Slash's Revenge

Chapter 5 - Trying to Escape

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Special Note: I'm so very blessed to share this awesome cover art drawn by my wonderful friend, CorolineThePheonix. This drawing is so super scary. I love it lots and lots. I just can't thank them enough for creating this.

*Author's Notes: I'm back with another chapter of 'Slash's Revenge' and things are about to get rather dramatic. I hope you're ready for it.

Virtual hugs and cookies to everyone for all the wonderful feedback you have given me. I appreciate it so much and I'm super thrilled that readers are enjoying this story.

High threes to my creative consultant/beta reader, Joanne N. Grey. She's all kinds of awesome. I appreciate your help more than you will ever know, my friend.

Now, it's time to delve into some serious angst. Thank you all very, very much for reading. I hope you like the chapter. ;)

CJ

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Chapter 5 – Trying to Escape

The lair was eerily quiet. There hadn't been so much as a peep for a good half hour now. All talking had ceased about ten minutes after Master Splinter had arrived home.

Raphael was lying on his bed with his arm pinned between his lumpy, striped pillow and the back of his head. His other arm was resting on his plastron while his fingers drummed lightly against his chest in an irregular rhythm. He stared up at the ceiling with an expression drifting somewhere between a frown and a grimace.

The silence made him want to scream, which was rather ironic, considering not all that long ago, he had been wishing for everyone to just shut up.

No one had approached the hotheaded brother's room since the incident. That was probably because they were all too busy blaming him for everything that had transpired.

What else is new?

Raph could only imagine how Mikey and Leo had portrayed the whole ordeal in the lab to Master Splinter. There was no question in the red-masked turtle's mind that his brothers had depicted him as evil incarnate, with Leo doing everything in his power to sway Master Splinter to their side. Turning Raphael's own father against him.

Stupid goody-goody Leo! Always trying to be Sensei's pet...

Upon Master Splinter's return to the lair, all Raph had heard of his family's conversation through his thick bedroom walls had been low, mumbling noises. He had failed to make out any actual discernible words since they had all been talking in hushed tones.

Even Mikey, for shell's sake!

No doubt Raph's brothers had kept their voices down on purpose, so as to prevent the temperamental turtle from hearing what was actually being said.

"Mmrrrruhhh!"

Pushing himself up off the bed, Raphael began to pace around his room on the heaviest of feet. Guilt weighing him down and gnawing away at his insides while his own harsh words repeated in his head...

"You're always sorry! I've had it up to here with your excuses, Donnie! What? It wasn't enough that you almost killed Spike? Now, you almost killed all of us with another one of your crazy experiments!"

The turtle in red kept telling himself that he had done absolutely nothing wrong, but regardless, his gut continued to twist with remorse, and for the life of him, he couldn't understand why. Everything he had said to his nerdy little brother had been justified.