A/N: When you're working on a story so long, you start to hate it...I don't like being at such a point. Still near the end, but I ain't quite sure when I'll get there.

Chapter 16: Flare (Part 1)

The end of Raphael's patrol as Nightwatcher was near and, surprisingly, he had held back from contacting Michelangelo. The doofus had stayed home because Nia wanted him for an art project, so he figured a face-to-face talk would fare better than a distracted phone call. Besides, Raph could use the delay to consider what names he was going to throw at the idiot who gave away his phone number.

'I would say I can't believe it, except I can,' he thought while kicking up rocks on a warehouse roof. The Chūnin had left the industrial sector for last since activity was least likely in it, and thus didn't bother with quietness when he cursed, taking a seat on the warehouse's corroded surface. 'He obviously likes her, but he outta be careful. She could be trickin' him!'

Did the youngest brother consider that?

No. He never did. It was always up to Raphael and Leonardo to point out such matters, and the hothead couldn't deny the burden on his shoulders whenever he thought of his temporary role as clan head.

'It feels weirder than when I had wanted the role years ago. It's certainly lost its charm. The stress 'a makin' sure everyone's safe gives me heartburn, an' no one even acts like I'm in charge. Guess when it comes ta it…I'm still second best.'

Clank!

Raphael jumped when a clap echoed over the city's background noise. He crouched along the roof's ledge for a clear scan around the yellow-lit area, his actions careful. He swore a shape slithered along the chain fence that prevented people from walking over the dilapidated concrete patio into the river. It was fleeting, though—like a ghost with just enough matter to rattle a few trash cans. And by the time his eyes followed its form to the rotting subway cars against the building's north-east corner, it vanished.

'Couldn't be Foot,' the hero thought while approaching the corner. 'Or human, really. It was too big. Maybe an animal? But what kinda animal is that size in New York? Let alone that graceful…'

Following probably wouldn't be the best idea, but since when has a bad idea ever stopped Hamato Raphael?

Cracking his neck, Raph conquered the ledge's remainder in a sprint. The free feeling of flight ended all too soon when he landed on a lower-tired roof—a structure which protruded like a subtle tower from the face of an even lower roof that created an 'L' against the tallest warehouse.

Raph was unfazed by the impact his knees endured then twisted his feet sideways, preparing for another jump. However, he paused when muffled voices sounded. They carried from two-stories below, so under the cover of a new moon and a few low-arranged lights, Raphael waited for the owners.

Two stocky figures rounded the only subway car in sight, one of which ran a hand along its thick layer of graffiti like admiring a trophy. A third figure trailed after them, moving uniformly while a black cloak gave the impression of an apparition. Something about the way they moved rung as familiar to the mutant. He couldn't place it until the cloaked-figure rebuked the other two, tough. Only then did Raph's heart skip a beat.

'What the hell is Gray doin' wit' these guys?'

Instinct urged Raph to barrel down on the trio before they entered the warehouse's loading door. By the time he rose to a knee, however, the group had disappeared, leaving the hero with no other option. He scaled over the tower's front rim then released his fingers when his weight swung him inside a broken window below it. He met a dusty catwalk without a sound then ascended the metal staircase at its end so he could mount the thick rafters.

"I am not here to endure your gossip, Kanker," Melody's distinctive voice noted.

Despite its low level, it resonated through the open, two-story space like a car bass as Raph situated himself along a rafter's bridge. Sure footing and a slight lean gave him perfect leverage beside the crown of a pillar, and he peered beyond one of the many broken hanging lamps to what would've been an intersection between cargo shelves—if they hadn't been pushed aside.

"No contact in over a year," Kanker countered, tan features settled in a gruesome smile. "Ya make a tricky demand, have us wait half an hour past our meet time, and that's the greeting we get? Unreal."

A harsh glare from a prepared halogen floor lamp revealed purple skin along his chubby face, which indicated a Purple Dragon mark. The hero expected Kanker's counterpart to be of the same affiliation. Yet when the second man—a pale figure—reached for a metal briefcase settled on an old bar stool, the elegant '44' tattoo on his inner wrist proved otherwise.

"How do we even know you're good for your part anymore?" Forty-Four asked with his fingers on the briefcase's lock.

"Yeah, ya haven't stolen in ages," added Kanker while crossing his bare arms.

"Now that is not true," Melody retorted. Raph knew she'd meant the Little Red Robberies, but common thugs wouldn't make such a connection. They scoffed then blocked the briefcase from view as if their long shadows were a show of power over the cyborg in the wake.

"Bad things happen when you don't play by our rules," said Forty-Four darkly.

"Poor, poor, Fry; right?"

Raph had no idea how endeared 'Fry' had been to Melody. The love must've been great, given the sudden tenseness in the air around her, and how strongly she squared her shoulders.

"Touch any more of my family, and I swear I will kill you," she hissed.

'What family did she have before?' Raph couldn't help wondering. His eyes narrowed at how Melody's tall frame shook. The gangsters were obviously too stupid to realize the dangerous territory they treaded.

"Ya can't; ya need us," Kanker countered. He then shared a look with Forty-Four, nodding.

"We have the antibiotics," the light-skinned man announced. "Same Black Market provider. Enough for a week. But the cost is high."

"I did not bring cash." Melody's remark left her hidden lips cooler than anticipated, and she claimed two steps over an old soda can before the gangsters scrambled back with the briefcase.

"Lady," Kanker started, "if you wanna make future deals, we need satisfaction." His snarl froze the young woman in her tracks, yet why?

'Does she plan to stay connected with the Black Market?'

"Think about it: where would your friends be without us? Dead, right?"

Melody regarded Kanker with her hood held high. "I would find another way. Like usual. So you will not stop me from helping my father."

Raphael gawked as the cyborg's arms shifted beneath her cloak, his stomach dropping like wet sand. A hard blink forced his brain to shove aside the reference to Splinter, so he squirmed in his hunched position for better focus. What had she meant?

"Ya are something else, ain't ya?" asked Kanker with a bellowing laugh. "We both know you don't got a father."

The cyborg shook harder, but through some masterful control, she remained still. The closest she came was tossing something metallic across the worn concrete so it rolled to Forty-Four's boots. While Raphael didn't realize why it ground against the hard floor so harshly, all confusion was soon answered by the way its ovular 'windows' caught the lamp's rays.

He raised his eye ridges and in seconds traveled the bridge until he reached the multi-level catwalks at its end. On ground-level, he approached the trio between a few of the warehouse's support pillars without any need for stealth, stalking along the light's outer reaches.

"That looks like a fancy bit of equipment," he interjected.

Melody continued staring ahead, although the mutant knew she kept note of his slow, circling form. "Mind your own business, fool."

Had she kept the bite from her tone, Raph would've assumed she thought him a stranger. Months of living together revealed the truth, though, and she had probably used her heat sensor to detect his shape in the partial-darkness for confirmation.

"Seriously," said Raph, tense, "is that really somethin' ya outta be throwin' at swine?"

"It is not as valuable as you think."

"Then why the hell are ya giving it to us?" Kanker spat.

"True value is relative." The cyborg took another step ahead. "You can find more value in it than I can right now."

"How's that?" Raph added over Forty-Four's scoff. What little patience resided in Melody was being tested, except the hero didn't care. He glared behind his helmet as he passed the empty bar stool and lamp.

"You should not be here, Nightwatcher," the young woman noted.

Yeah, he could feel the prickle of confrontation sparking the air. However, avoiding a fight wasn't on his agenda at the moment, so he unclipped the Manriki-gusari off his hip.

"Though dead, the power cell can still be used for reverse technology," Melody continued, catching his insistence on answers. "Sold to the right collector or rival, its price would be sufficient."

"But we'd have to go through the trouble of finding that special one," Forty-Four said while leaning against the briefcase between him and Kanker.

"Oswald Cybernetics has no shortage in rivals; there will be no problem."

"Do you guarantee that, Gray?"

"I don't know about her, but I know what I can guarantee!"

Raphael glanced around the echoing space along with everyone else. A strong rattle along the metal catwalk brought the mutant's attention away from the shelves lined with disorderly crates, and he grimaced when a familiar figure neared the light.

Pierce. How peachy.

The dark-skinned cyborg wore a pompous smirk across his inflated lips, and, yes, his hands still ended in claws. If Raph had no problem exposing his identity, he would chew out the gangster for his eye injury that still burned at times. Seeing as how he did mind, however, he stuck to growling.

"How many party crashers do I gotta deal with tonight?" the hero questioned.

"Believe me; the party hasn't started yet," Pierce teased.

"P—P—Pierce?" Kanker swallowed audibly. "Wh—what are you—?"

The male cyborg snorted through his wide nose. "Save it, tubby. Hun knows. So I'm here to escort you to your…date."

"Do that later," Melody interjected—a challenging action.

"Don't I know you?" Bending forward, Pierce tapped a foot against the dirty concrete, though the young woman remained silent. "I can't place it, but you sound familiar. Did we go to school together? Meet at a club? I didn't date you, did I?"

Raphael rolled his eyes at the idea and he understood why the female cyborg gagged.

"Alright, no dating. Then…what?"

"Hell, forget this." Raph turned his head in time to see Forty-Four steal the briefcase from a distracted Kanker before he began slowly backpedaling. He glanced around the group through erratic eyes, gaping a moment. "N—no one mentioned cyborgs."

"Don't leave me alone!" Capturing the power cell, Kanker followed his partner to the light's boundary until stopped by an unseen force that froze him mid-stride.

Raph's eye ridges furrowed as the chunky man dropped the power cell with a heavy clang. Then, they lowered when the same man fell over while clenching his short leg.

"Hun didn't give you permission to bail on us, Kanker." Pierce's bright tone darkened as quickly as Melody's often did, and a narrow red trail from Kanker's fallen form left the mutant wondering what kind of attack the cyborg had used.

"I have a deal to finish," Melody snapped.

She captured Pierce's arm the moment he ventured forward, squeezing so tightly that her hand dented the man's metal bicep. This startled him and he retaliated by backhanding her—hard. Raph braced himself to catch the young woman when she flew his way, but she recovered on her own after hitting the floor once.

"Wait"—Pierce's dark eyes widened when Melody left her hood down—"you're one of the Black Lotus chicks! Oh, Hun would have a field day with you."

"We must get those antibiotics," Melody said below the annoying chortle from the male cyborg.

Raphael glanced down at her for only a moment before she shifted. "Are those really for Splinter?" he asked in an equally low voice.

She nodded.

"Explain later. For now—"

"You get the antibiotics. I'll deal with Pierce. It's safer if I do. Besides," she paused to unclip her cloak, preparing for a sprint, "I get the feeling he wants to play."

"Play? Ya makin' a funny?" Raph's quip went unanswered; the cyborg pushed off the ground with a power that churned up settled dirt, so he headed for the two men attempting to escape. "Where do ya think ya're goin'?" he asked while whirling his Manriki. "Didn't ya hear? The party's just started!"

Raph heeded Kanker little attention when the fatter gangster stumbled away on a wounded leg. His concentration settled on reeling in the flailing Forty-Four like a fish between an askew set of cargo shelves, and once the suitcase entered range, he leaned down to snag it.

"I'll be takin' this!"

A snarl proceeded a fist towards his helmet—an action that Raph avoided by flipping backwards. When he landed, a boot met his tinted faceplate and knocked him on his carapace hard enough to rip the briefcase from his grasp. It flew towards the shop light like an awkward discus, but the moment Raph flipped to his feet to retrieve it, Pierce and Melody blocked him. She scowled while dodging the male cyborg's sleek claws, to which the Chūnin replied with a shrug.

"Get the case and be careful about it!" she cried.

"What's the big fuss about this case?" Pierce wondered. His gaze panned over Raph and Melody then flickered towards the shop light, possibly due to Forty-Four's movement. "Hold it!"

Forty-Four turned so suddenly his hand knocked over the stool. He flinched as it crashed against the floor lamp, though Raph doubted his scare was due to the noise. Pierce stood before him in the moments, and Raph and Melody were right behind him.

Melody struck high the cyborg with an elbow while the mutant whirled then aimed his Manriki's chain. As he pulled the chain taunt around Pierce's leather pant leg, a sickening sound followed: akin to feet wading through mud. Raph was all too familiar with the sound of pierced flesh, and he jerked the Mankiri chain with all his strength after Melody's attack slung Pierce backwards.

The result whirled the male cyborg in a half circle, until his lean body took down Kanker before colliding with a heavily-loaded cargo shelf. He didn't bother noting the damage, his attention already set on Forty-Four. Melody gripped the briefcase and held a hand against the man's gut as he groaned.

"How deep is it?" Raph asked. Even if the guy was a low-life, the dribbles of blood that worked through the cyborg's metal fingers left the mutant disgusted.

She didn't reply, and no sooner did her cool vision lift did she move aside.

Made sense; Raphael could feel the distilled air behind him like an elephant stampede. He reacted in time to dodge a bum-rush, though kept his Mankiri close, his body stiffening in a defensive position. A snarl vibrated from his throat when Pierce slid to a stop where Melody once knelt, his worry rising as the male cyborg reached for the lamp.

"You know what would make this night exciting?" Pierce's claw-finger scratched over one of the lamp's four light-bulbs then tapped it. "A little flare."

"I'll show ya a flare!" Raph whirled his Mankiri again—this time with the intent of capturing Pierce's dangerous hands.

Pierce smirked without moving. It seemed odd until the mutant realized that his opponent willed capture. The Mankiri's chain and lamp lured the hero close, and the second he prepared for a punch, Pierce slashed his arms upwards like a reverse guillotine. The thick leather of Raphael's Nightwatcher costume saved him from serious injury; yet he could barely ignore the sting then sudden chill of the exposed flesh across the forearm he shielded himself with.

"You remind me of someone I fought before," Pierce noted. "He once tried something similar with a jacket. Didn't work so well."

Raph could only scowl in response. 'Mike's idea of removin' his arms is soundin' more an' more appealin'.'

"Oh, have you seen Kanker around? I'm supposed to bring him back alive. Then again…"

"We don't owe ya any favors," Raph spat. He found it unsettling how Pierce cocked his head when he found Kanker huddled near a shelf and how his face lit up when glanced towards Melody and Forty-Four.

"All a flare needs is a little spark."

"Ya off yer crazy meds today?" Raph demanded with tense arms.

Man, did he hate Pierce's smile. It was a pretty clear sign of madness, but confusion kept Raphael still. He watched through narrowed eyes as the male cyborg rushed to a shelf, crushing the remaining light bulbs in his grasp. The act was timed perfectly with a scrape of his claws against a metal shelf—enough for several sparks to erupt when the electric current shorted.

The action hardly warranted alarm until a faint sizzle rang through the warehouse. Whatever crate Pierce approached was open, and its contents glowed so faintly, it resembled a dying cigarette in the distance. Raph glanced at Melody, except she didn't look as clueless as the mutant felt. He almost asked her why, until the sizzling intensified.

A glance at Pierce revealed more light from the man's claws creating friction against each other. Their dark sparks sprinkled the crate's inside, and two steps closer seized Raph. While he could barely read the worn text stamped across the wood, his eyes picked out two key phrases: 'keep fire away' and 'fusses'.

Well, that would be his Turtle Luck.

A/N: Words of encouragement are always loved, so, please, leave a review. :)