Disclaimer: I don't own the Ninja Turtles. Don't sue me, please please
please.
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Donatello stood up. His hands went immediately to his neck, but the pain that should have been there was not. It almost seemed like what had just happened was nothing but a dream. However, it must have been real, for the dark figure was once again standing in front of him.
"Who ARE you?" Don asked exasperatedly. "Look behind you," the figure said with a quiet and raspy voice. Don hesitated; he didn't really want to turn his back on this guy.
"I won't attack you again," the figure stated, "You wouldn't be able to defend yourself anyway."
Donatello frowned and continued to face the man. "I don't believe you."
"I could easily pin you again, and you would have just as much luck escaping as you had before."
Don grunted and took a quick glance over his shoulder....which turned immediately into a long and horrified stare. There, lying on the ground, Donatello saw himself, a ring of angry bruises encircling his neck, and several strange-looking burn marks on his forearms and plastron.
-----
"Dude, do you think maybe we should stop bothering Don so much?"
"Mikey, don't worry about it. Don's just got a stick up his butt."
"But Spinter said..."
"Bah." Raph waved a dismissive hand at Michelangelo and continuted to stare at the broken television set. Raph frowned. "Man, I wish he would get back. I'm missing the game."
"Why don't you turn on the radio?" Leonardo came walking into the room, a wooden sword twirling absently in his right hand.
"It's not the same!" Raphael whined, "There'll be an awesome touchdown catch or something, and all I'll get is the announcer screaming about how incredible the play was!"
Leo shrugged, "At least you'll know what's going on."
Raph sneered at his brother and turned back to the TV. Leonardo shrugged and left the room, undoubtedly to return to his training. Michelangelo stood up from his chair and began to pace the room. Raph ignored him as long as he could, but finally he couldn't stand it.
"Mike! Stop pacing! What's your problem anyway?" "I'm just...I feel bad about Don. He's always working on something while we sit around and watch him. We should....get him a present....or something."
Raphael shook his head at Mikey. "Don's fine, jeez. If he didn't like fixing everything for us, he'd say something."
"No he wouldn't. He's DON."
At this Raph blinked. "Well, yeah...I guess he wouldn't." Raphael looked displeased at having to concede Mike's point. "Well, we can apologize to him when he gets back....or something." Raph frowned. Mikey, on the other hand, looked very pleased.
"YOU'RE gonna aplogize?" Mike said, his terrapin face spread in a wide grin, "That'd really throw Don for a loop." "Yeah, whatever."
----
"Wha....me....I....WHAT IS THIS!" Donatello whirled around to face the dark figure. "That's ME.....how?" Don took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, but instead began to pant hysterically. The dark figure just stood there watching him, seemingly waiting for Donatello to regain his composure.....as if that was going to happen.
Slowly, Donatello turned around and stared at himself on the ground. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them, and was despaired to find that he was still lying on the ground. He took a few steps back and patted his hands over his plastron, trying to see if he was real. He felt real enough, but he was afraid to see if his counterpart on the ground was real as well.
"It's real enough," the figure said in his raspy voice, seeming to read Donatello's thoughts, "But you shouldn't touch it."
Donatello shivered. "I don't want to touch...it. What's going on here? Why did you try to kill me?"
"I didn't try to kill you."
"Yes you did. You tried to strangle me."
"As I said, I didn't try to kill you, I did kill you."
Don blinked, but strangely, this explanation made sense. After all, there was his body, lying lifeless on the ground. But, then again, it made absolutely no sense, because here he was, talking to the guy who had supposedly 'killed' him.
"But...I....god, this is nuts. You did strangle me, I remember that." Don looked at the figure, "And I really should be kicking your butt right now."
The shoulders of the dark figured moved slightly in what could have been a laugh. However, Donatello could not see anything but glowing green eyes underneath a tattered hood; the figure had stepped out of the light of the streetlamp....though it almost seemed to Don that the light had stepped away from the figure.
"What is all this? Please explain....I really can't believe that you killed me...it's just not......right." Don was beginning to look a bit frantic. He could see the green eyes of the figure bob slightly, perhaps in a nod.
"I will explain," he said, "But you must try to relax."
"Relax?? I hope you're joking."
"A bit, yes. Most people have trouble relaxing after they've died, but I can assure you that all will be well."
"How can you expect me to believe that I'm dead? Or, for that matter, that 'all will be well.' "
"Well, do you know what happens when you die?" The dark man's voice seemed to contain a bit of amusement, though Don wasn't sure since the voice was so raspy.
"Well, no...I don't," Don conceded reluctantly, "But well...if I'm dead, how can I be talking to my killer?"
The green eyes bobbed again. "Good, now we're on the same page. The explanation is simple. I am not of the living world."
"Um, excuse me? That's not really a simple answer," Don momentarily forgot his horror and crossed his arms in exasperation.
"It will seem that way eventually. You see, there are two worlds. To put it at its most basic, one is of the living, the other is of the dead. Though, we of the dead do not really consider ourselves 'dead.' We usually refer to ourselves as Demons." The dark figure slowly pulled off his hood, revealing a black, serpentine face, his snout coming to a blunt point. His face was entirely covered with scales, those above his eyes somewhat larger and thicker than the rest. From the back of his neck sprouted a row of mean-looking spines, which dwindled to blunt nubs atop his head. Now that the hood was removed, Donatello could see that those green glowing eyes did not have pupils, but continued to glow with fervor. He wasn't as stunned upon seeing the face this time, but it was still a bit of a shock.
"Demons..." Donatello said, shaking his head.
"Yes, Demons. I suppose we really aren't what legend and myth would consider to be a demon, but we can pretend, I suppose. Not everyone looks like me. In fact, I doubt there's anyone in the demon world who looks the same." The long reptilian snout curved up into a smile. "I really hope you can forgive me for killing you, but I can assure you I had no choice."
"No choice, huh?" Don said, still not believing he was really dead. He had convinced himself that the body lying on the ground was nothing but a dummy or some kind of genetic replica....or not really there at all. "I really hope you don't think I'm gonna believe all this junk?"
"I don't expect you to yet, but you will." With lightning-fast speed, a scaly hand attached itself to Don's upper arm. "Come with me, please," he said, and began to lead Don away from his own body. Don tried to struggle, but the vice grip could not be broken, and the stregnth of the serpent man was incredible. Don's eyes widened with renewed horror as the air in front of them seemed to rip open like a sheet of paper. The serpent man waved his free hand and the tear widened. Then, Don speechless with horror and the serpent man grinning widely, the two passed into the tear, which promptly sealed behind them.
----
"Ok, Don's been gone for almost four hours. This is rediculous!" Raph had begun pacing the lair, though he had been loudly proclaming for an hour that it was because he had missed his game.
"Yeah," Mike said, coming into the room from the kitchen, "It never takes him this long to get parts."
"He's probably doing it to piss me off!" Raph said a little too loudly.
Leonardo and Splinter entered the room. Leo looked annoyed at Raph for yelling, but Splinter had an unmistakeable look of concern on his face.
"My sons," he said quietly, "I believe you should go look for your brother. He has been gone far longer than is normal."
Mike looked extremely worried at his master's words. "You don't think something happened to him, do you Master?"
Splinter could only shake his head, "I don't know, Michelangelo, but it would be better to err on the side of caution."
Michelangelo nodded and turned to his brothers. "Any ideas where he would have gone? I mean, yeah, the junkyard, but what tunnels would he have taken?"
Leonardo looked thoughtful. "Well, that's a tough call. There's way too many routes to everything." Leonardo paused for a moment, seeming to weigh his options, "Ok, we'll split up of course, but the hard part will be coordinating who goes where. Raph, you and I will take the northern tunnels, Mike, you take on the western tunnels. I doubt he took any of the southern or eastern routes since those would take him away from the the junkyard. Don's a pretty logical guy, so hopefully this will work. Raph and I will split up in the northern tunnels since they're more expansive. Everyone bring along a phone, and try to make your way to the junkyard within an hour."
As Leonardo rattled off orders, Mike became more and more anxious to get going. A strange feeling was welling up in his gut, and he wanted to just get going and find Don as fast as possible.
"Ok guys," Leonardo was saying, "Let's go."
Mike took off out of the lair before Leo had completed his sentence, and was forced to rush right back in a moment later and grab a phone. Then, he and his brothers made their way into the sewer tunnels to search for their missing brother.
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A/N: I want to thank you guys for reviewing...I appreciate it so much! Your comments are very helpful, and it makes writing this stuff even more rewarding. Stay tuned!
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Donatello stood up. His hands went immediately to his neck, but the pain that should have been there was not. It almost seemed like what had just happened was nothing but a dream. However, it must have been real, for the dark figure was once again standing in front of him.
"Who ARE you?" Don asked exasperatedly. "Look behind you," the figure said with a quiet and raspy voice. Don hesitated; he didn't really want to turn his back on this guy.
"I won't attack you again," the figure stated, "You wouldn't be able to defend yourself anyway."
Donatello frowned and continued to face the man. "I don't believe you."
"I could easily pin you again, and you would have just as much luck escaping as you had before."
Don grunted and took a quick glance over his shoulder....which turned immediately into a long and horrified stare. There, lying on the ground, Donatello saw himself, a ring of angry bruises encircling his neck, and several strange-looking burn marks on his forearms and plastron.
-----
"Dude, do you think maybe we should stop bothering Don so much?"
"Mikey, don't worry about it. Don's just got a stick up his butt."
"But Spinter said..."
"Bah." Raph waved a dismissive hand at Michelangelo and continuted to stare at the broken television set. Raph frowned. "Man, I wish he would get back. I'm missing the game."
"Why don't you turn on the radio?" Leonardo came walking into the room, a wooden sword twirling absently in his right hand.
"It's not the same!" Raphael whined, "There'll be an awesome touchdown catch or something, and all I'll get is the announcer screaming about how incredible the play was!"
Leo shrugged, "At least you'll know what's going on."
Raph sneered at his brother and turned back to the TV. Leonardo shrugged and left the room, undoubtedly to return to his training. Michelangelo stood up from his chair and began to pace the room. Raph ignored him as long as he could, but finally he couldn't stand it.
"Mike! Stop pacing! What's your problem anyway?" "I'm just...I feel bad about Don. He's always working on something while we sit around and watch him. We should....get him a present....or something."
Raphael shook his head at Mikey. "Don's fine, jeez. If he didn't like fixing everything for us, he'd say something."
"No he wouldn't. He's DON."
At this Raph blinked. "Well, yeah...I guess he wouldn't." Raphael looked displeased at having to concede Mike's point. "Well, we can apologize to him when he gets back....or something." Raph frowned. Mikey, on the other hand, looked very pleased.
"YOU'RE gonna aplogize?" Mike said, his terrapin face spread in a wide grin, "That'd really throw Don for a loop." "Yeah, whatever."
----
"Wha....me....I....WHAT IS THIS!" Donatello whirled around to face the dark figure. "That's ME.....how?" Don took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, but instead began to pant hysterically. The dark figure just stood there watching him, seemingly waiting for Donatello to regain his composure.....as if that was going to happen.
Slowly, Donatello turned around and stared at himself on the ground. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them, and was despaired to find that he was still lying on the ground. He took a few steps back and patted his hands over his plastron, trying to see if he was real. He felt real enough, but he was afraid to see if his counterpart on the ground was real as well.
"It's real enough," the figure said in his raspy voice, seeming to read Donatello's thoughts, "But you shouldn't touch it."
Donatello shivered. "I don't want to touch...it. What's going on here? Why did you try to kill me?"
"I didn't try to kill you."
"Yes you did. You tried to strangle me."
"As I said, I didn't try to kill you, I did kill you."
Don blinked, but strangely, this explanation made sense. After all, there was his body, lying lifeless on the ground. But, then again, it made absolutely no sense, because here he was, talking to the guy who had supposedly 'killed' him.
"But...I....god, this is nuts. You did strangle me, I remember that." Don looked at the figure, "And I really should be kicking your butt right now."
The shoulders of the dark figured moved slightly in what could have been a laugh. However, Donatello could not see anything but glowing green eyes underneath a tattered hood; the figure had stepped out of the light of the streetlamp....though it almost seemed to Don that the light had stepped away from the figure.
"What is all this? Please explain....I really can't believe that you killed me...it's just not......right." Don was beginning to look a bit frantic. He could see the green eyes of the figure bob slightly, perhaps in a nod.
"I will explain," he said, "But you must try to relax."
"Relax?? I hope you're joking."
"A bit, yes. Most people have trouble relaxing after they've died, but I can assure you that all will be well."
"How can you expect me to believe that I'm dead? Or, for that matter, that 'all will be well.' "
"Well, do you know what happens when you die?" The dark man's voice seemed to contain a bit of amusement, though Don wasn't sure since the voice was so raspy.
"Well, no...I don't," Don conceded reluctantly, "But well...if I'm dead, how can I be talking to my killer?"
The green eyes bobbed again. "Good, now we're on the same page. The explanation is simple. I am not of the living world."
"Um, excuse me? That's not really a simple answer," Don momentarily forgot his horror and crossed his arms in exasperation.
"It will seem that way eventually. You see, there are two worlds. To put it at its most basic, one is of the living, the other is of the dead. Though, we of the dead do not really consider ourselves 'dead.' We usually refer to ourselves as Demons." The dark figure slowly pulled off his hood, revealing a black, serpentine face, his snout coming to a blunt point. His face was entirely covered with scales, those above his eyes somewhat larger and thicker than the rest. From the back of his neck sprouted a row of mean-looking spines, which dwindled to blunt nubs atop his head. Now that the hood was removed, Donatello could see that those green glowing eyes did not have pupils, but continued to glow with fervor. He wasn't as stunned upon seeing the face this time, but it was still a bit of a shock.
"Demons..." Donatello said, shaking his head.
"Yes, Demons. I suppose we really aren't what legend and myth would consider to be a demon, but we can pretend, I suppose. Not everyone looks like me. In fact, I doubt there's anyone in the demon world who looks the same." The long reptilian snout curved up into a smile. "I really hope you can forgive me for killing you, but I can assure you I had no choice."
"No choice, huh?" Don said, still not believing he was really dead. He had convinced himself that the body lying on the ground was nothing but a dummy or some kind of genetic replica....or not really there at all. "I really hope you don't think I'm gonna believe all this junk?"
"I don't expect you to yet, but you will." With lightning-fast speed, a scaly hand attached itself to Don's upper arm. "Come with me, please," he said, and began to lead Don away from his own body. Don tried to struggle, but the vice grip could not be broken, and the stregnth of the serpent man was incredible. Don's eyes widened with renewed horror as the air in front of them seemed to rip open like a sheet of paper. The serpent man waved his free hand and the tear widened. Then, Don speechless with horror and the serpent man grinning widely, the two passed into the tear, which promptly sealed behind them.
----
"Ok, Don's been gone for almost four hours. This is rediculous!" Raph had begun pacing the lair, though he had been loudly proclaming for an hour that it was because he had missed his game.
"Yeah," Mike said, coming into the room from the kitchen, "It never takes him this long to get parts."
"He's probably doing it to piss me off!" Raph said a little too loudly.
Leonardo and Splinter entered the room. Leo looked annoyed at Raph for yelling, but Splinter had an unmistakeable look of concern on his face.
"My sons," he said quietly, "I believe you should go look for your brother. He has been gone far longer than is normal."
Mike looked extremely worried at his master's words. "You don't think something happened to him, do you Master?"
Splinter could only shake his head, "I don't know, Michelangelo, but it would be better to err on the side of caution."
Michelangelo nodded and turned to his brothers. "Any ideas where he would have gone? I mean, yeah, the junkyard, but what tunnels would he have taken?"
Leonardo looked thoughtful. "Well, that's a tough call. There's way too many routes to everything." Leonardo paused for a moment, seeming to weigh his options, "Ok, we'll split up of course, but the hard part will be coordinating who goes where. Raph, you and I will take the northern tunnels, Mike, you take on the western tunnels. I doubt he took any of the southern or eastern routes since those would take him away from the the junkyard. Don's a pretty logical guy, so hopefully this will work. Raph and I will split up in the northern tunnels since they're more expansive. Everyone bring along a phone, and try to make your way to the junkyard within an hour."
As Leonardo rattled off orders, Mike became more and more anxious to get going. A strange feeling was welling up in his gut, and he wanted to just get going and find Don as fast as possible.
"Ok guys," Leonardo was saying, "Let's go."
Mike took off out of the lair before Leo had completed his sentence, and was forced to rush right back in a moment later and grab a phone. Then, he and his brothers made their way into the sewer tunnels to search for their missing brother.
----
A/N: I want to thank you guys for reviewing...I appreciate it so much! Your comments are very helpful, and it makes writing this stuff even more rewarding. Stay tuned!