#Waterbender!Angel Bridge

[steve-needs-a-hug]

ok I finally watched the last 2 episodes of Netflix's AtLA!! I have some thoughts about Princess Yue...

Yay:

I love her agency and strength of character. In the OG all she did was cry and be wistful, she seemed to have no power over her situation. In this adaptation she makes choices about her own life and is respected as a leader and role model in her community, which is really cool

Amber Midthunder did a nice job in her role, and the dynamic between Yue and Sokka was very sweet

It's cool that she was a Waterbender in this adaptation

Huh?:

It made sense given the life she received from the Moon Spirit that Yue would be a bridge between the mortal and Spirit worlds, but I was confused by why she appeared to Sokka as a fox. I thought that was a reference to the knowledge foxes from the library in Book 2, and I reallyyyy hope they're not intending to scrap The Library in s2 altogether....

Nay:

The wig! Does not look good. I miss the flowy hair.

When she becomes the Moon Spirit, I really missed seeing her turn into an ethereal moon princess/angelic figure. I know it would've been tough to do but I thought the og scene was very beautiful and touching, and this version didn't give me the same feeling.

Not directly related to Yue, but I missed the Water Tribe betrothal necklaces thing.

[crypticbeliever123]

Chapter 5 of my TMNT fic. Please let me know what you think of it!

So far, this night was going great. His brothers just caught him, taking down Triple Threats. He’s still not sure if they saw him take that Firebender’s Bending from him or not but he sure as hell hoped they didn’t, especially since it sounded like they were calling in Master Splinter for backup. Great. As if three mutant Benders weren’t enough trouble, now he was going to have the Avatar showing up to arrest him or something. Could this night get any worse?

Just as he leaps across to another roof Leo sends a small amount of water out from a pouch on his belt, freezing it under his step to trip him up. Mikey uses a gust of air to propel himself ahead of his path while Leo and Donnie surround him from behind.

“It’s over Nightwatcher. Just stand down and no one gets hurt,” Leo ordered as he and his brothers gathered their elements, preparing to fight if needed.

“I don’t want to hurt nobody. I’m just trying to keep this city safe from scum like the Triple Threats.”

“By taking away their Bending?” Leo retorted.

Damn. They did see that part. That’s going to cause a whole lot of problems.

Then the Republic City Police chopper appears overhead with a searchlight aimed at him. The cops rappel down to the roof as Master Splinter descends with a burst of air to slow his descent.

As will this.

The police force prepared to restrain him with metal cords, but Splinter raised a hand; a silent gesture to ask for a bit of time to talk. Tang Shen nodded toward Splinter, a sign of respect for his judgment and hope that he can end this without needless violence. She then nodded to her officers to order a stand-off. Splinter then looked to his three sons with a look of disappointment.

“I will deal with you three later.”

“Aw man! I told you he was going to take over!” Mikey complained.

“Mikey!” his two brothers yelled at him as this was clearly not a time to be complaining.

Splinter returned his attentions toward the Nightwatcher, unaware that he was looking at the fourth of his sons.

“So, you are the Nightwatcher?” Master Splinter asked.

“That’s just the dumb name your cop friends gave me. I don’t call myself that.”

“Then what do you call yourself?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Splinter’s gaze turns to the vigilante’s hands.

“Three fingers. So, you are a mutant then. Fascinating. And surprising considering what I have heard of you.”

“Oh yeah? What have you heard then that’s so surprising?”

“I hear you are a talented Firebender. One prodigious enough to wield a blue flame and who has mastered a skill only known to one other Bender. It puzzles me how you could have so much in common with the Shredder when he-”

“I’M NOTHING LIKE THE SHREDDER!”

“And yet you have just as ferocious a temper as he does,” Splinter replied, enraging Raph enough that he ignites his fists with blue flame in anger at the comparison.

The officers seem to tense and ready themselves for action just as Splinter himself does, subtly shifting his feet to a better fighting stance. Raph takes a deep breath and his flames soften to a warm orange tone as he exhales the remaining heat past the holes of his mask in a white flame.

“Hm. Perhaps I was wrong. Saki has never been able to control his anger as you have. Nor have I ever seen him wield a white flame before. You are a gifted Bender. Of this I have no doubt. But what you are using it for, stealing the Bending of others is nothing short of a crime and I must insist that you surrender quietly. There need not be any violence tonight.”

“You’re right. There doesn’t need to be any violence. So why don’t you all just walk away and let me go? I ain’t hurting anyone who don’t deserve it. And the worst I do to someone is sever their chi so they can’t Bend no more. Considering what they were doing with it I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. So why should I have to go to jail for trying to stop them when they can just keep getting away with what they’re doing?”

“I see. Well I am sorry to hear you feel that way,” Splinter replied, nodding to signal the cops that they could act now.

Tang Shen and her fellow officers threw metal cords at Raph, tangling his arms and legs. They pulled his legs back to force him into a kneeling position as two of the others pulled his arms to his side, completely immobilizing him. Splinter stepped forward only to be stopped by Donnie.

“Careful, father. He’s more capable than he looks.”

Raph gave a little chuckle at that as his fingers twitched with electrical energy.

“He’s right.”

He then grabbed the metal cords that were holding his arms and zapped the cops to release him before twisting around to blast at the ones who restrained his legs. As soon as his limbs were free he got back to his feet and found himself being charged at by Splinter. Splinter attempted to strike him at precise points to immobilize him by disrupting his chi but was shocked when they had minimal effect, only causing him to flinch as he kept complete control over his own chi’s flow quite well through his Bending capabilities. Nightwatcher took advantage of Splinter’s surprise at his ability to overcome chi-blocking, by giving him a roundhouse kick before blasting out a ring of bright white fire around himself to keep the others at bay and melt the metal the police sent his way.

“Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?” Raph smirked before Bending a column of lightning as he drew the white flames back in on himself, creating a loud crack like thunder and an intense, blinding light.

“Whoooooooa! What was that?!” Mikey exclaimed in shock.

“He’s gone,” Leo replied.

“He just disappeared,” gasp, “Like magic!”

“Mikey, he did not disappear using magic. It’s just simple misdirection. You know like magicians do. He can’t have gotten far,” Donnie replied.

“Pfft, you say it wasn’t magic but then you go talking about magicians? Make up your mind, bro.”

“Ugh!” Donnie groaned as he facepalmed hard.

“Father? Is everything alright?” Leo asked Splinter as he noticed the pensive look on his face.

“This Nightwatcher is powerful, possibly even more powerful than the Shredder. Possibly. It seems strange to me that he could possess skills that previously only the Shredder was thought to be capable of when a mutant such as him would sooner be killed by the Shredder rather than taught by him.”

“Which raises the question, how did he figure out the same technique as the Shredder and are they connected somehow?”

“They do seem to have quite a few things in common. But the police and I can focus on uncovering this mystery later,” Splinter said, turning to face his sons.

“Right now, I would like to know what you three were thinking?!” he roared.

“It’s my fault Master Splinter. We used a listening device to eavesdrop on your meeting with Chief Shen and figured out that the pattern might’ve been wrong. It was my idea to go check the Southern District for the Nightwatcher without telling you. I’m sorry, Master,” Leo answered with a bow.

“I see. And what of your other brother Raphael? You said you did not know where he is and I see that he is not with you.”

“Raph didn’t want to get involved in this. I’m assuming he went out for dinner with some friends of his.”

“Raph has friends?!” Mikey asked before being slapped on the back of the head by Donnie.

“Ow!”

*sigh* “I am just glad that none of you were hurt… or stripped of your Bending.”

“Actually he didn’t seem to want to fight us at all. He just took off running when we confronted him and didn’t even use his Bending until you showed up comparing him to Shredder,” Donnie mentioned.

“Nevertheless, I do not want you risking yourselves like this again. We are all going home this instant and you are not to go after the Nightwatcher again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master Splinter,” the three turtles said in unison.

“Excellent. Now, let’s just hope that Raphael is there already so that I do not have to ground him as well.”

“Grounded?! You never said we were grounded!” Mikey complained.

“I thought that was obvious. Two weeks, no TV, video games, comic books, or electronics of any kind. If you behave yourselves I may still allow you to attend that Pro-Bending match you are so eager to watch… with me accompanying to keep you out of trouble of course.”

“We’ll be good! I swear! Right guys?” Mikey replied, really anxious about possibly losing the chance to see his favorite Pro-Bending team in action Friday.

“Yeah and who knows? Maybe Raph will change his mind about coming with.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Leo replied with a knowing smirk.

[bloodpacks-archive]

atonement

word count: 1.7k

warnings: self-doubt baybee

you don’t get a summary just read it i promise you’ll love it (maybe who knows not me) also i love this new reader so- yeah<3

anyway, point is! i’m back and would LOVE some requests for avatar!! i’m hoping to write for bolin, mako, and zuko so :))) please

In the dead of night, Zuko can hear the quiet chirps of various animals by his balcony. When he was younger, the night was filled with dread. He’d wonder if his father would come in, sure to yell at him over something else he’d found wrong in Zuko’s work, or if Azula would quietly work her way past his door, smirk on her face and deceit in her eyes. Now, he lies awake in his bed with only his thoughts to keep him awake. God, do they keep him awake.

Next to him, she’s softly asleep. Sheets pool around her waist, bending and twisting around her. It reminds him of the river he’d first met her by, when she’d heard him approaching and let the water she’d been playing with lightly splash beside her. The way the sheets fall—satin soft upon her skin—she almost doesn’t seem real, like every inch of her has been formed by moonlight itself.

He supposes that’s fitting. With how the moon and waterbenders work and all.

She turns then in her sleep, facing towards him now. The moonlight trickling in kisses parts of her exposed torso, and then up her arms as she moves them, choosing to wrap them delicately around Zuko.

There is no denying it, she’s everything that’s good in the world. Laughter like a melody, eyes like the pretty night sky, hands soft and cool against his skin.

Nights like these are the ones where he wonders if he truly deserves her.

He tries not to let it get to him. Tries not to think about what he’s done to Aang, or Katara, or Sokka, or Toph. Or hell, Iroh. But every time he looks into their eyes, no matter how long it’s been, he feels that pang of guilt, feels the weight of every word he’s said, every ember he ever sent their way.

But her water—her delicate touch—he’s only ever seen it used as a force of good. Raised in the Northern Water Tribe, she’d only ever been taught to heal. She’d picked up ways to fight, purely through watching the men of the tribe from afar—she’s smart like that—but there’s only so far you can go without a proper teacher.

There was one night, in the depths of Ba Sing Se, near the Jasmine Dragon, that she’d sat with him on the ledge of the bridge. She bent the water up and around his fingers, letting it intertwine with his hands. She said she wanted him to know what it was like to feel the water pass over him gently. Now, whenever he sat by the pond in the palace courtyard, he’d let his hand rest over the water, just so he could feel like she was there.

Zuko’s done nothing in his life to deserve as much tranquility as he feels when she lets her water rest on his skin. Nothing to deserve the way her cool hands run up and down his skin as she falls asleep. There’s nothing he could’ve done to deserve this—in this life or the next.

She stirs then, moving so her head can rest on his chest. Her hand moves to lay over his heart, and then he feels her sigh.

“Still not sleeping?” She whispers. Her voice offers a warmth he’s never felt before, sweet like the pastries Sokka raves about so often.

“How can I when there’s an angel sleeping next to me?” His words sit in the air for a moment, and he feels the way heat creeps up his neck as he laughs at himself. “Sorry, that was bad.”

“You’ll get it next time,” She replies, her smile dripping into her voice. She moves again, propping her head up on his chest so she can look at him.

Even in the dark, he can tell how completely undeserving he is of her. Her fingers still move back and forth, tracing little patterns onto his skin, and her eyes are trained on him—head tilted and expression curious.

He wonders if he’s a good person on nights like these, wonders if he can ever truly atone for the so many wrongs he’s committed in his life. When she’s sleeping next to him, such angelic and otherworldly beauty about her—such witty intellect and sweet kindness—he knows he’ll never be the good person he strives to be. He’ll never be as good as she is to him.

Her hand comes up to the right side of his face, her thumb just below his good eye, fingers cupping his jaw.

“What are you thinking about, Zuko?” Her voice is low, barely more than a whisper, but raspy and barely there, all the same.

The words are caught in his throat as he looks at her. Part of him wonders if she even knows the true extent of his atrocities. Sure, he’s told her just about everything, but there’s no other explanation for how someone so undoubtedly good could let herself fall like this.

His voice cracks over the words as he tries to speak, so he sighs, leaning his head back against the pillow before he tries again.

His voice still cracks, and he’s quieter than he intended, but he’s afraid that if he’s any louder-

Well, he doesn’t want to think about that.

“What if I’m still a bad person? Or if I go back to how I used to be?” The silence falls between them again. He looks away from her, biting the inside of his cheeks. “It’s happened before.”

“Zuko, no,” She begins. Her hand had fallen from his face to his neck, and now she moves once more, making him sit up so she can sit in his lap facing him.

Of course, he complies. He can’t imagine ever saying no to her.

“There is not a single part of you that could make me believe you’re the same person now that you were when you were sixteen.” Her hand moves down to his chest, where his scar sits. Most of the time, it’s covered, but tonight it was warm, and the air moving from the balcony made him want to sleep without his shirt and so-

So her fingers are running their cool touch over the scarred flesh. It doesn’t hurt, but at the memory, he winces.

“The sixteen year-old Zuko—the one before this scar, the one before the dragons and the one before Ba Sing Se—he never would’ve asked a question like that. Bad people don’t wonder if they’re bad people, they just are.”

Zuko brings one of his hands down to hers, letting them both cover the scar. His other hand rests delicately on her waist, holding the sheets around her as she sits up.

“Do you think I can ever make up for everything I did?” Zuko asks.

Her head tilts, and her hands fall down him, finally coming to a stop on his own hips. And, without much of a warning, she wraps her arms around him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. As she moves in, he wraps his arms around her, careful to still hold onto the sheets he has wrapped around her—she’s always run a little colder than he does.

Her whispers are warm, her honeyed breath against his ear.

“I don’t know.” Zuko’s heart drops, and he pulls her tighter, closing his eyes as he buries his face into the crook of her neck.

If he doesn’t, he fears he’ll cry.

“But I also don’t know if it’s about atonement. What you did in your past—that’s already happened. There are people who may never trust the Fire Nation ever again, but you’re rebuilding. I think that, for now, it’s about reinvention and rebirth. Not everything you do is going to be perfect, you’re going to question yourself and your motives every second, and you’re going to wonder if you’ll ever make it up.

“But Zuko, you’ll never make it up to everyone. And you’ve already made it up to the people who matter. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Iroh—they all know who you are. You’re the best person with the biggest heart and you care. God, do you care.”

“And you?” He whispers.

She pulls away, humming a question as her eyebrows furrow.

“Have I made it up to you?”

Her laughter is breathless, nothing more than rushed air and for a moment, he wonders if he said something funny.

But then her hands come up to his face again, thumbs against his cheekbones, her right hand careful against his scar.

“You have done nothing but prove to me that you are the kindest, most deserving person on this Earth. Zuko you-“

She pauses, pursing her lips and looking up to the ceiling for a moment. He notices how moonlight reflects off of the tears brimming her eyes.

“You’ve done more than made it up to me. There is not a single thing you haven’t atoned for, and there’s not a single moment when I’ve questioned your benevolence.”

And now tears are brimming his eyes, so he goes to looks down, letting her hands fall to his shoulders now. She moves close again, lips close to his ear.

“I love you,” She whispers, voice coarse and rough but entirely there. She pauses to press her lips to his cheekbone. “With my entire life, body, and soul, I love you.”

With those words, he moves, kissing her sweetly. One of his hands rests on her neck and jaw, fingers intertwining with her hair.

Between breaths, he whispers confessions. Most of them about how much he loves her, others about how every aspect of her leaves him wishing that his time spent here were endless.

But he always returns with the same thought.

I love you,

with my body, heart, and soul, I love you.

I love you as long as your water flows and my embers burn.

I love you as long as the air continues to kiss the surface of the Earth.

I’ll love you for as long as time allows.

In this one, and in the next.

[crypticbeliever123]

Chapter 9 of my TMNT Avatar AU fic on AO3. The chapter is titled, “Interrogation”. In it there’s a shocking reveal about Raph’s origins that I hope you enjoy! Please, let me know what you think of it!

About an hour after Raph took off, Hob found himself waking up in an interrogation room with Tang Shen and Master Splinter there as well. He tried to Bend in order to escape but remembered he lost that ability because of Raphie, the traitor. Nevertheless, his hands were encased in Firebender-proof cuffs. Guess the rat and his turtle brats didn’t mention what Raphie could do to the cops.

“So, according to your arrest records you go by Old Hob, is that correct?” Shen asked him.

“No, I’m the Fire Lord, ‘course my name’s Old Hob. It’s what I’ve gone by ever since I turned into a cat.”

“No need to get snippy. It’s just a question, and not even one of the more important ones.”

“Such as?”

“How do you know my son?” Splinter inquired.

“You’ll have to be more specific. From what I saw you got three brats who-”

“I have FOUR SONS! I asked you of Raphael, the Firebender who bested you in a fight this evening. How do you know him?” Splinter asked angrily, slamming his hand down onto the table.

“Oh! Raphie. Sorry, considering what I know of his real pops I didn’t even think he’d consider you his daddy. My mistake,” Hob said with a smirk.

“I am his real father. The man who brought him into this world was cruel and tried to murder him for a form he never asked to possess. He was no father.”

“Oh, so Raphie told you about him? Funny. He didn’t even tell me the whole time I knew him. I figured it out for myself, though. I’m smart like that.”

“Smart like those blockheads you pal around with?” Shen retorted.

“Hey, muscle’s muscle. It don’t gotta have brains to back it up long as the brawn can more than make up for it. And believe me, with how much like tanks those two are, they can.”

“Enough of this. I asked you a question and you have still not answered it. How… do you know… my son?”

“Raphie and I go way back. Back near the mutation event itself. I found him digging through trash in the Fire Nation for something to eat. Saw a couple of punks try to hassle him for being a mutant. He looked scared, but I wasn’t going to do nothing. Not my problem. But then I saw him Bend a blue flame and shoot it at the big one.”

“A blue flame? Like the Nightwatcher?” Shen asked, glaring at Splinter.

“Raphael is not the vigilante.”

“I’m sorry, vigilante? Nightwatcher? What the hell are you two talking about?”

Tang Shen turned her attention back to the cat with a groan, not wanting to mention the vigilante case but figuring it might actually get her some answers.

“There’s been a vigilante Firebender wandering the streets of Republic City, stripping Triple Threats of their Bending with the same technique the Shredder uses.”

“Oh. Then it is Raphie. After all, I didn’t lose my Bending by some freak accident, now did I?”

“You lost your Bending?”

“He’s lying.”

“No I ain’t. Now can I get back to my story? Thank you. Now, where was I? Oh right. So anyway, I stopped to watch what he was doing and saw this freaking 5-year-old pulling off techniques that I didn’t even learn ‘til I was in my teens. Sent those jerks running. Can you imagine? Four or five punks in their twenties running scared of a little kid. Figured there was something special about the twerp, so I took him and gave him something to eat. He told me about his old man and how he tried to kill him for turning into a mutant, but that he was also the one who taught him all those fancy moves he was using back in the alley. I figured with as good as this kid was he could be a useful asset to have around. Taught him a few things about Bending lightning to boot. Had him help me pull a few heists throughout the Fire Nation. But then the heat got too bad so we made our move on the Earth Republic instead. That’s where I recruited Bebop and Rocksteady for some added muscle. But Raphie? Raphie was getting sick of always having to be a criminal and tried to leave. I didn’t like that. I tried to convince him to stay by saying that he needed me to protect him from his old man. When he realized I knew who his daddy was, he got tense, angry even. He figured it out pretty quick that I was just using him that whole time. We fought. He ran. End of story really. Not much more to tell.”

“Uh-huh,” Shen said with a contemplative look on her face.

Splinter noticed and was a tad concerned.

“Shen?”

“You kept mentioning Raphael’s biological father as if he was somehow important,” Tang Shen replied.

“Course he’s important. Oh wait a minute. Wait a minute,” Hob said laughing, “You don’t know, do you? I was figuring with how angry the rat here got when I referred to the Shredhead as Raphie’s daddy that you must’ve known who he was. Guess I was wrong.”

“The Shredhead? Do you mean… Are you saying that Shredder is-”

��No! That’s a lie! Raphael is not the Shredder’s son! They are nothing alike!” Splinter shouted, getting close to Hob’s face to scowl at him with seething rage.

“Nothing alike?” Hob asked before bursting out laughing.

“I’m sorry have you met Raph? Not only does he got just as bad a temper as Shredder has but he’s just as good a Bender too, maybe even better. I mean sure, there’s plenty of people out there with tempers but how many do you know who can Bend a blue flame and sever someone’s ability to Bend at all? I’m sure there’s other things those two have in common. ‘Course I never met Shredder. You have though, right? After all, you’ve known Shredder since you was kids and you seem to know Raphie pretty well despite the gaps in your knowledge of his family history. You really going to tell me they don’t have more things in common? Similar likes? Similar dislikes? Pet peeves, nothing?”

Splinter’s glare intensified before softening a bit in resignation.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. You might think you’re Raphie’s daddy, but he hasn’t forgotten where he’s from or who taught him how to Bend so good. You might’ve given him a home and a nice, happy family… but Shredder? Oroku Saki? … He’s the one who made him what he is. Ain’t nothing you can do to change that. He may be a part of this little family you made for yourself… but he’ll always be Oroku Raphael deep down inside. He’ll always be the Shredder’s son; an angry but talented Firebender who can’t be stopped. Believe me, I’ve tried. In both instances.”

“Both instances?” Shen inquired.

“I didn’t just recruit Bebop and Rocksteady ‘cause I needed some goons to help me commit crimes or nothing. No, if the old Shredhead wants a fight, then I’m taking the fight to him. I got a whole mutant army set up to take the maniac down. That’s why I’m in Republic City; to recruit more mutants… and to go to war. Don’t know if you know this but Shredder’s in town. Has been for a few months just biding his time for the perfect moment to strike.”

“Shredder’s been this close all this time?” Shen asked out of shock.

“We have to prepare a search. We cannot let Shredder evade justice again.”

“‘Course since Raphie made a big scene at that Pro-Bending tournament, you probably won’t even have to worry about him for a while.”

“What are you talking about?” Splinter asked, curious where Hob was going with this.

“This is the Shredder we’re talking about. You really think he’s going to let his mutant son go walking around all able to tell people they’re related and ruin his rep?”

“He’ll have the Foot Clan kill him just to keep this secret. Where is he?” Shen asked Splinter.

“I… do not know. He ran away after the fight with Hob and his associates was over.”

“Then we have to find him. Preferably before Shredder does.”

“Good luck with that. Raphie’s real good at disappearing when he wants to.”

[crypticbeliever123]

Chapter 6 “Fire Ferrets vs. Boar-q-pines” hope you enjoy! Let me know what you thought, please!

Well Friday had finally come and somehow Mikey had managed to remain perfectly behaved long enough for Master Splinter to allow him and his brothers to go to the Pro-Bending match today.

“You sure you don’t want to go?” Donnie asked.

“Positive. I’ve got plans anyway,” Raph replied as he grabbed his duffel and headed out the door.

“With those mysterious friends of yours you never told any of us about?”

Raph simply rolled his eyes in response and left to prepare for his match.

Later, Splinter and his sons took to their seats, excited to watch the Fire Ferrets play against the Black Quarry Boar-q-pines. Mikey was especially anxious to see his favorite team play against one of their toughest competitors, unaware that one of his own brothers would be playing for the Fire Ferrets. Luckily, they had bought a plethora of snacks for him to munch on in anticipation.

“It’s starting!” Mikey squealed as the players all took to the arena, including Raph whose helmet kept his face very well hidden to conceal his identity; apparently going by Takeshi as a cover name.

As soon as the referee blew the whistle the match took off to a flying start. The Boar-q-pines took the lead quickly with their Earthbender rapidly launching discs at the Fire Ferrets in rapid succession to hit them back a few paces. While the others quickly found themselves knocked back into the second zone, Casey managed to keep from being knocked back through using discs from their own turf to block the opponent’s attacks. However, while that method served well for the first couple of minutes that couldn’t save him for long as the Boar-q-pine’s Airbender sent a particularly strong gust of wind at him that knocked him off his feet and into the second zone allowing their opponents to advance. While the Boar-q-pines couldn’t manage to knock them back any further, the Fire Ferrets weren’t able to recover their lost territory and the round was won by the Boar-q-pines.

“Noooo! I demand a rematch!” Mikey shouted.

“Mikey, there’s two more rounds to go,” Donnie reminded him.

“Oh right,” he replied as he sat back in his seat contently.

Round two began and the Fire Ferrets were more than determined not to lose another round to these guys. April and Angel took the front using water and air attacks aimed at their opponents’ faces to blind them long enough to give Raph and Casey the chance to knock them back a zone. The Boar-q-pines’ Airbender was having enough of that and sent out a large burst of air to disrupt Angel and April’s attacks and knock Casey back a zone. This earned the Airbender a penalty as the Airbenders aren’t allowed to create blasts of air lasting longer than a second in duration. However, this gave the Boar-q-pines the chance to regain their footing and push the Fire Ferrets back, so they could reclaim the territory they lost. The referee blew the whistle; the round had ended with neither team having gained more territory and thus a tie-breaker was needed.

The referee flipped the coin. The Fire Ferrets won the chance to choose the element for the tie-breaker. Casey gave a mischievous smirk to the opposing team’s captain.

“We pick fire.”

The Boar-q-pines’ captain stepped forward, as did Raph and met to face each other on the center platform. As soon as the referee blew the whistle for the tie-breaker round to begin the Boar-q-pines’ captain instantly wished someone else had been chosen for the match as he found himself unable to lay a hit on Raph who simply waved any flames away with ease no matter how rapid his attacks were. His opponent then tried to tackle him but Raph simply stepped aside to dodge before grabbing him and spinning them around so that the opposing Firebender was backstepping toward the edge of the platform where he attempted to regain his balance. Raph then stepped toward him as he did and flicked at his forehead to make him fall off.

“YEAH! GO TAKESHI! WOOOOOOO!” Mikey shouted with glee as the Fire Ferrets were declared the winner of the second round.

“Piece of cake,” Raph said, fist-bumping Casey as he stepped back onto the regular platform.

“Like any of us had any doubt,” Angel retorted.

“Man, he’s good,” Leo remarked, genuinely surprised at how effortless Raph made the tie-breaker match seem.

“Well duh! That’s what I’ve been saying bro. Takeshi’s the best Firebender in the circuit. That’s why the Fire Ferrets always pick him for tiebreakers.”

The Boar-q-pines’ captain growled in anger at his defeat as his teammates helped him up.

“Whatever you do, make damn sure you get that no good Firebender knocked off the platform in the next round. Got it?”

“Got it,” the other three Boar-q-pines agreed.

The third and final round began, and the Boar-q-pines took to forcing Raph apart from his team by launching different attacks between them. This gave them plenty of room to single him out for their attacks. Raph didn’t have any problem defending himself from the Firebender’s assaults but given how he was holding back it was difficult to properly defend from those of the Water and Airbender.

“Guys, they’re going after Raph. We need to knock some of these guys off before they knock him off,” Casey mentioned with April and Angel nodding in response.

Angel then gathered up a huge ball of water before launching it at the Boar-q-pines’ Waterbender, causing them to be knocked off the platform by the force of the water as well as the Airbender who was caught in the wake of the attack and fell off as well. Then the whistle blew.

“What? The rules only say you have to use single second bursts. Never said anything about how much water you could use,” Angel reminded the ref who took out the rule book to confirm before groaning in acknowledgement and nodding.

Needless to say the Boar-q-pines were not pleased by this sudden turn in events, especially their captain who only became even more angry at Raph despite this being Angel and April’s doing.

“Knock. Him. Off!”

The Boar-q-pines’ Earthbender agreed with his captain and launched a disc directly at Raph’s head, against the rules. While this didn’t knock him off the platform it did do well to dislodge his helmet from his head and give him one hell of a headache.

“Not so tough no are ya? Huh?” the Boar-q-pines’ captain retorted smugly despite the penalty his teammate just earned.

Raph raised his head and everyone could tell there was a mutant under there.

“RAPH?!” Mikey and Donnie exclaimed in unison as they jumped out of their seats to get a better look.

“What? No, that’s not Raph. That’s just a… uh…”

“You knew?!” Donnie asked his older brother.

“Dude! Why didn’t Raph tell us he was this awesome?”

“He had his reasons. Reasons that I cannot tell you about unfortunately.”

“We will discuss this later,” Splinter mentioned, glaring at his eldest.

Meanwhile, down on the platform, Casey was taking them time to check on Raph after getting his head hit pretty hard.

“Dude are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. I just-”

“He’s a FREAK! He’s one of them stinkin’ mutants,” the opposing Firebender shouted.

“Uh-oh,” Casey remarked.

“Freak? FREAK?!” Raph responded in anger as his fists lighted up with a blue flame.

“A blue flame? Did you know he could do that?” Donnie asked Leo.

“I… did not… actually.”

“Whoa, wait a minute does this mean Raph is the Nightwatcher?” Mikey inquired.

“It does seem likely, doesn’t it?” Splinter replied, pondering the very same question himself.

Raph stood, looking prepared to attack the guy who just calmed a freak when Casey stepped in his way.

“No dude. You need to calm down. You’re angry and I get that. But if you lose your temper here in front of all these people, if you act like the monster guys like him, guys like the Shredder, think you are then you’ll only give them an excuse to say that they’re right. Do you want this jerk to be right? Do you want the Shredder to be right?”

Raph’s flame died down to a softer orange as he exhaled a white flame while calming down. He then gave Casey a small nod and a smirk to which his best friend stepped aside. Casey and Raph then doubled down on the Firebender, hitting him multiple times in the gut as April and Angel focused their attentions on the Earthbender. Just as the two enemy Benders were at the edge of the platform, Casey launched discs at both the Earthbender and Firebender’s faces to finish the match with a win for their team.

The Fire Ferrets were just about to celebrate their victory when Raph remembered who all was sitting in the cheering section. He looked up to where his family was sitting and took off from the arena, knowing he was going to be in a world of trouble for this.

[crypticbeliever123]

Here’s chapter 2. Please let me know what you think of it.

Just as he put away his phone there was a knock on his door. Ugh. It’s Leo.

“What do you want, Leo?”

“I just wanted to let you know that Mikey was sorry for insulting your Bending earlier. If you need any help-”

“No thanks. I’m good.”

“You sure? Because you’ve made barely any improvement since Master Splinter took you in. If you’re struggling at all-”

“I’m not. Look, can everyone just stop badgering me about my Bending? If I don’t get it, I don’t get it. What’s it matter if I suck?”

“No one’s saying you suck. We’re just worried that something might be holding you back from-”

“Holding back? Who’s holding back? I’m not holding back!” Raph said a tad defensively.

“Uh, no one said that you were. I just- Look, in my experience when someone’s having difficulties with their Bending it’s usually because of some internal conflict. So, if you ever need to talk-”

“No thanks. I’m good. Seriously, Leo, not everyone who’s bad at Bending has some emotional problems or whatever. Some are just bad at it. Ain’t nothing you can do to change that.”

Leo noticed Raph pull a duffel bag out from under his bed, one that Raph never lets anyone look in for some strange reason. Then again his brother always was the mysterious one. Wonder what he’s hiding.

“Look, Leo, I gotta go.”

“Go where?”

“The gym. I’m in need of a bit of a workout so don’t wait up. If I’m not back by 7 I’m probably grabbing some dim sum with friends. See ya,” Raph said as he headed out.

Friends? What friends? He’s never met any friends of Raph’s. Hell, he didn’t even know Raph had friends!

Crap! Why did he say friends? He’s trying to keep his Pro-Bending life separate from his home life and he goes and mentions his friends?! What was he thinking? Now Leo’s gonna get all snoopy and start questioning him a ton when he gets back. Great. Just what he needs.

Naturally, Leo’s curiosity got the better of him. He started to follow Raph out of the temple and off down the street, being ever so careful as to keep enough distance so that Raph wouldn’t notice. They pass by the gym Leo thought Raph was going to which raises so many questions, such as where is he really going? He gets his answer when they come up to the Pro-Bending gym, reserved for players only.

“And he said Pro-Bending was stupid,” Leo muttered to himself as he used his Waterbending to reach a second story window to sneak in.

When he got in he saw three people there waiting for Raph; a guy with pitch black hair and what looked like a couple of missing teeth wearing the Fire Ferrets’ Earthbending uniform, a girl who seemed to have dyed her hair an unnatural shade of orange-red wearing the Airbending uniform, and another girl with purple streaks dyed into her hair wearing a Waterbending uniform.

“Alright, guys, ready to get started with practice?” Raph asked as he entered the room dressed in the Firebender’s uniform.

“Sure. Just one second,” the red-headed girl replied before blasting a stream of air, knocking Leo down from where he was hiding.

“Ow!”

“I sensed a breeze when he snuck in.”

“Leo!”

“Hey, Mr. I don’t like Pro-Bending. Fancy running into you here huh?” Leo remarked as he got up from the ground.

“Okay I can explain!”

“Explain what? The fact that you’re part of Mikey’s favorite Pro-Bending team or the fact that you must be a much better bender than we give you credit for to even be good at the sport?”

“Listen I-”

“Is this why act like you aren’t learning anything? So we don’t figure out that you’re part of the Pro-Bending circuit?”

“No, I just-”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not like mutants aren’t allowed to play or anything. Did you just lie because you know Mikey’s gonna want in and you want this to be just your thing? Did you-”

“Would you just shut up and let me answer first?! Geeze!”

“Okay, go on.”

*sigh*

“Okay, look there’s a lot of stuff in my past that I’m trying to hide from. Stuff that’s dangerous and life-threatening and the only way for me to protect myself from any of that is by not letting people know how good a bender I really am. If word got out about a mutant turtle who was as good at Firebending as I am some really bad people I know would come after me and I don’t want to have to go on the run again. But pretending to suck all the time is exhausting so I use Pro-Bending to let off a little steam every now and again. Look, it’s no big deal. But please don’t tell the others. Mikey will probably never stop badgering me about Pro-Bending and Master Splinter will just lecture me about keeping secrets and have me ‘train’ even more as punishment for lying for so long. Donnie would probably be cool about it but I don’t want to risk him blabbing to either of the other two. Please, Leo. I know we don’t always get along but I’d really appreciate it if you just kept this between the two of us, alright?”

“Okay. I’ll keep your secret. But if there really are bad people trying to find you then you should tell Master Splinter about it.”

“No. Way.”

“If he knew, he could help protect you. He could help keep you safe from whoever-”

“Safe? Safe?! Oh really Leo? You actually believe that after practically your whole tribe was wiped out because Master Splinter couldn’t stop Shredder? You believe that after countless people he swore to protect have died because he wasn’t good enough on his own or he wasn’t fast enough or he just wasn’t there at all? I nearly died when I was five at my own father’s hands and where was Master Splinter?        Protect me? Pfft. I don’t need his protection,” Raph said brushing past Leo.

“Then why do you stay?”

“Because… it’s nice having a family to come home to for once in my life,” Raph said with a soft smile as he turned back to look at his older brother.

The smirk on Leo’s face made him instantly regret his words.

“Look, my friends and I gotta practice so if you don’t mind-”

“No sweat. Any chance I can stick around to watch though? It’d be nice to see what kind of Bending you’re capable of when you’re not holding back. Plus, you haven’t exactly introduced me to your friends here.”

“Name’s Angel Bridge. Nice to meet you dude,” the Waterbender said with a handshake.

“I’m April. Sorry about blasting you earlier. We just like to keep a closed practice.”

“No problem. Like the hair by the way.”

“Thanks. My parents weren’t too thrilled though. They prefer the natural black color I used to have.

“I don’t know. I think this color suits you more.”

“Right?!”

“Ahem,” the Earthbender interrupted.

“Oh right. And this is Casey.”

“Nice to meet you. Raph’s told us all about you.”

“Good things by any chance?”

“Depends. Does being bossy and a huge stick in the mud sound like good things?”

“No. No it does not.”

“Alright. Alright. Can we get to practicing now? I’m bored,” Raph interrupted.

“Sure thing. Leo, you can take a seat over there,” April suggested.

As practice began Leo was glad that Raph’s secrets were out in the open, at least between the two of them, but he was still concerned. Who were these dangerous people Raph was so afraid of? How bad could they be? Certainly no worse than Shredder, and yet Raph seemed as afraid of the people who were after him as the rest of the world was of Oroku Saki. He was seriously considering telling Master Splinter about this part at least.

Meanwhile, Raph was a bit annoyed at having Leo here. Normally practice was where he’d get to cut loose the most, even more so than the actual matches but right now he was having to hold back still. Perhaps not as much as he does back at home, but still more than he’d like to. And Leo knowing any of his secrets, even if it was just one out of several, was bound to bring trouble for him. He just hoped that Leo could be trusted enough to not blab this one secret the second they got back to the temple.

[crypticbeliever123]

Chapter 7 “Questions and Lies” Hope you like it! Let me know what you think!

Raph was just getting out of his gear when his teammates joined him, along with the team’s manager/Future Industries’ top engineer, Harold Lillja, a non-Bender but brilliant scientist and sports strategist whose game plans have gotten them the win on more than one occasion.

“Okay, so that third round was sort of… meh, but hey at least you got the win. That’s something, right?” Harold said in an attempt to cheer up the grumpy turtle.

“Yeah, it’s great. Ya know what would’ve been better? If nobody saw my face out there. Now the whole world knows that a mutant Firebending Turtle is part of the Future Industries Fire Ferrets and that I’m in Republic City. Do you know how many dangerous people could find me now?”

“Listen, dude, I get that you’re scared, especially since he-who-must-not-be-named is like the most dangerous guy ever, but just because he might come for you later doesn’t mean you can’t take a minute to celebrate your win tonight. He could be halfway across the world right now for all we know. Even if he saw the broadcast, which I doubt he would’ve, it would take him a good while before he got here. So relax, bro,” Casey said, wrapping an arm around Raph’s shoulders as he tried to put him at ease.

“Yeah, bro,” Mikey said as he and the rest of their family entered the room, “and speaking of… WHAT THE HECK, DUDE?! Why didn’t you tell us you were a Pro-Bender?”

“I’m sorry but this is a private area. You can’t just-”

“It’s alright Harold, they’re Raph’s family,” April mentioned.

“Oh. Okay then. Uhh, what’s his problem?” he asked of Donnie who was staring at him slack-jawed.

Mikey gave his brother a nudge, pulling him out of his dazed state.

“You’re Harold Lillja. The Harold Lillja. You’re one of the greatest scientific minds of the twenty-first century! Your work with anti-grav technology is mind-blowing. And is it true that you’re working on a new android bodyguard system?”

“I’m afraid that information is classified,” Harold replied, adjusting his eyeglasses before peering over them with a smirk, “but yes, yes I am. I actually based the design off of Raphael here, and to a lesser extent, the rest of the Fire Ferrets as well. It’s designed to look like a turtle, but it has Bending capabilities at the same levels as these four… or at least it’s supposed to. I’m still working out the kinks with getting the machine to Bend properly.”

“Classified, huh?” Angel teased.

“Alright so I lied. It makes things sound more important than they are. Sue me. Actually you know what, don’t sue me. I’m still trying to recover after my divorce.”

“A robot turtle with Bending capabilities. That… is… awesome.”

“Donnie. Focus,” Leo reminded him.

“Right. Yeah. Sorry.”

“So, exactly how much trouble am I in?” Raph asked Splinter.

“That depends on a few things. Such as, why did you lie about your Bending skills, why did you keep your Pro-Bending secret, and are you the Nightwatcher?”

“I lied about how good I was because I’ve got a few enemies that would’ve found me by now if word got out that there was a mutant turtle with amazing Firebending skills in Republic City and I kept my Pro-Bending a secret because it would’ve undermined the whole ‘I stink at Bending’ thing if you knew I played the sport. And I ain’t the Nightwatcher! Why would you even think that in the first place?”

“We saw you Bend that blue flame, Raph. And we saw you use that same technique when you were calming down that the Nightwatcher used the other night. You know, the one where you breathed out a white flame?” Leo replied.

“I didn’t breathe a white flame. You were just seeing things.”

“So we all saw things then? Bending a blue flame is rare enough. The fact that I have seen two individuals do so is incredible enough as it is, to suggest that I have witnessed three such individuals is next to impossible. Especially considering two of those breathed a white flame when controlling their tempers, which is so rare it was unheard of until the other night. Do you really expect me to believe that you could have both Bending and a temper in common with this Nightwatcher without you being one and the same?” Splinter asked.

“Yeah because in case you haven’t noticed I never took away no one’s Bending before.”

“Took away one’s- what like the Shre-” Harold was about to say before being shut down by the simultaneous glares of all four Fire Ferrets.

“Ehe-and I’m just going to stop talking now before I say something I’ll regret.”

“Good choice,” Casey said with a glare.

“Look, who cares if Raph’s the Nightwatcher or not? It’s not like the Nightwatcher was really hurting anybody and he stopped a bunch of bad guys from breaking some poor guy’s store. He’s kind of like a superhero. And anyway can’t we all just agree that Raph is AWESOME?! I mean did you see him out there in that ring? Dude, I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on us and-”

“Mikey, just because Raph is a great Pro-Bender doesn’t mean he can just go around taking people’s Bending and absolutely none of that makes him anything like a superhero,” Donnie insisted.

“Says you.”

“Look, my head hurts, and I’d really rather not deal with any of this right now. I’m outta here.”

With that Raph picked up an ice pack and pressed it against his head before moving toward the door, only to be halted by Master Splinter.

“Can you move, please?”

“No. Not until you have explained yourself. How do you know how to sever one’s connection to their Bending? Who taught you this method?”

“No one taught me anything because I ain’t the Nightwatcher. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“I very much doubt that to be true.” *sigh* “I will give you one more chance to tell us everything you have kept from us and explain yourself. But if you do not tell me the truth I will have no choice but to take this to Chief Shen and have her interrogate you herself. Though I would much rather it not have to come to that.”

“So you’d turn me over to the cops and have them interrogate me the same way they would a common low-life just because you don’t believe that what I’m telling you right now is the truth?” *scoff* “Some father you are,” Raph said as he pushed past Master Splinter to leave the room and head back to the temple.

“He didn’t mean that, father,” Leo tried to reassure him.

He really didn’t. He’s had a bad father before. The absolute worst. And Master Splinter was nothing like him. Not at all. Raph sure could say some hurtful things when he got defensive. Not like he could help being defensive all that much. He’d spent most of his life on the streets or trying not to get killed. Survival was practically burned into his DNA at this point and if Splinter tried to get the truth about how he knows how to Bend so well out of him not only would that put him in danger, but it would put this new family of his in peril too. He couldn’t admit to being the Nightwatcher without making it even more difficult to separate himself from his past. There’d be too many questions, too many painful memories coming back up, too much pain, fear, and rejection if the truth of who he used to be came to light. No. He couldn’t handle that if they knew. Splinter, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, they were his family. If they knew, if they rejected him for it, if they saw him as much of a monster as the last person he called family had… no. No. That wasn’t going to happen. Not on his… Oh crap.

As soon as he opened the door to Splinter’s temple, there he was, his old foe and the one who taught him how to Bend lightning even better than the man he used to call father.

“Hiya, Raphie. How’ve you been?” Old Hob asked with a sinister grin and claws lit up with an electrical charge.