......

Enjoy!~~

-Waashi ~3~

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[Raph's PoV]

"I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM ALL!", I shouted at the top of my lungs, anger smoothly flowing in every phrase.

Why?! Why would she even think that that would happen?! Alexa?! Of all the people!

I know that when we first met, I had a bad feeling in my guts about her. But after witnessing all of this shit, I know that she's a good for nothing showoff and imposter! She thinks that she can fake her real self from everyone?! That she's this nice and goody-two-shoes?!

And the guys! Most importantly them! Leo, Donnie, and Mikey?! They've been pestering and annoying me for the past 15 years of my life! Why can't they all give a fuck and just stop their shitty bizz?!

Argh! I just can't stand them, anymore!

"The others are holding me back. We should be out there fighting crime, tracking mutagen.", I complained aloud, placing the canister on the top of my drum set, considering that it would be safe enough for it to be there.

Then I continued to rant while Spike was listening to me as he stomped his feet. "But all that they want to do is play stupid games..."

Remembering what happened earlier, an  image of Alexa -aka. "The Little Brat"- flashed in my mind, causing my rage to intensify. I clenched my fists as hard as I can and punched the wall,"Argh! And Alexa? Well guess what, Spike? She thinks that this mutagen will mutate you and kill you because I brought it here! Can you believe that?!", raving all of my complains and disbeliefs.

I resumed punching the thick layers of plywood, shouting out loud,"SHE! Of all the people! Why did SHE have to say that?!"

After releasing the steam out of me, I relaxed and slid my shell against the wall. I turned to Spike and stared into his eyes, muttering under my breathe,"Maybe what I heard yesterday was true...", then briefly recalled that conversation.

*Flashback*

"She doesn't understand me, either...", I silently cussed out of my mouth while beating up the ragged dummy.

'And she never will, Raph...'

"Hm?", I perked up my head and moved my eyes to inspect my room. Who the hell said that?!

I shifted my view to face Spike, and spotted him chomping on his leaf. "Spike? Was that you?...", I asked the little guy but he didn't bother to reply.

Ignoring what I just heard and hoped it wouldn't come back, I proceeded to put some anger in the dummy's lifeless body. Man, that was just plain weird...

'She's not the person that you knew...'

"What? Who said-"

'She's just a showoff that wants your attention, Raphael... I wouldn't wanna trust her too much at this rate if I were you...'

"Spike? Did you just say-", I was going to query him, but to my surprise, he was just taking an nap on my pillow.

I went back to punching my training dummy while I tried to make out about what I've been hearing. 'Okay... That's just plain weird...', I thought.

'Whatever that was, it's probably gone by now...’, I internally assumed, though I was cut short when the voice returned.

'SHE'S A GOOD FOR NOTHING HUMAN! A LIAR, TRAITOR, BACK STABBER! SHE'LL MAKE YOU THINK THINGS THAT AREN'T EVEN REAL!...', it hollered into my eardrums, almost bursting them to juice.

I attempted to cover my nonexistent earlobes from hearing another word from, well from whoever's voice this is! It's starting to drive me crazy! It's saying a lot of stuff that aren't even true about Alexa, for Pigeon Pete's sake!

Even with my ears covered, I could still make out the laughter and small breathes of that voice.

"No! Alexa isn't like that! She's different.", I earnestly retorted and it laughed even louder, its voice echoed throughout my ear canals.

‘Oohohohooo, but she is different… She’s a nobody to you…’, it replied and continued to maniacally laugh.

Argh! This voice is driving me nuts! I gotta do something to make it go away!

Without any second thoughts, I screamed out,"She's like my little sister! An Imōtō-san! My Imōtō-san! She would never-", but was taken aback when the laughter stopped.

I looked around and checked what was going on; Spike was hiding inside of his shell and looks like he’s been scared because of my yelling. I paused for a second and walked closer to him,"Uh, sorry, Spike... I thought it was you...”, apologizing for my behavior.

After calming him down, I decided to go out and cool off. While I was taking confused strides, I muttered to myself,"Ugh! Raph, get a grip of yourself, man! Alexa is not a bad person, she’s like a little sister. Now, stop listening to random voices in your head..."

*End Flashback*

"You get it, don't you, Spike?", I asked the little turtle I petted on his head and passed by him.

Getting a bit poofed from all of the chaos and drama earlier, I plopped down on my bed. The previous scenes began flashing back in my mind, making my thoughts conclude something that was pretty obvious from the start.

"Sometimes I just wish I was on my own, doing things my way. I'm tired of this team... I'm tired of Alexandra Akechii... I'm tired of all of them...", I complained and dug my face into my hands, wiping them across my face.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Something sounded from the other side of my door while I was still laying on my mattress. The door slowly swung open, and from outside popped out Mikey's head.

He seems to look like he’s frightened and nervous of entering but he hid it behind his orange mask. "Uh, dude? You still mad?", he asked.

Does he have to ask me if I’m still mad? Seriously, couldn’t he feel my rage from the living room?!

I groaned at his question. Really, its annoying how he could ask me something so stupid like that.

"What do you want, Mikey?!", I asked him out of boredom.

He tried to compose himself and thought of the words he’s gonna say. One wrong word coming out of his lips, and I'll never let anyone in my room.

"Master Splinter wants us to help clean up.", he finally stated.

To me, it sounded more like a command than what he said. Clean up?! Why? Is it my fault why Donnie had to go blow up his experiments?!

My anger began to take over me -once again, and made me sit up to face his innocent baby blue eyes.

I stared at him, spatting out,"No way! Not a chance! Donnie can clean up his own explosion.", stating the obvious.

His appearance suddenly changed after he heard my reply -actually, it was more of a protest. He raised one of his nonexistent brows and spoke,"Hey, if you want to tell Sensei that you're not helping out, that's all you, dude.", fueling the fire inside of me.

So I don’t have to help, but I have to tell them that I won’t myself?! UGH!!!

And let me guess, I’m gonna see that little brat again. She’s probably thinking that if she apologizes, I’ll accept. Well two can play at that game!

"Fine!", I yelled.

I stood up from my bed and advanced towards him. I crossed my forehead with the invisible brows I have, then faced him.

I looked at him as he displayed a smile -that almost made me cringe. I pushed him aside, moving him out of my way.

"I will!", I hollered at him, making my way through the hall.

When I reached the living room, I stomped my feet to make my presence noticed. And once I did, four pairs of eyes stared at me -including a pair of concerned sable black eyes.

[Third Person's PoV]

Despite that everyone was busy cleaning up the mess from Donatello’s experiments, Raphael entered the room with his big feet stomping against the concrete. All of their eyes turned to the red-clad turtle as they refrained themselves from their chores.

A pair of black eyes looked and stared at the enraged creature with concern and embarrassment from earlier. Alexa just couldn’t get her mind off of what happened. Raphael poured out his angry wrath on her with no mercy. He even said aloud things that were unpleasant to her ears. But seeing the reptile's current figure, she could tell that his anger hasn’t died down.

"Sensei, this is completely unfair!", Raph protested.

He raises his arm and pointed at the group's brain. "Donnie made this mess. How come I have to help?", he angrily queried.

In fact, he didn’t do anything wrong that could lead them to this. Everything was going perfect -well, perfect for the others- until he discovered his magazines covered in pizza sauce, thanks to an orange-masked turtle.

Deep in her thoughts, Alexa can feel all of her unsettling emotions eat her alive. Raph was mad -no, he was furious- and not only at his brothers, but at her as well. And with these huge change of events, she was frightened of what could occur next.

As the ever so calm father of the four, Splinter spoke,"Allow me to make a suggestion, Raphael-", but was stopped when Raph's annoyed self intervened.

He groaned in aggravation. "Ugh! Suggest what, Sensei? I'm sick of suggestions. What could you possibly suggest?-- Agh!", he complained yet paused his rants when Splinter's finger made its way to his pressure point just bellow his neck.

He gets taken aback and falls on the back of his shell, temporarily paralyzed from moving. Everyone doesn’t seem to think that this was unnatural, to think how many times Raph would let his temper take over him.

Sensei's indifferent expression remained as he explained to his son,"Perhaps you should sit and meditate for a while.", and sees that a few of his fingers were twitching.

Moments later, he lowered his body to reach Raphael's pressure point and unlocked it. Although Raph was free to get up, his body was still adjusting from his immediate fall.

As for Alexa -being the over passionate fangirl she is- she ran over Raph's side, checking his limbs if he was fine or if he had any scratches. "D-daijubou?! An-anata wo dai-daijubou desu?!"

But to her dismay, Raph flicks away her hands and stared at her with disgust. Once he got to slip out of her grasp, he yelled, “Argh! Let me go, you brat! And you,” he pointed his finger against her nose, pushing her back.

“I'm sick and tired of listening to all of your Nihonggo words!”, he finished.

Another bullet hit the bullseye of her heart. And if that wasn’t enough, the moment the both of them got up, he shoved him at a distance of at least three meters backwards. She stumbled and wobbled until she fell on her rear end, hearing a subtle thud from the floor. Though her fall wasn’t as painful as Raphael's stinging words.

“Why can't you just speak in English like how normal do?! Oh wait, I forgot. You're not normal! You're an idiotic and illusionary stranger!”, he shouted into her ears, embarrassment and anxiety enveloped her body like a blanket but was tightly wrapped around her.

The others didn’t see that this was one of those moments that Raph was angry and it would fade away, so they quickly approached the red head and helped her up on her feet. While they were doing so, they turned their heads to Raph and gave him sharp glares.

"Raph, take it easy on her. Alexa didn't do anything wrong.", Donatello defended her.

"Yeah dude, those things you said hurt her feelings.", Michelangelo added, drawing attention to the emotionally hurt girl.

At the moment, she felt relieved thanks to the other turtles' statements. But she was still troubled about her mental and emotional state of mind, with the thought of Raphael hating her guts -rather, her whole being.

"Guys-", she uttered, yet she was interjected by the hothead's sarcastic puns and remarks.

"Well then, I am sorry --that I'm not sorry! It's not my fault that she turned out like that!", he hollered.

Leonardo, being the cool leader himself, stopped between the hothead and fangirl, avoiding any fights or arguments to prosper. He sternly spoke,"Raph, just stop! You're letting your temper control you and behave badly."

"Grr...", Raph growled.

"Ryo-san, he-"

"Fine, then! Have it your way, Lame-o-nardo!", the hothead exclaimed, rushing out of the room and towards the hallway.

At the sight of Raphael leaving again, Alexa's senses alarmed her. She definitely didn’t feel good about this at all. There was something bad that was about to happen and nobody knew what it was. Except for a red haired four-eyes.

"I warned you to keep a space between the two of you. But you just didn't want to leave him alone, didn't you?", Leonardo declaimed, staring straight into her nervous and uneasy eyes.

"That wasn't what I-"

“Let him be, Alexa. He's always like that... You better sit this one out.", Michelangelo suggested, leaving Alexandra to gaze at Raphael's retreating form.

Her mind internally stated something that signaled her to spark her belief. ‘There's nothing that I can do. Slash and Destroy is going to happen, whether I do something about it or not…’

***

Raph angrily tramped on the floor while ranting about random things that instantaneously entered his mind. "Always me, right? I've got the bad attitude. I'm the bad guy.", he hollered, backing up just a few steps from his door. He throws his foot towards the door and it bursted wide open for him with a bang.

BBBAAAMMM!!!

He gritted his teeth together, letting out a small groan in between before he continued, “They just don't get it!”, and shut the door close. He shifted to his room's switch to flip in on.

FFFLLLIIICCCKKK!

But the lights never turned on. He raised his finger once again and pushed it against the switch, hoping it would work.

FFLLIICCKK!

FFLLIICCKK!

FFFLLLIIICCCKKK!!!

Unfortunately, the lightbulb didn’t even flinch a single glimpse of light. Something's off…

"Oh great...", he heavily sighed, feeling defeat overwhelm him. Raph had to face the new sensation of a dark room.

"They never have...", a voice came out from behind him.

“What?!”, he flinched once he picked up the foreign voice. He immediately turned around himself and prepared his form into defense. His green eyes wandered the dim atmosphere of his room. Out of nowhere, a creature emerged from the shadows.

It crawled on all of his four feet that had exclusively long and sharp-looking nails on them. Its skin was tainted in sea green, accompanied with small yellow spikes that grew out of his epidermis. Its muscles bulged up, shaped up into a quite admirable physique. Its eyes were drenched in hazel with hints of brown specs. And its shell was adorned with rock-like spikes pointing out to all directions.

He crept closer to the red-clad turtle, uttering,"They never understood you, not like me..."

"Hey...", Raphael started but he seemed to have drifted off into a train of thoughts.

‘How the heck did this thing get in? Unless… Where's Spike?… And the mutagen?…’

And so, realizing who the creature was, his emerald green eyes pooped up in surprise, relaxing his arms. "Wha-... It can't be..."

The walking reptilian creature rose on its own two feet, balancing himself into a steady stance. His body towered a few feet over the hothead's… well, head, as he glanced down at him.

"Spike?"

***

"...."

Alexa was still silent, not even sparing a single audible breath. Her breaths were too subtle, you can mistake her for being a standing dead corpse. The others were too caught up in cleaning, they barely noticed her behavior, but not Splinter. Their master approached the red haired girl, maneuvering his way between his busy sons.

When he got close enough, he fixed his gaze to meet hers. "What seems to be the problem, Alexandra?", he asked her, concern and curiosity welled up in his russet brown eyes.

Having Alexa's attention averted from staring into the void, she turns her head and meets the rat looking at her. "Hm?... Well...”, she nervously trailed off. “Sensei, do you mind if we'd talk in the Dojo?...", she queried Splinter for permission to do so.

"Not at all, my child...", he replied, stroking his fingers down his long and thin beard. He placed a hand behind her, guiding themselves out of the room.

Sensei shifted his body to face the others' direction. "Alexandra and I will be in the Dojo. Please finish cleaning up the living room, my sons...", he requested them to do, and in return he received a, "Hai, Sensei!", coming from all of them.

He turned about to return to the four-eyed damsel and strolled through the hall, reaching the perimeter of the Dojo. He moved to a comfortable spot near the tree, resting himself underneath his legs. Splinter looked up at Alexa, patting the empty space before him. Alexa instantly took his suggestion and sat down in the same way, facing their Sensei.

"Now, what would you like to talk about, Alexandra?", the rat master began, questioning the girl’s sudden request.

‘Oh damn, how do I say this?...’

She shifted her grayish black eyes to look at anything except for Sensei's russet brown ones. Her stomach churned while her lungs were tightening up. This wasn’t gonna be easy to compose out of her.

She heaved a short breath of nervousness. "Sensei, it's about... Rafaeru-kun...", she barely spoke loud enough, hesitating to pronounce the hothead’s Japanese name-- though thanks to Splinter's ears that he could hear her.

"What about Raphael?"

"I think... I think he hates me...", she muttered, feeling uncertain of her words. Her mind was lost in all of the bad events that occurred. Raphael's tone and attitude towards her was something that she wished it never became a part of his personality. But, if that happened, he wouldn’t be her favorite.

Her next favorite possibly could be Mikey or Leo, maybe even Donnie! Yet, thank and curse the fictional gods for making her fall for Raphael and not with any of the other characters.

"And why is it so? What happened?", Splinter asked her, wondering what troubled her thoughts.

She swallowed down a big heap of saliva down her throat, her hands freezing in anxiety. How the heck is she supposed to tell Sensei that Raph spat out rude things to her without making it sound rude?! "He called me a juvenile, a brat, he even called me an annoying little sister..."

Listening to her answer, Yoshi brushed the tips of his beard, contemplating a reasonable… erm… reason. "I suppose Raphael's anger is beginning to swallow him whole. He would usually do the same and call his own brothers with different names, but to say such to a girl like you seems far beyond the line.”, he nodded. “Though I am certain that he didn't mean any of that... Why would this matter disturb your senses, my child?..."

This is it, she has to tell him why. She does have the choice of not telling him her secret, but she just couldn’t keep it with herself anymore. Within the ten years that she’s an orphan, this was that point wherein she couldn’t take it anymore.

She took in a long deep breath. "Because, Sensei..."

“Yes?”

Nervousness still overwhelmed her. She can’t just tell the father of her crush that she’s in love with his son, Raphael! Now this is just insanity.

"Please promise me first that you won't tell any of this to the others. Onegaishimasu..." (Pretty please...), she said, wanting to have a feeling of assurance and security.

Master Splinter gave off a stern expression of approval. "Hmm... Very well, then. Continue..."

This is really it. The moment she both feared and waited to do. She clutched her hands on her lap, bowing her head, "Okay... *inhale*... It's... It's because... I have a crush on Rafaeru-kun..."

......

SILENCE…

......

"Eh?..."

‘”Eh?...” That’s all that Sensei could say after I transferred confidential information to him that’s been stored in my heart and hypothalamus for years?! Just a simple “Eh?...” SERIOUSLY?!’

Y'know, I think Sensei should go and read a dictionary for better responsive replies in situations like these… Alexa's inner voice suggested, making her internally nod at the idea.

Yanking herself back to reality, Sensei still seems overtaken by her words, so she decided to do some explanations. "Ever since the day that I arrived, I've been trying hard to get myself noticed... Even though if some of my antics were irritating, I thought they could do something to draw his attention... But, after hearing what he said...”, she drifted off to silence, losing the rest of the words she wanted to tell him.

Attention, one of the several things Alexa has been searching for for her life. But how could she attain such when there’s barely anyone to ask attention for. Her cousin Raymond could be one of them, but then he leaves her alone for three months before visiting again. And three months of loneliness, without anyone around, can probably make any person loose their sanity—in this case, Alexa.

Sensei comes closer and sits beside her, rubbing her back to bring her some comfort. "Alexandra, trying to attain a special someone's attention cannot be achieved by doing things that seem unusual to them... If you do so, they might mistake you from the aspect you wanted them to think of you..."

Realization has finally hit her, and hard. To think that she’s been doing things that were inappropriate. She nodded in agreement, "Hai, Sensei..."

Splinter returns to brushing his fingers through the hair of his beard and continues speaking,"But, do you know what you can do in situations like this?..."

"No, Sensei...", Alexa honestly replied. She can barely even think about herself, so how could she think about what to do?

"There is only one way, and that is by standing up for what is right and what is true... Prove yourself and show him who you really are... That Alexandra Akechii is more than a fangirl..."

‘Standing up for what is right and true… Prove myself and show him who I really am…’, she internally chanted his words, burying them deep in her mind. ‘I am more than a fangirl… I don’t want them to think little of me, anymore… I want to fight with them and do the right thing… I want to prove and show Raph what I can do for them…

I am… Alexandra Akechii…

And I… am going to try and change their future…’

"And that she is a warrior, both physically and emotionally...", Splinter finished his words of wisdom, rising from his seat and extending his arm towards her.

She shut her eyes for a moment, finishing her internal chanting. ‘I am… A warrior…’

Alexa lifted her eyelids open and saw Sensei's hand reaching out to her. Without any second thoughts, she grabbed on, getting up from her sitting form. Once she got her feet, she thanked him,"Hai, Sensei... Thank you for the wonderful advice. I'll keep that in mind from now on... And I'll try with my very best...", nodding at his advice.

"It is my pleasure to become of help, Alexandra...", he gestured his hand to his chest, momentarily bowing his head as a sign of courtesy and respect.

"Sensei?...", Donatello's voice rang in the silent atmosphere, Alexa and Sensei's heads turning to his direction at the door post.

The redhead saw the brain’s fingers grasping on to a gadget or device with egg beaters for its antennas. Alexa's eyes immediately met Donnie's russet brown ones, calling out to him in curiosity,"Dōnii-san?"

"What is it, Donatello?", Sensei queried his son.

Donnie stepped in the Dojo, nearing his father and the fangirl while he has his mutagen tracker in his hands,"The others and I are gonna go out and retrieve a mutagen canister close by. Leo's already going to check if Raph's coming, and-..."

‘WHAT THE WHAT?!’

Four eyes came in between Sensei and Donnie's conversation, blurting out,"You're going out?! But, I thought that you guys said?! Can't you guys just stay-"

"This is important, Alexa. We've got tons of canisters to recover across the city. So finding one nearby is like gold in a coal mine.", Donatello explained, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy Alexa’s alarming brain. This was the exact opposite of what she expected to happen, now “Slash And Destroy” is definitely going to happen at this rate.

She felt upset at Donnie's interjection in her sentence. Her mind may have wanted to tell them to not go, but her mouth automatically shut itself up. Fearing that she’d get the same treatment like Raph’s from Donnie, she hummed a sound of disappointment and uncertainty,"Hmm..."

Since Donatello was more observant than his brothers, next to Splinter, he said,"Aw, don't get upset.. Was it because Raph went berserk on you?"

"Er... Not exactly, but-"

"Here...", he reached his hand into his pocket and gave her a familiar-looking device.

Its exterior was adorned with what looked like a turtle’s shell and its screen showcased all of the amazing and wonderful apps it had. It was a T-Phone, one of the genius' most useful inventions!

"A T-Phone?!", she exclaimed, shell-shocked at what she was grabbing.

The purple-clad ninja smiled at her positive actions. "I've got tons of these, so no worries. All of our cell numbers are already in it, in case you feel lonely and we're not around.", he stated, then turned to catch up with the others to go to the surface.

"Arigato, Dōnii-san! I'll take good care of it.", she playfully thanked him and firmly held the cellphone in her small hands.

He faced her before exiting the Dojo's premises, lifting up a thumbs up,"Counting on you! See ya later, Sensei!", and bid Sensei a farewell.

"Be careful, my sons!", the rat retaliated, hitting the bottom of his staff on the wooden floor with a thump.

Donatell ran out of the Dojo, shouting out,"We will, Sensei!"

‘I hope you really do, Donnie…’

***

"I can't believe this is happening. I mean, this is amazing!", Raphael exclaims, holding a hand against his head then throwing it in the air in disbelief. His pet turtle, Spike, is now a full grown --literally-- mutant like him!

The rush of adrenaline invaded his bloodstreams, making him want to jump up and down like it's New Year. But wait, doesn't this mean that his brothers would soon find out? Spike is... quite big now...

Raph suddenly had thoughts of anxiety and panic. "Wait. What am I gonna tell the others?..."

"Tell them you got a new partner, one who knows the true meaning of being a warrior...", the gigantic turtle answered him, emphasizing the word "new partner".

"A new partner?...", Raph repeated.

Spike stood up from Raph's bed, taking long strides as he approached his friend. "You and me no joking around, no goofing off like your brothers. We'll be the ultimate ninja team!", he remarked, laying both of his huge hands on the muscle's shoulders.

His emerald green eyes shot wide open at the thought of the thrill, getting himself convinced by the tortoise's words. "Well, that would be… awesome!"

"We'll crush our opponents! We'll fight evil together, nonstop.", Spike resumed, beginning to campaign a new vigilante group composed of only the two of them.

'Hehehe... This is going to be easy, knowing that Raphael trusts me. But there's still a chance that he still trusts his brothers and that brat when his anger subsides...', the hazel-eyed reptile inwardly spoke. 'Until then, I better keep him busy with me. And then while he's distracted, I'm gonna deal with the rest of them... He's better without the red head and those bafoons...'

The group's muscle twisted about to face his pet. He swung his fist in the air out of excitement. "That's what I'm talking about! You totally get it! You always did...", he nodded, smiling like there's no tomorrow.

"Hey, Raph?!", Leo's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Uh, man..."

Raphael slowly took tip toes closer to the door, the only line of defense that's keeping Leonardo from spotting a huge mutant turtle. He hovered his hands, palms facing the floor, and hushed Spike. "Uh, all right, quiet... Just sit tight..."

As he neared the door, he leaned his head against the cold metal. "Yeah?"

"Got a mutagen mission. Need you on deck.", Leo replied.

Spike, once again, showed and upset and annoyed expression. He wandered about his room and found a picture of Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo pinned against a wall. Pinned next to it was Raphael's portrait --the one drawn by Alexa on the first night she came-- with the red-clad turtle's perfect smile in place. His lips formed a frown at the sight of Raph's souvenirs of the people he despised.

Spike never had a liking to Raph's brothers, because he'd always hear him complain about them. That's why he had grown used to his raves --he even began to have his own grudge against them. And when Alexandra came, Raph had always made her the center of attention. Either his mood was good or bad, he has always spoken about her like she's some sort of extreme ninja or cool street fighter.

Raph has never done this before, even with April around. And Spike knew that this was unnatural and that it wouldn't end well. The way he talked, moved, or did anything at all changed. He wasn't the turtle Spike had known for the past years. If this keeps up, Raph would soon forget about him and flush him down the toilet, just like his last owner. Since he's big, Raph would probably try to get rid of him.

Spike hasn't figured out what was making Raph act like that, but whatever it is, he's gonna find a way to stop that.

Raph took a short glance at his companion, then slightly opened the door to face Fearless.

"Right, uh, I'll catch up in a minute. Go on without me..."

"Fine! 'Cause we're not waiting.", the blue-clad turtle retorted, slamming the door closed.

The hothead instantly flinched at the sound of it, then shifted his body to the huge reptilian.

"You don't need them, Raphael... We can find that mutagen on our own...", Spike stated, stepping a few inches closer to his owner.

Raphael grinned at the sight of his pet's enthusiasm. Whatever trick Spike has under his sleeve, it was definitely working.

"Heck, yeah! But if we're gonna do this, you'll need to gear up.", Raphael exclaimed, then showed his pet to a closet filled with weapons and armor.

***

"Now that the rest are gone and Raphael is locked in his room, we can resume our training.", Splinter nonchalantly stated, his fingers running through his thin beard. He resumed to speak by asking the red head,"That is, if you are able to do so today?..."

"Hai, Sensei. I am alive and fit for training...", she excitedly but also confusedly trailed off. "I guess?.."

Yoshi nodded, "Very well, then. Bring your Ō-Ken here so that we may begin handling and assessing your swordsmanship skills...", telling the girl to retrieve her weapon hidden in her room.

She replied to the rat a,"Hai, Sensei...", then turned her feet to race to her room, before the others came back and before Raph could come out of his room.

"Be right back!", she added, exiting the Dojo.

Passing through the hallway, her thoughts were still contemplating on Sensei's advice and her stomach was still churning. She's already got the idea of how to help out, but something was holding her back.

'Why do I still feel paranoid and that today really is "Slash And Destroy"?! Of course, you can say that the events from earlier gave away ideas. But I still can't help but feel anxious about it...', she thought.

Before she entered her room, she stopped at Raphael's door. She stared at its material, wishing that she could phase through her sight to see what's going on inside. It would be rude of her to just knock on its metal surface, and then receive another wave of mockery coming her way.

An unsettling and upset feeling enveloped her. "His door is still closed...", she muttered.

She neared the door by just a step, but hesitated to continue any further, she stopped and twisted her feet to her room.

"Well, I guess I better get my Ō-Ken already..."

She entered the dark room, lighting it up with the bulb on the ceiling. She walked closer to her mattress then kneeled down to the floor, lifting a thin layer of fabric and revealing her weapon still sheathed in its scabbard. Slowly dragging it out of its hiding place, she lifted it up with both of her arms supporting its weight -including her injured arm. Kicking the door aside, she left her bedroom and headed back to the Dojo.

Once again, she paused at his doorstep, drifting away into another trance. "He really doesn't want to get out, huh?...", she queried herself, finding the subtle drops of water echoing throughout the lair.

But this time, she shook her head, tossing it aside. She took one last glance before going back to Sensei to train. "Hmm... I just hope Rafaeru-kun is all right in there..."

She returned to the dojo, facing Hamato Yoshi and tying her long crimson hair into a high pony tail. Unsheathing her Ō-Ken, she prepared herself into a battling stance.

Splinter immediately complied her actions with a simple statement, "Let's begin..."

***

"Come on, let's go out to the surface...", Raphael coaxed his companion as they quietly slipped out of his quarters, with a giant mace in the huge reptile's possession. "You can move that weapon of yours better out there and we can start tracking that mutagen...", he added, sneaking around the area if anyone was around, which apparently there was no one in sight.

"Hehe... Alright..." The duo lurked their way out of the lair and out to the surface, hopeful that they'll get the canister before the others. As they were steps closer to the turnstiles, the hothead's attention was taken aback by unusual noises from the Dojo.

"Huh?", he goes back, passing through the hallway and peering over the door post.

Inside, he spotted their Sensei accompanying the "Little Brat" --as Raphael would say. Yoshi was holding onto a large sword, an Ō-Ken, by its hilt while Alexa was bowing her head before him.

"...."

"What seems to bother you now, Alexa?...", Splinter asked her.

She rose her head to face him. "Sensei, I still can't help but worry about Rafaeru-kun... He still hasn't come out of his room, and... I hope I get to apologize to him sooner..."

Spike, on the other hand, lost the red-clad turtle trailing behind him. He immediately went back inside and found him spying someone from the Dojo's door post. He couldn't risk himself  being seen, so he quietly yelled, "Psst!... Raphael... Hurry up, will yah?..."

"Hold up, Spike...", Raph stopped him and resumed eavesdropping.

As usual, Splinter groomed the thin and long pieces of hair of his beard. "Whenever Raphael is ready and stable, then you should act..."

".... Hai... Sensei..."

Raphael stopped. 'She's seriously going to wait to see me come out first before she says something?! Oh how mature?... But all she's doing now is just standing there in front of Sensei, and maybe "fangirling" over me!...', he thought.

His expression changed, shifting his lips into a frown. "Hmp... Tough luck, Brat!... I'm not gonna fall for another one of your mishaps... You think I'm stupid enough to listen to that?... Hell, no...", he whispered.

Feeling that his first warning was ignored, Spike rushed to his owner's side. "Raphael, we gotta-", he stopped, looking at where Raphael's eyes were directed.

His hazel eyes widened, but soon relaxed in a devious manner. He inched closer to his comrade's ear, "Hmm... Alexandra Akechii, huh?... I wonder what's up with that red head?..."

"Psh! Avert your eyes, Spike... She's exactly like what I thought...", the muscle paused. "A double-crossing, no good, waste of space for a person..."

The huge reptilian faked a curious look, as if to deceive Raphael. "She isn't meant to be here in the first place, right? And she's from another dimension..."

"Yeah, but she's a nobody that wants attention...", he replied, trailing off and plunging into the void.

It wasn't long before he noticed that he was staring into Alexa's sad eyes.  He toppled his head to the side and averted his vision.

"Argh! Come on, let's go, Spike...", he called to his partner, reaching the turnstiles and jumping over them.

Spike was left behind, even though Raphael has already exited the lair, showcasing a devious smirk. The wheels in his head began to turn. "Hmm... I guess it wasn't a bad idea to put her on my list... Mwahahahaha....."

"Spike?..."

This time, Raphael was the one calling out to him. The gigantic mutant took one last glimpse of the fangirl, then turned his back on them. "Yeah... I'm coming...", he retorted, following Raph's tail.

......

UNKNOWN TO RAPHAEL, HIS PET IS ABOUT TO DO THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL AND A PAIR OF GRAYISH BLACK EYES ARE ABOUT TO PROVE THEIR WORTH...

......

UNKNOWN TO ALEXA OF HOW MANY TRIALS AND SACRIFICES SHE WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO ACHIEVE HER GOAL...

......

(A/n: 6336 WORDS!!!! DEEEYYYMMM!!!! Okay, that maybe too much info for one chappy, tho... Hope you enjoyed it!!!)

-Waashi ^ω^