Author's notes- I don't own the TMNT, just Karma, Yoshi and Lia.
Hey everybody. Let me start off by saying SORRY!! My laptop is currently... uh... not the best it's been. It was a whole lot worse. I thought I almost lost everything on it and if i'm honest, i've been scared to type anything up in case it crashed and lost it. I've also been trying to get back into the swing of college, this year's gunna be tough, I just know it.
So, my fantastic, wonderful, awe-inspring readers... if you would be so kind to forgive me for my absence, here be a chapter for you. Also waiting for you in your inboxes will be a PM from me and... hopefully... all the reviews I owe you and you truly deserve. If I ever disappear like this again, please, just email and bug me (my email is on my profile page now) until I do something.
Oh, and since i've been such a lousy FF-er, I thought i'd give you the next chapter too. Chapter 13... may be some time...
Lastly, enjoy.
Eye of the storm.
I froze. My heart seemed to stop beating, the whole world ceased to rotate, the whole of existence paused, for just a split second.
Then the katana came crashing down.
My breath hitched in my throat as my heart jumped to a start again and I felt myself dizzy as the world, once again, turned.
There was a terrifying crack echoing throughout the air, but no scream of pain followed. Karai's blood wasn't surrounding Leo's feet, only the splintered remains of a wounded desk.
"What part of 'wait' don't ya understand?!"
A little dumbfounded, the eldest turtle's eyes fall upon Karai, standing intact, and a little smug, to the side of the injured desk.
"You underestimate me, Leonardo, has it really been so long?"
A growl starts in Leo's throat as his strong arms pull his katana from the wood with ease. He quickly finds a defensive stance.
"You broke the deal."
"Do not accuse me of something I did not do." Brown eyes narrow in response.
'Karm…' My thoughts interrupt the scene unfolding.
"I've heard that before."
"Dad-" Yoshi starts.
"And I have not heard 'you'll regret this before'."
"Mother-" Lia also tries to speak.
"This time, you will."
Yet again, Leo lunges for Karai and, yet again, she dodges his attack.
"This is how it was?" Zuya's brow furrows at the sight.
"All the time, dude."
"It got a li'l monotonous, y'know?"
'You know now…'
"Yeah, well… we better do somethin' before somebody kills somebody."
Without a glance at his red-banded brother, Mikey rushes over to the fight tearing through the chambers.
"He…"
"Sounds like you?" Don stands, quirking an eye ridge yet smiling regardless.
"C'mon Leo, down boy."
Mikey pulls Leo back by his shoulders, but the older turtle only shrugs him off roughly.
'You know the truth…'
"Let me finish this, like I should have done!"
"Let her finish!" The youngest brother roars back.
"Finish what? Finish us? No!"
The blue banded turtle winds Karai with the hilt of his katana then sweeps her feet from under her. His weapon glints as he raises it, then chimes as it hits the ground.
'You know who killed Stockman, Karm…'
Raph and Leo wrestle, quickly becoming a green, red and blue blur. My thoughts drown out the shouts of 'why did you do that?!' as the same three words tumble around in my head.
In that split second as time seemed to slow, I realised. What Karai was saying had made perfect sense.
"Nothing should break a family apart, especially not when it is something so easily fixed."
"Your family is broken because of my family."
"Wait…" My voice comes out as a shaky whisper, almost to myself.
As the last pieces of the puzzle slide into place, reality comes rushing back to me, dizzying my already unstable thoughts. The shouts and pleads of my family members roar at me, my nails digging into my palms causing my body to shake with pain, my eyes blinking back at the harsh lights, all of these senses overwhelming me. Clawing at me, squeezing me until I scream.
Silence and calm fall as everything dies, like the calm eye of a fierce, raging storm.
"Karm?"
"He killed him…" My voice comes out as a whisper. "He killed him… It was him!"
"Sorry…? Kar, are you okay…?" Donny's hand is placed comfortingly on my shoulder.
"Raph… you didn't kill Stockman."
My teeth clamp down onto my bottom lip and I wrap my arms around myself, bracing against the storm threatening to swallow everything again.
"…What?"
"You didn't kill Stockman."
"Then who did?!"
He takes a few steps forward, face contorted in a mix of confusion and anger. My gaze drifts to Karai, finally looking as though those years she had put behind her, were chasing her, and fast. She gives me a slight nod and turns her back.
"My father did."
Yet again, the storm raged.
