Arms wide open, I stand alone.
I'm no hero, and I'm not made of stone.
Right or wrong, I can hardly tell.
I'm on the wrong side of heaven, and the righteous side of hell.
The wrong side of heaven, and the righteous side, righteous side of hell.

Raphael scanned the crowd as his entrance song came on, looking for one particular person. Sure enough, she was in the same spot, next to a dark-haired man who looked like he was currently hitting on the beer vendor. The brunette ignored this, focusing on Raph instead, and the turtle straightened his shoulders and swaggered down to the ring, watching her stare out of the corner of his eye.

She was attractive, that was for sure. Long, dark chestnut hair shone in the light, and the color only accented her pale blue eyes. He recognized her as April O'Neil, the local news' 'Fitness and Lifestyle' reporter. She had come to every fight he had been in in this little ring, and he could now hear her cheers out of the entire crowd, speaking of which…

The massive terrapin in red turned his gaze to the ring, where his opponent stood, waiting for him. The canine was an Akita by the name of Chris Bradford that was in black. Bradford bared his teeth in an attempt to intimidate Raphael. He just sneered. Like that puppy dog could do anything to him.

Entering the octagon, he focused on the fight ahead of him, his gold eyes darkening. Only a few more fights and he can get that meeting with Dean Hawit to talk about a contract in the big leagues. A few more wins and he can set his family up for a lifetime. A few more nights and he can bring himself to approach the woman he had been crushing on since he first had talked to her at a minor event two years ago. His brothers had been teasing him about it since, but even if he did seek her out to ask her on a date, she might think he was a stalker.

Not that he didn't seek her out. Raph would get Don to find out what event she was going to be at next, and would wander around there, not matter how stupid it was, to see her. He had contemplated trying to get her into becoming a sports reporter, but he knew from the bio she had on the new site that she wanted to become a serious investigative reporter. He didn't want to mess with what she wanted to be, but still, having her pretty face talk to him after a fight would be better than the nerd that normally did it.

Moving to the center of the ring, he touched gloves with the Akita, and placed himself in a defensive position. For a long moment, the world seemed to slow down, and he realized he was facing April. Her entire focus was on him, and he had to notice the red headband she was wearing, his signature Kanji on the sides in black. She must have made it herself, from the way the lines were slightly crooked in some areas. It only made him wish more that he could actually talk to her. Fighting a grin, he pulled himself back to the fight just as the bell rung.

The canine was a ground fighter, and went for a tackle first thing, but Raphael was able to dodge, sidestepping the hit. He moved back into range and landed a hit to the kidney. Bradford growled, whipping around to graze Raph's chin. The red fighter's next hit missed as his opponent made another attempt to ground.

Friggin' amateur… He thought as he recovered, twisting his body to deliver a kick to Bradford's hip. The Akita growled as he threw himself at the turtle, pinning him to the cage. Giving a few futile knee jabs to him, Raph managed to push the fighter in black away from him and turn so that he pinned the canine against the cage.

Distracting his opponent with a few attempted jabs to his kidney, Raph landed a nice hit to Bradford's temple, leaving him reeling. If he couldn't get this guy with a KO or submission, he'd at least get a Decision.

Getting in another kidney shot as Bradford finally managed to get him on the ground, Raph turned himself to get on top before the canine got a solid hold on him. It was then the Akita made his mistake.

Trying to land a solid hit on Raphael's temple, Bradford left his guard down and the turtle took the chance to grab his other arm and get it into a perfect arm bar. It took only a few seconds of bending an arm in a way it shouldn't, and Raphael felt Bradford tap his leg, the ref signaling him to release not long after.

As he waited for the final decision, Raphael looked out at the crowd, first finding Dean Hawit. The Jackal was pointing to him while talking to another college that Raphael didn't recognize. The human nodded in agreement as the two left their seats. Next to them was Michelangelo, who was on break from Art School and came to see his older brother fight.

Next he found Mrs. O'Neil, who was standing and cheering for him, her date now gone. Grinning, he took the chance to show off a bit as they announced his name and the Ref took his arm, holding it into the air. When he turned back to April, she was already gone. Disappointed, he walked out of the ring and back to his dressing room. Maybe next time he would be able to talk to her.

He didn't notice one of the members of his escort walking up the young woman and talking to her before leading her way.

April tried to ignore the Neanderthal beside her as "Wrong Side of Heaven" blared in the air. Really, the only reason she was with him was because he had really good tickets to this little MMA promotion. She felt herself blush as the fighter entered the room, 6' 8" of solid muscle. Raphael Hamato had been the subject of many-a-late night dream ever since she had interviewed him two years ago. She had wanted to approach him, but was afraid she'd look like a creep.

That didn't mean she didn't follow him. She went to as many of his fights as she could, getting a seat as close to the ring as possible. She knew his preferred moves, his record, and his workout routine. Adding to following him on Twitter, Facebook, and any other social media, it had made her feel like a stalker, but at the same time she could swear she had seen him at many of the events she reported, lurking in the background. Not that she'd ever dream of such impressive example of manhood would be interested in her, who had just learned to wear her heels without killing herself in them.

He sauntered down to the octagon, his skin rippling as he moved. April swallowed hard as she tried not to think about those massive arms holding her up against the wall of his locker room as he bit into her neck…

Flushing, April shook the image from her head and returned her focus on the fight. By then her companion, Casey, had disappeared with the chick who served the beer, but April clung to the pass in her hand, making sure they couldn't kick her out before his fight ended.

She noticed that he scanned the crowed before the fight, and hoped that he noticed her up front. It had taken her weeks to get the headband right, and wanted him to notice it. As his eyes briefly found hers (or so she thought), he smiled at the headgear. It made all the pricks on her fingers worth it.

As the fight began, her blue focused on the red fighter, knowing that his opponent, Chris Bradford, was no slouch in this particular circuit, and not one to take lightly. Raphael was a very balanced fighter, not wanting to focus too much on ether being on his feet or on the ground, but Bradford was an out-an-out ground fighter, specializing in submissions.

Cheering him on, she forgot all about her 'date' and had all of her focus on the fight. She knew that if he could win this one, it would get the attention of Dean Hawit, and possibly a contract for the UFC. It would be sad not to see him again, but she knew it was his goal to get into the league.

Getting to her feet as Raphael pulled Bradford into an arm bar, she knew she'd be hoarse tomorrow as she screamed with the others around her, jumping up and down as the Akita tapped out and the match was given to Raph.

As she waited to the final judgement, April felt a gentle tap on her arm. Looking up, she noticed one of Raphael's towel guys next to her. He handed her a pass to the back.

"Could you follow me, miss?" He asked gently. "There is someone who would greatly like to meet you."

Michelangelo knew something was up with his brother the moment her entered the ring. Normally he would just scowl at everyone as he went passed. This time he seemed to be showing off, flexing and grinning at everyone. Very un-Raph like.

Scanning the crowd, he looked for whoever might have grabbed his brother's interest long enough to merit this display that he rarely ever did. It must be one heck of a person (he wasn't going to assume Raph sexuality) to warrant his interest. A smile came to his face as he located her.

He knew her from the news station. April O'Neil did some lifestyle segment that had her going to all sorts of crazy places. She had interviewed him once when she went to watch him and a few of his buddies try to break the world record for biggest piece of macaroni art. All of his partners had tried to hit on her, but Donatello, who had come for a visit, warned him away.

This explained so much. His brother insisting on watching that stupid lifestyle segment every night, and why he kept going to things Mikey would have never thought he would be interested, like craft fairs and 'family fun' days. It wasn't his brother's usual hangout, and it had confused the heck of Michelangelo.

It had gotten to the point where even Leo was wondering what was wrong with him at times. Raphael had gotten around quite a bit up until two years ago, and it just stopped suddenly. If he remembered correctly it was right after an interview he had done for the local news station.

The turtle in orange grinned as he watched the woman stare at his brother as he moved into the arena. She was pretty, he had to admit. Dark haired, and he could catch a glimpse of bright blue eyes that were completely focused on his brother. This explained everything. Don warning him off, his brother's sudden loss of interest in women and new interest in the news. It didn't seem to Mikey that the two know they were going bonkers for each other. This was going to be fun.

Laughing to himself, he snuck down next to the ring and managed to get the attention of Usagi, another fighter Leonardo had asked Raph to take on as part of his entourage while Usagi was on medical suspension form his last fight. All of his brothers knew that the leader had a thing for the rabbit, even if Leo did try to pretend otherwise.

"Hey Usagi," Mikey said in a loud whisper. The rabbit turned to him. "Come here, I got something for you to do." Walking up to him, Usagi cocked his head to the side, looking up.

"What is it that you need Michelangelo?" He asked politely. At least Mikey had been able to get him to drop the –san when speaking to him. Pulling a spare backstage pass (for a friend, Raph had suggested) from his sweatshirt pocket he handed it to Usagi and pointed to April.

"Take this to that woman over there, okay? I'll meet you outside the dressing room door after the match." Scurrying back to his seat, Mikey made it just in time to see his older brother put his opponent in an arm bar for the win. Jumping from his seat, the orange turtle made his way to the back to set his plan into motion.

To say April was nervous as she followed the rabbit to the back was an understatement. She had no clue why she had been chosen out of the entire crowd to come back stage. As they came up to his dressing room, she saw another turtle, only slightly smaller than Raphael, but in an orange tee-shirt. She recognized him from a story she had done about six months ago, when he and a group of art students broke the record for largest macaroni art. His friends had hit on her the entire time she was there, but the turtle had been nothing but polite to her after another turtle in purple had talked to him. He smiled as she came up.

"Hey, I'm Michelangelo, Raph's younger brother." He told her, holding out his hand for her to shake. She liked it, solid and firm, versus the light, barely-there ones she normally got. "If you just follow me, he should be back in a bit." Michelangelo escorted her into the room, and then leaving her alone.

Raphael, in the meantime, wondered where the hell his brother was. Normally when Mikey came to one of his fights, he was in interview area, waiting for a chance to hit on some of the more attractive reporters, whether they were male or female. Finally, as he finished some photos for local newspaper, he caught a glimpse of orange as his brother came barreling towards him.

"Hey Bro, that was a great fight!" The younger brother gushed, his blue eyes bright. Raph's own gold eyes narrowed. His little brother was up to something.

"Whacha do?" He asked gruffly as they made their way back to his dressing room. Mike just gave him a stupid grin.

"Me? I didn't do anything." Came the reply, as his grin got wider. Giving his brother a suspicious look, he let Mikey open the door to his dressing room. He froze as soon as he saw her sitting in a chair, wringing her hands. She looked up when he stepped in, and he watched her face go red and her eyes light up when she saw him. Jumping to her feet she walked up to him, her hand out to shake his. Mikey disappeared off to who-knows-where, leaving him alone with her.

"Hey! I'm April, April O'Neil, I interviewed you a few years back, don't think you'll remember that though." She said all in one breath, looking adorably nervous. Raphael just smiled.

"I remember that interview." He said grinning as he returned the handshake. "It's great to see you again, though. How've you been?" God, he felt like a giddy schoolboy, just feeling her soft hand in his own large one. His heart jumped as she smiled even bigger, her eyes brimming with excitement. Could it be she's been wanting to see him?

"I've been great. I see you've got Dean Hawit looking at you. Heading up in the world, huh?" She replied, moving from one foot to another.

"Yah, it's kinda weird, you know? I've been wanting to get into the UFC for years, and now I got a real chance to do it? Kinda awesome, but still nervous about it, ya know? Some much could still go wrong." Raph rubbed his head for a moment before he got a crazy idea and took a risk. "You want to go out for a coffee or something? I know this little bistro down the street that's open late, and they got really good cheesecake. Just give me a minute to change really quick"

"You had me at coffee." April said, laughing. "But the cheesecake is a nice bonus."

A half hour later the two were seated at a small table, laughing over a story April was telling him.

"Really? The guy does the sports told you that I didn't have the talent to make it farther than amateur fighting?" April nodded, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Considering you're proving him wrong, I think I'm going to win the bet." She said smugly. Raph raised an eye ridge.

"Bet? You bet that I'd make it to the UFC?" He asked, shocked that this woman he barely had more confidence in his dreams than Leonardo did. "My brother didn't even think I'd make it this far." April just smiled.

"I have an ability to see things in people." She told him, a bashful smile on her face. Her eyes met his, and she blushed. "You know this is really fun, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed myself on a date." Raph felt his heart leap to his throat. Could she be interested in him? He just grinned back at her.

"Yah, it's been great." He said as they finished up their drinks. "I should get back to the arena, Mikey's gonna think we're doing something else if I don't get back soon." April giggled, her eye lighting up in amusement.

"Thanks for the coffee." She paused for a minute looking over at something behind him, then met his eyes. "You think we could do this again one day?"

"I think that would be fun." He said. "Maybe dinner next week?" April nodded.

"That sounds nice. Something casual okay? I know a nice little pub that has the best burgers in town." Raph's face turned into a frown for a moment.

"You talking about O'Bradys over on fifth?" He asked. When April nodded in the affirmative, he grinned at her again. He knew he was going to like her. "I love that place! You had their calamari? It's the only place I've had it that it doesn't feel like you're eating rubber."

"So it's a date?" She asked as she stood up to leave, Raph escorting her to the door.

"It's a date." He replied, as he led her to the end of the block and stood with her as she waited for a cab. She looked up at him, and his chest tightened at her beauty. Before he knew it, his lips where on hers, and she was returning the soft, gentle kiss. The cabbie honk his horn to signal his arrival, and Raph had to pull away from her to let her get into the cab. Pausing before she closed the door, she smiled up at him.

"See you next week, right?" Raph felt like his heart was going to burst as he smiled back.

"It's a date." He replied earnestly.