#and on the other hand tmnt is about good people who must hide themselves or aspects of themselves because society doesnt accept them

[alvie-pines]

cannot express the pain and disappointment of going from tmnt (which has themes that are fairly left-wing) directly to transformers and being like ah. so this is the right wing propaganda show,

[goodlucktai]

I'm always down for any TMNT from you. I'd love to read more of your Ghost AU.

currently my fave tmnt au, how did u know?

give up the ghost

x

“We got a ton of good stuff,” Woody says happily from the backseat, panning through images on his complicated-looking camera. He looks up, grinning through a fine layer of hundred-year-old grime, and says, “We had permission to go in that house, right? From the owner?”

“Sure,” Leo says, glancing at him from the passenger side seat. They’re idling at a stop sign, because it’s twelve a.m. on a Wednesday and traffic won’t exist for another six hours; they can pretty much take all the time they want. “We always get permission first. Why?”

“‘Cause I’m thinkin’ we could upload some of this. Maybe make a Youtube channel, or a blog site. You want people to be able to find you, and an online presence is probably the best way to make that happen.”

“We have a Facebook page,” Mikey points out reasonably, eyes on the road as he pulls forward. In the reflection of the rearview mirror, Woody’s grin warms into something fond.

“For someone with a tech genius for a brother you’re a little clueless, Mikester. Trust me on this one?”

And that was never really the question; Woody has been with the club for nearly half a year now, and he hasn’t balked once at any of the things he’s seen. He goes in behind Leo and Mikey with that bulky camcorder on his shoulder, eyes focused forward and hands steady, and Mikey has come to count on his calm presence the same way he counts on Leo.

So it’s easy for Mikey to shrug and say, “‘Course, dude. I give you full creative license.”

“For that, amigo, marry me.”

And butterflies find a home in Mikey’s stomach after that. They live there happily for a handful of minutes, and Mikey is smiling like a dork at the parking lot as he turns into it, until Leo says, “Isn’t that Raph’s car?” and everything immediately sucks.

“Oh, no,” he says, spotting the station wagon. “No, no, no. Leo – “

“We can hide out at my house,” Leo says immediately. His voice is soft with sympathy, even as he adds, “But I think it’s a little too late for that.”

He’s right. Raph is leaning against the hood of his car, arms folded. It’s midnight, and he’s staking out Mikey’s apartment like a verifiable weirdo, and Mikey would rather be anywhere else right now.

Woody sighs with feeling, packing up his camera bag with unnecessary force. “This dude needs a hobby,” he mutters, one of three people in the world who are unequivocally on Mikey’s side. Mikey appreciates the show of solidarity, even though it’s hard to appreciate anything in face of the confrontation he’s in for.

He shifts glumly into park, pulls the keys out of the starter. Dusts himself off half-heartedly because that’s a lost cause, trades a long-suffering look with Leo, and then pops open the driver’s side door.

“Hi, Raph,” he says. “Didn’t expect to see you here. At my house, in the middle of the night.”

Raph gives him a once-over and his mouth tightens. “You got a minute?”

“I have lots of minutes,” Mikey says with forced good cheer. Unfortunately, he doesn’t add. To his friends he says, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Neither of them move. “It’s already late,” Leo says, meeting Raph’s heated look with a cool one. “Mind if I sleep over?”

“Same,” Woody pipes up. “Since we all got class in the morning, makes sense to carpool, don’t it?”

Mikey is hopelessly grateful to have them both in his life. On one hand, Raph isn’t someone he needs protecting from – Raph is a good person, and loyal to a fault, and he only comes around like this because he’s worried about Mikey, and trying to do good by the memory of his best friend by taking care of his best friend’s wayward little brother.

On the other hand, every conversation with him after Donnie died has been strained and uncomfortable, and it’s to the point now that just seeing him puts an anxious knot in the pit of Mikey’s stomach.

“Okay,” Mikey says, to all three of them. “Let’s go upstairs, I guess.”

Leo is texting someone on the quiet elevator ride up to Mikey’s floor. Since Mikey knows for a fact that Usagi isn’t awake right now and Karai is visiting her mother for the week, he has a good idea who Leo’s texting, and he’s proven right when he pushes the front door open and Donnie is nowhere to be seen.

Thanks, Leo, he thinks fervently. It’s brutally unfair to bring one of Donnie’s friends into the house without warning him first. The first time Casey dropped by unannounced, Donnie accidentally shorted out the power on the whole floor, and he was sad for days after.

Woody casually sets his bag on the table, right over Donnie’s phone. Mikey’s friends are actual ninjas and he loves them.

Leo shrugs out of his jacket, pretends not to notice the hearty rain of dust that follows the action, and folds it over the back of a kitchen chair. Raph looks equal parts exasperated and incredulous.

“I get it,” he says, “you’re his guard dogs. If I promise I’m not gonna throw a punch, will you let me talk to the kid?”

Mikey’s friends look pointedly at him. Mikey says, “Yeah, that’s. Cool. Leo, Woody, you guys can grab a shower if you want. The half-bath is off Donnie’s room, there’s a shower in there, too. Raphie and me’ll make us all somethin’ to eat real quick.”

For a second, it doesn’t look like they’re gonna move. After an obvious pause they both extract themselves from the room and head down the hall. It’s soft, Mikey only catches it because he’s listening, but they both murmur a greeting as they pass Don’s room and despite everything else that small kindness makes Mikey smile.

“Grilled cheese,” he decides aloud, and Raph dutifully heads to the fridge.

Maybe he’s making a point to be less barbed, but the silence between the two of them is closer to companionable than it has been in a long time. They butter half a loaf of bread, peel open a handful of Provolone cheese slices, and the first sandwich is assembled on the skillet, browned on one side, when Raph finally says, “Your friends don’t like me much.”

Mikey looks at him sideways. “I haven’t said anything to them to make them think – “

“Mikey, c’mon. I know that.” Raph runs a hand through his short hair, weary. “I wouldn’t like me much, either, if I was them. I don’t mean to be an asshole, kid, I’m sorry.”

“You haven’t been,” Mikey says immediately, heart bleeding for him. It’s so complicated between them anymore, but they were close, once. Close enough that Raph cares for him this much, even after everything. It makes Mikey feel small sometimes. “You’re going through something really painful, Raphie, and it’s hard. I get it.” He hesitates, and looks down at the plastic spatula in his hand, and adds, “I know I don’t make it any easier. Is Casey still mad at me?”

“Mikey,” he says it like it hurts. “He’s not mad at you. He never should’ve said what he did back then. He regrets it, he just doesn’t know how to apologize.”

“‘Sorry’ is a good place to start,” Mikey murmurs, getting a new sandwich started. It easier to look at the food than it is to look at Raph when he adds, “It’s okay if he’s mad at me, though.”

“Just stop,” Raph thunders suddenly, slamming a fist on the counter. 

The only reason Mikey doesn’t flinch is because of the company he’s been keeping lately, in a handful of haunted houses and churches across the state. Poltergeists are far more volatile than even Raphael, and with tempers much trickier. Mikey has seen far worse these days. 

Raph looks sorry for his outburst anyway, floundering for a moment before steeling himself and soldiering on. 

“You’re so – understanding. You shouldn’t be. You should be – all messed up, like the rest of us are. You should be grieving. But instead you’re actin’ like nothin’ happened. Like he ain’t gone, and you don’t miss him.”

Mikey’s heart is a solid lump in his chest. The sandwich on the stove is burning, filling the air with an acrid smell. 

“I know it ain’t true,” Raph goes on, softer. “I know that. I just don’t know why you’re actin’ like it, Mikey. It don’t make any sense to me.” 

Movement in the corner of his eye makes Mikey look up. Donnie is standing in the doorway of the kitchen, and his brown eyes are miserable behind his big glasses, and Mikey wishes with his whole heart that he could give his gift away by the hour, lend it to all the people missing people they can’t see anymore. 

“There isn’t really a textbook way to mourn somebody,” Mikey says carefully. “There isn’t a right or wrong way to hurt.”  

Raph doesn’t have an answer for that. The smoke alarm saves them both in the end, filling the strained silence with shrill beeps, and Raph leaves not long after that. 

Woody comes down the hall in a pair of borrowed pajama pants and one of their official club T-shirts, still toweling his hair dry. He gives the scorched grilled cheese a long, knowing look. 

“Raph is still grieving,” Mikey says firmly before Woody has a chance to make his remark. “He’s allowed to be difficult.”

“He’s grieving your brother,” comes the unflinching reply. “He’s not allowed to be difficult at you.”

But that’s not how grief works. It can come up from nothing, the same way love can, and it can be every bit as senseless and impossible and staggering as love can be, too.

No one gets to point at someone else and say “my grief is worse than yours, because my love was different.” No one can be the judge of that. It’s impossible to measure, impossible to make sense of. Mikey wouldn’t even want to try. 

But he doesn’t say any of that. Instead he slides an un-burnt grilled cheese onto a styrofoam plate and hands it over, with an absent, “Your shirt’s on backwards.” 

Woody scoffs but an involuntary flush rises in his cheeks – and despite everything else, Mikey can’t help but smile crookedly at the sight Woody makes, as he tries to turn the shirt around without taking it off. 

A few of those butterflies from earlier must have survived. And they must show on his face or give him away somehow, because Leo takes one look at him as he joins them in the kitchen and rolls his eyes. 

“I’m putting you both up for adoption,” he tells them dryly. 

“Empty threat,” Woody says from somewhere beneath his shirt. “You’d miss us too much.”

“I hate how sure you are of that,” Leo mutters, then reaches over to nudge Mikey’s arm. “Your turn. Shower. And then bed.” 

“Okay, mom,” Mikey says agreeably, and neatly sidesteps the punch Leo aims at his shoulder. Woody snickers, and an animated argument picks up behind Mikey as he heads down the hall. He pauses in the door of Donnie’s room, and says, “Bro?”

Donnie lifts his head to look at him, the only reply Mikey will get without his phone to serve as a communication bridge. 

“Are you okay?” Mikey asks him, feeling small. 

His brother stands and moves at a human pace across the room, and touches Mikey’s shoulder with unsubstantial fingers. His lips move, forming words Mikey can’t hear.

But at the end of it, Donnie smiles. Relieved, leaning into the hand that isn’t really there, Mikey smiles back.   

[thenerdytomboynewb96]

Samantha Allan Park Ch. #20

Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's.

Chapter #20

*Monday August 4th, about 8:00p.m. At the lair*

“Is it starting yet?” Raph called out as he was lifting weights over near the dojo. “No, still interviews” Mikey sighed. “I know she said it would be on later because they wanted to edit the footage before it was all aired live, but this is ridiculous.” “Oh, that’s the design of her uniform, right?” Leo asked. They were now watching a man on the t.v. screen wearing a zig zagged shirt and pair of shorts where one whole side was red and the other black, exactly like Sam’s soccer uniform. “Oh that’s her coach!” Mikey called out, a smile forming on his face, hoping he would now finally get a glimpse of his friend in action. The man was being interviewed and had just been asked about his team and their absence from this year’s tournament.   “Yeah, I know how much they all wanted to be here, they’ve been training…heh, they’ve been training sine last year’s tournament. Last year we just missed getting our chance to move on to the next stage of the tournament, and my boys really wanted to avenge themselves from last year, but this crazy cruel world threw a lot of them some unfortunate curve balls within the past few days, literally days, and we had to cancel at the last minute. In honor of my team, I’m still here with the few teammates who were able to attend and we’re going to scope out the competition for next year where we’ll be ten times more prepared than we would have been, hehe.” *Interviewer*: “I see you said your boys, does that include your female player?” The coach rolled his eyes. “Of course that includes my female player. She’s a tomboy and would feel insulted if I didn’t include her as one of the guys. She was one of the many who had some unfortunate curve balls thrown in her direction, and I know she was ready to kick butt again this year. *sigh* this world makes no sense to me. Why these kids were ripped away from such an incredible opportunity for reasons they couldn’t even control is beyond me, but I hope these teams are all prepared for my boys next year, we’ll be back and kicking!”

The turtles sat in silence. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. “Mikey…” Leo stated, his face frozen as he stared at the television screen from his seat on the couch. Mikey sat there speechless, and all he could do was shake his head. Leo and Donnie both looked at their brother who was sitting on the end of the couch and their eyes went wide as they witnessed Mikey’s expression. “You mean you don’t know anything about this?” Raph asked as he walked over and stood next to the flat screen. He had heard the news from the other side of the room and instantly became concerned with the situation. “She never told me anything. The last time we spoke was Thursday night right before she left. I assumed that she hadn’t contacted me because she was busy practicing.” “Call her now” Leo commanded. Mikey picked up his shell cell and dialed his friend’s number…only to have it go straight to voicemail…three times in a row. Just then the police scanner went off. Officers could be heard talking about multiple robberies that had just occurred in the area but nothing was known about where the culprits went or where they were hiding. “We’ll worry about Sam as soon as we get back, but we have to deal with this first” Leo stated. The brothers nodded and they all ran to grab any gear they thought they might need.

*Moments later*

Donnie was parking the truck in a dark alleyway where it would be hidden from any wondering eyes. “Alright, I hacked the cameras closest to the locations of where the robberies occurred and the footage shows all the culprit cars leading here. There seems to be about six different cars, four small and two larger trucks” Donnie stated. “Let’s quietly look around and see if we can figure out where the thieves are hiding. Depending on the situation, maybe we can attack and tie them up and leave them here for the cops” Leo whispered to his brothers. They all nodded in agreement and the group soon exited the truck. They found a ladder along the side of the building and climbed up so that they would have a better view from the rooftops. The boys spread out some, looking for the trucks. It took a little while, but finally they were spotted. “There” Raph said, pointing downwards diagonally at a group of dark black vehicles that were slowly being driven through the back allies. The boys trailed the moving vehicles, using the shadows to hide their movements, and followed them to a large docking area. All six of the vehicles were there, and multiple people dressed in all black, including their masks, started getting out of the cars. Some had guns, and others had ninja tools attached to their outfits. “Foot soldiers” Leo whispered, “I wonder what they’re up to this time.” “This looks like an initiation” Donnie stated. “I’ve read articles about this. Just like how gangs have really messed up initiation rituals, the Foot will come up with various tasks that the newbies need to complete in order to be accepted into the group and to start earning Shredder’s trust. This fits the description of past initiations that I read in those articles. The task is usually something stupid and pointless, but a crime must still be committed. They all meet up and then a superior comes and evaluates them all at one time. Those who pass get to return to headquarters, and those who fail or try to bail out are usually killed, and that’s if they haven’t already been caught by the police. We should see a leader come out soon.” After a couple of minutes of the soldiers getting into groups and gathering their stolen materials, a soldier with a red band around their upper arm walked out of the lead car. “Looks like that’s our guy” Mikey stated. “What do we do?” Leo quickly tried to think up a plan. “We’re going to spread out and attack from all open sides. One side is useless to them because it’s nothing but water, so that leaves three more sides. There are solid brick walls on their left and right sides, so the only way for them to escape is by leaving through the entrance where they drove in. They were trying to hide, but instead they cornered themselves in. There’s about…28 of them total, so we should be able to handle them. Raph and I will block their exit, so Mikey and Donnie will attack form the sides. Got it?” “Got it” Mikey said with a nod. “Got it” Donnie said with a nod as well. “…” The boys all turned towards Raph. Leo waved his hand in front of his brother’s face. “Raph, you with us?” he asked, frustration in his voice. “…what?” Leo bit his lip as he tried to keep his cool. “Do I need to tell you the plan again?” Raph quickly shook his head. “No. I know, you and me in the front and the other two attack from the sides. 28 of them so 7 for each of us. Sorry just…I thought I saw something, but I’m good.” “Heh, what the heck am I thinking. Hell, how could I ever even think that? There’s no way…absolutely no way…right?” Raph thought to himself as he and the others walked to their positions. He kept telling himself no, but the sight down below kept making him think otherwise. The leader who was judging the new soldiers, they had a bulge under their right sleeve. Something thicker was under their sleeve and the shape that was seen seemed very familiar to Raph. Only the top part was thicker and it extended from the leaders fingers all the way down to their mid arm, almost like…like a glove or second sleeve underneath their uniform. Raph shook his head. He must have been insane to even consider the thought of Sam being involved with the group down below. Leo could tell that something was bugging his brother and he quickly glanced in the same direction that Raph had been looking, and that’s when he also noticed the bulge. Instantly he had the same thoughts as Raph but…he had to be wrong, right? She had just told them the stories of her family and how all their lives were either changed or stolen by the Foot…unless it was all a front. NO! How could he even think that? “It can’t be her” Raph stated softly. Leo turned towards his younger brother who must have easily read his mind in order for him to say such a thing. “I know…the timing is just really…ironic” he replied. He paused and closed his eyes and took a moment to wipe all these emotional thoughts from his mind before entering the battle. If Raph could read him so easily, something that was usually a difficult task for anyone to complete accurately, then obviously his emotions were affecting his tactics and skills. He opened his eyes, took a breath, and signaled to the brothers to attack.

“SHIT, RUN!” one of the male leaders shouted as soon as the turtles leaped down from the shadows above. The boys assumed that these newbs weren’t very skilled since they were retreating rather than advancing towards their enemy. This was a first for the boys, but that wasn’t a reason to allow the thieves to escape. Soldiers started running towards the vehicles while others starting attacking from afar, slowly moving backwards so that they could try to escape. Kunai knives and shuriken stars were hurled at the boys, but to the turtles this was just like basic training at home with Splinter. Raph started making his way over to the side wall where he saw the leader run and dash behind a dumpster. He wanted to trust Sam so badly, and if he was wrong then he would never disrespect her like this ever again…but he needed clear confirmation that this wasn’t her. He felt like shit as he started sprinting towards the dumpster, but he just needed to know. He sensed movement from up ahead and was able to dodge two large trash cans that had been launched up in the air that were about to crash down where he was running. When he looked forward again he was shocked to see the huge dumpster itself sliding towards him at rapid speed. He leaped and rolled away, wondering how the heck the supposedly human soldier was able to move an entire dumpster. That’s when he saw the leader running back towards the cars. Raph quickly got up and pulled out a chain-sickle from his side holsters and using all his strength he launched the chain and weight at the end towards the escapee, and it wrapped perfectly around their ankle as they collapsed. Raph smirked at the careless and distracted soldier as he quickly made his way over towards them. Of course they got themselves loose quite quickly, which was to be expected, but Raph was already swinging his sais at the leader. He was confused by this soldier’s tactic. Instead of trying to attack him head on, they were only fighting defensively. He also realized that the soldier hadn’t thrown knives or anything sharp at him when he approached their spot by the dumpster, but rather objects that might momentarily knock him unconscious. He tried to stay focused, but like his older brother said, everything was just too ironic. Since his opponent wasn’t moving towards him, he put his sais away and decided to use hand-to-hand combat skills. This way he could try to remove their mask and he could finally feel relief when being proven wrong at thinking this could be his friend. He noticed a pattern amongst the soldier in that they kept glancing towards the side, almost like they were trying to check up on their other soldiers. That was his moment. Raph waited for a clear moment to lunge forward, and just like he anticipated, the soldier glanced to the side and screamed ‘no’ as they saw a comrade get knocked out by Donatello from afar. Raph took advantage of this moment and he acted so quickly that he didn’t even have a chance to recognize the familiar voice. He put the leader into a headlock and swiftly removed their mask, and just like that, Raph lost all feeling in his body.

He couldn’t feel his arms to keep his hold on the girl, he couldn’t feel his legs to try and run away, he couldn’t feel any part of his body to try and attack or to run away. He was stunned, the sight in front of him shocking him to the point that he was frozen solid. His fear had come true. The person he had come to trust had lied. He wasn’t sure how much of it was a lie, but he knew that somewhere along the line everything had become a farce. He felt played, betrayed, and everything in between. He was instantly filled with anger, hate, rage, and he wanted to ball his fists up and throw a punch at the person in front of him because of it, but he was so frozen that he couldn’t even do that, and he couldn’t even feel the solid kick from the foot that was now connecting with his plastron. He was facing Sam, and he was now being attacked with a spin kick technique that he had taught Mikey and that had then been passed onto Sam.

The kick launched Raph backwards. It wasn’t as forceful as when the dumpster had been sent sliding along the ground moments ago, but it still knocked him off his feet and made him travel a decent distance away from his original spot. Even as the girl ran away, Raph couldn’t chase after her. He just slowly stood up, watching her run away and yell to the other soldiers to drive away and look at them with concern in her eyes. Why hadn’t she looked at him that way? When her face was revealed she had nothing but fear in her eyes, fear from being caught. And then when she kicked him, anger was etched into her expression, so why did she seem more concerned about these soldiers than she did about him? “It was a lie all along, all of it, and we all fell for it.” Raph thought to himself. Raph watched from afar as Sam gave instructions to the other soldiers before they all began to drive away. He then saw Leo run over and punch Sam in the forehead, knocking her out cold. He closed his eyes and hoped that this was all a dream, but his brother’s shouts and Leo’s commands woke him up, forcing him to return to this nightmare.

*Later that night, back at the lair* Themes: TOP-Oh Mom BAP-Voicemail Super Junior-Don’t Leave Me Lady Gaga-Million Reasons Hurts-Illuminated B1A4-A lie BTS-Let Me Know

Sam slowly started to open her eyes. She felt groggy and was grossed out by the faint smell of blood. Her eyes finally opened all the way and she realized where she was. Both her wrists and ankles were handcuffed and bound together with twist ties, and rope kept her back and thighs bound to the chair that she was sitting in as well. Her head tilted forward now that she had conscious control of her body movements, or at least the little bit of body control that she still had, and she recognized the room around her: the dojo. She winced as her head started pounding from the head movement even though it had been slow. “You’re lucky. I would have made the punch hurt way more” said a low and gruff voice from the round circular dojo entrance. Sam was afraid to turn her head and face him, so she kept facing forward. How was she supposed to look at Raph after what she had done? She wanted to explain everything to him now that her worst fear had come true, but she had a feeling that wasn’t the type of conversation he wanted to have right now. “Nothing to say huh? What, you run out of lies?” he asked, anger clearly stated in his tone. Sam paused and tried to choose her words carefully, trying her hardest not to set him off. “I don’t want to fight-” “Oh really?” he asked, sarcastically laughing, “you don’t want to fight? Huh, that’s odd, since you took all that time to train with us and have Mikey teach you pretty much all that we know, and then take that and add it to whatever you’ve learned from your pals over at Foot headquarters.” “I promise you that there’s an explanation-” “I don’t want to hear shit from you” he said as he slowly shook his head. “Do you actually think I’ll listen to a damn thing you say after that stunt you pulled back there?” Sam was trying to stay calm, but not being able to explain was really beginning to frustrate her. She knew this was all her fault, but she wanted to prove to him that things weren’t as they seemed. “There’s a reason that I pulled that stunt back there.” “Yeah, it’s called being a stone cold liar.” “It’s not that lies were being told, it’s that truths weren’t.” “Really? Because I was told, actually all of us including the man you call your best friend were told that you were heading to a soccer tournament, yet we hear on t.v. that you never showed up, and then where do we find you? Judging Foot soldiers while wearing a leader armband, which states that you’ve reached high ranks in the Foot clan, which means you’ve been there for a long time. Yeah Sam that doesn’t sound like lying at all.” “*sigh* you don’t know the full story Raph. And an armband doesn’t mean shit, they’re basically handed out to soldiers in the New York branch.” “You’d know, wouldn’t you?” “Shit” Sam thought. Already her frustrated emotions were taking their toll on her and she was thinking and acting based on them rather than with intelligence. “That’s now what I meant and you know it.” “No, no I don’t. I don’t know jack shit about you and your sappy sob story of a past, and I don’t want to.” Sam paused. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked softly. “It means that I see through your act and I know that everything you’ve ever said was nothing but bull.” She finally looked over at him and looked him straight in the eyes. “That’s not true, I swear on my life that’s not true.” “Sorry kid, I’m not trusting a damn thing you say anymore.” Sam began to clench her fists. It was one thing for him to hate on her (after all, she did deserve it) but she would not tolerate anyone speaking in such an ill manner about her family. “Raph, you have every reason to hate me, and I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I should have told you guys when I had the chance-” “Actually you shouldn’t have met us, ever. Heh, I knew I was right about you all along, but Mikey, the innocent idiot that he is, he trusted you. And then that made Leo want to attempt to trust you because ‘it would be safer for all of us.’ YUP. This is definitely safer! We let a Foot soldier learn our practice routines and we let them figure out where we live. I’ll go get my calendar and you can tell me what date to save for when the rest of your joke of a clan comes and visits my fists.” “…” “Silent again huh?” Sam couldn’t help but begin to glare at him. “I’m not going to talk to you when you’re like this.” “Like what Sam? Pissed off that I openly let someone betray me? Frustrated that I kept telling people not to trust you yet here we are in the situation we all feared? Enraged by the fact that I believed all your crap about your dead siblings?” “It wasn’t crap” Sam snapped, moving her body as she tried to break free from these restraints. She was already getting choked up from the situation she was in, but all these chains and ties were making her feel suffocated. She realized her tech glove was gone, but there was still a small teeny tiny little needle inside her uniforms sleeve and she gently pricked her finger with it, waiting for the small drop of liquid to spread throughout her body. “Well how the heck would I know? Since you made it clear that the Foot were number one on your hate list and yet here you are wearing their uniform,” he said as he shook his head. “You must think we’re a bunch of idiots.” “Only when you don’t listen.” “Oh you want me to listen to you, just like how your ‘best friend’ did?” Raph said, holding up his fingers to make quotes as he said ‘best friend,’ “Wow, you took advantage of Mikey and his kind-hearted nature and you STILL want to attempt to make that plan work. I’m sure this is really going to screw him up. Here you had a real brother and you betrayed him for some fake ones.” Sam pushed her arms out and tried to break free again, but failed. “My brothers aren’t fake, everything I told you about them and their deaths was true.” “Come up with some new material” Raph snapped. Sam was really getting fed up with this. She didn’t want to hurt Raph, but he was really pushing her towards her limit. “You better watch your mouth.” “Or what? Are you going to put me in a fake grave as well? Dang, that’s lower than low. I’d be embarrassed if I was your fake siblings. Hell, I think I’d be happier being dead than having to live knowing that I’m related to you” he snarled. And that was it, the breaking point. The mutagen on the needle now kicked in and Sam had massive amounts of strength surging through her. It couldn’t be seen from the outside physically, but her actions made it known that something was wrong. Sam ripped her arms and legs through every rope, chain, and wire that had been holding them down. Her entire body was free, and now she was glaring at Raph as she paced back and forth on her side of the room. Emotions took over and reason was locked away from her thoughts. Reason was banging on the door, trying to be let back in, but rage was throwing a party and he was on a high that he wasn’t coming back down from anytime soon. “Woooow, true words from a sidekick. No wonder your own father didn’t choose you as leader. Your tactics are controlled by your anger and they make you look like an idiot, it’s comical” Sam barked. “They’re better than whatever techniques are being forced down your throat from the Foot” Raph barked back. “Really? Them why am I the one with a leader’s armband?” Sam asked, a wicked smile forming on her face. On the inside she hated what she was doing, but Raph had picked at her deepest wound, so she was doing the same to him, and this side of her was what was visible on the outside. “You think you’re so tough now? Because what I saw earlier was a wimpy excuse for a leader. You couldn’t even throw a single punch! All you did was cower in fear” he said as he started walking towards her. “Punches? Holy shit, you don’t think with anything but your fists do you? Another reason you’ll never be a leader! Enemies see through you when all you use is the same brute strength attack again and again. No wonder Shredder kicked your ass” Sam said as she also started walking towards Raph. They both walked forward and with their right arms punched each other square in the jaw. Both were taken aback, and if Raph was thinking clearly, he would have questioned how Sam was able to hit him with the same amount of power that he had hit her, and he would have also questioned how this punch hadn’t knocked her out cold like it always did, but obviously Raph wasn’t thinking clearly. “One crack on my shell is getting my ass kicked? Shredder must have you all types of fucked up to believe that.” “Takes a little bitch to know what it’s like to get fucked up, right Raph?” “Look at you trying to act tough, it’s as sad as the lie about your fake dead family.” “You know what they say about guys that talk big? They’re small in other places. Makes sense, trying to make up for what you don’t have.” “Oh I’m sure you know what plenty looks like after all you’ve done. I’m sure your innocence is just an act to, another mark on your list of lies.” “At least I could get some if I wanted to. You’ll be stuck down here for the rest of your life. Who the hell would be dumb enough to want you? You’d probably bore and then beat your woman to death since your fists are larger than your brain.” “Cut the act Sam. You’re so stuck between your innocent and tough guy acts that you’re just spouting a bunch of bullshit. You’re so broken that you don’t even know what you’re saying!” “You wanna see stuck? You want to experience being broken?! Well welcome to my life asshole!” It was like the flash ran by. Raph saw nothing but blue from Sam’s eyes before seeing nothing but black darkness. The impact from the kick sent him flying backwards so quickly that he literally saw nothing and wasn’t able to see again until he was on the other side of the room. At first he felt nothing, but within seconds he felt pain surging through his body. His chest hurt like crazy and his head was pounding like nothing he had ever felt before, and his shell, his shell was literally stuck in the wall. For the first time ever in his life, Raph was truly terrified. He kept trying to pull himself forward, but the kick had left him so weak that he could barely move. It was too late, but he was finally starting to think logically, and he realized how screwed he was. “What the hell was that?! How was she able to attack me like that? That speed, that strength! And I swear I just saw her brown eyes turn blue!” Raph thought to himself as he kept trying to free himself from the wall. *SLAM* A mix of fear and shock prevented Raph from turning to see the huge hole Sam’s fist had made in the wall, right next to where his head was. What he did see was that she had found her tech glove (it had been behind him on the weapons wall) and she was putting it back on. It was a bit different this time though. On the bottom of her forearm was usually just the black flexible webbed material, but now there was a thin metal strip that trailed down to the underside of her arm, and on the top part of her arm where the strip started was a small flat circular piece. He wondered what this was for and if this addition had anything to do with her new power, but his attention was very quickly directed back towards the girl as she began shouting at him. “God you’re such an idiot!” Sam shouted as she slammed her other fist against the wall near Raph’s head again, but this time on the opposite wall. “You can’t keep your mouth shut for like five god damn seconds to just let me explain!” She then took a step back as her hands flew up and grabbed onto the side of her head. She seemed to be in pain as the white sclera of her eye once again turned blue and her iris and pupil were both a dark solid black, all of her normal eyes colors instantly disappearing. Sam looked back up at and glared at Raph as her eye color started to fade back to normal. Raph felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the girl’s expression. He had never seen her look at anyone like that before and he knew that something was making her not like herself. He quickly began to have doubts about all he had said and he regretted letting his anger and confusion get the best of him, but the damage was done, and he knew that whatever came next was all his own fault. “Why…Why can’t you just learn to shut up and listen?!” Sam shouted, still standing in place where she was now a few steps away from Raph. “Do you honestly think I wanted this? You think that I openly joined that shitty clan? I’d rather die than loyally join them! But you wouldn’t know that because you can’t keep your mouth shut!” Sam now slowly started walking forward. “Sam, wait-” “SHUT UP!” As Sam screamed out, forceful wind gusts flew out to the sides of her body. “You don’t know anything, god there’s still so much that you don’t yet know and understand. But hey, months of getting to know someone obviously doesn’t mean shit to you. Someone telling you about the most terrifying and scarring parts of their life obviously DOESN’T MEAN SHIT to you. Watching someone breakdown in front of you, open their heart to you, you saw all of that fist hand, and how do you react? You degrade that person’s family and call them a liar! This is why I didn’t come to you guys in the first place, I knew you would react this way, ESPECIALLY YOU! I knew I made the right decision when I did and you’ve given me all the proof I need that I never should have trusted you EVER. You know how trapped you feel right now, that fear of not being able to control a damn thing that’s about to happen to you? I’ve been living that way since Thursday night. Wrong, I’ve been living that way my entire life! You’re right, my life is so fucked up that I am broken, and now you’re going to know what it’s like to be broken to.” Raph’s eyes went wide as he saw Sam take quick steps towards him as she lifted her arm up, ready to throw another nasty punch at his face. She moved quickly, but not quick enough. Mikey had suddenly appeared and hooked his arms within Sam’s and with the momentum of her movements, he was able to forcefully pull her back. She stumbled back a few steps and instantly her expression softened as she saw him, but before she could react any further, Leo had jumped in and kicked her with as much force as he possibly could. Sam was sent flying towards the other side of the room and crashed into the wall. Her head was pounding and her back was as sore as ever. Again, before she could react in any type of way, Donatello had rushed over, and using his bo staff, he pushed Sam up and was pinning her neck against the wall, suffocating her as he did so. “Oh my god…” Mikey mumbled, barely able to speak from the shock he was in from the sights in front of him. “Raph? Raph?!” Leo shouted as he tried pulling his brother out of the wall. Mikey aided his older brother and within another minute Raph was free. He collapsed under Mikey’s hold once he was free. He was conscious, but just barely, and he had no real control over his body at the moment, all his energy focused on just keeping himself awake and conscious. Donnie finally eased up and let Sam’s body fall to the floor with a hard thud. She gasped for air as color returned to her face. Donnie and Leo quickly switched spots. Donnie rushed over and began looking Raph over for any major injuries. He checked his pulse and it seemed rather high, but it was gradually steadying back to normal. He then pulled out a small hand held x-ray device and checked to see if his brother had any serious internal damage. Luckily nothing was broken or torn which meant that he might have some serious sores and bruises, but nothing life threatening had happened to him. Hearing Donnie sigh out in relief signaled to Leo and Mikey that everything was going to be okay, but that relief quickly switched back over to rage. Leo looked down at Sam who looked like she was about to stand up, that is, until a katana was pulled out and the blade was placed in front of her face. Sam looked up at Leo and then back over at Raph. “No…” Sam was mortified. Even though Donnie had signaled that Raph would be okay, she knew that nothing was truly okay in this situation. She couldn’t believe what she had just done. Even if Raph had acted like a prick, he was still her friend, he was her brother, how could she have let herself get so carried away? How could she let her emotions get the best of her like this? “Don’t say anything” Leo snarled. Sam had never seen Leo or Donnie look as vicious as they did now, and she couldn’t even look at Mikey in fear of what his expression would reveal. “I can explain-” “I said don’t talk!” Leo shook his head. “You never could listen, could you?” Sam’s hands were shaking like crazy, and she was sweating more than she ever had in her entire life. She felt so many emotions, but more than anything she was afraid of losing everything she had just finally found. She needed these guys, she needed this family, HER family…or at least what was her family. Sam kept trying to explain, things just couldn’t end like this, not without the guys at least understanding the reasons for why all of this chaos had happened. “Leo please,” Sam softly said “I can explain-” “I don’t want to hear your explanation, it’s too late for that. We leave to go discuss how we should handle ‘you,’ and we have to rush back because you can’t control yourself. I don’t know what is and isn’t true about you anymore, but I WILL NOT give you any more chances to harm my family.” He spoke in a bitter tone and never ceased from holding his katana right in front of her face. Sam knew that she had hurt everyone in the room one way or another and that she had no right to speak or to fight in defending herself, but right now she was so desperate to not lose these guys. She needed them whether they wanted to believe it or not, and she wasn’t leaving without sharing her side of the story. “Leo please just listen to me, I didn’t mean for this to happen. The reason I hid from you guys was to prevent this from happening.” “Because that worked” Donnie said maliciously. Sam had never heard him talk in such a tone before which emphasized how out of control things had become. “I’m sorry…” “You think an apology is enough to fix this?” Donnie asked sourly, scrunching up his face as he glared at her. He shook his head at her. “You can’t undo this, you’ll never be able to get past this, and we’ll never forgive you for this.” “I know, but please-” she begged before getting cut off. “Then you know it’s time to leave.” Sam rapidly shook her head. “No. Not yet, not without at least explaining-” “We. Don’t. Care” Leo stated cruelly. Sam balled her hands up into fists. “After all of that, I’m not leaving until you at least know why it happened.” Sam was beginning to grow a temper again. She fought as hard as she could to control it so that she wouldn’t hurt anyone else, but nothing could prevent the sour tone that was now coming from her own voice. “If you dare to even raise a fist, I’ll cut it off” Leo stated through gritted teeth. “I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t know how you would react so I thought-” “Just get out Sam!” Donnie shouted. “No! Not until-” “Just go,” Mikey mumbled out as he stared at the floor in front of him. And that was all that needed to be said. Sam quickly glanced over at her friend, searching for a sign that he didn’t mean what he said, or even that she had misheard him. But she heard him correctly, and for the first time ever since they had met, Mikey was kicking her out. This was the final blow, the breaking point, the act that sent her over the edge. Those two words were all that needed to be said to signal to Sam that this was the end. After everything that she had shared with the turtles, after the tears she had shed in front of them, after all she went through in opening up to them and telling them the entire truth about her past, the only people she had ever confided in with such details would no longer be part of her life, ever. Once she left the room she knew she would never see or talk to them ever again. It would go back to how things were before she had met them, but this time it would be even worse. She had gained four more brothers, and once again her family was being ripped away from her thanks to the Foot clan. There was still so much they didn’t know, but none of that mattered now. She knew that they didn’t care and they never would and they just wanted to make her a made up bad dream of the past, and she decided that she better start living with that mindset as well as she stared at the floor and slowly began to rise to her feet. She didn’t speak and her hands weren’t shaking anymore as she stood up and began walking towards the exit. She made sure not to look at any of the boys as she left, knowing it would instantly lead to tears flowing from her eyes, so she stared straight ahead and exited the room without ever looking back once. She hoped and would have begged for any of them, especially Mikey, to have stopped her…but not a word was spoken as she walked towards the exit.

After Sam had left the room, the dojo was filled with nothing but silence. The usually loud and chaotic room was now so silent that you could hear a pin drop. All three boys helped get Raph to his room and by that time he was starting to recuperate some. Once that was settled, all four brothers wondered off to their rooms, each wanting to be alone after all that had happened that night. Each one would view and handle the situation differently from the others, which unknowingly would lead to more tension, but for now, they all just wanted to be by themselves and try their best to control their emotions and their thoughts before it led any of them to do something they’d regret.

 Author’s Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. This was originally supposed to be part of the previous chapter, but after I had planned everything out I felt that it would be best to write them separately.

I hope you guys liked this chapter. I’ve been anticipating this part of the story for a while now and I can’t believe I’ve actually reached this point in the story. I’m sorry if it’s rude to ask this, but if possible could you guys leave some type of feedback as to how you felt when reading this chapter? I try my best to keep the turtles in character and if possible I’d like to know if it seems that I’m still doing that or if it seems like I’m stretching things a bit, like to a point where a reader would think “whoa there’s no way so-and-so character would say/do that!”

Also, was the fighting and arguing scene alright? I wanted it to be intense and rough because that’s what this whole situation is and it’s going to have a huge impact on the turtles and how they handle what has happened, but at the same time I didn’t want to go overboard and make Raph and Sam seem like twisted psycho killers or anything like that. I really wanted to hone in on how each character would feel and would react in these moments, so hopefully the way the fights went down was alright for you guys.

Again, thank you guys for sticking with me so far and your feedback means the world to me it truly does. I’ll see you guys again in the next chapter J