Second Capture – Raphael

"We have the one named Donatello," a clone said. "As instructed he is the first captured."

As Raph struggled to shake another of Bishop's clones off of his shell he heard the man reporting in, most probably to Bishop himself. The ambush was well planned; Bishop had known they would split up at some point in their patrol and had waited for the opportunity to grab Donatello before the others.

They had also planned for the inevitable rescue attempt, lying in wait for one of Don's brothers to show up. Before Raph could vault across to the building that Donny was on in order to save him, another set of clones had jumped on him.

If Don hadn't leaped in front of that net, Raph might be in the same predicament his genius brother was in now.

Raph could tell they had done something to Don because his brother was silent. Frantic to get to him, Raph's mind shut down and his fighter's instincts took over.

Throwing himself backwards, Raph smashed the man who was hanging on his shell against the asphalt roof and then flipped off of him. With a quick downward thrust, he sank his sai into the clone's belly, yanking it loose and striking twice more as his fist lashed out at an oncoming adversary.

Catching the man square in the face, Raph leaped over the clone he'd stabbed and rushed straight at the one he'd just hit. The clone was staggering backwards, the blow strengthened by the hilt of Raph's sai having broken a lens on his glasses.

Raph saw the silver shine of the clone's eye and his berserker fogged brain recalled Donny's words. "Break their glasses."

With an inarticulate growl, Raph ploughed into his target, the point of his sai driving solidly into the clone's eye. The strike sent the broken glasses flying in all directions and Raph pulled his weapon free as the clone fell, using the man's chest as a launching pad.

In mid-air, Raph spun and kicked one of the clones into the others. His feet barely touched the ground before he was once more diving into their midst.

From the corner of his eye, Raph saw two clones lift Don's net encased form onto their shoulders and carry him towards the roof access door. Bishop's clones were grabbing at Raph's arms, trying to weigh him down, and he kicked the knees out from under one of them to give himself some room.

The clone that Raph had stabbed in the chest was getting up but the one whose glasses he'd destroyed was unmoving. Donny was right as usual; the glasses were the key.

Reaching up with lighting fast speed, Raph fingers closed over the glasses of the man to his right and he wrenched them from the clone's face. The clone suddenly froze in mid-action and fell over.

Squeezing his fist tight, Raph crushed the glasses, tossing them down as he turned and slammed his sai into the face of another clone. The tip of his sai entered the man's face just below his right eye and when Raph twisted his weapon, the prongs shattered the man's glasses.

Raph tried to yank his weapon free as the remaining three clones converged on him, but the sai caught fast. As the man fell, Raph released his grip on his sai, delivering a quick front snap kick into the chest of the nearest clone.

Glancing over his shoulder, Raph saw the clones atop the other building go through the access door. Just as the door closed behind them, Raph spotted the man with the net launcher stand up on the maintenance shed to once more aim the device at Raphael.

Stabbing a clone in the neck with his sai, Raph yanked the pinned man around in front of him just as a net left the launcher. The net hit the clone and Raph threw him aside, his remaining sai still embedded in the clone's neck.

Raph's fingers dug into his belt as he raced for the roof top where Don had been. The last two clones that had tried to capture him gave chase, but Raph was enough ahead of them to clear the roof's edge before they could lay a hand on him.

As he flew over the alley below, Raph loosed all three of his shuriken, aiming directly at the man with the net launcher. The man was leveling the barrel of the device at Raph when the shuriken hit, all three burying themselves into the man's eyes.

Knowing his throws were accurate, Raph wrote off the threat of the net launcher. Glancing around, he saw two clones lying still on the rooftop, both minus their glasses.

"Good job, Donny," Raph thought, silently praising his smart brother.

Now he understood why Bishop had wanted Don first; these clones were strong, skilled, and fast, but they had a fatal flaw. While the other turtles might have figured out the trick with the glasses on their own, Donny was the only one who could learn exactly how the glasses worked. With that kind of knowledge, the turtles could easily defeat Bishop's clones, even given the fact that there were apparently so many of them.

One of the two clones who had followed Raph was leaning over a fallen comrade, carefully fitting an extra pair of glasses onto the man's face. The second clone advanced on Raph, a telescoping baton held ready to strike the unarmed mutant.

Even as Raph skillfully dodged the clone's first swing, he was mentally calculating how much time it would take Don's captors to reach the ground floor. He guessed that there would be a vehicle waiting for them, possibly parked at the curb but more likely in the alley between buildings.

Raph estimated that he had about a minute and a half left before Don was beyond his reach.

Springing backwards away from his attacker, Raph landed on his hands and pushed off, coming down between the other two clones just as the repaired one was standing up again. Before either had a chance to react, Raph grabbed the backs of their heads and smashed their faces together.

Their glasses shattered with the force of the blow, pieces of metal and plastic embedded in their eyes as both slumped to the ground. Raph waited as his final adversary rushed towards him, catching the man's up flung wrist in one hand and driving a solid elbow into the man's eyes.

The clone staggered back, reaching up to feel for the glasses that now hung from only one ear. Raph didn't wait for him to try to replace them; he flung himself directly at the man, snatching the glasses completely off his face.

Shoving the clone to the ground, Raph threw the glasses down and stomped on them. In a flash he was off, diving for the roof's edge.

Just as he hurdled over the rooftop, Raph saw a door into the alley beneath him open and the clones that were carrying Don emerge. Raph latched onto the building's drain pipe, his weight yanking the braces out of the brickwork, and rode the falling pipe to the pavement below.

The loud squeaking sound made by the supports as they pulled out of the building brought the clones heads up and they saw the huge green form come hurtling down into their midst. They immediately dropped Donatello's unconscious body and turned to meet the attacker.

One of the clones reached into his waistband and pulled his Taser out, but before he could fully extend his arm, Raph kicked the weapon from his hand. As Raph landed, he drove his elbow backwards into the clone's gut, slamming the man against the back of the van that had been waiting for them. The clone bounced off the van's doors and collided with Raph's fist, the hard knot of bone and muscle pulverizing the man's glasses against his face.

A clone grabbed Raph's arm and pulled him backwards, tossing Raph onto the rough pavement. Rolling with the throw, Raph heard the crunch of his com unit and knew he couldn't call a warning out to Leo or Mikey, nor could he ask for help.

As the clone who'd thrown him blocked his way, the other two opened the back of the van. Growling madly, Raph charged the clone, ignoring the blows from the man's fists as he plunged two of his fingers into the man's eyes.

Tearing the glasses from the clone's face, Raph slammed a shoulder into the man's falling body to shove him aside. Blood and other fluids dripped unnoticed from Raph's fingertips as he bounded towards the two who were shoving Don into the back of the van.

They turned to meet his onslaught, one stepping to the side as his partner engaged Raph in a fight.

"Unit two requesting backup," the clone said. "The second target has evaded the capture team."

"Evaded my ass!" Raph shouted, catching the clone he was fighting by the neck and lifting him from the ground.

Kicking and punching at Raph's arm, the clone was unable to loosen the infuriated turtle's grip. Raph felt a blow against the backs of his knees, the harsh sting telling him the final clone was whipping him with his baton.

Raph swung the clone he was holding around in a circle, releasing him as he collided with his partner. Both clones fell in a tangled heap and Raph leaped on them before either could rise.

Punching down as hard as he could, Raph's strike practically caved in the face of the clone he'd hit, driving a now broken set of glasses into the man's mangled flesh. The final clone scrambled to his feet, kicking at Raph's head as he turned back to the turtle.

Raph caught the man's leg and shoved it skyward, flipping the clone onto his back. When he loomed over the man, the clone flung an arm across his eyes to protect his glasses, and swung at Raph with his free hand.

Slapping the wild blow aside, Raph slammed his fist into the clone's throat, crushing his larynx with the first strike. Again and again, Raph punched the man's throat until the clone gurgled and his arm slid away from his eyes.

Raph grabbed the glasses off of the clone's face and jumped off the man, crushing the glasses in his hand as he strode toward Don. A quick examination showed Raph that his brother was still breathing and with a sigh of relief, he dug into his belt for his small backup blade.

Cutting the net off of Don as quickly as he could, Raph listened for his brothers and the return of Bishop's clones. A quick glance into the front of the van showed him that the keys were not in the ignition and Raph doubted he'd have time to search for them or to hot wire the vehicle.

"Donny, can ya' hear me?" Raph asked as he pulled the last pieces of the net away from his brother.

Receiving no response, Raph lifted Don from the van, tossing him over one shoulder and heading towards the mouth of the alley. Stopping to survey the street, Raph saw that it was empty and then spotted a manhole cover about thirty yards away, which he quickly ran towards.

Wrenching the cover off of the entrance, Raph carefully lowered Don's unconscious body into the sewers. He didn't bother to slide the cover back into place as he leaped through the opening to land on the ground next to his brother.

Raph had no illusions about how much time he'd bought with his defeat of the first set of clones, so he wasted none as he lifted Don in a fireman's carry across his shoulders and began to run. His mind quickly processed the pros and cons of his position; Don was out of it and of no use to Raph, unable even to protect himself if they were attacked.

Their weapons had been forfeited in the battle to escape capture; the only thing Raph still had on him was the small backup blade he'd used in cutting the net off Don. Don's bag of tricks was gone and their ability to communicate with Leo or Mikey, which had been neutralized even before the fight, was now lost because the com devices had been destroyed.

Raph's best option was to run fast and hard, hoping that he could outpace Bishop's men. If he could get far enough in front of those clones he could lose them in the old part of the sewers, an area he knew wasn't on any map. That section of tunnels had been the turtle's childhood playground and they each knew it like the backs of their hands.

Donatello wasn't a light weight; his body was as solidly muscular as Raph's. Years of hauling junk parts around and working with them had built up some heavy muscle and Raph knew he couldn't run full out carrying his brother indefinitely. Raph understood that if he didn't press the advantage of his small lead now, he wouldn't get another chance.

From far behind him he heard Bishop's clones descend into the sewers and he put on a burst of speed to outdistance them. As the sounds of his pursuers lessened, a new and more frightening noise came from up ahead. Voices calling to one another informed Raph that the clones had raced along the street and were now dropping into the sewers in front of him.

"Crap," Raph murmured with feeling.

Turning abruptly, Raph made his way into a side tunnel, running for a short distance before changing course once more. If he were the one directing a group of pursuers, he'd have them drop into the sewers from different locations in a five mile radius and then tighten the perimeter. If he could think of that, Raph knew that Bishop could as well.

It took a few more turns to locate the spot he was looking for. Deep inside a narrow run off was a drop of about ten feet. Directly below that water flowed swiftly and continuously through a channel. Sometimes the water rose enough to deposit trash on either side; the piles dense and muddy.

Setting Don down, Raph pushed his brother feet first through the opening, letting him drop on the mud and debris. Then Raph squirmed through and joined his brother, squatting beside him. Raph removed his mask so that he could wet it in the churning water nearby, and bathed Don's face, hoping against hope that his brother would wake up.

The cold water did nothing to bring Don around, and Raph knew he was going to have to follow through with his plan to hide the genius. Unwilling to leave Don completely defenseless, Raph pulled his backup blade from his belt and tucked it into Don's.

Lifting a large, soggy cardboard box, Raph rolled Don underneath it and then set the flattened material on top of him. Careful to leave no evidence that the garbage had been shifted, Raph piled trash all around Don, effectively disguising his position.

Before rising, Raph whispered, "Don't get pissed bro'. The only way we're getting out of this mess is if ya' use that big brain of yours and that ain't gonna happen if Bishop gets his hands on ya'. I know you'll figure out what I did when ya' wake up, but hopefully you'll understand."

Leaping up, Raph caught the edge of the tunnel he'd just come through and pulled himself back inside. Running to the end of it, he listened for his pursuers, hearing them drawing closer.

Taking off at a fast jog, Raph stripped off his elbow and knee pads. After he'd gone a quarter of a mile, he wadded them into a heavy bundle and tossed them as far down an intersecting tunnel as he could, hoping that the clones would be misled into believing he'd gone in that direction.

Running full tilt for nearly ten minutes without seeing anyone, Raph began to think his ruse had worked. Just as he was trying to decide his next course of action, a clone jumped out in front of him.

Raph jammed the heel of his fist directly beneath the man's chin, snapping his head back and lifting him off his feet. As Raph reached down to grab the clone's glasses, another slammed into him, throwing Raph to the ground.

The pair wrestled for several precious moments, the clone holding onto Raph's carapace and striking the turtle's side repeatedly. Raph could hear others approaching their location and bunched his shoulders, bringing the clone's face closer to him. Tossing his head back as hard as he could, Raph smashed his skull against the clone's nose, snapping his glasses in two with the blow.

As the clone slid down Raph's carapace, the turtle started to run, only to discover that the man was clinging to his belt. Dragging the heavy body, Raph wrestled with the knot on his belt, finally removing it and the clone completely.

Taking a quick right, Raph raced away from his pursuers. As he turned a bend in the tunnel though, he skidded to a stop, cursing beneath his breath.

The tunnel dead ended against some metal bars, set deep inside the concrete blocks that lined an opening. Raph grasped one quickly, yanking on it to see if he could pull it loose, but it held tight.

Hearing voices coming towards him, Raph spun around, fists up. All he had to do was to keep them from pinning him down through sheer volume; as long as his arms and hands were free he could smash the glasses off of them and get away.

Before he could charge at the men who swarmed into the tunnel, one of them threw something at his face. When Raph lifted his arm to bat it aside, the weighted end of a manriki flew at him, smacking his shoulder as the chain attached to it spun around his wrist several times.

Raph instinctively pulled against the chain, trying to yank it out of his attacker's hands. While his attention was divided, something cold and hard snapped shut around his neck.

Snarling wildly, Raph grabbed at the metal ring that gripped his throat so tightly. A long metal bar attached to it was held by one of the clones, the length of the pole keeping the man safely out of range of Raph's kicking feet.

Struggling and fighting against his captors, Raph tried to free himself. Thoroughly enraged, he bucked and back pedaled, but the clones held onto him. Then the one who controlled the choker on Raph's neck pressed a button on his end of the pole and an electric charge surged through the device.

Raph's entire body shook uncontrollably and he lost the use of his limbs. Crashing heavily to the ground, Raph lay panting, his eyes wide with fury, but his body unresponsive to commands.

Bishop's clones slowly closed in around him, still wary of the turtle. After staring at him for a moment, one of them kneeled on the ground near his head.

"Where is Donatello?" the clone asked.

Raph glared at him, refusing to answer. The clone nodded at the one holding the metal bar and that man once more pressed the button.

The shock shook Raph from head to toe. "Sh~it!" Raph yelled, his body trembling.

"Where is your brother?" the cloned asked again.

"Go to hell," Raph rasped out.

"You first," the clone responded as his partner sent another electric charge into Raph's prone form.

As Raph felt himself lose consciousness, he was vindictively pleased that they wouldn't find Donny.

TBC….