The next morning, Raph woke up in a sour mood, as per usual. Leonardo greeted him cheerfully. Somehow, Leo and Mikey were just morning people, more cheerful in the early hours than in the later ones, when Raph and Don seemed to really rise.
"Morning, Raphie!" Mikey sang. "We're goin' on patrol tonight. We're goin' on patrol tonight. We're goin' on patrol tonight!"
Raph grouched and crossed to the coffee maker, only to find that Leo had already warmed it up and filled the pot with hot, black coffee, just the way he liked it. Raph supposed it was an apology for scaring him so badly underwater yesterday.
Don stumbled in, accepted a mug from Raph, and sat down wearily at the table. Leo and Mikey joined him, and Raph leaned against the counter.
"So… I hear we're patrolling tonight," Raph grumbled, glaring at Mike and daring him to start singing about it again. However, the orange-banded turtle was silent, at least on that part.
"Yep! Kavara said we should continue patrolling the city, since the Foot haven't disappeared in the month we've been gone," he explained happily. He rarely called Leo "Leo" anymore, usually preferring "Kavara". And it went the other way, too; Leo called Mikey "Kalian" mostly.
"Hm. Great. I need some thugs to beat up," Raph growled.
"Good," Don agreed. "We should scavenge a bit. I need some stuff for an experiment. Leo, would you mind coming with me a second?"
Leo nodded and the two turtles trooped to Donnie's room, bowing to and greeting their Sensei as he came from his room.
Raph looked at Mike, who was looking around.
"It's good to be home," the youngest turtle said softly. "I've missed Klunk." The cat appeared just then, walking up to Mikey and purring as he rubbed his back on his master's shin.
"Tell me about it," Raph grinned. "And O Winged One has become accustomed to his new body, we've destroyed Stockman, and not to mention, got back our brother."
"Yeah." Mikey looked down at his tea, then drained the whole glass. He and Leo drank tea, another similarity between the youngest and oldest turtles.
"Is there something wrong, my sons?" Master Splinter asked, coming in quietly. His fur was ruffled, which said that he had just gotten out of bed. Mikey handed him a prepared cup of his favorite tea with a sugar cube in it.
"Nothing, Sensei. We're glad to be home," Raph said. Their Sensei nodded and walked slowly back to his room, his knees apparently giving him trouble again. It was always like this in the winter, but it was getting worse and stayed with their Master longer.
All day, Leo and Don were locked in Don's room. Raph practiced beating the stuffing out of his favorite punching bag and Mikey caught up on a month of lost TV time with Klunk sitting in his lap.
"Hey, are you guys ready for a training run?" Leo asked, coming in with Don on his heels. Raph inspected Leo but found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Sure," Raph shrugged. He was going to go out anyway, so being with his brothers while running around topside would just add a little fun, especially if they played "Catch the Ka". To play, one only needed a Mikey and a Leonardo. Set those two off running or flying, and you were sure to have an ultimate game of ninja tag! Since "Ka" meant "dragon" in Elvish, it made sense to send out the dragonet and "mother" to be 'hunted".
The best part was, Leo's wings were often a disadvantage, since he couldn't fly much and risk being seen. So they just slowed him down, really. However, he was still very good at hiding and surprising his "hunters" with hit-and-fly's that made them see stars for a moment.
"Let's go!" Mikey whined, bouncing into hyper mode. Leo stood at the door.
"Race ya there!" he cried, and took off running. Mikey squealed and followed, Don shouting that Leo had a head start. Raph chuckled and set his coffee mug down, sprinting after his brothers and closing the door behind him loudly.
Mikey, Raph, and Donnie came upon a hilarious scene at the same time as they rounded a bend in the tunnel, hot in pursuit of their bigger bro. Half of Leo stuck out of a manhole, the other half was street-side. His wings looked pinched, but he was kicking his legs and trying to get out.
"Leo!" Mikey finally shouted. The legs stopped moving.
"What?" a muffled voice yelled at them.
"You're stuck!" Donnie exclaimed.
"No duh. Now help me out!"
"Does this mean that he wins?" Mikey asked getting under Leo's dangling right foot. He placed his hands on it as Raph positioned himself at Leo's left foot. Together, they heaved with all their strength. Don sprinted off to find another manhole cover, get topside, and then run to Leo and help pull him through.
"Ooof!" Leo gasped as he was propelled upwards. He tried to squirm and get farther out of the hole, but his hips stuck. "I have to lose some weight," he grunted. "Or lose a foot or two of height!"
"Couldn't agree more," Donnie panted, coming up from the street. He grabbed Leo's hands and started pulling. Finally, with a pained gasp, Leo was shoved free. Raph and Mike leapt up through the hole easily and replaced the manhole cover. Don was bandaging the scrapes on Leo's wings and Leo was chuckling.
"Now, how will I get up here without getting stuck again?" Leo wondered aloud.
"I've got that covered. That's why I needed your measurements this morning, Leo," Don explained. "You know our elevator up to the garage? I'm configuring it with some Utrom technology so that it will transport you to wherever we are when we get street-side. I got Leatherhead's help with it, too, so it's perfectly safe. Just in case, though, we can send a few test things through to make sure nothing is wrong with my calculations."
"Wow," Leo whistled appreciatively. "Thanks."
"No problem. I've always thought it would be better to have something like that, in case one of us is injured. To get down, though, you have to go to the garage and go down the normal way."
"That's fine," Leo assured Donnie. They stood up, Leo closing his wings slowly. "So, up for some training?"
"You bet your metal shell," Raph said. "Come on!" He leapt onto a fire escape silently and stealthily climbed to the roof. Leo met him up there, his wings having brought him up before Raph.
"No fair!" Mikey whined, head appearing. It was dusk, so they were standing upright, not crouched like they would in lighter situations. Don jumped onto the roof at the same time as Mike.
"So, what're we going to do?" Don asked.
"Hmm… I don't actually know," Leo mused. "Raph, how about we do some leadership training for you. You're in charge." Leo bowed and fanned his wings, giving the responsibility of choosing a regime to the hothead, his second-in-command.
"I like that idea! Alright, we're going to play "Catch the Ka". Mikey, Leo, you know what to do. You have a thirty second head start." Raph looked at his shell cell as Mikey squeaked in fear and Leo grinned. "Twenty nine… Twenty eight…"
That was all Mikey needed to hear; he was off like a bullet, racing to get away from Don and Raph, the appointed Hunters. Leo spread his wings and leaped off the building, using his fall to power a glide that would sustain him for hours.
Twenty five seconds later, both Ka were out of sight and Raph tucked his shell cell into his belt. Then, he signaled to Don. Time to begin the hunt.
Mikey was found easily, since he was breathing heavily from running too fast at first. By the rules, he now had to help them find the other Ka, Leo.
However, no matter how much they looked, they could not find the winged turtle. An hour later, Don and Mikey were ready to give up and call him on the shell cells. Raph, however, told them to wait where they were and sprinted off into the full darkness.
He ran silently, slowly, looking for signs of Leo's passing. A scale here – he was shedding, which made him easy to track. An indent where he had landed there…
Soon, Raph was also ready to give up another hour later. Don and Mikey were probably worried. Perhaps Leo was with them.
Just as he was about to turn around, though, a shattering scream filled the air. Quickly, Raph found the source of the cry; a woman was being backed into a corner by a man wearing all black jeans and a black top.
Raph rolled his eyes. What was with black these days? he wondered as he jumped down silently. The man was grabbing the lady's purse when Raph's Sai poked him in the back.
"Back down," Raph growled, keeping to the shadows. "Lady, get outta here." The thief dropped the purse and the woman snatched it up, leaping for freedom.
The thief suddenly twisted away and pounced on Raph. The movement was so graceful and quick that all Raph could do was stiffen in surprise. He felt teeth sink into his neck, but then they lifted and the man disappeared.
Raph reached up and touched his neck. Blood flowed over his fingers sluggishly. That punk bit me! However, he couldn't do anything but accept it, for the human was long gone. Tucking his Sai away, Raph cleaned the wound with some water from a spigot and turned towards home, taking out his shell cell as he did so.
Donnie was not going to be impressed.