cried, and he didn't even care if Donnie saw him. He just wanted to let it all out at that point. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted his family back...he wanted Leo and Mikey back.
Donnie was totally taken aback by all of this. Raph has never cried before, at least not in front of his brothers, most importantly, him.
This must be harder on Raph than he thought it was. Ya, Raph always acted like the toughest one on the team, and he was. He was really good at hiding his emotions to his brothers.
But this...this was something else. Donnie thought that this must be his breaking point. Raph always manages to find a way not to show his feelings, but apparently, it all got to him, and he had no choice but to let it all out now.
Donnie felt so bad for Raph, like so, so bad. He has never seen his older brother act like this before, and he wanted to help.
So, he embraced his older brother in a hug, which took Raph a little bit by surprise, but kept crying anyways, actually finding the hug to be quite comforting.
So there they sat, hugging one another until Raph's torment of crying went away, and he started to re-gain his confidence.
"D- Donnie?" Raph asked, through sniffles.
"What is it Raph?" Donnie said.
"How- how are ya not affected by this? How do- do ya go on everyday?" Raph stated, rather than questioned.
Donnie really didn't know how to answer that question. How did he go on? Of course, he was obviously affected by it all, and he wanted his brothers back more than ever...but how did he do it?
Then it came to him.
"I hope, Raph," Donnie answered. "I hope that Leo and Mikey will come back to us. I just hope," Donnie finished, which made Raph's face darken a little bit.
"Ya know, I- I should be there for you, not the opposite. I- I'm sorry Donnie..." Raph trailed off.
"No, Raph. Don't be sorry... Do you know why?" Donnie said to his older brother.
"No," Raph said, looking up to him.
"Because we are there for each other...always, Raph. We are always there for each other, like I am for you, and you are for me."
Well, I hoped you all liked it! I decided to make the chapter mostly about Raph, since he's my second most favorite turtle (Leo is my first XD), but you have to give me credit for adding some Donnie in there. I also wanted some Donnie and Raph fluff too, and I won't know if I did a good job unless some people start reviewing! And I want to thank all of the people who have reviewed, thank you so much for all of the amazing comments you have given me! I love them! Thanks for reading and I'll update ASAP. Thanks!