Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Fiction ❯ Book of Spells ❯ Never Going Back! ( Chapter 2 )

Raphael felt tears of anger fill his eyes as he ran, the book of spells held tightly in his arms. He wasn't going back this time. Not after this hurt. Leonardo had degraded him again, this time in front of Splinter, and his father had said nothing about it. He'd actually agreed with him and added on to what Leonardo had said! Raphael hadn't even listened to what his master had to say, instead running as fast as he could to his room, grabbing his book, and leaving, fighting back tears the whole way. He ran all the way to the clearing, not stopping once along the way.

When he got there, he collapsed onto the ground and finally let the tears escape his eyes. He shuddered, curling his fingers into the damp earth, and let his emotions out in a loud scream that made his throat sore. When he regained control of himself, he sat back and looked up at the sky, racking his brain for some way to make sure he never had to go back. It would be hard for a mutant turtle to run away and hide amongst humans, but another human...

Raphael gasped and lunged for the book, flipping through the pages frantically, searching for a potion that would help him achieve the effects he desired. He found the right page and laughed in delight. He read through the instructions eagerly. It would take four and a half hours to brew this potion correctly, but the directions were simple enough, even if the sheer amount of ingredients was staggering. The red ninja quickly gathered all the ingredients he would need and set to work, doing everything with careful precision so that he wouldn't have to start over; at the moment, he really didn't care if he ever saw his family again. The hours it took for the potion to be completed seemed to drag on forever.

Finally, it came to adding the final ingredient: DNA. As he had no hair on his body, he'd have to use blood. Raphael pulled a sai out of his belt and held it above his hand. He hesitated for only a moment before slicing into his palm. As blood oozed out of the cut, the turtle caught a little bit of it with his weapon and dropped the red substance into the bowl. The clear potion bubbled intensely for a brief moment before it settled, and when it did, Raphael saw that it was no longer clear, but a bright red that matched his mask.

After taking off his pads, weapons, and mask, Raphael picked up the bowl with both hands, careful not to spill a drop. He knew that once he drank this, he would no longer be a turtle. He would have to make another potion to change back. He had a brief thought of going back home to face Leonardo and his father...Raphael downed the potion without further hesitation. He gasped and groaned, sinking to his knees as his insides felt like they were being violently twisted and his skin felt like it was boiling. The pain grew greater and greater, and just when he couldn't stand it any longer, it disappeared completely. He lay there panting, too drained to move for several minutes.

When he could finally move again, Raphael dragged himself to a still part of the stream and looked in. A gasp escaped his lips when he saw what was reflected. A pale-skinned human male stared back at him. He had a strong, yet fair face; his cheeks were high and well defined, and his lips were thin, yet shapely. Broad shoulders narrowed down to a thin waist, making Raphael's body lean, but definitely muscular. The most startling features were his eyes and hair. They were both red as the potion had been, and would definitely make him stand out...Or would it? He could just blame the hair on a dye job and the eyes could be from contacts. Simple explanation.

As Raphael stood up shakily, he felt his hair fall down to the middle of his back. He giggled at the light, ticklish sensation of the hair touching his bare skin. Immediately he noticed that his center of balance was off. He felt strange, as he didn't have to lean forward to counter-balance the weight of his shell. The red haired teenager stepped forward and he gasped as he almost lost his balance. He barely saved himself from falling, and experimentally shifted his weight differently and took another step forward. He shook slightly, but other than that he stayed pretty stable.

Raphael spent the next half hour experimenting with the limits of his new body. He found, to his delight, that he'd grown no weaker from the transformation. He was as strong as he'd been as a turtle. He knew that he'd still have to find time to train, but that shouldn't be too hard. Raphael looked down at his reflection again and grinned. None of his family would recognize him in this new body, and the only humans that might weren't around. Raphael laughed suddenly and the thought of Casey and April seeing him like this. The boy wouldn't really know what to think, and the face that he'd make...

"Oh, Casey," Raphael murmured then looked down at his naked body. "Casey!"

Raphael knew for a fact that he'd need clothes, and he couldn't very well go around naked in the middle of a big city. The people of New York, though they could ignore pretty much anything else, would most definitely notice a naked, red haired boy. The boy glanced up at the sun that was sinking towards the horizon. He could sneak into the city in the night and get into Casey's apartment. He was about the same size as the dark haired boy, and even if he was a bit smaller than him, he could earn money and buy his own clothes later. He settled for testing his body limits even further until nightfall.