Warning: gory stuff (idk help-)
"Leonardo. What do you mean he is gone" Splinter ask from across the kitchen.
"I-I mean he is GONE MASTER SPLINTER!" Leo's voice trembles— Leo's voice never trembles, he was the fearless, calm older brother that anyone can count on, why is he trembling?
The three runs across to room to meet Leo and see the exact thing what the blue-masked turtle had meant. A messy room with stuff scattered across the floor, followed by an empty bed, Raphael nowhere in sight.
"D-Dad…" Mikey speaks up, "Where's… Raph?…"
Donnie shudders when he saw small sprinkle of blood on the sheets. Why… Why is there blood?…
Splinter himself can't even form an answer to Michelangelo's question. Raphael is known to be rebellious. He has been caught sneaking out a couples times before but he has always come back home. Where is he?…
Splinter ran his hands against the bed, making sure his eyes don't deceive him. His breath turns into shudders when he sees small scatters of red on his sheets. His eyes moves around the room in a quick motion only to see Spike sleeping on the floor to wear Raph would've fed him. He's gone…
No, no he can't lose another child. Yes this one has anger issues and yes he might have more arguments with him than with the others but that does not discard him as less loved according to Splinter's eyes.
"Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo. All of you stay here in the lair, I will go find him." He says, "Master Splinter are you crazy?! The sun is out right now and humans are outside! You can't go! You're going to get exposed!" The purple-clad turtle exclaims, worry about his parental figure. They all look at him worryingly, they understand the stakes are high.
"Don't you worry, Donatello… I will come back unscathed and unharmed. I promise." He softly pats him on the head before leaving the room to the dojo. I need to take a short meditation first…
The brothers left standing in the room, Leo immediately took action, as the older brother, pulling the now crying Mikey into his arms as he tries to comfort whatever terrors his younger brothers has in his mind. "It's going to be ok little brother… Father will be fine" he mutters softly, rubbing a comforting circle on his shell, to which Mikey responds with a hum.
"Leo b-but…" Donnie stutters, "It's morning a-and… and he's going to be exposed a-and there's people!" His movements look shaky and his voice is more frantic, "W-What about Raph, Leo?! Raph is out there in broad daylight! W-What if we're too late, Leo? What if Splinter can't find him? What if Splinter gets kidnapped too, Leo?! W-What if—" Donnie didn't get to finish what he was saying before his body was wrapped with his brother's arms, strong and firm. Donnie notices the empty space in Leo's neck and sinks his head into his touch, letting Leo support his second youngest brother burdens.
"Don... Don't worry, Dad is a master ninja; it'll take more than just sunlight to beat him." Leo hums when he feels both of his brothers' hugs get tighter. Leo tries to comfort them, to keep up a smile, but internally he's terrified too. He and Raph argues more than anyone in the lair, but no matter what he will always be his little brother. Leo loves him unconditionally and he knows Raph does too.
Raph never knew but after every bad fight Leo would sometimes catch him crying to himself. Often, it would be the sound of loud sobbing in the middle of the night through his bedroom door, when Raph thought everyone would be asleep. However, Leo never made an effort to come in and ask him what was wrong. God... Leo wanted to do something—to hug and care for him, tucking his small body into his big brother's arms—but his awkwardness and pride pushed that thought away. Maybe if he did comfort his little brother he would still be here.
The three turtles' cuddle session was cut short when they heard the dojo door shut and the familiar footsteps of their father. They come out of the room to see Splinter walking towards the front of the subway entrance. Before the furry father could take another step, his movements were suddenly restricted by three of his beloved sons, who embraced him in a tight squeeze. He sighs, looking at them with warmth in his eyes as he returns the embrace. "I will be back, my sons... You have nothing to fear," he says.
"You promise?…" Mikey begs, and how can you say no to that. "Of course, Michelangelo," he replies, "I'm a master ninja after all; it'll take more than just sunlight to beat me." He smiles when he hears a light chuckle from his youngest son.
"Be careful, ok, dad?" Leo hugs tighter, afraid to let go. "Of course, Leonardo, I will." He caresses Leo's head; the poor boy needs all the strength he can get to make sure his siblings will be okay.
Donnie doesn't say anything; he just stuffs his head into his father's coat. No words need to be said to understand that he's afraid, and Splinter knew that.
"It's going to be ok, my sons, but I need to get going to not waste time, ok?" He waits until his children nod, and then let's go. He looks back once again before exiting the lair.
It's dark. Where am I?
His eyes are shut. He hears stuff going around him. He's unsure what it is though.
His back feels cool. So are his wrist, torso, and ankle. It's as if he's being chained to something.
His eyes can open now. It starts off blurry, but he sees hues of pink and purple moving around, and metal people?
His iris starts to concentrate more, and he can now see clearly. He was indeed trapped on a table, with metal bands being binded to his wrist, torso, and ankle.
He also takes notice that there's a throbbing pain pounding against his head, like someone is stabbing his brain repeatedly without end. God, how did he wind up here?
"Kraang, the turtle is awake." Raph flinches when he suddenly sees a robotic figure right above him. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?
The loud metals clanging against the floor made Raph cringe as the throbbing pain seemed to have gotten worse; however, that doesn't matter when he sees MORE ROBOTS AROUND HIM NOW!
"Isn't that fascinating, Kraang? Kraang has never seen a turtle like this." Kraang?… "Indeed, Kraang, this is a fascinating discovery."
Raph heard that name before...
He remembers that he ran away from home. He went up to the surface, and then he found a group of men kidnapping someone. Yes, and they were rats! REALLY FREAKY ROBOTS! WITH BRAIN ALIENS CONTROLLING THEM! He managed to save the man, YES HE REMEMBERS! He remembers how cool he was. DID ANYONE SEE HOW HE THREW HIS SAIS AND STABS THEM?! Then why is he...
He got captured… and they want to experiment on him…
Oh shit…
"Kraang, shall we start the experiment?" One of them asks and they all respond with a nod. "Then, we shall begin. Kraang, fetch me a scalpel."
Raphael suddenly felt like the air got sucked out of him. His breathing turns rapid as his chest tightens until his lungs feel like giving up. He rocks violently, but no matter how much strength he puts in, there is not a single sign that he will be able to break free. His eyes caught the scalpel in Kraang's hand, and he watched it slowly move towards his plastron. This can't be happening… They're going to dissect him like a science experiment. And he's going to be awake throughout the whole process.
"N-NO! NO GET AWAY!" He cries, trembling uncontrollably on the table as he tries to flee from the inevitable. "PLEASE! I SAID GET AWAY!" His voice was strained from the sheer terror, but then all that power fell silent when he felt the blade against his plastron, about to be punctured. "Don't move." The Kraang in charge commands, "It won't hurt as much if what is known as the turtle stays still."
He shivers as he feels his plastron cracking when the blade digs deeper into it, layers of bones snapping and breaking as the blade struggles to go through the layers beneath. Blood drips down to his arm as more seeps through his chest, and an overwhelming amount of excruciating pain is running through his body. Raph shuts his eyes, no longer caring about the tears streaming down his face, as the pain becomes too unbearable to endure. "Make it stop… PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!…" He knows his voice won't be heard; he doesn't even know why he tries. He screams and wails louder as the scalpel delves further into his plastron.
The Kraang struggles to cut deeper into his plastron, resorting to drag the scalpel up and down like a saw, tearing it apart, but still it didn't go deeper. "Kraang," one of them says, "Kraang thinks that the turtle's plastron is too strong for the scalpel. Kraang should go for the softer part of the turtle's body, like the skin."
The Kraang in charge thinks for a brief moment before humming in agreement, "Good idea, Kraang." He removes the scalpel from his plastron, giving Raph a small amount of relief, before stabbing into his soft skin on the right side of his chest. Raph let out a horrific scream; his throat felt like it was torn apart. A burning sensation from his skin being split apart sent shivers down his spine. Despite remaining still, his body never stopped trembling, as the incision from the blade was jagged and uneven from the unstoppable shaking. His eyes, blinded by salty tears, begged for mercy, while his lips could only chant desperate pleas for it all to end. For this to just be all but a nightmare.
The scalpel glides slowly from his chest to his waist, leaving a thin, crimson line as blood oozes out from the fresh incision. Raph can feel the blade dragging inside his skin; the feeling of the cool metal blade underneath his tissues made him want to vomit. The Kraang pulls out the scalpel and creates a similar vertical cut on the other side, then across the top of the chest. He feels the scalpel sliding underneath the skin of his chest, and his whole body quivers at the repulsive feeling of a sharp metal object gliding inside him. But then he found himself feeling even more exposed than ever; he couldn't even begin to explain the sickening feeling. His chest has never felt so naked; it was skinless and bare, and nothing could've prepared him for the amount of blood that spilled. There was blood all over him, all over the tables and floors; it looked like a whole ass murder scene.
A knot tightens in his throat when he feels a cool finger poking at something it shouldn't be. He's terrified; he wants to scream, but he's too afraid that it'll make things worse. What if they 'experimented' more on him if he did? What if it would hurt him even more if he screamed, with his chest so bare that his organs might just pop out right now? The only noise he can make is the shudders of quick and selfish gasps of air.
"It seems like the small intestines and the large intestines remain in the same place as they do in humans. Fascinating, isn't it, Kraang?" Raph is going to hurl. They're poking around his innards. His organs are exposed, and fingers are pressing against them, yet he can't do anything.
"Look, Kraang, you can see his heart pumping." A chorus of robotic "whoas" echoes across the room. This is humiliating. The Kraang are taking notes and drawing diagrams of their studies, fascinated by their prized possession. Raph can feel each touch, each metal finger poking, caressing, and examining his organs. Some even squish them like they're a squeaky toy. He hates it. They can probably see his lungs huffing in air like his life depends on it. Maybe they enjoy seeing him struggle hopelessly like this.
It hurts… everything hurts…
He didn't have the strength to scream anymore. He just cries… and cries.. and cries.
I want to go home…
"RAPHAEL!"
Splinter leapt to another building. "RAPHAEL! MY SON!"
He had been screaming for hours without end. He knew the dangers of shouting in the middle of the day—humans wandering around, enemies potentially approaching—but he couldn't care less about the risk. He hopes that the humans just mistaken his voice as a worried father, one who's most definitely human. He just wants his son back.
"Raphael…" His voice was strained from all the shouting, but it wasn't the only reason he's gone more quiet, "Please my son… come back… wherever you are…" he's starting to lose hope.
His knees buckle and he crumbles into the floor, his hands running across his face in pure distress. Nothing could've prepared him to lose another child.