Hey guys! I thought I wouldn't even have a chapter done today, but I actually ended up finding some time this evening. You would not believe the day I've had - I've felt like Superwoman. I got a ton of writing done for another project, did a bunch of housework and other chores, and then I still had the energy and inspiration for this...

I know it's a tad shorter than usual, but I thought you'd like the update. :) Enjoy.

Bad news. The words rattled around in Raphael's head like they'd just punched him in the face. Any bad news from Karai could be seriously bad news. There were any number of things that could be wrong, but there were two that leapt into the forefront of Raph's mind.

It could have been that Baxter Stockman rediscovered the coordinates to the lair, but the expression on Leo's face was not one of alarm, but defeat.

That could only mean –

Raph clenched his fists. He didn't want to think about what that meant.

"She said that she talked to the Kraang," Leo said. He pulled out his cell phone and read the text message he'd received. "'Made nice with the Kraang. Will owe them one, have bad feeling about that. Asked about whether it was possible to duplicate a mutation exactly.'" Leo's voice wavered for a moment; he drew a deep breath. "'Kraang said it was impossible.'"

Impossible. The word punched Raph so hard in the stomach that he was surprised he wasn't laid out flat on the floor.

"It is as we feared, then," Splinter said, his ears drooping. "Donatello is lost to us."

"I don't think that's what that means at all," said a cheerful voice.

Raph whipped his head around to the dojo entrance. Mikey stood there, holding Donnie balanced on his shoulder.

"Mikey…" Leo's voice made him sound like he was walking on eggshells. "How long have you been standing there?"

"About since when you said that the Kraang said it was impossible to exactly duplicate a mutation," Mikey replied, utterly casual.

Images of Mikey's breakdown flashed through Raph's mind. Mikey was clearly in denial here – when it finally sank in, he'd go berserk again, for sure. Raph was torn between being angry at him for ignoring the facts and desperately wanting to protect him from them. "And how do you figure that's not what that means?"

Mikey shrugged. "They said you couldn't exactly redo a mutation, but they didn't say you couldn't get close. I mean, we might be able to get Donnie, but he'd have a British accent or somethin', or be even smarter, or be less annoying."

"Yeah, but it could also not be him at all," Leo said.

"The question is whether it is ethical to try at this point," Splinter said. His voice was so sad that it made Raph's guts twist. He hated himself for accusing Splinter of not caring.

Mikey frowned. "Why wouldn't it be? Wouldn't it be worse if we didn't do anything?"

"Michelangelo, if we were to get 'close' to Donatello but it was not him, would that be right?" Splinter shook his head. "We must not tamper with this. The results could be dangerous."

"I can't believe you guys!" Mikey shouted, so loudly that Donnie pulled into his shell and tumbled down from his shoulder. Mikey caught him in his hands. "You're just ready give up? Just because the Kraang, those stupid squishy brainy freaks, said it's impossible? What if they're wrong?" His voice leapt up to a higher pitch. "You know what Donnie would say if he could talk right now? He'd say, 'There's no such thing as a universal negative, Mikey! Now stop touching my stuff, you're ruining everything!'" He fell silent and squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth.

Mikey... Raph felt like he'd been punched in the stomach again.

"Look, Sensei," Mikey continued, his voice raw, "you're always telling us not to attack before we have the whole 4-1-1, right? What if we don't have all the info? It's just a text. And maybe the Kraang are still honked at Karai and they're being big fat liars. What about that, huh? You guys can just give up on Donnie if you want to, but I'm not gonna."

"Mikey, you're just gonna make it worse for yourself when it turns out we can't fix him," Raph said.

Mikey narrowed his eyes. "I can't believe you, dude! I can't believe how easy you're giving up! The Raph I know isn't a quitter like you." He thrust a finger at each of them. "You're all quitters!" With that, he turned and ran from the dojo.

"Mikey, wait!" Leo called.

"Let him go, Leonardo," Splinter said. He drew a deep breath; Raph watched his troubled expression subside back into calm.

Mr. Peace and Focus.

How does he do that?

"Perhaps we should cancel today's training."

"That's probably a good idea, Sensei," Leo said. He bit his lip. "What if Mikey's right? What if we don't have all the information?"

"I assure you, we do not." Splinter stroked his beard. "Michelangelo's words were, in fact, wise - I should have seen that as well. When will Karai be coming back to meet with us? She may be able to give us more useful information. A simple text message cannot tell the whole story."

"The Kraang said it was impossible," Raph said, crossing his arms. "What's the point in getting our hopes up?"

Leo put his hands on his hips. "Pessimist, much?"

"Just realistic. It's time we accept that Donnie's gone and move past it."

"Raphael, one can both accept the current state of things and hope for the better outcome," Splinter said.

"One might, but not me. I don't see the point in dragging this out when we all know it's not going to work anyway."

"Ah, I see you have added 'fortune-teller' to your repertoire, along with ninja." Splinter's tone was light.

"Very funny, Sensei. Hilarious. You don't really think there's a snowball's chance in – Florida – that we could find a solution if the Kraang can't, do you?"

Florida? Leo mouthed.

Raph glared at him.

"I do not think anything," Splinter said. "I simply know that we have incomplete information. Leonardo, will you ask Karai to come at her earliest convenience?"

"Hai, Sensei," Leo said. He immediately pulled out his phone and started texting her.

Karai. Hmph, thought Raph. Could they really trust her to have their best interests at heart? Since Shredder died, she hadn't betrayed them yet…

He thought of Aunt Mei's injuries and scowled.

Yet.

"And…done," Leo said. He put his phone away. "I'll let you know when she gets back to me. I'm, um, gonna go talk to Mikey."

"Tell him that I will come see him shortly," Splinter said.

Leo nodded, then left the room.

"Do you still wish to learn about meditation, Raphael?"

Raph turned to look at Splinter. Mr. Peace and Focus. So calm, so under control…

It wasn't fair.

"No."

"Very well then. We shall spar instead." He had barely finished speaking before he started his first attack.

It was hard. Raph dodged just in time, but he could feel a breeze from Splinter's fist moving so quickly. Raph's instincts kicked in. He performed the appropriate counter attack, then dodged as Splinter countered that.

"I thought you said training was cancelled!"

"Did I?" A ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

They continued to spar. Raph could hardly think about anything else. He had to focus all of his energy, because when he didn't, Splinter would land a blow. Still, it made him angry. Why now? Why, in the middle of all of this, did Splinter think this was a good idea? Didn't he have to meditate or something?

Like a knife slicing through Raph's anger, a phrase popped into his mind.

The joy you bring me, Raphael.

A warm feeling spread through his chest at the thought. That's what this whole thing was. Redirecting focus. Sure, it was redirecting Raph's focus, but he realized that Splinter was redirecting his own focus as well.

Raph was actually helping him to be Mr. Peace and Focus.

A ghost of a smile flickered across Raph's face as he dodged the next strike.

I love you too, Splinter.