sacrifice 2 [completed]

Insane..?

Chapter 4 > Insane..?

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Raph gave Donnie a warm brotherly smile as he hugged him tight.
"I love you too, lil bro. I love every single one of you." Donnie was relieved that his brother cared about them, why wouldn't he?

"But you should stop drinking. It's bad for your health." Donnie said firmly, yet playfully. Raph just nodded carelessly, pretending he cared, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
Donnie just pouted, but couldn't help but chuckle afterwards. Raph chuckled along too. Raph low-key really loved hanging out or talking to his brothers, but he never admitted it; so he could keep his tough persona high.

"Well, goodnight Raph." Donnie said as he stood up while Raph did too.
"Yeah, G'night Don." Raph said back while patting the genius one's shoulder. Donnie looked around Raph's room, signaling him to clean it up. Raph only nodded and Donnie began to leave.

Once he was at the door, he stopped,
"Hey Raph." Raph hummed in respond, his head raising up.
"Talk it out with Leo, maybe you guys can fix whatever problem you have."
The older one only frowned as the younger one left the room with pure understanding silence.

-next day-

The prankster was at the stove, cooking an usual meal, but yet delicious. He was humming a song he heard from Donnie's lab lately. The song was pretty sad, but, it gave Mikey such a feeling. It was called 'Can we kiss forever?' which Mikey knew was pretty old for their time, but still hummed it anyway. (sorry, I just love that frigin song-)
But Mikey couldn't figure out a 'can we kiss forever' sentence in the whole song.

Mikey heard some groaning coming from behind his back, so he turned his head around, seeing Leo up with slight red eyes. Mikey didn't ask about it anyway. "Morning bro!" Leo rubbed his eyes and sat at the table. "Good morning, Mikey." His voice showed that he didn't get sleep last night, which got Mikey a bit confused.
"Where are the others?" Asked the blue leader.
"Don is drinking his coffee in his lab. Dunno about Raph, though." Mikey only heard an uneasy hum from his brother. "Alright."

Minutes passed, but it seemed like hours to Leo. So he walked off the kitchen. 'Might as well check 'em' He thought as he made it to Donnie's lab.

Leo found Donnie drooling over his computer as his saliva dropped into his coffee. Again, he was watching April's photos like other times. Leo couldn't help but chuckle while he faked a cough. Donnie jumped up as he turned off his computer in embarrassment. Unfortunately, his coffee was splashed all over his face, which was not that hot to burn.

"Leo! I um, I eheh.." Donnie was looking for words as he cleaned himself up, eyes not taking off his brother. "It's ok Don. Besides we're all aware from this 'statement' of yours." Leo laughed a bit afterwards, leaving Donnie a blushing mess; half of it from the hotness of the coffee, the other half from embarrassment.

"Clean yourself up and come for breakfast. Don't be late or you'll lose it." After that, Leo left to look after his other brother, his equal, Raph.
He checked his room, but he wasn't there. He checked the kitchen again, wondering if he came since then, but he wasn't there either. Last but not least, he went for the dojo. That was, when he heard thuds, sounds of groaning, growling, punching, kicking and slight roaring. He thought it was Raph usually practicing on his own, but boy he was so wrong.

Once he entered the dojo, he was greeted with a fight scene between his brother and his father, although they were just training. He scanned the area fully.

Raph had sweats all over his arms, legs and head; not just forehead, but the whole head. He was gripping his Sais tightly. The same situation was with Splinter, but with less sweat and no weapon. Both were Panting their heart out. They were both standing in a fighting position, not really noticing the fact Leo was there.

Silence that was filled with tense rapid breaths, was broken with Raph roaring while lunging towards Splinter. They both collided and began fighting with tense. Their so called training was something further than the daily fights they had. It was harder from even perspective, let alone in the condition.

A voice broke Leo out of his distractions. "If you want to survive, you have to be able to deal with this pain and hardy of work. If not, you're too weak and your enemy will win."
Leo's eyes widened at that. That was always the last straw for Raph, the last straw for him going berserk. But, Splinter could handle Raph's anger, right?

Leo decided it was the cue for him to back up a bit. He saw Raph's eyes going full white as he groaned loudly, then it turning out to loud vociferate, "I AM NOT WEAK!" Leo's ears rang from the loudness of his voice. 'I think the others heard too,' how couldn't they? That was loud enough for the whole New York to hear. He scooted a bit backwards, watching carefully. 'God I'm being such a pussy cat.'
"My son, I know you are not-"
But, it was time for rage to speak.

Raph grabbed Splinter's hand and made its way to Raph's shoulder, him turning around. He gathered all his strength, then with a loud roar, threw Splinter to the other side of the dojo. The rat crashed onto the wall with a big thud, making cracks. Leo could think only about one thing, his father.
"Sensei!" Leo called out, running towards the rat. Little did he know it was his big mistake. He was greeted with a good punch of his brother in the face. He fell backwards to the other side of the dojo, far from his rat father. He groaned in pain and sat up, only to see a turtle hand coming for his throat. Before Leo could act, Raph's hand shot towards Leo's neck, pressing it. Leo nearly choked while tried to push his hand away. But it was no use, since Raph was physically stronger than Leo.

"Raph! What the heck!?" His raspy voice came out. It only caused Raph to lift him up in the air, making it more impossible to breathe. Tears of pain gathered in Leo's eyes, but due to him pressing his eyes so hard, they couldn't flow.

Finally, Leo's eyes flickered open. But what he saw in Raph's eyes wasn't his brother. He saw a monster trying to take over. The rage demon. Leo only drowned in that thought. He saw a light, he knew it was coming. His death.

But before he could close his eyes peacefully, he felt the release of pressure on his neck. He felt himself fall to the ground with a thud. He slowly sat up and rubbed his neck, coughing hard.

Once his vision got fully clear, he saw his two other brothers holding onto Raph's arms, trying hard. After some seconds, he saw Splinter joining the job. "Put him down my sons!" The rat demanded while those two did the same. Leo was now fully conscious as he sat up straight, looking terrified. After all, he was being choked to death.

Raph was now on the ground with his hands above his shoulder, Mikey being on his left side and Donnie on the other side, both holding his hands and legs. Splinter sat above Raph's head and put his hands on his forehead. Raph struggled to move, but it seemed like he was getting weaker. "I know you are there, Raphael. Come to your senses!" The rat said firmly and sternly. Raph gave a last shriek and his head collapsed. 'What happened?' Leo, who was now witnessing everything, thought with anxiety.

Raph's eyes flickered open as he softly groaned. "What happened?" The dizziness was obvious in his voice. They helped him sit up, and when he did, he rubbed his head. "Raph, are you feeling better?" The sincere in Donnie's voice made their heart warm up more after what happened.

Raph's eyes widened in sudden realization. "I could see everything, but, I couldn't think, I.." His eyes darted towards Leo, him sighing in relief. Leo almost crawled to their side. "I'm sorry..I'm sorry." He kept saying while his head was tilted down with his eyes closed. A hum was heard from Splinter. His sons, except Raph, looked at him. "This is something more than just rage, my sons.." His voice had a tone of sadness. "I'm afraid that.." Donnie decided to finish off, "That Raph is going insane." Donnie said blankly yet scared a bit.

The eyes immediately widened in shock. Raph himself instantly shot his up at them, looking terrified to death.

'I'm going...insane?'

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