A/N: Last chapter! It's a bit longer than the other ones... but that's not saying much, as my other ones were pretty dang short. It felt better splitting it up like this, though. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, favorited and all that jazz. :D

Disclaimer: No, they're still not mine. If they were, the 2k3 voice actors would be doing the Nickelodeon version, and they wouldn't look like plushies. (Though, I can't wait to hear Sean Astin as Raphael!)

~3~1~4~

"Aw, man!"

"What, Mikey?" Donatello steered them around a pile of demolished chimney, wary of jostling Mikey's leg.

The youngest turtle hung his head dejectedly. "I lost my chucks."

Raphael, leading the way, turned his head slightly back towards the two of them. "I lost a sai." He pat the singular sai in his belt, absent of its twin.

"Maybe we can come back later and look for them." Donny encouraged his easy-going sibling. Not you, Brother. It's bad enough that you have to be subject to this carnage a first time. He knew it must be getting to Mikey. It was sure as shell getting to himself.

Mikey nodded at Donny's suggestion. "Yeah, if the cops aren't here by then."

This caused Donatello to pause. He, too, had been wondering when they would show up.

They passed the erupted boiler, then the pile where Donatello had incorrectly assumed Raph was buried. The bodies were mutilated; most of them minus at least one appendage, some of them rent entirely in two. Donny wished they had gone another direction, if only to spare Mikey the scene. A raspy whisper suddenly jerked his attention to the right.

"Hey..." A cough, harsh and wet.

In a flash of motion, Raph drew his one sai and pointed it at the body they had wrongfully assumed was lifeless. The fallen Foot ninja was slumped against the remains of an old grandfather clock. He was missing his right arm to the shoulder, and his uniform was in shreds, as was the skin beneath it. By all rights, he shouldn't have been breathing.

"I-I don't... wanna fight..." He coughed again, and it was mingled with a snicker. As if he could've fought, anyway. "I need to... ask... you freaks... s-something."

"Well, not with that attitude, dude!" Mikey said lightly. "We're not saying anything until you agree to be nice."

Donatello had to hand it to Mikey. That he could show resistance to the violence and even produce humor in a situation such as this... it was baffling.

Apparently the Foot ninja thought so, too, for his response was a ragged chuckle. His shoulders shook with each breath as he laughed, genuinely amused. As his heart rate increased, the amount of blood in his body decreased. "Alright, f-fair enough." His features were hidden beneath the black mask, but his voice was coming out with much difficulty. Donatello figured he didn't have but a couple minutes left on this earth.

"What is it you wanted to ask?" Mikey twisted so that he could better see the man, and Donny adjusted their stance to let him. Donny was glad for Mikey's soft heart. Despite all the pain and suffering they'd been put through by the hands of the Foot and their psychopathic Master, a dying man was still a man, and he deserved his final words.

The Foot was quiet for a moment. Donny briefly wondered if he was gone, before he spoke up suddenly, and with a strength he didn't previously possess, urged by the drive to learn the answer to the question he had been pondering for a long time.

"We, under Master Shredder, we've been... been fighting you for years now. Obsessively fighting you. And what I want to know is... why?" His remaining hand reached to his dark mask, grasped it, and yanked it off. He was around 30 years old, features baring traces of Asiatic ancestry, and eyes as bright as the day he was born. "Why h-have we been sworn to kill you? Why does our Master... hate you so much?"

It was Raphael, who until now had not moved, that answered. He lowered his sai slightly and leveled the man with an even gaze. "Because he's driven by a need for power. So much, that it chokes him if he can't have it." His eyes burned into the eyes of the dying Foot ninja. The mere thought of their enemy set his blood on fire; his breaths began coming in quick, angry bursts. "And he doesn't care who he steps on in order to get it. He hates us because we challenge that. Because we," he motioned to himself and his brothers with his sai, "We don't believe that any one person should have that much power. Not at the cost of everyone else!" He made a sweeping motion, weapon in hand. "What kind of place would the world be if it was dictated by someone like that?" He retorted, angrily shoving his sai into his belt. "It'd be Hell, and we already have one of those."

The man stared at Raph, saying nothing. His eyes misted, even as his pallor morphed into an ashy gray. Suddenly, he laughed. A wet laugh that brought red to speckle his lips and tears to the corners of his eyes. The laughter quickly died down and left a soft smile, full of understanding, regret, and acceptance. Slowly his head fell back until it rested against the frame of the clock behind him. "I think..." He was having trouble drawing oxygen. Blood you wouldn't think he could've spared trickled from his mouth and dripped down his chin. His voice slowed, becoming airy. "I've been.. on the... wrong side..." One final exhale, long and deep, and the light died from his eyes.

Donatello was filled with a wave of sadness. The loss of a life, even when lacking an established attachment to that life, left a sort of aching, hollow feeling. Life was precious, sacred. Once it was gone, truly gone, it wasn't coming back. Seeing that man now dead, where less than a minute ago he had been a unique individual, with his own desires, emotions, aspirations... it was horrifyingly surreal. Donatello was pained, and felt a touch guilty, at seeing similar thoughts reflected openly in Mikey's eyes. He wanted to comfort his younger brother, say something encouraging, but no words came to mind.

"At least he went out knowing the truth about Shredhead." Mikey observed softly, watching as Raph stepped forward and shut the man's forever unblinking eyes. The action relieved him, for whatever reason.

"If you can call that good, knowing that your entire life had been a lie." Donny winced. I'm sorry, Mikey. I didn't mean to be so pessimistic.

"I know that I'd rather go knowing instead of in the dark."

Donny looked at Mikey, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"I'm sure he did too, Mikey." Raph stepped closer to the two of them and looked them each in the eye for a brief moment. "Come on."

~3~1~4~1~5~9~

They had been trudging with difficulty for the better portion of thirty minutes, now. This little building was turning out to be more of a museum, or so it felt, what with all the debris and rubble to navigate through. Their minds had all but gone numb to the bloody bodies littering the grounds. With each corpse they passed, gratefulness for each other's survival increased exponentially. It also stirred the pit of boiling anxiety in their guts, the longer it took them to locate their eldest brother. Surely, surely they should've found him by now.

They'd reached the front of the building about fifteen minutes ago, and were now steadily working down the parallel wall. A few more minutes and they'd reach the front door, so to speak. That's when Michelangelo saw the gleam of silver reflecting in a single beam of sunlight streaking from the cracked ceiling. "Leo!"

Raphael and Donatello also noticed the blade lying discarded on the dusty, dirty floor, and the pronounced lack of green was like a rock in their stomaches. Raph ran ahead of the hobbling duo, grabbed up the katana to verify that it was Leo's, then threw himself at the rubble, overturning with his good hand any scrap of couch or wardrobe large enough to completely conceal a humanoid mutant turtle.

Raph was hurting himself, that much was obvious. They needed to trade places. Of the three of them, Donatello was in the best condition. "Raph," Donny raised his voice when Raph didn't respond. "Raph, listen to me! You won't be doing anyone any favors if you injure yourself beyond the possibility of helping!"

After flinging an old cabinet off to the side, Raphael stopped, breathing heavily. Taking in how Raph's chest heaved with each breath, how closely he pressed his broken arm into himself, Donatello could only hope his older brother wasn't about to pass out. He surely looked like he was. "Take Mikey, Raph. I'll dig."

Mikey jerked his attention to Donatello at the mention of his name and the sentence that finally processed, his eyes-only sweep of the immediate area producing no satisfying results. "Hey! I'm not useless, you know. I can help. Leo might be down there!" He moved as if to shift away from Donny's supportive shoulder.

Raph, who had begrudgingly accepted Donny's point, took Mikey's arm from around Donny's shoulders and slung it around his own. "Ya can, Mikey. Keep your eyes open for surviving Foot and Dragons."

The youngest turtle muttered something about 'useless' and 'boring'. "Why can't you just set me over-"

"No."

"Geez, touchy." Mikey twisted his neck to dispel a crick that was making itself known, keeping his eyes trained on Donny despite his 'job'. "If any of them made it, they probably got out of here already."

"Maybe, but don't write them off."

"Fine, whatever."

Donatello threw himself at the pile of rubble. Chunks of ceiling, walls, antiques, the floor, and anything else he laid his hands on were flung to the side. Inch-by-inch he worked his way down, not even stopping to consider what might be down there. The thought of his own flesh and blood buried was all the fuel he needed.

Raph sucked in a breath. "Wait, Donny..."

Donatello slowed down only marginally.

"Leo lost a katana earlier."

"What?" Donny bent his knees to wrap his arms around a large railroad tie-sized beam.

"He lost it before the explosion! So he's probably not even around here..."

Not here? Donny twisted away, releasing his grip on the beam to deposit the wood off to the side-

"Donny!"

The steel of a blade flashed from the newly-opened cavity and thrust across Donny's unprotected left shoulder. It bit deep, only coming to a stop when it met resistance from both his plastron in the front and his shell in the back. He gasped, staggering back a step, even as a sai found itself embedded within the attacker's chest.

The Foot Ninja was dead instantly. He fell forward, and with him, the katana held in his death grip jerked from Donatello's shoulder, clanging to the ground.

The sudden loss of blood threw Donny's head into a spin and he fell to his knees, dreading the moment the pain would hit. He clutched at the laceration, trying to stem the flow of blood that now poured freely from it, slicking down his arm, coating his chest, and catching in the lip of his shell so that it dripped down to the floor in a steady stream. The expected nausea was swelling at a terrible speed. He was loosing too much blood too fast. He was going to pass out. The world was spinning. He couldn't get his eyes to stay open. Gravity was shifting. He was falling forward.

Leonardo was there, catching him. Donatello slumped in his embrace, his head resting on his older brother's shoulder, barely conscious. Leo... you're okay. He could feel the vibrations in Leo's chest as he spoke, urgently it seemed, with Raph and Mikey. We're going to be okay, now. Leo's... And his thoughts stopped.

~3~1~4~

There was a buzz. Not like an caffeine buzz. No, this was more like an auditory buzz. One of those annoying buzzes that just won't shut up. And yet, the buzz was familiar. Annoying, for sure, but kind of... endearing. An endearing buzz? What did Donny know of that was annoying, yet simultaneously endearing?

"Hey, Raph, I think he's waking up!"

Then the buzz was right next to his ear.

"Are ya awake, Donny?" Something poked his arm. "Helloooooooo?"

Donatello managed a mumble. "Quiet, hornet. I'm taking a nap."

"Hornet?" Now Mikey sounded panicked. "Raph, I don't think he knows where he is!"

Donny could only smile and he cracked his eyes open. "I know where I am, Mikey." His little brother's face zoomed in close to his quick enough to make him go cross-eyed.

Worried, inquisitive eyes blinked behind an orange bandana. "Are you sure you know?"

"Of course." Donny deadpanned, raising his right hand to scrub at his face. "We're in that alternate dimension that April's uncle Auggie's device sent us to." He peered through his fingers. "Did I get stung?"

Michelangelo looked as though he were about to have a panic attack. "Raph-!"

"Relax, egghead. He's just playin' with ya." Raphael, arm in a sling, smirked at Donny. "Welcome back, bro."

Donatello allowed Mikey to help him up from the infirmary bed and into a sitting position. The infirmary... Life blood flowed into his veins through an IV line. April must have been here. Pain suddenly shot through his shoulder, and he reached up to grab it, finding it bandaged. "Ouch..." He waved off Raph and Mikey's worried looks. "It's fine. I just forgot it was there."

Leonardo appeared in the doorway, drawn by the commotion, saw Donny looking at him and smiled. "Hey, Don. How're you-"

Donny's eyes widened, the image of Leo appearing to catch him just before he passed out sprung to mind, and he sat up straighter, still holding his shoulder. "Leo! Where'd you come from?"

Leonardo thumbed back over his shoulder, blinking innocently. "Uh, the kitchen?"

"No, I mean," Donny shook his head, remembering too late that there was a wound there, too. He stopped immediately, shutting his eyes. "Earlier, when you... You just came out of nowhere."

"Oh, that." Leo sat down on the bed next to Donny and met his questioning gaze.

Donatello then noticed that Leo didn't seem to be injured at all. He was relieved.

"I had been pinned under a large portion of the ceiling. Something holding it up shifted and I was able to get out. Then it was a matter of finding you. Didn't take too long." Leo sighed, crossing his arms and tilting his head back with his eyes closed, smirking fondly. "I have the noisiest brothers."

Mikey, perched on a second, spare bed, interjected. "Good thing, too! You could've been walking around there for ages like we were."

Leo's smirk faded, his eyes dropping to his knees. "Don, I'm sorry. If you hadn't been looking for me-"

Donatello, seeing this coming a year ago, stood abruptly, wary of the IV line, and stretched his muscles. "I don't want to hear it." He cut Leo off casually. Donny planted his good hand on his hip, twisting his neck around to grin at his baffled oldest brother. "Besides, how do you know I wasn't just looking for my pack? I have some important stuff in there, you know. A highly developed GPS device. My bluetooth headset. Night vision goggles." He sighed, sitting back down. "Listen, Leo. If I wasn't willing to take a sword or bullet, or even an explosion, for one of my brothers, then I don't deserve to be a brother. Besides, you do it all the time."

Leo opened his mouth, then shut it. He wanted to protest, that was obvious, but ultimately he conceded, but whether it was simply for Donny's sake alone, Donny wasn't sure.

Michelangelo, uncomfortable with the lapse in conversation, leapt from his seat, remembering too late his bandaged leg. He shifted his weight to land on his good side, but overbalanced and hopped on one foot in a limbo, feeling gravity desperately trying to pull him to the floor. When he was sure he was about to lose the fight, a hand was grabbing his arm to steady him. It was Raph's. Mikey sighed in relief. "Whew. Thanks, Raphy-boy!"

Raphael only smirked as he leaned back against the doorframe, wrapping his good arm around the one in a sling. "Egghead."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Leo pulled a Shell Cell from his belt and handed it to Donny. "I borrowed it when I called April to ask her to come get us. Mine was totaled."

"Ah," Donny intoned in mock cheer. "I'm guessing I'll have to rebuild everyone's then?"

Leo was sheepish. "Sorry."

"Hey, can you build a MP3 player into mine this time? Oh, and a touch screen! With GPS and infrared, and-"

Donny tossed his Cell at him, expecting him to catch it. "You'll be lucky if you get one at all, Mikey."

Mikey reached out to grab it with his right hand, before realizing again, for the umpteenth time that day, that his fingers were fractured, and just barely managed to catch it in time with his left. "What...?" He indicated the phone.

"We never got pizza, did we?"

The youngest turtle's expression brightened at the mere mention of pizza, and needed no more encouragement.

"Just one thing."

Mikey paused halfway through entering the number.

"Make sure it's delivery."

~3~1~4~

The End.

~3~1~4~

A/N: I would say that I don't like the ending, that I'm not happy with it, that it deserves to be buried under a large rock, but I won't say that because it'd be pointless since I'm posting it anyway. I think it's about as good as it's gonna get. *sigh* If anyone has tips on how to END their fics, drop me a line. *slaps self* Not gonna complain anymore. Nope. I LOVE my writing! :D -_-

Btw, about the continuity thing I mentioned in the first chapter. I don't like to kill the main characters, because I feel that if I did, in the next story I wrote, that character would still feel dead, like I should write him dead. "Oh, I know he died in my last fic, but here he is again alive! *:D*" Besides, I don't like the emotional ringer that puts the other main characters through. Anyway, I must stop talking! Bye now.