A/N: Italics are meditative state.
Saki looked up from the reports he had been reading when he heard a commotion coming from outside his office. He heard Hun, Karai and Stockman yelling above the other noise. Chaplin's voice rose above the arguing every now and then. Saki got up and stalked over to the doors.
"Get out of my way, Hun before I make you."
"You fool!" Stockman yelled. "He could bleed to death before the operation can be started."
Saki threw open the doors and was about to yell at his men when something dropped at his feet. Everything went silent as Saki looked down at the body below him. Cracked metal covered the turtle's body. In places where the metal had been pulled away were large gashes that were still bleeding sluggishly. The only thing that indicated that there was still life in the body was a painful moan that would escape every now and then.
"Sir, I tried to explain to this small brained reptile that you did not want to be disturbed," Stockman explained.
"Forgive the interuption, my lord," Karai added.
Saki looked up into the focused and fiery eyes of his new Foot soldier. "Why did you bring your brother here instead of the lab, Donatello?"
"He needs to pay for his betrayal to you, Master Saki," Donatello answered.
Raphael moaned in pain again and began to move. His arms shook as he pushed himself up. With a nod from Saki, Hun walked forward and pulled Raphael to his knees. The turtle winced in pain and tried to catch his breath. Glazed amber eyes looked up and locked gazes with cold, black eyes.
"Was this your plan, Raphael?" Saki asked. "To get captured by your own brother and once again become one of my Foot soldiers?"
Raphael didn't answer. His eyelids drooped and he looked away. He had lost too much blood, that much was clear. If the operation didn't go ahead soon, he was going to bleed to death. Saki placed a hand under Raphael's chin as his head dipped forward. One benefit of having the turtle in this state was that he didn't put up a fight. Saki tilted Raphael's head up so that they were looking eye to eye.
"This time there is no escaping. After tonight, you are mine for the rest of your life."
And with that, Saki straightened and dismissed the group. Hun picked Raphael up and swung the ninja over his shoulder. Karai, Stockman and Chaplin followed Hun as he headed off for the labs. Donatello was the only who stayed behind.
"Is there a problem, Donatello?" Saki asked.
Donatello turned to face the Foot leader. He quickly shook his head. "No, Master Saki," he answered. "It's just that...Raphael betrayed you. He shouldn't be allowed to live for something like that."
Saki turned around and headed back into his office. Like a shadow, Donatello followed, closing the doors behind him. Saki sat down behind the desk and resumed reading the reports. Donatello stood at attention in front of the desk.
"Master, betrayal is unforgiveable. Raphael shouldn't be allowed to live."
Just then, the doors opened and Hun and Stockman entered. Donatello turned around as Saki looked up. Hun and Stockman made their way over to where Donatello was standing.
"Don't mind us, we're just going to borrow Donatello for a moment or two," Stockman said as Hun grabbed the back of Donatello's shell.
Before Donatello could protest, Hun yanked him towards the door and out of the office, leaving Saki alone to finish the reports. Hun threw Donatello into the elevator and walked in. Donatello regained his composure and swung around to face Hun and Stockman. The brain in the tank turned to look at him.
"You will be more useful to your master if you are helping us contain your brother."
Donatello crossed his arms. "Raphael is no brother of mine," he seethed.
"Ah, yes," Stockman said. "The whole, 'He betrayed Shredder' thing. I understand."
The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Hun stepped to the side and held a hand out in front of him.
"After you," he said to Donatello.
Donatello walked out of the elevator with Hun and Stockman close behind him. They made their way into the main lab where Chaplin was just closing the bio-tech chamber. With the domed covering, the occupant was invisible to everyone outside. Donatello slowly made his way over to the pod. The only indication that there was anyone inside was the heart monitor located just above the head of the pod. He looked over to where Chaplin's partner, Maria Finn was programming something into the computer. Donatello then noticed that a strange cord ran from the computer to the back of the pod.
"How goes the operation?" Stockman asked.
"So far so good," Dr. Finn answered. "The operation should be finished in another hour or so."
"Why so long?" Donatello wanted to know.
Stockman's tank hovered over to him. "Because in case you haven't noticed, reptile," he said, the tank hitting against Donatello's chest. "This is what happens when you fail the Shredder one time too many."
Donatello pushed the tank back. "Then why isn't Hun a brain in a tank?" he asked. "He's failed just as many times as you have, Stockman."
Hun growled. "Watch it, turtle," he warned, glaring at the mutant.
Donatello returned Hun's glare. The sudden rapid beeping of the heart monitor claimed Donatello's attention, as did the grunting that came from inside the pod. Donatello reach down to touch the top of the pod, but Chaplin grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away.
"If you disrupt the operation now you could kill your brother," the young man told him.
"That does not sound normal," Donatello voiced.
There was a bang and Donatello and Chaplin jumped back. There were several more bangs and then finally a voice shot through the lab.
"You are dead when I get my hands on you, Chaplin!"
Chaplin turned to Maria. "Increase the sedative," he instructed. "If he doesn't calm down soon, he'll botch the whole thing."
There was a hiss as something within the chamber opened. Inside, Raphael tried to free himself of the suit that covered his torso and left arm. He could hear Stockman and Chaplin arguing about something. The chamber suddenly filled with a thick, grey mist. Raphael coughed when he breathed the mist in. But, the more he coughed, the more breaths he had to take and the more smoke he breathed in. He yelped when he felt something stab him in his left shoulder, right where Donatello had sliced his skin. Raphael reached up and grabbed the needle-like machine. He could feel his body slowly growing heavy. His eyelids began to droop again. The turtle shook his head. He knew what would happen if he fell asleep. He would end up like his brother; a Foot tech turtle.
The tiny machine sputtered as it tried to jerk free of Raphael's grasp. The fog grew thicker. The thin arm jerked once more and hit off the ceiling of the pod as Raphael's fingers finally loosened and his arm fell by his side. As his eyes slid shut, Raphael could hear the deep, metallic laughter of the Shredder.
Leo...Mike...sensei...
Raphael pried his eyes open to see a band of red metal hovering just above his eyes. He felt something press against the back of his head and something pulled on the tails of his bandanna. Raphael closed his eyes as he felt his mind go dark.
Master Splinter...sensei...I'm sorry...
He felt himself drift away from his body and tried to locate a thread of any of his family members. The faithful strand of Splinter's presense washed over him. In the growing chaos of his mind, Raphael grasped on to that strand and held on for dear life. The strand materilzed into his beloved father as the darkness gave way to the astral realm.
"Sensei..."
Splinter wrapped his arms around his son and held him close. "You are never alone, my son. Your brothers and I will always be by your side."
Raphael's breath hitched and his eyes began to burn. "This is all my fault," he whispered. "You're gonna lose two sons because I went lookin' for Don without back up."
"Leonardo and Michelangelo live to bring you and Donatello home, Raphael."
Raphael gripped his master's robes. He felt like a scared little child, and he was sure that he looked like one, as well. Splinter rubbed the back of his son's neck.
"I'm sorry," Raphael sobbed. "I'm sorry."
"Shh," Splinter whispered gently. "You are not to blame. You did not seek confrontation, only to banish what had haunted you these past months."
"A lot of good that did," Raphael scoffed.
The realm shifted and the turtle feared that he would be pulled back to reality; back to his waking nightmare. However, the fog that hovered over the ground took on a slight bluish hue. Raphael dared to look up. The fog swirled up, as if filling in an empty mold. It whipped behind the figure, creating bandanna tails. Smoky grey gave way to green skin. The ghostly white mask became a royal blue. The newcomer opened his chocolate brown eyes, took one look at Raphael, gasped and bolted forward. He dropped to his knees and embraced his brother.
"Raph," Leonardo breathed. "I thought you were dead."
Raphael cautiously reached out, not wanting to lose his grip on Splinter. He touched his brother's shoulder, and when his fingers didn't pass through, Raphael pulled Leonardo closer.
"Hey! You can't leave me out!"
Michelangelo suddenly came barreling out of the fog. He collided with his family with such force that he sent them all tumbling to the ground. Michelangelo threw his arms around Raphael's neck.
"Bro, I'm so glad you're okay," he said.
The others pushed themselves up. Raphael wrapped an arm around his baby brother.
"I'm glad you're okay, too, Mike."
Raphael grimaced when a sharp pain shot up his spine. Instantly, Leonardo grabbed his shoulders as if it would keep his brother from fading. Raphael put a hand on Leonardo's wrist and tried to calm his breathing. Another white hot wave of pain attacked the red masked turtle and he collapsed into his older brother's arms.
"My son, are you all right?" Splinter asked, placing a hand on Raphael's shell.
"Raphie?" Michelangelo whimpered.
Raphael opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. He was fading. He was being pulled back. Raphael wrapped his arms around Leonardo's chest and held him in a death grip.
"I'm not goin' back," he told an invisible foe. "I'm not goin' back."
Leonardo's grip on his brother tightened as he began to vanish. Panic set in. He knew what was going to happen once Raphael disappeared for good.
"Raphie, don't go," Michelangelo pleaded.
Raphael groaned as wave after wave of pain assalted him. With each wave, more of his body faded. Splinter eased Raphael out of Leonardo's grasp and held his son like he used to do when his son's were small.
"Once I'm gone...there's goin' back," Raphael whimpered. "This ain't like last time." His body jerked. "We think of you as our enemies..." Raphael gasped and made a strange choking sound. "We've been reprogrammed."
"But...Donny said he wasn't a robot," Michelangelo said.
Something began to form on the back of Raphael's neck. It looked like his mask had been combined with a metal visor. A neck guard formed next, along with a strange, winding cord that disappeared into the fog. Raphael's body slowly became metallic, until it resembled the suit that Donatello wore.
"Raph?" Leonardo breathed.
Raphael's body went limp in Splinter's arms. "Forgive me...father."
With those final words, he disappeared. Splinter looked down at his hands as the final red strands of his second oldest son's presense slipped through his fingers. Raphael was gone.
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