Two Worlds One Family

Chapter 4

It has been several weeks since the family first met April and there has been no sign of Dr Stockman or his mousers. They had all settled into their new home now. All the major repairs that were required had already completed. There were only a few minor things left to do.

For the most part, their lives continued as usual, except for their new added friend April.

One evening Andrea had been emptying the last of the remaining boxes when she heard a commotion coming from the living room. Exiting the kitchen, she spotted Mikey and Raph sparring in the middle. Well, Mikey winding Raph up while the red bandanna turtle failed to land a hit on him. Without looking away from the fight, she swiftly crossed to the other side of the room where her other two brothers and father were standing.

"So what did Mikey to do Raph this time?" she asked curiously.

Leo replied with a shrug.

"I don't know; we just came to see what was going on as well."

In the middle of the room, Mikey was continuing to egg Raph on more and more. Andi could see the anger building in Raphael's face, his attempts to swing at Mikey getting more and more sloppy.

"You think you're better than me, do you?!"

Raph jumped forward with his fist aimed at Mikey's head.

"No, you're just too cocky Raph" Mikey replied easily side stepping out of the way, sending Raphael crashing into the office desk. "Winner and still champion, Michelangelo!"

Mikey started walking towards the rest, cheering with his hands clasped above him in a victory wave. Behind him, Raph was slowly getting to his feet with a firm grip on a metal pipe in his right hand. Leo, Donnie, Master Splinter and Andi all realized what was about to happen. Raph lost all control of his anger, leaping forward to push Mikey to the ground. Pinning him down with his leg, he raised the pipe above his head, ready to strike. In a split second, Andi dove down to cover Mikey's head with her own body, to protect him from receiving the blow. Luckily Leo grabbed Raph's arm, restraining him before he could even twitch.

"Raphael have you lost your mind!"

Raph dropped the pipe, panting in disbelief. He couldn't believe that he had almost struck his younger brother with a metal pipe. He looked between them all, unsure of what to say or do.

Master Splinter stepped forward, placing a hand on Raph's shoulder. "Ah, my son, so much anger. Rage is a warrior that will destroy you from within; a true warrior finds balance with all things".

"Master Splinter I - I, I gotta get some air" Raph stuttered before sprinting out of the lair.

Mikey tried to go after him, but Master Splinter stopped him before he could.

"You okay, Mikey?" Andi asked her brother.

"I'm fine" he replied but Andi could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn't. He had never seen his brother lose his temper like that before.

They all went back to their activities. Raphael would return when he was ready, and until then, they needed to respect his boundaries.

***

A few hours later and Raph had not yet returned. Donnie had gone back to working on his inventions while Andi sat at another desk nearby doing her school work. Master Splinter had band conversation between the two while she was doing homework years ago. When they were younger, Donnie had a habit of giving away a lot of the answers, much to the annoyance of their father. Master Splinter firmly explained to Donnie that it was vital for Andrea to learn and comprehend on her own without him. Donnie wasn't too happy at first but listened to him anyway. She was, however, allowed to ask him for help if she needed it—a small compromise.