The punch hurls into his jaw with all the force of a freight train, sending him to the floor with a thud like a sack of potatoes. He just lies there on his plastron, head spinning, his face on fire, brain still rattling in his skull. The metallic taste of iron coats his throat when he swallows.
Leo waits for the next one, because in times like this, Raph's just getting started - but it doesn't come. His vision stops swirling just in time to see his brother's feet in front of the door; the ringing in his ears fades to the back of his skull just in time to hear those words.
He remembers a time not so long ago when that would send him into a hellish rage. Now the anger is cold and hollow, and only he stares dully at the floor as Raphael slams the door behind him.
"No," he wheezes out after a moment, clenching his eyes against the stars as he struggles to sit up. He pushes his mask up with his palm and sucks a breath in through his teeth, focusing on the silence of the room instead of the electricity running through his jaw and shoulder. "Just let him go."
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Leo waits for the next one, because in times like this, Raph's just getting started - but it doesn't come. His vision stops swirling just in time to see his brother's feet in front of the door; the ringing in his ears fades to the back of his skull just in time to hear those words.
He remembers a time not so long ago when that would send him into a hellish rage. Now the anger is cold and hollow, and only he stares dully at the floor as Raphael slams the door behind him.
"No," he wheezes out after a moment, clenching his eyes against the stars as he struggles to sit up. He pushes his mask up with his palm and sucks a breath in through his teeth, focusing on the silence of the room instead of the electricity running through his jaw and shoulder. "Just let him go."