Remember [Book 1]

40 - Raphael

Although having the girls going on missions with us was fun, I personally didn't like them in the way most of the time. The underwater Kraang base was nice since we didn't need to exercise that much. But I had a feeling that with future missions, it wouldn't be a great idea to include them. I took my opinion to Leo.

“What do you mean, keep the girls in the lair?” He asked me. We were in the kitchen, me feeding Spike. “What's wrong with the extra help?”

“Nothing's wrong, Leo,” I told him. “Just… Missions could get more dangerous.” I shrugged and watched Spike take a bite of leaf. “I'm sure you don't want them to learn the hard way like us.” I was referring to us meeting Shredder for the first time.

Leo hardened his gaze as I even seemed to mention it. I knew he didn't like reminding of that day. “They'll be fine,” he snapped. “They've learned quickly.”

“Fine,” I told him curtly. “Then I'm also assuming you want April on the next mission as well.”

The reminder of April had Leo looking shocked. “I… uhm… Well… April?”

I frowned and set the leaf down for Spike to finish eating. He was already almost done. Pointing at Leo, I huffed, “If you can't include all of them, then don't bring any of them.”

Turning away, the Katana wielder sighed. His arms crossed. Assuming the way he didn't respond to me again, I would say I won the argument. I knew Leo wouldn't go behind Splinter's back with keeping April from the Kraang and Shredder. Since April and the girls were such good friends, one of them would complain about April going on missions soon.

Turning to Spike, he made his gurgling grunting sound. I picked him up and made my way out of the kitchen. The girls were watching a show that was live action. April was sitting beside Donnie. Everything seemed normal.

A water balloon came out of nowhere aiming for the side of my face. I ducked immediately. Holding Spike close to me, I growled, “Mikey!” a small, nervous chuckle followed. Setting Spike by the girls, I went to find my brother. Where was he hiding?

Before I could find the freckle face, Leo came out of the kitchen. “Guys, suit up. We're going on a mission.”

“Oh!” Mikey cooed, popping his head out from behind a corner. “What kind of mission?” There! I put my hands up in a menacing stance and walked toward him. As soon as money realised what he had done, he cried out and bolted toward Leo.

Leo turned around as Mikey ran around him. “Raph, that's enough!”

“He threw a water balloon at me!” I countered.

“I don't care,” he told me sternly. “Get ready. We're going out.”

“Can we come?” Mikito's voice spoke up.

Leo and I turned to the turtle. I had already forgotten I had set Spike by them. Naomi had the small turtle in her lap, petting his shell. April and Mikito were looking at us expectantly. Why didn't Naomi seem interested? Did she know?

“Not this time, girls,” Leo told them. “We'll be scouting for Foot tonight. We don't want anything bad to happen.”

“Oh, all right…” Mikito mumbled. She looked down at the remote age was holding. She then looked back up at us with a smile, “Then come back safely.”

“That's our goal,” I smirked.

Donnie got up and walked over to join the rest of us. Mikey was still partially behind Leo. As Leo turned around, he gave me a look. I frowned. He lead the way out, allowing the rest of us to follow.

During the trip topside, Mikey kept blabbering his mouth. Mostly about the turtle sub adventure that happened two days back. We'd been training with the girls since then so this was our first time up in a while.

“But the best part was when Leatherhead came back and swam in to save the day!” Mikey jumped straight up in the air with his arms up. “Knocked Nessy straight back into Dimension X!”

“Are you done?” I asked as I turned to my younger brother. He smiled at me. “Seriously, nobody's here to impress anymore.”

“Oooh,” Mikey suddenly smirked. He came up and poked my cheek. “Is that why you’re in your usual grumpy mood?” I growled and smacked his hand away. “I knew it!” He danced ahead of me on his tip toes. “You wanna impress Naomi,” Mikey sang.

“I do not!” I felt my cheeks flare red.

Mikey suddenly stopped and turned to me. He pointed a finger at my face, making me stop. His expression was serious. “Then the only other option is Mikito. You better not!”

My hands lifted in defense. Then it dawned on me. I smirked, “And you want to impress Mikito.”

“Of course I do!” He grinned. Well that didn't work out… What could possibly embarrass Mikey like the rest of us? “Why shouldn't I?” He turned and balanced on the train rails.

Shaking my head, I followed after him. Leo and Donnie were farther ahead. Either they didn't care to wait for us or they didn't notice the two of us fell behind. Either way, it was annoying trying to catch up to them. By the time Mikey and I had caught up to them, they were already climbing their way topside. Thankfully they waited on a nearby roof.

Leo waited for Mikey to climb up before looking at each of us, “Time to settle down and get quiet. There's been less and less Foot activity, but that doesn't mean we should let our guard down.”

I scoffed, “Makes you wonder if we're doing any damage to their numbers.”

Leo looked at me with a frown, but his eyes told me he was proud, cocky. Guess he shared my same opinion on the inside. We were pretty good ninjas. Hand motions were the only thing Leo gave us before he bolted. The rest of us followed suit, as usual.

The majority of the city was just settling down for the night. Most shops had already closed, but more popular shops that weren't government owned or brand named were starting to close. Everything else was pretty much twenty-four-seven. Our early patrols were making sure some of the more well-known, hidden, or easily accessible stores were good for the beginning of the night. The Purple Dragons usually hit those.

Afterward, we usually had a bite to eat. Tonight wasn't an exception. We had fast food Mexican while Mikey chowed on his usually pizza mess. We cleaned up and Donnie organized our trash accordingly, putting them in different recycling bins on the way through the rest of the patrol.

At first, it seemed an easy night. No Purple Dragons, Foot, or Kraang anywhere. Made me wonder if the girls could have come along after all. Then Leo stopped us. It was sudden, which made me instantly alert.

He peeked over the edge of the building roof we were on. I couldn't help but follow suit. A man in a hoodie was putting up signs on street lamps. That was about it. Looking back up to roof level, I saw a shadow slip away.

Without letting my brothers know what I saw, I followed after the shadow. I heard Leo call my name, but I was already focused on my prey. As I neared the place where I saw the shadow, I retrieved my Sais and waited. The feeling of being watched suddenly came into play. So there was still Foot to beat up.

Movement on my left had me side step. A blade came slicing down where my shoulder had been. With a quick jab I landed a blow with my Sai hilt to their stomach. They grunted, dropped their weapon and collapsed. Pathetic.

“At least give me a challenge!” I told the night.

“Raph!” Leo growled as he neared. “What are you-- oh. Foot.”

I snickered and noticed a Foot soldier coming up behind Leo.

Spinning my Sai, I grinned. This was going to be a fun night.