Klunk's Missing

Chapter 9: Mistake

By ilovemyboys

RAPH'S POV:

" WHAT!" Leo exclaimed on the other end.

"I don't know what happened! I must have dozed off when he left…" I growled, annoyed at myself for making such a stupid mistake.

"Well we have to find him! Who knows what he could get into in his condition!"

"Right. Where should I meet you?" I asked.

"We'll meet you. We're not too far off," Leo's urgent voice ended the call.

CLICK.

Great. How could I do something so stupid! I let an injured brother out of my sight for one second and now he's gone! What goes into that bone head's head anyway!

I quickly got up and waited outside the lair for the others. They soon came and I met up with them as we started at a sprint through the tunnels.

We could all feel it in the air.

That tension…

That uneasiness…

And it's all my fault. Although they didn't show it in their expressions, I could feel that bitternessin the air. Especially from Leo.

How could I do that?

We continued sprinting. Leo was in the lead as me and Don followed after him. Don was trying to track Mikey with his Shell Cell but Mikey must have turned it off.

Why doesn't he want to be found?

DON'S POV:

As we ran through tunnel after tunnel, I prayed and hoped he would decide to turn it on. I was so expectant of this I kept looking back at the tracker every 30 seconds.

Huh. Like that would do any good. It's in desperate times as these my normally scientific mind does the most unscientific thing.

It panics.

Sure I was panicky, but at least I wasn't on the verge of completely loosing it like Leo. We've been having trouble staying on target lately. All of us have our distractions. Mikey's got his video games and comics, and overall a lack of enthusiasm for doing anything serious. Raph's been especially angry at the Purple Dragons and other thugs in the closest neighborhood to us that have been causing a lot of trouble to innocent civilians, but with Master Splinter being out of town and the toll we've been taking in nonstop battles, he wanted us to take a break. Raph? Take a break? From fighting? Yeah. Not gonna happen. Leo of course, playing the Fearless Leader, had been getting into even more fights than usual with Raph over this. I don't know why it got to Raph so much. The Purple Dragons are always causing trouble. But something about that neighborhood held a place in his heart. Maybe it was that old lady he helped, or the fact that Casey and Angel grew up around there. Casey's the only reason Leo could even stop Raph from going out, knowing that hothead was taking them out himself. Speaking of Raph. I hope he's okay. I was mad at him at first for not watching Mikey, but then almost kicked myself for not being aware of the situation. Raph never shows weakness. But even more so, he'll always put us before himself. He probably just wanted to make sure Mikey got all the care he needed. Yet, he could very well be injured pretty bad himself. I mean, I looked him over, but you never know. It could be an emotional or psychological aspect I didn't look into.

I let out a sigh.

Then you have me. After talking with the Professor over some Cosmo ethereal equations, I couldn't help but get excited and have been analyzing my own theories. The Professor graciously let me borrow some Utrom technology that helped him with some of his research, which I, of course, jumped at the chance at actually being able to use! I…a teenage mutant ninja turtle got to use ALIEN technology for nonviolent purposes! I mean, come on! That doesn't happen every day! The technology itself is so beyond what any human-oh. Ahem. So anyway…that's been on my mind a lot, so I've been distracted as well. Leo, of course, has been, well…Leo. But ever since that fight with the Shredder he's been harder on all of us. Especially on himself.

Oh man…I just hope we find Mikey…And soon…Come on Mikey, where are you?

LEO'S POV:

I can't believe Raph did that! All he had to do was watch Mikey! It isn't that hard!

After I got off the phone with him I felt livid. I know I shouldn't have. Things like this happen. I also completely forgot Raph got injured too. But he didn't make a big deal out of it, so if he got hurt more than he let on, how was I supposed to know? Yeah right Leo. You know Raph. He never shows weakness. Not even when he gets injured.

I could tell Don was feeling a little uneasy around me as we took off. I don't blame him. I would too. I just don't know why I'm this uptight! Can't have Raph ever hear me say that… I just…know I can do better…And I'm not there. I should be there! Wherever there is. But I'm not…

RAPH'S POV:

Looks like Leo's having one of those inner battles with himself…

"Um…guys?" Don asked. "Where…exactly are we going?"

Leo kept on running, so we did too.

"Anywhere. Anywhere at all," he replied, somewhat automatically.

"Okay…" Don mumbled, his voice showing he was a little irritated.

Haha. Donnie hates going aimlessly somewhere. So does Leo actually. That's weird. Sure, me and Mikey do it all the time but-

"We'll go where me and Don were. Then we'll split up and look from there," Leo said.

"Right," I replied.

Don nodded.

As we made it toward the spot, Leo and Don stopped and I did the same. Then Leo turned to us.

"Before we take our separate ways, everyone make sure your Shell Cell is on."

We all checked.

"Right. One more thing. Raph?"

I looked up from turning my Shell Cell on.

"What?"

"Me and Don found something earlier…"

Don glanced over at Leo.

"What was it?" I asked gruffly.

Leo sighed. "A piece of orange fur…with blood."

I think my heart stopped for a few seconds as it sunk in.

"What?" I asked again, unbelieving what I just heard.

"We don't know for sure," Don added. "But it could very well be Klunk's…" he muttered sadly.

"But we don't know right?" I asked, anger starting to boil up in me.

Why are they drawing conclusions this early!

"Right," Don agreed. Though he seemed to only half believe what he was saying.

"Fine then. So we looking for both Mikey and Klunk?" I asked.

"Mikey's our first priority. If we happen to find Klunk on the way, fine." Leo's voice held an edge to it.

Fine Fearless.

Me and Don nodded, not wanting to make the mood even worse. And set off.

….

As Leo ran through tunnel after tunnel at full speed he finally began to slow down and cursed at himself for using up all of his energy. Finally, all he could do was walk. On occasion he called up the others and asked about any news. Always with the same response: Nothing.

After taking one more turn he decided he needed to stop for a second and catch his breath. As he did so he noticed some bubbles in a pool of water nearby. It looked pretty deep. All kinds of creatures lived down there. Though mostly small, there was that albino croc. Keeping his eyes focused on the movement, he noticed the body of something rising up to the surface. He couldn't tell what it was at first, but as it got out it was clear as day.

A turtle.

Authors Note: Anyone get the "Secret Origins" reference? ^_^