someone mentioned leo not going after raph in the first place and it's because for this story raph is more determined than in the movie. so determined that he actually has leo convinced he will go through with this no matter what happens. so yeah... and i know that that's the catchphrase but i don't know how they exactly use it so... if i used it wrong, let me know.

Mikey and Donnie landed on the top of a building and Donnie adjusted his goggles, moving the base of the lenses in and out like binoculars.

"You see him?" Mikey asked, looking ahead.

"I've got his DNA signature but…"

"But what?"

"It looks like we may have some company. Looks like three of them."

"I wanna see." He said, grabbing Donnie's goggles from him.

Donnie slammed into Mikey as he zoomed in on the buildings below him.

"Can I ask a weird question?"

"Can you stop choking me?" Donnie gasped.

Mikey looked over. "Oh, my bad."

He let the goggles go and Donnie put them back over his eyes, sighing in relief.

"And sure, what's your question?"

"I know I'm not the smartest one of us but I do remember you talking about those goggle things you're wearing before and you said that it would be useful for us in two ways because it would be able to detect people but people wearing the same things couldn't detect us.

"Right, because as turtles, we are cold blooded and since these are heat vision goggles, people –or animals- that are warm blooded would be spotted but we would blend in with the surroundings."

"Yeah, that part. I saw the three heat things but it was kind of weird that only two of them were walking around. The third one was just sitting there not doing anything."

"So what's your question?"

"Well… doesn't your tracker thing say that Raph is in that building?"

Donnie made a face and then looked at the tracker. Mikey was right in that the DNA tracker said that Raphael was in the building they were looking at but since Raph was a turtle, it would make sense that they didn't see him.

"I'm sure it's just a guard sitting down for a second."

Mikey made a face and shook his head.

"No, I'm telling you that it's different. I feel it… What were you saying earlier about tracking us without actual trackers?"

"The tracking serum? It was a serum that had nanobot tracking devices that connected to the underside of the skin and multiplied itself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I guess it's like the way that sand covers the beach. Each grain of sand is no bigger than the point of a needle but together it makes the beach. The nanobots that were in the serum were like that. There weren't that many to begin with but their purpose was to multiply and frame the inside of the body almost like a full internal bodysuit."

"Right but… can you actually see the shape of the little robot things you said were in there?"

"What are you trying to get at, Mike?" Donatello asked.

Mikey rubbed his temples, not fully understanding it himself, but he just had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that things were not as they seemed.

"Okay… For some reason I just feel that that heat thing that's sitting down is… is Raph."

Donatello gaped at him. "That's impossible, Mikey. That would mean he took the mutagen and is… is…"

"Human?"

"Yeah… and Raph would never do that."

"I know! I know… It's just… I've got this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Donnie put his hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"We'll just follow the DNA tracker that's on here, alright? Let's forget about the heat signatures we just saw. The tracker will tell us for definite where Raph is."

Mikey nodded and tightened his mask.

"Right… no matter what, we'll save him."

"Exactly." Donnie said and they headed toward the building.

Leo looked around the lair but it was quiet… too quiet.

"Donnie? Mike?" he called, looking around for either of the two.

He found the Chinese food hardly touched and the only other noise besides Master Splinter snoring slightly was the sound of water trickling into the sewers. Leo went to Donnie's room and found him not there –as he expected from the silence- but he did come upon a section of Donnie's odd room that had four screens on it. One had a red dot, two had a purple and orange dot next to each other and one had a blue dot. Leo wondered but it was as he walked closer and noticed that all the dots but the red one were moving and the blue one seemed to be going in the same direction he was going in. Leo made a face at that and then watched the two screens with the two dots; he noticed one was following the other. It suddenly occurred to him what the dots were and he clenched his fist.

"Donnie… I told you not to do that!"

Soon, the purple and orange dots were getting closer to the red one and Leo tried to keep his composure, but he just couldn't. He couldn't believe that Donatello and Michelangelo would go on a mission without him, that Donnie would go against his direct order to not make trackers, and that it looked like they were headed towards where Raphael could be. Leo turned and went to find Master Splinter, who was sleeping soundly in the dojo.

"Master Splinter, please wake up. I have important news."

Splinter mumbled for a moment and then sat up.

"Leonardo… what is it my son?"

"Master, there is a serious issue happening right under our noses that we missed."

"Oh? And that is?"

"Donatello and Mikey went off somewhere without telling me… it looks like it may have been to find Raph."

"So it is." He said matter-of-factly.

Leo was puzzled by this response. "What do you mean?"

"I already knew they would be doing this. Ever since your brother has been missing, Donatello has kept me updated on what little he could discern about his disappearance."

"He put trackers on us, Master, after I told him not to."

"I know that as well." Splinter smiled. "You forget, my son, that I see everything and know you boys well."

"But if he knew all about Raph's whereabouts, then why were we fighting?"

"You would not listen to reason. Your brother tried to tell you many times about tracking Raphael but you turned a deaf ear to him. You were so determined and set on thinking that Raphael had left us and would not hear anything else."

"I was only holding up my case."

"You were being belligerent and foolish." Leo flinched at the verbal slap in the face. "You put your selfish thinking before looking at the big picture. It is true that Raphael has a temper and that he wanted to be human, but you are not thinking of your brother as the person he is. Donatello is right: when has Raphael ever stormed out of the lair and not come back or checked in at some point? You did not look at your brother's habits, just your own thoughts about him."

"But I don't understand, Master Splinter. If Donnie had a tracking device on Raph then why didn't he just show me he knew where he was? I would have probably believed him if he had."

"Donatello had told me he had lost sight of Raphael's tracker ever since he went missing. It only just showed up today. He thinks that someone found a way to cloak it, knowing that you three would be looking for him… or, maybe because you were not looking for him is why they finally revealed him."

Leo realized he had made a terrible mistake and Splinter touched his shoulder lovingly.

"Leonardo, you have a great responsibility to uphold as the elder brother as well as the leader of your team. Each of you are different, but with those differences they make you unique. Forcing your brothers to think the way you do or act the way you do, only causes division. Look at what has happened now? Your brothers are on their own trying to find Raphael and were determined not to get you involved. They lost faith in you as a leader but worst of all, as a brother."

"What should I do then, Master Splinter?"

"What do you think you should do?"

Leo sighed and nodded, knowing what he should do.

Donnie punched the last of the Foot ninjas and looked around at the unconscious bodies. Mikey swung his nunchaku around and took a stance.

"Oh yeah, nothing like a little kick ass to get the blood pumpin'!" he said with a grin.

"Come on, Mikey, Raph's DNA tracker says he's over here in this building."

"Right."

Mikey put his weapons away as Donnie swung his bo staff around and stuck it in his gear on his shell. He adjusted his goggles again and motioned for Mikey to go around the other side to check for anymore Foot ninjas. Donnie got to the door and tried the handle. He didn't think it would be that easy and of course, it was locked. He stepped back when Mikey jumped down beside him.

"All clear so far." He looked at the door. "Raph's in there?"

"Yeah but the door's locked. I'm going to kick it."

"Awesome!"

Donnie breathed in and ran for the door, kicking it open. Mikey cheered as they went inside and a bunch of Foot ninjas turned to look at them. The turtles blinked in confusion.

"Uh… Donnie?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you said people could be seen by those goggle things."

"They're supposed to…"

"Welcome, Ninja Turtles," a loud Asian voice spoke out with mockery dripping from every word. "We knew you were coming, it was just a matter of time. Although it was longer than expected."

Donnie and Mikey looked up at the balcony over the other ninjas and saw Shredder standing over them.

"Shredder." They both seethed.

"Give us back our brother!" Mikey yelled.

Shredder laughed. "If you want him back you will have to survive. I only see two of you; tell me, where is your leader?"

"We don't need him to come and save our brother." Donatello growled, pulling his bo staff back out.

"How very interesting and how very noble." He began to pace a little. "I hope you don't mind my Foot soldiers. They are wearing a particular material that makes them undetectable in heat vision goggles just like a cold blooded animal would be."

"I guess it would match their cold blooded hearts." Mikey grumbled.

"Give us back our brother! We know you have him!"

"Gladly. You just have to get through my soldiers!" Shredder said, laughing as he walked away.

The Foot soldiers all got into their positions and Donnie whipped his bo staff around as Mikey took out his nunchaku. They yelled and ran headlong into the fray.

Leonardo looked at the watch on his hand and made a face. He was never as tech-savvy as Donatello was but it seemed to be useful in finding where the dots were, since he deduced that they were each of his brothers. All he knew was that Raph's dot hadn't moved ever since he saw it on the screen in the lair and Donnie and Mikey's were jumping everywhere. He figured they were in a fight of some sort and knew he had to get there and help out. I hope I'm not too late… he thought as he landed on a shipping container. He could hear some fighting in a building below him and he ran across the shipping container, jumping around and finally landed on the top of the building. He looked over the edge of the building when Donnie and Mikey burst through the door and started running. At least ten Foot ninjas were following them and Leo drew his katanas, jumping down and eradicating them.

Hearing the sound of steel, Donnie and Mikey turned around to find Leo in the middle of fallen ninjas.

"Leo…" Donnie said, narrowing his eyes at him. "How did you find us?"

"I swiped one of your watch things…" he said, revealing the watch. "Why did you not tell me what you were doing?"

Donnie clenched the bo staff. "You said that Raph left because of his own accord. Why the hell would we ask you to come rescue him?"

Mikey looked between the two and Leo sighed, putting his katanas in their sheaths.

"I'm sorry, Donnie. I… I made a mistake. I wasn't thinking about Raph's character, just what he did. You were right and I was wrong."

"Whoa…" Mikey said, looking at Leo in awe. "Donnie, he just literally said that you were right and he was wrong."

"So I wasn't dreaming?" Donnie said, staring at his oldest brother in awe as well.

Leo made a face. "Knock it off, you two… Donnie, do you see where Raph is?"

Donnie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he's inside of this building but it's infested with the Foot. We had to get out of there for a second so we could at least recoup."

"Well then, I guess we'll have to go back in and do a little exterminating. What do you say, guys?"

"Cow-a-bunga…" Mikey said with a grin.

cowabunga is meant to be said broken up in syllables for effect. anyhow, yay we're off!