"You're in what grade?" Raph's near shout earned him an unwavering glare from the librarian, whom was startled and spilled some of his coffee. Raph gave him a sheepish smile but it was too late for forgiveness.

"12, 12, 12!" Donnie shouted back. Poor librarian.

"How, if I'm older than you?"

"Well, being smart doesn't always correlate with a person's age, Raphael."

Raph let the insult roll off his shoulders. Forget him anyways, he wasn't there for him. Mikey texted him and told him to meet him at the library after school. It was just by coincidence that Donnie was there as well and Raph only took the seat because all the others were not vacant. Mikey was his best friend, not Donnie. Raph turned away from said person, in annoyance than anything else. Donnie was just a know-it-all, and sometimes so much that his insults could actually hurt. But Raph was tougher than to let some kid judge him off a stereotype than to get to know him. Sometimes Raph would ask himself what Donnie thought of Mike; people with bubbly personalities like Mikey's could be stereotyped as dumb, too. Did Donnie think his brother was dumb? But Raph didn't have to ponder anything anymore because one of his favorite people burst through the door. Mikey didn't give a shit who judged him, that's why Raph admired him so much. Not that he'd openly admit it.

"Raph! I missed you!" Mikey ran up to him and gave him a tackle-hug.

Raph gave a mock sign of disgust, pushing his friend away. "Really? Because I can't recall your name."

Mikey laughed and Raph did too. "So why did'ya call me here in tha first place?" Raph asked.

Mikey pulled out a sheet of paper from his bag. Raph took the sheet and on it was a picture of his favorite band, Orion. Apparently there would be a free promotional concert in town and Raph's socks almost blew off, so to speak. "I know how much you love this band so I wanted to give that to you. Maybe we can go together?"

If Raph wasn't Raph, he would've given Mikey a hug. Mikey actually remembered his favorite band, something not even his parents would be able to know. They didn't get to talk much more before Leo walked in to 'retrieve' his brothers. Mikey gave a mock look of annoyance over Leo's shoulder before giving Raph a cross eyed face (tongue out and everything. So mature) and waved Raph goodbye. In turn he folded the poster and put it in his pocket before flashing Mikey one of his rare smiles.

Raph decided that since he was in the library anyway, he would do his homework. By the time he left, it was well after 8pm. It was summer now, so it wasn't dark at this time. However, by chance it was raining so 8pm looked a bit more like midnight. Raph shrugged this off and made his usual way home; it wasn't like he was a little kid or something. Besides, he had training from Master Splinter himself so Raph concluded his weird pangs of uneasiness were not justified. He picked up the pace, though; just to be on the safe side.

Good thing he brought his umbrella because it was started to really pour. Raph looked at the grey sky and didn't see when someone switched a pocket knife up at him. It happened like a blur, but in Raph's face was a metal, double-edged blade. Raph began to walk backwards into an alley (still not the worse of his life decisions) until he made contact with someone big and tall. Raph turned slowly as his face lost color. He stood in front of ol' Hun himself, leader of the Purple Dragons, and was being held at knifepoint by Bebop. Other members of the gang all surrounded Raph so he wouldn't escape.

"Hun, Bop, what do ya'll want?" Raph snarled but Hun took a firm hold of his neck.

"You're late in your payment," Hun snarled back before roughly shoving Raph away. Raph coughed a bit and rubbed his neck.

"Payment?" Raph rasped. "The hell is ya talkin' about?"

Hun laughed haughtily and pulled a gun from his back pocket. Raph eyed the weapon and felt his heart beat so hard in his chest that his ears began to ring. Hun then began to smirk. "You know nobody can just leave the Purple Dragons on a whim and Raph, although you were one of my most trusted companions, you were a fool to think you'd get any special treatment. You gotta buy your way out. So you can give us your payment in one or two ways."

Raph couldn't believe his ears. He assumed that you could leave the Purple Dragons without them coming out to hunt you like the mob. As much as Raph didn't want to admit it, Hun was right. Who'd ever left the Purple Dragons unscathed? And what made Raph think he had any special exemptions? In a low voice, almost a whisper, Raph asked, "So you're just gonna kill me? Even after all these years?"

Hun sighed. "Business is business, Raphael. Unless you got a hundred grand."

Raph looked around at everyone. They all looked like new recruits. At least Hun didn't make this too personal, Raph thought. Even though he stopped liking the lifestyle, he still had some pretty solid friends in the Purple Dragons and didn't know if he could handle it if his friends came to kill him. "Well, if ya gonna shoot me then shoot me. Why ya stalin'? Come on Hun, kill me already!"

Hun was distracted for no more than a second but that was all Raph needed before he flipped Bebop over by his wrist. Bebop landed with a noisy groan. Raph moved on to the kid with a metal chain who caught Raph's leg; Raph used it as an advantage as he twisted his body and hurled the chain at the kid's head, knocking him out. Raph leapfrogged over a kid with a bat before running at top speed out of the alley. He didn't look back to see who was chasing him. Actually, it didn't matter. All he needed to do was find somewhere safe. He could hear shouting and chains on hot pursuit right behind him. It was maybe about 9 now so the last bit of sunlight was now gone and the familiar New York twilight was here. Raph ran into a Japanese restaurant and saw as he looked behind him that the Purple Dragons who chased him stayed out and away. Raph just realized where he was- Murakami-san's. The Purple Dragons and Murakami had history, but long story short is that the Dragons were forever banned, and anyone dumb enough to walk in there would be shot on spot.

Raph realized that HE had walked in there but he tried his best to stay calm. Just breathe. Raph sat down in a booth and pretended to look through a menu. In his mind he was trying to come up with any ideas on what he should do. He could never tell his parents he is in a gang. Or was. Same difference. Raph could call Mikey but immediately shut that thought down. He would never worry Mikey like that. Raph sighed and brushed aside his pride before calling a number he never called before.

"Hellooo?" the person answered with a justified confusion.

"Uh, hi - hey Donnie."

It grew silent. "Raph, you never call me. What do you want?"

Raph flinched visibly and then sighed tiredly. "Well damn, nice to talk to you too. Maybe it was a mista-"

Donnie sighed as well. "Ok, ok. It's just that it's 9:30 at night. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know something's up- and not anything too good."

Raph smirked. "Shit, Donnie, you ARE a rocket scientist, so I don't think that's too fair to say." Donnie gave a genuine chuckle. "But I'm sorry I called. I'm just in some big trouble."

"Wait what is it? Tell me."

Raph swallowed thickly and whispered, "Ok Donnie, don't tell Mikey but I'm at Murakami's and like in some really bad trouble with the Purple Dragons." It was silent and Raph almost thought the connection died before Donnie gave a quick 'I'm on my way' and hung up. Raph let out a long breath and let his head drop in exhaustion.

When Donnie came, he looked a bit disheveled but relieved to see Raph in one piece. He walked over to the booth Raph was in and sat down next to him. Raph's head was still on the table as he looked up with his green eyes at Donnie's brown.

"Just," Donnie began, "Tell me everything I need to know."