Chapter Text
Raphael thumped the side of his head with the flat of his palm, dislodging the water in his eardrums as April excitedly flitted around with her phone, pleased with whatever footage she had captured of his cannonball from the zipline down to the roof. These kinds of nights weren't uncommon; April was always hopping from one job to another, and sometimes she kept "souvenirs" after she was inevitably fired and used them for hijinks. This time around she had the keys to the roof of a hotel, and really there was only one thing to do with those. As he clambered out of the newly emptied pool, April came at him fast with her hand up high.
"You crushed it!" April cheered as Raphael returned the high five.
"Couldn't have done it without you," he winked and brought down a hand on her back. "The girl with the plans!"
April gasped and nearly staggered over as he patted her back. Sheepishly, Raphael pulled his hand away. He often forgot his own strength, and while he loved New York and all its chaos, sometimes he felt like it wasn't built for guys like him. When his father first allowed him to venture outside of the sewers that served as their home, he had found it very crowded. The narrow alleyways cluttered with dumpsters, trash, and abandoned half-made shelters were vastly different from the wide, empty tunnels and high ceilings that Raphael was used to. It was a wonder how the entire city hadn't heard him clambering around, tripping at every corner.
He was glad that April was the only one who had heard him that night.
Shaking his head, Raphael returned his thoughts to the present, where April was tossing out wet floor signs around the decimated pool area. She dusted her hands off and nodded to herself in satisfaction, before looking at Raphael and pointing across the rooftops.
"Wanna get some pizza at Mike Lou's?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah!" Raphael grinned and felt his snaggletooth poke over his lip. " You know I'm always down for pizza!"
"Can I hitch a ride?"
Wordlessly, Raphael kneeled down, allowing April to easily scale up his back. He rose back to his full height, adjusted his weight, then took a running leap towards the next rooftop as April started hollering happily. Only he was immediately distracted by a distressed looking creature on the roof of the building below. The creature was shaking like a leaf, glancing to and fro. Heart swelling with pity, Raphael didn't see the wall coming until his plastron was buried halfway inside the brick.
"What's the hold up, big guy?" April stared down at him from his back, her mouth crooked with amusement as he peeled his face out of the indent he’d made in the wall.
"Poor thing looks lost," Raphael explained, pointing out the creature below.
Without waiting for any comment or acknowledgement, Raphael leapt down. He hit the ground in a wide stance, the impact sent vibrations up his ankles and shook the entire rooftop, causing the creature to nearly jump out of its skin. Now that he was closer, Raphael could see that the creature was a quadrupedal cat/dog-esque…thing. It was mostly yellow with blue accents and two long tusks sticking out of its comparatively small mouth. He could just barely make out a glowing green ball attached to a collar, tucked under its chin.
"Aww, hey little guy. What are you doing here?" He made kissy sounds at the strange creature. "Come to big Raphie."
He heard snickering. Shifting gears, Raphael retorted defensively, "What? Pets love me, okay!"
"I'm sure they do buddy, but we're gonna have to take that one, okay?"
In a blur of yellow, the creature leapt into April's arms and she instinctively clutched it tight. The two teenagers whipped around to face down three figures similar in stature to April. The figures approached with casualness that unsettled Raphael; most people didn't feel comfortable walking up towards a guy his size in the middle of the night, even if they hadn't noticed that he was green. Even as they came closer, it was difficult to make out their features with the stark light of the moon blotting out their silhouettes, but Raphael thought they looked mostly human.
“Whoa, look at them,” the smallest of the three figures gawked, pointing at Raphael. “They look weird , do you think they’re like us?”
“C’mon, Mikey, he doesn’t look anything like us,” the figure at the front swaggered, flipping non-existent hair to the side. “For one, he’s not nearly as handsome.”
Raphael’s eyes darted between the three strangers, feeling himself instinctively inch between them and April. They weren’t running and screaming, which was rare, but they also hadn’t started swinging, which meant Raphael was in new territory in terms of human interactions. He wished he’d rehearsed for something like this. April had suggested a science fiction convention routine, but the only time they saw each other was after she got out of school, and by then they would rather goof off than rehearse. He was regretting that now.
“Okay, seriously though,” the middle figure continued. “Hand that thing over, and we’ll be on our merry way.”
“What do you want with it?” April turned away, protectively shielding it in her arms.
“Red, stop wasting our time!” The figure that had been completely silent until now suddenly snapped. “We were given a mission to retrieve the agent and the vial. We are expected back within the hour.”
“Uh, I’m sorry, who did dad make leader again?” The one called Red snarked. “Just relax, bro. This isn’t gonna be hard; it’s a little kid and an overgrown kappa.”
“Who you calling a little kid!?” April snapped in outrage.
“Kappa?” Raphael frowned in confusion.
The only response they received was Red dashing forward, an odachi flashing in the moonlight. It was all Raphael could do to stumble backwards and out of the way, barely managing to keep his balance as an arc of silver whizzed where his neck had just been. He put a hand to his throat nervously, then glanced over to where April was just in time to see the other two strangers rushing her, both looking mildly frustrated that they hadn’t been given a signal to attack. It was only then that Raphael finally got a clear look at the figures.
“The big guy is kinda fast,” Red observed with a hint of a smile. “But I won’t miss again.”
“Turtles…” Raphael stammered out. “You’re turtles.”
“He’s observant, too,” Red said sarcastically, charging in for another attack.
Blinding pain shot down Raphael’s arm as the sword sliced into his flesh, he hadn’t even realized he’d raised it to block. Before he could process that, a metallic sound rang in the air as Red went for another swing, each one intent on taking Raphael’s head clean off. Frazzled, Raphael kept blocking with his forearms, the mass of them the only thing saving him from losing the limbs. Each impact was just as painful as the last, the nerves lighting up down to his elbows. Then there was a flash of blue and white, and next thing Raphael knew, he was standing on the opposite side of the roof beneath steel girders. April was on the ground only a few feet in front of him, restrained by what looked like a kusari-fundō wielded by “Mikey”.
Something warm and solid fell into his arms, Raphael looked down to see the creature looking up at him with searching eyes. Not needing any further explanation, he finally put his head together and drew his sais while the creature leapt onto his back. To his surprise, the other turtle- the one with goggles and some kind of vest over his shell- raised his hands defensively.
“Listen, be smart here,” he said. “Hand over the agent along with the vial, and we’ll return your friend.”
“ Now who’s wasting time?” Called Red as he emerged behind Raphael in a flash of blue and white. “Just take it from him!”
With no time to process the continued use of teleportation- Raphael shifted to face the new opponent, but at the same time, the purple turtle swept his legs with some kind of staff. The roof shuddered and the creature hissed in pain as Raphael hit the ground hard. Red’s sword came down, aimed right between his eyes. He only just managed to deflect with his sais, the sword burying itself right next to his head. He grit his teeth as every slash on his forearms lit up again from the strain.
“Just die, buddy,” Red laughed, and Raphael shuddered at how lightheartedly he said it.
“Raph!” April cried.
There were sounds of a scuffle, but he didn’t have time to look over at his friend. With a twist, Raphael flipped his opponent over his head then clambered to his feet, spinning to meet him. He blinked in surprise at the loud clang of metal next to his face as Red had already launched another attack, not giving the larger turtle a moment to recuperate. Then Raphael was knocked to the ground again by- someone . He didn’t know who, and he was quickly getting frustrated with how easily the three turtles were knocking him and his friends around.
Every time he scrambled to his feet he only barely managed to deflect Red’s attacks, suffering from an occasional gash here and there when he wasn’t fast enough on the block. He never got a chance to counter, with those other two turtles butting in between chasing April and apparently the creature as well. He hadn’t noticed when it jumped off his back or when April got free. This entire situation was a disaster.
A fire broke out. Alarmed, Raphael turned away from Red for a millisecond to see that it was actually Mikey’s kusari-fundō, it had caught fire like a demon out of hell and in one dizzyingly quick attack- he knocked the creature out cold. Then Red hit Raphael with the pommel of his odachi and his vision went black.