11:41 PM
Now that his assignment to stop the execution had ended in such an unsatisfactory way...he decided to go see April at the justice minister's office.
Raph's story about this 'other murder' weighs on him heavily. Should he tell April about it? He just doesn't know.
When he arrives, April is bending down beneath the desk. She seems to be occupied with something. This time, April isn't dead. But the atmosphere makes him think it might be too soon to count his blessings just yet.
He goes to the Ghost World, and behold, the justice minister has been killed. April must've just arrived and stumbled upon him. He goes to the mind of the justice minister and is taken to the blue flame. Like everyone else he's met tonight, the justice minister is unconscious.
"Hey, can you hear me?" Donnie calls out, but there's no answer. Hmm...He's dead, but he still seems to be unconscious.
"Hey!" He's not surprised to see April since he can talk to multiple people at once. "There you are!"
"What kind of greeting is that? And shoving somebody's poor soul out of the way like that? Tsk, tsk," He grins at her and she rolls her eyes. "I gotta say, though...No matter where you go, somebody always seems to turn up dead."
"I can't do anything about that," She laughs at the joke.
"Who is it this time? Is this the justice minister?" Donnie wonders and April nods in confirmation.
"Yeah, the man who signed the order to carry out Raph's execution. He was already dead when I got here." From what Donnie remembered, he was the one who called that lady's home...so that must mean Miss Campbell is married to the justice minister. Oh, boy...I wonder what happened this time?
"Well? And...?" April asks slowly. "How did it go? Was Raph still alive?!"
"He'd...already been executed by the time I got there. I did manage to save him, but..."
"You did? Oh, I'm so glad!" April beams and while it makes him smile to see her happy, there was one little thing that he didn't mention... "...Wait a minute," She realizes that she interrupted him. "Did you say but?"
He told April about his 'adventure' at the prison. About that 'other murder,' though...he couldn't bring myself to tell her. In April's eyes, Raph was already her hero. If he tells her what Raph said, it might make her lose hope in him even more...not only that, Donnie didn't want to believe that he did it, either. He knew Raph enough to know that despite his attitude and anger...he'd never kill.
"Casey arrested Raph...?" April covers her mouth in shock. Casey would never do that. "I can't believe it! Casey would never betray Raph! Even if he is cocky, Casey wouldn't do that! He may be overconfident, he's still loyal!"
"Just so you know...Raph himself said it was the right thing to do," Donnie speaks up and April says nothing. "Anyway...I'd better take care of the justice minister here."
"You mean we," April grins at him.
"But you don't have ghost powers," Donnie raises an amused brow.
"Hey, we're still a team, right?" She winks at him. "But I have lots of questions for him, too!"
"April...I think you should sit this one out," Donnie advises and she nods in understanding. He didn't want her to overwhelm the justice minister with questions since he's dead.
"Okay..."
Back we go, then! To four minutes before his death!
Donnie presses Rewind Time and then they're sent back in time to see the justice minister's death. They watch him signing papers with a stoic face. He takes another one and then the phone rings, which startles him.
"Cassandra! Oh, excuse me..." He slumps back in his chair as it is not his wife calling. He listens to what the other person has to say and then he thrashes around in panic. "Whaaat?!" Whatever that person said, it must've disturbed him.
He keeps listening and then frowns. "Alright...I'll do as you say." He sits back down, a hand on his cheek as he looks upset. He then hangs up, holding his hair in stress.
"This is terrible!" He takes the receiver and makes another phone call, sweat dripping down his face. He taps his finger against his hair before he sags his head, putting down the receiver again. He shakes his head slowly.
"Why doesn't she answer?!" He starts spazzing out, the previous call and his wife not answering taking a toll on him. He holds his head, slamming it on the desk, making Donnie's eyes widen. He slowly calms down, sitting in his chair and shaking his head again. He grips the back of his hair.
He suddenly looks up as he clutches where his heart is. "Gaaaaaa!" His heart is pounding like it's on fire and he slowly reaches out to a bottle next to his stack of papers.
"M-Medicine...!" He's shaking as he tries to get it, but it slips from his hands and it lands all the way next to a display of knight armor. The justice minister freaks the heck out and it looks like that he can't move much as he tries to get a pitcher of water on his right.
"W-Water...!" Like the medicine bottle, that falls too and the pitcher breaks into pieces, the water spilling all over the floor. He grips at his suit as he looks around before he dies of a heart attack, induced by all the stress. He falls to the ground, hiding under the desk where April found him.
"Such a foolish man."
"Oh, you woke up?" Donnie asks in surprise at the man.
"He's a contradiction," The justice minister replies.
"Contradiction?" Donnie is utterly confused.
"The more we search for the truth, the further into a dilemma we fall," The justice minister recites. "The world of men is steeped in contradictions. If we choose this, we can't have that...If a man tries to have his medicine bottle and water pitcher, too, he loses both."
"Oh, I dunno...to me, it looks like you could've had both of those things just now..." Donnie shrugs slowly.
"He didn't know the truth about the world. That's why he died. Such a foolish man. Or maybe I should say, a pathetic man. That's the more fitting word," The justice minister states, arms crossed.
Uh, I don't think this guy gets it yet. That the foolish and pathetic man is him. Is that what they call a 'contradiction?' "By the way, what's your name?" Donnie asks curiously.
"...My name is John Bishop. Just call me Bishop."
Huh, honest on that one, wasn't he?
When they get to the past, Donnie is on the ground. He moves to the phone just as it rings. "Cassandra! Oh, excuse me..." he slumps back down in his chair.
It's Rahzar, the mutant that Donnie saw at Murakami's, on the phone. He's leaning against the wall in a dark room that's only lit by a single candle. "Forgive me for calling so late, Mr. Bishop," He doesn't sound sincere. Fishface doesn't seem to be anywhere near the phone.
"Who is this?" Bishop demands, "How did you get this number?"
"We have your daughter," Rahzar tells him simply.
"Wh-Who is this...? Chloe's tutor...?" He asks slowly.
"Would a tutor call you at this hour?" Rahzar retorts back and considering how it's almost midnight, Bishop can already sense this is a serious matter.
"...N-No..."
"I'll say it one more time. We have your daughter."
"Whaaat?!" Bishop freaks out like last time, standing up. "M-My daughter! Is she alright? Tell me she's alright!"
"Hear for yourself," Rahzar takes his ear off the receiver, holding it out.
"Papa, help! I'm gonna be killed!" Chloe cries out, crying.
"What do you want...? What are your demands?!" Bishop clenches a fist from his desk.
"I believe we already made our demand known the other day."
Bishop seems to know what he's talking about. "Oh...so it was you..."
"And have you complied?" Rahzar asks knowingly. "Has the execution been carried out?" To Donnie, this is a rather odd and repulsive demand. They want his brother dead in exchange for a little girl's life at stake right now? Now he sees why they work for Shredder.
"I-I didn't do it because of your demand!" Bishop stammers, "I did it because...that's my job!"
"Yes...yes, of course," Rahzar says sarcastically.
"They should be contacting me any minute now with the confirmation. There's no need for this kidnapping!" Bishop states as he wants them to let her go. Chloe has no business in his job and she wouldn't understand all the stress and pressure it brings.
"We're very thorough," Rahzar smirks to himself. "You'd do well to remember that."
"Aaaaagh..." Bishop runs a hand through his hair.
"And of course, it goes without saying, we're watching you," Rahzar threatens. "If this information leaves that room...you'll never see your daughter again. I trust you understand that," He opens up his hand to show five claws and Donnie cringes. He couldn't imagine his brothers and sister interacting with them very well...if they were still around.
"Don't tell the police, is that it?" Bishop growls, slamming a fist on the ground.
"Exactly."
As much as Bishop hated it, he had to protect his daughter. Even if that meant she'd still be at risk with Rahzar. "All you have to do is your job."
"Alright...I'll do as you say," Bishop grits his teeth. "I'll make sure the execution is carried out tonight. You have my word." Donnie holds his head that Bishop is gonna go through with this? Doesn't he know that Raph is a detective and that April's trying to prove him innocent?
Donnie has the option to go there, but it won't help save Bishop's life. If he goes there, he'd have to restart. He wants to do something, but right now, saving Bishop is important.
The phone call ends and Bishop places the receiver down.
Trace Complete.
Bishop holds his head in panic. "This is terrible!"
"A kidnapping, eh?" Once again, I'm not sure i know what the word means...but it's apparently the cause of the minister's attack.
"Such a useless man," Bishop replies to Donnie's confusion.
"Huh?"
"A useless man, caught up in a useless case...why doesn't he understand that...?" Bishop asks slowly.
Anyway...we only have four minutes here. I'd better do something about that medicine.
Donnie waits as Bishop takes the receiver as he needed the right time. Bishop taps his finger against his head as he waits for his wife to answer, but she doesn't. Donnie moves to the flag and waits as Bishop slowly places the receiver down. The fact that his wife hasn't called him about this matter takes a toll on him. He holds his head. "Why doesn't she answer?!"
He then has his panic attack that Donnie saw earlier, just before he died. He holds his hair and then looks up, clutching his heart. He thrashes around, shaking.
"M-Medicine...!" He tries to get it, but it falls out of his reach. He looks very distressed as he reaches out to the pitcher. "W-Water...!"
It starts to fall, but the reason why Donnie waited is so he could trick the flag to move, putting the pitcher back into place. He then moves to the pitcher as Bishop grabs it and drinks it all in one gulp. While he has it raised, Donnie moves up to the ceiling fan. Bishop puts down the empty pitcher, panting as he's breathing steadily.
"There! That should help!" Donnie smiles in relief. "At least now he's had some water. He's still breathing, apparently." He looks to see Bishop still clutching at his heart. But he looks far from recovered, unfortunately...
"Such a wishy-washy man," Bishop shakes his head.
"Huh?"
"He can't make up his mind whether to live or die. That's how he lives his life."
"Okaaay..." Donnie says slowly, as Bishop still hasn't gotten it. "At least now I bought some time to get his medicine to him." He's gained at least a minute or two, at least.
Fate Changed!
Donnie tricks the ceiling fan so that some papers from the pile start flying. Donnie travels to a paper that flies around and lands near the medicine. Luckily, it landed close enough for him to move there. He possesses the medicine.
"Okay, time for the next step. Now, about this medicine bottle...If the minister's-Bishop—is going to make a full recovery...I have to deliver this thing to him." But how is a ghost with no hands or feet supposed to do that? I guess I'll just have to use my head, instead.
The only thing close enough to move the bottle is the sword from the armor right next to him, but it's not long enough to hit the bottle. He's going to have to put something at the end of the sword to lengthen it. He moves to the left arm of the armor and presses trick, causing the arm to lift up as if the armor is saluting. Donnie gives a gap-toothed grin at the display, but no time for jokes. From the arm, he can reach a hanging basket that has a cantaloupe inside, which is a fake one.
He uses that to move to a frame hanger that's holding a picture of a sword. He presses trick to release the left end, but it doesn't fall down. The right hanger is still holding the painting up. Donnie goes back the way he came and puts the arm from the armor back down. He reaches out to the curtain next to the armor. He closes the curtain so that he's to the left.
There's another piece of armor at the right side and like with the left one, Donnie makes it salute. Instead of a hanging basket of fruit, there's a globe instead. He does a trick so that the globe is facing right instead of left. He moves to the globe and does a trick so that the globe spins around and falls off. It knocks over an urn (which does not contain any ashes, thankfully) and it lands right in front of the curtain.
He goes to the frame hanger since the globe was close enough. He knocks it off and the painting falls on top of the urn, creating a seesaw of sorts. He moves back to the globe and makes it roll onto the right of the seesaw. He then goes to the curtain and makes it close so that he's back on the left. He moves to the arm of the armor and makes it salute again.
He travels back to the fruit hanger and makes it turn to the right instead of the left, kind of like how he did with the globe. He makes the fake fruit swing, knocking over another urn. The weight of this urn is heavier, so the globe soars over and lands on the sword that's on the left near the medicine. Donnie pumps a fist silently and moves to the globe, and then to the sword. He makes it spin around and the globe knocks the medicine back onto Bishop's desk, right back in its spot too.
Bishop looks up and scrambles over to the medicine. "M-My medicine!" He quickly grabs it, opens it with strength as he doesn't even twist the lid, and gulps down all the pills.
"There! Bishop finally took his medicine!" I think maybe he even took TOO MUCH medicine...
"Such a greedy man."
"Huh?" For the third time, Donnie is confused.
"He's supposed to take two capsules with water. Why doesn't he know that?"
"Aw, cut the guy some slack," Donnie gestures to Bishop. "There. See?" Bishop spins around happily at his health, even starting to sing as he looks—and sounds—perfectly fine.
Fate Averted!
"Whew," Donnie wipes the sweat off his forehead. "That was a lot of work."
"Well, hopefully, this taught him a lesson," Bishop huffs slightly.
"Huh?"
"He greatly underestimated his dependence on his medicine. I hope he learned something from this experience. First, know yourself. That is the key to everything."
"I think you need to listen to your own advice," Donnie tells him gently. "Anyway, let's go back to the world of the present."
When they are taken back to the new present, Bishop still looks stressed. Alive, but stressed. And so Bishop is now back to life. But the furrows on his brow are even deeper now...
April is standing near the desk, hands on her hips as she looks assertive. And, apparently, his lady detective is the present cause of those furrows. Wait, when did he start calling April his lady detective...?
Bishop lifts his head, turning to April on his left. "Look, Detective. He was sentenced after a fair trial. And the mutant himself wants to be executed."
"But there was no evidence!" April insists sharply. "All they had was his own confession." There was no fingerprints, no witnesses, and no forensics that would even suggest that Raph committed this crime.
"But it was no ordinary confession. It was the confession of an esteemed detective," Bishop rubs his temples. April goes to get into his face, but Bishop freaks out. "Stay back!" April stands there in surprise as she's never seen him like that. "I told you I don't want anybody coming near me!"
Donnie's curious about that too. What could've happened to garner that reaction?
"Mr. Bishop, please listen to me!" April says in a pleading voice. "I might be able to gather new evidence in that case tonight!"
Bishop looks up in surprise, whipping his head to her. "Wh-What...?"
"So, please, please! Just give me a little more time!"
He says nothing for a few seconds. "I just got a call from the prison. Your death-row convict apparently just escaped."
April sweats a little as she had asked Donnie to stop the execution no matter what. But never did she think that Bishop would figure out so quickly. "Unfortunately, after all this time, it seems he now wants to dodge his punishment."
"B-But..." April tries to defend.
"When he's apprehended, his sentence will be carried out." He might be taking a life, but he will not risk his daughter's by saving Raph. "Tonight."
"No..." A tear threatens to escape April's eye. "But when the sentence was handed down, you were against enforcing the death penalty."
His eyes widen as she looks up at him. "So why did you sign the order all of a sudden?" The death penalty was so out of place that someone would have to bring an order to Bishop. He hadn't gotten an order for years, but...even he can't fathom why he signed such a paper.
"Well, I...I was simply performing my duty as justice minister. That's all there is to it," He tries to look as professional as possible, pulling at his collar a bit.
Donnie decides to step in here since April has made no success whatsoever. Since he's still in the sword from when he saved Bishop's life, he makes the sword spin. The blast of wind gets April's attention and she turns to the sword. The globe is still attached to the tip and she walks up to it, recognizing the presence.
"Donnie! There you are!" She cheers while whispering.
"It sounds like the minister is being very stubborn," He states to her frustration.
"That's right! He is! Maybe we shouldn't have saved him after all!" She huffs at the fact that Bishop won't budge.
"Bishop has to have the execution carried out tonight. And...he has a very good reason for it." Donnie gulps at the fact that two lives are at risk. Either his brother dies and a girl lives, or a girl dies and they all have to live with the death of a child by their own hands.
"A good reason?" April asks in confusion.
He told April what he had learned about the kidnapping.
"K-Kidnapping?!" April stammers in shock. "They kidnapped Bishop's daughter?!"
"Apparently," Donnie states and April covers her mouth in shock.
"Oh my goodness..." She turns around as she takes this information in. "But, still..." She turns back to him. "That's still no reason to hurry forward with the execution!" She still wants to help Raph, to prove that he did not kill his family. If Bishop rushes it and April finds evidence, they'll have killed an innocent turtle.
"Why don't you go ahead and say that to Bishop, then?" Donnie suggests gently to calm her down. She looks down, frowning.
"Hmm...the poor man...I hate to do that to him..."
"Oh, by the way..." Donnie starts off, April looking up at him in confusion. "Do you think you could carry me?" He wanted to help April out to try and appeal to the man. He did save Bishop, so he should be able to hear Donnie.
"Oh, right. Sure," April smiles gently, "Not very handy, is it, having no legs?"
"April," He frowns a little. "It's hard enough having no legs...!"
"I'm sorry," She smiles sheepishly and walks over to the knight armor. She struggles a bit, but manages to pull it right off. Because of the globe, it falls to the ground, and she picks it back up, walking back to her spot. Donnie moves to the globe so that he's closer to Bishop. He folds his hands together before glancing at April. He whips back to her, eyes widening as he sees what she's holding.
"What are you doing to do with that globe?" He asks skeptically, "Crack me in the head with it?"
"Oh, this?" April laughs sheepishly at how this looks. "Er, heh heh...Pay no attention to this."
It's kind of hard NOT to pay attention to it...
April shushes him while Bishop just stares. For some reason, he gets an odd feeling in the air... "By the way...and please pardon me if this is a silly question...Were you...talking to somebody just now...? But, of course not, right...? I mean, there's no such thing...as ghosts, right...?"
"Are you talking about me?" Donnie speaks up and Bishop shouts in surprise, sitting up.
"No, there's no such thing! This is a dream! It's nothing but a dream!" He denies it, and yet the turtle sounded so real.
"Don't you remember me?" Donnie pouts playfully, crossing his arms.
"My dream is talking to me!" Bishop holds his hair as he's sweating. He must be going crazy, right? He looks up at the detective as she says nothing. Could she hear it too?
Hmph. So now I'm a dream, eh?
Bishop slowly sits back down, holding his head. It just wasn't possible. Ghosts couldn't possibly exist...much less Donatello's...
"Mr. Bishop...?" April questions quietly, looking sympathetic. "We know. We know about your daughter. She was kidnapped, wasn't she?"
Bishop looks surprised as he didn't know how April could possibly know that. "And if the execution doesn't take place tonight...you won't see her again..."
Bishop starts having another heart attack at the mention of her fate and April drops the sword in surprise, glancing at the bottle on his desk. Being a detective, she realizes what it's for and rushes over to him. She grabs the medicine bottle, holding it in front of him. "Your medicine! Medicine!"
After a few minutes of putting the pills back into him, Bishop is contemplating his choices that he's been dealt with. "Oh, what am I going to do...?" He covers his eyes so he doesn't let April see his guilt. "The death-row prisoner has escaped. If he isn't executed tonight...my daughter...my Chloe...!"
"But what if that execution isn't the right thing to do?!" April presses and he shouts at her outburst.
"Come on, April. If you keep pressing him like that, he's gonna die again," Donnie reminds her and she holds her hair, stressed.
"What can I do, then...?!" She moves away from him, looking just as guilty. She didn't want to risk a life as much as Bishop did.
Donnie moves from the globe to the phone and decides to go to the hideout, to see if what Rahzar said was true. Since April and Bishop don't know where they are, Donnie's their only hope. He travels using the phone lines.
He really should pay the kidnappers' hideout a visit. After all, if they want Bishop to come around, they have to solve this problem first...
He feels like he's slowly moving away from his own mystery...but he's not the kind of guy who can abandon a little lady in trouble. So he guesses he's in this for a little while longer, but that's okay.
Anything that gets him closer to the mystery of himself...