Ch.3: Trembling Hands, Bleeding Wounds
Later, back at the Lair, the four brothers minds were twirling around in confusion. Raphael's to say the least. Who would hire a sleazy orginazation like the Foot to kidnap the Nightwatcher? Didn't they know he was retired?
"No" thought Raph " enough time hasn't passed for them to realize I'm gone,"
"What are we going to do about this Leo?" asked Mikey, snapping Raph out of his thoughts " we can't just let Karai take Raph,"
"And we definately can't let her find out that he was the Nightwatcher," said Don.
"I know that" said Leo " we'll just have to lie low for awhile that's all,"
"Or" said Raph, stepping up " we find out who this employer is and call off the hunt,"
"To risky" said Leo, looking at Raph " besides we don't even know where to start. You must have beaten up dozens of criminals as the Nightwatcher. Finding one with a grudge isn't going to be easy,"
Raph quietly sighed in defeat. Leo was right, there were just to many options, although Raph had already crossed off a few.
The small time punks he dealt with were no big deal. None of them were smart enough to cook up a plan for revenge, or dumb enough to hire the Foot to their dirty work. Unfortunately, that only meant one option.
"That means I've upset a mob boss of somekind" thought Raph " but how? When?"
The answer would come all to soon.
Casey and April were thinking the same over at their apartment. After returning the little boy they had found to his parents, the two had dashed home wondering what the Foot could possibly want with Raph.
"What could Karai want the Nightwatcher for?" said Casey.
" I don't know" said April " but we can't let Karai get to Raph. We have to keep an eye on him. If Karai finds out Raph is the Nightwatcher..."
"Yeah bummer" said Casey with a sigh " and half the town weren't crazy in the first place. I'll do my best to keep Raph safe, but he won't like it,"
And Raph didn't like it. The tense feeling around the table at supper was barely lifted by Mikey's attempts to lighten the mood. Excusing himself early, Raph jumped up to his room and sat down to think about all that has happened so far.
If there was one orginazation that would never give up it was the Foot. What if Karai attacked more people just to get him for her employer? If the Foot never found the Nightwatcher, how many innocent civillians would get hurt?
"I can't risk my family for Karai" thought Raph " but I can't the lives of other people either. What can I do? If only I could find the boss,"
"Why don't you sow those seeds in for yourself?" Karai's voice seemed to echo through his mind.
"Seeds?" thought Raph, lifting his head up " Why would she talk like that? Was she leaving me a clue?"
Running out of his room, Raph jumped straight down, and stalked over towards Donnie's lab. The purple-masked turtle was snoring soundly on a lab table, with an unfinished motor lying clutched in his sleeping hands.
Careful not to wake his brother, Raph silently tip-toed his way to the soft, blue glow of Donatello's computer screen, wary of of any small parts lying in his way. Letting out a small sigh of relief for making it across safely, Raph took seat in the large swivel chair and quickly began to type.
Raph didn't know if what Karai said was a clue or not, but none of less he typed for information about seeds. Thousands of entries popped up, and as Raph began his search he became frustrated. Most of this stuff was pratically useless!
Just as he was about to give up and go back to bed though, one entry finally stood out above the rest.
Clicking on the subject, Raph began to read, getting more restless with each sentence that passed before his eyes.
"It can't be!" said Raph aloud, making Don move slightly in his sleep " not here,"
But there was no mistaking that face and symbol staring at him right now. The beast of Harlem had come to New York.