Raph's Nightmares

A path to follow

Of course he has to slip on the only pond there is on the roof. I stretch my hand out and grab him before he falls off. He giggles goofily and holds on to me.

"Thanks Raph. Nice save".

I close my eyes and muster all the will power I have not to drop him.

"Mikey. Stay focused. I don't want them to spot us, hear us or capture us. Are we clear?"

He smiles, half apologetically, half unsure. I put him down on the rooftop and shoot him a last glare before peeking inside through the window. Nothing new to my eyes. Kraang, more kraang, mutagen, a couple of big machines I don't recognize or understand - and honestly I don't care about. And a sigh. I grumble under my breath before turning to him.

"What now, Mikey?"

"Would you mind - uh... telling me - what are we looking for? Does this have anything to do with making Leo feel better? I don't quite remember you telling me..."

My hand is sometimes faster than my brain. I realized I have smacked his head before even thinking about it. I smile a bit and shake my head.

"I don't really know, to be honest. But I hope so".

He rubs his head and looks at me with only one eye open.

"Why do you think he hates you bro? I mean, I have a theory, but I'd like to know your point of view."

I glare at him and raise my hand, ready to smack him again. He scoots away and covers his head, this time he's been faster than me, what makes me smile.

"I don't want to know your theory. And I have no idea why he doesn't like me to be around. Now shut up and let's focus. See that desk over there? They have lots of chemicals and stuff. I want you to gather as many as you can, especially if they are blue. Flashdrives would be much appreciated. Anything that can contain information. Got it?"

He nods, already with that determined look in his eyes. I hand him a backpack and he slings it over his shoulder. He gives me a thumb up, not smiling,  trying to look confident. Or to reassure me. Mikey sometimes does this kind of things, trying to act strong for the others. As if we didn't know he is just pretending.

We sneak through the window and climb down a rope to the floor. So far, the kraang are busy with their own stuff. We advance close to the wall, I have already detected three emergency exits, just in case the fight gets too hard - if there is any. Sure there will be, there are at least five bots gathering around the desk I need to get to. I nudge Mikey and point at the desk. He hurries over and I smash the bots, taking them down. I see my brother fill the bagpack with anything at hand and my eyes search the desk for anything that could look similar to my blue liquid.

Some.

Different tones of blue, oh well. I make a sign to Mikey and he nods, grabbing all of them. I haven't been carless when taking the bots down, but it has triggered some kind of alarm, and I find myself surrounded by those freaks, having to find my way out. Not that hard, though. They were caught off guard and let's be fair, they are pretty easy to break. Mikey is already running ahead of me, climbing up the rope. I follow suit, dodging the laser blasts aimed at me. Really, can these guys be any lamer at shooting their weapons? I've seen them missing a target only inches away.

Mikey and I fist bump the minute we reach the street. Mikey is pumped, skipping down the alleyway.

"Hey, genius! Give me that backpack before you break all the glass and mix the chemicals."

He doesn't protest, he simply hands me over the backpack and keeps jumping up and down.

"Wasn't that awesome, dude? Aren't we the best team ever? Wait until Leo hears about this. I'm gonna tell him like ha! We need no leader no more, we are just so cool!"

I wince and shove him off.

"Don't you ever say a thing like that. Ever again. We need him. Period".

"Uh... duh... I was just kidding Raph. You know, we did it quite great back there...".

He looks down, no longer cheerful. I'm about to go easier on him, brighten his mood up, when I see something out of the corner of my eye. There was no movement, it's just a place. A familiar place. I grab Mikey by his mask ends to make him stop.

"I've been here before".

He gets free from my grip and looks at me, then at the building I'm looking at.

"Uh, yeah, probably. It's near TCRI, I'm sure we all have been here before..."

"I mean inside, you shell brain".

"Oh..."

I give him the backpack and start climbing the fire escape. Sure I have been here. Here are where my dreams start from. As if it was the first stage on a difficult video game, I am forced to repeat it over and over again. And this is the start point. I reach the fifth floor and look down. This the exact spot. Mikey waves at me from the ground and I ignore him.

I stare right in front of me. There is something waving in the breeze, hooked in the railing of the opposite rooftop. I squint trying to make it out, and I gasp.

It looks like a blue mask, but I can't be sure until I reach it.