Chapter 34; Raphael

                                    

                                          
Song: Move Along - All American Rejects

                          
"I win!" Leonardo yells triumphantly as he releases my hand. He flexes his knuckles to stretch his palms out.
                          
   I glare at him as I massage my cramped fingers. We were arm wrestling. "I want a rematch!" I demand.
                          
   "No way, that was the third time!" Leonardo refuses, a smirk on his face. "Just admit it: I earned the last slice of pizza."
                          
   We agreed that the last piece of pizza goes to the winner of our contest. I don't care for the food; I've already eaten four slices. I just despise losing, especially when it comes to strength assessment. And Leonardo.
                          
   "Best four out of five!" I insist.
                          
   "We already did three out of four!"
                          
   "I was just warming up. I'm ready now!"
                          
   "Yeah, right, Raph. Whatever you say." Leonardo has a teasing expression on his face.
                          
   "I'm serious!"  I say defensively, feeling a bit self-conscious.
                          
   "Wait," A new voice breaks into the disagreement. It's Michelangelo with a half-eaten pizza in one hand. "Were you guys fighting over this piece?"
                          
   Leonardo's eyes widen. He suddenly looks very annoyed. "Yes! You just ate a whole pizza, why are you eating another slice?!"
                          
   "I was hungry, man! A turtle's gotta eat!" Michelangelo replies as he swallows the remainder of the pizza. Then he pauses. "Did you want the rest of that?" he asks, suddenly looking nervous.
                          
   Leonardo's eyes blaze with fire. He glances over at me, as if asking how he should react.
                          
   "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," I warn with an innocent shrug. I hate it when Michelangelo bug me, so it's a relief when he picks on my brothers.
                          
   At my response, Leonardo shoots Michelangelo a sharp look.
                          
   "Uh oh," the younger turtle gulps. He turns tail and scrambles out of the kitchen.
                          
   Leonardo jumps out of his seat and runs after him, yelling, "MIKEY!"
                          
   I sit back in my chair, unable to hide my amusement. It's nice to flip the script with my brothers every now and then, that way I'm not always the angry one. We're all teenagers with hormones and junk. Sometimes, we all get a little worked up. It is what it is.
                          
   Donatello and April appears in the room discussing a television show. They've been getting along a lot better than usual.  Donatello actually participated in discussions that aren't just about science, and April isn't so stubborn about protecting herself.  They're really starting to conform to the world instead of just their own ideas.
                          
   A newcomer walks into the kitchen: Casey. He is plastered with mud and his face paint is smeared, revealing a furious expression. He slams broken baseball bats onto the island counter.
                          
   "I ran into that stupid rhino mutant! He and Bebop were blocking off a road and attacking anyone that got within fifty feet of 'em!"  Casey announces as he angrily plops down in a chair far away from me.
                          
   The news snaps Donatello out of his discussion with April. "Bebop and Rocksteady barricaded a road? That's odd. Do you have any idea why?"
                          
   Casey shakes his head. "No. But I'll bet my hockey mask that it has something to do with the Kraang," he replies, looking beaten.
                          
   "Bebop and Rocksteady were Shredder's minions, though," April points out.  "Why would they have joined the Kraang?"
                          
   "Mutants do have limited employment options," Donatello suggests, to which we all mutter in agreement with.
                          
   About that time, Michelangelo appears in the room. He flies over the island counter and crashes to the floor, out of our view. A groan of pain is the only thing that tells us he's still alive.
                          
   Leonardo waltzes into the room, dusting his hands. "And that's how Turflytle learned to fly," he says with a triumphant smirk.
                          
   Michelangelo's head pops up from behind the counter, his eyes only half-open. "Buzz, buzz," he mumbles.
                          
   Leonardo helps Michelangelo to his feet, always one to make up for his rough housing. "Next time, don't eat my pizza," he tells the turtle light-heartedly.
                          
   Leonardo's blue gaze travels over Casey, and his contentment turns to worry. "What happened?"
                          
   "Bebop and Rocksteady," is all Casey has to say.
                          
   The names instantly put a dark look in the eldest turtle's eyes. He turns his attention to Donatello like he always does when he has a question. As usual, the purple-clad turtle knows what to say.
                          
   "They've barricaded a specific road from civilization, as it seems," the tetchy-turtle explains. "We suspect it involves the Kraang, but we don't know what they're up to."
                          
   "We need to get down there and figure it out," I growl. "I'll take Rocksteady; you guys can have the disco pig."
                          
   "I wonder if he actually knows how to disco," Michelangelo's face is bright with curiosity and excitement. "Do you think he would teach me?!"
                          
   "Casey, can you lead us to where you saw them?" Leonardo asks the hockey player.
                          
   "Yeah, sure," Casey replies, his words dripping with sarcasm. "Let me just get my useless, broken hockey stick and take you into battle while I look like a walking pile of dung!"
                          
   My brother ignores his cheekiness. "Great!" he agrees happily. "Let's go!"
                          
   Casey sighs irritably and gets up. My brothers, April and I all head after him, sniggering under our breath.
                          
   We walk out into the gloomy sewers. It smells as it usual does; like trash and other unmentionables. Actually, while being concealed with mud, Casey blends in perfectly with the scene- if giant turds were common, that is.
                          
   We get close to a manhole, but Leonardo stops us with his katanas.
                          
   "What are you doing?" Casey asks sharply, having not recovered from his earlier annoyance.
                          
   The blue-clad turtle puts a finger to his lips, ordering us to be quiet. "I heard something," he breathes.
                          
   My gaze travels before us. There is a dark figure wading through the liquid muck, heading straight towards us.
                          
   I whip out my sais and take a step forward, but Michelangelo's gleeful shout stops me in my tracks.
                          
   "Lizzy!"