"Donatello! Inside!"

I stopped at the sound of Sensei's voice. I had gone to grab an ice pack for my side and was passing by Sensei's room on my way to talk to Mikey. "Sensei, I-" I began, but he cut me off and repeated his command. Defeated, I bowed my head and went into his room, closing the door behind me.

"Kneel." I walked over to him and followed his orders. I could feel his stern eyes on me, but I didn't dare look up. "Long have we known of Raphael's tendency towards violence," he told me. "But you have always been one to value the strength of the mind, not the body. It does not matter to me who 'started' it or whose fault it is; I only wish to know the truth behind why you and your brother have come to blows, and why Michelangelo appears the worse for wear."

I gulped quietly. I still didn't see any of this as my fault, since I didn't do anything… but what would he say when he learns that I had just let Raphael go out? "They went out," I finally replied. "Raph and Mikey. After you turned in, Raph said he needed a breath of fresh air. They invited me along, but I wanted to finish cleaning up after dinner. They got back a couple of hours later, and Mikey was badly hurt. Raph said it was the F…."

I trailed off, not really wanting to tell Splinter about the Foot's possible involvement. Still, I already started, and I'm a pretty terrible liar. "He thinks the Foot Clan is involved. They were wearing their symbols and Raph claims they were goaded into a fight. But we know Raph; he never needs much motivation to start beating on someone he doesn't like."

The last words left my mouth rather bitterly. I looked up to see that Splinter's eyes were downcast. He was no doubt processing the information about the Foot's reemergence. It surprised me, then, when he said, "And so I am to gather that Raphael had no motivation to engage you in combat?"

"He pushed me!" I blurted out. "He was hassling Mikey—at this hour—and I was trying to pull him away. But then he—"
"Silence!" I snapped my mouth shut at Splinter's command. "As I have said, I do not care who started the physical aspect of the fight. What matters is that there was a fight. You allowed yourself to succumb to anger, a trait that you yourself have regarded with disdain within Raphael. And in the process, you managed to cause a potentially serious injury to your already-wounded brother."

As I looked down again in shame, Splinter sighed deeply. "I did not expect Leonardo's absence to go by without any sort of complications. Nor did I expect for you to become another Leonardo. Your strengths—as do your brothers'—lie elsewhere, hence why the four of you work exceedingly well with one another. But just because this team is broken, do not accept that the bonds between you must be so. You are still brothers, and you owe it to the rest of your family to behave as you always have. It is your temperance and intelligence that must now lead them, Donatello—not someone else's anger and pride."

That was it? His wise advice? Be yourself? I found myself annoyed by my own cynicism, deciding that my reaction to his words only proved him right. "Yes, Master Splinter," I told him. "I apologize for my rashness. May I go check in on Mikey now?"

Splinter excused me, and I scampered out of the room. What was I supposed to think about that? Stay the same? Never change? When every other aspect of our life has changed, I was supposed to react by simply keeping my face buried in a computer? I would have kicked something in my frustration, but the pain in my side reminded me that I already did.

Peering in through the open door of Mikey's room, I called, "Mikey?" I had helped him back onto the bed after Raphael stormed off. After the beating he took and getting squashed underneath Raph's shell, I fully expected him to be asleep.

I was surprised when I saw his head move in the darkness. "Hn? Oh, hi Donnie." I stepped into the room, careful not to stumble over any of his mess. "Splinter chew you out?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Kinda. He told me that he doesn't expect me to be another Leo… yet he still implied that it was up to me to be the leader. I'm starting to think that he's not thinking too clearly in his old age."

"Haw," Mikey laughed. "How much you willing to give me to make sure that he never knows you said that?" I responded with a quiet laugh as I approached his bed.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," I told him. "Really, I didn't mean for Raph to fall on top of you like that. You should have stayed in bed instead of trying to save my shell. I was doing fine."

"Shucks," he murmured, "I thought you was the smart one, Donnie." Though I doubt that he could see my quizzical expression in the darkness, he explained, "Getting a muscle-bound maniac thrown at me isn't what hurt. What hurt was seeing the two of you fight. That's why I got up. I didn't care so much who was winning or losing. I just wanted the two of you to stop."

His words made me feel ashamed once again. Some temporary leader I turned out to be. Leonardo's gone less than twenty-four hours longer than we had anticipated, and I'm already meeting Raphael on his level, upsetting Michelangelo in the process. With a sigh, I reach out and gingerly pat his head. "You're a good kid, Mikey."

"I've got my moments," he confessed.

Withdrawing from him, I said, "I guess I should be the bigger turtle and try to make amends with the hothead, huh? Any idea where he ran off to?" He didn't answer me for a long time. "Mikey?" I thought he had fallen asleep, but it seemed like he took my inquiring voice as something else.

"Sorry Donnie," he replied meekly. "He wanted to know." I asked him what he was talking about. He answered, "I told him that I overheard the Foot saying that they had a base in Battery Park-" It seemed like he was going to say more, but I didn't stick around to listen. Even as he called out my name, I sped out of the room.

There was no way I was going to let another brother get hurt tonight.

Going to the headquarters of an old enemy by yourself in the middle of the night is stupid.

And that was exactly how I knew where Raph was. As I zipped across the rooftops in an impromptu recon attempt, I ignored my sleepiness and the growing aches and pains that Raphael had just imparted on me. Why am I doing this again? Oh right. Because Sensei will shame me into an early grave if I just stood back and let something happen to Raphael.

Scaling a particularly large building, I realized that this was hardly the case. I'm out here because Raph—despite the fact that we couldn't be more different if we tried—was my brother. And he's been beaten into an unconscious pulp by the Foot Clan before. And that was back when we had Leo, Mikey, and Casey fighting with us, with April watching over him. Yeah, there's not much that he's going to be able to-

When I reached my hand out for the ledge of the roof, I was surprised to feel a strong hand grip my arm. Before I could even cry out, I'm pulled over the ledge and end up slamming onto the ground. Dazed, I roll over to face my attacker. Surprise, surprise, it's Raph.

I jumped to my feet and unsheathed my bo. He laughs at me, though there's not a shred of humor in it. "Nice, little boy," he told me. "Came to get me in a new arena and without a referee?"

"Well done, Raphael," I remarked, steadying myself in a defensive position. "You got me angry. Got me to shake off my caution and actually fight you. You got what you wanted. Was it worth getting Mikey hurt?"

"Hey!" Raphael barked out. "You're actin' like I planned on gettin' ambushed! I'm tellin' ya, it ain't my fault! Mikey coulda called for help, he coulda run away; but he didn't."

"So you're rubbing off on him," I interrupted, already knowing that I was being too aggressive for my own good. "Fantastic. Are you going to teach him how to make life a living hell for everyone around him, too?"

With that, Raphael withdrew his sai. "Okay, buddy boy," he snarled. "It's gettin' pretty clear that I didn't hurt ya bad enough before and ya came to look for a rematch."

"What a shocker, but you're wrong," I told him through gritted teeth. "I came looking for you to make sure that I don't have to end up performing surgery on you in the morning. That is, if we can find all of the pieces of you after the Foot's through."

"What, you think I can't handle myself?"

"What qualifies as 'handling yourself,' Raph?" I asked, noticing that he had begun to try to circle around me. Countering his movement, I pressed on. "Is it something like the way you handled Mikey? Or is it like the way you handled the Foot on April's rooftop all those years ago? How many days were you unconscious, O Reckless One?"

"That was a long time ago!" Raphael broke in, pointing one of his sai at me. "You've got a lot 'a nerve bringin' that up, nerd boy! I don't remember you doin' too good against them back then, either!"

"Considering the beating you took, it's a miracle you remember anything at all!" It took an extraordinary amount of willpower to keep my voice from rising, but I could already catch some of my words bouncing off into the night. "A severe memory lapse may just be at the root of all of your problems; it would certainly explain why you insist on going out and repeating the same mistakes twice in one night."

"My only mistake," Raphael said lowly, "was goin' easy on ya in Mikey's room. And trust me, I learned from that one real quick."

With that, he lunged at me. I wanted to hit him across the face with my bo, to just watch as I drew some blood or at least struck him senseless. Remembering Splinter's words to me, though, I opted for my more customary defensive moves and leapt away from him. "Raph," I told him as he continued to make for me. "If I have to immobilize you to get you to come back home with me and drop this craziness, then I won't hesitate to do so."

He laughed again even as he continually swung at me with his sai, forcing me to constantly jump back. "Really? What ya gonna do? Dope me up 'n carry me home?"

His eyes widened as he felt a sudden pinch on his arm. He didn't see me take out a small needle from a case in my belt until I had already jabbed him with it. "Congratulations, Raph," I tell him quietly. "For once in your life, you're absolutely right."

As I pulled the needle out, he blinked at me in both rage and shock. "Y… ya wouldn't," he stuttered. "Ya… did ya just… what the hell did ya stick in me?!"

"I'd tell you the name, but there's no way you'd remember it," I said as I put the needle away and sheathed my bo. "To put it simply, it's a very diluted tranquilizer. It won't put you out, since I'd much rather not carry you all the way home. But you're going to feel way too woozy to give me much trouble."

"Oh," Raphael growled, "if that's what ya think, then you'd better pray that it starts workin' soon." He made for me again, but I easily sidestepped him as he tripped over his own feet. Moaning on the floor, he released his grip on his sai.

"I don't have to pray," I tell him simply, moving to help him up. "I just let science take its course. Come on, Raph. You'll feel better once we're home and you're snoring away in your bed."

He let me pull him part of the way up, but stopped suddenly, his eyes looking past me. Not putting it past him to try and get me to turn around just so he can get a cheap shot in, I continued my attempts to get him up. I stopped when he spoke up. "Somethin's tellin' me that neither of us are gonna be snorin' in bed for a while, Donnie."

Confused, I spared a glance behind me. That's when I stopped attempting to get Raphael to his feet. "Oh, crap," I muttered as I saw the dozen or so Foot ninjas that had gathered behind me.

With a loud grunt, Raphael took his sai and staggered to his feet. Shaking his head, he reproachfully told me, "Ya couldn't wait just a couple more minutes before shootin' me up with your crazy drugs, could ya? Ya couldn't just fight like a turtle instead 'a takin' the easy 'scientific' way out, could ya?!"

"Technically," I replied, getting my bo out once again, "turtles are known for their defensive postures rather than offensive, so I was fighting like a turtle."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped. "Point is, if I get my shell waxed, this is your fault!"

"Right," I returned. "Because I'm sure that, if you were fully conscious, you could take on twelve Foot ninjas all on your own." Another shadowy figure jumped onto the rooftop, seemingly from nowhere. "Make that thirteen."

"A group that is so skilled in ninjutsu," said an unfamiliar female voice, "should be better trained in the areas of stealth. Your clan leader would be most dishonored."

"Since when did the Foot start takin' in chicks?" Raphael asked. "Or were they just that desperate for applications after the Shredder got his tin butt kicked to Hurtsville?"

"Raph," I interceded quietly, "not the best time to make chauvinistic remarks." When the woman withdrew a long straight sword and walked towards us, I mentioned, "See?"

"The Shredder was a great leader," she insisted patiently as she walked into the moonlight. "And where he fell, I have risen. You and your companions opened the door to his downfall. As such, it will be the first order of the newly-reformed Foot Clan to eliminate you, starting with your decrepit rat."

"Let me guess," Raphael remarked. "This is the part where ya tell us that if we don't tell ya where the rest of us are, you're gonna make us wish we were never born. Thanks, lady, but until the bad guys can come up with more original offers, I don't suggest ya wastin' ya breath." Despite his haughty exterior, I could tell that Raph's voice was starting to get a little garbled. The tranquilizer was working. I was only thankful that I made sure it was a very weak concentration and should wear off in the twenty minutes or so that it would have taken us to get home.

"What I have come to 'offer," she continued in her strangely calm tone, "is something of a temporary truce. I have received word that two of yours attacked my men earlier tonight. Since our business does not yet concern you, I would rather you stay out of our way. In return, we will not kill you where you stand."

Raphael laughed again. Thanks, Brother Dearest—I'm really looking forward to what happens when this woman snaps. "Yeah right," he told her. "We're just gonna stand back and let ya gather your strength so that when your business does 'concern us,' you can go ahead 'n annihilate us before we know what happened. I don't know about Mr. Second-in-Command here, but I prefer to see death comin' from a long way off. What do ya say, Donnie?"

"Me?" I laughed nervously. "Oh, I don't know. Personally, I'd rather not die at all." With that, I threw down a handful of smoke pellets that I had discreetly gotten out. Before Raph knew what was going on, I grabbed his arm and pulled him away, jumping for the next building over.

I didn't know how far we would be able to make it with Raph drugged up and thirteen ninjas on our tails, but I was determined to at least try to get away.