IC Inbox

[meanandgreen]

OOC: If you're looking to contact Raph through this thing, chances of reaching him are slim. He'll only check it during special circumstances. You're more likely to reach him by contacting one of his brothers. Or cousins. Whatever. But feel free to try anyways.



Location: WA-3B

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[[Can't be bothered with a recorded message. All you get is silence before the tone.]]

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[duelkatana]

He stumbles back at the shove this time, his shell hitting the wall and tearing another gasp of pain from his throat. Leo hunches forward, raising a trembling hand to grip at his left arm.

They've hurt each other plenty of times before. Really hurt each other more times than he will ever forgive himself for. But that was new. That was personal. That was digging up every cell of scar tissue to the surface and slashing it into newly-blooded meat, sewing it shut with barbed wire and leaving it to fester in the cold, open air.

His teeth grit together so hard it presses all of the stars in his eyes into one flat line. He bares them in another snarl at Raphael, and this time the pain in his voice is gone, ground into dust under the weight of cold fury.

"The only one around here acting like Karai and the Shredder is you."

[meanandgreen]

Just like that, something inside him snaps, taking all that adrenaline high clarity with it. Numb, nothing but fury crackling like electricity in his veins. Fire burning like hot oil in his gut. And then he swings with a roar of fury that echoes straight from the darkest part of him. Straight from freakin' Hell.

He'll punch him square in the fucking teeth with everything he's got for even thinking something like that.

Leo isn't listening. He doesn't understand. No one ever understands!

[michaeljangelo]

There's no amount of No big enough for what this situation devolved into.
This has all been pushed too far, too fast, and there's not a damn thing Mike can do about it.

Not that this will keep him from trying.
To stand by idle will likely result the death of both of his cousins; one from being beaten, and the other for doing the beating.

"Raph no!" he bellows as he tries to insert himself between them both before the blow is landed.

[duelkatana]

The instant the words leave his lips, his mouth feels sour.

What the hell? How could he say that?

Any physical wound Raph inflicts on him tonight will heal. But Leonardo can't take the words he's just said back. How dare he? How dare he accuse his own clan, his kin, his brother of being like the enemy bound to them by blood? What is wrong with him?

Raphael telegraphs that punch miles ahead, just as he always does when he's angry - but Leo moves neither to dodge nor block it. He deserves this one. He deserves it and more.

Until Mike throws himself forward, ready to take that blow for him. No, no no no. Poor Michaelangelo has nothing to do with this - it was Leo's error, his sin, and he's not letting Mike, who's done absolutely no wrong from the first day he appeared in the world, take the hit for him.

Absolutely not.

Just as Mike darts forward, Leo does as well, reaching out with his good arm in an attempt to push him away and ensure he takes the blow himself.

[meanandgreen]

Mike and Leo's scuffle lasts less than a minute, hardly enough time to register through the red haze clouding Raph's mind. The hit lands, right where it was meant for, crushing Leo's face with a massive amount of force.

It feels good.

Raph knows without a shadow of a doubt that he's nothing like them. Nothing like the Shredder or Karai. The accusation isn't what's got his vision going black around the edges. It's knowing that, no matter how hard he tries, Leo will keep on making those mistakes over and over. That his opinion doesn't matter. That Leo will never value anything he says about this. That he knows he's right.

He always was before, and now they have to go through this again. He can't do it this time. He just can't.

Much as he wants to pound Leo into a pulp, it's useless. He just stands there, fist raised for another strike that doesn't come, panting heavily as the fog clears out of his mind. Desperation prickles in his chest, replacing anger with a sick frustration that just makes him want to scream until it's gone.

He never takes his eyes off of Leo, narrowed into a glare that burns like hot coals.

"You...," he rumbles. "You never listen to me! Even when you know I'm right!"

Then he straightens, gesturing at Leo aggressively while he raves.

"I'm done, Leo! You don't care what I gotta say, fine! Then I don't need to be here!"

He storms his way to the door, but stops just short, something darkening visibly inside him. "Just don't expect me to be there the next time you get stabbed," he hisses. "Maybe next time they won't miss."

[michaeljangelo]

Mike's still reeling backwards when the punch connects. He doesn't actually see it land, but he hears it. It makes him think of an apple being thrown at a brick wall. His stomach turns, these aren't even his brothers and still his stomach turns.

He watches as Raph raises his hand again, waits for the strike, but...it doesn't come. Instead of another blow, there's a strategic retreat. Raph...he's leaving.

"No, Raph wait..."

[meanandgreen]

But Raph just keeps on walking. He has to. It feels like the walls are crushing him to death, and if he doesn't get out of there now, he might crush Leo's skull with his own bare hands.

"Don't even think about it, Mike," he barks. Don't even try to stop him. He's not staying here.

The door slams so hard behind him it rattles the entire suite.

[duelkatana]

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."