All TMNT characters are © Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman, now currently Nickelodeon.
Author Note: Older : See Chapter 1. Latest Story Summery: With Shredder's demented son Kano on the loose, Karai is forced to accept the Turtles her allies in the upcoming war. She wants to be the only leader of the Foot Clan and Kano has plans to get rid of her. She will not go down without a bloody fight and will need to add the terrapins warriors to her now shrinking Foot clan army. She presents an offer that Leonardo can not refuse.
Cast: April O'Neil, Casey Jones, May Jones, and the Turtles; Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello.
This is my first TMNT fic and since I've seen the newer TMNT movie now, this fic is based off the live action Turtles movies and the newer TMNT CGI movie & some of the 2K3 series, yet I like having Splinter as formerly being the human Hamato Yoshi as in the 80's cartoon (not a pet rat as in the movies). Please R&R and please no flames!
AuthorNote to Reviewer(s): See the Art on my DA site called 'TMNT Draco and 3 Turtles' to see how the adult Turtles would look like in this story. I'm unsure to what Dr. Chaplin's first name is, so I'll call him Ben. If anyone knows Dr. Chaplin's first name, let me know in your review. Enjoy!
Note: There's mature content due to the reality issues I often put in my stories, so it's not really for the little kiddies out there. The swearing is no longer censored! Please check out my main site at www. cpbunnyart. com (remove the spaces) for the artwork of my fanfics & original stories! Enjoy! (( alaer. deviantart. com (remove the spaces) is being updated with new art/stories and still has plenty of my old art and stories))
Destruction of Trust
As the days turned into weeks, Raph noticed Leo easing up on him. Ever since the night Karai almost mutated, Leo had changed. He was actually less bossy and more open-minded of all things.
Raph had a feeling it had to be because things between Leo and Karai were going smoothly. His older brother was constantly with her as much as Mikey was with Kameko.
Leo didn't nag or lecture as much as he usually did, a godsend to Raph. It was clear that Leo and Karai were super good friends, planning the upcoming battle every waking moment.
"It has to be flawless! It must! It must! I want no mistakes!" Karai would say so much that Raph thought she could be a rapper. She was good at repeating the same stuff over and over in a catchy kind of way.
Chaplin appeared to have lightened up as well. He even helped Leo when making the battle plans with Karai. Raph couldn't put his finger on it, but he had a feeling Chaplin was pretending to be nice.
He had to have an ulterior motive. There was no way Chaplin would be that friendly all of sudden when it was clear that he disliked the Turtles. Raph didn't trust that whacked-out scientist whatsoever.
As sickening as it was to see Leo and Karai being the 'Cuddle-Battle-Twins' on a daily basis, Raph was glad to have a lady of his own to stand by his side. Finally, he wasn't left out of something!
Lotus wasn't that shallow as he first judged her to be. She was caring and sensitive to Raph's well-being. His cramped muscles were gone thanks to Lotus and her special shiatsu. She really knew how to channel his chi right, something he had problems doing himself due to his bad temper.
Even Donnie had himself a lady friend. Rose was always in the lab with him doing work on the permanent cure, but Raph had a sneaky suspicion that they weren't only checking out the test tubes.
Mikey, well... It was obvious how things were going on with his love life. Ridiculously perfect. Mikey would gush on and on about Kameko to the point where Raph had to scream at him to stop.
'How much more annoying can he get?!' Raph thought many times to himself when Mikey got on his nerves. Kameko this and Kameko that! Sheesh!
After a month and two weeks later, Don came up with a permanent cure for them all. Thankfully they didn't go into any advanced stages of mutation and they all could breathe easy again.
Once they were injected with the cure, Leo made sure all his brothers trained long and hard for the next three weeks. Mikey complained constantly since he wanted to spend all his time with Kameko instead.
Then Raph and Don began to complain as well. Don would say he needed to work more in the lab while Raph said he would rather train alone. But Leo knew better. They wanted to goof off with their girlfriends, that's what.
He wouldn't allow it since he needed his brothers to always be in top shape, ready for anything. He couldn't afford to have them slacking off, not even a tiny bit. He couldn't let them get killed in the upcoming battle.
As the fourth week was coming to a close, Raph realized that Leo was no longer mellow as he had been before they received the cure. He was back to his old bossy self and kept ordering them around.
Raph suspected it was because there was a big disagreement between Leo and Karai. He overheard them arguing as he was heading outside to the forest. Karai and Leo were in the gardens having a heated discussion.
"I told you that plan won't work!" Leo said angrily. Why wouldn't she listen to him? Chaplin had suggested some strange battle scheme that Karai believed would work. Leo thought it looked more like a suicide mission than a sensible strategy.
"Of course it will! We will attack Hun and his men directly, hitting them hard and quickly! If we kill even a quarter of his defenses, we will be able to cripple his side considerably!" Karai cried, glaring.
"That's suicide! We don't really know how many soldiers Hun and Kano have now. We'll be outnumbered and killed the moment we reveal ourselves! We have to observe them first, see how large Hun's army is, then take it out bit by bit carefully. Then when we are sure Hun's defenses are truly beaten, we attack headlong to get at Kano." Leo explained.
"That will take too long! I want Hun and Kano to pay now! I approve of Chaplin's fight plans and we're going to use them. This debate on strategy is over, Leonardo. I will cut your tongue out if you dare speak against it again! Do I make myself clear?" Karai sneered, getting into his face.
Leo grit his teeth as his fists trembled at his sides. Why couldn't she see that Chaplin's plans were going to get them all killed? He hated this new jealousy rising in him.
Since Karai was favoring Chaplin's plan over Leo's plans, Leo saw it that she liked Chaplin better than him. He thought she didn't care for Chaplin since he was such a nuisance who was too absorbed in his work to truly be 'in tune' with Karai.
All these weeks, Leo came to believe that Karai was his lover and she behaved as if this was so too. Now she was being way too kind and lenient to Chaplin.
Leo felt like what had happened to him with Lotus was happening again with Karai. All this put Leo into a sour mood and so he was extra hard on his brothers during training.
Raph couldn't forget how Leo flipped out when Mikey made the mistake of ignoring and disobeying him one morning. It was sheer madness. Raph thought Leo would only viciously fight with him, but he was wrong.
"Michelangelo, I said we're going to train now..." Leo said dangerously.
When he received silence from his baby brother, Leo stomped over to physically drag him to the practice room. He grabbed his arm and yanked him out of his chair, sending him sprawling to the linoleum.
Mikey punched Leo away, but his eldest brother latched a hand onto the edge of his shell and wouldn't let him go. Leo's other hand seized Mikey's shoulder and his anger was felt through his tight grip.
"You're going to train whether you like it or not!" Leo shouted as Mikey struggled against him.
"Ow! Leo, you're hurting me!" Mikey yelled, punching and kicking. He nearly got free again, but Leo put him into a powerful choke-hold and began to drag him towards the practice room.
Raph and Don quickly went to work tearing Leo off Mikey when they heard his strangled cries and coughs. Leo seemed to 'snap' out of his cloud of rage and couldn't believe how badly he was just behaving.
He almost choked Mikey to death! What was wrong with him? Leo knew. He was taking his frustrations he had with Karai out on his siblings. He was so shocked at himself.
"What the shell is the matter with you, Leo?!" Raph shouted as Don consoled Mikey. "You were strangling Mikey!"
"I-I..." Leo stammered, shaking his head. He looked to Mikey with apologetic eyes. "I'm really sorry, Mikey. I didn't mean to..." Leo sighed hard as he continued. "...hurt you."
"Yeah right..." Mikey snapped, rubbing his throat. "I don't want to train anymore, Leo! We've been doing it for a month straight! Fifteen damn hours of it, every day! I'm so sick of it!"
"You know why I'm making you train so hard..." Leo said softly, still ashamed of how he manhandled Mikey.
"Yeah, so we can kill butt-loads of Foot ninja, we know!" Mikey shot back, angry at being attacked like that.
He saw and accepted Leo as a father figure and he trusted him not to harm him for real like that. Splinter would have never done such a thing to him and being reminded that Leo was not Splinter really upset Mikey.
It made him feel that horrible agony he felt when Splinter died. They were all devastated by Splinter's death and they tried to go on, but Mikey never really did move on.
He didn't take losing Splinter well and made himself believe that Leo was Splinter instead. Like his spirit was inside Leo now and he was Splinter that way. It helped him feel better and having Leo hug him like how Splinter used to soothed his soul well.
But now Leo hurt him, really really hurt him! How could he? Mikey doubted his love for him and felt worse. What if his other brothers would do the same? If he couldn't trust his brothers and be close to them, he'd have almost nothing left.
Kameko. He could trust her. She loved him and always would. Even if his brothers were no longer part of his life, Mikey could live on as long as he had Kameko. He could always count on her.
"You're such a hypocrite!" Mikey shouted then, pointing a finger at Leo. "Before you said you didn't want us to kill, but now with Karai, we have to? Sheesh!"
"I told you, I had no choice! She gave Don the means to create a cure for us!" Leo shouted back as Mikey pushed past him. "Come on! I said I was sorry, Mikey! Come back here! Mikey!"
"Let him go, Leo." Raph said, grabbing his arm to stop him from going after Mikey.
"No, I can't! He's not like you, Raph. He doesn't really want to be alone. I have to talk to him." Leo protested.
"I'll go talk to him." Don said, following his baby brother to where the gardens were. He found Mikey standing in a sea of tulips and it was easy to tell he was crying.
"Mikey?" Don asked, going up to him. He turned and saw Don. He wiped his tears away hastily with his forearm and sighed shakily. "Go away." he said, waving his hand out.
"No, I won't. I know how you feel Mikey. You see Leo as if he is Splinter, don't you?" Don asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I do too." Mikey's eyes widened. Don saw Leo like how he did too?
"I did it because I know I can't function without him. So I think of Leo as Splinter and it helps me to move on." Don said, trying hard to put out of his mind the painful guilt that plagued his soul.
It was his fault that Splinter died. If only he found a cure in time for him! If only...he was good enough to save him! But he wasn't... Don fought back the urge to cry himself. He had to be a strong older brother for Mikey here.
"Leo's going through hard times, Mikey. He didn't mean to hurt you. He loves you, just like how Raph and I do. You don't ever have to feel alone. We're always here for you. Especially me." Don said, patting his shoulder in a loving brotherly manner.
Mikey hugged Don then, his powerful embrace nearly crushing Don. Mikey was only a bit smaller than Raph and Don was the smallest out of them all. Having a baby brother who was larger than him wasn't easy on Don, but he didn't mind much.
"There, there..." Don whispered, hugging Mikey back. Despite their age, Mikey was still like a child in many ways. Although he was physically sturdy and robust, his mind was that of a kid and he bruised easily when it came to any turmoil with his family.
Don hoped this battle Karai wanted them to win wouldn't scar poor Mikey. He wanted his brother to stay happy and playful forever since that was Mikey's nature.
Suddenly, he remembered back to when he had that reality nightmare induced by Draco and the Daimyo's son. Mikey was in his forties and lost his left arm.
He was battle-scarred and miserable, a shell of his former self. War had ripped his child-like playfulness from his soul, leaving him bitter and angry. Don had a bad feeling then. What if this upcoming battle ruins Mikey?
Don shook his head and narrowed his eyes. He couldn't let it happen. He wouldn't.
One evening, Leo was watching the news in the living room when Karai appeared. She looked serious and ready to do battle. Leo understood that look and stood up.
"It is time." Karai said simply and left to where the helicopters were kept. "Gather your brothers and get them ready. We are leaving within the hour."
"I wish you would reconsider and use my strategy plans instead. I-" Leo cried out as Karai slashed at his plastron with a dagger she had yanked from her belt.
"Still your tongue, Leonardo!" she hissed, her knife at his throat then. "I kept my part of this oath! I gave you the cure to your advanced mutation and now you must aid me in winning this battle! Not run your mouth off at me!"
Karai disliked being so mean to Leo, but she wanted him to be angry and not hesitate to kill her enemies. Keeping him enraged would ensure that he would kill like she needed him to.
She turned to leave, but Leo grabbed her arm to stop her. She saw the hurt confusion in his eyes, making her feel bad as well. She had no choice, but to make him upset. She needed him and his brothers to be her assassins by any means.
"Why are you acting like this?" Leo asked in a hushed whisper. He thought he saw some sad regret in her expression, but it was replaced by hostility in a second as she yanked her arm loose.
"I said get your brothers ready. We are leaving tonight." Karai hissed and left coolly. Leo sighed tiredly as Chaplin watched the whole scene hidden by a large potted plant. He couldn't smile any harder.
The trip was long and boring. Like the others, Leo fell asleep and when he woke, he saw trees he thought he'd never see again. This couldn't be...Central America! Could it?
As they landed and got out, Karai took them to a Foot headquarters that the Turtles never knew about. Leo knew this part of the jungle and this building wasn't here before.
Still, he said nothing about his prior knowledge to the area and waited until night to visit an old friend. Mariah's village was close to this place. Leo always wondered how Mariah was doing all these years with the man (Huel) he left her with.
As night fell, Leo left the Foot stronghold silently. It took him a little over half an hour to walk to Mariah's village. As he crouched in that large tree close to the gate of the village, Leo felt strange.
He was the ghost of the jungle, this jungle here. The ghost of justice. How many people suffered during his years of absence? Were the villages being pillaged again? If they were, who was stopping the evil-doers now?
Leo had on Karai's spare hooded cloak and he nervously pulled at the hood over his head. Would Mariah remember him? He hoped Baytos wasn't around still or if he was, that he wasn't causing any problems for the other villagers.
Huel had better have taken good care of Mariah, otherwise Leo would never forgive himself. He thought Huel would be a good husband for Mariah when he saw how kind and strong the guy was those years ago.
If Leo had been born a human, he would have been someone like Huel. So Leo believed this guy to be most worthy to care for Mariah. Yes, it was strange for Leo to care so much in Mariah having a successful relationship, but he felt responsible for ensuring happiness for her.
Leo had to be sure she had a decent man to care for her since he couldn't be such a man for her. There couldn't be anything wrong with wanting good things for others, could it?
He sniffed the air, checking for Mariah's scent. Once he knew someone's scent, he never forgot it. Instead of picking up Mariah's scent, he detected someone else's. He looked behind him to the left and easily could see Karai a few yards away.
'Why are you following me?' Leo thought, frowning. Ignoring her, he went into the village to search for Mariah. Karai watched Leo go into the village that Kano had enslaved.
Some of Kano's soldiers lived in that village. Karai didn't want to think this, but she worried that Leo knew this and was trying to warn the families of those soldiers to flee.
If he was doing that, then Kano's men would know that she was here and her fortress would be overrun by Kano's men before the night was over. She had to stop Leo or else they would be all doomed!
To Be Continued in Chapter 12!
I'd really appreciate more reviews, so please let me know if you are still reading this story by leaving a review! Per chapter is preferred, thanks! :)
(Will Karai stop Leo or create a big scene and be discovered by Kano's soldiers instead? What horrors awaited the Turtles in the upcoming battle? Will they make it out of Central America alive?) Plz be nice! This is my first Turtles ficcy! ^.^