Raphael still practiced the art of ninjitzu, surprisingly more than Leonardo did. Every morning he meditated, solving most of his problems before the break of dawn. Having a simple home surrounded by Mountains really helped with meditation. This was one of the few places in the United States where one could live completely oblivious to the civil war raging across the country. Of course Raphael was not oblivious. He was leading one side of it.

After meditation he practiced katas. If Darin visited at that point, they would practice fighting together, for despite the wide availability of stolen weaponry available to them, Raphael believed that, ultimately people (or rather conscious beings) were decisive, not tools. So he tried to keep all his troops at some level of ninjitzu.

Darin arrived shortly after breakfast, slightly out of breath from running up the mountain the last mile. Raphael had been eagerly anticipating his report, as yesterday Darin had led the most aggressive attack on the US Army yet, and with out personal reports it was impossible to gather how successful it had been.

"Fifty-three cases of ammunition (pant) mostly regular shot-gun type caliber but I saw some (pant) pretty big boys in there too, maybe some fancy acid-filled or something. Got (pant) about ten boxes of grenades, twenty-five new rifles, much better than that the ancient crap that last battalion had, oh, and we got a laser gun."

"Only one?"

"Yeah, you know most of those are concentrated at the white house. We're not going to get many out here."

Raphael nodded.

"How many did we lose?"

"Nine. Three were dead at the scene. The other six were captured. I'm sure they're dead by now."

Raph nodded again. The committing of Seppuku under capture was a key part of keeping his identity secret and allowing his leadership to continue.

"Oh, there was one more thing."

Raph turned and raised an eye ridge expectantly.

"I ran into Leo. Apparently he'd a Cornel in the US Army now."

Darin expected Raphael to be stunned. And he was, for a moment, although his face didn't show it. Then he turned to angry, smashing a nearby box.

"Did he see you?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell him about me?"

"No, not exactly."

"Not exactly?"

"What does it matter if he figured out it's you? They can't touch us, Raph. They can't touch you. We have hundreds of thousands on our side, and soon there won't be a US Army anyway."

"I don't want him getting involved."

"Well, I could take him out. His ninjitzu isn't what it used to be."

"No, Darin. I don't want him killed."

"He's not exactly neutral, Raph. He's a Cornel. How are you going to keep him from getting involved?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm going to have to get Mike or Don on our side, even if they don't fight. Leo will back off if we're all in this together."

"Well, we tried that, Raph. We've asked them like, ten times."

"So, we ask again. I haven't seen Mikey in about three years. I think he's got another kid since then, so it's time for a visit anyway."

"Raph, things have changed. Mike's not going to want to have anything to do with us."

"Let me handle it, Darin. You're in charge till I get back, okay?"

Darin nodded obediently.

"Good luck."

Raph took off on foot. He never left the mountains on anything but his own feet, to fully utilize the art of invisibility. Once he reached the river some miles away, he employed a simple raft, nothing with a power motor that could be tracked by satellite. This meant that a journey to Canada, where Mike lived, took a week or more, and time was of the essence. Leonardo would be hunting them down this very moment.

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At the US Army Headquarters, where Leonardo reports to his superiors:

"What the hell happened out there, Cornel?"

"Mutants, sir. Organized. We had six live prisoners but…"

"We know. Seppuku. I thought we agreed to interrogate them at the spot next time."

"I left them to chase another mutant. One I thought might be leading the attack."

Leonardo took a deep breath, but in such a way that his nervousness was not betrayed to his commanding officers. He didn't need to make this more complicated then it already was.

"You didn't catch this mutant."

"No. He escaped. But I did learn that one of my own brothers is involved in the lizard army."

All of the other officers immediately straightened up. The highest ranking General leaned forward.

"Which one?"

"I don't know."

"Donatello then", the General announced, with a touch of pleasure in his voice. The US Army had wanted to go after Donatello for some time, as his refusal to provide his intellect at the service of the US Army, especially in times of war, constituted treason by most modern standards. His subsequent relocation to Japan, a nation considered to be an enemy with the United States at the time, put him on the official shit list.

"Sir, I don't think Donatello-"

"You don't know which one, do you?"

Leo had to take a minute. He suspected Raph, but he really didn't know and couldn't in good conscious put Raphael out there as a Number 1 enemy with out knowing for sure. Besides, it had been so long since he had seen or heard from any of his brothers, who knew what they were capable of. But he was sure Donatello would never do this, and he was well aware of the US Army's prejudice against his brother.

"No, sir, I just-"

"Donatello it is, then. We'll take care of him. You are dismissed."

By "take care of", they meant-

"I said you are dismissed, Cornel", the superior commander repeated.

"Yes sir", Leonardo promptly responded, saluted and went to his office to agonize.