Raph's Nightmares

Awakening

The first impression I had of her is that she looks like a mixture of kraang bot and ugly woman. A bit like that frigging chick with exploding elbows and - whatever, it is just a feeling created by the way she moves. Too awkward, 0% natural. I look at her and then at Leo, who has his fanboy face on. Great, we are doomed. I've just met his new idol. So I need my cool head on if I don't want to be deceived by her and my brother, because we all know how Leo acts around his idols, right? Right.

"Welcome home, Raphael".

Good! She knows my name. Why am I even surprised, since she has told Leo I'd be coming...

"Home?"

She spreads her arms and looks around, so I assume this place is something like her creation. I don't care though. I cross my arms and frown, waiting for a water balloon to wake me up. Or a slap. I'd be happy with any, actually.

Leo is grinning, and I'm really feeling like punching him.

"Who are you anyway?" I grumble, not even caring to look at her. Leo takes my arm and I push him away. Not a chance I'm going to become affectionate all of a sudden in the dreams realm.

"She's a great sorceress Raph. She can see the past and the future!"

"Right, that doesn't answer my question".

"My name is sacred. You can't pronounce it".

I roll my eyes and turn around.

"I've had enough nerd talk for one day. I'm going home".

She appears right in front of me and I jump back.

"But you are home".

I have a sudden feeling that she is not going to let me wake up. I'm as trapped as Leo is, unless I do something. Unless I'm still fully aware that I am not in the real world. But that is taking a toll. Everything seems solid and real, her voice, Leo's, mine. Everything could be happening in our sewers, back in the real New York.

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Mikey walks into the lab looking around. He gives Leo a sad stare and then his eyes land on Donnie.

"D. I'm bored".

Donnie looks up from the microscope, half annoyed, half surprised.

"Go bother Raph. I have a lot of stuff to do. All those chemicals you guys brought from TCRI are quite interesting. Did you know that the kraang are perfecting the mutagen? This new ooze could really turn you into a new kind of mutant, let's say a 2.0 version. And you'll never guess what they are trying! I could decode the flashdrives and -"

Mikey raises a hand and rolls his eyes.

"Let me stop you right there, Donatello. Because I've already lost interest and I don't want you to waste your time, if you are not going to make my boredom go away. BESIDES! I can't go and bother Raph because he is sound asleep."

Donnie's eye twitches but he manages to sigh and let the tension go before snapping at his brother.

"I know. He's taken a pill so it won't be easy to wake him up. And he doesn't want us to anyway. So stay away."

He shudders a bit, knowing that his final statement will make Mikey stay with him at the lab. It's probably their fault that the youngest can't find entertainment on his own and seeks all the time fun with others. If only they had let him grow a bit more independent while they were kids... But the harm is already done. He points at a stool next to him.