I was brought back by the shaking of whatever I was laying on.
"Raph, I need you to keep the Shellraiser steady! Mikey, hold him down please!"
"I'm trying, Donnie, but there's so much blood here! I don't want to touch it!"
"Well get the hell over it! Raph can't do it because he's driving!"
"Let me drive then and Raph can come do this!"
"Mikey, damn it, hold Leo down!"
I could hear all of these voices, the voices of my family, but I was way too disoriented to respond.
So many things happened tonight. So many confusing things.
And so many things were happening in those few moments.
But I couldn't focus on a single one of them.
I couldn't concentrate on anything.
This weird, cold feeling was starting to creep it's way all throughout my body.
"Michelangelo, he's going to die if you don't help me!"
So that's what was wrong. I was dying.
The more distant the world around me became, the more I tried to focus on how I got to that point.
"Leo, can you hear me?" Donnie questioned, so close to me.
I could only force myself to say one thing.
"Where…where is Sensei?"
And then there was nothing.
***Post-Booyakashowdown, Pre-Follow the Leader.
Leonardo's P.O.V.
The Kraang weren't doing anything that night. Donnie's communication orb hadn't given us any head notice. We were just out on looking for mutagen when I spotted them.
Karai.
I kept my eyes locked on her from several rooftops away.
My brothers didn't say anything while we watched her. I think they understood that there wasn't anything there for me; just curiosity as to what the Foot were up to.
We hadn't seen Shredder in a while, and it had definitely been a while since I had seen Karai do anything. So what was she doing with a bunch of Foot ninjas on this random night?
I could see Karai's mouth moving from my position, but I didn't have a prayer of knowing what she was actually saying.
"Donnie, do you have ANYTHING that can help us hear what they're saying?" I asked him, annoyed that we weren't getting much done.
"Well," he pondered his options. "If we could get a T-phone over there, we could listen in on this end…"
"But how are we gonna get one all the way over there without being spotted, dudes?" Mikey questioned allowed.
I looked all around; there was nothing to conceal us, so there was no way for any of us to get over there.
I groaned inside of my head, thinking about all the useful information we could have been missing.
"Leave this to me," Raph grinned, grasping his T-phone in his hand.
Before I could object in anyway, he darted down the fire escape behind us, and he was gone.
Seconds passed and Rah did not emerge, so I quickly focused my attention back on Karai.
They weren't moving at all…she was just…talking.
Without any warning, my T-phone began vibrating. I looked down to see an incoming call from Raph.
"Raph, be careful!" I hissed into the microphone as soon as I answered the call.
"Be careful from what?" his voice jumped from behind me.
"How are you—" I started to ask while raising the phone to my ear.
The only noise coming through was the sound of wind. I turned to face him, confused. He kept grinning and pointed up.
My eyes located a sole bird (a pigeon, maybe?) flying towards Karai, but nothing else.
It landed on their same rooftop and that was all I could see.
I looked back at him again, only to see him smiling confidently.
Alright, Raph…
"Alright, so we're all clear on the plan?" Karai's voice suddenly overtook my T-phone.
Donnie, Mikey and I gasped as Raph's plan…whatever it was….worked.
We all remained extremely quiet, trying to hear anything we could.
"Then it's settled," she continued after a few moments of silence. "We meet at the docks at midnight. Now go get everything ready!"
With that, all of Karai's ninjas dispersed, and she jumped off of the rooftop as well.
"Any ideas what her plans could be, guys," I looked back at my team and asked.
Mikey's eyes lit up as he recognized the chance to go off on a tangent about what they could have been up to.
I quickly slammed my hand on his mouth and gave him a look.
"Serious ideas," I clarified.
This was Karai, and she was a threat. I wasn't about to take the situation lightly, especially since we had no idea what her actual plan was.
Mikey's expression fell as he nodded.
"Well I think the only way for us to find out is to be there tonight and crash whatever party Karai is trying to throw," Raph said, holding out his hand.
All of us watched him confused when out of nowhere, his T-phone fell directly into his hand. My eyes shot up to see a pigeon flying off into the distance.
I had never been so confused in my entire life.
Raph looked up and nodded at the bird, also throwing him a thumbs up.
…Okay, now I had never been more confused in my life.
Despite the confusion and curiosity surrounding Raph and his…friend, I snapped myself back into the mindset of Karai.
Whatever she was doing needed to be stopped.
"Guys, let's head back to the lair," I offered. "We need time to come up with a plan, and we need to ask Master Splinter what to do."
This, out of everything else, was probably my least favorite part about being leader.
My brothers and Sensei all sat before me in the dojo, as I stood before them and voiced my thoughts on the situation, and offered them strategies.
Sensei told me it was his way of testing my effective leadership skills, like he was judging my ability to speak to my brothers. Honestly, when it was just my brothers, I was totally fine. But when Sensei was watching…it made me nervous. Like everything I was saying was wrong.
Tonight, I was more nervous than any times I had done this in the past, probably because I was drawing complete blanks. And on top of that, I felt so uneasy about the whole situation, possibly because it involved Karai. She had deceived me so many times in the past, and I just felt more…alert, on guard almost.
All of their eyes were on me as I paced back and fourth. I had to say something, but I couldn't put together pieces if I didn't have them.
"C'mon, Leo," Raph whined. "It's 11:20! We got 40 minutes to get to the docks before whatever goes down starts!"
"Raph, we don't know anything about what's going to happen!" I argued while keeping my eyes on the floor and my pacing even.
Half of my brain was dedicating to figuring out what Karai's plan was, and the other half was trying to decipher a way to approach it.
"Well let's piece together what we do know," Donatello spoke slowly, raising his hand to rest his face on his chin.
Alright, somewhere to start.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sensei watching me intently. Like he was already disappointed that I was leading such a poor excuse for a meeting. Fantastic.
"Oh!" Mikey exploded from his spot. "We know that we have to be at the docks for midnight!"
"We know there will be at least a dozen Foot ninjas there," Donnie calculated, probably judging from the amount of them we had seen earlier that night.
"That's just a dozen more butt I get to kick," Raph smiled.
"And we know it's being lead by Karai," I spit, getting frustrated that I seemed to be the only one not contributing to the discussion.
In that moment, I noticed three things happen.
One, I felt nothing when I said Karai's name. No emotions or feelings like I had been fighting over the past few months, There was nothing, Just the need to stop whatever she was doing. And it was the biggest relief in the world to me.
Two, All of my brothers' eyes shot to me. I think they were expecting me to react in someway, seeing as they all knew I had been struggling to get over whatever it was I had felt for Karai. But I kept my reaction even, because there was nothing there. No driving emotions, no lust, nothing. It was just…I was just calm.
Third, and probably most notable to me, though I seemed to be the only one to notice this, was Sensei. The second I said Karai was involved, he tensed. Not in an obvious way, it was very subtle. His fists clenched and he shuddered slightly. It wasn't something you could have caught unless you were looking at him, and I was amazed that I was even able to see it happen.
Had I imagined it?
No, I couldn't have, because his fists were still balled when I turned my full attention to him.
I debated in my head wether or not to ask him about it in front of the others, but I refrained.
There was this thick intensity that seemed to be rolling off of him. I couldn't quite explain what it was, it just seemed like he was upset about something. About Karai…
"My sons," he spoke calmly, his words betraying the feelings I seemed to be the only one picking up from him. "Go and gather your weapons. We must leave immediately to see what this plan is."
We. That time I know I wasn't the only one who caught Master Splinter's strange behavior.
My brothers and I all looked at each other, but we reluctantly obeyed. We would never disband the orders of our Sensei, even if they confused us.
As we all began to exit the dojo, Sensei held me back.
"Leonardo, I wish to speak with you," he said.
"Hai, Sensei," I bowed in respect and watched my brothers as they all slowly exited the dojo, never taking their eyes off of us.
Sensei waited until the others were outside of the room completely before he spoke.
"I am coming with you," he finally said, retreated to his chest where he kept out practice weapons.
I stood there, not sure of what he wanted me to say.
Sensei never came with us on our missions, it was quite strange to me that he wanted to come now. What was this about?
"May I ask why…?" I was careful with my words.
I had never once questioned my father. I had always trusted his judgement before, and he had never betrayed my trust. But why this, all of the sudden?
He seemed hesitant to answer me in anyway. Asking him was definitely the wrong move.
"I want to be clear in stating that using lethal force is not allowed," he finally spoke again, not answering my question.
"Sensei, we never use lethal force," I defended.
He pulled out a bow and a holster full of arrows, securing it on his back. He also held a rope, which he secured around his waist.
"Especially not on Karai," he whispered.
It was like he was ignoring everything I was saying, and it started to wear on me.
"Sensei, you know we wouldn't ever seriously hurt someone without reason," I spoke in a more direct tone. "That includes Karai, but if she makes me feel like she's going after any of you, I won't hold back."
Sensei's eyes locked on mine, and they had a certain coldness to them. Unease slowly crept over my body, but it didn't distract me from what I was saying.
"I've given her too many chances, and if she does anything to make me feel like my family is in danger, I will bring her down, Sensei."
"No, you will not," Sensei raised his voice, throwing me off guard and causing me to take a step back. "No harm will befall Karai tonight, or ever."
I stared at him wide-eyed as he spoke. There were very few times when Sensei had ever spoken like this to me, and I couldn't understand why he was in those moments.
Why he was defending Karai…
"We will capture Karai before she can do any significant damage," he continued, only lowering his voice slightly.
"But…why…?" I tried to speak like I wasn't intimidated.
"Sometimes our enemies are not really our enemies," Sensei's voice returned to a normal volume, but it was still as cold as ice.
There was such an intense urgency to him. It was like he was begging me to understand something that he could not bring himself to say. But with how he spoke to me, how could I respect whatever he wasn't telling me?
He began to exit the dojo after my brothers, but he stopped next to me and uttered something so low, I barely caught it.
"I made you leader of your brothers, Leonardo, but I am the leader of you, and you will respect my better judgement."
With that, he left the room, and I was alone with the conversation we'd just had playing in my head.
I was driving more cautiously than I had ever driven in my life, mainly because I knew I was being judged. Sensei had never ridden in the Shellraiser before, and he'd never seen me drive before.
I was so scared that everything I was doing was wrong. Especially after the way Sensei had talked to me in the dojo…He made it seem like me wanting to protect my brothers was a bad thing.
He made me feel like my calls as the leader were poorly thought of.
But above all of the respect I felt for my Sensei, and all the love I had for my father, I would do anything I felt I needed to do to keep my family safe…even if it meant disobeying Master Splinter.
I don't think my brothers felt nearly as anxious as I did. To them, this was just another Foot ninja ambush. To me, this was an evaluation of my position on the team.
I was so nervous in fact, that I even obeyed all the traffic laws, including all of the speed limits. Not that I didn't normally obey them, but I knew tonight we were on a timer.
Everyone in the back was silent. The only noise I could hear was Master Splinter drumming his fingers impatiently.
"Wanna drive ANY faster there, Fearless Leader?" Raph taunted me from the backseat.
Just what I needed…
I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on the road, too afraid to even speak back.
"Raphael is right," Master Splinter agreed with him. "Leonardo, we are on a tight schedule, we must get to their location now if we are to utilize the element of surprise."
Without any response, I simply pushed the gas pedal down, speeding up and following Mikey's directions.
"My sons, I am taking the lead on this mission," Sensei announced to us.
Every cell in my body froze as I used all of my strength not to make any form of reaction. My leadership position had been revoked. Was this permanent?
There were definitely times when I know I messed up. Definitely times when I regretted the calls I made, when I saw better opportunities only after I had missed them, but I never thought I had screwed up enough to the point where Master Splinter would name a new leader for the team.
Who could even play the roll aside from me?! Raph tried once, and we all know he failed miserably. Mikey was…Mikey. He couldn't lead the team effectively.
Donnie was obviously the best choice. That was it. After this mission, Sensei was going to turn the team over to Donnie. I hadn't risen to the challenge. I failed in Master Splinter's eyes and I questioned why I ever even thought I could be leader.
I could feel all of their eyes on me, but I was too focused on the war that was raging inside of myself. And I poured all my attention into following the driving instructions I had been given.
Turn right up ahead.
"…We will surprise out enemies by splitting up," Sensei began to speak after a few moments of awkward silence. "Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, you will storm from the ground level on my signal."
My heart sank as I waited to hear if I had any role in this plan.
Take another right two blocks down.
"Leonardo, you and I will station up on high vantage points," he added. "None of you are to act until I give the orders. We will not be lethal, we will simply overpower our enemies with our surprise attacks."
I still didn't fully understand what Sensei's plan was. I was the only one of my brothers who knew he intended to take Karai hostage. What did he even want with her? To use her as bait to lure out the Shredder? To get information from her? There were tons of possibilities…
Turn left, and ride straight down to the dock's main gate entrance.
My brothers all wasted no time in racing to their assigned positions. I didn't move so fast. I was still in shock, trying to even move.
What was happening? Did Sensei not respect me as his student anymore? Did he not love me as his son anymore?
There was something bigger, underlying all of this. I knew that, but whatever it was, Sensei didn't trust me enough to tell me.
I had to get that trust back. Whatever I had done to lose it didn't matter. I needed to show Sensei I was good enough to be the leader and I was worthwhile.
So I determined that no matter what my judgement was, I would follow Sensei's orders.
The seconds felt like years. Time was passing at an excruciatingly slow rate.
I was perched next to Sensei on top of a roof, waiting to spy on a Foot meeting..
Sensei was clearly ready to kick me off of the team. I literally had to be perfect tonight. No mistakes.
When we'd first climbed the fire escape up to the roof, Sensei had stopped me.
"Leonardo," he said. "Wait, there are guards."
I peaked my head over the roof's edge to spy two Foot ninjas, perched over and looking below. Their backs were to us.
Normally this situation would have appeared to me as a video game on easy. My anxiety made me see it as more of a challenge.
Despite my fears, I wasted no time.
"I'll take them out, Sensei," I said, determined to prove myself to him.
He looked at me strangely and nodded giving me permission to go forward.
I jumped onto the roof, mindful of the weight I put onto my feet. Silence was one of the keys in stealth, and I spent the better half of the last few months working on it.
My feet touched the surface so lightly, the sound I made could have only been heard if you were right next to where I landed. Or if you had giant rat ears…
I looked back for a moment to see how Sensei had judged how I was dong so far. He watched with no expression on his face. He didn't even seem to be focused on me. His eyes were focused on something beyond me. The watch point where he wanted to be.
I took a deep breath and steadied myself. This was it, my first chance to prove myself.
I silently leapt towards my enemies, arms extended. I gave them no time to react to my touch. I simply smashed their two heads together. Not enough force to kill them, of course. Master Splinter had made it very clear that he didn't want lethal force, and I never had any intention to use any. I simply knocked the two of them unconscious and slid their bodies away from the spot.
Master Splinter did not hesitate; he flew past me as I was dragging the two heavy men backwards, offering me no aid. But more noticeably, he paid me no compliments for my actions.
I never asked for thanks you's, or any type of compliments when I acted, but it didn't hurt to hear them…Especially when I needed to know what Sensei was thinking about me.
I lowered them onto the fire escape and used ropes I found on their persons to tie them up. Everything I did had to be effective.
Slowly, I took my place next to Master Splinter and we waited for whatever was going to happen to start. We were early, and sitting their idly next to my father was practically the worse kind of torture I had ever experienced in my life.
I wished I could read his mind, know what he was thinking about me, because up until this point, it seemed everything I had done that night was wrong.
I tried to distract myself by pointing out various things, kind of like a ninja I Spy. I easily picked out Mikey, his bright orange mask didn't hide too well, even in the water.
Raph was a few yards away from him, holding onto one of the pillars that was supporting the whole dock itself.
Donnie was the hardest to find, standing behind a large crate close to the center of the pier but far enough to remain hidden. I was originally looking for the purple of his mask, but found that the pale green of his skin was what gave him away.
I was hoping that the only reason I could see them so easily was because of my high position, and not because they were obvious. I didn't want anything to happen to my brothers…
Finally, a car pulled up to the middle, and Karai stepped out of it. The car barely gave her time to get out at all, as it sped off before she even closed the door.
She didn't seem phased by it at all as she kept walking forward. With her arrival, her dozen Foot ninjas appeared from the shadows, and she began assembling all of them in a line.
"Tonight, we're here to assemble all of Shredder's weapons for the next phase of our plan," she announced to them.
I looked down at them curiously; we had been there to ambush their weapons shipment months ago. I guessed that after her father almost drowned, they abandoned the shipment to get the Shredder any needed medical attention. Or was this a new shipment all together?
I was so lost in my thoughts, I almost missed what Karai said next.
"Nothing can go wrong on this night," she bellowed, leaving me to ponder why she was speaking so loudly.
It was as if she wanted to be heard, or if she knew she was being heard.
No…
"So that's why we're going to stop any turtles and their rodent master from getting in the way tonight!"
On her last word, she jumped and threw several shuriken towards Master Splinter and I.
Sensei didn't even budge at the oncoming assault. He was completely transfixed on starring at Karai…
"Sensei!" I screamed, tackling him to the side to avoid being hit by the shuriken.
We both tumbled over the side of the building, and we were free falling.
Alright, not my best idea…
Sensei grabbed me by my wrist and held me up as he reached for the ledge of the root. He held both of our weights, making us a pretty easy target.
Alright, probably my worst idea…
I looked over to Karai to see her grabbing more throwing stars as some of her Foot ninjas raced towards us. When we fell, they would totally overwhelm us. Master Splinter and I were sitting ducks.
Suddenly, Raph and Mikey jumped from the water and landed on the ones running towards us.
Donnie used his Bo Staff to pole vault from his hiding place to Karai. He landed on top of her but she pushed him off and was quick to recover, drawing her swords. Donnie sprang up and held his staff ready to take her on.
I panicked. I knew Donnie couldn't handle Karai on his own, and there were definitely too many Foot ninjas for Mikey and Raph to hold off on their own.
So I screwed up the mission. I put everyone in jeopardy. No wonder Master Splinter wanted to replace me.
"Leonardo!" Sensei called down to me.
I looked up in horror to realize that he was starting to lose his grip on the ledge. Sensei could have easily pulled himself up if he wasn't carrying my dead weight. We were in danger of falling again.
There was little to nothing I could do, so I frantically searched my brain for a plan B.
My eyes locked onto a dumpster against the wall a few years away from where I was.
My brothers needed me, and no matter how much Sensei disagreed with my role on the team, I was going to be there for them.
I hadn't actually mastered this skill…though I'd been practicing it since I was seven years old. I remember seeing it on old ninja videos that Splinter had for us, and ever since then, I'd always tried to perfect it whenever the opportunity presented itself. The lair didn't give me much room to practice the older and bigger I got, because there was little to no clear wall space.
I doubted I could even pull it off effectively now. There was so much doubt circulating through me.
Until I heard Mikey scream. I looked back to him and saw him slam into the wall so far below me, three Foot soldiers slowly creeping towards him.
"MIKEY!" Raph yelled, but was drawn back into his own battle defending against three swords at once.
Something about knowing my brothers were in danger, it ignited something in me.
Time caught up to me and the reality of the danger truly set in. I looked back up to Splinter feeling more determined that I had all night. Adrenaline was flowing through every single one of my veins, and charging every single cell in my body.
"Let me go, Sensei!" I called up to him.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw the distance from me to the ground. He knew there was no way I could land that much of a fall without getting hurt in some way.
"Trust me," I begged him, knowing every second that passed could have been fatal.
I saw something shift in his eyes, and he prepared to let me go. I braced for it, planting my feet against the wall ready.
And Master Splinter let go of my wrist.
I shifted my weight and used my feet to run against the wall of the building towards the dumpster. Gravity was pushing me down a lot faster than I had anticipated, but I kept running as fast as I could, hoping that I could close the distance between me and that dumpster before I hit the ground.
I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I dove for the dumpster.
I crashed into it harder than I expected to and was stunned by a searing pain I felt in my left shoulder.
Dizzy and disoriented, I realized I had popped my shoulder completely out of it's socket. But I didn't have time for such a minimal injury.
Master Splinter had already pulled himself up and was shooting arrows at the assaulting ninjas surrounding Donnie. He never hit any of them, but was simply gaining their attention to draw them way from Donnie so he could stand a better chance against Karai.
I sucked in a deep breath as I prepared myself for what I was about to do. And without any further hesitation, I slammed my dislocated shoulder into the brick wall next to me.
I actually heard the sickening sound before I felt anything. It was this weird popping noise, and my bones popped back into their correct places.
I literally had to fight with all of my strength to stay on my feet, as the pain I felt in my shoulder radiated to every part of my body. My shoulder screamed, my chest ached, and my legs were shaking fiercely.
After I gave my body mere seconds to adjust, I rushed to Raph and Mikey, who were knocked on their shells with Foot ninjas storming towards them.
I drew my blades and blocked five various weapons from landing on top of my brothers' heads.
Holding back one foe's blade, easy. Two, not a challenge. Three, a little difficult. Four, barely possible. Five, with a recently dislocated shoulder…well, adrenaline is a powerful thing.
"Leo!" Mikey screamed from behind me. "Hang on bro!"
"NO!" I barked at them, struggling to hold back the ninjas. "Go help Donatello with Karai! I can finish these guys off!"
"You—you got it," Mikey seemed hesitant but ultimately obeyed my orders.
Raph stayed behind me, readjusting his grip on his Sais.
I was not in the mood for him to challenge my orders. Donnie and Mikey were going to need strength if they were going to take Karai down.
"RAPHAEL," I called out his full name, looking back at him and starting to feel myself sliding back. "I SAID GO!"
He took a shaky step back. I realized the last time I had been that forceful with my orders, was when I was yelling for them to leave me behind on the Technodrome.
My words clearly cut into Raph, but I didn't have time to be sorry, and he knew that. He reluctantly ran around the ninjas I was blocking to aid our brothers.
Knowing the space behind me was now clear, I jumped back letting all of those weapons fall upon where Raph and Mikey had just been. I spun my body around and wheeled my foot into all of those ninjas. My spinning kick took them all down.
For a brief moment, I was given visual access to the entire dock. I saw Master Splitner, fighting off multiple Foot soldiers on his own.
And I could see Karai taking on all three of my brothers with ease.
She grabbed Donnie by his sash after she dodged his strike, and sent him flying into the crate he had been hiding behind. Raph saw Donnie get hurt and charged at her, which she also evaded with ease. Before he could turn, she kicked him in his chest and he crashed into Donnie, both dazed on the ground. Mikey then jumped in front of them to protect them from Karai. She only laughed and fiercely started swingng at Mikey.
My baby brother was always the fastest of us, and he did everything he could. But Karai was just a little bit faster in her offense, and soon Mikey joined Raph and Donnie on the ground.
The three of them groaned in pain as Karai displayed her smug, arrogant smile proudly.
"Is that the best you turtles can do?" she mocked them.
I'd had enough at that point.
I charged in her direction, ready to defend my brothers. Out of nowhere, a new group of ninjas popped up in front of me, blocking my path.
Their array of weapons rained down on me as I raised my katanas to block them.
"Pathetic," I could hear Karai spit from where I was.
I used all of my strength to hold back all of those ninjas from me, while trying to see around them to what was happening to my brothers.
And that was when I noticed Master Splinter, completely out in the open with his bow and a single arrow ready in his hand. He had it aimed directly at Karai, who appeared to be completely oblivious to him.
I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw Karai raise her sword in the air.
She was going to kill them. Karai was going to kill my brothers, and the only person who could stop her was Master Splinter.
Of course he was going to save them. Of course he would act in the better interest of his sons!
But as the seconds ticked by, I watched horrified as Master Splinter couldn't do anything but lower his arrow and stare at Karai.
It was like no one else existed in the world but him and her. It was like he was in some horrific trance totally unaware of what Karai was about to do to my brothers.
"Say goodbye, freaks," she laughed.
"Sensei!" I screamed, knowing what was about to happen.
His only response was to stand completely still and watch Karai horrifically.
I screamed. I summoned every ounce of strength I had and I pushed all of those Foot ninjas back away from me with one of my swords. I lost my grip on it and it slid away from me.
I didn't give it a second thought.
And I charged at Karai with so much hate powering me.
The bloodlust in me was overwhelming. Karai was not going to hurt my family.
She was not going to fucking kill my brothers.
Not if I was alive to protest it.
I'd had enough. I warned Karai to stay away from my brothers. I told her months before that if she ever went after them, I'd go after her without a second thought.
And she had more than crossed that line I had drawn for her. She had destroyed it.
My knuckles practically screamed with how tightly I was gripping my sword, ready to end her before she could hurt Donnie, Mikey or Raph any further.
But the world around me slowed down in those few moments.
My brain made everything seem to move in one fourths of the world's regular speed.
I looked over every weak point in her armor. I calculated where my blade could do the most damage.
I pinpointed her neck as my target, seeing as she paid me no attention and wasn't prepared to defend against me at all.
This was it; I was going to kill Karai. I had only killed once in my life, but that was nothing compared to this moment. I was going to kill a human person tonight.
I was not going to walk away from this fight without making sure she could never touch my brothers again.
Somehow, as I drew closer to her, my head turned on its own accord as I prepared for the impact. It was like I knew I wasn't going to be able to watch my sword actually draw blood. The sword that Sensei had given me strictly for self defense.
Sensei…
My eyes locked onto him as I had completely forgotten about his presence. I was shocked to see he had once again risen his bow, but the arrow was aimed at me.
And no more than ten miliseconds later, he released that arrow.
I didn't stop running, I kept my pace as I watched that arrow flying towards me.
I braced myself for the pain, but had no intention of stopping.
That was when I felt the arrow hit my sword, knocking it out of my hand.
And Master Splinter's words replayed in my head.
"I want to be clear in stating that using lethal force is not allowed," he had said to me.
"Sensei, we never use lethal force," I had told him.
Sensei wasn't aiming at me; he was aiming at my weapon.
The sound of the metal hitting the ground did two things: one, it broke through to me, and two, it caused Karai to turn as see me coming.
The second I wasn't holding my sword anymore, all of that bloodlust went away. I was horrified at the fact that I was seconds away from taking another life.
I stopped dead on my feet, so close to them now, but too afraid to move.
Karai glared at me and turned back around to swing her sword at my brothers.
And in the absence of the bloodlust was the need to protect my brothers, stronger than it had ever been before.
I found my eyes locked on Mikey's and not on Karai's sword as it actually fell down towards them.
I was flying through the air, watching Mikey's eyes as they shifted from the blade to me. His light blue eyes reflected nothing but horror when he met with my eyes.
For the second time that night, I heard the sound before I felt anything.
It was even worse that the popping sound. I had never heard the sound of flesh tearing. It was literally the most disgusting sound in the universe.
The first thing I felt was cold. Freezing cold that ran up the space between my plastron and my shell. It was the same shoulder I had injured earlier. The metal of Karai's sword was completely freezing.
The second thing I felt was tearing. I had torn hundreds of things in my life, but I never had actually feltthe feeling of being torn. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life.
The third thing I felt was cold again. The feeling of my blood leaving my body…it was the last thing I was able to be completely attentive to.
I hit the ground…I knew I hit the ground.
My mind was swimming, I was completely and totally out of my head. the only thing I was absolutely sure of was that I completely sure of was that Karai had stabbed me.
There were voices, coming from everywhere.
"LEO!"
"LEO, NO!"
"LEO, STAY WITH US!"
I will, I tried to say, but I couldn't find my lips.
Everything was cold. So immensely cold, and it was getting impossibly colder.
And impossibly darker.
I blacked out.