A/N: So I decided to join in on the coffin-fic challenge. Since I've always wanted to do a fic like this, but never found a situation for it, I'm glad I now have the opportunity to present you, readers, one. Some could say "Of course she used Donatello" as he is my favorite character, but I feel it will work best for my circumstances. The villian I used? Well...he's an OC of mine ya might recognize (if ya read the later fics in the My Life is Rulin' [OC] saga). I wanted to use him in a non-OC setting for you that don't read fics with OCs. I love him for his evilness. He would do something like this too. Especially because he loves messing with Raph X3. So enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own the villian in this fic and the way I chose to approach the challenge. This means the idea and all other characters do not belong to me.

I wake up to what could possibly be the worse day of my life. I'm first aware of my head pounding against my skull. "Ugh…" I move to bring my hand to my head but stop as my knuckles scrap against a hard surface. "Wha…?" I open my eyes only to meet more darkness. It's hard to tell if I even opened them in the first place. I start to feel for my surroundings. Each hard, cold surface I touch brings with it a shred of confusion and fear. I don't know where I am. How did I get here? How do I get out? I try pushing against the too close ceiling, experiencing a sense of claustrophobia. By the time I hear the voice of my captor, I've already reaching the climax of my panic.

"Welcome to your final resting place, Donatello."

Upon hearing his voice, I quickly search the dark for the source. It sounded like it came from right next to me but this pressing darkness makes it difficult to determine exactly where. "Wh-who are you? Where are you? Where am I? What did you do to me? What do you want from me?" I ask in a rush of frantic words.

"I am Laurence Donavon; the Don of the mob in this city of ours. I've heard tales about turtles roaming my city so I took the liberty to find out more. A simple hack into the EPF database and I have everything I need to know about ninja turtles. Now I get to try a little experiment. How long can you hold your breath?"

At that, I once again return to trying to find my way out. I'm still frantic; unable to control my rising panic.

"Now Donatello, I heard you were the rational one. Maybe even a turtle of my own heart. Surely you can contain yourself so soon in the game. That was why I chose you, by the way. Your brothers just don't fit the bill for what I'm trying to accomplish here."

I can barely hear him above my still rising panic. "Let me out of here!"

"Breathe, Donatello. There is hope yet. Of course that depends on the competency of your dear brothers. Do they have a hope of making it here in time? I doubt it, but it's worth a try…"

"Huh?" I stop my frantic movements at his words. "They'll get here…" I say; my voice lacking in confidence. I take a few deep breaths and close my eyes – though that doesn't make a difference – to try to release some of my panic. "They'll get here in time."

"Maybe if you keep telling yourself that, you'll last long enough to enjoy your last moments here among the living. Good bye, Donatello. It's time to begin…"

A gust a wind filled with the scent of soil breezes around me and I cough as some of the unseen particles enter my lungs. The air feels heavy soon after; thick and moist. I can feel it pressing against me and I gasp as I realize what he had done. The air! He…he… I pound on the walls of my prison in frantic desperation. He left me here to die! "Let me out! …Please…!"

Below the city, two turtles were experiencing the most dramatically different emotions. Each had a book held in their hands; neither quite the same. When one of the turtle brothers let out another rather loud guffaw, the other's demeanor changed in an instant.

"Stop!" He yelled, his book clenched in fists, "Put that stupid book down, Michelangelo, before I do it for you!"

"Geez, Leo, chill." Mikey said as he sat up a little straighter on the couch to better see his brother. "What's gotten under your shell? You're starting ta talk like Raph and that's never a good sign, bro."

Leonardo took a breath as he set his book down and stood. "…Sorry, Mikey. It's just…they're not back yet. Donny said 11:30 and it's near one o'clock already. While I expect this from Raph, Donny would have called if he was going to be late."

"Just chillax bro. I'm sure it's fine. Maybe they just got caught up in something. Yanno how Raph is." Mikey said before his face was hidden once again by his joke book.

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Leo muttered.

"They'll be back soon. Just you wait." Mikey was barely half-way through the joke he was reading – which was sure to be a funny one – when the buzz of a vibrating shell cell interrupted it. "Awe man. They ruined the punch line!" Mikey complained as his book slipped from his fingers.

Leo already had his cell in his hand and let out a breath when he saw what light was blinking: red. "Raph." He said in exasperated greeting. "It's about time you- what?" Mikey watched as Leo's face turned from annoyed to shock and worry in an instant. "What do you mean 'he's gone'…? …We'll find you. And don't move until we get there!" With a snap, Leo flipped his cell closed and signaled to Mikey. "Come on, we're going. Something's happened and Donny's gone."

On the other side of that phone call, Raphael let his shell cell slip out of his shaky grasp. His head was killing him and the rain falling down around him wasn't helping. He felt like he was completely covered in mud from lying on the ground for who knows how long. The one thing he knew right now was he wasn't going to stay here. He couldn't stand to be on the cold, wet mud any longer. He felt ill enough as it was.

He slowly got to his feet; a single sai gripped in one hand and his lost brother's bo staff gripped in the other. The bo made for a great walking stick and he needed one right now. He must have gotten up too fast even going as slow as he did because he nearly found himself on the ground again. He was dizzy as shell and he felt almost numb with cold. He shook his head to try to clear away some of the fog and, even now, wondered why he called Leo…

"Raphae-el?"

The voice sounded almost sing-song-like. Raph whirled around, nearly losing his footing again, to locate the source, but all he could see through the rain-washed fog were the dark shapes of tombstones and bare trees. "Who's there?"

"Look in your belt. You may find something interesting in there."

"Huh?" Raph said before he reached for what he now determined was the source of the voice: a walkie-talkie. He wondered how it got in his belt. Then he growled at the thought of anyone touching him while he was unconscious. He squeezed in the talk button on the side of the device to speak into it. "Where are ya, bastard? What have ya done ta Donny?"

"Welcome to my little game. Here are the rules before we begin: only you have authorization to use this device. Any other hands touching it or any other voices speaking into it; the device will disintegrate, leaving you with no way of continuing our game…and your brother dies alone. Do you understand me so far?"

The voice was mocking him. Raphael could hear the degrading tone to it and that only enraged him more. The device was pressed again. "What didja do ta him?" Raph repeated as his eyes scanned the area. He didn't recognize this area. What the shell was he?

"The second rule is to be nice. I know this is hard for you, Raphael, but if you can hold your temper, these things can run a lot smother. That means you can reach your brother faster. Each angry word will add to the time you have to reach him before it's too late and Donatello will be no longer among the living."

Raph had a lot of 'angry words' to say to this man now. He even complied a complete list of them in his head and had to repeat them a few times before his anger cooled enough to speak without slipping. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a scientist who happens to have everything I could ever want at my beck and call. You're already doing better, my dear friend."

"I'm no friend a' yers."

"Ah, ah, ah. Be careful there. That sounded a little heated to me."

Raph didn't bother pressing the button this time as he let out a stream of curses into the rain-drenched sky.

"Better?"

"I will kill you." Raph said to him in the nicest voice he could manage.

"You're wasting time, Raphael. I still have more information to give you before you can join your other two brothers and start the search for the lost. There is a time limit. In fact, Donatello's already breathing in a very limited supply of oxygen. Once that runs out well…he should only have minutes as he slowly suffocates to death."

"You bastard!" Raph roared into the night, his voice lost as a loud clap of thunder streaked across the sky. Still, it was good that he had forgotten to press the button in his rage.

"Now there's one thing more you need to know before I must leave you. There are two frequencies this device can tap into: the one we're using now and a second. This other frequency is an added feature to my little game. I thought you might want to speak to your brother before he breathes his last. The connection isn't the best and won't work all the time. If he even can respond past his panic and fear, you can try to reach him. Go ahead, Raphael. Turn the dial and speak to your brother. Say your goodbyes…"

Raph wasn't completely paying attention to him by then as he searched the walkie-talkie for the dial referred to. He switched it to the second frequency and tried speaking into it. "Donny…? …Donny? …Donatello!"

I'm not aware of time in my dark prison. The dark seems to smother me and the air is getting heavier; thinner. It almost feels like I'm floating. The only way I can tell I'm still here is by the hard surface beneath my hands. I'm almost too afraid to move my hands away from my surroundings. What if that is the only thing holding me here? Only when I concentrate, I can also feel the – concrete? – beneath my legs and feet as well. I can barely move in this small enclosure…

"Donny…?"

Color seems to burst in my vision, but it's only an illusion created by the complete absence of light. A strangled noise escapes my throat as I lightly press against the ceiling. A sound amplified in this darkness and a way to solidify I'm still alive. My closes close against the black. It doesn't seem as stifling that way. It's the only comfort I can get in here…

"Donny?"

It takes a moment or so for me to even hear the voice calling out to me; another moment to realize it is not my captor but… "…Raph?" My voice comes out as a squeak; high-pitched. Only Mikey can beat it. My whole body freezes as I try to hear more. I'm not even breathing…

"Donatello?"

This time two things become apparent to me. He can't hear me and his voice… It's coming from my left…! I scramble towards where I heard it, feeling with my arm as I can barely get my hand over there. I nearly send it smashing against the side of my prison before my fingers finally close around it. I still can't see a thing and the thought that, if I wasn't inside such a small enclosure, I may never have found it scares me. I use my fingers to see what I'm holding before I'm finally able to place it. Before I can do anything more, it drops from my hand and onto my plastron. Again, I'm scrambling to find it, my panic only increasing my frantic moves, but I locate it quicker than before and press the button to talk. Thankfully, I made these things before… "Raph…?" I cough softly before trying again, "Raphie?"

On the other end of the call, Raphael was near ready to lose hope of ever reaching his lost brother. He didn't know when he had fallen to his knees in mud. The rain still falling fast against his cold skin was no longer thought of. His numb fingers were nearly crushing the device in his tight grasp. When his brother's small voice finally reached him through static, he could barely recognize the voice. He almost didn't want it to be him – Donny – his little brother… "Donny…" He released a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding. "Are ya alright, bro? Did he hurt ya?"

"Raph…I'm scared… I'm going to die here… I can't breathe…!" I can feel myself shaking but, until the tears came, I didn't think of why. My breathing is coming in frantic gasps and Raph's words don't all reach me. I'm not sure if it's me or our connection…

Raph could hear how his brother's voice shook. He could hear how fear had turned his words into a panic-ridden mess. …And it scared him. It just wasn't Donny. "Calm down. Breathe. He said there's still air in there fer ya…" He wasn't used to this. He was the fighter; the protector. What Donny needed was comfort and hope. He couldn't give him that…

"I…I can't…" I am trying, but I can't seem to get enough air in my lungs to satisfy me. It feels like the dark is crushing me. Panic returns in a sudden intake of breath and I'm once again fighting for a way out. "I can't get out!" I didn't notice as my finger slipped or when the device fell from my shaking hands. I just have to get out!

"Donny, think!" Raph growled into the device as his grip tightened as if this thing was his brother and holding it as tight as he was could keep him from slipping away. "Yer good at that, right? Don't let this guy beat ya! Come on, please…! Don't let'um win…!"

And then all there was left was static; an all-consuming static. Static that felt more physical than anything else could at that point. And it lasted; mocking him with its finality. Raph could even hear laughter mixed within it, though that could just be his imagination. He could feel his own fear choking him. The device fell from frozen fingers after many desperate calls, but the static continued. It was eating him alive…

A/N: So please review!