1999-07 – Letters from Raphael

Sup?

Well, I’d like to say that everything is cool around here, but I ain’t a liar, so I won’t. The temperature has been insane up until about 18 hours ago, and I’m still pretty bummed about the whole Clan Sai crap. It’s been like 4 months and it still bugs me most of the time. I still can’t believe I was that stupid. Oh well.

So… Mikey got ya freaked out about me? If ya haven’t read his letter, don’t bother. He way hyped the Akira thing. I didn’t come close to offing the loser… I just wanted him to know that he really screwed up by messing with me. He’s still got a few lessons he needs to learn, though… this is a full summer course and he’s only been to the first class. He’s got alot to learn before he can graduate, if ya know what I’m sayin’.

Enough about that… I still spend way too much time thinking about those guys. Gotta let burned bridges go… I’m usually pretty good at that, but this time it’s not so easy. But time heals all wounds, or so they claim.

Shredder hasn’t shown up much since that day. I ran into him one time when I was out scouting alone. The coward was with about 40 Foot Clan members… he’d never risk facing me alone. He’s getting older and I’m getting stronger… so I guess he’d rather be a wise chicken than a dead duck. Anyways, he fed me some more lies about how he wants me to join the Foot and that he’d need a new lieutenant after I got rid of Akira. I can see what he’s trying to do… I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid. Shredder is way outta his league trying to play mind games with me. I’m not gonna off Akira anyways… I want him to live with the kind of pain that he caused me. It’s only fair, right?

So enough whining about stuff. I hope things have been cool with you. On the good news side of life, Leo and I have been getting along real well since this stuff went down. He’s trying hard to make me feel important, and while his efforts are extremely transparent, I still appreciate the effort. He hasn’t made it much in the past, but it’s nice that he’s doing it now. I’ve also been having a good time hanging with him and Venus. They’ve got a chemistry that used to bug me, but now I like seeing them together. They’re 100% Good People, and it’s nice to spend time with them… makes up for all the scumbags who I was hanging out with. We talk about alotta stuff that I used to think was bunk, but lately I’m starting to believe it almost as much as they do. I’ve always believed in honor, but I thought stuff like “justice”, “fairness”, “order” and “right” were alotta bull… but when I spend time with those two, I see that it can be real. That’s a good feeling, lemme tell ya. I’ve always pretty much lived in a dark world permeated occassionally by some lighter shades of grey… but these 2 are truly showing me some light. I’m proud to be in their circle. Someday mebbe I’ll see things the same way they do… I can’t really imagine that happening, but I’m finding myself yearning for it. Weird, huh?

Hang loose, compadre.

Later,
Raph

Master Splinter

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