I noticed a lot of people kinda started hating Karai… I thought maybe this could shed some light on why she would go so far as to stab Leo. Also, I thought it was about time that I focused a little on the secondary dark character of this story(First being Dark Leo) XD
Karai speeded up her pace from a walk to a jog as she passed through the hall. The Foot Bots patrolling the hallway saluted to her, but she gave them no attention. Now running, she headed towards the lab that the Foot had set up for Baxter ever since his old lab exploded because of the Turtles(something to do with Mikey throwing water balloons and water-reactant chemicals.)
That had been half a year ago.
Back when everything was normal.
Back when the Shredder had been alive.
As the kunoichi turned a corner, she cast her mind back. The Turtles had never understood. Although he had been their greatest enemy, to her, the Shredder had been her teacher, her role model. Her father. She remembered the first time she had been sent on a mission, with a high-ranking Foot member as the leader when she was 10. She had been glad to help, as that Foot member had always been nice to her. The mission had been to steal a few explosives, and she was the one to be carrying the 50 bombs. Because of the sheer amount of pressure, weight, and the large number that she had to carry, Karai had accidently dropped one.
It didn't explode, but the loud clang had gotten them spotted. She remembered running through the gunfight, managing to return home with 47 of the explosives. Shredder had been proud, and that had been enough to settle her disappointment with almost getting them caught.
But later that night, when the rest of the team returned without the leader of the mission, Karai knew that, in truth, she had failed. She remembered running into her room. Slamming the door. Crying her heart out.
She had ended a life. Ended a life with her stupidity, with her clumsiness. Throughout the rest of those two hours, all she could think of was how nice the soldier had been, how he had forgiven her for dropping the bomb, and had always seemed in control.
Next thing she knew, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she stared into the eyes of her father.
"Karai…You have to know that this isn't your fault."
"Yes it is," she had muttered. "No, it's not. You didn't mean it, did you?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that's it's an excuse. I killed someone who did nothing but show kindness to me."
"It's not your fault. You did the best you could, this was your first mission and you are ten."
When Karai didn't answer, he pushed on.
"Karai, think about it. Would the Foot Soldier want you to constantly blame yourself for his death? No. So if you want to make him happy, you can stop blaming yourself. Promise me that you won't blame yourself."
"I promise."
And although she knew that it would haunt her throughout her life, she had always tried not to blame herself; for herself, for the soldier, for her father.
Wow, it's a pretty long way to Baxter's lab. How long have I been running, two minutes? She reached the doors of the lab, then paused as her hands grasped the doorknobs. So much had changed. Leonardo. He had been the whole cause of this. Just a few months short of a year ago, she remembered meeting him for the first time.
On the rooftop, observing the fight as he battled the Foot soldiers, she had wondered why she had been so attached to him, although she had only been taught his name by the Shredder a few days ago. It was then that it had hit her. Leo reminded her of two people she loved. Her father, on occasional moments when they were alone. And the Foot soldier, whose named she had never even known.
It was then that she had decided, I can't kill him. And from there, he had always been the Turtle she had been closest with. Until now.
Now, she no longer felt a connection with him. As she watched him stab the Shredder, her father, the only true friend she had left, she knew that connection with him had been severed. Although she had later on discovered that he had been controlled by the madness of his severed strings, Karai knew that no matter how much he reminded her of her past, she couldn't love him anymore.
She swung the doors open and observed the clone of her father, laying inside a container and waiting to be revived.
Leo, you used to be part of the only three friends I had in this world. But I killed the first one, you killed the second. So now, I'm coming for you.
You may have noticed that I repeated a certain scene where Shredder was comforting Karai... (See chapter 9 of Strings