"Mona Lisa, I've loved you from the moment our eyes met- no, that's no good," Raph said to himself as he paced in his bedroom.

"Mona! From the moment you punched me in the face, I knew you were the one for me- oh God! That just sounds weird..."

He sighs, "Mona you are my love, my world, my life. I want to love you everyday till the end of time! No, too much.." He sighs again.

"I love you! Marry me!!" he shouts.

"...no too forward." Raph takes a deep breath.

"Okay, Raphael. You can do this."

He takes a deep breath.

"Mona Lisa, my whole life, I never thought I'd feel the way I feel when I'm with you. You make me feel safe and loved and I want to do the same for you everyday. My life is not complete without you in it. So..." He gets down on one knee, "Mona Lisa, will you marry me?"

Chompy, who has been rehearsing with Raph from the comfort of his bed, does a cute little roar not before breathing a little fire from his mouth onto Raph's face.

"You're not helping..." Raph says with a glare. He wipes off the fire ashes on his face and groans. It's not as painful as it used to be. Chompy has breathed fire in his face so many times that Raphael barely feels anything at all. He looks at the alien turtle with slight annoyance for him burning his face. Chompy then gives Raph a cute smile. Raph sighs and smiles back, "You're lucky you're cute."

He sits on his bed and lies down as Chompy hops onto his stomach. Raphael pets the alien turtle's head softly as he looks up to his bedroom ceiling with disappointment.

"I'm a lost cause, aren't I?" Raph sighs aloud to himself as he pets Chompy. "I don't even know what I'm doing! I can't even think of what to do to court her, let alone think of a good way to propose. And I can't just propose to her out of nowhere!"

He sighs, "What am I gonna do?" He mumbles to himself.

At that moment, Raphael's T-Phone rings. He picks it up from his nightstand.

Hockey Head Is Calling

Raph answers, "What do you want, Jones?"

"Raph! Dude! You busy?" Casey shouts from the other end.

"Not really..."

"Good. Wanna hang out? I just got off work and I bought some sick new hockey gear and I wanna test them out! We could hit some random shit off my apartment's rooftop and see what it'll hit!"

Raph snickers. Maybe a night out with his friend is what he needs, "Okay, I'll be there soon."

"Awesome. See you then!"

Raph hangs up. Carefully, he lifts a dozing Chompy and places him to rest on his bed. Then, heads out the door to see his friend.

The night was young. The city roared with noises from the people on the street and cars in traffic. Atop the roof of an apartment building were Raphael and Casey Jones.

Casey's greasy black hair was now at a medium length and pulled back into a half ponytail, his bandana still wrapped around his forehead. He wore a hockey jersey with a black jacket over it  - along with dirty pants. A young adult who still dresses like a rebellious teen.

The two friends hung out on top of the roof of Casey's apartment, Raph sat on the edge of the roof drinking a soda as he watched Casey smacking old cans and bottles with his hockey stick. Casey placed an old tin can down in front of him, took a few steps back, then charged at the can, shouting his famous catchphrase, "Goongala!", hitting it off into the air. The can arced and looped, twinkling as it vanished.

"So, where is your roommate?" Raph asked as he took a sip from his soda. "He's not gonna come up here and see me, right?"

"No way," Casey says as he begins setting up another old bottle. "Woody went to visit his family upstate. He's not gonna be back until next week, so I got the apartment all to myself."

Casey takes a few steps back and charges again at the bottle, smacking it with his hockey stick. The bottle goes flying into the air and soon meets its end with a loud crash.

"Yes! That's gotta be at least fifty points cause it hit that billboard and then landed perfectly into that dumpster," Casey said with a cocky grin.

Raph rolls his eyes, "Don't you have something better to do other than this stupid game?" Raph asked.

"Stupid?!" Casey gasped. "You love this game! Come on, it's not fun unless someone else plays."

Casey grabs another hockey stick and tosses it to Raph. He catches it with one hand as he continues to drink his soda.

"I'll pass," he says as he places the hockey stick down.

Casey glares at Raph. "Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you wanted to hang out, you said sure, but now you're acting like you don't want to be here. What's up?"

"Sorry, I just got a lot on my mind. I thought maybe this would help clear my head."

"Well, maybe if you tell me what's bothering you, I could help clear up that head of yours."   

Casey grabs a fresh soda and sits on the ledge next to Raph.

"Doctor Casey Jones is in," he jokes as he cracks open his can.

Raphael hates to admit it, but Casey might actually be right for once. He should tell his friend what he has been planning.

"Well... it's about Mona Lisa..."

"Ah, lady trouble," Casey said as he took a swig of his drink. "What about her?"

Raph breathes out a long sigh, "I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Casey looked at his friend. His eyes widened with a combination of surprise and shock.

"Wow..."

After a short moment of silence, Casey continues, "Why?"

Raph looks at Casey, unsure why he would ask such a stupid question.

"Because I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her."

Casey laughs, "No, seriously. Why?"

"I just said why!"

"No, Raph, dude, I know you. You're not the type of guy who would tie himself down like that. There's got to be a different reason."

Casey thought for a moment. He then loudly gasped in realization as he snaps his fingers and quickly points at Raph with a devilish grin, "You got her pregnant!"

"W-What?! No! I didn't-"

"You knocked her up and now you have to marry her, am I right?" Casey smirked.

"No! That's not the-"

"Is it a shotgun wedding?" He laughed, jumping around and gyrating his hips. "I can see it now! You are in a fancy suit while Sal Commander holds a giant blaster to your head, his finger hovering over the trigger if you don't say 'I do'!" he howls with laughter.

"SHE'S NOT PREGNANT, YOU IDIOT! I WANT TO MARRY HER BECAUSE I LOVE HER!!"

Casey acknowledged the anger and seriousness on his friend's face. Unbelievably, this was no time for jokes.

His eyes widened, "Oh my God...you are serious," Casey said, shocked, "W-when did you decide this?"

"Over a week ago..." Raph sighed. "Last week I asked Sal Commander for his blessing and I got it, but now... I don't know what to do. My mind has been blank. I'm not a planner."

""No shit, you're not. You're never the kind of guy to plan," Casey said to Raph. "I've always known you as someone to focus on what's happening now, but maybe you just need something to help you get inspired on what to do next."

"Like what?"

Casey shrugs, "Uh, do you have a ring for her?"

Raphael's eyes widened. He really hasn't thought this through! He actually forgot that he needs an engagement ring. Raph sighs in disappointment, "No..."

"Then there you go. Maybe once you have a ring you'll know what to do next," Casey smiles.

"Casey, I'm a mutant. I don't have a job or a lot of money to spend. I'm just a mutant turtle from Earth who has nothing. I have nothing that I can offer Mona, let alone an engagement ring." Raph rested his head in his palms feeling hopeless, "Mona deserves the world and I can't even give her a stupid ring."

Casey looks at his friend with sorrow. He can tell Raphael has been so worried about his plans, but he knows him better than that. Casey's smile returns, "I don't think Mona cares if you can give her the world or not. She loves you for you." Raph lifts up his head and looks at Casey.

"Don't beat yourself up over this. That's not the Raphael I know."

Casey is right again. Mona never cared about any of this kind of stuff. She doesn't care what Raph can and cannot give her because she always just loves being with him.

Casey takes another quick sip of his drink. "How about I help you get the ring?" he offered, staring out at the city lights.

Raph looks at his friend surprised, "Y-you're serious?"

"I mean it. Once you get a ring then maybe you'll be more motivated and know what you want to do next. I'll chip in and help you pick out the perfect engagement ring for Mona Lisa."

Raph smiles at his friend, thankful for his offer.

"Thanks Casey, but I don't think that's enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to do something for her. I want to court her in my own special way. I want to do something that will show her that I love her before I ask her the question. Like... a big grand gesture, but I can't think of anything..."

"How about you get her name tattooed on your arm? Not only will that show that you're dedicated to her, but it will also make you look badass," Casey suggested. "I've got a buddy who's taught me a thing or two about tattoo art. I'll call him up and borrow his supplies and I'll-"

Raph puts his hand up. "I'd stop you from coming at me with a Sharpie! I'm not trusting you with a needle on my skin, Jones!"

"Oh, come on!"

"I wanna do something big for her, but not that." Raph sighs, "I'm worried I won't be able to think of anything..."

Casey pat his friend on the back, "I'm sure you'll eventually think of something. Sooner or later the perfect opportunity will come. Let's just focus on getting the ring for now, okay?"

"Yeah, you're right," Raph slightly smiles. "I'm surprised you're taking this so seriously, Jones."

"What can I say? I've matured."

The two friends stayed silent again. They watched the city and its chaos on the streets below.

"Hey Raph?" Casey asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you didn't get her pregnant?"

Not mature enough. He smiles.

Without warning, Raph punches his friend in the arm, hard enough that Casey falls backward, laughing, onto the roof's tarred surface.