With Karai not being chased that night, and no sign of Foot activity, Leo and Mikey were growing tired. April and Casey had joined them soon after their encounter with Stockmanfly, and could tell that the two terrapins were spooked. Casey was the first to press on the matter.

"Dudes, what happened? You guys look kinda pale, and your faces look... weird."

April elbowed his side hard, earning a hiss from the vigilante. "Are you guys okay?"

"Stockmanfly, he- his wings were torn off," Mikey sputtered immediately.

April and Casey's eyes widened; now they looked spooked. "Oh my gosh, did you see it happen? Who did it?"

"I know he's evil and stuff, but that's twisted, yo..."

"Shredder did it apparently," Leo replied, twiddling with his fingers. "It was a... punishment... since Stockman didn't have a cure for Karai like he said he had."

April and Casey didn't respond at first. Casey broke the silence some minutes later, saying, "Well, glad we don't work for that dude, amirite?"

The three nodded, not uttering a word.

Mikey exhaled loudly and long. "Well, nothing's happening tonight, dudes. Why don't we just call it a day and head back?"

"Yeah, you're probably right. We should check on Raph, anyways," Leo replied, stretching his arms over his head.

"What's wrong with Raph?" Casey asked, halting them.

"You know when we were fighting the Foot?" Mikey prompted, looking at Casey. "Well, Fishface kicked Raph in the stomach, and he got a little crack. It's not big, but it is deep, and it's hurtin' him real bad. Master Splinter said he had to take it easy for a while."

"When I see that fish again, I'ma make sure he goes back to Shredder on a plate!" Casey growled, pounding his fist into his other hand, hard.

"Don't worry about it, dude; Raph knocked Fishface out, and he hasn't been back out since. He's probably having it worse than Raph is."

"Serves him right. I oughta-"

"Ooookay," April interrupted, pressing her hands on Casey's chest and pushing him away. "We'll let you guys head off. Tell Raph we said hi and that we hope he feels better soon, okay? We'll visit as soon as we can. Good night!"

"Night, April; night, Casey," the two blue eyed turtles replied, waving before they leaped off the rooftop and went down a manhole. While they were walking back, Leo was constantly glancing at Mikey, looking away before Mikey could catch his glimpse. Mikey knew Leo was looking at him, but he didn't know why, so he stopped in his tracks and sighed, turning to face Leo.

"Is there something on your mind, bro?" Mikey asked. "I can feel you looking at me. What's up?"

Leo didn't say anything at first; he just shuffled awkwardly in place as Mikey waited for a response. Finally, he sighed and looked at his young brother. "About earlier... I didn't get a chance to say what I wanted to."

This caught Mikey's attention. "Okay... so, are you going to tell me now or?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry about yelling at you. I'm just really frustrated and getting impatient with this whole Karai situation; it's taking forever."

Mikey nodded solemnly. "I get you're tired of how long it's taking, and you usually let it out by yelling. It just kind of sucks, sometimes, I guess. We'll be trying to help or we say something that just ticks you off enough and you yell. I'm not just talking about when you yell at me; it's when you yell at anyone. I'm not mad at you or anything. I'm just sayin' that maybe you should find another way to release your frustration, like when you use to meditate. You know?"

Leo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I should get to that. Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

Mikey smiled. "Yeah, bro, I'm not mad. But I am tired; let's hurry back home."

By the time the elder and the youngest turtles came back home, they found Raph and Donnie in a deep sleep. Donnie had his head rested on Raph's legs and had an arm propping his head up in replacement for a pillow. He also had a thin blanket draped over himself. Meanwhile, Raph had a fuzzy blanket over him and two pillows propped under his head, with Chompy sleeping on his shoulder. The heating pad had been plugged in and set on Raph's lower plastron with the low setting currently on. Mikey and Leo smiled down at the two, then went to freshen up. Before he took his place in the pit to sleep, Leo went into the training area and walked in front of the space Splinter slept in.

"Master Splinter?" Leo whispered as softly as he could.

"Yes, my son?"

"Oh, I just came to tell you we're back from patrol, if you didn't know already. But we're about to go to bed."

"It is a bit early."

"You did tell us to take patrol earlier than usual so that we could come home early and get some more sleep, Sensei," Leo smiled.

"While that may be true, it seems that there was no trouble to handle, either."

"Well, there was no sign of the Foot, and Karai wasn't in any danger the whole night. Nothing really happened tonight."

Splinter hummed. "Thank you for telling me you had returned. Sleep well, Leonardo."

"Good night, Sensei," Leo replied, leaving the room. He immediately yawned and went into his room, getting his blue ducky blanket and a pillow. When he reached the pit, he saw that Mikey had slept on the foot of the couch right next to Raph, with half of his blanket underneath him and the other half draped over him and a pillow under his head. Leo sat next to Raph's feet on the couch, curling his legs up to his chest and putting the pillow against the couch. He laid his head on the pillow and covered himself with his blanket, letting out one last yawn. He took a look at his brothers and smiled before his eyes fluttered shut.

"So, how's your dad?" Casey asked as he and April started strolling home.

"He's okay. I mean, yeah, obviously he's freaked out about the whole thing, but he's handling it as best as he ever could."

"Did you tell him about how we went to space?"

April chuckled nervously. "No. Should I?"

Casey shrugged. "That's up to you. I mean, last time something like this happened, he barely let ya out of your place and whatever. But he is tryna protect ya, too."

"I'll tell him tomorrow, maybe. I should tell him sooner or later. I just-"

"Pssssst!"

April and Casey turned around and stopped, their guards up. They heard it again and they slowly reached for their weapons.

"No, do not do that."

"Show yourself and we'll see," April replied cautiously. Her request was granted and Karai appeared from the shadows. Casey and April moved their hands away from their weapons. "Oh, hey, Karai. You okay?"

Karai nodded. "I have a quesstion to ask."

"What's up?"

"Is it true about Sstockman?"

"What is?"

"That Shhredder ripped his wingss from him."

April looked to Casey, then to Karai hesitantly. "Yeah, it's true. How did you find out?"

"I overheard him yelling at Leonardo and Michelangelo." Silence filled the air, then Karai sighed. "I am thinking of turning mysself over to Shredder."

Casey and April's head swerved to look at her, alarmed looks on their faces.

"What? No way, that ain't happenin'!" Casey replied a bit loudly.

"Why would you want to do that? Shredder has been deceiving you your whole life and hasn't treated you right at all. He doesn't deserve you, and you do not need to go back to that toxic place ever again. You barely escaped from him, and look what he did to you just to fulfill his stupid vendetta!"

"I know how he is. Do not think that I will ever forget. But knowing that he is harming others just because he is an angry, selfish and dishonorable man is not a comforting matter. If I hand myself over, maybe he will stop."

April's eyes went tender, and she stepped toward Karai, laying a hand on her cold, scaly shoulder. "But what if he doesn't?" Karai lowered her head, not replying.

"Look, I know this whole thing is messed up, but that Shredder guy is way too messed up for you to go back to. He's not the same. He might 'punish' you for tryna run away from him for so long. It ain't a good idea, sweetheart," Casey added, his tone firm and serious. "It ain't worth goin' back to that scumbag."

Karai nodded a bit. "I do not know how much longer I can take thiss."

"We're trying everything we can," April replied, gripping onto the snake's arm gently. "We won't stop."

"Perhaps it is best if I just go away," Karai interrupted. "If I am away, you and the turtles will not have to worry about me. I will go somewhere where I am no threat to anyone and can live for as long as I can."

"No offense, but that's stupid," Casey replied. "If you run off, the guys will worry sick about ya, and they'll take as long as they want to look for ya and make sure you're safe. They'll try harder for Splinter's sake, too. Plus, you might hurt people if you lose your entire control of yourself."

"I do not know what to do!" Karai hissed, jutting her face towards the vigilante. She backed down, looking away. "I do not know."

"Tell you what. Give us a couple more tries. If you feel that there's nothing else to do, we'll help you find a place where you can live with no harm and in peace. That way we know where you are and we can check up on you. Sound okay?" April suggested, her eyes locking with Karai's.

Karai pondered for a moment. It was the best option there was out of all the other ones. She nodded at April. "Okay." Karai looked to the sky and moved herself away from April's touch, looking around. "I musst go now."

April and Casey nodded, watching over her as she slithered away and started hissing. They looked at each other and started heading home in silence. The next day, they would tell the turtles the plan and would make them go along with it no matter what.