So, against my better judgment, I decided to back pedal and create this prequel to Baby Bro rather than continue with the progressing stories in the series. The reasons are numerous though most can be pinpointed in my desire to better characterize some of the dynamic changes in the characters leading up to Baby Bro which, also against my better judgment, will be rewritten after this unless, you know, I change my mind again.

For those who are new to the Future Saga, thanks for joining us! You picked a good time to start and for those who have been with us for some time I hope you enjoy this chapter of the Saga.

Special thanks to FireReign, my lovely beta reader and good friend who has been gracious enough to support me for these story choices.

TMNT, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, Splinter, LeatherHead, and all the Feet People © Mirage Studios
The Future Saga, original characters, story © Turtlefreak121

A Future’s Prelude, A Future Saga Story
Chapter One: Blunt Beginning

The rush was indescribable.

The crunch of fresh snow beneath his bare feet was both chilling and exhilarating all at the same time. He could feel the electric sensation burst through the pores and burrow their ways into his soles, into his very nerves. It was evidence, if nothing else, that he was indeed living still.

Sometimes, even as he dared to venture through to the surface world earlier and earlier, pressing the envelope with both the surface dwellers and his subterranean brothers, it was these moments that were the only things that reminded Raphael of who he was.

He broke his fast pace and slid against the slickened pavement to a timely stop near the building’s edge.

With labored breath, Raph looked over the frosted air of the winter day. His hands made their way to his sides and he shook his head. The sun waned in the distance toward the end of the island. The array of pastels before him was captivating. It was a sight he would not be seeing if he followed the family rules.

There were several sights of this winter day he would not be seeing if he did not break the rules.

But the night air was growing thicker meaning Raphael’s absence from the lair would be more noticeable. That was, of course, on the notion that no one had yet noticed that he was gone during the daytime hours again.

As if Leo would ignore those tingling leader senses for that long…

Raph snorted at the mental note and shook his head. “Leo,” he muttered to himself, “needs to get out of the lair more often.”

It was, after all, beyond a doubt true. His older brother was more stuck in his ways than their traditional, aging father. Over recent weeks Leonardo, at least in Raph’s opinion, had been getting worse than ever before.

They were approaching their sixteenth birthday and had done more than most men and women could ever claim to have done in entire lifetimes. Yet they had seldom seen what a winter day looked like on the very same rooftops that they crossed nearly every night. It was a very precious sight that he was able to capture that sunset.

It was also a sunset that Raph realized would only see the like of his kind only once.

That was the greatest pity, Raph gathered, that came from he and his brothers not taking advantage of the views this world could offer them. It was not so much that they would be missing anything spectacular for themselves, though they would, as much as it was how the world would probably see the like of the kind once and only once.

It was something that he had really come to think on over recent events.

The Shredder was gone for good but in his wake there had been Karai to deal with and the growing problem of the Purple Dragons. Bishop had also been hot on their tail and after the events of the Outbreak Virus and the near loss of Don, the truth hit Raph as hard as a ton of bricks.

It would not be long at all before there was nothing left of them to reflect upon in this world. Humans liked to use the terms “Dust in the Wind” when they liked their emo stories and depressing lyrics but they did not really know what that would feel like.

In the end, Raph had finally concluded, there would be at least the slightest trace of the human race as its entirety.

But there would be nothing of he and his brothers.

Taking in the view of the sun crested horizon one last time, Raph shook his head and made his way downward into the dense darkness of the alleyway. His stride was stiffened in the cold but well worth it as he reached the manhole cover: his destination.

He begrudgingly made his way below, content of his choice to take in the daylight hours while well aware of the consequences which would lie ahead due to it.

&&&

“We are fiiiiiifteen going on siiiixteeeeeeen!”

The sound of Mikey singing wasn’t exactly what Raph would consider a pleasant welcoming as he entered the lair, but he had experienced worst. He could at least grin and raise his eye ridge to the jiggling antics of his close brother and friend.

Not that Mike would have cared for or against Raph’s disapproval. The fact that Michelangelo had an audience at all seemed to only encourage his hyperactive and joyous behavior. His zeal for early celebration was well receipted among the four teenagers whether they would outwardly admit it or not.

Again, not that Mike would care one way or the other for he was simply happy that he was reaching one of the greatest points in teenagerdom: Sweet Sixteen.

“Knock it off, Egg-Head,” Raph still goaded his brother as he came by.

Quickly, Michelangelo turned about and met his brother’s eye. He grinned wildly whether it was out of excitement from his never-getting-off-the-ground singing career, a quick comeback he had concocted to meet Raph’s snide remark, or because he knew of an eminent danger for the troublesome turtle had yet to be determined.

“Raphie,” Mike sang before leaping over to his brother’s side. “Good to see you’re finally home. We were about to send out the marines! Everyone here has been convinced that you were hounded by some Foot ninja or something else exciting.”

“Ah, so you noticed my absence,” Raph replied crudely with a wicked grin of his own. “Cute.”

To this Mikey chuckled deeply. “If you think my concern is cute,” Mike answered, “I can’t wait to see what you think of the calf Leo had while you were gone.”

Raph’s demeanor immediately soured. No. It was not quite that cute.

Returning to the lair had reminded Raph of the more literal reason for his midday escapades. He could always use a grand excuse to get away from the complete and utter suppression he suffered under the hand of his brother and unofficial leader, Leonardo.

There had always been a bit of a sibling rivalry between the two of them. Raphael and Leonardo were the most natural leaders out of the four and they had an innate sense of competitiveness that in their teen years had grown rampant, particularly once Leo began taking charge on his own terms.

In recent months Leo had been given a silent “go ahead” from Raph. Raphael had seen the emotional toll that the leadership position had taken on his brother after their final confrontation with the Shredder and when Leo returned from his training with the Ancient One things got very rushed.

Too much was happening to the family; too much chaos was ensuing, for the turtles to be quarreling over status. Raph had stepped down from competing with Leo because it was added trouble that the time simply did not call for.

In that process, Leo had gotten rather too comfortable in his spot for Raph’s tastes.

Presently, no eminent danger was in their domain and Leo’s babying of them was too much for Raphael to handle.

“Leo’d ought ta know better by now,” Raph swore sourly, “that he shouldn’t say a word to me about it.”

Although Mike’s smile remained, his face hinted at his worry over Raph’s reaction and his brow furrowed. “Aw, c’mon, Raph,” Mike begged sweetly. “Let’s not get into a fight over this. Leo’s just worried, you know that. Besides, it’s so close to our birthday!”

This only caused Raph to scowl further. Like it was always his fault that he and Leo would get into arguments! Well, Raph had a news flash for the family. It was NOT always his fault! In fact, he would dare to say it was almost never his fault!

He was simply the explosive one. That was the only reason he was always blamed.

“Yeah, well,” Raph muttered before glaring at his brother. “Why are you singing anyway? It’s still like a month and a half, Mike.”

“Actually it’s more like forty-two days,” Mike grinned. “At midnight.”

Staring at him for a moment, Raph at last shook his head and made his way down the hall. He chuckled to himself slightly but he could not allow it to be too loud else Mike might hear that he had actually humored stone-cold Raphael.

“Whatever floats your boat, Mike,” Raph teased.

Not following his brother, though obviously disenheartened by the sudden loss of his audience, Mikey folded his arms and stood his ground, watching after Raphael. “Yeah, well,” Mike mumbled before regrouping his wicked grin, “you know what floats my boat, Raph? The fact that we’re fiiiiiifteen goooooooing on siiiiiixteeeeeeeeeen!”

It did not take long after Mike’s yells that Raph realized that the heavy footsteps from upstairs were no doubt Leonardo. While he had not said explicitly to Mike that he would not fight with their brother, Raph had to agree that an altercation this early in the evening would not have been all that fun.

Not to mention, Raph did not have any interests in getting grounded anytime soon, especially tonight. Casey had mentioned about letting Raph go through his mother’s attic with him and it was going to be an interesting game of “finders keepers” between the two of them.

Raph never missed an opportunity to show up his friend, after all.

Looking around, it became obvious to Raph that the simplest hiding spot for him would be none other than Donatello’s room. No big deal. It would be the last place that Leo would think to look for him and Don never minded enough to ask annoying questions, he was not nearly as nosy as Mike was.

Ducking into his brainy brother’s room, Raph wasted no time in shutting the door behind him and leaning against it curiously, listening intently for anything Leo may ask Mike outside the door. It took a few moments before he looked to Don and noticed the quirked brow he was receiving.

“Checkin’ to see what you’re workin’ on,” Raph summarized with a shrug.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Don said with a faint, knowing grin before he tiredly continued his work. “You check on me a lot, Raph, but not that intently.”

It was true. Raphael had taken quite a bit of time as of late to check up on Don. He could not help but feel concerned about his brother, they had almost lost both his life and his sentient form. There had been nothing scarier that Raph or the others had ever experienced.

The ordeal helped Raph realize their mortality, just as the attack on the Shredder had showed Leo, but it had also revealed to him just how much Don mattered to their equation.

All this aside, Raph actually did have little interest in the exact mechanics of whatever it was that Don was working on, but he was interested in conversing with his brother.

“But I am interested,” Raph insisted before turning more toward him.

“In hiding from Leo,” Don chuckled in response.

“In whether or not you’re going to actually finish this project, actually,” Raph sourly retorted, walking over to his brother’s work bench. “You’ve not exactly been on top of your game as of late, Donny. You’re losing room in here for unfinished projects.”

Sharply, Don turned and leered at Raph. “They’re not unfinished,” he reminded Raph. “They’re on hiatus. I’m postponing them for other projects that take precedence.”

The reaction caused Raph only to scowl, snapping Don out of his short fit quicker than usual. Leo might put up with these reactions, but Raph could not. They were not expressions native to Don’s face or tones that frequented his voice. They worried the red clad brother.

“You’ve not let anything take precedence, Donny,” Raph hissed, “since you got back on your feet. I think you started working before you got yourself sorted out and I think you’re still too scatterbrained to be sitting at this damn desk for ten hours at a time.”

Don sat there, taking in the words but not showing any response.

“Why don’t you let LeatherHead take on some of this work?” Raph asked more tenderly. “He promised to help you out while you were recovering. Why not take him up on it?”

“I can’t,” Don replied as he turned back to his work.

“Can’t?” Raph questioned, his brows furrowing at the ordinarily calm brother’s antics. He hardened himself. “Can’t or won’t, Donny?”

Don lowered his wrench and turned to face Raph more directly. He sighed in aggravation with his brother’s persistence on the matter but seemed to finally be yielding. Opening his mouth, he readied a response before the door opened.

“Raph, where have you been all day?” Leo growled as he entered.

Knowing better than to even directly look at his blue masked brother, Raphael clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. So many good comebacks were at mind, Raph merely had to choose which one them would be the best to ensure that he could go out later that night.

Raph smirked. Why go out later for what he could do right then?

“I’d love to talk, Leo,” Raph explained as he made his way toward the door, apparently shocking Leo for he did not try to stop Raph. “But I gotta head out. Can’t sit around the lair all day, Casey’s expecting me to go over to his mom’s with him.”

“What?” Leo asked in surprise. He blinked before growling. “You’ve not been home all day! Raph! Don’t leave here until you tell me what you’ve been doing!”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about!” Raph yelled over his shoulder before exiting with ease, grinning at how no one was going to stop him at this point. He would just have to be sure to call Casey to tell him to meet up with him…

He had the nagging feeling, however, that he should have allowed Don to finish out whatever it was he was about to say. He wondered now if his brother’s reply would wait for another time or disappear, never fulfilling Raph’s needs for answers.

…

A/N: According to the new timeline I’m creating for the Future Saga, the events of A Future’s Prelude take place close to after the events concluding Good Genes. There will be certain events after Good Genes that will be incorporated into the Future Saga but the Ninja Tribunal, Fast Forward, and Back to the Sewers are out for sure. The reason this was not set in stone before was because the 2k3 series was still in progress and major events were happening as I wrote Baby Bro the first time.

Hope that clears things up! Please review!