Cleopatra: The new ninja

Chapter 15

"Slick is my only friend."

"Stop that crazy talk! Korai's your friend! April's your friend! Leo's your friend! Donnie's your friend! Mikey is your friend! I'm..." Raph looked at her. Her beautiful blue eyes shining through the darkness. He wondered, What am I to Cleo?

"No! I was only using you! My one and only friend is Slick!" Cleo was crying again. "Slick is the only one who gets me! I'm the only one who gets him! We balance each other!"

"Stop talking like that! Listen to me!" Raph put his hands on her shoulders. "We may not get you... But that's only because you've been hiding so many things about you! We want to be your friend. And because you're crazy, but we are your friends! We laugh with you. We joke with you. We care about you. What does Slick do?"

"He tells me he's my only friend! That's because he is!"

"Did you ever think that maybe he's deceiving you?"

Cleo calmed down. She sat down on the floor, gazing off into space. Raph sat down next to her.

"He's not deceiving me. At least, he wasn't, not at first. He's my friend, because he was the one who came to me in the dark. He was the one who showed up when I was small. When I was first taken to TCRI. I was crying, and the KRRAANG injected their shot into me." Cleo shuddered. "Slick came into me. I was sick for days. Mentally, from all that energy that he put in. A second being in my head. He told me that I was alone. Never going to see my mom again. But that he would always be there." Cleo wiped away her tears. "He was my companion. Always, always there. He tried to convince me that we should stay at TCRI, where I was contained and...unhappy." Cleo looked up, thoughtfully. "He kept me fighting. When I tried escape, he would cause a racket that would make me scream, and then I'd get caught... I would get so mad. But when I finally escaped, I got caught up in the moment, since you showed up." Cleo blinked. "I-I mean you guys." She stammered.

Completely untrue. It was just Raph. Whenever she was around Raph, Slick's control over her weakened.

Raph caught her flaw in speaking and blushed.

The two sat in silence for a while. Then Cleo remembered what Slick had said through her.

"Um... So... What... do you think Slick meant when he said I have 'such thoughts about you'?" Cleo cringed, dreading the answer.

Raph looked away, thinking. He wanted to be careful about what he said.

"Um...Well-"

"Because it had nothing to do with the fact that I like you."

Raph looked at her.

"Not that I like you, of course! I mean-" Cleo groaned and buried her head in her hands, positively embarrassed.

Raph blushed, feeling really awkward. Oh, well, it can't get anymore awkward, so I might as well.

He moved over to her, and put his arm around her, pulling her close. She looked up at him, making their faces two inches apart.

"Cleopatra," He said, "I like you too."

Cleo pulled away, grunting in pain, clutching her head. She stood up, and walked away, staggering.

"No! No you do not like her!" Slick hissed as he fought to keep control over Cleo. The tattoos on her face were circling her eyes, which were alternating from blue to purple and back again. "Cleo! He's lying! He's trying to make you feel better about yourself! He's trying to separate us! Just ask him what he likes about you!"