Night time! You know what that means!

After anxiously waiting, Donnie, Mikey, and Leo leap over the turnstiles to go get Raph at night. They zip through the sewers and up a manhole. When they are safe in the shadows of an alley, Donnie looks at his t-phone. "Okay, this way." Leo lets him lead to find Raph quicker. "Stop." Mikey almost hits Donnie's shell when he does.

"What is it Don?" Leo asks, on full alert.

"Uh, he's in the next alley."

"Whoo hoo! Alright! We found him!" Donnie puts a hand in front of Mikey to stop him.

"I wouldn't rush into this, his tracker says he's here, but the sound.." the three turtles listen and hear, nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least. There's no fight noises, no yelling, and no fist/sai on brick. Not even Raph's snoring can be heard.

"I'll go first," Leo says. The other two stay on the rooftop as he climbs down, staying in the shadows. He looks around. The alley seems empty. "Don!" He calls up, "Are you sure?" Donnie takes a second to check before nodding down to his elder. Leo looks around in confusion. But then he spots a faint flashing light behind a dumpster.

He sprints over and moves the obstacle. "Did you find him?" Mikey asks as he drops to the concrete. Donnie appears next to him. Leo just stares at what he found.

"Guys.." he says, "I think, I think he was..."

"What Leo?" Donnie asks. Being taller, Donnie looks over his shell. And he sees Raph's t-phone, sais, mask, grappling hook, and various knives he leaves hidden on his person at all times. And if he counted correctly, it's all of them. A brown paper bag blows away by the wind, showing all his gear in a heap.

"Guys?" Mikey asks, "Is he okay?"

"Uhh," Leo stalls, not able to look away from the obvious blood splatter on the ground. But he manages to look back at Mikey. He's going to be devastated when he finds out.

"We don't know Mikey," Donnie answers, setting a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder.

"I wanna see!" Mikey pushes through them and then freezes. The older brothers watch as he face falls slowly, realizing what had occurred.

"...Mikey, we think he was-"

"N-No, don't you say it!" Mikey says, whirling around. "He wasn't turtle-napped! He couldn't be! He would've beat them. He always does!" Mikey rants. Leo sighs and hugs Mikey.

"We don't know how it happened, Otouto, but we know he's out there. We'll find him, together." Mikey cries and nods into Leo's plastron. "Let's go home." Leo looks to the purple turtle, "Unless you have another way to-"

"No Leo, I have no clue where to begin."

"Okay. Then home it is." They find a nearby manhole and head through the sewers, without their hot-headed brother.

Raph stares holes into Slash as he walks back into the room. He sets the mace against the corner on the other side of the room and sits next to it. Raph just glares the entire time. Neither of them speak, and the silence becomes thicker than the walls of the room.

Finally, Slash can't take it, "Why can't you understand, Raphael? Why can't you understand what I'm doing?"

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Slash," Raph says, spitting the name, "I understand you mutated yourself to destroy my brothers. I understand that you turtle-napped me to be your lousy stinkin' pet. I understand-"

"NO!" Raph looks at Slash, who is now on his feet. He immediately cranks Raph into the air before he can take in what is happening. Raph yelps at the sudden pain in his wrists. Slash is a few inches away from his face. "I wanted to free you! Free you from your brothers. They were holding you back, Raphael. You couldn't be who you truly are with them around." Raph looks at him, still in pain from the jerk upwards. He thinks of something to say, and Leo crosses his mind.

'He would probably say something corny and heroic,' Raph sees Slash, and smirks. "Do I look free to you?" He asks, calmly. Slash is taken aback. Raph didn't yell in his face, or try to kick him. He takes it as a good sign and smiles.

"I see you aren't as feisty as before." Raph frowns, also not getting the response he was expecting. "I'm glad. Less noise." He lets Raph down, slowly. Raph grasps his wrists, hissing from the shackle burns he received from the previous sudden action.

"You want to free me, so you lock me in chains? This isn't freedom. If you want me to be free, let me leave."

"I can't do that. I still have something to finish." Slash picks up his mace and walks out, "Try to get some sleep, Raphael. You need it."

Aw! They didn't find him. Well, at least he still has his spirit with him. Being able to talk back to Slash like that. Takes guts.