Raph growled. They had searched for hours, always running into Foot soldiers but never actually finding anything interesting. It was as if they were in a huge maze. He and Donnie had split up with Leatherhead, who was brain and brawn all in one.
He and Don were currently backed to the wall by several Foot ninjas. Both were exhausted, easily being beaten back.
Their salvation came in the form of Mikey, who was tired as well but had a supply still in reserve. He beat the ninjas back. Leatherhead came running around the corner, pursued by several more ninjas. They managed to beat them back, barely.
Casey and April appeared a moment later. Casey was bleeding from a cut on his arm. Don wrapped it up and gave him a shot of antibiotics.
"This is getting us nowhere," Raph panted, putting his Sai away. "We've looked high and low for Leo. He ain't here."
"I have to agree. We covered a lot of ground, and no one we asked knew where he was," Casey groaned as April helped him to his feet.
"I'm wiped," Mikey confessed. "That was my last boost."
"Maybe we should go home," Professor Honeycutt suggested quietly.
"We can't give up," Raph said quickly when he noticed Casey straightening. "We obviously need more energy to do this. I'm running on my last tank here. Mikey's out of energy; that should tell you something. We'll go to the lair, plan out a real invasion, get some sleep and good food in us, and then come back."
"Alright… That's a plan…" Casey coughed slightly. "Ugh."
"Someone got him hard in the ribs," April said. "I think a few are broken."
"Probably. Let's head to the Battle Shell," Don ordered. His voice was tired and sad. As he turned after his brothers and friends, he looked down the hall. "I'm sorry," he whispered, hoping Leo could hear.
Elsewhere…
"What are you thinking about?" Leonardo asked lazily, drifting on his back in the pool. He glanced over at Karai, who was in a black swimsuit. Her black hair spread out like a fan from her head as she floated.
"What might happen if my father does rule the world? He'd be able to announce you as a full citizen. You could be yourself. I could be Karai Saki, legally."
"Hm… An interesting idea. But what about Hamato Karai?" Leo teased, splashing water at her. She snorted and flicked him.
"Don't even try that on me, Leonardo," she scolded. He flipped onto his stomach and dove into the crystal-clear water. His hands suddenly grabbed her waist and pulled her under as well. She pushed him away and opened her eyes. He was smiling at her, laughing.
"Turtle," she mouthed. He winked with his good eye and grabbed her hand, kicking his feet and driving them both to the surface.
"Time to get dressed," he said. "It's time for dinner." She swam over to the edge and pulled herself out, grabbing a towel and wringing out her hair.
He leapt onto the concrete beside her and turned his internal heater up to dry the metal. Leonardo couldn't rust, but he didn't like the feeling of water sloshing around in his joints. Flaps in his elbows and ankles opened, water pouring from them.
Karai nodded in farewell and wandered off to her rooms. He headed to his and strapped on the chest plate with the hologram display. Pushing a button, he watched in a full-length mirror as his robot body was covered in the illusion of a full-grown human male. Quickly he got dressed in a black suit and strapped a pair of katanas to his side. They were mostly ornamental, good for a small brawl but not sturdy or strong enough to take hard blows.
He met Karai as she exited her room, dressed in a red and black dress that reached to her calves. She fixed his tie with an exasperated sigh, since he didn't really have enough digits to tie one well.
"There."
"You look beautiful," he told her softly. She blushed slightly and smacked him gently.
"Let's go."
His blue eyes twinkled with merriment as he followed. His brown, shoulder-length hair was kept back by a black headband, matching Karai's. It was unreal, he knew, but he liked the look of it. His red tie matched the accents on her clothing, and his black suit matched her ebony dress.
Hun met them outside the room. He wasn't allowed in; he had been marked by the police as the leader of a gang, and wanted as a result. If seen with Saki, things could get nasty for the Foot lord.
Leonardo smiled at him and ushered Karai into the room genially. Saki's guests were waiting. He activated his scanning eye and found no weapons except on himself and the two guards around the mayor.
Saki had invited the mayor, his wife, and their two children. Both looked at Leonardo and Karai with slight smiles. Karai walked over to the mayor and his wife, speaking to them gently. Saki appeared from his door and Leonardo hurried over to him.
"No weapons, Master, and only good intentions tonight," he reported almost silently. Saki nodded, a very slight movement Leonardo could hardly see, and gave him a signal. He cleared his throat and announced, "Mister Saki would like us all to join him in the living room for some refreshments. I will take your children to their room and make sure they are entertained."
The two teenagers dipped their heads and took a step forward. Leonardo extended a hand and the fourteen-year-old son took it, shaking his hand.
"I'm Sam," he said. "This is my sister, Rebecca."
"I am named Leonardo," he greeted, smiling warmly. Saki and his guests followed Karai to the main living room. "If you would like, we have arranged for a movie. Leave the boring talk to the adults, eh?" He winked.
They both relaxed further and smiled. "That would be wonderful," Rebecca said softly.
"I know what it's like, dragged from one important meeting to the next," Leonardo chuckled, ruffling Sam's hair gently. "Come with me, then. Personally, I like this movie as well, so may I join you?"
"Certainly," Sam laughed. He took Rebecca's hand and they followed the hologram-hidden turtle to the entertainment center and took seats in the plush chairs. Leonardo spoke to a servant and then brought out a tray with DVD titles printed on paper.
"These are the new ones that are available only in theatres currently," he said. "But Master Saki has them on DVD already. Choose, I care not which for they are all good."
"Why do you call him "Master"?" Rebecca asked quietly. Sam tried to apologize but Leonardo waved it off with a short laugh.
"Because I am was trained in martial arts and so call my superiors "Master" when they have my respect. And Master Saki holds a great deal of my respect."
"What's it like, being a guard?" Sam asked, looking through the titles.
"Hm… Difficult, unless you are well-trained. Life-threatening, of course. But there are perks. For one, I am allowed to carry weapons anywhere." He drew a katana and showed them the blade. "And I get to use some pretty cool stuff."
"What do you call that? A sword?"
"Close, but a katana is its real name. I wield the twin katana, usually. There's a weapon that is very hard to learn but easy to make. The bo staff. It's basically a wooden staff that takes a lot of practice to use and perfect because there are no sharp edges for it relies on force. I can't use that because I may have to cut something, like a rope, at any time."
"Wow. Oh, hey, look, Rebecca! Iron Man. Can we watch that?" Sam looked up at Leonardo, who smiled welcomingly.
"Certainly. I'll get it started. Would you care for any refreshments or food?"
"I'd like a glass of water, please," Rebecca asked quietly. She smiled shyly as Leonardo bowed to her.
"Me, too," Sam announced.
"I will be right back." Leonardo took the tray and walked out through the servant's door. Outside it, he gave the tray to a servant and told another to fetch a pitcher of water and glasses for the two teenagers. Then he went up into the projection room, selected the wanted DVD, and popped it into the player.
It started playing immediately, and he walked back downstairs slowly. The kids were watching with rapt attention, their drinks sitting next to them, forgotten. Leonardo chuckled at the expression of wonder on their faces.
When a servant informed Leo that the mayor was ready to leave, the movie ended with the credits. Sam and Rebecca clapped loudly, thanking Leonardo for letting them watch the movie. He ushered them back to the greeting room, where they thanked Saki for the use of his movies. The family left in the limousine Saki called from his garage.
"Well, that went well," Saki said. Karai and Leonardo bowed as one. "Assemble your closest squadrons. The warehouse on the river we've been looking at is being shifted to low security tonight. I want it cleaned out by dawn."
"Very well, Master Shredder." Leonardo and Karai headed for their rooms, signaling for a servant to follow. The servant was told to fetch them some food and she scurried off quickly. She knew that to cross either one was certain death.
Leonardo dropped his illusion and undressed in his rooms. He grabbed a bite of the ham sandwich that was brought to him, downed a glass of water, and strapped on a real pair of katanas. He then stored several grenades, shruiken, and a pair of climbing claws, just in case, in his "pockets" and headed out to find his main squadron.
Karai met him in the Foot training room, where their best fighters were waiting in neat lines. She was dressed in a black ninja outfit. His armor was painted black now, since he had no use for shiny metal to be showing.
He signed for his men to get into their cars and jumped in one with Karai, letting her drive since she was already there.
The door opened and they all sped off towards the warehouse. Behind the three black toy cars, Foot ninja also drove three large trucks to carry the weapons in this warehouse. Leonardo smiled to himself as he checked the action on one of the guns in the glove compartment. He hated using them, but sometimes, they had their place. He put it in a holster and strapped one to Karai's shoulder when she put her hand out for him to do so.
"Good luck to both of us," he laughed, watching as the warehouse rose into view.