"Um, h-hi Kayla."
Kayla gaped for a moment and she was sure her face was tinted red. Finally she found her voice.
"Marcus?" her voice came out almost as a squeak.
Raph looked over his shoulder at her. "Marcus? As in the Marcus you go to school with-Marcus?"
"Uh…" Kayla's mouth went dry as she glanced between her brothers and Marcus.
"Um, could-could you please put me down?" Marcus asked nervously. Raph narrowed his eyes at him, not loosening his grip.
"Raph." Leo warned him. Raph grunted and let go of Marcus, stepping back and putting his sai back in his belt.
"So, why'd ya follow us?" he questioned the young teen.
"Um, w-well, I saw Kayla following you guys so I followed to see what was going on."
"But I told you to run away." Kayla argued in confusion.
"Well, I couldn't bring myself to, you know, leave you." Kayla exchanged glances with her brothers, all three slightly confused. "I mean, come on, you were fighting a bunch of ninjas or whatever. Did you honestly think I'd just leave like that?" Kayla smiled to herself, touched by his intentions.
There was an awkward silence before Marcus spoke again. "Um, no offense or anything, but…how are you guys giant turtles?"
Leo looked down at Kayla. "Do you trust him?" he asked her. Kayla nodded immediately. She didn't trust easily, and if Marcus could manage to earn her trust in such a short time of knowing her, then he had to be a good person. Leo nodded. "Alright." he looked down at Marcus, who looked nervously up at him. "Do you want to come to our home? You can meet our father and, if he trusts you, he can tell you our story."
Marcus thought about it for a moment before nodding. Leo turned and lead the way towards their home, Kayla walked beside Marcus, and Raph brought up the rear incase anyone else followed them. After a while Kayla noticed that Leo was taking a slightly longer way home, probably so Marcus wouldn't know how to find the lair again, just as a precaution.
When they finally came to the entrance Leo pulled on the pipe, causing the door to slide open. Kayla giggled silently to herself when Marcus gaped at the entrance sliding open, it was too adorable. She shook her head and lead Marcus into the old subway station.
Mikey suddenly skated by.
"Hey, you found-wait, who's this?" Mikey stopped and pointed at Marcus, a huge smile appearing on his face. He loved meeting new people.
"What are babbling about now, Mike?" Don asked as he turned around in his computer chair and pulled his headphones off his head, letting them rest around his neck. When he noticed his other siblings with someone new he took off his headphones completely and walked over to them.
Kayla sighed out an, "Oookay," before beginning introductions. "Guys this is Marcus, Marcus these are my brothers: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo." she stated, pointing to each turtle as she named him.
"Wait. Marcus? As in Marcus-Marcus?" Mikey asked, a huge teasing smile spreading across his face.
"Mikey, can it." Kayla threatened.
"The Marcus that-"
"Shut up."
"But you admit it's the Marcus-"
"Mikey, you're pushing it." Leo warned.
"But come on. How many Marcus's can there be that-"
"That's it!" Kayla flipped Mikey's board into the air, caught it, and began chasing him with it swinging over her head, and Mikey screaming like a girl. Don moved to get out of their way, standing closer to Leo as the three other turtles and Marcus watched Kayla chase Mikey around the den.
"Um, are they always like this? I don't think I've ever seen Kayla like this." Marcus asked, an amused smile on his face.
"Yeah, unfortunately they are." Leo answered, shaking his head at his youngest siblings.
Kayla then chased Mikey around the others shouting, "You're a dead turtle, Michelangelo!"
As they raced past the dojo entrance a large booming voice shouted, "What is all this commotion?!"
Kayla and Mikey immediately slid to a stop and stared wide-eyed as their Sensei approached them, looking stern. Kayla slowly hid the skateboard behind her back and smiled guiltily up at her father, Mikey mirroring her movements. Splinter raised one furry eyebrow at his daughter before holding out his hand expectantly. Kayla sighed and handed him the skateboard, she could hear her other brothers trying to stifle their laughter.
"Kayla, I know you have a fiery temper, especially when it comes to your brothers, but you must remember to control your anger, no matter how much Michelangelo deserves it." he added jokingly as he eyed his youngest son. The laughter behind them grew and even Kayla laughed a tiny bit. "Now, I believe you have someone to introduce me to, Kayla." Splinter added as he looked over Kayla's head to where Marcus was still standing by Leo.
Kayla nodded before turning and leading her father towards Marcus, but he stopped a couple yards away so he didn't freak Marcus out. Marcus seemed a little shocked and a bit confused, but luckily not scared.
Kayla stood next to him. "Marcus, this is my father Splinter, but we usually call him Master Splinter or Sensei. And Master Splinter, this is Marcus."
Master Splinter was stroking his beard. "Ah, yes. Your friend from school." Mikey burst out laughing and even Raph chuckled a bit, which made Kayla go red. "Michelangelo! Raphael! Enough!" Splinter ordered sternly, which shut them both up. Splinter then turned back to Marcus and seemed to study him, which made Marcus uncomfortable. After a few moments Splinter nodded. "You have honest eyes and a kind heart. Come, I will tell you our story." and he lead the way towards the large flat screen TV and sofa.
Marcus looked at Kayla in confusion. "Huh?"
Kayla smiled. "That means he trusts you and likes you. Come on." she lead Marcus over and she sat on the far side of the couch with him sitting next to her. Raph was leaning on the wall nearby with his arms crossed, Don was sitting in the recliner, and Master Splinter was standing just in front of Marcus with Leo behind him off to the right side.
"I got the popcorn!" Mikey shouted as he came running from the kitchen and jumped over the back of the couch, landing with a boing on the spot next to Marcus. Kayla put her face in her hand and shook her head, faintly noticing that Marcus scooted a little bit closer to her to get away from her boisterous brother.
Master Splinter cleared his throat, signaling to everyone to stop talking. "Over twenty years ago I lived in Japan with my Master Yoshi as his pet rat. My Master was one of the most skilled ninjitsu masters in the land, and I learned much from him by mimicking his moves from my cage. Yoshi was in love with a beautiful woman named Tang Shen. However, there was another man who sought her heart. A man named Oroku Saki. But Tang Shen loved my master, so they decided to move here to New York to escape Saki. But one day my Master returned home from his work to find Tang Shen lying dead on the ground, and then Saki leapt at him from the shadows, giving him no time to respond. In the struggle my cage was broken. I leapt at Saki's face, biting and clawing but he knocked me to the floor and sliced my ear with his katana. My Master and his love were dead, and I was left alone. I lived in the alleys and sewers like many other rats until one day I found a broken canister and four baby turtles."
Mikey nudged Marcus with his elbow. "That was us." he whispered. Marcus and Kayla laughed quietly while Raph smacked Mike upside the head.
"The turtles were crawling through a strange green ooze. I decided to gather them up in an old coffee can, unknowingly getting the ooze on myself as well. The next day I was shocked to discover that we all had doubled in size. We rapidly began growing, both physically and intellectually. I knew the world above would not be welcoming to us, so I decided for us all to live below in the sewers and to teach my new sons the art of ninjitsu. I then chose names for all of them from an old Renaissance book. My oldest son was named Leonardo," he gestured to Leo beside him, who bowed his head slightly, "my second oldest Raphael," Raph nodded his head upward, "Donatello," Don waved slightly, "and my youngest Michelangelo."
"You can call me Mikey." Mike waved enthusiastically even though Marcus was only a few inches from him.
Marcus was awestruck for a moment as he gazed around the room at everyone. Then a thought occurred to him. "Wait," he turned to Kayla, "how do you fit into all of this?"
Kayla looked to her father, silently wondering what to say.
Mikey spoke up. "I think Raphy boy should tell this story. It's technically his." Raph smacked him again. "Ow."
Splinter turned to Kayla. "It is your story, and Marcus is your friend. Why don't you tell your story and choose how much you wish to tell?"
Kayla glanced around the room before looking back at her father. "I can tell him anything I want from the story?" she checked. Splinter nodded.
Kayla looked at the ground and thought for a moment before starting. "A long time ago, like twenty-some years ago, there was a clan of ninjas called the Foot Clan. They were lead by a man called The Shredder, aka Oroku Saki."
"The same guy that killed Yoshi?" Marcus asked in shock. Kayla nodded with a blank expression.
"When Saki followed Yoshi to America he brought with him a faction of the Foot Clan. Among the members that came was a woman ninja named Aimi. She was well known among the clan for her skill. When they moved to New York Shredder seemed to notice her for the first time, she was one of the most skilled ninjas in Japan, and she was very beautiful; so obviously that caught Shredder's attention. So, they…they spent a night…together." Kayla looked at Marcus for a moment before looking back at her feet. "A couple nights later Aimi lead a small group of ninjas to steal something from an old warehouse, but they were attacked by a large gang. She was beaten within an inch of her life and left behind. Then, who should happen to appear but Yoshi himself. He took her back to his apartment, and he and Tang Shen nursed Aimi back to health. Aimi was not happy about the circumstances, but she was in no position to pose a threat. However, after about a week staying with them she learned a lot. Especially about honor. She finally realized that what Shredder and the Foot were doing was wrong. She also discovered that she was pregnant, and that the Shredder was looking for her. She knew she couldn't go back to him, it wouldn't feel right. So she left Yoshi so she wouldn't put them in anymore danger and just stayed hidden in the big city. She found out Yoshi and Tang Shen were murdered a couple days after she left, and knew it was by the Shredder. When she gave birth to a daughter she named her Kayla." Kayla smiled and Marcus's eyes widened as he pointed at her.
Kayla nodded. "Aimi knew the Foot were closing in on her so she contacted Master Splinter, because she found out what happened to him and knew he was living in the sewers. He agreed to keeping me until Aimi came back for me when it was safe again. She left me in a spot in the sewers so he could go get me. However, Raph beat him to it." Kayla smirked up at her older brother, who was being nudged teasingly by Mikey.
"But, you said she'd come back for you." Marcus pointed out in confusion.
Kayla nodded. "She was…murdered by the Shredder as punishment for 'betraying the Foot Clan'," Kayla used air quotes with her fingers, "and for refusing to tell him where I was."
"No offence, but that's just dumb! To murder her just for that." Marcus was thoroughly appalled. Kayla nodded in agreement as she pulled her feet up under her to lean back on the couch.
"While we're talkin' bout the Foot and things that're dumb, Kay, why don't ya explain what all happened tanight." Raph suggested pointedly. Kayla hunched her shoulders and lowered her head.
"You did say you'd explain everything when we got back." Leo pointed out.
Kayla groaned and pulled her knees up to bury her face in them.
"Just get it over with, dudette." Mikey suggested curiously.
Kayla sighed and lifted her head again. "Okay, fine. Marcus and I went to hang out at Coney Island because neither of us have been there for a while-"
"You were there just a couple weeks ago." Don pointed out.
Kayla rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but not to ride anything, that was to work. Anyway, we hung out for about an hour when-"
"I thought ya said ya were alone." Raph pointed out.
"I never said I was alone, I just didn't tell you I was with Marcus. Now will everyone shut up?!" Kayla shouted, getting annoyed with all the interruptions.
"My sons, let your sister speak." Splinter scolded.
"Okay, now, about an hour after riding rides we decided to get on the Ferris wheel. When we were near the top our seat lurched. I looked up and saw a couple Foot ninjas messing with the bolts holding the swing to the ride. I told Marcus to leave when the seat got to the bottom and climbed up to fight them." Kayla then explained the fight in detail, which made Mikey excited. "Then, when I was hanging onto this bar a ninja was about to slice my head off when Raph showed up and helped me, Leo was fighting up on the top. Then, at one point a ninja pushed me off the side of the Ferris wheel. I couldn't grab anything and I was just falling, and I kinda figured I was gonna die right there. Then, a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me onto a bar. When I looked up I saw that it was that girl ninja. The leader."
"The one that helped us with Winters and the stone generals?" Don guessed. Kayla nodded before continuing.
"I asked her a bunch of questions about why she was attacking me like this after they helped us last time and she told me a whole bunch of weird information."
"Like what?" Leo prompted, getting a bit impatient for answers.
"Well, for one her name's Karai, and she said that she didn't order the attack, someone else did."
"But, she's the leader, right?" Mikey asked, "Who'd be giving orders to her?"
Don looked thoughtful. "Maybe she's only the leader of the New York faction? Maybe she has a higher up back in Japan. I don't know, just a theory."
"Did she say anything else?" Leo asked.
Kayla nodded. "She…she said." Kayla sighed. "She reminded me of our last encounter. Of the last thing she said to us. 'Soon we'll have further business together, that involves familiar faces from your past'."
There was a long silence, but Donny murmured quietly, "I remember her saying that."
"You don't think it could really be…him…do you?" Mikey asked nervously, his voice unusually quiet.
"No way! Shredder's deader than dead. There's no way in shell he survived dat." Raph shouted.
"Raph's right." Leo agreed. "No one can survive a whole warehouse caving in on them. It's just not possible."
"Yeah but, he survived being crushed in a garbage truck." Kayla pointed out quietly, "and he got mutated just before the warehouse collapsed. He's not just a regular person. He's like…the Super Shredder or something."
"Yeah, or the Shredenator." Mikey added in a creepy voice.
"What do you think, Sensei?" Leo asked, turning to their father.
Splinter was thoughtful for a moment. "We made the mistake of believing the Shredder was gone many years ago, and we were wrong. I fear, if we are not careful, we may make the same mistake. We cannot afford to jump to any conclusions until we learn more." everyone nodded in agreement but Leo noticed Kayla was hugging her arms and looking at the ground. He approached her and knelt on the ground in front of her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Kayla? Are you okay?" he asked gently. Everyone else quietly left the room, Mikey lead Marcus towards the kitchen for a snack.
Kayla didn't answer her brother, just hugged her arms tighter, squeezing her biceps with her fists so hard her hands started leaving red marks.
"Kayla, look at me." Leo tilted his head to get a better view of her face. When their eyes met he noticed for the first time that her eyes were watery. "Kayla, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Kayla swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "What if…I mean, if the Shredder really is alive…what if he comes after us? He'll probably still be looking for revenge. He'll wanna kill us." Kayla didn't say it out loud, but she was terrified that the Shredder would want to punish her more for betraying her 'family' since he was technically her father. Maybe he'd kill her brothers and Splinter and make her watch before killing her. She looked shakily up at her brother. "Leo…I'm scared."
Leo was slightly taken aback. Kayla rarely admitted to being scared. Even when it was obvious she'd deny it. And her voice when she said it, it just sounded so…weak, and small. Leo pulled her into a hug, and for the first time felt her trembling against him. She really was terrified. He always thought of her as his baby sister, much to her constant annoyance, but as she got older he never thought of her as being small. But as he held her tiny, shaking form against him he became all too aware of how fragile she seemed.
"I won't let that happen." Leo promised. "No matter what's thrown at us, we'll get through it…together. Right?" Leo leaned his head back to try and look at her face. She nodded, her face still buried in his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Leo pulled away. "Come on, how about a snack?" he offered.
Kayla smiled and rubbed her eyes, which were red from crying. She stood up and Leo walked with a hand on her back to the kitchen. When they got there they saw Splinter and Don drinking tea and Raph eating a cookie while they watched Marcus and Mikey playing paper football at the kitchen table.
"Dude! Kay, ya gotta bring this kid back sometime!" Mikey shouted when they entered the kitchen. "He's awesome!"
Everyone laughed at Mikey's enthusiasm and Marcus even looked at Kayla with a curious eagerness, making it clear he'd be more than up for coming by again some time.
Kayla smiled. "Well, if he really wants ta stop by again sometime I guess I can arrange that."
