Now in April and Casey's apartment, Raph was in the middle of training with his two VERY rusty younger brothers, while dealing with questions from his two human friends.
"So, is this the plan? Bringing the band back together?" asked Casey.
"Yep. You could say that," said Raph as he flipped Mikey over his shoulder.
"But shouldn't you wait for Leo to come back before thinking of such a thing? Without him, the team feels incomplete," said April.
"April, Leo's not coming back. He's gone. He chose to be a jungle boy over being with his own brothers. If our 4-turtle team has to be a 3-turtle team because he didn't have the guts to tell off Splinter, so be it." said Raph.
"Dude, I'm beat. Can we take a breather?" asked Mikey.
"You made me rub your feet, so no. You're not taking a breather," said Raph.
"It's not my fault you lost the bet," Mikey muttered.
"And Donnie, what's with you? You're not even trying," said Raph.
"I sit in my chair all day, talking to people who are hopeless when it comes to computers and technology as a whole. What did you expect?" Donnie replied with a deadpan delivery.
"I expect to see the badass nerd who fought by my side when we took down Shredder. Not the weak geek I see right now." Raph insulted.
"Well, I'd rather be a 'weak geek' than an out-of-control, crazed hothead who wants to relieve the 'glory days' so desperately, when they were never that glorious to begin with." Donnie struck back.
The two middle children continued to trade insults with each other, as Raph tried his hardest to intentionally push Donnie over the edge so he could fight him at his maximum potential.
"All your 'hardcore' attitude does is turn people off. I'm willing to bet that's the one thing Leo doesn't miss right now." said Donnie.
"At least Leo pushed back against me. You, on the other hand, just take my insults and run off back to your room to fiddle with computers all day. So, you know what, I'm perfectly fine being a crazy hothead. Because it's much better than what you've been the moment Leo left. A soft spineless coward." said Raph.
"Raph!" a shocked April yelled.
"Dude, that is not cool," said Mikey.
"Yeah, really not cool," said Casey.
Raph knew he struck a nerve as Donnie suddenly started attacking Raph in an aggressive manner, making one of their sparring sessions fiercely competitive for once.
It didn't take long for Donnie to end the fight, as he swept Raph's legs out from under him and almost punched his lights out, with his fist stopping a mere inch from Raph's face.
One would think Raph would be upset over this. He not only lost a sparring session, but he lost to Donnie, who was an objectively weaker fighter than he was.
But instead of a scowl, a smile appeared on Raph's face, to the confusion of everyone else.
"YES! There he is! There's the badass nerd I haven't seen in ages! That's the Donnie I need to see when we go out on the streets again." Raph said as he got up off the ground.
"Now, did it feel good to get that aggression out?" asked Raph.
"Admittedly, yes. It did. It doesn't change the fact you called me a spineless coward." Donnie said while glaring at Raph.
Mikey, April, and Casey all gave Raph similar glares which made Raph realize his strategy was a flawed one and he needed to apologize.
"Okay, maybe I…No. I definitely messed up by saying that to you. I was just trying to rile you up and get you to be more aggressive. It was a stupid thing to say and I'm sorry." said Raph.
Knowing that apologies were never Raph's strong suit, Donnie did appreciate him for trying and admitting that he was in the wrong.
"Alright, I'll forgive you, on ONE CONDITION. There's something I want you to do for me," said Donnie.
"Okay, what do you want me to do?" asked Raph.
Donnie then looked at Mikey before looking down at his own feet. Raph put 2 and 2 together and knew exactly what Donnie wanted. And he hated it.
"Oh, come on, Don. Can it please be something else?" asked Raph.
"No," said Donnie.
"You're not going to budge, are you?" asked Raph.
"No, I will not," said Donnie.
Raph sighed before saying, "Fine. I'll do it when we get back to the lair."
"Do what, exactly?" asked April.
"Oh, Raph's gonna-" Mikey said before Raph interrupted with a quiet, "Say another word and you can kiss your comic book collection goodbye."
Not wanting to witness the destruction of his comic books, Mikey backtracked with, "Actually, I'm not sure what Donnie wants from Raph. It's a total mystery. He probably wants him to buy a science book or something."
Resisting the urge to embarrass Raph, Donnie said, "Yep, he's going to buy me a science book."
"Oh. Well, that doesn't sound so bad," said Casey.
"Oh, trust me, it isn't," Mikey said with a grin, making Raph's temper boil on the inside.
When the turtles got back to the lair, Raph was on the couch, fulfilling Donnie's request. A foot rub. Raph was absolutely miserable, while Donnie felt relaxed and comfortable.
"See? I told you Raph was good at this." Mikey said as he watched the amusing scene.
"Yeah, this feels really nice," said Donnie.
Raph's love for his younger brothers was colliding with his want to strangle them for making him do this.
"You better enjoy this because it's never happening again," said Raph.
"That's what you say now," said Mikey.
"Shut up," said Raph.
"You know, if it makes you feel better, we could always give you a massage," said Donnie.
"Don't need it," Raph said, refusing to tell them that Casey gives him free massages after nightly patrols.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's been almost a year since I last updated this story. God, I'm awful at updating but this story will be done. Some day. Now, the next chapter will deal with the three brothers officially starting their comeback. Also, I'm working on a ton of stories right now so stay tuned. Other than that, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Bye for now and stay safe.