Slash's Revenge

Chapter 40 - Epic Fail

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: I'm finally back with a new chapter of 'Slash's Revenge' and, like I pointed out in my last post, this is one of my very favorite chapters I've ever written. I sure hope everyone likes it, too. *fingers crossed*

Thanks so much for reading, everybody!

CJ

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Chapter 40 – Epic Fail

The words kept replaying in Raph's brain like a broken record...

"Please, help him, my son. Help him find his way back to us."

Even now, as he reluctantly made his way to Donatello's room, all the hotheaded turtle could focus on was what his father had just said. Maybe that was because Raphael knew if he focused on anything else, he might chicken out and run away screaming.

Ugh!

He was so not good at this sort of stuff.

What was he even going to say?

It's not like Master Splinter had given him a script to go off of...

"I did not say this would be an easy task, Raphael, but it is a task that must be done. For Donatello's sake and for your own. As long as this rift remains between the two of you, your brother cannot truly heal."

How was Raph supposed to mend that rift?

A simple apology wasn't going to cut it. Heck, come to think of it, neither was a complicated one. Not that it really mattered. Raph sucked at any kind of apology.

Shaking his head, Raphael fought to internalize a growl of disgust. Just as the temperamental turtle had suspected, the moment he stopped focusing on what his father had told him, the feelings of doubt and shame came slithering back in and he suddenly found himself on the verge of fleeing the scene. In fact, he probably would have done so if not for Michelangelo coming up behind him from seemingly out of nowhere and scaring the shell out of him.

"Geez, Mikey! Give a turtle a heart attack, why don't ya?" Raph clutched his upper plastron just to make sure everything was still in working order. When he felt the steady thump-thump inside his chest, he figured it was safe to assume he was going to pull through.

"Sorry, bro. I was just getting Donnie a glass of ice water. Didn't mean to startle you." An impish grin soon snaked its way across Mikey's freckled face, revealing just how amused he was that he had managed to frighten his hotheaded brother. The youngest turtle always loved seeing his rough and tough big brother squirm in his shell. And this time, it didn't even have anything to do with cockroaches or crawly things.

Bonus!

Raph's expression then turned sour. A sure sign his mood was about to shift gears and not for the better. Mikey was quick to wipe the smirk off his face before his volatile brother had a chance to smack it off him. "So, what're you doing creeping outside Donnie's door?"

The accusation immediately caused Raphael to get defensive. "I wasn't creeping! I was just debating over whether or not I should go in!"

Mikey took a moment to scratch the top of his head with his free hand before casually responding, "What's there to debate about? Just go in."

It sounded so simple when Mikey said it, but to Raph, it was anything but simple.

"You saw the way he looked at me back in the Dojo. He doesn't wanna see me."