Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.
"What exactly happened, Raph?" Don asked as he wrapped a particularly nasty gash across his older brother's forearm in gauze to staunch the flow of blood. He sat on a rolling chair while his brother sat on the day bed. Raph watched Don's hands at work while Mikey leaned against the wall with a dismal expression.
"Mikey and I were on patrol. We passed by some Purple Dragons robbing a store and we sent them running. Then we got ambushed by Foot ninjas. Mikey and I were pinned down in the corner of an alley by the time Karai showed her ugly mug. She came after me and cut me up. Mikey threw a few smoke pellets and we came back here." He grumbled.
Don sighed. "Well, lucky for you, she didn't sever any arteries. She got a few veins and some capillaries, but nothing too important. You'll be fine."
Raph stood up and headed for his room. "She won't be when I see her again." He muttered.
Mikey followed Raph out and Don sighed. At least Raph's temper was somewhat normal.
"Donnie…"
Don's head whipped around instantly. That voice. He involuntarily shivered and swiftly stood up. "I really need to get some sleep." He muttered.
~.~.~.~
Don could feel his pulse racing and his heart beating irregularly enough from fear to be considered a risk to his health. His breath came out in cold gasps of vapor as he pressed his shell to the wall. His coffee brown gaze stared at the horror before him.
Raphael clutched the side of his abdomen, where a katana blade had sliced through tightly knit muscle and bone. He stood unsteadily, lifting a sai in his right hand as he glared down an opponent that was blurred and distant. Don couldn't make out the slim figure's features, only the silver sliver of a steel blade. He started forward to help Raph, but found that his arms were trapped against the brick wall. Somehow the stone had wrapped around his forearms tightly, keeping him immobilized. He jerked on his arms and gave a cry of frustration and pent up sorrow as he was forced to watch the blood that pumped and spurted from between the fingers that Raphael kept pressed tightly against his injury.
"Raph! Raph get out of here!" He cried as he struggled against the wall's immense strength.
Raph glanced back at Don and offered him a reassuring smile. Don froze. He knew that smile. A tear streamed down his cheek. Leo had given him that same smile before he gave Mikey his heart.
"Don't worry, Donnie. I got this. It's just a scratch." He grunted and his face changed into a grimace before he forced that sad smile through. His amber gaze was pale but it still had it's usual fire. "I got her on the ropes." He managed to say before turning back just in time for a katana to neatly slice through his face, bisecting his skull. Blood arced in flow with the blade and brain matter and splinters of bone flew wildly.
Raphael's body crumpled to the ground soundlessly, lifelessly.
Donatello watched in horror. A vaguely familiar scream tore through the dank and cold air.
A cold and decaing breath wheezed on the back of his shoulder and that papery thin voice rustled quietly. "Donnie…"
Don screwed his eyes shut. "No… No… No…"
"Pain and death fly on swift wings, Donnie. There is no escape. There is no reprieve. Only sorrow. Only sorrow."
Tears streamed from Don's closed eyes and he breathed in gasps while his shoulders shook. The beginnings of a sob escaped his lips.
"Sit and listen, Donnie." It whispered.
He shook his head.
"Donnie…" It whispered again, though its voice was fainter.
"…listen…" It echoed.
~.~.~.~
Don's eyes flew open as he sat up swiftly, a gasp escaping his throat. His skin was covered in a sheen of sweat and his bed sheets were strewn about wildly. His breath came out in quick and ragged gasps. He evened his breathing and closed his eyes. He let his shoulders sag and sighed in relief.
"Just a dream." He whispered.
A cold breath swayed over the back of his neck and he stiffened with wide eyes. He glanced over his shoulder but his gaze met nothing but an empty wall. He sighed and swung his legs over the side of his day bed before standing up and tying his mask on.
"Donnie…"
He grimaced and looked around but saw nothing. He shook his head and swiftly exited his lab. He made his way to the kitchen where Raph was busy starting to cook breakfast. Don's gaze dropped to Raph's abdomen. He relaxed at the sight of unmarred skin. He turned to the coffee maker only to notice that it was already on and brewing. He glanced about the kitchen before turning back to Raphael.
"Where's Mikey?"
Raph grunted as he knelt down to dig a pan out of a cupboard. "Probably in his room sulking."
Don sat down at the kitchen table. "So, did he talk at all when you guys were on patrol?"
Raph straightened, pan in hand, and glanced at Don. "Not really. You already know this, Don. He doesn't talk much, and when he does, it's always about Leo. He thinks Leo hates him. I don't get it. Leo gave him everythin'. How can he think Leo hates 'im."
Don frowned. "Raph, Leo left us at a critical time. Mikey never made his peace with him. Of course he thinks Leo hates him. They used to be really close before everything fell apart. And I think that seeing Karai will only have made things worse."
Raph set the pan down on the counter and stared at Don. "What're ya' saying?"
Don looked Raph in the eye. "Karai is one step down from the Shredder, and, she's his daughter. Meaning, she'll want revenge for Leo killing the Shredder and Mikey will see her as 'responsible' for everything bad that's happened to us."
Raph's gaze narrowed. "She is responsible for some o'this bad shit, Donnie."
"Yeah, some is the key word. But Mikey will her responsible for everything, including Leo's disappearance." Don said, watching his older brother and gauging his reaction.
Raph blanched. "Shit, you don't mean… you don't think Mikey would try and go after her on his own, do ya'?"
Don nodded. "He's upset about this whole mess, Raph, we can't put that past him. He's changing, we all are."
Raph cursed under his breath as he moved to sit down across from Don at the table. Once seated, he leaned closer. "So what are you saying that we do then? We need to take Karai down, I know that, but we can't give Mikey the chance to go one on one with her. He'll get himself killed. No offense to him, he's a great fighter, but hell…" Raph sighed.
"Even I had trouble fighting her, and the only reason Leo beat her was because he's a better ninja. He could creep up on her and get her by surprise like nothing. But, in a real fight, he would've lost. I'm good in a real fight, Don, and I can barely beat her. What makes Mikey think he can take her? She'll beat him. She's too damn good with a katana, and she's even better at making us look like idiots." He growled under his breath.
Don nodded again, meeting Raph's amber gaze. "I know, Raph. That's why she needs to go. I took the liberty of doing some research on Foot activities, but it's nothing conclusive… yet. I found a series of breaking and entering as well as a few thefts and kidnappings at a research center for bio-tech. I don't know what she's doing, but she's grabbing a lot of serious hardware."
Don's features had taken on that of a carefully calculated individual, his gaze hard and unreadable. "She's kidnapped a few respected members of the science community, and I have reason to believe that the people she kidnapped are now dead. Raph, she's doing something dangerous here and I believe that we should get to the bottom of it before she executes any plan of hers. It's likely that we're on the receiving end of her plot and that it won't bode well for us at all. This is probably going to be an act of vengeance for Leo killing the Shredder… Her father."
Raph stared at him, clearly the gears were turning in his skull and he didn't like what was coming out of it at all. "So we're going to war with the Foot again?" Mikey asked as he entered the kitchen. He leaned against a wall with his arms crossed in front of his plastron. His blue gaze was no longer warm and inviting. It was cold and detached and angry.
Don glanced back at Raph, who had dropped his gaze to the table. They were expecting him to make the decision. He sighed. "Dammit. This ain't my place. I ain't supposed to be calling these fucking shots." He muttered angrily under his breath.
"Leo's gone. You're our leader now, Raph. You need to make this decision." Don said as he placed his hand over Raph's. Raph shot him a glare and snatched his own hand away. "I didn't ask to be the leader, and it ain't my fault Leo ran off. If he couldn't handle the pressure of killing the Shredder, then he should'a figured that one out before he cut Shredder's head off!" Raph snarled, banging his fists on the table.
Don flinched and Mikey watched. Raph's muscles were tense and his amber gaze was blazing angrily. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply before relaxing. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing a tired amber gaze. "You're both… this is… yer' askin' me t'start somethin' we can't afford to start."
Mikey stood up and pointed a finger at him sharply. "Don't be such a priss. You're always rushing into a fight! What's the big deal this time? You just chicken 'cause Leo's not here to lead the way? All these years, you wanted to be the leader and now you can't handle it?"
Raph's gaze turned on him, laced with venom and dripping with anger. "This is different, and you know that! Every time I rushed in to a fight, I was only risking myself! This time, I'm risking my brothers! You don't get to judge me about this, Mikey!"
Mikey snorted at that and turned and walked away. He paused and turned his head slightly. "Leo would've called it. He'd have known we need to take the Foot down." He snapped before swiftly exiting the room.
"I ain't Leo." Raph muttered darkly, turning back to the table.
"But we need a leader, Raph, and we need to close this ordeal with Karai as soon as possible. The sooner Karai is out of the picture, the sooner we can focus our efforts on fixing this family. The more we fight the Foot, the more we fight a common enemy and not each other." Don said as he rose to his feet. He offered Raph a small smile.
"Raph, I'm not trying to pressure you into making this decision. I know you've done a lot for us since Leo left. Just think it over, okay?" He said before grabbing a cup of coffee and heading towards his lab.
Raph sat staring at the table, frozen in thought and clearly troubled.
~.~.~.~
Three Months Later
"Mistress Karai, we have obtained traces of the turtle's DNA as you requested."
Karai, clad in her usual battle attire, turned at the sound of the voice. Her green gaze narrowed at the sight of three prostrated ninjas. She stood in the center of the penthouse of the Foot tower. In a glass case before her, the Shredder's suit of armor—missing the helmet—was displayed proudly.
"And what of the traitor who took my father's head? What of Leonardo?" She snapped angrily.
The ninjas exchanged glances. "Mistress, we have not seen or heard of him. It is as if he has completely vanished. Perhaps Master Shredder mortally wounded him in the last fight, and," One of the ninjas began.
Karai tossed something long and sharp at the ninja. He screwed his eyes shut in fear. Something metal clattered and clanged on the ground in front of him. He swallowed and opened his eyes. On the floor in front of him, a bloody and blue hilted katana was lying on the wood paneled floor.
"If he is dead, where did this come from, and where is his body?" Karai asked sharply.
The ninja wisely remained silent.
"It was found by one of the Legionnaires stationed near the shore side. He claimed that it washed ashore, embedded in the bloated corpse of a human male. The reports state that the man had been floating around in the bay long enough to be unidentifiable except by DNA samples. Sharks and other scavenging fish had taken pieces of the body, but left most of it intact. The blade itself had been crusted over and caked with so much blood that not even the salt water had been able to clean it off. It's unknown as to where the body and blade came from, only that the katana belongs to Leonardo the traitor." Another ninja answered quietly.
Karai's gaze turned on him. "You are correct, but I did not give you the permission to speak."
He bowed his head lower.
"But you seem to have better instincts than your partner. Your name, speak it swiftly."
"Ushinatta Owari." He said quickly.
Karai nodded. "A fitting name for an Elite. I charge you, Owari, with finding the coward who hides from us. He knows we hunt him. Double all efforts to find him. In the meantime, you other two will continue searching for the components that Dr. Stockman requires. Go." She ordered.
The ninjas stood and bowed respectfully before sprinting off.
Another ninja stepped into the room and dropped to one knee before Karai. She glared him down.
"Mistress, we have received reports from the field of a sighting of the turtles."
"Is Leonardo with them?"
"No, mistress, there are only three. They are preventing the retrieval of the equipment from the shipping yard."
Karai nodded thoughtfully. "This is another attack in a long line. They want another war. Good. Send some of our Legionnaires to support the others and call all patrols to their vicinity. They will not be escaping again." She ordered fiercely. The ninja bowed and ran off to do as he was ordered.
Karai turned back to her father's armor. "You will be avenged, father. Tonight I will bring you those who have wronged us. Then, I will find Leonardo and force him to watch as I cleave their heads from their bodies."
~.~.~.~
Donatello ducked underneath a slashing katana before leaping back. He spun his bo staff in front of him, deflecting a wave of shuriken. He glanced over his shoulder to see Mikey effortlessly beating back a black tide of angry Foot ninja. Don turned to his left as he swung his bo staff into a ninja, sending the human careening back. He spotted Raphael just as his brother punched the lights out of a ninja before grabbing the ninja's wrist and flinging him into a group of other ninjas, sending them to the ground.
There was a smirk on Raph's face as he did so.
Don swung his bo staff into a Foot ninja's skull with a crack before slamming the end of the staff into another ninja's foot. The ninja cried out as Don dropped to the ground and knocked his feet out from under him.
The ninja hit the ground hard. Don swiftly rose to his feet, spinning his staff to dissuade any further attacks while he stood up. He brought his staff up over his head before deceptively swinging it into a ninja's side with a crack as ribs snaped under the blow. Don straightened. Most of the ninjas were down and out. Some, like the one who had gotten his skull cracked by Don's bo staff, were less fortunate and likely dead.
Don turned to Raph and Mikey, who were now slipping their weapons back into their belts. Don slid his own weapon into the sheath on his shell and stretched his arms out as he gingerly stepped over the unconscious bodies and made his way back to his brothers.
His feet made near to no sound on the wooden pier as he casually apporached his brothers. "I think you were enjoying that one, Raph." He said with a wry smile as he neared them. Even Mikey had a smirk on his face.
"Well, seeing as I beat you and Mikey this time, I'm a little pleased with myself." He responded with a grin.
Don raised a brow. "Really?"
Raph grinned wider and puffed out his chest. "I got sixteen of em' lil' buggers."
Don nodded appreciatively, he had only gotten twelve. Raph did good.
Mikey, however, grinned. "You lose, Raph, I got twenty."
Raph and Don tuned swiftly. Raph blanched. "No way, Mikey!"
Mikey nodded and heaved a deep sigh. "If you don't believe me, Raph, just as my dear friend," he began.
"What friend?" He interrupted.
Mikey's hand reached into his belt pouch and whipped out into Raph's face with a dramatic flourish. Raph blinked in surprise as he came snout to snout with a small mouse. It cocked its head at him and wriggled its nose as it sniffed him. "This one." Mikey said with a grin.
Don stared in surprise. "Mikey, where did you find that?" He managed to ask.
"What the heck is it?" Raph asked, in shock.
Mikey chuckled and brought it back to snuggle it with his cheek. "It's a feces, guys."
Don glanced at Raph and the both of them frowned. "Feces?" Raph mouthed at Don. The purple masked terrapin shrugged before turning back to his younger brother. "Mikey, you do know what feces is, right?" Don asked.
Mikey scoffed. "Of course I know what a feces is. You told me, Donnie! It's a baby mouse, bro."
Don opened his mouth before closing it. "Well, I suppose I did say that." He admitted.
Raph smirked. "Alright Mikey, take your feces and go ahead and check t'see if we've got any more company waiting."
"Alright," Mikey confirmed before turning and running off into the shadows of a marina warehouse, safely tucking the mouse back into his belt pouch.
Don turned to Raph, who was smirking. "This is helpin' him a lot, ain't it?" The red masked warrior asked. Don offered him a smile. "Yeah, it actually is. I guess he feels more proactive about this. He feels like we're getting somewhere with Karai and Leo. We're actually doing something now."
"I don't know about the whole 'Leo' thing, but I can tell we've been pissing Karai off. This is the fifth time we've stopped her goons from stealing research equipment this month. Last month it was three stops and we saved a researcher from getting nabbed." Raph replied with a sigh. "Honestly, I missed this. Just fighting and kicking ass. No torture. No freaky shit. No sci-fi bull. Just a good ol' fashioned butt-whooping. This is normal, Don, the kind o'stuff we used to do. Y'know what I mean?"
Donatello nodded. He understood what Raph was saying, but had Don been comfortable? No. He'd been having more and more nightmares lately. Dreams of his brother getting seriously hurt and dying. The voice that haunted his dreams and whispered to him while he was awake was taxing on him. He had no idea what it was, whether a figment of his imagination or conjuration of mind intrusion. He had no idea. It had whispered of things "yet to come" and always "dangerous". It was telling him that something bad was going to happen. Don had no idea what to make of the voice, but his dreams terrified him. They terrified him because they seemed so familiar. The pain, the death, the horror—it all seemed so familiar, but he couldn't place it.
He glanced up to see Raph watching him. "I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen, Raph." Don voiced quietly.
Raph gave him a hard look. "Why?" He asked accusingly.
"Well, after everything we've been through… it doesn't seem right. We've been having a winning streak for awhile now, and usually, it never lasts. Something bad is going to happen, Raph. It has to happen because it always happens." Don said as his worried gaze scanned the ship yard.
Raph sighed and placed a hand on Don's shoulder. "Don, we're doing fine. Ain't nothin' gonna' anytime soon. Not while we're on alert and ready for it."
Don didn't look convinced.
"Guys! More Foot ninjas!" Mikey's voice rang out in the darkness of the night. His sprinting form became visible, a blur of green and orange amongst a black tide of sprinting and leaping figures.
"Shit." Raph muttered under his breath as he dug his sais out of his belt. Don couldn't agree more.
The two moved shell to shell, Don slipped his bo staff free of its sheath and held it tightly in both hands as the ninjas moved to encircle them. Mikey's nunchucks were in his hands and spinning as he made his way to them, shell first. The three brothers stood shell to shell in the middle of a large group of Foot ninjas.
"So, who's up for round two?" Don asked as he eyed the ninjas. Their steel blades glimmered in the darkness. Don didn't need to count to know there were over fifty ninjas present. After already having fought some, Don wasn't quite so sure they could win another fight against the ninjas, but it was worth a shot.
Mikey grinned. "Be prepared to lose."
Raph grinned and leapt forward, spinning his sais. "I don't think so, Mikey!" He dove feet first into the ninjas, sending them sprawling and forcing more to back away or join the others on the floor.
Mikey blanched as he continued to spin his nunchucks, building up momentum. "Hey! That's cheating, Raph!" He shout as he whipped his chucks out to strike at a trio of black clad ninjas surging forward. Don shook his head, but a smirk played on his lips as he twirled his staff expertly. His bo staff had the longest reach and forced the ninjas to keep their distance or be incapacitated.
Don shifted his feet and raised his staff to shove a thrusted naginata out of his personal space. He ducked low with a sweep of his right leg that knocked the ninja off his feet. Don found himself immediately on the defense once more, twirling his bo staff quickly and having to push aside deadly strikes from several blades at once. He shifted about this and that, struggling not to be hit by a single blade. He felt like he was fighting a wave of water rather than a group of ninjas.
He leaned back, sliding forward as he did so, barely avoiding a katana blade that should have sliced him in two. Don swept his bo staff up and twisted sharply, straightening and entering a fighting stance. His chest heaved and he held his staff tightly in both hands as it rested on the back of his shoulders. He swallowed and nodded to the ninjas with a wry smile.
They surged forward at his easy target only for him to duck and spin, whipping his staff out like a small tornado. The ninjas fell back as bones cracked under the blow. Don straightened and slammed the butt of his staff into the ground before using it to vault over the heads of shocked ninjas and land behind most of them.
He swung his staff swiftly at the backs of their legs, sending more than a few careening to the ground.
Mikey grinned at the move Don executed. "Eight points for style, Donnie-boy!" He shouted over the din as he ducked under the swing of a bo staff and cracked both of his nunchucks into the attacker's knees. The ninja's legs buckled and he fell, but Mikey rose and kicked him into his allies who stumbled back under the ninja's dead weight.
"Thanks, Mikey, but I'd like to think that my technique is better than my style." Don laughed as he brought his bo staff up to his left and then to his right to block the strikes from another bo staff.
"Twenty! Twenty-one! Twenty-two!" Raph shouted as he punched one ninja in the face before twisting aside and elbowing two more in the stomach. His stepped back, but raised his sais, catching a katana wielding ninja's wrist. He drove the ninja's weight around, twisting the ninja and hurling him into his comrades who shouted as he struck them.
"I'm winning!" He shouted back at his brothers before using his sais to trap another unlucky ninja and rolling back, onto his shell, to fling the ninja over his head with a swift push of both feet the ninja's stomach.
"I don't think so, Raph!" Mikey shouted back just before his nunchuck struck another ninja's skull with a crack. "Twenty-five!"
"You do not have twenty-five." Don remarked as he ducked underneath a stab for his throat.
"Yeah I do! Well, maybe not." Mikey replied as his nunchucks spun again while he eyed the wary ninjas approaching him. "Okay, okay, you got me, guys. I was estimating twenty-five. I lost count about three ninjas ago."
Don rolled his eyes and side stepped a blow from a rapidly moving weight at the end of a chain. The wielder swiftly began spinning his chain in one barely gloved hand. The ninja was different, he strode differently—more like a panther awaiting for its prey to make a mistake. Don noticed that the black clad ninjas that had been so abundant, had thinned down to a mere few. These few hung back, watching. This new ninja wore a dappled gray uniform and the red Foot symbol was stitched on the inside of his gloves. The eye slits on his mask were actually crimson goggles.
Don steadied himself and waited warily. The ninja hurled the chain again, Don dodged aside and another chain wrapped around him from behind, trapping his arms and forcing him to drop his bo staff. Don turned and widened his stance as his captor yanked on the chain. Another similarly clad ninja held the chain. Don dug his feet in and twisted sharply but the ninja's grip on the chain was stronger. The ninja yanked harshly and Don stumbled forward. The ninja sprinted forward and a blade flashed in his hand, it was curved up like a banana on one side and straight on the other side.
Don dropped on his shell and rolled out of the path of the sharp blade. He rose to a crouch. "Hey guys, I could use a little help over here!" He called over his shoulder as he struggled against the pull of the chain and weaved in and out of the path of the blade.
Raphael ducked underneath the swipe of a sword and jumped up, bringing a hammer kick down on his opponent with a popping sound as the ninja's neck broke. He used the momentum of the strike to sail over the ninjas that had crowded him and land in a dead sprint to Don's aid. His sais flew from his hands swiftly and struck the chain holding Don down.
The chain snapped and the ninja holding it leapt back as Raph's fist struck the air where he had stood. Don rubbed his sore arms before taking on a fighting stance with empty hands.
"Thanks, Raph."
"You owe me." Was the reply as Raph took the same empty handed fighting stance. The brothers moved shell to shell as the two gray ninjas circled them, soon joined by another two.
They swung the same weighted chains swiftly, gaining momentum in their fluid grip. The ninjas hurled the chains. Don and Raph sidestepped, the both of them narrowly avoiding the strike of four weighted chains. The two moved shell to shell once more.
"Raph."
"What, Don?" Was the tired and exasperated reply.
"I think we're losing."
"No shit, Don."
The ninjas hurled the chains again. Don and Raph moved swiftly but the thud and crack of the weight hitting Raph's shell made Don falter and turn. Raph cried out in pain before dropping to one knee. He grunted and slowly rose onto his feet.
He glanced at Don and his gaze went wide. "Don, move!" He shouted. Don turned around as a katana blade arced to slice his throat open. A hand grabbed the edge of his shell and yanked him out of the way. Don hit the ground on his shell and went rigid in horror as the katana came down on Raphael's exposed and injured body.
Mikey's blue gaze turned on the scene just in time to see the blade drop. His eyes went wide and his body went rigid.
Raph's amber gaze was accepting. He knew he didn't have the strength or the speed to stop the katana before it was too late, not after taking a heavy hit from a solid metal weighted chain to the shell. His amber gaze was fixated on the ninja who would slay him.
"Sorry, guys." He thought to himself.
A/N: Yeah, a longer chapter! Review, please!