Mikey felt as though he was going to throw up. He had managed to keep it together throughout the endless fight with Rocksteady and Bebop, and even though the fight with the Shredder. But now he could feel himself unraveling, as his father came toward them with Leo's katana in his hand, still dripping with Shredder's blood.

This wasn't real. It couldn't be.

He had known that eventually this would happen. His father had begun planning to kill Shredder months before, knowing that Shredder would settle for nothing less than the deaths of his nemesis and his entire family. Mikey had known of his father's plans, but had dreaded the idea of putting them into play — he didn't want to kill anyone, no matter how evil they were. He didn't want his family tainted by that. He had struggled with the idea for a long time, and eventually decided that if they worked hard and kept fighting, things would turn out all right.

He shouldn't have been surprised by what had happened. Splinter had never pretended that he wasn't going to kill his ancient enemy. But now a corpse lay on the rooftop, in a spreading puddle of blood. And though Michelangelo had seen the sword slice through Shredder's neck, he somehow couldn't believe it had happened.

Dazed, he looked back at his brothers. Leo's face was devoid of expression — it was like he hadn't seen anything at all, and Mikey found himself wishing he could be that distant. Raph was staring wide-eyed at Shredder's corpse, the pain of his injured leg seemingly forgotten. He was sprawled on the rooftop, with Alopex trying to prop both him and Angel up.

Splinter came towards his sons gravely, wiping the blade of the katana on the sleeve of his kimono. "Leonardo," he said, holding it out to his eldest son. Leo took the sword and sheathed it.

Then he turned to Raph. "Raphael, how is your wound?" he said, concerned by the dark stains on Raph's leg.

"I'll live, sensei," Raph grunted, straining to rise to his feet. "It looks worse than it is."

Mikey wasn't so sure about that. Raph wasn't one to let injuries knock him out of a fight, and he had bled an awful lot. The athletic wrap Leo had tied around Raph's thigh was already starting to spot with more blood.

He turned back towards Shredder's body, and felt his stomach churning. He had never seen someone without a head before, and the longer he looked at it, the sicker he felt. The blood under Shredder's body glimmered like a little black lake, reflecting the stars up above them. And he was dead because of Mikey's father… he had swung that sword, and sent the head rolling away…

"Mikey?" Leo's voice said. "Are you okay?"

"This can't be real," Mikey mumbled. "Father couldn't have…"

"I know," Leo said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know, Mikey. We'll talk about it — later. When we're home."

"Home — we don't have a home," Mikey said, looking at Leo with pleading eyes. "Stockman wrecked it, and now we're stuck on top of the Foot Clan's building. What are we gonna do, Leo? Where are we gonna go?" His voice was starting to rise and crack.

Leo started to answer, but just then Karai strode towards Splinter, her back ramrod straight and her eyes glittering like chips of obsidian. Mikey stiffened, and his hands went to his nunchaku. Karai was as mean as a viper that someone had stepped on, and Mikey didn't trust her anywhere near his father. He knew the end of the Gauntlet was supposed to signal the end of the feud between their clans, but Karai had been obsessively, fiercely loyal to Shredder. If she was mad enough, she might decide to ignore that and try to kill them the way Oroku Saki had…

Leo seemed to have had the same thought. His katanas were already unsheathed and held up before him, as he slid between Karai and his father. "No closer, Karai. Or you'll answer to me."

Karai slowed down, her expression not changing. "I simply wish to speak to your father, Leonardo, nothing more."

Splinter placed a hand on Leo's outstretched arm, lowering one of his swords. "Let her speak, Leonardo," he said quietly. As Karai moved a few steps closer, Splinter turned towards her, his black eyes narrowing. "Am I to expect that you will adhere to the results of the Gauntlet, and hunt us no more?"

"I will do that, and more," Karai said, her voice shaking a little. "I — wished to make you an offer. I was the one who revived the Foot Clan in the modern age, returning it to its old glory after years of degeneration and greed. I believed that strong leadership would allow the clan to flower to its full potential, and so I gladly gave it over to my grandfather upon his resurrection. Everything I did, I did for the Foot."

She bowed her head slightly, and her blunt-cut black hair fell slightly over her face. "Now that he is dead, as his chunin, I should be the one who takes command as the new jonin. But I find I — I cannot." She looked back at Splinter, with those glints returning to her eyes. "I have seen true leadership this night. True courage and strength. And I know that those things are necessary in a good jonin… and that I do not have them. Not yet."

She drew her katana slowly, and Mikey saw every muscle in Leo's body tense up all at once. Splinter did not move, though, and his impassive face betrayed no hint of nervousness at having the sword of his enemy so close to him.

Karai looked down, her face mirrored in the silvery blade. "Before I can truly lead anyone — anything — I must have these qualities in myself. And so I will leave New York, and find them in the birthplace of the Foot." She raised her chin. "I will return to Japan."

She knelt swiftly and smoothly, the katana resting horizontally across her outstretched palms. Her hands stopped only a few inches from Splinter, as her head bowed toward him. "And the Foot Clan will need a new jonin. I offer you my sword, and the throne of the Foot's leader."

Silence settled over the rooftop.

Mikey almost let out a hysterical giggle at the thought. He didn't know what Karai was thinking — they had just spent months fighting the Foot, almost dying every time the enemy cornered them. The claw-handed Foot Assassins who had hunted them down in Northampton. The swarms of ninja who had tried to slice them apart. That slimy fox Kitsune and her insidious spells, turning Leo against his family. Bebop and Rocksteady, who had almost killed Donnie and had tried to kill the rest of them.

No, the Foot Clan was rotten to the core, as far as Mikey was concerned. Every person in it had tried to murder them for some stupid feud that had started centuries ago, and every person in it had been loyal to the Shredder. What made Karai think that they wanted anything to do with her clan, let alone that Splinter would lead it?

"I accept."

Quiet as they were, the two words rang out through the air like twin explosions. And for a moment, Mikey barely registered that they had been said. He knew that sounds had been made, but the fact that they were words with meaning had temporarily fled from his mind. But then they settled into his brain like falling scraps of silk, and something stark and terrified began to expand inside him.

This couldn't be. His father couldn't possibly — he wasn't going to — after all, the Foot were their enemies — cruel, callous, murderous enemies — being in charge of them would be like becoming the Shredder —

Mikey's knees were suddenly wobbling dangerously, and he felt a spasmodic tremor pass through his body. If there had been any furniture on this rooftop, he would have grabbed at it to keep from collapsing. His eyes couldn't look away as Splinter took the katana from Karai's hands, and surveyed the human with calm, detached eyes.

"If I have your permission," Karai said, bowing, "I will leave immediately, once I have informed the genin of our change in leadership, and bring with me some of the Foot's more — unique followers."

"You have my permission," Splinter said. "Except for Kitsune." His gaze swept towards the elegantly-dressed woman waiting far from them. "I wish to keep her under strict observation."

If this stipulation bothered Karai, she gave no sign of it. She straightened from her bow, turned around, and was gone back into the building. The Foot ninja lurking around the edges of the rooftop slowly clustered closer, keeping their distance from the rat mutant and his turtle children. Raph growled and grabbed one of his sai, despite being sprawled on the rooftop.

Mikey felt like his head was going to explode. His hands were still gripping his nunchaku — the nunchaku his father had given him. Suddenly he couldn't bear to hold them, and they slithered from his hands and clattered to the floor.

"I can't," he said hoarsely. "I can't do this — I can't be a part of this."

"Mikey?" Angel asked.

"What's he sayin'?" Raph said, confused.

"I can't be part of the Foot Clan," Mikey said, his voice growing hoarser. "I can't — not if it makes us like them. After all we did — after everything they did to us —"

His thoughts seemed to be crumbling away into fragments, and the words in his mouth were doing the same. He turned away and ran blindly to the edge of the rooftop expanse, his mind seething with images of his father taking the katana from Karai. Memories of Donnie, bleeding and half-dead on the floor. Of the Gauntlet, and fighting furiously against the Foot mutants while the ninja sat silently watching, waiting for him to die.

It was wrong. It was all so, so wrong. How could Father do that? Why would he do that?

"Mikey!" Leo's voice shouted behind him.

"Don't follow me!" Mikey howled.

He sprang off the edge, and for a heart-stopping moment he was flying dozens of floors off the ground. Wind blasted his face and curled over his shell, and he could see the lights of the cars driving below twinkling like pale jewels against the dark streets.

Then he landed with a light thud on another roof platform a few floors down, one full of potted trees and cultivated flowers. He was panting as he looked around for a convenient door or window. He didn't have any shuko with him, so he couldn't just climb down the sheer walls — he would have to find a way inside the building, and then he could sneak down the stairwells and get out on the ground floor. And if any Foot ninja got in his way, he'd just have to fight his way past them —

"Mikey, wait up!"

Leo again. Mikey turned around to see his blue-masked brother leaping down the same way he had, landing lightly in the shadow of a maple tree. "Mikey, what are you doing?" he said.

"Leaving," Mikey said, his voice choking. "Don't try to stop me."

"Mikey, I know this is a shock—"

"I won't be part of this!" Mikey erupted, clenching his fists. "I'm leaving, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind."

He spun around, turning his shell to Leo, and began walking swiftly towards the rooftop door. He could feel hot tears welling up in his eyes, and a part of him wished that Leo actually would try to stop him. He wouldn't succeed — Mikey was too good a fighter for his brother to take down without hurting him — but he almost wished that he couldn't go. As much as the idea of having anything to do with the Foot revolted him, dashing off into the dark, cold night was frightening.

Especially on his own. He had never been alone before — he had always been with his brothers. He knew Raph had lived on the streets alone for more than a year, but he had never thought that one day it might happen to him too.

But as he held out his hand to the doorknob, Leo's voice suddenly rose behind him.

"What about Donnie?"

Mikey stiffened, his hand still extended. "What — what about —"

"Donnie's still on Burnow Island," Leo said soberly. "I'm going there as soon as we get Raph patched up, to see if — if he's doing any better. Don't you want to see him?"

Mikey felt as though Leo had just ripped his heart open, even though he knew his brother hadn't meant to hurt him. His head ducked down as he took a few shaky breaths, and his hand trembled on the knob. "That's — that's not fair," he said.

Leo was silent. The only sound was the faint fluting whistle of wind blowing behind them, and the stirring of the leaves.

Finally Mikey turned back around, his face set in a stubborn expression. "Fine," he said quietly. "I'll come to Burnow Island. I — I want to make sure Donnie's all right. But once I leave this place, I'm not coming back. I won't be part of the Foot Clan."

"I understand," Leo said softly.