Welcome!

I use this symbol :: to represent a jump in time or perspective. I will tell you who's POV each chapter is in and I promise I will try not to change POV very often because I know it can get confusing.

This is in the 2003 universe

I've never wrote something with Raphael as the main character before and I know he has some sort of…speech medical condition… so I think I will narrate regularly and then whenever he has dialogue I will put his accent in for EMPHASIS.

Cover photo by: Negger on divantart

Enjoy! And please leave a review with your honest feedback. I get more motivated when I have something to go on people. Everything is in Raphael's POV (except the prologue) unless it says otherwise Ok? Ok good. Moving right along.

Disclaimer: Seriously, we all know I'm not cool enough to own TMNT

Prologue:

My name is Casey Jones. This story really isn't about me as much as it is about a good friend of mine. He was sick in the head like the rest of us vigilante outcasts, except he was more of a criminal then a hero. He was a bit different though, a bit more…aggressive, persuasive, and outright prevailing. I don't know how the two of us ever came to becoming acquainted, but we did, and sometimes I wonder if it should have ever even happened.

We came from two different worlds, two different stories and backgrounds. He was considered a freak of nature, I was considered a nuisance. His story, however, is one that you would rather hear over mine. If only I knew how it started, if only I knew.

1 year earlier

Chapter 1: (Raphael's POV)

The scream started in my gut and made its way up my throat and out. I jolted awake with the pain from last night's fight still aching in my arms and legs. It had been a real nasty one, probably one of my worst. But as usual, I won, and it was no surprise.

I still remember the words that were shouted at me when I finally got thrown out of…wherever I had been.

Freak!

Menace!

Psycho!

It didn't matter to me though. Those types of words left nothing on me. No scar, no bruise, no "hurting inside," nothing. Either I was so used to it that I just didn't care, or I was a rogue with no emotions. That's how it had to be though and I played that card with ease. If you go soft, you get pummeled into the ground with the rest of "them".

I slowly sat up off the ground with my hand cradling my forehead. I growled for no apparent reason. Maybe it was the thoughts of last night. Those nights always made me edgy. Then again, almost everything does. Once I felt strong enough to stand up, I made sure my trench coat was tight around my bulging body before I walked out onto the busy street. My arms were too big for these sleeves but I was too lazy to go steal another cloak that fit. I would have to do it soon though; I think I'm starting to loose circulation up here.

The sun struck my face like a needle on skin. I had to hold my arm up and shield it from my sensitive eyes. I wasn't use to being around the City during the day, and I honestly liked it better that way. At night there were no people to shove past you or any kids to cry because their mommy or daddy wouldn't buy them this or that. The night was quiet but it was also when the monsters came out. Monsters, like me.

My name is Raphael, and when I was a newborn, I was abducted. I can't remember much about the people who took me, I only remember feeling lots of pain and experiencing torment every single day. When I finally escaped those "aliens", I realized I was different from everyone else in this world. I realized I wasn't accepted for the thing I was, for the mutant I was. Yeah, you heard me, mutant. Even though I don't remember much about my captors, I do remember what they did to me and how all that shit started.

As far back as I can remember, I know I was small and weak - the worst feeling in the world. I wasn't like I am now; tall, fit and powerful. I was able to fit in the palm of these human's hands and look innocent. I remember being in a cage with three others creatures like me. Once I figured out that the reflection on the cage glass was me, I realized we were all alike, me and those three others. Small, green, and something hard on our backs that we could coil into for safety. All I knew during that time was eat, sleep, do your business and look cute. If only I would've known then what I do know, I probably would have tried to find a way to kill myself in that cage. I hadn't had a taste of freedom yet and if only I knew what it was like I would have escaped sooner.

Yeah, I managed to escape. I left those other pets behind and made my way out as quickly as possible. I don't remember much about how I did it, but I did it and that's all that matters. However, my glorious freedom was short lived. Now, I knew that he was a human, but I didn't know it at the time. This human found me in an ally and took me back to his people against my will. Like I said, I was small and weak. That's when all the shit got real. I know pain, pain, misery, torment, needles, pain, sleeplessness, pain, crying, and blood. I remember it all like day, I relive it every single day. I remember my body doing weird things. Growing, becoming stronger, and becoming more powerful. My mind changed as well. I started to think differently about things. I imagined breaking out of that place and slaughtering everyone in there, making them try to withstand the things they did to me. Turn them into the freak.

A few years later, I noticed I could move like them. I could stand upright and clench my now three-fingered hands into fists. I could fight. I practiced every night when they weren't watching. I would stand up in my cage and stretch my muscles and grow stouter. I grew almost three times in size but not in height, but in shear mass. My once extremely skinny arms were starting to gain a strange shape. At first I thought I was infected with something, but then one day one of the humans took their shirt off after spilling chemicals on it and I realized he too had arms with a bubbling shape. We were a bit different though, I was maybe 10x his size. My legs did the same thing too, but at a slower rate. Then I realized I could use them to kick things with excessive force. I made myself fit by night and played good mutant by day. The best part was I was doing it under the human's noses. They didn't even notice until I started to speak. It must have been 10 years later when I spoke my first word. A human told me to press a button on my cage to test my reflexes and I told him "no."

It was the best feeling of my life and the look on his face made my life worth living. I was ready to see that grown man piss himself too. They pulled me out and attempted to sedate me. Little did they know I had been waiting for that day my whole life. I attacked them with everything I had. I used everything I had taught myself and beat them down into the ground like worms. I don't know if I killed any, but I didn't care. Once the last one was down I took off as fast as I could.

When I got my first taste of freedom, it wasn't very sweet. The environment was a lot like it is now, sunny and crowded with people. As soon as the saw me burst out onto the street, they started screaming and running away. I didn't understand and at that time I didn't realize I was unlike the population that runs this place. I did what any other scared creature would do, I ran from my problem, and that was the last time I would ever run.

I face it now, my indifference. I figured if I couldn't be accepted into society then I might as well go against it. For the first four years of my newfound freedom, I started off by shoplifting food from grocery stands out on the street. Then I moved up to plundering larger general stores. Then, when I was about 14, a gang invited me to join them. They said they had been watching my progress and liked what they were seeing, mutant or not. They named me Asagai and turned me into the professional desperado I am today. They even gave me a small weapon and something they called "an outfit." A red bandana, elbow and knee pads that they said would protect me during a fight. And protect me they did. One day the leader of the gang pointed me out for leaking information to the cops about a heist we were planning to execute. Little did I know I had been set up by a jealous member who didn't like the fact that a mutant was helping operate a gang. The leader said my punishment was death, so they all turned on me in an instant, guns and everything. Little did they know my power exceeded well beyond their toys. I walked out of there battered and bruised, but I had won, and you can guess where they are now.

I got along for another few years on my own, refusing to trust anyone I came across. Eventually, however, my work became sloppy and the authorities were catching up to me. They even hired other gangs to find and kill me. Some America we live in. One did find me though, and I was unable to take all of them on my own. I think they called themselves the Foot, but I can't remember. It was something dumb like that. I'm 100% sure they meant to kill me that night, but for some reason, they didn't. I lied seconds away from death on the cold, cement floor of an alleyway. I thought for sure I was going to die right there and then, but then another gang found me. Instead of finishing me off like I expected them to, they took me and brought me back up to perfect health. I found refuge, refuge with a gang known as the Purple Dragons. They taught me loftier battle and fighting skills that I had ever known and they also taught me how to be what they called "a superior". They said we were stronger than everyone else, more advanced, and that we criminals were meant to run our own show. They accepted my strange looks and told me I had the talent and all the balls to be the next big thing in New York City. I had sworn never to trust anyone again, but this time, I had made an exception.

Like the first gang, they gave me a new outfit. I told them I wanted to keep the red bandana to help cover my face, so they allowed it. They gave me a very thin, black, flexible uniform with their symbol going up the left leg of it (a few alterations had to be made in order to fit the bulky shell I still carried). They upgraded my weapon to something with a sharp blade. I told them I didn't want to handle guns, so they gave me a pair of Japanese, three spiked blades called Sais. It took me forever to learn how to perfect them, but within a year, I was a master. Once I became experienced and brutal, the Dragons decided I was worthy of a better title then the one my earlier gang had given me. They decided to call me Raphael. I personally hated the name, but eventually, I realized it was the type of name that stuck in people's heads.

I felt unstoppable, and I still do. I feel like wherever I go I have the power to alter the universe and run the City how I see fit. I'm feared by all except those unlucky few who decided to challenge me. That's what happened last night, and it didn't end well on their part. I have to admit, this lifestyle can get lonely but the power and satisfaction of running from the law makes up for it.

I was so into my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed the wide grin that had appeared on my face as I made my way down Times Square and to my next target.

Reviews appreciated! Thank you….I love you