A/N: Thanks once again to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me. And thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far. Happy holidays, everyone!

Disclaimer: see chapter one

"Leo?"

Leonardo looked up at the speaker when he heard his little brother's voice.

"Yes, Mikey?" he asked.

"Is Raph really looking for us?" Michelangelo asked quietly.

Leonardo frowned slightly. He was confused about why Michelangelo was asking such a question. "Of course he is," he answered confidently without any hesitation. "We just have to be patient and wait." He looked down at his bandaged arm. "He'll come."

"But, we were mean to him," Michelangelo pointed out.

Donatello sighed. "Mikey, that's the fear talking," he reasoned. "Alfredson put us in containers larger than last time because he knew it would take a longer time for Raph to find us. We have enough air to last us until Raph gets here, don't worry."

Michelangelo hummed in thought, but didn't say anything else. He just curled up into a ball and closed his eyes; willing himself to sleep.

Raphael swallowed hard as he watched Purple Dragons walk in and out of their warehouse base. Somewhere among that throng of humans was the next clue to where his brothers were being kept. He was just glad he wasn't going to have to sing to get the next clue, but hopefully he would be able to punch something or someone; preferably someone.

Dressed once again in his human clothes, Raphael climbed out of the Battle Shell and cautiously made his way over to the front door. He held up his hand in the standard three-fingered salute and the guard allowed him to pass. Keeping his head down, Raphael walked inside and headed over to the far corner and willed himself to disappear into the shadows as he watched some of the men fight in the wrestling ring in the center of the room. He felt his body begin to tense; even being in the presence of these humans was grating on his nerves.

A call went out for another round and Raphael seriously considered joining in on the fight; but he had work to do and he had no idea of where he would even begin to start looking for the next clue.

Maybe the next clue ain't even here, Raphael thought bitterly as he watched the next match begin.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hun walk into the room, and his fists instantly clenched together in white knuckled fury as his anger rose to dangerous levels when he saw Hun hold up Donatello's mask to show one of the other Dragons. Raphael pushed off of the wall and began striding over to where Hun was standing; however, before he reached Hun, Raphael forced himself to stop as some tiny sliver of reason managed to permeate his mind.

He knew that if he attacked Hun now, he would blow his cover and have the entire Purple Dragons gang on top of him; and even with his skills there was no way he would be able to fight off the entire gang by himself without wasting what little precious amount of time he had left.

Think about it logically, Raphael silently coaxed himself. Just like Donny. What would Donny do? He paused. What would Donny do? he asked himself.

Hun tucked the mask into his pocket; luckily some of the mask still hung out. Raphael followed Hun to the bleachers and took a seat behind Shredder's right hand man. Carefully, Raphael slipped out a sai and hid it under his jacket sleeve. While everyone else had their attention on the fight, Raphael slowly reached out and hooked the tip of his sai through the eye hole of the mask. He held his breath as he slid the mask out of Hun's pocket and waited to see if the man had noticed.

Raphael went to pull his hand back, but Hun suddenly grabbed his wrist, yanked the mask off of the sai, and threw him over his shoulder and onto the floor in front of the entire gang. The match in the ring instantly stopped as everyone turned to see what was happening. Raphael groaned as he pushed himself up off the floor. Hun grabbed the back of his jacket, lifted him to his feet and pulled back the hood of his jacket. The gang all gasped in surprise.

"Thought you could sneak in without my noticing, huh?" Hun asked, pushing Raphael back to the floor.

The turtle growled as he slowly got to his feet. He turned to face his most annoying enemy. Hun chuckled when he saw the look of rage on Raphael's face.

"Looking for this?" the human inquired, holding up the mask with the next clue tied to it.

"Hands off my brother's mask, Hun," Raphael snarled threateningly as he pulled out his other sai.

Hun grinned evilly. "I don't think so, Freak," he said, making Raphael's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Your friend, Alfredson dropped by earlier tonight," Hun explained.

"Did he now?" Raphael asked, flexing his fingers around the hilts of his sais.

"He told me you'd be looking for this, and to make sure you got it," Hun continued.

Raphael huffed. "How nice of him," he muttered sarcastically.

Hun's grin widened. "Yes, however he failed to mention how you were supposed to get it."

Raphael's eyes darted around. Already he was surrounded and all of his exits were blocked off. Raphael took several deep breaths and prepared himself for the impending fight. He turned his attention back to Hun.

"All I want is the mask, Hun," he stated. "Hand it over and no one gets hurt."

Hun laughed darkly. "Oh, but someone is going to get hurt," he replied as his Dragons closed in. "And that someone is you."

Raphael growled low in his chest, he really didn't have time for this. He jumped and kicked two Dragons that got the brilliant idea of charging him. After that first attack, he was swarmed. Raphael lashed out at anyone who got too close. He jumped, landed on one man's shoulders, grabbed the back of his shirt and flipped over his back, throwing the man into two more Dragons that came charging at him. Raphael let out a snarl of frustration when he saw Hun take a few steps back to allow his men better access to the fight.

More Dragons went down, but several more took their place. Hun made no attempt to intervene. Raphael continued to fight back, but his energy was beginning to wane. He only had one shot at getting that mask and he was going to have to take it, and soon. Raphael looked over his shoulder to see a Dragon coming at him from behind. He then swung his head around to see three more charging at him from the front and sides. Raphael jumped into the air, allowing the men to crash into each other. He landed on the pile and pushed off, sailing over the heads of the other Dragons. Raphael landed on another man's shoulders and jumped again, throwing himself at Hun.

Hun brought his fist up and slammed it into his stomach. Raphael collapsed in a painful heap on the floor. He curled into a ball, wrapped his arms around his stomach and gasped for air. Hun chuckled as he watched Raphael squirm and fight to breathe. Hun reached down and grabbed the back of Raphael's jacket, pulling him to his knees.

"So sorry you didn't get to your brothers in time, Reptile. I'll tell them you said 'hi'," Hun hissed in Raphael's ear.

"No thanks," Raphael said. "I'll tell them myself."

He brought his sai up and hit the butt of the hilt in between Hun's eyes. Hun released his grip on the jacket and fell back. Raphael jumped to his feet and bolted for the front door. He looked down at the mask clenched tightly in his hand. He smiled in satisfaction and looked over his shoulder to see the Purple Dragons chasing after him as he ran from the building. His satisfaction was short lived when he heard the sound of squealing tires and then everything erupted in a swirling mass of excruciating pain and enveloping darkness.

Raphael found himself sprawled out upon the pavement. He groaned as he slowly pushed himself up, but quickly bit back a cry as pain shot through his legs. He gasped when he could barely move his legs. Raphael let out a choked breath and looked down. He couldn't see any immediate injury, but when he went to touch the part of his leg where the pain was radiating from, his hand came back wet with crimson blood. He quickly pulled the hood further up over his head when people began to gather around him. Someone ran up to him and dropped to their knees.

"I am so sorry," the man apologized. "I didn't see you crossing the street."

I got hit by a car? Raphael asked himself in stunned disbelief. He was really out of it tonight.

"I'll call an ambulance," the man offered, going for his cell phone.

Raphael grabbed the man's wrist. "No," he said, his voice strained. "I'm fine."

However, when he tried to move his legs he let out a strangled cry. This couldn't be happening; not now. Not when he was so close. This couldn't be where it ended; he had to get to his brothers, they were running out of time. Raphael took several deep calming breaths as he forced movement back into his mangled legs.

Mind over matter, he thought. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. I'm not going down like this.

Raphael bit his tongue as he finally managed to get to his feet gradually. Everyone around him stared at him with disbelieving gazes, but he didn't care. Raphael looked down at the man who had struck him.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," Raphael said calmly, clearly lying, but he didn't care at this point; his brothers were more important then his own wellbeing.

"But...I..." the man started worriedly.

Raphael placed a hand on his shoulder. "It was an accident, I'm fine. If it'll make you feel any better I'll check myself into a hospital. But I really have to go."

He sluggishly limped back to the Battle Shell and, with great difficulty he climbed into the back. He gasped for breath as he collapsed into one of the chairs in the back. He rummaged around until he found the first aid kit and pulled out a roll of bandages and a bottle of painkillers. He pulled off the pants and tossed them on to the floor. Raphael hissed when he saw the state his legs were in. Blood oozed out of large gashes that had been torn into the flesh of his lower thighs and calves, where the car had hit him.

"Mind over matter, Raph," he told himself as he bandaged up his legs, knowing that he probably needed stitches as the blood slowly seeped through the stark white of the bandages.

When he was done, he tied the bandages off and threw the roll on to the floor. He opened the bottle of painkillers and shook out two pills into his hand, tossing them into his mouth and swallowing them dry. He then pulled out his genius brother's mask and untied the piece of paper from the amethyst fabric. With shaking fingers he unfolded the paper and read the clue.

I make you weak at the worst of all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,
I visit the weak, but seldom the bold.

What am I?

Raphael laid his head against his hands and panted for breath. He was clearly going into shock, but he didn't have time for it.

"It's, uh...uh..."

Raphael took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcing himself to calm down and focus on the clue. Why was he shaking so much?

"Fear," he breathed. "It's fear."

But, what was he most afraid of? Failing his brothers? That was a given, but it didn't help. This entire time he had been fighting his greatest fear, the Grim Reaper. And where did people go when they finally crossed paths with the Reaper? And the place where the Grim Reaper's victims were laid to rest...

The cemetery.

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