Hi!

Here are the newest chapter. It took me some time to get this up because I was struggeling a lot with this chapter. It was the hardest chapter to write so far and not because of the content, but becase of personal reasons. I wanted this chapter up sooner but I haven't been able to write since my grandmother died this June... It messed me up a lot and I had to force myself to write this chapter and on my other story on Mass Effect. So I'm SO SO SORRY if this chapter is not good enough... I'm not really happy with it, but it was all I could come up with. Also it's been so damn hot here in Sweden so I haven't even been able to think...! I'm not cut out for these temperatures. I love the cold! Autumn! Winter! Rain and snow! Not burning and sun...!

Well... Sorry for the delay again.

Thank you for reading!

A Great Lost

Chapter 20: Confusion

The blade I was wielding was heading for the neck with full swing and about to cut into the green flesh of my pray. Exactly which one of the green creatures whom was about to lose its head, I was not entirely sure, but I had my suspicions. The dark night concealed the colors around their heads and there had not yet been a flash of light from the roaring sky to reveal it. Nor were the two carrying their weapons with them which could have clarified it. However, the way the creature before me was moving about was of a carefulness, cautions and calculating of each and every step it took around the hole which it had just climbed out of.

Although I may not have encountered the two creatures with orange and purple more than once, I had found the two just as easy to read as I had with the one in red. Even though the three looked the same, they did not move or act the same. The Creature in Red had a tendency of acting careless, impatient and let itself to be easily manipulated. It jumped all to quickly into situations without knowing the field. Just like the first time I had laid my eyes upon the one in red, it had been exactly the same when I had laid my eyes upon the Creatures in Purple and Orange. The one in orange had stood out, but not in a good way. I knew right away that its movements would be clumsy and unfocused. There was a natural talent underneath each strike and instead of leaning on that, it let itself doubt what it was doing and that made the Creature in Orange to become the weakest link. Which was why it had been so easy to bring it down. The Creature in Purple was operating differently than the other two. It was calmer and more collected. It could predict the situation much quicker and adapt to it. It was careful. Calculating. Too much- thinking. But all these things also made it too focused. This creature didn't have the same talent like the other two. Its movements was too stiff and not reacting as quickly as its head.

So this creature before me had to be the one in purple. The creature still down in the hole had to be the one in red. Where the creature in orange was I still did not know, but I was quite sure it was not going to be interfering.

The Creature in Purple had its attention solely on the other green creature. It was reaching down to it and I guessed it was to help it out. I had taken the opportunity to step out of the darkness of the woods and walked up to the back now facing me. Neither of the two had sensed my approach nor heard as I had unsheathed my sword.

Although the sky was pouring down and rumbled loudly, I still found it odd that neither of them knew I was just seconds away from cutting into the neck of one of them.

"Take my hand," the creature before me spoke to the one down in the hole.

I took the swinging stance and prepared myself for a counter attack if needed. But there was no reaction and I knew it would go clean and smoothly. It would be over soon. About to swing, I found myself not being able to go through with it. I was... hesitating...

My mind was telling me to fulfill the order, yet my body refused to comply. But also there was a voice inside my mind which I could not place which told me it was not supposed to be this way. Not like this. It would be too easy to cut the creature down behind like this. There would be no fight... no-... a word which I could not find. I found myself wanting the fight. Their resistance. A need to see how far these creatures would go for one another. How strong their bond was.

It was clear to me that these three fought against the darkness for one another, although I could not understand why. Also, the three of them had tried to fight as one even though there was an obvious part missing and because of that, it had been their defeat back on that rooftop. But now there were no longer the three of them and would these two crumble in defeat just as easily now as they had done then?

Most likely. Yet I needed to see it before I fulfilled the order.

The sky lightened up suddenly and revealed the scenery. My eyes, slightly downcast, spotted something within the hole which seemed to draw at my attention. Underneath the feet of the creature, which was now confirmed to be the one with red, was something. But just as quickly as the light had crossed the sky without any warning, the dark returned and fell back in place, swallowing the hole's content back into black and out of my vision. A feeling I had only recently understood what it meant I found myself feeling again, curiosity. Curious of what they were hiding within that hole.

But that thought was snapped out of me as soon as I heard a loud roar which overpowered even the rumbling sky.

"NOOO!"

My body reacted before my mind could and the grip I had on the sword tightened as I swung it with all my might. I felt the tip of the blade cut into flesh but at the same time, the Creature in Purple was falling down into the hole, leaving me clueless on how successful the slash had been.

There was a cracking sound down from the hole and then followed with the Creature in Red saying rapidly; "Don! Donny! Are ya alright?! Don! Answer me, damn it!"

It was then I figured that the Creature in Red had pulled at the one in purple. Snapping out of my daze, the questions and doubts evaporated and the order I had been given came crushing down once again. The unplaceable voice inside my mind was pushed away as I recovered from the slash.

I did not give the Creature in Red time to check the other creature as I struck the blade down at its head. Reacting to my movement, the one in red quickly grabbed a hold of the only possible weapon at its disposal and blocked my attack. It was staring back at me with the same fire it had had the first time I had encountered the creature.

"I'm gonna enjoy killin' ya," it spoke with a low threatening growl.

My head tilted slightly to the side as a response to that. There was no hesitation within its eyes and only determination. This time, I knew it would give its all to bring me down.

Donatello had barley gotten out of the open grave and turned to help his brother out of it, when suddenly Raphael had screamed at the top of his lungs. The deafening scream had startled him, maybe even shocked him how heartbreaking it sounded and all Donny could do was to freeze in his action. That his brother wasn't in his right mind at the moment was obvious and entirely understandable after everything they had gone through. But as Don stood with his hand still reached out to his brother, he couldn't help but think that maybe Raph was further gone than he had initial though. That maybe Raphael had finally reached his limit to his sanity.

That though was breaking Donny's heart, but before he even had a chance to address the subject, Raphael grabbed his wrist with a firm, almost painful grip before he yanked it and had him pulled back into the open grave once more. Definitely shocked by this, he nearly failed to acknowledge the sudden slash to the back of his neck.

The pain barley had the time to register before he came crushing down on top of the already fragile and broken coffin. It didn't take a genius to know that with his weight and the force of his fall that the coffin wouldn't be able to hold up and it would break beyond repair. But it wasn't the coffin which had him worried, but the precious content within. The sickening cracks he had heard wasn't from the wood breaking and his mind didn't dare to go any further than that. He dared not to look.

"Don!"

No one should ever have to see what he had already seen and yet he had forced himself not to see more than he had to. It was confirmed that there was a body within the coffin and it indeed was a mutant turtle inside. That was all Don needed to know. To which degree the corpse had been decompose during the three years it had been buried was not a knowledge he needed to know. Yet that quick glance had been enough to add another scar to his already growing collection of things he had experienced which was haunting both his awaken and sleeping state. Ironically, the majority of those scars was inflicted by incidents involving Leonardo. He was not about to add a scar of seeing said brother's broken and crushed corpse because he knew he would never recover from it. The knowledge of it alone was enough to threaten his sanity.

"Donny! Are ya alright?!"

However, luck seemed to be on his side for once. He had landed on his right side and with that eye gone and the bandage was enough to block his single sight. Although he could feel the damage with his hands, he could not see it if he didn't turn his head to the right.

"Don! Answer me, damn it!"

But that small victory was short lived as his thoughts shifted to what had just transpired and the stinging pain in his neck made itself known. His hand shot up to the neck while the other pushed him up to his knees all the while ignoring the sound of cracking underneath. But that sound was overpowered by another sound of metal clashing against metal above him. That they had been attacked was clear but by who or what wasn't as crystal, yet he had his top three guesses; bear, hunter or someone he had hoped they had managed to lose when they left New York.

He found himself wishing for it to be either one of the first two options as he knew that at least those threats he could handle. A bear might be big, strong and vicious but it was still an animal. It wouldn't be the first bear they had encountered out here but they knew what to do to scare it away. A hunter may be a bit trickier, yet it would still be a human and them they might be able to reason with and if that didn't work, then they could always knock out the human and dump it a few miles away.

"I'm gonna enjoy killin' ya," he heard a familiar voice growl over his head.

There was another clash of metal from above.

As much as he prayed, he knew it was a futile thought as life had never gone easy on their family and most likely never would. There was one thing Donatello knew for sure and that was to always expect the worst when it came to these things. Their track record was proof enough. It would only need one single glance from him to confirm it. Yet he found that he would rather look at the corpse underneath him than the living imposter standing above.

But a groan from Raphael had him shot his eyes up at his brother standing next to him and the individual standing above on the edge of the grave. Although his brain had already expected it, he was still shocked to find the Foot Elite guard standing there in the dark with his sword crashed against the shaft of the shovel which Raphael held with both his hands to block the attack. The Elite was pressing the sword down hard, but as the shovel wouldn't budge from Raph's grip, the sword was quickly withdrawn up over the Elite's head only to have it come cutting down into it with more force. A few sparks flew into the air from the impact but was quickly extinguish by the rain.

A small part of his brain wanted to deny what he was seeing. After all, it had taken them about three hours to get from Manhattan to Northampton by car. How this guy had found them and followed them... It didn't make sense, yet here he was.

"How the hell did he find us?" Don found himself asking.

"How- should- I know?!" Raph answered through clenched teeth as he struggled to keep the sword from cutting down on him.

Raphael stood his ground and blocked hit after hit, yet his arms was starting to tremble from the constant impact. The Elite knew he was the one with the advantage and because of that, he wouldn't let Raphael move an inch. But it wasn't only the Elite who saw that he couldn't keep up with it for much longer, Don saw as well. Raphael's arms was starting to tremble and by every strike against the shovel shaft, the edge of the katana was brought closer and closer to his brother's head.

All thought about how and why was thrown away as Donatello knew he had to do something. He removed the hand which was clutching the wound on his neck but he had no time to check how bad it was and pushed that thought to the back of his head as he grabbed a large piece of rotting wood which had broken loose from the coffin. Although it wouldn't be able to inflict much of a damage against this foe, at least he wouldn't be completely defenseless. With all thoughts of the coffin and the body within pushed out of his mind, Don stood up and quickly go out of the grave.

The Elite was still focused on Raph as he kept slamming and hitting at the shovel Raph was holding over his head with great strength and persistence, Don could only hope that the imposter wasn't taking notice of him. But with the straw hat he was wearing, there was no telling where his sight was. Not even the lightening in the sky could reach the Elite's hidden eyes and there for, all Don could hope for was that he was too focused on Raph. He clutched the rotting plank between his hands as he carefully sneaked up to the enemy and if not, then at least he would be able to get him off of his brother. Hopefully long enough to have Raph getting out of the grave.

As soon as he was within hitting distance, Don swung the plank with as much force as he was able to put into it. But of course the Elite had seen it coming and moved out of the way just in time and the only thing the plank hit was the swinging cape floating behind. Don watched the Elite easily and gracefully slide out of reach in the wet grass and ending up in a defensive position about three feet away and on top of the second grave. The sword was held horizontal between them as Don imagined the Elite's eyes on himself. The move was such a classic Leonardo move it was infuriating him.

Don took a step closer to the grave, all the while keeping his eye focused on the imposter. He bent down to grab a hold of the shovel and helped pull his brother out of the hole. Raphael got up and stood beside him.

"Here, ya take this," he said and handed over the shovel to Donny and exchanged it for the rotting piece of wood.

Neither of them had their weapons on them as they had not expected to use them. Yet Don could easily imagine where he had placed his- next to the couch, just by the window facing the front of the house. Right now, he silently cursed himself for letting his defenses down. Especially when they knew they were being chased.

But now was not the time for that. Instead they would have to do with whatever they could get their hands on, just like Master Splinter had taught them. He could even remember his beloved father and master's wise words as clear as the first time he had spoken them;

"In a warrior's hands, anything can be a weapon."

All they needed to be was creative about it. If not, then they would be dead for sure because of the look of things, the Elite was indeed there to kill them. Although Don had to admit he had never really been good at making these words become true in his own two hands, but he knew for a fact that Raph could.

"How do you want to do this?" Don asked while shifting his new found weapon in his hands to get a better feel of it. The shovel would be the closest thing he could get to a bo staff at the moment, so it wasn't too unfamiliar in his hands. It may even be more useful as the blade at the end could do some pretty good damage depending on how it would be used. Although the weight and balance was completely different, but he could easily adapt to it.

"Take 'im out any way we can," Raph responded with a viciousness Don had not heard since before they had seen the Elite's face. But then again, Raph had had his proof and now there was nothing holding him back from avenging his family and friends.

Don turned his eyes back to the Elite and to him it seemed like the imposter was contemplating on which of the two he should attack first. There was a small shift underneath the straw hat at either direction he and Raph stood and eventually it seemed like it was falling towards him.

To Don, it made sense. He was the one holding the weapon which could inflict most damage and therefore, Don knew he would have their enemy's full attention as long as he wielded it, maybe even longer. It was obvious that Raphael was tired from digging and no matter how much energy his hotheadedness brought out of him, it would most likely not be enough to defeat this guy. Something which the Elite already seemed to know.

Rain was splashing loudly against the hat their enemy was wearing and rolled off of it just as furiously. But that was not what he was focusing his sight upon. No, he could all too easily imagine the eyes staring back at him from underneath the shadow of that hat. At first glance, they would be the exact same eyes, warm hazel brown with a rich golden streak. But then at the second glance, there would be no doubt that that they were not. There was no kindness, empathy, caring nor warmth within them. He remembered that they held no fire which had inspired trust. There was no honor. No love. Nothing that made him what Leonardo was. All he could remember seeing in those eyes, which had been burned into his memory, was that there was nothing but cold and emptiness. Someone with no life of their own.

As he once again had to tell himself that it was not his brother he was facing, he was trying to come up with a plan. He saw a shift in the Elite's body and knew that he had to come up with something fast because their enemy was about to attack. His brain was working quickly and although he already had the actions planed out, his body was too slow to react to them. The Elite advanced on him, his sword drawn to strike down upon Donny. All his body had time to do was block it with the shaft, just like Raph had done previously.

As he felt the strength of the clone, he silently cursed himself for not keeping up with his training the last three years. Although he had probably always been the weakest of the four of them, cursed Mikey's natural talent and strength, he could not really believe it had become like this. He could barley hold it and he had to put every bit of strength he had to keep the sword from cutting into him.

But that was short lived as Raph came to aid him by kicking the clone off of him. Although the Elite saw it coming and just as the kick came at him, the clone released the hold on the shovel and jumped back. With Raph's kick, the Elite's landing wasn't as graceful as probably intended, but unfortunately for them, the Elite landed on his feet.

This time, they would not let him attack them first. With just one glance at Raph and their eyes met, they knew what they had to do. They had to keep coming at him and not give the clone any chance to attack or then he could get the upper hand. Shifting the shovel in his hands, Don was then the first to make the move, with Raph following right behind him. Although slipping slightly in the wet grass as he went in for his attack, Don still kept himself upright as he had the shovel swing at his enemy's head. There was no doubt in Donny's mind that the Elite would evade it easily, and as he had foreseen, the Elite backed away and moving his upper body to the right and left to evade the swinging shovel blade.

Donatello didn't leave any opening for a counter attack and kept swinging fiercely. But also, he had to keep in mind not to make his swings too obvious and not keep it in the same rhythm for too long otherwise the clone could learn to predict them. He swung the blade at the head and the clone ducked his head and took a step back. Then Don tried to strike at chest and he moved to the right. After that he tried to hit with the shaft at all the vital spots on the upper body in a rapid movement which kept the Elite to move his shoulders back one after the other so to not get hit.

All those moves he repeated twice before he realized the clone had learned the flow of his movements and Don had to mix it up. And then there was Raph who was about to come up on the Elite's right to deliver his own attacks. But no matter how much of his attention Don demanded, it did not mean that the guy didn't anticipate that Raph would get into the fight. No. He was expecting it, but so were they. After all, this thing was an almost perfect replica of their brother, so why should they not fight him as if he was the real one?

After all, Leonardo had been a great strategist and quick in both reflex and thinking. He had been quick to adapt to almost any situation and reading body language and acted out of it. He had also been able to sense attacks and presences from behind him. There was a reason why he had been the best of the best out of the four of them. Leonardo had been the true warrior. Fully devoted to the martial arts and had lived and died by those rules.

This thing may be an imposter, a clone. But this thing was the closest to their oldest brother as they could get. And although Leonardo had not killed if not absolutely necessary, this clone had demonstrated time and time again that he was going to kill. It had been taught to follow orders and kill with no hesitation.

Raphael was about to get up to the Elite's side and strike it and at the same time, Donatello was going to strike it with the shovel at the same time. But just as they anticipated, the Elite saw it coming and evaded both their advances by crouching down and slide to the side in the grass.

But there was no way neither Don nor Raph would let him have enough time to recover and counterattack. Both brothers went after him, hitting, striking and kicking. Everything they could think of until there the Elite left himself open. But of course, it wasn't that easy. Although they managed to get a few hits and cuts in, they were only shallow ones. But they were getting tired quickly and not to mention it, it was cold. They were burning more energy than they had and if they both wanted to come out of this without too much damage, then they needed to finish this fight quickly.

But what was amazing, was how Raph kept coming at their enemy. Although he should be exhausted, there was almost no trace of it. The anger and rage was concealing it perfectly and he kept striking the Elite with all he had.

But Donatello wouldn't let his own attack go unnoticed. This time he went for the legs, then the arms and then the head. Although he barely got a hit on the limbs, he actually managed to knock that ridiculous hat off that guy's head and get a better chance of reading the Elite's intentions. Although it was dark and he could barely see the clone's face, the thunder was flashing across the sky and lightened it up for a split second. Even if short, it was still enough time for Don to see the gear in the clones' head spin and see a plan of action forming.

For a split second he froze up. It was so uncanny. No matter how much he tried to tell himself that this was not his older brother, his brain could not just let it go. His movements, his fighting, his actions... They were all Leonardo's although he could see the influence of the Foot there also, but most of it all was the son their father had raised and trained. The way he was looking for a plan of actions to get out of this tight spot was just so like him. First looking to the right, then to the left, then slightly down and followed with up and then a quick glance backwards. It had never occurred to him before when his brother was alive, but seeing it now in front of him after so long, there was no denying it that this was all his brother's behavior.

"What tha hell ya doin?!" Raph yelled as he tackled Don out of the way from the descending sword which was headed for his head.

Don fell on his side and the impact brought him out of his mind once again. Shooting both eyes up at their enemy, he saw him with his sword cleaved into the rotten piece of wood Raph was holding above him. Don had only frozen for a second, yet that had been enough time for the clone to recover and go on the offensive.

As the two stood locked in their stances, Don could see the burning determination in both of their eyes. Again it was a so familiar picture like the scene had been taken straight out of his memory. Raphael was burning with fury about to explode and Leonardo was dead set on putting their brother back in place. But this was not a memory and that wasn't Leonardo, he had to tell himself once again.

As much as Donatello knew for a fact that this was indeed not their brother, his eyes could not deny what they were seeing. Turmoil and confliction like nothing he had ever experienced before was settling in his stomach. It was then something hit him and his mind was puzzling together the pieces from the video recordings which he had missed earlier or maybe the mentioning of the bombs in their necks had pushed that aside. But now, he could see it.

"You've signed on to be a living test subject to these sick experiments. Even if you die- there is no escaping it."

"But right now, we need to focus on stopping Shredder from being able to resurrect himself! When he die, he need to stay dead!"

"The only thing left is to find a way to link his mind, or soul to that clone and he can come back to life. And from what you've told me, magic is indeed real."

"When he decide to test this theory out, I'm dead either way. Either I'm killed, brought back to life and then killed again. Or I'm just dead."

Maybe that was it. Maybe this clone was really..?

Donatello's eyes shot up to his brother and the clone just in time to see the clone kick Raphael in the stomach as he pulled his sword free from the wood. The kick had Raph thrown back and fell to the ground on his back, which had him slide on the wet grass and he fell right back into the grave. There was another hard impact on the already broken casket.

Their enemy looked at him and then to his brother, before he decided on who he was going for next. Although Donatello had the shovel, it seemed like the Elite was going to deal with Raphael first to even the field as his brother didn't have a weapon anymore. The piece of wood was lying next to the Elite's feet.

Standing up, Donatello could see his brother do the same inside the grave.

"Come on ya bastard!" Raphael growled, encouraging the enemy to go after him.

But Donatello couldn't have that way. No matter what he was not about to let anything happen to Raphael as long as he could do something about it. They were fighting for their lives, there was no time to think of anything other than beating this guy, then he could deal with all the facts. So he took a firm hold on the shovel and stroke at the clone as hard as he could.

Immediately, Don struck out at the guy but of course he managed to move out of the way with great finesse. The wet and slippery ground wasn't bothering him at all and he moved just as fluently as he had done in the city. Don followed him, but struggled a little with his feet as he moved around the grave and had to often check where he was putting down his feet.

Metal struck metal and it sounded like another storm had joined the first. Except whenever I heard a strike, there was no light flashing up the sky or a thundering rumble which followed. Although my world had crushed down on me and I had questioned my very existence just moments ago, suddenly I had a purpose again. No matter how exhausted I was or the strength in my arms had been used up, I still had enough left to bring this bastard down.

It was confirmed that this wasn't my brother. No questions, no more doubts. Nothing was holding me back. I could kill this cheap imitation with nothing but good conscience. I would be able to restore order and bring back my brother's honor which was being violated by this things' every breath. I would be able to retaliate for April and her legs. For Mikey and his arm. For Donny and his eye. And I would be able to avenge Master Splinter's death. This time, I would not let this guy get away.

The all familiar anger and fury spread through me and pushed the exhaustion away. Adrenaline pumped through my body and with no hesitation, I jumped out of the grave and into the fight. As I was coming down at the guy with a kick aimed for his head, Don struck with the shovel at the katana the Elite wielded. For a second there, I thought that I would be able to kick the guy, but in the last moment, he saw me coming and jumped out of the way. But he didn't remain there for long and as soon as I had landed on my feet, he came at me.

Although slightly off to the right, Don came to my rescue by blocking the sword aimed at my chest. Both of them began to push at one another, but the Elite seemed to lose his patience fast and slammed his sword down at the shaft preventing him to get past. For some reason, it felt like the Elite was purposely going after me first and without no hat, I could see his stare at me whenever a thunder lightened up the sky.

Although I had no weapons on me, I wasn't going to let that take me out of the fight. I could still kick and punch. Straightening up, I then jumped over the two to get behind the Elite and kicked out at him as I came down. I managed to get a perfect hit into his back because of Donny's distraction and the guy fell into a roll heading for the dug up grave. When I thought he was about to fall in, he stood up just by the edge of it and used the momentum to jump across it.

He stood straight on the other side and tilted his head to the side as he looked at us. Was he mocking us again? It was hard to tell with the mask covering his mouth but I like to think he was. It made it easier to keep the rage boiling inside of me that way.

Then he jumped over to our side again, his sword swinging into the air as I moved out of the way. I ducked, jumped and rolled as the sword kept swinging at me, confirming my thought of him wanting to kill me first. Whenever there was an opening, I tried to kick or punch, but he was anticipating all my moves all the while avoiding Donny who was following close behind and tried to hit him with the shovel.

As more as I thought about it, it was like I was fighting Leonardo again. Just like Leo, this imitation knew every move we were going to make before we did them. This dance, though altered with minor things, was a dance we had done so many times before while on practice and our fights. Back then, Leo had known which one had been the biggest threat and who to take out first. Yet, I had no weapons and the biggest threat wasn't me, but Donny. Yet he almost ignored him now. It didn't really make sense.

Whenever the thunder struck and the light followed, I spotted the look the Elite was giving me. It was intense and somewhat bewildered. In the next flash, there was a coldness which hadn't been there before. And in the third flash, it was almost like there was a struggle inside. But it was also then when the strikes became harder to avoid and more on point.

The blade struck against my arm as I tried to get away, but the wet grass underneath my feet made me slip and fall to the ground. But if it wasn't for that, then my head wouldn't still be attached to my body. Although, it seemed that would not be for much longer. The Elite had managed to get Donny off of him and too, was lying on his back behind the guy and therefore, couldn't distract him long enough for me to get away.

My eyes went for the blade which was about to take my head, which was conveniently hanging over the open grave, which soon would also be mine. For some reason, that didn't seem to bother me at all. Although I didn't want to die before I had defeated this guy and saved my brothers... I was ready... If it had to be this way... then I somehow was content with the idea of sharing the same grave as my brother.

A flash of thunder would be the last thing I would ever see and the sky which was lightened up by it. Fitting. Just like it should have been three years ago. A storm then and a storm now. But the last strike I would ever feel against my neck never came. Instead, the Elite stood there frozen in place. My eyes went for his, but he wasn't looking at me. No, something behind me was caught in those eyes. Then there was a shift to the left and his eyes grew before they shot back to the grave behind me.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw Donatello come up behind the Elite and took that rare to struck him across the head with the blade of the shovel. Before his eyes went to the back of his head, they were looking at me with something other than blankness which I could not read. Then the guy collapsed right where he stood. Recovering from y shock, I managed to roll out of the way before he could fall on top of me.

"Are you alright?" Don asked as he walked up to me and reached out a hand to help me up on my feet. I grabbed it and let him pull me up on my feet all the while my eyes was on the Elite, who was lying unconscious on the grass.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, but didn't pay much attention if I indeed was or wasn't. All I cared about was to end this guy. I kicked him so he rolled onto his back and then grabbed the shovel out of Donny's hand. "Let's end this guy once 'n' for all!"

As I was about to plunge the shovel blade into this guy's neck, Donny stopped me by grabbing the shovel before I could hit.

"No!" He practically shouted and forcefully pulled it out of my hands.

My head snapped at his direction in fury as I demanded; "Why the hell not? He was just 'bout ta take my head off, why shouldn't I give 'im the same treatment?!"

"We're not killers, Raph," he answered bluntly. "No matter what he has done, we can't kill him."

Shocked or bewildered, I wasn't sure which one, but I knew that Donatello had to have gotten his head kicked or something for saying that. Didn't he realize who this guy was and what he had done? What he was about to do?! What the hell was wrong with him? Ever since he first encountered this guy Donatello have wanted this guy dead and now he have changed his mind?

"He killed Masta Splinter!" I yelled to have him remember what this guy was capable of. "He took yar eye 'n' Mikey's arm! He nearly killed April! He had her paralyzed, remember?! He's ain't Leo. We know that for a fact that he's ain't!" I threw an arm towards the grave and the open coffin within which revealed the corpse. "Why should we let 'im live?" I demanded. "If we ain't kill 'im now, he'll kill us later!"

Donatello's eyes went for the open grave with a sad expression on his face, yet I could see confliction within them. Hesitation. Something was going through his head and I could easily guess what that was. It was something which I had had ever since I encountered this guy. Maybe even before that. But there was no denial within me anymore. This open grave was proof of that. Leonardo was dead.

"Leonardo's dead. Ya said it yaself, remember. Ya kept tellin' me that over 'n' over again. 'N' ya wanted this guy dead just as much as I did only hours ago, if not more. What changed?"

I could barely see him in the dark, yet I could see his body and I knew he was still hesitating. His shoulder was tense and held high. He opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again. Did he for really doubt that this wasn't our brother? As he kept struggling on what to say and his silence lingered, I felt myself grow angry and impatience again.

I snatched the shovel back from him and turned to the imposter to end it all. "This bastard ain't deserve to live, nor should it." Once again I was about to cut into that throat when I was stopped again.

"I think this is Leonardo," Don said with a clear tone which had me stop myself. Lowering the shovel in my hands, I turned towards him and was about to explain it once and for all to him when he beat me to it. "Shredder had our clones made so he could experiment on them. He was trying to find a way to live forever. To have is consciousness, his being, his soul transferred to another body." Donatello paused for a second to let that information sink in with me. "Leo had agreed to let him experiment on him. To have this clone made. As long as we were kept out of harm's way, Leonardo agreed to die and to have his soul transferred into this clone."

"Why?" Was all I could ask. "Why would he do somethin' that stupid?"

"Because we have bombs attached to our necks," Don answered grimly. "I found one on Mikey just before I came out here. I wanted to see if you had one too, but then all this happened."

One of my hands flew up to the back of my neck as soon as he mentioned it and I tried to feel my way down under my shell but I couldn't fell anything. "A bomb?" I say in panic.

"I don't think they're active now," he said calmly and I turned to look at him. He continued; "I found recordings when we were at the Foot HQ and I just looked them up. Most of them were broken but a few worked. Leo was helping McLain and McLain helped Leo. They were talking about Shredder using clones to resurrect himself. And he was going to try it out first on Leo."

"But we saw Leonardo die. He fell from a fuckin' buildin'. His corps is down there!" I throw a hand down to the direction of the grave. "Ya said it yaself, Don, people ain't coming back from the dead! It ain't scientifically possible or whatever."

"Neither is going back in time. Going to the future or other dimensions. Magic isn't possible yet we have seen it more times than we can count on our fingers," he said more serious than I've ever seen him before. Everything he said goes against everything he believes in, yet we both know that all of that is real from experience.

I look down on the grave behind me and then at the body collapsed just by my feet and a voice pops into my mind.

"Am I haunting you from beyond the grave or am I just your subconscious in the form of your brother trying to tell you something?"

Haunting me beyond the grave? Subconscious? Magic? For the last twenty four hours I've seen three different shapes of my brother. An imitation, a ghost and a corpse. One of them is definitely the original, yet can I really afford to deny the rest of them? After everything I've seen and been through can I really dismiss this so easily?

My eyes go to the other headstone up on this hill and I find myself asking for guidance from the wises man I've even known. Father, what should I do? But of course, from him I would never be able to get an answer from.

My eyes land back on the body at my feet.

"I want to find out the truth, Raph," Don plead. "And even if the truth isn't want we want, we are not killers."

Hesitation prevent me from answering. Everything was so clear just moments ago and now it's all back to confusion, guilt and regrets. I honestly don't know what to do.

So what do you think? Have you figured it out yet? What will happen to the Leo clone? =D

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