Chapter Eight

Eidolon

-

"Something happened, Case. C'mon, we're leaving."

"Where we goin'?"

"To where you saw the big boom. I'll explain when we get there."

Donatello heard voices again -- but these voices he knew. He sat up on the fire escape and rubbed his eyes, then looked up into the sky and winced at the light. Daytime. When had it become daytime?

Real smooth, he said to himself. Falling asleep like that.

Don climbed to his feet and looked through Casey's apartment window. He was certain he had just heard Raph and Casey talking, but they weren't inside. Somewhere down below, he heard two motorcycles rev up and he spun to look, then jumped from the fire escape, landing behind a dumpster and crouching down just as the bikes sped off around a corner. Beyond the alley was bright daylight -- that would slow him down in getting wherever it was he was going. He pursed his lips, realizing that he didn't even know where Raph and Casey had taken off to.

He rubbed the center of his forehead. Of course! Big boom! The building!

He bit down hard and stepped to the edge of the alley, peeking into the street beyond. It was empty, so he ran across, to another alley. He snuck to the other end and did the same thing -- peeking, then running to the safety of the shadows.

This is going to take forever, Don thought, looking at a nearby manhole. He reached down and tried to lift the lid, but this time he wasn't surprised when it didn't move.

Figures, he thought, then continued on his way, peering into the streets, then sprinting for the darkened gaps between buildings. A few times people walked around nearby corners after he had begun his way across, but somehow he managed to avoid being seen. It helped a little when some clouds rolled in, blocking out a bit of the sunlight and making the shadows between buildings that much darker. Still, it took a long time for him to get to his destination, and he was quite thirsty and out of breath by the time he did.

At the end of his last sprint, Don leaned his shell against the bricks of a tenement and unzipped his bag, bringing out one of the bottles of soda that Mike had stashed there the night before. He opened it and took a long drink, making a face at how warm and overly fizzy it was, and he had to clear his throat a few times to get rid of the tickling sensation it left behind. He took another mouthful before screwing the top back on and tossing the bottle into his bag. He was getting hungry, too, he realized, but taking care of that particular annoyance could wait until he was back home.

Don stepped up to the barbwire-topped fence and placed a hand on it, then squinted through the chain links, towards the far off building -- or, what was left of it. He could see two people standing in the middle of the debris, but from this distance he couldn't tell if they were more foe than friend, so he reached back into his still-open bag and felt around, pulling out his binoculars and dusting off the potato chip crumbs. He flipped the switches on the sides and the spyglasses hummed to life. Peering past the residual grease, Don saw two familiar motorcycles parked just beyond the worst of the rubble.

Casey and Raph, he thought, smiling.

Donatello turned off the binoculars and put them away, then glanced back and forth down the length of the fence and slipped through a large hole not too far from where he stood. He made his way across what was left of the parking lot, stepping over and around huge chunks of metal and stone that had, at one time, been part of the building at the lot's center. He got to within a dozen feet of Raph and Casey's backs and opened his mouth to call out to them, but a fragment of their conversation froze him in his steps.

"Somehow, I always thought I'd be the first one to…" Raph said, shaking his head and doubling his fists. "I ain't gonna let it be like this, Case."

"An' you shouldn't," Casey replied, placing a hand on the Turtle's shoulder. "Family… that's the most important thing you got. An' when someone takes that from you, you gotta do somethin' about it."

Don stumbled back. Family? Had something happened to the guys?

"So, you're with me on this?" Raphael asked.

"Name the time, Raph," Casey nodded. "Donny was just about a brother to me, too. I just wish I'd a'been here last night, I coulda' laid a smackdown on them punks right then an' there."

Don's mouth fell open. They think I'm… He launched himself forward. "Raph! Hey, I'm okay! See! I'm in one piece!" he yelled, jumping in front of the pair.

But neither Raph nor Casey answered. They didn't turn to look at him; they didn't make a move to indicate that they had heard his voice.

"We can't let Leo or Splinter know," Raphael went on. "Mikey, either… he'd try to come along. I don't want him getting mixed up in this."

Donatello grasped his brother's arm but it seemed that Raphael's flesh was as hard as stone. Don gripped harder, first with one hand, then with two. But just like the manhole covers, just like the window, Raphael would not move under Don's touch. He let go and stepped back, looking down at his hands.

"What the shell is going on?" he said, flexing his fingers, as if the motion would return some vitality to them.

"So, when we gonna start?" Casey asked.

"You're not," another voice spoke up.

They all turned, watching Leonardo walk around the corner of the demolished building. He was followed close behind by Mike, who had his face turned towards the ground and his arms folded loosely across his chest. Raphael let out a low growl.

"I don't wanna talk about this right now, Leo," he said, looking his brother in the eye. "You deal with this your way and let me deal with it mine."

Donatello jumped between them and started waving his hands around, "Hey!" he yelled as loud as he could. "Leo! Can you hear me? Mikey? Somebody? Anybody?"

"Going after the Foot isn't going to help anything right now," Leo went on.

"What? You think I don't know what I'm doing?" Raph snarled. "Me and Case'll handle this ourselves, seein' as how you don't wanna get your hands dirty."

He started towards his motorcycle, but Leo reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. "The Foot didn't actively set out to do us any harm, Raph," he said. "Not this time."

Raph wrested his arm out of Leo's grip, swinging it back and hitting Don on the shoulder. Don spun from the impact, tripping over a pile of bricks and falling to the ash-covered ground. He sat up and rubbed his shoulder; it felt as if someone had slammed a metal pipe against him, rather than a drawn-back hand. There had been no give in the blow, and Raphael didn't seem to have felt it at all.

"So you think that makes it okay?" Raphael said, lowering his arm. "What about the other hundred times they tried? You think they're loosing any sleep over this?"

"You want somebody to blame, Raph?" Leo snapped. "Blame me. I was the one that led us in there."

"Why are you suddenly defending them?"

"I'm not defending them. I'm trying to keep you from going out and getting yourself killed," Leo said, getting in his brother's face. "The fact of the matter is that none of this had to happen. We showed up, we got in the way of whatever it was they were doing. They didn't even stay to fight us. They left, and we had the chance to do the same, but we didn't. None of this had to happen."

"Even if they weren't planning on doing something last night, they were still planning on doing something." Raphael was breathing hard, the way he always did when he was trying to keep himself from throwing a punch. "Or do you think they were just gearing up for the Fourth of July with that little fireworks display?"

"Will you guys please stop fighting?" Mike spoke up, his voice thin. Everyone turned to look at him.

"We're not fighting, Mikey," Leo said, calming his voice. "We're… discussing the situation."

"Adamantly," Raphael added.

Donatello let out a breath of heavy air and stood. "Can't you hear me, Mike?" he asked. He got no answer, so reached out and put his hand on Michelangelo's arm. It was the same as Raph's had been -- as hard as stone. Don let go of his brother and put his hands on his own chest. "Guys, come on," he said. "Stop knocking yourselves out over this. I'm right here."

"Y'know, Leo," Casey said. "Raphie does have a point. I mean, they had to be up to somethin' last night."

"Maybe," Leonardo turned to the man. "But if I'd have just… if we'd have gone straight home instead of snooping around out here… Donny'd still be alive."

Donatello's eyes widened. "But I am alive!" he hollered. His stomach let out a slight growl and he placed a hand over it. "I mean, if I'm dead, then why am I hungry?"

"Can't we just go home now?" Mike asked, giving the crumbling building a sidelong glance. "I really don't like it here."

"Uh, Mikey," Casey said, taking a step back. "I think you're about to like it a whole lot less."

The group turned to look where Casey was staring, then every weapon was drawn as they watched a host of ninja appear out from behind the ruins. The Foot stepped forward in an orderly and silent mass, then their ranks parted and a familiar face came into view.

Raphael gripped his sai tightly, drawing breaths between his teeth. "Karai."