Lord Warumagi's School For Human Hybrids

Haha I like Blossom's last line in the first note...no wonder Raph cracked up laughing! XD

O...k...RaphXFoxglove...woah...

It's not that kind of bonding. More like a 'get into big trouble together' kind of thing. FoxglovexRaph would never work. XD

OH...That explains everything. XD

The cool air washed over Raphael's face like the lake did to his feet. Evening was falling quickly and the Sun was slowly sinking into the horizon.

It was one of the rare moments he got to share with Katrina. The dojo was being used by a karate class and he hadn't fancied going to the library with Blossom, so they had parted ways and he had ended up outside. Katrina had been there before him, playing with two wooden sticks. After a brief 'hello', he had lain down and Katrina had continued striking the air with her sticks, like they were a pair of weapons.

She was pretty good with them. She wasn't as good as him or his brothers, for she wobbled slightly and didn't know any fighting stances, but he reckoned that with proper training she could be quite skilled with them. He wasn't sure that two small branches were very efficient weapons (though Donatello and Master Splinter would probably disagree), but still… she was getting the hang of using them. After them, she could go onto other weapons. You had to start somewhere, and if it was with some sticks from a tree then so be it.

A stick hit him on the back of the head before shooting across the grass and landing at Katrina's feet. He sighed, looking over his shoulder at her. She smiled at him apologetically.

"If I was a student, I would be allowed to use real weapons. They are able to receive extra lessons and become qualified with them," declared Katrina, dropping the other stick onto the ground. "Sticks aren't very… sufficient."

Raph grinned, his eyes closed. "It ain't the weapon. It's the person usin' them."

A long ago memory of Splinter telling this to Leonardo made itself present at the front of his mind.

Katrina frowned. "But surely the weapon has some impact on the overall skill of the wielder."

"Nope. I know two people who can use sticks very well. Ya practice with them and then I'll get ya some real ones from the dojo."

She narrowed her eyes, bending down to pick up the sticks. "I shouldn't have to be confined to using these. I could get myself some proper weapons, if I wanted to."

"Do it then."

"I would." She looked sideways in anger and sadness. "But the Lord would punish me if he found out. I… I have used some before, you know. Swords. A year ago. I snuck into the weapon's closet and played around with them. The Lord caught me and punished me very badly. I haven't dared to take some since, but sometimes... sometimes I really want to. Just to get the feeling of being able to hurt someone... not to cause pain, but to make a mark on someone... so I would be remembered- so I would be someone who did something... However, the punishment..."

She stopped, looking worried.

"On a scale of one to ten, where did the punishment lie?" he asked.

"He…" she shook her head, hearing a ringing between her ears. "I would say te-four. Four."

Raph knew it was an understatement, but he also knew that she had made the number low so he wouldn't be bothered by it. He was, but he didn't want to force her to say anything she didn't want to. He shrugged his shoulders and continued soaking in the heat while it was still there. Katrina began trying some of the katas he had shown her earlier.

After ten minutes, Katrina threw her sticks away, sitting down next to the mutant turtle's body. The stillness of his body had caught her attention, as well as the crease in his forehead. She resisted the temptation to smooth it with her hands, knowing that doing so would not alter his expression into a relaxed one. She stared at the lake. "You look… troubled."

Raph opened his eyes. "Troubled?"

"Yes. Has something bothered you recently?"

"A few somethings."

"What things?"

"Oh… the usual. Foxglove… the diary… Blossom… school… life in general."

"I thought you got on well with Blossom. On my way to the Lord's office this morning I saw you two dancing in the dojo."

Raph sat up, blushing. He had hoped that no one had seen them. Raphael… the ninja ballerina? It didn't have a nice ring to it. "We do get on, most of the time. It's just… she had a bad dream and she said somethin' about pretendin' to be happy sometimes. She says someone has to or else everyone will get scared. She got all upset and I didn't know what to do. Then she wanted to dance. I dunno how she cheered up so quickly. One minute she was bawlin' and the next she was tryin' to teach me to warts. I mean waltz."

"Oh." Katrina breathed out, placing her knees against her chest. "Well… how do you know she cheered up? Maybe it was an act because she didn't want you to be scared."

Raph laughed hollowly. "What do I have to be scared of?"

Katrina shivered in the heat."Everything."

Raph didn't reply. He lay on his stomach and stared into the distance. Katrina got up and picked up her sticks, before practicing with them again. She threw them into the air and caught them when they fell back down. Raph turned his head to watch her. Not only did she throw them high, she also caught them pretty easily. He remembered when he had been in Warumagi's office a few weeks ago, and how Katrina had jumped and caught his empty glass effortlessly.

"Hey Kitty, how come yer so good at throwin' and catchin'?"

"It's a talent." She shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I'm sure things will get better. As for Foxglove, she has a reputation for being a…"

She tried to think of a suitable word. Raph could think of many adjectives, but he didn't think they were very appropriate to say in front of her. He chose the best one that wouldn't have earned a hit on the head from his sensei.

"Jerk?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's it."

"I don't suppose ya have any idea who ripped up the diary?" he asked, looking up at the sky. "Then maybe at least one of ma problems would go away."

"No," said Katrina hurriedly. "I don't think it matters. It's ripped, it's ripped. There isn't anything you can do to change that. Now, tell me whether I'm doing it right."

She began to bash the air madly, before stabbing the stick into the ground. She looked at Raph, who had sat up and was now staring at her with his arms crossed.

"Is there somethin' yer ain't tellin' me, Katrina?" he queried.

"No, of course not," she said. "Oh look! The sun's going down. I should be going now. The Lord will be wondering where I am. See you tomorrow, maybe. Bye!"

She ran across the fields and made her way towards the school, shrinking and darkening until she was a speck on the landscape. Raph watched the black speck disappear into the main building, before resting his chin on the grass. It tickled his bare skin, so he lifted his head and put it on a bare spot of dirt. He closed his eyes, realizing how light his body felt now the Sun wasn't so high in the sky. Feeling comfortable, he began thinking. He thought about all the problems he had told Katrina, as well as the ones he hadn't. It was like counting sheep.

And, like the consequence of doing that, he drifted off to sleep.

TMNTNMT

He woke up. The sky was nearly pitch black. He tried to remember when it had gotten so dark but infuriatingly found that he didn't know. He came to the conclusion that he had fallen asleep, which ticked him off. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He got up, stretching his arms in a yawn.

"Ooh, you're awake now."

He jumped, spinning 180 degrees in the process. Behind the tree next to the lake was the gently swaying tail of something orange.

Something fox orange.

Raph marched around the tree and wasn't surprised at who he saw. Foxglove smiled at him innocently, holding her hands in front of her chest.

He glowered at her. "Foxglove, what are ya doin' here?"

She smirked. "Is it a crime to stand here? Is it illegal?"

Raph grinned, putting his hands behind his head. "Oh, I get it now. Ya don't wanna admit that ya were stalkin' me. I get ya; ya don't have to say it."

His remark had the desired effect.

"Why would I want to stalk you?" she half shouted, clenching her fists. "If you must know, I was waiting for you to wake up."

Raph raised his brow. "Ya know how stalkerish that sounds, right?"

Foxglove gritted her teeth. "Oh, ha ha. Don't think for a second that I wanted to be here, waiting for you to wake up. I'm only here because I wanted to get some things sorted out."

"Sure…" he snickered, "And it just couldn't wait until the morning. No… it had to be now."

"In the morning you'll have your groupies with you. I want to talk to you and only you. I was on my way to my room when I saw you go out to see the servant-"

"She has a name, ya know."

"-servant," she continued, ignoring his interruption. "Then, I saw her leave and go away. I saw you lying down. I left the school and decided to wait behind this tree. You snore, did you know that?"

Raph narrowed his eyes. "Look, if ya have somethin' ya so desperately need to tell me, tell me so I don't have to listen to ya say it. I haven't got all day."

Foxglove poked him. "Okay. You know that I brought you here and stuff? Well, I had researched New York very well, planning for my trip. Then you had to go and get yourself beaten up by those Purple Dragon guys while I was nearby. I took you back with me, thinking that doing so would solve everything."

Raph started to say something but she raised her voice over his.

"Shut up and let me finish speaking. I thought that if I took you to the Lord, I would be able to leave this place. I thought he would graduate me and let me move on. But no, you had… you had…" She waved her arms, unable to find the word for what she wanted to describe.

"I had what?" he said quietly.

"You had… to be you," she finished. "When I found you… I thought you were somebody else."

She bowed her head forwards, reminding Raph of a disobedient child who had just been sent to time-out. He stared at her, before gulping and finding his voice once more. It came out mostly casual, but there was an underlying tone of curiosity.

"Ya thought… I was someone else?"

She nodded dumbly.

He couldn't repress the smile that was spreading onto his face. "So ya were lookin' for another giant turtle? How'd ya mess that one up?"

"Argh." She marched off, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You're impossible. I never wanted you to come here. All you've done is make everyone hate me. I should have left you there to die."

He went after her, wanting to know who she had mistook him for. In any case, he didn't want to leave the conversation in her favour. "Hey, I didn't do anythin'. They hated ya before I came here."

"No they didn't." She sprinted off. Raph grinned, seeing this as a competition. He passed her within ten seconds and reached the door of the main building first. He chuckled, putting his hand on the handle of the door and pulling it. He frowned, tugging at it again. He pressed one of his feet against it and pulled for all he was worth. He was still trying to open it when Foxglove caught up with him, steam practically coming out of her ears.

She shoved him out of the way. "This is a woman's job."

She gripped the handle tightly and threw her weight back. She lost her balance and landed on her back. Moaning, she sat up and narrowed her eyes hatefully at the unmoved door. Raph didn't try to hide his smug expression. She got to her feet and pulled the door handle gently, as if she thought reverse psychology would work on the inanimate object.

"It's locked," she admitted.

"Really?" he exclaimed sarcastically. "Nothin' gets by ya, does it?"

"It's not funny. Do you know that we're gonna be dead meat when it's morning? We're not allowed to be outside at this time. It's against the rules."

Raph raised his brow. "Didn't ya go outside when ya kidnapped me?"

"I didn't kidnap you. Firstly, if I'd left you, those Purple Dragons would have woken up and taken you to their hideout or something. I pitied you. Secondly, I had to take you back with me because… the person I did want… they would have made me graduate and then I could have gone and found people who did like me. The Lord let me off expulsion because you were you. If I hadn't brought you back with me… Fang and I would have been expelled. I knew this wolf hybrid called Silver and he snuck out to buy me chocolate… he was real sweet like that… but he got caught and was expelled. I never saw him again."

"What happens if yer expelled? Ya can't leave the school without the teleporter."

Foxglove sighed, her eyes unfocussed. She shook herself and glared at him. "I don't want to find out, okay?"

"And why would he expel ya for goin' outside? I woulda thought he'd give you detention or somethin'. Expulsion is a bit… extreme."

An inhuman growl sounded in the distance. They looked at each other.

"Hey, dat wouldn't happen to be yer stomach rumblin', would it?"

"Don't be stupid," she snapped, but with less fervour in her voice than before.

Something caught her eye. She slowly raised her hand and pointing at something in the distance. Confused, Raph looked at her horrified face. His gaze went down her face and onto her right shoulder, before crawling up her arm and falling onto a space near the lake.

A large and dark creature was walking about, with what appeared to be its snout pointing upwards. It froze, trying to figure out where the enticing smell of flesh was originating from. Raph nudged Foxglove and murmured, "If it comes towards us, we gotta run like mad. Don't scream 'cos dat might provoke it."

After not getting a reply, he turned his head to see that she was no longer next to him. He spun around and found her banging her fists against the door. He looked back at the creature, which was slowly going towards them.

He got out his sai.

So much for stealth.

"There's a monster!" she screamed at the door. "Someone open this. Now!"

At any other moment, he would have laughed at her behaviour. Now though, he looked at her and stated seriously, "Doors can't open by themselves. Ya have to calm down."

"It's easy for you to tell me to freaking calm down when you're the one with the blades. What am I meant to fight it off with? My mind? Or how about I fight it off with my feminine charms?"

"Ya can't fight it off with things you ain't got," he muttered, positioning himself into a fighting stance. Foxglove stood behind him, watching the creature get closer and closer to the point where she could make out its smaller details under the light of the moon.

It was approximately ten feet tall, towering over the pair of them. Under its dark brown fur were thick heavy muscles that made the circumference of its arms look the size of dinner plates. Its eyes contained something that was too savage to be life, which was also promoted by the jagged claws on the ends of its fingers. It sniffed, opening its triangle filled mouth, which leaked out water that oozed down its chin. Raph could feel its hot breath, despite being a fair few yards away. It stopped, lowering its head slowly and peering at them.

"Don't… move…" hissed Raph. "One false move and ya will provoke it."

"I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him in a higher voice than usual.

The creature raised its fist and pummelled the ground, aiming at Raph. He jumped backwards, nearly landing on Foxglove. He ran forwards and kicked it from beneath the chin. The creature snarled, whacking its face, thinking that a fly had landed on it. Raph backed away so he was standing next to Foxglove.

"Can we run now?"

"No," he snapped, catching its oncoming claws with his sai. He tried to twist its arm, but it removed its hand and punched at him. Raph grabbed Foxglove and rolled out of the way. The creature's fist went through the door, creating a large hole in it. It pulled its fist out and shook its head, the large amount of fur on its head shaking. It looked a bit like a mane.

The two students got off the ground and stared at the hole.

She turned to him. "Now can we run?"

"No," he scowled, jumping at the creature.

Foxglove rolled her eyes and leaned against the door. "Suit yourself."

The creature swung its fist at Raph, who ducked out of the way. He slammed his sai into its right cheek, causing it to stumble and fall over. It lay on the ground, unusually still.

Foxglove moved towards it slowly. "Is it… dead?"

"I doubt it," he told her, panting. "Ya might wanna stay away from it, in case it wakes up and attacks ya."

"You just knocked it out, it's not going to wake up any time soon," she retorted, poking it with her foot. "See? It's asleep."

"Foxglove, I wouldn't do dat," he said angrily. If she did something stupid and hurt herself, he knew that he would get the blame.

"Who are you, my mom?" she retorted defiantly. "I think I can tell when a monster's asleep, so why don't you just shut the-"

The creature's arm rose abruptly and whacked Foxglove in the face. Her body was flung through the air, and she hit the wall of the school building. The creature got to its feet and looked up, roaring ferociously.

"Are ya alright?" asked Raph, going to her side and helping her up. "Did he hurt ya?"

"Why would you care?" she asked thickly, sounding like she had a nosebleed.

"I'm not exactly yer best friend, but I'm not a cold-hearted monster," he told her, putting her arm around his shoulder. She leant heavily on him, which told him that she had more than a mere nosebleed.

"I can walk," she insisted, moving away from him and looking at the door. She eyed the hole in the door nervously, before looking back at him calmly. "Can we run away now, or do you want to wait until it kills one of us?"

Raph exhaled. He didn't like running from fights. It wasn't his style. However, he didn't want to see what would happen if the punch in the door went through him. And… he didn't want Foxglove to get even more hurt. "That… might be a good idea."

He let Foxglove go through the hole first, distracting the monster by hitting it lightly and jumping back. When he was sure that she had escaped through it, he went after her. To his surprise, she was waiting for him on the other side.

Raph tilted his head to one side. "Yer still here?"

She mimicked his gesture, not wanting to admit that she had wanted to make sure that he was alright. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He motioned towards the monster that had just stuck its arm through the door, before smashing it and stepping inside.

"Oh... Good point." She ran away, Raph close on her tail. He could have sped up, but he didn't want to leave Foxglove behind. He didn't like her, but he didn't want her to be eaten by a rampaging monster.

Foxglove suddenly stopped, spinning around and facing the monster. Raph skidded to a halt, looking at her as if she was mad. He decided to express this. "What are ya doin'? You were the one dat wanted to run away from it so much."

"We can't lead it into the school, idiot." She raised her fist, knowing that she didn't have a chance in hell of being able to put up a fair fight against it. "Suppose it wants to have a student sandwich?"

"I was under the impression ya didn't really like any of the students."

"There's Fang, remember?" she said, watching the creature approach them slowly. "I… I just don't want him to get hurt."

She felt something land on her shoulder. She jumped, surprised to see Raph's hand resting on her shoulder. "He doesn't happen to be like dat Silver dude ya talked about earlier, does he?"

She shook her head. "They're completely different." She lowered her gaze. "Silver liked me, for one thing."

Raph went past her and began fighting the creature. Although it was far stronger than him, Raph was a lot quicker and managed to land many blows on it. The creature, its rage building from being hit so easily, suddenly stuck out its fist and smashed it into Raph's chest. The turtle flew backwards and landed at Foxglove's feet. She looked behind her. She could have run. She could have run as fast as she could and left the creature to take care of Raph. What had he done to help her? He had only made things worse.

Yet…

She couldn't bring herself to escape.

She fell to her knees next to him. Raph peered up at her in pain. "Hey… why aren't ya runnin' for yer life?"

"Do you want me to feel bad for the rest of my life?" she asked him, before adding quickly, "Blossom would never let me forget this. Honestly, it'd be so much easier if I die here with you."

"Sure…"

"Shut up."

The creature jumped forwards, baring it teeth at its two victims.

"Hey Raphael?"

"Yeah?"

"I always thought… you were kinda cool."

"Yeah… I thought I was kinda cool too," he grinned.

"Idiot," she growled, smiling slightly.

Livi, don´t ever stop writing this story cause I love it!

Oh, thank you.

I have all of this story written (except the last chapter), so don't worry.

The scene in front of Raphael seemed to be in slow motion, like it was a dramatic part of an action movie. Also, you know when your whole life plays out in front of you, and it's summed it up in a very short and crude slideshow just before you die?

That didn't happen.

He had been waiting for the creature's claws to rip into his flesh. He had raised his arms defensively, getting ready for its attack. It had been so close he could have counted each individual hair on its skin if he had wanted to. He could have studied its claws, and seen how grey and ragged they were. He could have seen many things, but he doubted that it was the appropriate time to examine a monster that was about to kill him.

The lights turned on.

He watched the creature get a foot away from his face, before it was pushed sideways, smashing into a nearby wall. Raph blinked, watching in disbelief as the creature slivered down the wall and onto the ground, its head lulling forwards as it fell into unconsciousness. He must have nearly knocked it out, and whoever had come to his rescue must have finished it off. He looked up to see who had come to their rescue before feeling his stomach drop slightly.

The person who had kicked the creature, while being a surprise, was not what had made his stomach drop. The person was small and weak looking. She appeared far too frail to have been able to land any kind of damage. But there was Katrina, standing right in front of him. He lowered his gaze, transferring it to the person next to her.

First, he saw the other person's shiny black shoes. Above them there were legs, however they were hidden behind a large cloak. He raised his eyes and stared into the headmaster's. Raph didn't know why he was so worried about being expelled. Before, he had purposely gone into a room where just existing in it would have gotten him kicked out. He hadn't feared the punishment at all. Yet, now that he was in the presence of the man who had the ability to deal with the crime in whatever way he wanted… he didn't feel so sure of himself.

What if Warumagi's way of punishing him was to force him to stay there longer than necessary? What would become of Foxglove? He didn't care that he cared about what would happen to her anymore. Nearly dying with her had made him change his mind about that.

It was very peculiar how a large monster could change the way you saw someone.

Warumagi broke eye contact with Raph first, staring straight ahead. "Get up."

Raph found himself obeying him. Foxglove got to her feet too, biting her upper lip nervously. Katrina smiled at Raph sadly, understanding what he was feeling and knowing what he thought was going to happen.

"My office. Now." Warumagi walked off. The two teenagers looked at each other before following him from behind, wary expressions on their faces. Katrina walked beside the headmaster, taking a few steps for every stride he took. The two students didn't have the heart to converse with one another, both already knowing and not knowing the same things.

Raph could imagine his next letter home, telling his family that he had been expelled for being out late. He knew he couldn't lie to them and say everything was alright. He could lie to many people, but he could never lie to his sensei, even if it wasn't to his face. It wouldn't feel right and he knew that Master Splinter would find out what really happened. He had a knack for it.

Foxglove looked back at the monster. "Shouldn't we move it? It might wake up."

"Wol is on his way right now," explained Warumagi sharply. "I called him when my security cameras picked up some disturbance."

They reached the corridor that branched off into Warumagi's one. Raph couldn't help but feel that they had reached it all too soon. They went down it and Warumagi unlocked one of the doors. They entered the painting packed hallway in silence. The lights were on, but it was dim. Foxglove stared at the paintings, hating how their eyes were seemingly watching her. Raph had a similar feeling.

They reached the end and went into his office. It was far brighter than the other rooms and it burned their eyes. As soon as they entered, Katrina stood at the back of the office. She gave Raph a tiny smile as Warumagi sat down behind his desk. Wordlessly, he pointed to the two chairs in front of him. Raph could see blood around Foxglove's nose, and she was holding her right arm. She saw him looking and let go quickly.

The two students seated themselves cautiously, not daring to breathe too much. The future and the past made their voices catch in their throats.

Warumagi leaned forwards and stared at them with his black eyes. "You have some explaining to do."

The build-up of speech in his voice box suddenly erupted and Raph blurted out, "Yer the one who's got some explainin' to do."

Warumagi raised his eyebrows at his confidence. "Oh?"

Raph didn't know whether he was pretending to be stupid or not. "Ya know… the monster we bumped into earlier? Does dat rin' any bells, Warumagi?"

Foxglove marvelled at his bluntness. She had seen no one talk to Warumagi like that. She was used to him being addressed as 'the Lord' or 'Sir'. She was used to him being talked to quietly and politely. She had thought of herself as arrogant and brutally honest. Now, she felt like a Saint.

Warumagi, to their surprise, smiled. "Ah, that. Yes, I suspect I do have some explaining to do. That unusual creature you came across… there are many of them. They live far out beyond the school grounds, and they sometimes wander over here. It's mostly at night, as they don't like the light and appear to be nocturnal. That is why I'm very strict with this sort of thing. That is why all the doors are locked at night."

"Why are they here?" asked Raph. "Dat doesn't sound safe. Why did ya set up the school here if they lived here?"

"This is the most secret location I could find. Also, no matter where you go, you are never truly alone. There is always danger surrounding you. We coexist. As long as the rules I have placed are followed, then nothing bad can happen. Now, we come onto what we should do with you two."

Katrina stiffened.

Foxglove stood up. If Raph could stand up for himself in front of Warumagi, then so could she. There was no way she was going to accept that he could do something she couldn't. Besides, she was going to be excluded anyway. She didn't see what she had to lose. "If you're going to expel anyone, it has to be me and me only. Raph went outside because I forced him to. Then, he fell asleep and I did too… We tried to get in but it was too late."

Raph laughed mentally at the thought of her forcing him to do anything. Then, feeling guilty, he decided to make her not look like she played any part in this. She hadn't really. He had chosen to go outside and fall asleep. She had just been there and had gotten caught with him. He opened his mouth to talk but someone else spoke first.

"She's lying."

Warumagi looked over their heads and stared at the source of the voice.

"What did you say?"

Katrina lost all her confidence and backed away, bumping into the back wall. She bent forwards and rubbed her spine.

"What did you say, Katrina?"

Foxglove stared at the servant, as if seeing her for the first time. Raph stared at her too, but not for the same reason. He chanced a look at Warumagi. He appeared very calm, but he was clenching his fists too tightly for him to be truly relaxed.

Katrina straightened up, trembling. "She's… lying."

"Then why were they outside?"

"I… I was with Raphael, my Lord. We were sitting by the lake this evening. I… I asked him to come with me… then he… he must have fallen asleep, like Foxglove said. I saw her go outside after I came in to go to you." Katrina turned her hands into fists before uncurling them, determinedly looking Warumagi in the eyes.

"Why were you outside with Raphael?" he asked in a low voice.

"He was showing me some katas," she explained quietly, lowering her gaze slightly. "He meant nothing by it. He didn't know I wasn't allowed to be taught them or that I wasn't to use weapons or anything. Please don't expel them."

Warumagi wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, looking frustrated. "I can't just let you go unpunished. You've both been here long enough to know that you broke an important rule. I'm aware that Katrina influenced this, and rest assured she will be dealt with, but you both must be punished for your actions. If I make one exception, I will be expected to make one for all the students."

Raph gulped. If he couldn't be sent away from the school, what could happen to him?

"If you expel either of us..." Foxglove pointed rapidly between her and Raph. "I'll… I'll tell Raphael why I went to New York."

She knew earlier she had told him that if he was to expel someone it should be her, but she preferred it if neither of them were excluded.

Warumagi tried to decide whether she was bluffing on two accounts. The first one was whether she had a reason that he would not want to let out, and the second was whether she would actually say it out loud.

To show him she was serious, she narrowed her eyes at him. "I... I didn't go there to find Raphael. I was looking for someone else. We get kicked out and I'm gonna tell him who I was looking for."

Warumagi sighed, rubbing his temples. "This is the offer I am willing to give you. You do not tell a soul about the creature or anything about this night, as well as what you just said, and I will give you two detentions for two weeks and you will be withdrawn from your lessons until… ah… the 27th of June. You will have them with me. Everyday, including weekends."

Raph considered it before saying, "Ya drive a hard bargain, Warumagi. I guess that ya have yerself a deal."

"And you, Foxglove?"

She pulled a face. "An entire month?"

"It's either a month or forever. Don't you want this to look convincing?"

She sighed. "Fine. A month it is, then."

"Splendid," Warumagi beamed, shaking both of their hands. "Let's forget about this night and move on. You will report to the detention room straight after breakfast. Foxglove, be sure to take Raphael with you. I don't think he's had a detention or been in isolation before. You are both dismissed. Goodbye."

Raph and Foxglove rose from their seats. She thanked the Lord quietly while Raph glared at him suspiciously. Foxglove elbowed him, and he thanked Warumagi as well. Then, they left his office.

Katrina's face paled as the door closed behind them.

Warumagi waited until he was positive they had left. He checked outside the door before locking it and approaching Katrina, who was squirming under his intimidating glare.

"What did I say about being with him?" growled Warumagi. A vein showing on the side of his head was thumping against his skin. "Do you want him to figure out my plans?"

She shook her head. "I… I didn't... I wouldn't tell him anything, my Lord… I have told him nothing… I swear..."

"And how does Foxglove know of my goal?" he shouted, making all the hairs on the servant's body stand to attention. "She knows what I'm after. You must have told her."

"I haven't, I swear!" exclaimed Katrina, falling to her knees. "I would never betray you, my Lord. I owe my life to you! She… she must have overheard heard us… or… or have gone into Lady Warumagi's room."

"She was dead long before I had devised this plan," he told her angrily, spit flying out of his mouth. "There is nothing she could have learned about it from in there. She must have overheard you talking to me about it. Why can't you keep your voice down?"

"I'm sorry, my Lord!" she sobbed. "I f-failed you. She must h-have h-heard me. P-p-please f-forgive me!"

"You must earn my respect back," he whispered threateningly, his breath tickling her terrified ear. "Now, I have a little job for you…"

TMNTNMT

"You're in isolation for a MONTH?"

Raph eyed the massive group of students surrounding him and Foxglove. Blossom was sitting on the other side of him, her mouth hanging open and her spoon-holding hand hovering uselessly in midair. Fang was opposite him, staring at the mutant turtle with something that was much more than incredulity. Charles was unfazed, trying to slip a knife between two of his teeth.

Raph had only just sat down next to Foxglove, wanting to talk to her about the previous night, when what seemed to be the entire school had come along and crowded around them. Foxglove must have told everyone about their punishment, because they all seemed to come with a great deal of knowledge about it. He hadn't wanted everyone to be aware of their punishment. He had wanted to be left alone so that he could think in peace.

Foxglove slouched in her seat, pretending that it was not much of a big deal to her. She waved her hand dismissively, as if she was put in isolation everyday. "It's nothing. We were just having an argument and lost track of time. We got stuck outside and Warumagi found us while out patrolling."

No one doubted that they would have enough things to argue about for it to become late at night. Blossom dropped her spoon and peered at Raph curiously. "Once, there was a student called Silver and he sneaked out. He got expelled. You are so lucky you get to stay here."

"Lucky?" Fang snorted. "A month of isolation isn't lucky… and with the Lord too? That's the opposite of lucky. That's… that's… unlucky!"

"Hey Foxglove." Raph nudged her leg with his foot. "When yer done baskin' in yer ego, can we go to the detention room?"

He kicked her again and gave her a more meaningful look. She nodded, yawning, before getting up. Everyone groaned as they left the lunch hall. Raph turned around and saw Blossom put away his tray. He didn't know he was staring at her until Foxglove clicked her fingers in front of his face and yanked on his mask's tails. They went through the door and it closed behind them, blocking out the loud voices of the people contained within the lunch hall.

Raph was going to say something but they reached the detention room very quickly. She peeked inside before closing the door and crossing her arms.

"Empty. I guess we start our lesson at the same time as the others."

Raph jerked his head in agreement before saying impatiently, "So are we just gonna forget about what happened or…?"

"What else can we do? We said we wouldn't tell anyone about what really happened."

"And we have to keep that promise why?"

"Raphael, who is honestly going to believe us? No one, that's who. We tell everyone a monster tried to eat us and they'll just laugh their heads off. Then, the Lord will realize we went back on our promise and he'll punish us even more. What would we gain from that?"

She spat the last bit.

"We would gain nothing."

"Ya know you said dat ya weren't lookin' for me…" he started.

"Drop it Raphael. I'm not telling you anything about that. I promised the Lord I wouldn't."

"He won't know."

"Oh he will." She forced herself to laugh. "Besides, it's better if you don't know. Things will be a lot easier for everyone."

"At least gimme a brief outline of what ya know."

"Fine, but if I get expelled I'll make sure I kill you first. All I know is that he's looking for another giant turtle. I don't know why… All I know is that he's looking for a giant turtle and that's all you're going to get."

"But-"

"But nothing. That's all I'm saying."

"Just tell me how ya know that he doesn't want me."

Foxglove looked down the corridor, checking to see whether Warumagi was nearby or not. She sighed, giving him an annoyed look. "Years ago, when I recently joined, I woke up in the middle of the night. I needed to go to the toile- to go, so I snuck out of my room and went to find the lady's room. On the way back, I heard the Lord talking to the servant girl. I didn't want to get into trouble so I hid. They were talking about some giant turtle, and then the servant goes, 'The red masked one has a vicious temper, apparently' and the Lord responds, 'Yes, but we aren't looking for that one'. They mentioned New York, but I went away before they said anything else."

Raph was annoyed when he saw Warumagi stride down the corridor towards them, Katrina tagging on behind him. The Lord unlocked the door and walked in silently. Foxglove slipped in after Katrina while Raph went in last.

Splinter had never put any of his students in isolation. They could misbehave and break the rules, but the rat would still teach them together. The only times when he did teach individual students was when they were in extra lessons. They always had their main lessons together. It had always been like that.

Isolation was completely different to what Raph was used to. He sat on the other side of the room to Foxglove with his shell towards her. Katrina put a stack of papers and a pen on his desk. On closer inspection, he saw that they were worksheets.

She went and knelt down next to Warumagi on the floor, gazing at something straight in front of her. Warumagi got out some paperwork and began slowly filling them in, sitting behind a deep brown desk.

Raph regretted mucking about and letting Blossom take his notes during the previous lessons. He didn't know many of the answers, and he didn't have a classmate to aid him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Warumagi watching him, smiling. Ignoring the headmaster, Raph continued guessing the answers. He knew the solutions to the simpler questions and even some of the intermediate ones. However, when it came to ones like 'Which of the following are surds? Show your working out,' he couldn't help but chew on the end of his pen.

He didn't know how long he was in there for. The room didn't have a clock but Raph guessed that it was approaching lunchtime. The thought of leaving the room made him feel better, so he began concentrating a lot harder on the questions. As soon as he was allowed out, he planned on asking Blossom what some of these things were supposed to mean. He also wanted to know how Foxglove was doing with her questions. A small glimmer of hope inside him said that the questions were insanely hard, and it wasn't him being thick.

Warumagi murmured something to Katrina and she left the room. Raph didn't pay her departure any attention; however he flinched when he saw her return with two trays of food. Foxglove looked unfazed by the objects she was holding, having been in isolation before.

The Lord caught Raph's eye and said, "You will eat your lunch here. You will also have your dinner here and then you'll start your detention. I expect you will both finish at… hm… eight?"

He didn't say anything. Warumagi nodded at him, as if Raph had asked a question and he was answering it. Katrina put the tray on his desk and went to kneel next to Warumagi once more.

TMNTNMT

Raph walked out the room, feeling like his head was going to explode. Foxglove didn't say anything to him as she went in the opposite direction, towards her room. He didn't mind; he just wanted to fall into bed and sleep. He couldn't believe that he had a month of this. The mere thought of it made his head want to explode twice.

Katrina hadn't even acknowledged him when he had left. She hadn't looked at him or changed her expression to one of sympathy. The Lord had left the room before her and Raph had tried to talk to her. He wanted to talk to her about the previous night but she had quickly scuttled away before he could even open his mouth. It was as though she was avoiding him.

It had been the most mind numbingly dull day he had ever had the misfortune to experience.

He stopped when he saw someone waiting outside his room's door. He quickened his pace, his hands reaching towards his sai. He knew that there was a small chance of it being another monster, but he wanted to make sure…

The person smiled at him, bending her legs but not quite jumping up and down. She lightened up as he got closer and he saw that it was only Blossom. He chuckled. There was no way that she could be a monster.

"What are ya doin' here?" he queried. He didn't want to ask how long she had been waiting there for.

"I wanted to know how your isolation went," she told him, still bending her legs excitedly.

Raph shrugged. "It was borin'. I had to do some work and it was pretty hard. What did you do today?"

"I learned about osmosis and diffusion, and I went to the library. I read a book about dreams and it says that whatever you think about just before you fall sleep deeply influences what you dream about."

"Are ya still worried about that dream ya had?"

"Kinda," she mumbled, focusing on a point on the ground for a second. She smiled at him. "But it's not like it ever happened, right? Dreams can't hurt me."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you at breakfast," she said. "You need your sleep. See you tomorrow. Bye!"

"Yeah, bye," he said, and she disappeared around the corner.

He went into his room and lay on his bed, not bothering to take off his ninja gear. He turned his head and saw a brand new alarm clock on his bedside table and smiled.

Just like usual.

Poor Raph and Foxglove. One month!? That´s too much! Why do I have the feeling that those "monsters" were Warumagi´s students?

It is a lot. ;_;

And you might be getting at something... >:]

I had that feeling too XD But I still love it! ^.^

Aw...these letters are so...shell, I can´t find the right word...lovely and sweet and...I think you get the point. Keep writing!

Aw, thank you.

OMFG!I loved this crazy FF
I think if Raph & the others were real they'd love it too!
keep writing!

I love this story, Livi! Can't wait for the next update :3

Aw thanks, you two. ^.^ I hope the characters would like it too. XD Though Raph might have a few words with me.

When a ball rolls along, one might watch it for a while. One might see how it goes round and round. After a while, it gets tedious watching it and one stops studying each and every roll it makes. They let it continue its journey without much thought, having become accustomed to it.

That's how Raphael felt.

His alarm clock would go off, and he would knock it onto the floor. He would go and have his breakfast, before going to isolation. He would end his day by going to his room and falling asleep. The highlight of his day was when he got to meet his friends during breakfast and catch up on what he was missing out on. However, he didn't seem to be missing out on anything important. They talked about their lessons and not much else. The other students were either very boring, or they didn't want to show off about what was happening while he was stuck in isolation.

When a ball rolls along, just like you expect it to, one begins to notice other things. At first, the ball holds one's attention, distracting them from everything else. But then, one's mind begins to drift away from the monotonous sphere and they begin to think about other things.

That's what happened to Raphael.

He would wake up in the morning and look at his bedside table, hoping to find something new on it. His hopes would fall when he saw that the only thing on it was a brand new alarm clock.

He had expected his family to find at least one moment to write back to him. He had only received one letter from them. He didn't know if he should write another, in case they had lost his and were waiting for one. When he thought about doing that, he worried that he was being too impatient. For all he knew, they were busy fighting the Foot or beating up Purple Dragons. His family couldn't have been ignoring him intentionally… unless he had offended them in his last letter?

It had been ages since he had written it, but he still attempted to remember what had been in it. He was positive that he hadn't written anything that would put them off writing back. Perhaps they thought that they didn't need to? Maybe they thought he had a lot of friends to keep him company. Or… what if they were jealous of him being around people like them?

Suppose they were dead? What if Karai had gone on a mad killing spree and had found their lair, before destroying them? She had tried to do it previously, when Leonardo had gone away to see the Ancient One. He had returned to see his home in ruins, with no knowledge of what had become of his family. Suppose the same happened to Raph, only his family were not so lucky this time? What if that was why they weren't writing back to him?

Agent Bishop hadn't done anything for ages. He had been lying low. What if he had been preparing an attack? What if he captured his family and dissected them?

He knew his explanations were becoming more and more farfetched, but he was desperate to have one.

He didn't want to accept that his family didn't want to keep contact with him.

He was tempted to ask Katrina about it, seeing as she was the only link between the school and his home, but he never got the chance to ask her. After every day of isolation, she would leave before he could say anything to her. He could never find her in the morning so he couldn't ask her then. Still… he suspected (or rather hoped) that she would find the time to collect and give any letters to him. She had agreed to do so.

When a ball stops rolling, one has a mixture of emotions. On one hand, they are glad it has stopped because it was so tedious. On the other hand, one wonders what to do next. They were used to its action, and now that it has finished they have to find something else to do. Also, while a ball is rolling, one learns many things.

He didn't talk to anyone during the time he was inside the detention room. He hadn't been allowed to. Foxglove had gotten stuck on one of the questions and had tried asking for help, only to be told by Warumagi that she wasn't allowed to. Raph had found this unfair. They didn't get any new work until they had finished the work they had been given. After Raph had done all the questions he was able to do, he just sat there. Warumagi had noticed this but hadn't said anything.

After a week of isolation, Raph had found a piece of paper on the table in his room. He had hoped that it was a letter from his family, but it had been a list of the answers to the questions he had received during isolation. The following breakfast, Blossom had quietly explained that Foxglove had asked for them. After being told the questions, she had written them out for Foxglove and had decided to make a list for Raph too. He had been extremely grateful. He knew he couldn't bring them into the room with him, so he had sat in bed that night revising them.

Warumagi had been mildly surprised when the turtle had given him the correctly done worksheet. He had smiled, before giving Raph another one. A much harder one.

What confused Raph was why Foxglove had asked for the answers. The day before he had gotten them from Blossom, she had gotten a new worksheet. She hadn't needed to ask for the answers. It was as if she had asked Blossom for them because she knew that she would give them to him. Foxglove must have not wanted to give them to him directly.

It had been an act of kindness, but it didn't mean that the two had become good friends. Foxglove had barely talked to him while they ate their breakfast, and she had completely ignored him when they had been waiting for their isolation to begin.

He could remember one conversation they had had after two weeks of isolation. They had gotten up early on Friday, and had arrived outside the detention room while most of the others were still in bed. Raph had been thinking about why Foxglove would get the answers for him, and the thought had been bugging him.

"Hey, why did ya gemme the answers to the worksheet?"

"I didn't. I asked Blossom for them and she gave them to you as well. S'not my fault she likes you."

"Fault? How's it a fault? Anyway, ya didn't have to. You were on a different set of questions by then. Ya did it on purpose."

"Okay, you got me. Shoot me."

"I ain't shootin' ya. I just wanna know why."

"I do something nice for you and instead of saying thank you, you say 'why' like I've done something wrong? Is it that surprising?"

"Yeah."

"Get that smile off your face. It isn't funny."

"Yer smilin' too. I can see the ends of yer mouth pointin' upwards."

"Okay, okay. You staring into space put me off. I thought that if you got started on some different questions then you'd stop being all gormless. Satisfied?"

"Satisfied."

TMNTNMT

After a month, isolation finally finished. It was when he went to bed that last night and looked out of the window that he felt something in his chest tighten.

He had been away from his family for nearly two months.

It was the longest amount of time he had been away from all of them for. There were so many things he could have missed out on… so many things that could happened to them. He shuddered, forcing himself to go to sleep.

TMNTNMT

"Come on, Raph," said Blossom impatiently, hopping on her right foot. She banged her fist against his room's door. "Don't you want to see who's graduated?"

The door opened reluctantly, and an even more reluctant Raphael stepped into the hallway. He stretched his arms, having only just gotten out of bed. He had been too busy thinking… thinking about… things… things like-

"Let's go, sleepyhead!" She grabbed hold of his hand and led him towards the lunch hall. "It's Monday! Remember what happens on Monday?"

"We find out who's graduatin'," he replied, bored.

"Yes! And maybe it will be me today!" she giggled. "It has to be me at some point. I mean, I don't want to sound bigheaded, but I have gotten A pluses in all of the exams this year and the year before that."

"Yeah, I'm kinda surprised ya haven't gone yet," remarked Raph, furrowing his brow. Blossom beamed at him. "How do they choose who graduates? Is there like some kind of test or what?"

She shook her head. "They assess how well you do in your lessons and how good the quality of your homework is, as well as your behaviour and some other stuff."

They entered the lunch hall and went to receive their breakfast. They had gotten it, and were about to sit down when they saw a large group of people surrounding the door leading out of the room. Blossom ignored them, sitting down at one of the empty tables. Raph sat down next to her, glancing at the excited crowd of people. He couldn't help but notice that the majority of them were female.

He jerked his thumb at them. "What's got them so happy?"

"It's the annual talent show," replied Blossom. "Everyone goes crazy for it because… because they can sing and dance in it."

"And you can't?"

"I can't do either of those things," said Blossom clearly, popping some cereal into her mouth. She swallowed. "And those are the acts that win."

"But ya can dance," Raph told her. "Remember when we did the warts?"

"That was only for fun," she said, "and to take my mind off… to distract me."

He looked around. The hall was beginning to slowly fill with people, but they were still alone at their table. If any of their friends were awake, they were most likely getting their food or going to look at the poster advertising the talent show. He leaned forwards and said in a low voice, "Have ya had dat dream at all recently?"

She gulped, her smile disappearing slightly. "A few times. But… it's changed a bit. You're good at analyzing dreams. Would you tell me what your opinion on it?"

"Sure…" replied Raph slowly. He hoped that he would be lucky like the time before.

"Okay, the beginning's the same. I go down this corridor and into another room. However, while I'm drowning in the shadows… there are voices."

"What are they sayin'?"

"I can't really make them out, but I think they're arguing." She scratched her head, furrowing her brow. "I don't know what about though. So… what do you think it means?"

"Hm…" Raph narrowed his eyes in thought. "Arguin'… they were fightin' with each other… maybe you have conflictin' feelin's or somethin'? How do ya feel when they're arguin'?"

"Sad," she answered.

"Ya don't like fightin', right? Well… there's a fight goin' on inside ya and it's… yer emotions fightin'," he said. "I think, anyway."

"Hm…" She looked sideways. "Thanks."

They were distracted when Fang and Charles sat down at their table. Fang looked the happiest Raph had ever seen him. He chuckled. "I think Foxglove has finally lost interest in me."

"Oh?" blinked Blossom. "Really? But… she adores you!"

"I thought you were the nerd with good grammar. It's adored," smirked Fang, picking up one of the chicken legs on his plate and chewing on it. "I haven't seen her for ages. She's finally gotten the message."

"You can see her now." Charles elbowed him, pointing at the door. She walked in, sitting down on the other side of the room of them. She didn't even look once in their direction.

"Good morning everyone!" said Warumagi's voice, coming out of the speaker. "It's your Lord speaking. I'm sure that you're all aware of the talent show happening this Saturday. If you're interested in participating, please see Wol or myself before Friday. I hope to see as many of you enter as possible. Except one student, who will be graduating today."

As the room fell silent, Blossom crossed her fingers and whispered something under her breath.

"They are…"

"Me, be me…" mumbled Blossom, bowing her head. "Please… please be me... I deserve to graduate... I-"

"Fang."

"What?" Fang spat out some chicken, choking. There was a loud groan, but it transformed into a series of claps and cheers almost instantly. Charles slapped Fang on the back, turning red and laughing at the top of his voice. All the other students crowded around their table. In the process, one of them elbowed Raph in the eye. He swatted their arm away, receiving another jab in response. Blossom was cheering, but the smile on her face didn't seem natural.

Out of the corner of his eye, Raph could see Foxglove trying to get closer. She shoved people in her way to the side, her hips sending a few people to the ground. She eventually got to the point where she was standing behind him, slightly to the left. By now the room had fallen silent, waiting for him to say something to them.

He flicked his head left to right before leaning back and grinning, his hands behind his head. "What can I say? I've been chosen to go. Leave. Depart. Whatever. You guys were real cool and I'm gonna miss you. Charles, you were an awesome mate. You're the first one I made and I'm gonna miss you like crazy. Raph…"

Raph looked at him.

"You were cool too," he said. "I hope you get home soon. Your family are pretty darn lucky to have you. They must be missing you like crazy."

Raph stopped looking at him.

Fang got to his feet. "Well… Bye guys!"

"Wait," said Foxglove suddenly.

Fang turned to her. "Hey, Foxglove. I nearly forgot about you. I'm gonna miss you too. Would you put my tray in the stack over there? There's a good girl."

Foxglove paused, catching sight of Raph. He looked at her, but didn't acknowledge her in any other way. She cast her eyes back to Fang. For a fleeting moment, she thought that it was Silver who was sitting in front of her, with his cute little smirk and twinkling eyes. Memories of Silver scaring away some bigger students, who had taken her bag, entered her mind and a shiver went up her spine as she remembered him kissing her forehead. Then, she blinked and realized it wasn't Silver in front of her. Fang had never been Silver, and there was no way she could ever change that. She had tried to, stretching her imagination to its limits, but it was at that moment that she finally figured out they were completely different people.

She snorted, walking into the crowd. "Do it yourself. I was going to say goodbye, but I won't bother now."

Fang ignored her and got to his feet, waving. Then, with screams and the sound of applauding surrounding him, he left through the door and disappeared.

Fang walked out of the dining room and headed towards Warumagi's office. He looked over his shoulder at the closed door, frowning. It was strange, how everyone longed to graduate. He wasn't sure why. The lessons weren't that bad. In fact, he kind of enjoyed them. The homework was doable and the lessons were bearable. The students were great. Maybe it was the fact that graduating showed the Lord had chosen you specifically.

He remembered when he had first met Charles. He had been about fourteen, wearing scruffy jeans and a baggy white t-shirt. Warumagi had explained that he had been a wolf, but had changed into a Human Hybrid. The Lord had a tracker that located their unusual DNA signature and had discovered him in a forest. Warumagi had taken him here, so he could look after him and teach Fang how to survive life in the outside world.

He had been lonely the first few days, with no one to talk to. Everyone had already formed friendship groups and he hadn't wanted to barge in. He was popular now, but it was Fang's self-esteem that had grown over his time here that had allowed this to happen. Back then, not knowing anyone, he had been confused and shy. He remembered sitting at a table one breakfast, only for a voice coming from beneath him to say, "Boo!"

It had been Charles, who had been camouflaged and waiting for a victim. Fang had found out he was new as well and the two, having not made any friends yet, became pals and had stayed friends ever since.

It had been a peculiar friendship. While Fang had become the school's team captains sport-wise, Charles became a prankster. Charles' loud and carefree attitude had rubbed onto him and had made Fang who he was now. It was easier to be confident when he was with Charles, because he knew if he made a bad impression, he would still have Charles to be with. His friend had helped him make other friends until he didn't need Charles to be with him to feel able to talk confidently. If it wasn't for Charles, he would probably have been a very different person.

He had reached the door to Warumagi's office by now. He opened it and entered the corridor crammed with paintings. He hadn't been in there since he had first joined and felt sick. Eyes upon eyes stared at him as he walked down it slowly. He looked back, his heart thumping.

Could he really leave his friends behind? He stopped walking and clenched his fists. He had been there for three years or so. It wasn't that big a proportion of his life, but taking into account that he couldn't remember the bit before, it was practically all his life. The Lord had promised great things for those who left… but was he not leaving great things behind?

The door he had walked through shut randomly and he stumbled backwards, knocking one of the paintings onto the floor. He bent down and examined it, hoping that he hadn't broken it. Thankfully, the young girl in the painting continued smiling at him, unfazed. He looked up and tried to see where it had originally been. It wasn't hard to see where, because there was a square of blank white wall with a nail in it. He put it back and made a choice. He would ask Warumagi to let him stay. He would graduate when Charles did.

He entered the head master's office and surveyed the room, unsure what he was supposed to do. There was no one in there except from the servant. He looked at her, trying to remember her name. C… he was sure it began with a 'c'. He closed the door behind him and looked at her.

Her face was blank, and she was staring at him. It unnerved him slightly, but he didn't show this. Fang went up to her confidently and said, "Hey, I'm here because I graduated."

She nodded.

He coughed, her response not satisfying him. "What's supposed to happen now?"

"Go through that door." She pointed at the door at the back of the office. "It's unlocked. The Lord will be waiting for you down there."

Fang was confused. "Why isn't he waiting for me here?"

"You have to go down there," she said, jabbing the air with her extended finger. "The Lord is down there, waiting for you to go to him."

"Oh… alright then." Fang shrugged his shoulders. "I was just asking. I mean, why can't he talk to me here?"

"He is waiting for you down there. Don't you want to see the Lord and move on?"

"About that... I was wondering if I could stay here for a bit longer," he told her. "I mean… I don't really want to go without the others. It was on such short notice too. I didn't even get to say goodbye to them properly."

"You can tell the Lord this when you go down there."

Giving up, he went to the door and opened it. The new room was incredibly dark, and he could only just make out a staircase. He walked down it slowly, placing his feet carefully downwards, making sure he didn't miss a step and fall over.

"Sir? Lord Warumagi?" he called, his voice sounding very loud. "I was thinking… could I stay here a bit longer? I don't think I'm ready to graduate."

He reached the bottom and felt something enter his mouth. He spluttered, finding that he was unable to breathe. He stumbled forward, feeling like he was drowning.

Then…

He drifted into unconsciousness.

Wow! This chapter was so radical! I loved that philosophy of the rolling ball. I think it really fits in this chapter.

Thank you. ^.^

Let's just hope the ball stopped in a safe place.

"Hey Raphael."

Raphael looked up at the newcomer. Blossom had managed to persuade him to accompany her to the library. He had just eaten his dinner, and the dojo had been in use. He had tried to go see Katrina, but he hadn't seen her near the lake. Ever since the night he had been told he would be in isolation, he hadn't spoken to her. Or rather, she hadn't spoken to him. Sometimes they passed each other in the corridor, but she never said anything to him. She didn't even look at him. It was as though she thought he was just another painting on the wall: common and not worth a second glance.

He didn't know who to expect. Blossom was sitting next to him, reading a book about lucid dreaming, so it couldn't have been her. Fang had left, and even then he had never stepped one foot in the library in all of his life. In fact, Raph rightfully suspected that most of the students had never visited the place. It couldn't have been Foxglove, for surprisingly she was sitting at the table they were seated at, silently reading a book. Raph couldn't see what it was about, due to the fact her hands were covering its title and blurb.

A lemur hybrid was looking down at him, grinning from ear to ear. Raph vaguely remembered him as Laurence, the student who had painted all the footballs pink with Charles once upon a time ago. He was quite short, with dark brown fur that was nearly everywhere on his body. His face was snowy white with dark circles around the eyes, and a black and white striped tail poked out of his Hawaiian shorts. He bounced up and down on his heels, too excited to stay still.

"Hey Raphael," repeated Laurence, still moving rapidly.

Raph narrowed his eyes, his head hurting from watching the blurry creature. "Do ya have an off button?"

"Sorry," apologized Laurence, staying still. "Are you busy right now?"

Raph looked at the closed book in his hands. "No... Why?"

"We were wondering whether you'd like to help us." Charles suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a dark red colour. He looked both ways, before disappearing from sight again.

"He's not supposed to be here," explained Laurence sadly. "You see, a few weeks ago he set off a stink bomb, so he's not allowed here and-"

"Who's yapping?" The lizard librarian came out from a gap between a pair of bookcases, her beak pointing upwards and her beady eyes wide open. "This. Is. A. Library! No talking!"

Blossom's cheeks darkened as she blushed. "I'm so sorry. We'll be quiet."

The librarian sniffed, slipping between the bookcases and disappearing from sight. Blossom sighed, closing her book and putting it on the table, before pushing it away from her. Foxglove paused, looking up from the top of her book. Blossom looked slightly irritated.

"What is it? Also, can you please remember to keep your voice down? This is a library and I don't want to be kicked out."

"I'm sorry Blossom, it won't happen again," whispered Laurence, leaning towards Raph. "So like we were saying… you aren't busy right now?"

"It depends, what have ya got in mind?" asked Raph suspiciously.

"Well..." Charles materialized again, bright blue this time. Raph's eyes twitched. "We need your help. See, we-"

Laurence coughed. Charles winked at him, chuckling.

"-Mostly me though… want to see where Fang went to. He was my closest mate, and I wanna see if I can find out where he's gone. I wanna find a way to keep contact with him. So, when I leave, I can find him easily. I wanna have someone waiting for me when I get out of this dump, you know?"

"How do you plan on doing that?" asked Foxglove. Blossom jumped, having forgotten that she was there.

Charles grinned. "Easy. I bet the Lord keeps a record of everyone in his office. Fang only left this morning, so I bet he still has some information about him. Or… a document that says where everyone goes. I dunno."

"He'll still be here 'cos the teleporter's broken," Raph remarked, thinking he had found a flaw in his plan.

"Nah, it's been fixed for ages. We saw it when we got sent to his office for something last week," corrected Charles casually, eager to get onto the main subject of their conversation. "Okay, so this is my plan…"

Charles told them about his idea, but Raph didn't really listen. He clasped his hands together and leaned his elbows against the tabletop, anger rising in his chest. The teleporter had been fixed? Charles had said that it had been for ages, yet Warumagi hadn't thought about telling him... or he hadn't wanted to tell him. He couldn't have just forgotten to tell Raph. He growled slightly.

"We just had dinner, Raph. You can't be hungry already," giggled Blossom. Her face turned serious when she looked at Charles and Laurence. "This sounds really… risky. What if you get caught?"

"Ah, that's the beauty of it." Charles tapped her beak, a broad grin plastered on his face. "If we get caught, we get expelled. If we get expelled, we get kicked out. If we get kicked out, we get to meet up with Fang. I mean, the lessons and stuff here are Snoresville." He put on a posh English accent. "In addition, I know how to behave properly in so-siiiigh-et-ee, so these classes are unnecessary for a fellow like me."

He bowed at Blossom, holding her hand and kissing it gently. Laurence laughed nervously, watching his friend straighten up. Blossom giggled quietly, covering her mouth with her hand.

Raph wiggled, feeling uncomfortable for some reason.

"Seriously, it's not like I'm going to go on a rampage if I'm not told that I've graduated," Charles added. "Well... I hope so."

Blossom laughed again. Raph doubted that she found what he said humourous. It sounded like she was forcing herself to laugh so he didn't feel stupid for making an unfunny remark. Or she was trying to get on his good side so she could persuade him not to go ahead with whatever his plan was. Raph couldn't see Blossom encouraging anyone to break the school's rules.

"You can't seriously want to go through with this plan," piped up Foxglove coldly. "It's bound to fail. You're assuming that the Lord keeps his office unlocked and everyone's permanent records under a nylon purple sign saying 'read me.'"

Laurence frowned for the first time that day, puzzled. Charles raised one of his fingers into the air, unfazed. "The servant must have a key to his room. We can get it off her."

"And Raph spends aaaages with her," added Foxglove sweetly, gazing at Raph with a smirk on her lips, "sitting by the lake. She'd give it to him easily."

Everyone looked at Raph. He crossed his arms, glaring back at them. "I haven't talked to her for ages and besides, I ain't trickin' her into doin' anythin'. It's not right."

Charles placed his hands onto his face in mock horror. Laurence copied him, his mouth opened wide comically. Charles whispered dramatically, "Oh no… it's not right. We can't do it 'cos one person thinks it's not right."

Something washed over his eyes, but whatever it was it disappeared very quickly. He said in a slightly louder voice, "It's not right to find out where my best friend is? Is that what you're saying? I'm asking you because you're my friend, and you're the only one who talks to her. Please…"

He made a begging motion at the exact same time as Laurence. Raph's left eye twitched. They were acting a lot like Michelangelo.

"Please…" Charles mumbled. "Just ask her for the keys… Say… say you want to use the teleporter and escape… say you want to go home now."

"But he's not leaving!" Blossom exclaimed. She looked at Raph worriedly. "You aren't leaving, are you?"

She was pleading more than asking.

"He's only saying that so he can get the keys. Of course he's not going," Charles told her. "So Raphael, have we got a deal?"

"No."

"Go on," said Charles, "or are you chicken? Buck buck buck…"

"I ain't stealin', borrowin', trickin' her or anythin'. My master taught me dat stealin' is wrong, and if he knew I was stealin' he'd be…"

What would he be? Would he even care? Raph wasn't sure. If he did care about him, he would have found the time to write back to him. Did his sensei know how much he wanted to read his writing? To know that he was alive? That his family was alive? It only needed to be a piece of paper saying 'We're busy. Will write soon'. Didn't they care about how he was feeling?

He sneered. It was so tempting to agree with them, just so he could get back at his family... so he could go against what his master had taught him. But… he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be right. He was better than that.

"Look, back home I opened lots of locked doors," he said quickly. "I'll open it my way, okay?"

It was true. He had opened a lot of locked doors. He forced them open with his foot. He had the feeling that the Lord's door was going to be as strong as the doors leading outside of the building, but he didn't want to trick Katrina or take the keys from her by force. He also had the feeling that Warumagi would be in his office, which Raph secretly hoped. He had a few words he wanted to tell him and they weren't very nice ones.

"Cool." Charles rested his hands on the table. "This is what we're gonna do. Raph will unlock the door and Laurence and I will sneak in. We'll find his document things or whatever and zing! We get out and no one is any wiser."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," mumbled Blossom.

"So?" Charles rolled his eyes. "You don't have to help. You can go be a good girl and read some books, like you usually do. Or you can go play with your dollies."

Raph stood up, his voice low and dangerous. "If ya want my help, ya might wanna watch what ya say to my friends."

Charles gulped, before throwing her a dark look. "Alright. Sorry. Geez..." He wiped his face with his hands. "I'm just saying that you can't make me change my mind. Laurence and I are going to do this, capiche?"

"Capiche," murmured Blossom, knowing that she wouldn't be able to change his mind any time soon. She lifted her gaze. "What... what can I do to help?"

"Nothing really, we don't need you," replied Charles.

She frowned. Laurence coughed hastily. "You and Foxglove can stand on either side of the corridor. If you see the Lord coming, talk really loudly."

"THAT'S IT, OUT!" roared the librarian, holding a large dusty book in her arms. "THIS IS THE LIBRARY, NOT THE LUNCH HALL! GO GOSSIP THERE! OUT OUT OUT! YOU'RE ALL BANNED FROM HERE!"

She threw the book at them, but it landed on her foot. She hopped up and down in pain as the others left quickly, Charles' laughter echoing in the vast room.

TMNTNMT

"This is a stupid idea," declared Foxglove, crossing her arms. "It's a stupid idea and it's not going to work."

Her statement raised the question, 'Why are you here then?', but no one asked it.

"They'll probably succeed," said Raph grimly. "They'll either find out where Fang is, leave empty-handed or get expelled. Den, they can meet up with him outside of school."

"It's still stupid."

"Yeah."

"When you two are done nattering…" said Charles impatiently. "Geez, we have to keep quiet. Do you want the Lord to hear you?"

Foxglove glowered at the back of his head, pinching the palms of her hands. Charles stared at Raph.

"Right, so you do your magic on the door and Laurence and I will go in. Then, we'll see what happens." Charles rubbed his hands together excitedly and nodded at Laurence. "Right?"

He nodded half-heartedly. "Right… Hey, Charles. I was thinking… maybe I should keep watch as well? The Lord might come out of that door over there. If he does, you don't have anywhere to hide. I could keep him talking and stuff."

"That's a closet."

"He might be in there."

"In a closet?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Charles chuckled, thinking that he was joking around. "If he is, he'll be in there for hours getting it on with a broomstick or something. Now come on."

He went to the door with Laurence hovering behind him. Raph reluctantly came forward and looked at the door warily. After an awkward silence, he began kicking it with his foot.

Blossom looked horrified. "What are you doing? I thought you said you knew how to unlock doors."

"Yeah," snapped Charles. "You're ruining the plan. Don't tell me that the caveman approach is how you usually-"

"Look." Foxglove stamped over and took out a pin from behind her ear. "Lemme do it."

She leaned forwards and began working on the keyhole in the door. While her back was turned, Charles mimed smacking her bottom. Her leg kicked out and hit him on his right thigh. She straightened up as he doubled over, not amused.

"You're so witty," she said dryly, opening the door. "Go knock yourselves out."

Charles blew her a kiss before going through it. Laurence took a deep breath and followed him in. As soon as his ringed tail was safely through the door she closed it firmly, crossed her arms and leaned against the bit of wall next to it. She had to stand sideways, because there was a portrait of Lady Warumagi five or so inches away from the door frame.

"Why do ya have a hair pin if ya don't have any proper hair?" asked Raph.

She gave him a small smile. "I had the feeling that your method of opening doors would fail, so I quickly went and got it from my room."

He glared at her but was unable to remain cross with her for more than a few seconds.

Blossom didn't say anything about Foxglove not returning to her position on the other end of the corridor, though Raph could tell by her expression that she was thinking about it. He waited and, seeing that Foxglove had gotten comfortable and wasn't going to move, went to take over her post.

He looked down the hallway. It was empty and deserted of life. Outside, it was hot and the other students were taking full advantage of the evening's weather. He groaned.

After a while, Blossom began jogging up and down anxiously, acting like she needed the toilet. Foxglove ignored the pair of them and closed her eyes. It was tempting to go up to her and shout 'boo', just to see what happened, but Raph decided against it and continued watching nothing happen.

Blossom looked at them both worriedly. "Do you think they're talking to the Lord in there? I mean, it's been a while."

"It's been maybe ten minutes or so," shrugged Foxglove, her eyes still closed. "If they're looking for a document, they'll take a while. The Lord's office is full of stuff."

"I know…" she lowered her gaze. "I guess I'm just being a worrywart. Still, the Lord will either be in there or be on his way. Where else can he be?"

"I don't know. I don't hang out with him in my spare time," retorted Foxglove, crossing her arms irritably. "Just keep watching out for him. If they're getting told off by him then it's best we don't go in. Raph and I just got out of isolation, and you don't want to ruin your chances of graduating. I bet behaviour plays an important part."

Blossom nodded, walking towards Foxglove. "I know, but I've been here for ages. Years."

"Three years or so isn't that much," remarked Foxglove coldly.

"It is when the school's only existed for about four."

"Well, then you must be-"

"Calm down," growled Raph, pausing briefly as he noticed that he was the one saying that. He quickly stood in between them, though he doubted that Blossom would start a brawl. "Fightin' ain't gonna make 'em come out any quicker."

Footsteps suddenly entered their range of hearing. Before any of them could react, Wol entered the corridor they were standing in and walked towards them. He stopped, removing his wing from his forehead and looking at the trio suspiciously.

"What are you doing here?" he asked slowly, his face scrunching up.

"We were just… hanging out," Foxglove explained, grabbing hold of the other two and pulling them towards her. She put her arms over their shoulders. "My crew and I."

Wol didn't look like he believed her, but he chose to agree with her anyway. "Don't get into any trouble now."

He went to Warumagi's door and raised his wing to knock on it.

"The Lord isn't in there," she told him hastily. "He went somewhere with the servant girl."

Wol groaned, placing his head on his wings.

"Is something bothering you, sir?" queried Blossom, sounding concerned. "You seem unwell."

"Oh, I most certainly am," he said, lifting his head slightly so he could see them. "I'm so overworked that I'm not thinking straight. I feel like I'm about to black out, and I keep calling Lord Warumagi 'Walters' for some reason. I have no idea why, and he's very concerned about me. He said he wanted to see me as soon as possible so he could examine me. He's such a genius, you know."

"I think ya should lie down," Raph told him, pushing him away. "Go to the first aid room and we'll find Warumagi for ya. We don't want ya passin' out on us."

Wol nodded. "Yes… That would be best… thank you…"

He shuffled away.

When they were sure he was gone, Raph said, "Dat was ease-"

Warumagi's door opened and Laurence ran out. It slammed shut behind him. He stared at them wordlessly, before shoving Raph. "Go go go!"

"Where must we 'go go go' to?" asked Blossom, confused. "Why are you out here? Where's Charles?"

"The Lord's in there!" moaned Laurence, zooming away from them. The three students exchanged panicky expressions and went after him. Raph knew he wanted to see Warumagi, but he also knew that if he went back, Blossom or Foxglove would go with him. He didn't want to endanger their chances of graduating.

They ceased running when they reached a corridor Raph recognized as being fairly close to the one his room was in. Blossom fell to her knees and panted, clutching a stitch in her chest. Foxglove's legs were bent slightly and she was resting her hands on her thighs. Laurence and Raph were standing up straight, recovering pretty quickly.

Raph looked at him. "What the shell happened?"

He gulped, sweating. "We… we went in and the Lord wasn't in there, so we began looking through his papers. I suggested to Charles we find him tomorrow and just ask him, but he said that the Lord wouldn't tell us where he went or else he'd have already told us. We continued searching through his stuff, and I heard some footsteps coming from behind the door at the far end of the office. So I said, 'It's the Lord! He's coming!' Charles was pleased and he said that we were gonna get it and that we should grab some of his papers, so we look like we've been snooping. He said the Lord was sure to expel us, and we could be with Fang again. He stayed while I… I…"

"Ran away," finished Raph somewhat coldly.

Laurence nodded lamely.

"Coward," muttered Foxglove.

"It's not my fault!" he exclaimed. "I got scared! I couldn't think! I… I didn't really want to get expelled. I just went along with his plan, thinking we'd find something and get out alright."

"So Charles is the only one who's gonna be gettin' expelled," remarked Raph.

"He won't be," Blossom told him. "He can't be. I mean, he'll get isolated and then… then…"

Laurence shook his head. "Raph knows what's going to happen and he wasn't even here when the toilet exploded, or when we all had food poisoning for a week after Charles added rat poison to the cafeteria's food. Charles is going to totally blow this out of proportion. You know that."

They didn't know what else to say, so they didn't say anything more about it.

Raph yawned. "I'm gonna go to my room and rest."

"I think I'll go to my room too," piped up Blossom. "I'm kind of sleepy. All this action has worn me out."

Foxglove followed her as their rooms were very close together. Laurence walked in the opposite direction. Raph waited until they were all gone before going to his room. He went to his bed and lay on his back. However, he didn't sleep. He couldn't sleep. The fate of Charles was at the front of his mind.

Raph hadn't been expelled because he couldn't leave the school (or rather, Warumagi didn't want him to leave), and Foxglove had promised to keep something secret from him. She knew something Raph didn't and he longed to find out what it was, especially because it was about him.

Charles, he thought silently, was screwed. Big time. No doubt about it. Raph took slight comfort in that it was what he had sought out to do. He turned onto his side and pulled a face.

It would take a lot of sparring to make him feel better.

TMNTNMT

Laurence lay on his bed, a guilty expression on his face.

Oh no! Poor Charles! What´ll happen to him?
Awesome chapter!

Thank you.

You'll find out in the next chapter... kinda.

*dances happily* I can't wait for the next update!! XD XD

me toooo!
& what about the other Turtles?

Thanks.

As for if the other turtles come? Well... >:]