A/N: Ha! 11 days. I am early with my update! Whoot whoot, go me, it's my birthday! (Not really ;) ) Now that I am done with this I can Finnally work on the fic me and Mich, (formally known as Mika, aka Michael J Angelo ) are co-authering (Recycled)! Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 14

The whoops and whistles were not missed by Michelangelo. The confident and bold attitude he had adopted during the past couple weeks was shattered. He visibly paled and this made them cheer louder. Karai walked to the middle of the giant room and raised her hand. The quiet command for silence was immediately obeyed. In that defining hush, Mikey missed the jeering of a few moments ago. The silence was deathly.

"I have successfully caught the turtle that has dishonored the Foot Clan, and tonight I will restore that honor!" Cheers erupted once more and this time Karai let them until they slowly trickled to a stop.

"Bring the prisoner before me." Karai ordered.

Mikey wasn't given a chance to stand or even walk on his own. Instead he was humiliatingly hauled over and presented to Karai like a trophy. He was roughly thrown at her feet in a heap. Karai drew the katana that hung from her back and rested the point on Mikey's collarbone. The fear grew exponentially and Mikey let the panic consume him…for 10 seconds, then he pushed it away.

"Do you admit defeat turtle?" She asked.

Mikey smirked then replied, "If by defeat you mean that I pulled the biggest prank ever and you totally fell for it…then yeah, I admit defeat."

Even though he expected the smack to the face Karai gave him, he was surprised at the force of the hit. It knocked him back on his shell and before he realized what had happened he was harshly put back into a kneeling position. This time the katana was pressed hard up against his neck, creating a small trickle of blood.

"Your usual mocking demeanor will not be tolerated. Now I ask you again, do you admit defeat?" Karai's temper was starting to slip, but Mikey couldn't go too far too fast. He had to play along…for now.

"Yes" He answered through gritted teeth.

"So you are at my mercy?" Karai questioned.

"Yes" Mikey answered again.

Karai seemed pleased with his answers and a satisfied smirk played across her lips,

"Good" The katana pressing against Mikey's neck was removed and Karai stepped away as another katana clattered to the floor in from him. At the same time Mikey felt the shackles being removed from his wrists. His arms fell to his sides and Mikey looked up from the weapon to Karai. He knew what she wanted from him and he hated that he had no choice but to comply. Without taking his eyes from Karai's, Mikey grabbed the hilt of the weapon and slowly stood up.

"You have dishonored me and my entire clan with your earlier escapade," Karai spoke in a clear voice so all could hear, " and your family continue to spread lies about my father's endeavors to better this city, but I am not without compassion. I am offering you a chance to renounce your claim that my father is this demon that your clan has made him out to be and repent for all the vile acts you have committed against him."

Mikey kept his composer throughout Karai's little speech but when she had finished he couldn't hold it in any longer. He let out a huge chortle of laughter. Everyone was confused at this reaction except Karai, she was livid.

"Your position is anything but humorous." Karai seethed.

Mikey wiped away the wetness that had gathered at the corners of his eyes,

"O contraire dudette. See it's like this, you took revenge on Leo for killing your father, a psycho kitchen utensil wanna-be, who was trying to kill us and you want revenge on me because I saved my brother from your retarded sense of retribution. Not to mention that you dishonored yourself when you used me and my other brothers against him when you couldn't defeat Leo on your own. Did I miss anything?"

A look of pure hatred overtook Karai's features and she crouched, ready for combat.

"So be it." She said as she unwound from her position with a powerful lunge.

Mikey evaded the attack and the two katana collided with a loud shing. They pushed away from each other and started circling; each was waiting for the other to make a move. Karai feinted to the left, testing her opponent's skills. Mikey deflected each attack that Karai came at him with, but he made no move to go on the offensive. This frustrated Karai, she wanted him to fight back.

"Come on mutant, fight back! Or was you Master so inept that he did not teach you how to wield a katana?" Karai taunted, but it didn't get the reaction that she wanted. Mikey chuckled.

"Do you know the reason I chose the nunchaku as my weapon Karai? It was because it was the only weapon that presented any challenge. Plus chucks are way cooler!" Mikey replied.

Maybe he shouldn't have gloated about his skills; after all he hadn't actually used any other weapon on a regular basis.

Karai again pressed the attack and Mikey allowed her to close in, just close enough to dodge at the last possible minute with a backhanded swipe.

She attacked again and Mikey dodged a second time. Karai plowed in. Mikey countered, ducking low under Karai's flailing arm, slashing across Karai's side and slicing through her clothing. The revenge crazed ninja caught at him and yanked savagely, successfully trapping Mikey against her side. Mikey brought up his weapon just in time to prevent his decapitation. He strained desperately to keep his katana arm up. Timing a sudden collapse of that same arm, he brought up his knee into Karai's stomach. Mikey ducked away as Karai gasped and buckled from the pain of the blow.

As Mikey danced away he said, "Did I mention that I'm the Battle Nexus Champion? That means that I am the most bodacious fighter in all the multi-verse!"

That hit a nerve and Mikey didn't expect the speed of her attack, he deflected the blow but a sudden fire in his left shoulder told him that he did not escape unscathed. He quickly flexed his shoulder to assess the damage. Motion was painful and blood was streaming down his arm and dripping to the floor, but it was still functional. Mikey noticed that the reactions he got from taunting Karai were very different than the reactions he got from taunting Raph and that it probably would be a smart thing if he stopped and concentrate instead on surviving.

Faster than Mikey could react, Karai pulled out several kunai knives and threw them towards the orange clad turtle. Mikey managed to deflect the first two, but he wasn't fast enough and the third one got through and penetrated his already injured shoulder. Mikey grunted, biting back a cry of pain. Keeping his eyes locked on his enemy, Mikey thought about reaching up and removing the knife but he knew that could cause more damage and even bleed out, so he left it.

Mikey was forced to sidestep quickly as Karai's flashing blade came within inches of his abdomen, his own katana sliced down the outside of Karai's arm, splitting the skin open. Mikey darted in, pressing his advantage as the self-proclaimed leader of the Foot staggered from her wound. Unfortunately he misjudged her condition and suffered a terrific kick in the chest that sent him falling on his shell. He turned the fall into a backwards roll, but as he started to stand up he had to dodge another swipe at his head, causing him to roll away frantically from his charging adversary.

Karai lunged forward and fell on top of the turtle pinning him to the floor and brought her katana down for the final blow, but Mikey brought up his katana to meet hers just in time with his right hand on the hilt and his left hand supporting the other end. Karai was bearing down with every ounce of strength she possessed, her face was red with the effort.

"This is the end turtle, for you and your entire clan!" Karai sneered.

"I should have known you wouldn't keep your word Karai." Mikey grunted. His injured shoulder was burning with the effort of holding up Karai's weapon and his arms shuddered under the force of Karai's blade bearing down just inches from his neck. At that time he began to feel light headed and figured that he must be bleeding worse than he had first thought.

Karai noticed that he was weakening and took advantage of his waxing strength and removed one hand from her katana and twisted the kunai in Mikeys shoulder and was rewarded with a cry from her prey. The she slowly pulled the kunai out and held it above her prey, ready to plunge into his flesh. Mikey couldn't help another cry escape his lips. He couldn't risk removing a hand from his weapon to stop the attack. If he did then he wouldn't have the strength to hold it up. It seemed he was doomed either way. Plus Mikey was struggling with the dizziness to hold his position as he felt more and more blood pump out of the wound with each beat of his heart. Karai smiled down and decided to play with her quarry before she killed him.

"I will be the one to end you miserable existence turtle, but the pleasure of ending your brothers' will not be mine!" Karai did not need to expand for realization hit Michelangelo like a ton of bricks,

"Bishop!" He gasped as his eyes went wide with fear.

"Yes. Even now he is on his way to O'Neal's apartment. Soon Bishop will finish what he started with Leonardo and he told me of some experiments that I'm sure Raphael would be perfect for."

Mikey felt as if Karai's blade had already separated his head from his body. Something inside him snapped, just like his fight with Kluh. He couldn't muster the strength when it was his own life on the line; instead it took a threat to his family that gave him the power. With strength he had never shown or even known he had, Mikey heaved Karai off of him and sent her flying with a kick to the chest. She landed with a thud 10 feet away. Mikey cautiously got to his feet, keenly aware of how much blood he has lost and keeping his eyes on his adversary. Karai narrowed her eyes in irritation as she too stood.

"You should know by now Karai," Mikey said as he straightened before stepping back into a defensive position, "to never threaten the family if you want to win a fight against one of us, 'cause you will always loose." He raised his katana up over his head and placed his left hand out in front before charging forward.

Mikey was a blur of motion, slashing at Karai's ribs. Reflexively Karai parried the attack. She spun to her right and struck at his other side. Mikey stopped the blow and attacked again, swinging at her head. Karai ducked under the razor sharp edge. Mikey knew he had to end this now before the blood loss becomes too much and causes him to collapse.

Mikey began a complicated series of attacks he had memorized from watching Leo's seemingly endless practices. He flowed from one pose to another, combining and modifying the attacks in every possible way without hesitation. Karai blocked and deflected each strike and while Mikey's strength was fading fast he could tell she was starting to tire. The battle was now pure action and reaction, the most intense Mikey had ever been in. Karai snarled at her opponent, he was faster and more accomplished with the katana than she had thought. He was just as proficient as Leonardo. With one last ditch effort, Karai lunged forward. Mikey nimbly sidestepped, sweeping the point of his katana up to her neck with an almost supernatural speed. Karai lowered her weapon but did not drop it. Both were breathing heavily from the skirmish.

Karai took a deep breath and steeled her features,

"The only way to end the hunt is to kill the hunter."

Mikey was ready to make that fatal cut, but he hesitated.

"There are many things I am prepared to die for Karai, but not nearly as many that I am willing to kill for. I have never killed before but if you are to be my first, I will loose no sleep over it because the safety of my brothers is everything to me." He stated.

"Death is the only way to keep me from exacting my revenge on your pitiful family!" Karai informed him as she quickly brought up her weapon and went for his heart.

A katana clattered to the floor, the sound echoing in the silence.

Gasping from the explosion of white hot pain, Karai collapsed to her knees, clutching at the hilt of Mikey's katana protruding from just below her sternum.

Michelangelo stepped away and looked down upon his wounded enemy, "There are worse things than death Karai."

Karai looked up and into his eyes,

"I have avenged my father and you have avenged your brother…It is done."

Mikey let out a sad sigh,

"There are always retributions that need to be paid. Don't you see Karai? Revenge is nothing but an endless cycle. But this is one cycle that will end tonight."

"My clan won't see it that way when I am gone." Karai informed him just before slumping to the floor.

Mikey was seemingly forgotten as several Foot soldiers rushed to the aid of their Mistress. He took advantage of the distraction and edged towards the door. If he moved fast he could sneak out and get to a manhole, then he'd be home free. However not everyone was distracted with Karai's defeat and Mikey turned to find several ninja blocking his way with their weapons pointed at him. He looked behind him to see that he was surrounded. He knew that this was the end, but he wasn't going to just give up. He was going to fight even though he knew it was futile. Mikey took one last deep breath and was ready to meet his fate.

Fate however didn't agree with him.

"Cover you eyes." A voice rang out. There wasn't time to process it but Mikey recognized and trusted that voice and he automatically complied with its command.

Even from the protected darkness his eyelids and his arm provided, Mikey could see a bright light flash. He lowered his arm and opened his eyes to see that the floor was littered with bodies. Every single person beside himself was unconscious. He jumped in surprise when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He whirled around,

"Donnie!" Mikey engulfed his brother in a one armed, bone crushing hug.

"You don't know how glad I am to see ya bro!"

"Mikey, your shoulder-" Don reached for his injured brother, but Mikey pulled away.

"Not now. We gotta get back to April's before Bishop."

"Bishop!? Mikey what's going on?"

"No time, come on." Mikey ran out into the cool night air with Donnie hot on his heels.

A/N: So, you likey?