Changes in the Wind

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Changes in the Wind
Date of Cutscene: 17 March 2020
Location: Turtle Lair
Synopsis: Raphael thought he had everything figured out during Leonardo's absence, until it seemed his brother was back around again without saying so.
Cast of Characters: Raphael

Leo had been gone, what, months now? Not long after Shredder was dealt with, anyway. What did it matter that they needed a little help from Splinter to get the job done? The important thing was that they won. Didn't seem to be how Leo felt about it, though.

So he was off who knows where, doing who knows what. Nobody could get a straight answer out of their sensei, just that "Leonardo will return when he has learned what he needs to learn." Then, more training. More chores. There was more for three turtles to do than four, but that also meant some of the food stretched out a little longer and Raph didn't need to wait for Leo to finish up some of his training just to get his own in unbothered.

Mikey and Donnie were around, but kind of doing their own thing. Raph needed to feel like he was doing stuff that mattered, and he didn't often care a whole lot about being quiet and working out of the shadows all the time, training or not. Sure, he bumped into a couple people on the surface, a guy who knew a guy.

One thing led to another and The Nightwatcher was born. It was perfect. He had a disguise that masked who he was about as well as possible, considering he was a turtle teenager with green skin and a shell. The suit hid all that, including a helmet, and the pack in back was designed to factor in the added size of the shell and hide it a bit. He only worked at night so he could still use darkness as a cover, throw whoever's head he was bustin' off to the point they wouldn't know what hit 'em.

A couple times, his cover was almost blown. He'd learned to keep his stuff, especially the motorcycle he got with some of Donnie's bitcoin money, hidden away from the Lair. Even then, Splinter told him one night that he knew but would keep the secret safe as long as he did not go too far, leaving it up to Raph to figure out what 'too far' meant. But, Splinter seemed to understand this was something Raph needed.

It was all going well. Some crime was down, a reputation was forming, and 'The Nightwatcher' was on the tongues of the local gangs and street toughs. What did it matter if it sometimes started with 'We're gonna kill' or something more colorful? He was in their heads.

Then, someone got in /his/ head. There was a gang about to throw down, but it was really just a bunch of teenagers posturing. Probably could've scared them all off with a well-timed 'Boo!' But the lioness and fox mutants showed up, and while they were a curiosity themselves, they weren't going to deter him from a little facial rearranging.

No, the deterrent came from whoever it was picking them off one by one, unseen. They just disappeared, into an alley, through a window that hadn't been open the last time he'd looked, and finally down an opening into the sewers. Deep down, Raph knew it could only be someone who was trained the way Splinter taught them. It wasn't Mikey. He'd have been too talkative. It couldn't have been Donnie. He was busy working on his toys, and that usually took up most of the night.

It could only mean one thing: Leo had to be back.

That's all Raphael saw as he took his frustrations out on the punching bag in the Lair's gym after racing back home and changing out of his gear: Leonardo's smug face.