A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I had other fanfictions to update! Anyways, here's the next chapter! SOOOO much editing had to be done before this baby ever saw the light of day!

I hope you enjoy!

I OWN NOTHING. TMNT NOR TOTORO BELONG TO ME.

Part 5: Missing (part 1)

It was another normal day in the Lair for the Heroes in the Half Shell, and they had since simmered down a great deal from their little adventure from the night before, returning to their 'normal' selves, with the obvious exception of Michelangelo, who had remained as hyperactive as per usual.

They had just finished their daily training session with Master Splinter (after he had dished out a good old fashioned 'Randori' on their shells for being late that is) and they proceeded to do whatever tasks they pleased to amuse themselves with until their patrol later on that night. Leonardo had decided to stay in the dojo a little while longer to meditate, whilst Donatello had retreated to his lab to work on the retro mutagen, or that newest instalment to the ShellRaiser he was planning on, which left Raphael and Michelangelo to engage in an epic battle to the death…

"Haha! Prepare yourself, for I will defeat you, you pesky blue hedgehog you!" Mikey laughed maliciously as he bashed the buttons on his game controller in a desperate attempt to beat his challenger, who in turn, laughed sarcastically.

"Ha! Sorry Bowser! But..." Raph then performed a deadly and powerful combo on his enemy, which drained the remainder of his life bar and defeated him almost instantly, "…You're too slow!" he mocked, throwing his controller down triumphantly and proceeding to do a victory dance.

Mikey stared blankly at the screen that flashed 'PLAYER 1 WINS and PLAYER 2 LOSES!' before looking up to his celebrating brother and pouting. "No fair!" he complained, "How do you always beat me?"

"Well, Mikey, if you've gotta know…" Raph said before charging at his younger brother and grabbing him roughly, taking him down to the ground and putting him in an arm lock. "I always beat you because…?" he laughed expectantly.

"Owwww! R-Raphael is all wise and powerful!" Mikey recited reluctantly.

Raph laughed and squeezed Mikey tighter. "Aaand?"

"Ugh! A-and he's better than me in every possible way!" Mikey struggled in Raph's grip, but he wasn't going anywhere.

"Aaaand?" Raph pressured further.

"And I'm a lowly worm b-beneath his feet who – owwww – Who isn't fit to live on the same planet as him because he's so amazing and I'm a dork clod!" Mikey said in a rush, just wanting to get out of his older brother's death grip around his neck; he could barely breathe!

"Aaand?"

"A-and in the history of the universe there's never been – "

"Guys, guys! Come and check this out!" called Donnie's excited voice from his lab, no doubt wanting to show them his newest invention.

Raph rolled his eyes and released Mikey from his torment. He smirked as he watched Mikey dramatically gasp for air on the floor as he walked into the lab.

"I LIIIIIIVE!" he heard Mikey cry out, and he rolled his eyes.

Geez, what a drama king.

Meanwhile on the surface, sat on the swings of the nearby park, April O'Neil and her and the turtles' human friend, the infamous black-haired vigilante Casey Jones, watched her laptop screen in amazement at the latest news report that had aired that morning.

Casey leaned in closer to the screen, and his eyes widened in shock as the image of a full grown tree in the background. "What the heck, red?!" he barked.

April shushed him as the report began.

"This Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe, reporting live from Central Park. What we are looking at here is some kind of extraordinary and spontaneous appearance of a Camphor tree that was said to have grown at midnight last night. Witnesses say that this tree just started growing out of nowhere at an alarming speed. No one yet knows how it grew to this size so quickly, or whom or what is responsible, even scientists are baffled by this discovery. More news coming at a later date, but for now, this is Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe, Channel Six News."

As the report ended, April and Casey sat back dumbfounded. "This...this is kinda weird," Casey said, scratching the back of his head in confusion, "And I've seen a lot of weird stuff in this city, you and the turtles included," he smirked, earning a playful shove from April.

"Yeah, thanks Casey," she mocked back, then her face became serious once again, "but you do have a point. This does seem a little out of the ordinary, even for us. The boys did say something about growing a giant tree last night when they mysteriously reappeared back at the lair, completely unconscious. I just thought they were still tired from fighting all night or just being ridiculous, but after watching that report, I'm beginning to wonder…"

Casey shrugged, bumping his shoulder against hers. "Don't worry about it," he said, "If the turtles have anything to do with this, they'll tell us what's up."

April smiled, nodding absently. She looked at her watch, her eyes widening slightly at the time. "We'd better be heading toward the lair now," she said, quickly gathering her laptop as Casey got up from the swings, walking over to the round-about and picking up his 'weapons' from underneath it, slipping on his skull shaped hockey mask.

"Let's get goin' then, red!" he laughed.

April rolled her eyes as she and the boy made their way down a hidden alleyway towards one of the nearest manhole covers, "Y'know, they're not gonna be back until minutes to ten, right? They said they were gonna go on patrol quickly first and meet us back at the lair, remember?"

"Eh, I like to have a head start," Casey replied, "Plus, I wouldn't mind giving good Raphie boy a little surprise when he gets back!" He cackled wickedly.

April only rolled her eyes again at the boy with a smile. She knew how close Raphael and Casey had gotten over the past few weeks, and it was both annoying and hilarious to watch them together. They acted like a couple of hooligans most of the time.

However, as they walked together, April couldn't help but put a finger to her chin, deep in thought. 'Just what were those guys up to last night?' she pondered to herself, 'how the heck could they have done something like that? Unless Donnie had somehow managed to create a 'Super Plant Growing Soil' thing instead of a retro mutagen.'

She giggled to herself at that final thought; yes, Donatello would probably have done something like that, wouldn't he?

Casey and April walked through the dark streets towards their turtle friends' underground home, but remained unaware as a mysterious white van followed closely behind them.

"C'mon guys! Keep it up, slow-pokes!" Mikey called mockingly over his shoulder as the four turtles bounded over the rooftops for their quick evening patrol, keeping close to the shadows as they did.

"Shut it, Mikey!" Raph hissed from behind, "You had a head start!"

"Well, to be fair Raph," Donnie began, "Mikey is the fastest of all of us, so it would only make sense that it doesn't really matter if –"

"I will SMACK you outta your shell, Donatello!" Raph snapped at him. Donnie responded with a pout.

"Keep it down you guys!" Leo said in a loud whisper, "We're ninjas, remember? So we…"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it! 'Ninjas are supposed to be quiet, so quiet down!'" Raph mocked his older brother smugly, earning a laugh from both Donnie and Mikey, but a scowl from Leo.

"Very funny, Raph. Very funny," Leo deadpanned.

Raph only shrugged. "I try."

The four turtles finally skidded to a stop on one of the smaller nearby buildings, with Michelangelo in the lead. "Haha! I win!" Mikey cried triumphantly as he did a small victory dance, mocking his brothers. Raph and Donnie rolled their eyes in unison, whilst Leo simply ignored their little exchange and wandered to the edge of the building to keep a look out for any trouble.

"Face it Raph, you might be able to beat me at video games, but you can never beat 'Dr. Speed-instien'!" Mikey laughed, folding his arms across his chest, filled with pride at his accomplishment.

Raph merely gave his signature smirk as he approached the younger turtle. "Oh yeah?" he asked ominously, "Well, can 'Dr. Speed-instien' beat THIS?!" Raphael leapt on Michelangelo by surprise, taking him to the ground as the two began to wrestle playfully on the rooftop, both of them laughing as Raph easily overpowered Mikey.

"Ow! Hey, haha, Raph! No fair! Fight fair! Fight fair!" Mikey cried, though his laughter weakened his struggles a great deal.

"Seek victory, not fairness! And you call yourself a ninja! You're totally pathetic, Mikey!" Raph chortled.

"Am not!" Mikey cried, a slightly hurt expression on his features, but Raph only shrugged it off as mock innocence as they continued to roll across the roof like a pair of lion cubs.

Donnie only stood by and watched the two wrestle and laugh together with an amused expression, before Leo called out to them on the edge of the rooftop. "Guys! Be. Quiet!" he hissed testily.

The two had finally stopped rolling over each other, but Raph was still sat on top of a squirming Mikey as he scowled at his older brother. "Geez, Leo. We're just having a little fun. Right, Mikey?" he probed, giving his youngest brother a squeeze.

Mikey gagged and struggled underneath his older brothers' weight, "Yep…a lot of fun…" he managed to gasp out with an awkward thumbs up.

Leo sighed almost longingly, as if he wanted to join in the fun, but he quickly covered it up with a casual roll of his eyes. "We had plenty of time for that last night. Now we're back on the clock guys," he said firmly, "I swear, the only one being a real ninja here is probably Donnie."

Donnie turned and smiled. "Why, thank you, Leonardo, oh brother mine!" Donnie expressed haughtily with a sly grin and a dramatic bow.

Mikey and Raph both rolled their eyes at his smugness.

Just then, a loud rhythmic ringtone rang through the air. All four brothers shot distressed and wide eyed stares at Donatello, who's had become a dark shade of scarlet. "Umm…oops?" he whimpered.

"Donatello!" Leo seethed.

Raph and Mikey held back their laughter as much as they could as Donnie quickly took out his T-phone and looked at the picture on the screen.

"It's April!" he declared excitedly, "she called ME! Oh, it's like we're connected…" he said as he let out a dreamy sigh. He ignored his brothers' groaning in disgust as he answered the phone. "Hey April! What's up?...What…? You guys are where…? They what?! D-don't worry April! Just stay calm! We'll be right there!"

He hung up as he looked up at the rest of his brothers, who now wore confused and worried expressions. "April and Casey were on their way to the lair, but now their being chased by the Kraang! They spotted them coming down the alley! We've gotta do something!" Donnie stammered, clearly very panicked.

The others shared anxious glances as Mikey and Raph finally stood up, but Leo was the first to recover as he approached Donnie and placed firm hands on both his shoulders. "Donnie. Calm down. Panicking won't make things any better. Did April say where they were?" he asked, in a tone that was both commanding and reassuring.

Donnie took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He saw the slight fear in Leo's eyes, but he was able to keep a calm demeanor despite that. Donnie found confidence in his older brother. He always had a plan and stayed calm even under the most difficult of situations.

Donnie had always admired him for that.

Determination taking over fear, Donnie nodded once and told Leo the location, and with that, the four turtle brothers leapt off the building, racing over the rooftops in search for their human friends.

April and Casey hid behind a large trash can as they tried to keep their heavy breathing even and quiet. They had been running from laser fire for the better part of an hour as the Kraang pursued them relentlessly. Casey had taken down at least three of them, but eventually back up had arrived, and they had to make a very hasty retreat.

April mentally slapped herself in the face as she narrowed her eyes. How could she not notice that they were being followed? The street was completely empty, and the van was moving painfully slow for crying out loud! And with her new found mental abilities, she should have been able to sense the danger.

Maybe she really did need those extra training sessions with Master Splinter after all. She made a mental note to ask him about that later, but right now, she had to focus on getting herself and Casey out of the alley without being shot at.

She knew the boys were on their way and would be there to help them soon, but she and Casey couldn't just sit around and wait for the Kraang to get their robotic hands on them. She was a kunoichi for goodness sakes!

Well, a kunoichi in training, but she could still fight!

She may be weaker than her turtle brothers, but she was by no means a simple damsel in distress! And Casey Jones, despite being slightly inexperienced, was still a very decent fighter. And together, they made a pretty good team.

The two humans shared a look, and after seemingly reading each other's thoughts in that single look, they both nodded firmly. "Let's do this!" Casey said, taking out his hockey stick and spinning it for emphasis, earning a grin from April.

The two silently waited as a Kraang droid in its human disguise approached the trash can they hid behind. As it came closer, April suddenly jumped out from her hiding place and managed to whack it hard over its metal head from with a discarded metal pipe she had found lying beside her.

Before it could regain its bearings, Casey leapt out with a loud "SUPRISE KRAANG SUCKA!" and hit it several times over the head with his stick before flipping it into the trash can, laughing as April slammed the lid shut over it.

They heard the alien inside scream and screech for freedom, and the two humans did a small celebratory dance on the spot before making a run for it out of the alleyway, glancing behind periodically for any sign of any more Kraang droids on their tail.

"Okay, so far so good," April huffed as they ran.

"Yeah!" Casey chuckled, "we didn't need the guys after all – OOF!"

Casey suddenly rammed hard into something solid, causing him to fall backwards and landing painfully onto his rear-end. He looked up, rubbing his sore head, and they both froze. A Kraang was staring down at his helpless form with its merciless robotic eyes.

"…okay, I take that back…" Casey gulped.

He quickly shuffled back onto his feet, facing the Kraang droid as he stood protectively in front of April, his hockey stick at the ready. "Okay, slime bot," he growled, "Eat THIS!"

He charged the droid, but before he could react, the droid had whipped out its gun and fired, the laser blast hitting his shoulder and sending him flying with a strangled cry of pain.

"Casey!" April cried, running over to the boy sprawled out on the ground, his shoulder bleeding from the burning wound.

She ground her teeth together as she snapped her head at the Kraang droid, glaring at it as it came closer, looming over the two of them. In a sharp, angry movement, she whipped out her Tessen and prepared to attack, but to no avail as it reached down and grabbed her arm hard and lifted her off the ground with ease, her feet dangling helplessly above the ground as her Tessen dropped with a clatter to the floor.

She struggled furiously in the droids grip, kicking and punching at it with everything she had, but it didn't release her. "Rrrg! Let me go, you heap of Kraang crud!" she screeched.

"The one known as the one Kraang is seeking known as April O'Neil has been acquired by Kraang. Kraang will take the one known as April O'Neil to Kraang," said the emotionless voice of the Kraang robot.

"Not today, Kraang!"

Before she could blink, a large green figure whizzed by the droid holding April captive, which was suddenly sliced in two, and then fell lifelessly to the ground. April fell unceremoniously onto her rear end as the alien from within the robot body squealed and skittered away in a mad panic. Gathering herself together, April breathlessly looked up to her saviour, and immediately smiled in relief.

Leonardo.

"You called?" he asked with a joking smile as he extended a large green hand towards her, which she gladly accepted as he helped her on her feet.

"Took you guys long enough," she replied with a smirk.

Leo chuckled, "Well, you're actually kind of hard to find. Looks like you're getting better at the ninja thing, April," he said, and then his eyes set upon the young boy lying on the ground with a bleeding wound.

Before he could move to help him, Raphael was already at his side, helping the boy to his feet as he groggily woke up, groaning in pain and gripping his shoulder. "You alright, man?" Raph asked his injured friend, trying to hide the concern in his voice.

Biting his bottom lip to hold back a cry of pain, Casey nodded, "Yeah...just a scratch...I'm good..." he wheezed, then turned back to his turtle companion, "Let's just take out these slime balls, alright?"

Carefully releasing the taller boy, Raph gave him a grin and a firm nod. Behind them, a battle ensued between the remaining two turtles, Donatello and Michelangelo, with the remainder of the Kraang that had followed April and Casey.

Seriously, how many Kraang were there in that tiny van anyways?!

Leonardo, Raphael and Casey joined the others in the battle, skilfully cutting any Kraang that had dared to get near his brothers or April. After stabbing through another droid, Raphael landed next to April, putting a firm hand on her shoulder. "You might wanna sit this one out, kid. Leave it to the pros!" he cautioned.

"Hey, I can still fight too, you know!" she protested, folding her arms in defiance.

Which was when the Kraang had decided they were going to use lasers again and began firing in all directions, one beam barley missing her face if she had not dodged at the last second.

She looked up to Raph, who raised an eye ridge at her with a smirk. "Okay…maybe I should wait in the alley...just this once," she admitted anxiously.

Raph rubbed her head and laughed a little. "Yeah, you do that."

Raph waited until April was safely hidden in the alleyway, before charging and brutally stabbing at the Kraang droid that had nearly shot her in the face.

They messed with his family, they messed with hell.

"GOONGALA!" Casey yelled as he batted away any Kraang that came too close. He was doing surprisingly well, despite his injured right shoulder. Lucky, he was left handed, but it didn't hurt any less though.

But he still had to keep going, to fight alongside the turtles and protect April.

And to get revenge for that shot in the shoulder!

The boys were holding their own against the droids quite well, the only difficulty being dodging the relentless laser fire. And as they bound and hacked their way through the Kraang with ease, Leo turned around briefly as he saw that Raph, Casey and Mikey having more fun doing so than was actually necessary, making Leo roll his eyes in exasperation as they all declared an "I Can Beat More Kraang Than You" contest.

Honestly, did they really have any time for this?

Unfortunately, in their race to destroy more droids than the other, the turtles failed to realize that they had let one of them sneak to where April was hidden. And equally unfortunately, neither did April, until it was too late. She desperately tried to fend off the droid, using her fan to attempt to slice off its head, but it had managed to grab her and drag her out her hiding place.

"UGH! Let go!" she cried, whipping out her Tessen again as she tried to decapitate the droid. "I'm not. Gonna. Ask. For. Help!" he she growled.

However, the Kraang grasped her fan, and tossed it to the floor with ease.

April blinked once.

"Ummm...Help! Help! Guys!" she cried as the Kraang droid dragged her towards the van, binding her hands and throwing her inside.

Luckily for her however, Mikey had noticed that April had been caught just before they locked the van doors, and after narrowing his eyes dangerously, he raced to her aid.

He quickly whipped out his Kusarigama chain and wrapped it around the offending robot. "BOOYAKSHAA!" he cried as he dragged the robot away from the van and threw it into Raph, who easily impaled it with his Sais. Mikey climbed into the van and undid the bonds around Aprils' wrists. "You okay?" he asked worriedly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

April rubbed her aching wrists, and looked up to the worried turtle, "I am now. Thank you Mikey", she replied, resting her hand over his large one, a grateful smile spread across her face, to which he returned with a smile of his own and a quick hug.

Just as they were about to leap out of the van to freedom, they were stopped dead in their tracks as three more Kraang entered the van, their tall bodies looming over them forebodingly.

"Uh oh…" Mikey and April whimpered in unison.

Meanwhile back on the battle ground (which was now littered with robotic body parts) Raph and Casey stood proudly in the centre of all the chaos, Raph casually twirling the head of a Kraang on the tip of his Sai, and Casey leaning the elbow of his uninjured arm on his shoulder. "Well, we saved April, and gave a good old fashioned stomping to a bunch of Kraang bots," Raph laughed, sharing a hard fist bump with Casey.

"Yep," Leo agreed confidently, sheathing his Katanas, "Another day, another slice of Pizza, right Donnie?"

"Heheh, right Leo!" Donnie laughed, fist bumping Leo's outstretched fist eagerly.

It was then however, that they noticed something was wrong.

Where was April?

Better yet, where was Mikey?

"Mikey? April?" Leo called out, scanning the area for his human sister and turtle brother. Donnie, Casey and Raph followed suit, until Raph heard and engine starting up. He turned his head in the direction of the sound, and his eyes went wide and his blood froze.

They were trapped in the van! The Kraang were driving off with his little brother, and the human they had all come to see as a sister.

"Mikey! April!" Raph cried as he raced after the van.

Upon realizing what was happening, Leo, Casey and Donnie were quick to follow the red clad turtles' lead. Luckily, the Kraang seemed to have forgotten to close the back doors, so the two could easily jump out of the van and make their escape.

If they could actually catch up to it, that is.

Inside the van, Mikey fought hard against the three Kraang droids that separated him from freedom, but these bots were stubborn! They just wouldn't stay down! No matter how many times he bashed them with his 'Hot Nunchuck Fury', they just got right back up again!

Mikey began to panic. He couldn't let them hurt April, but he couldn't keep fighting like this forever. The Kraang were closing in on them again, and the space was far too small. What could he do now?

"MIKEY!" yelled a voice from outside the van.

Mikey looked over the shoulder of one of the droids to see his brothers and Casey running behind the van, Donnie stretching out his staff towards him.

"Mikey! April! Get out of there!" Donnie cried. They couldn't run for long, not even Casey with his roller blades, and they were all beginning to fall behind.

Suddenly, a plan formed in Mikey's brain. It was stupid, and very dangerous, but he knew it would work, but only if he timed it just right.

Using all the force he had within him, he brutally shoved passed the Kraang droids and took April by the arm. "Sorry about this, April!" he quickly apologized.

Before she could understand what he was saying, Mikey was already tossing April straight out of the van, who screamed as she was flung and slammed into Casey's arms with a thud. The force of the blow caused him to fall backwards, tripping Leo, Donnie and Raph, sending them all rolling along the street before coming to a stop in a pile of limbs.

Groaning and rubbing his head in pain, Raph looked up to see the van driving off into the distance…with Mikey still inside.

"NO! MIKEY!" he cried.

They all watched in horror as their baby brother was thrown backwards viciously by a Kraang back into the van as the doors slammed shut. The van drove away, taking the orange clad turtle with them.

Raph stood up and gazed in the direction the van left in despair. He couldn't believe it. The Kraang took his little brother…he couldn't stop them…he couldn't…

Raphael's blood boiled in rage as he growled viciously and threw his Sais down to the floor. "Dammit!" he seethed, "I should have been watching him! I should have HELPED him! But I…I let him…" his voice trailed off.

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned to see April looking up at him sadly. "It wasn't your fault Raph," she said regrettably, "If I had only known we were being followed before, none of this would have happened. I'm…I'm so sorry you guys…" April felt tears stinging her eyes, but she fought them off for their sakes.

"No, April, he just wanted you to be safe. It was because of us," Leo confessed, looking downwards to avoid the sad gazes of his three remaining brothers. "We could have stopped this…we just weren't fast enough…"

A sad silence hung over the five of them as they looked down in defeat. Casey put a hand on Donnie's shoulder, as a silent act of condolence. Donnie looked back at him, and gave him a small smile, a silent act of acceptance, despite their differences.

They had just lost their youngest brother. They had no idea where they would take him, and no way of tracking them.

Unless...

Donnie suddenly had an idea. "Guys, wait! I know how we can save Mikey!" he cried. The others looked up at Donatello, hope blooming in their eyes as he continued. "I just remembered! I put a tracking device into each of our T-phones, so with any luck, we'll be able to use our own T-phones to track Mikey down!"

"And then we'll bust some bot heads while we're at it!" Raph said with a grin on his face as confidence rose within him. He knew this plan was going to work. He had faith in Donnie.

"Good work, Donnie," Leo said with a nod of approval. He then turned to Raph and said, "Raph, you track Mikey down with your T-phone. Donnie and I will head back to the lair to drop off April and Casey where it's safe, and patch up Casey's shoulder. Call us if you find them, and we'll rendezvous there."

Raph nodded firmly in understanding as he let Donnie set up the tracking system on his phone, and prepared to set off to find his brother. As he picked up the Sais he had thrown down in anger earlier, he heard Leo call him from behind. He looked over his shoulder to face his older brother, whose face was calm, but his eyes full of worry.

"Find him. But be careful…" Leo said.

Raph nodded once more before the turtles split up, Leo, Donnie, Casey and April setting off to the sewers, whilst Raph headed in the direction the tracker told him would lead him to his baby brother.

It had only been minutes, but to the hot headed Raphael, it seemed like painful hours of searching the streets and alleyways frantically for any sign of his orange masked brother. He thought this was going to be easy, that he would find the van, destroy the droids, save his brother and return to the lair victorious, and then eat pizza with his brothers and his best friends, happy ever after, the end until another day.

That was until the tracker had stopped working.

He should have known the Kraang would have either taken or destroyed Mikey's T-phone when they realized it had a tracking system. So after Raph had informed them of the bad news, the turtles had decided to switch tactics; split up and look for any signs of any kind of Kraang activity. There was bound to be at least one of those labs that were holding Mikey prisoner. But as they continued the search, they continued to come up empty, and their fears grew more and more.

Especially for Raphael.

Raphael loved all of his brothers fiercely, but it was Mikey whom he felt close to most of the time. Anytime he wanted to spar or play a video game or even read a comic, Mikey was always game. Mikey was always ready to hang out with any of them. And whether he liked it or not, he knew Mikey would always be there to have his back, even if he did annoy the living shell out of him…

But that's what little brothers do. And he couldn't love him any other way.

If they were to loose Mikey now…he just couldn't bear it…

The ringing of his T-phone (for what seemed like the millionth time that night) snapped Raph from his thoughts as he quickly answered it. It was Donnie again.

"Raph, you find anything yet?" he asked over the line, worry heavily tainting his younger brothers' voice.

Raph sighed heavily, "Nothing. I've checked all the labs we've been to. Nothing's happening."

"Same here…ugh, the only place we haven't checked yet is TCRI, but –"

Before Donnie could finish his sentence, a loud thundering boom sounded off in the distance that nearly shook the ground with its immense force, followed by a large, fiery mushroom cloud. Raph looked on at the scene in the distance in shock.

It took him several moments to snap himself out of his trance and to find his voice again. "Donnie…you saw that…right?" he stuttered fearfully into the phone.

"…yeah…" Donnie replied shakily.

A fiery explosion.

The sound of Kraang aliens screaming and slithering away from the scene.

It could only mean one thing.

"MIKEY!"

Raph hung up the phone and ran as fast as his legs could carry him across the rooftops, his heart pounding fiercely against his chest, but it was not from the adrenaline as he pushed himself to go faster; it was from the pure, untainted terror that somehow, his little brother, if he really was the cause of it, didn't survive the explosion...

No.

He shouldn't be thinking like that. Mikey was Mikey. And Mikey, behind all that goofiness, behind all the naïve innocence and childish pranks, was a brilliant ninja. They all knew he had great potential, but he never believed it himself, no matter how many times Splinter and the others tried to convince him that he –

A thought hit the red clad turtle full force as his eyes widened. He skidded to a stop on the roof to catch his breath, planting his hands on his knees and panting heavily, staring at his feet in realization.

What if Mikey really didn't survive the blast? And the last thing he would remember of his second eldest brother was what he said to him on the roof earlier that night…

And you call yourself a ninja? You're pathetic, Mikey!

He and Mikey always called each other names, but then Raph remembered the hurt he saw in his eyes. He had dismissed it as Mikey trying to lead him on to catch him off guard, but now, as he looked back on it, Mikey truly was hurt by Raph's words.

And Raph had just shaken him off like he was nothing...

Shaking his head vigorously, Raph pushed aside that horrible thought and took off again, running faster than before as he pushed his body to keep going, keep moving, brush off the horrible thoughts before they took over him.

Surely Mikey knew he was only playing, right? They played it all the time…

…they played all the time…

In a matter of moments, Raphael finally reached the area where the blast had originated, his face dripping with sweat as he panted in exhaustion. The explosion had indeed come from a white van, or whatever was left of it, due to the fact that it was almost literally torn to pieces, the rubber tires burned to cinders and the glass windows, doors or any other perceptible pieces of metal were strewn about on the road, either melting or little by little burning away in the small flames that remained.

As Raph looked around at the decimated area around him, still panting from exhaustion, his foot came down upon a long metal piece. He looked down and saw that it was a license plate.

The same plate on the van that took Mikey.

"RAPH! Over here!" cried a familiar but frantic voice from behind the wreckage, snapping Raph out of his thoughts. He ran around the burning piles of metal and saw his two remaining brothers. Donnie stood in shock over Leo, who was on his knees clutching something tightly in his trembling hands. He looked up as Raph approached, who saw that there were traces of tears that had yet to fall from his eyes as he fought them back.

He held up the thing that he was holding up to Raph. "Here…is this Mikey's?" he asked, his voice cracking.

Raph stared at the object in horror.

It was a long, torn strip of orange fabric.

He looked to Donatello, who had tears streaming down his face, and he shook his head.

He couldn't tell either.

If even Donnie couldn't tell if it was Mikey's or not, then how on earth would Raph be able to…?

Wait a minute.

Raph carefully took the strip from Leo and turned it over and over in his hands. A very large part of him prayed he wouldn't find it, for it would mean that his brother had perished along with the remains of the wretched Kraang vehicle.

…please, let it not be there…

Raph let out a shuddering breath and looked up at his brothers who were staring at him anxiously. His eyes filled with rare tears of relief.

"…it's not his."

Leonardo let out a heavy sigh of relief as he hunched over and let the tears fall from his eyes, covering his face with his hands. Donnie fell to his knees, letting out the breath he had been holding with a hand over his rapidly beating heart. Raph followed suit, still holding the piece of fabric in his hands as he sank to his knees, panting heavily.

Raph knew that Mikey had put an attempted Japanese signature of his name on the inside of his mask. There was no trace of smothered ink on the cloth that he held. He had no idea what it was that Leo had found, but at least he knew that it didn't belong to his baby brother.

There was still a chance that he was still alive.

Leo sniffed once and wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's not Mikey's…thank god…I-I was certain that it was his…" he breathed.

"But with that being said…" Donnie mused, wiping his own tears from his eyes "…we definitely know that this was the van the Kraang used to take him. So how did it explode? And where is he now?"

Raph looked up and glanced around him in an attempt to find anything that could have caused the explosion. He eyes fell upon a long metal chain, and upon recognising it, he grinned. "Heh, looks like the Kraang underestimated him," he smirked, "Look over there."

The other turtles followed their brother's line of vision, and their eyes set upon his Kusarigama blade implanted in the engine.

"He must have somehow been able to open the doors again and dent the engine, causing the oil to leak out," Donnie speculated, "but that doesn't really explain the exploding part…"

A tiny spark lit up behind them, and they turned sharply to find the remains of their brothers' T-phone. Instead of being worried though, Donatello suddenly beamed. "I don't believe it! He self-destructed the T-phone, which set off a spark, causing the oil to react and the whole thing going boom! T-that…that's…genius!" he exclaimed, shaking his head incredulously at his brother's methods.

Way to go, Mikey, Raph thought, a proud smile tugging at his lips. Beside him, Leo was doing the same.

However, despite the news, the brothers still had no idea where their youngest brother had gone. He may have gotten away, but was he alright? Had he gone back to the lair? No, if he had, then April would have called them already saying so...

"Where could he be?" Leo said, still too shaken up to stand just yet, "We have to find him before sunrise…"

"...or else someone else will," Donnie finished, a horrified expression creasing his features.

Raph looked down at his hands, trying to keep himself calm. This was bad. If Mikey was still out there by the time the sun raised, ninja or not, he would eventually be spotted by someone, or something.

He could only imagine what would happen to him if that happened...

He quickly gazed around him, desperately looking for something, anything that could help them find their brother, but stopped as he suddenly spotted a towering object in the distance, something large enough that it towered over some of the highest sky scrapers of the city.

He could just make out its form in the darkness…

He now knew how to find Mikey.

Without warning, Raphael jumped to his feet and sprinted off in the direction of Central Park. Leo and Donnie turned sharply after their red clad brother.

"Raph!" Leo exclaimed, "Where are you going?!"

"Don't worry! I've got an idea!" he called over his shoulder as he ran.

He knew it was stupid. He knew it had little to no chance of working, and he would probably end up looking like a total nutcase. But if it meant he had a chance to find and save his little brother, it was a chance he was more than willing to take.

With his decision firmly in mind, he raced off to the tree that had been miraculously grown by the four turtles with the help of a gentle being.

Totoro.