Sorry for the long wait! Been busy lately, especially with work. Thanks to everyone who have been reading, following, reviewing and faving this story!

CHAPTER TWELVE

"So, every time a mission was activated, I couldn't stop until it was done," Raph explained, running alongside Donnie with ease in his robotic suit, "But whenever I saw the words 'target acquired' I changed the suit's measurements from inches to centimeters, and then I could miss the target accidentally! But it only worked if I was quick enough-"

Donnie's head spun as he tried to keep up his speed while marveling over Raph's sudden technical skills, which apparently, had all been learned through trial and error.

"…And I booked you a hotel in Tokyo before I figured out how to work the stupid website," Raph said, "I almost cancelled it but I thought, heh, why not? Could throw ol' Bishop off guard. So I booked fifteen more hotels."

"Um, Raph," said Donnie, finally spotting the roof of the hotel, "how exactly did you pay for my hotel room?"

"Not sure," said Raph, "Found it out by accident. Sometimes this Utrom suit goes faster than you think."

"Hm," said Don, wondering what his brother meant.

They finally arrived at the hotel, and Donnie carefully entered first.

To his disappointment, it was empty. The brothers were nowhere in sight.

"Just great," said Raph, coming in behind Donnie, "They probably went out looking fer ya. Want me to call them on the shellcell?"

"Not yet, they could be out in the open," Donnie said, "Oh, wait! They don't even have shellcells. Theirs were destroyed by Bishop. We'd better wait here until they get back."

"Sounds good to me," said Raph, heading for the closest bed, "I'm going for a quick snooze. Haven't slept in days."

Donnie sighed, and sat down on the other bed.

"Fine," he said. Suddenly he was aware that Raph was already asleep, looking strangely different as he slept inside the suit.

Don looked with interest at the small pad of paper and the pen on the hotel desk, and began thinking.

"…So you see, Master Splinter," Leo finished, accepting the tea that his Master was handing him, "We thought that Donnie would have come here to April's. And that's why we snuck in."

"Hm," said Master Splinter thoughtfully, "I have been hiding here at April's since I realized that the sewers were compromised, but I have not seen Donatello."

"I hope he's alright," said April, pouring some more tea, "We were so worried about him when they locked down the city."

"Maybe he went off to search for Raphie alone," Mikey suggested.

"That's a good possibility," Leo frowned, "But that would be very rash, since he's currently being hunted down by that evil guard. The same guard who will probably come after us too once Bishop learns that we've escaped."

"Yes," said Master Splinter, "But did you not tell me that Donatello aided your escape? He even went to the Foot clan and made a deal with Karai to gain information. Indeed, he has been acting very rash lately, and that has probably been what kept him safely out of Bishop's hands."

"And after dealing with Karai," April said, "Don probably assumes that he can rescue Raphael despite the guard."

"Well," said Leo, "If that's why he disappeared, why wouldn't he take us with him?"

"Maybe he thinks the guard thinks he's dead, and he's the only one who can sneak past him," Mikey said, confusing everyone in the room for half a second with his amazing logic, "After all, Raph told you that the computer said Donnie'd been shot, right?"

"But that wasn't lethal, it was a tranquilizer dart," Leo said, "Donnie knew that, and so did the guard. So that brings us back to square one: why would he just leave the hotel room in the middle of the night?"

"Simple, Leonardo," Master Splinter said, "He chose to rescue your brother alone."

"Okay," said Leo, "So Donnie went to rescue Raph without us. Why leave so soon after rescuing us from Bishop?"

"Isn't that obvious?" April asked, "He probably thought you were exhausted."

"No, it's more than that," said Mikey in realization, "Donnie knows something is up, and that he has to move fast."

"That still doesn't make much sense," said Leo, "How would he know something is up?"

"Perhaps Raphael told him," Master Splinter said, "You mentioned that you have had contact with your brother."

"That could be it," said April.

"Hey, if Don can call Raph, maybe we can too!" Mikey suggested.

"Master Splinter, do you still have your shellcell?" Leo asked, turning to Splinter.

"Unfortunately, I do not," he responded, "In my haste to leave the sewers, I had to leave everything behind."

"So, what can we do to help Don?" Leo asked, looking at Master Splinter.

"We wait," said Splinter firmly, "We are all still being targeted by Bishop, and it would not be wise to roam the streets until we know what we are doing and where we are going."

"And…when do we stop waiting?" Mikey asked.

"When it is time." said Splinter.

Leo, Mikey and April all huffed quietly with impatience.

Bishop surveyed what was visible of the city as he stepped off the plane. Which was very little, considering that he had arrived in the middle of the night.

"Status," he demanded, his hands behind his back.

"The upload should be complete by now," someone unimportant explained, "The subject should currently be waiting for you in the designated area of the command center."

"You don't know for certain?" Bishop asked.

"No sir. The cameras throughout the building have been on a continuous loop since before the prisoners escaped."

"Then get me to the command center." Bishop growled.

"Certainly, sir. The car is waiting right over here."

Bishop followed the lackey to an inconspicuous black car-a vehicle so inconspicuous and spotless, that it was almost conspicuous. Almost.

He contained his emotions for almost the entire ride to the building. In retrospect, it had been foolish to leave the entire building with only Raphael to guard it as he searched for the elusive Donatello. Then again, he certainly had not anticipated the recent change of events.

Bishop scowled, letting a little bit of his emotions show. He had left Raphael all alone, and sometime when he was alone the turtle had discovered a loophole through the intricate system he had devised. Now the other two turtles were missing, and he had to retrieve them. Or he could potentially trick them into destroying Raphael for him, thereby solving this current problem.

But first things first. Raphael had to be dealt with, and full control regained. Chances were high that the turtle didn't even realize what he was doing, or the damage he was causing to Bishop's operations. Internally, Bishop berated himself. He should have known better than to make the suit using Utrom technology.

As soon as he had Raphael back under his full control, it would only be a small matter to find the other three turtles. Once he had all four, he could finally begin his revenge. Ideas of what he would do briefly floated through his head like bits and pieces of data flowing across a computer. Different types of torture, different kinds of tests. He even had a vague idea to order his men to build more suits like Raphael's and use them on the other turtles. However, the suit would need more testing first, especially due to this current disaster. As it was, only the most physically strong could handle the power of the suit without succumbing to it. That was why he had chosen Raphael in the first place-because he was the strongest of the turtles. Besides, if Raphael could be physically contained by the suit, then no one else could possibly have a chance against it.

Finally, after what was certainly too long a time, they reached the command center. Bishop made a small mental note to demote the driver.

"Scout the area and report back to me," Bishop commanded those with him, getting out of the vehicle, "I'm going to attend to the subject."

Calmly, Bishop walked into the building, noting the damage done to the walls from a recent battle. He used his ID card to enter, and then walked to the designated room.

"I hope you've learned your lesson, Raphael," he scowled as he opened the door.

There was no one on the other side.

Bishop stood still, shock evident on his face. Then it turned to anger.

"This isn't supposed to happen," he growled, "This is impossible."

He turning around and headed back towards the door he had entered.

"The area is secure, sir." Someone informed him, but he ignored it.

"Will someone tell me why the prisoner is not in the room?" he demanded.

Those closest to him looked at one another with concern.

"If I may," one of them suggested warily, "The only possible way he could have avoided the programming is if he did not completely download the packet we sent him."

"So, either he obtained administrator privileges or he found some other loophole," another lackey suggested, pulling out a laptop, "I'm going to immediately investigate the packet we sent him for loopholes."

"He's not that technologically savvy, is he?" asked someone else, pulling out his own laptop, "The error might lie within the Utrom technology and its interpretation of the packet we sent."

"I don't know how he managed to avoid the system, and I don't care," Bishop said, "What I do want is full control of the suit before another project goes down the drain. So find the turtle, or you're all fired!"

Raphael awoke with a start, jumping up to a defensive stance. Unfortunately, that stance was on unsteady ground, and he promptly fell back. He bounced off the ground somehow and landed on the hardwood floor. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had just fallen off the bed, and that Donatello had apparently seen the whole thing.

Donnie smirked, trying hard not to laugh. "Nice one, Raph." he said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Raphael said, embarrassed, "You try waking up in this thing without thinkin' ya need to fight."

Raph quickly scanned the room, both with his eyes and the suit.

"They're not back yet," he said, "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough," Donnie said, rearranging some of the paper's on the desk in front of him.

"So, should we go look for them?" Raph asked.

"Possibly," Donnie said, "But maybe not. We need to stay here and keep you hidden, and they know enough not to trigger one of Bishop's traps. Besides, as soon as Leo loses enough sleep searching for me, they'll come right back here to rest."

"Then can you take this thing offa me?" Raph asked.

"Don't you want to wait until after we've chased Bishop out of the city first?" Donnie smiled mischievously.

"Hm, ya got a point there," Raph said.

"And a plan too, as soon as our brothers get back," Donnie said, gesturing to the pieces of paper on the desk.

"Good ol' Donatello," Raph said, walking over to Donnie so that he could survey the plain his brother had laid out. "Hey, this kinda looks like something I might do."

"Yeah, well, I've learned a few things about thinking outside the box lately," Donnie said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment at the compliment.

"Heh heh, I can't wait to try this one out," Raphael said, cracking the knuckles of his suit, "This will be more fun than…" Suddenly he paused, and his hands fell to his sides.

"Raph?" Donnie asked, turning around, "Raphael, are you alright?"

"Fine," said Raphael curtly. His breath came in small, short spurts, as if he had just run a difficult exercise, "Nothing to worry about, Don."

"Are you sure?" Donnie asked, "That was weird, Raph."

"Yeah," said Raphael, sitting down on the bed, "Happens every once in a while, nothing big. But I've got some bad news."

"Alright…" Donatello said warily.

"It's Bishop," said Raph curtly, "He's back."