"Drop your weapons."
After a moment of steely defiance, Cat complied.
Mikey, Don, and Casey followed suit, but Raph seemed ready for a fight.
"Raphie, calm down…" Cat soothed gently, lightly touching his wrist.
"…Drop your sai…"
If it wasn't for the fact that he loved her, Raph would've disregarded her slight order.
But that wasn't the case…
And she was hurt bad enough as it was…
He threw his sai, point-first, into the concrete, and Cat relaxed.
"Okay, we'll talk." Cat conceded.
"But you'd better move your tanto out of my brother's face before I go over there and make you…"
Karai saw the threat in the turtle's eyes, if not her tone, and obeyed.
Leo jumped to his feet, and Raph took the chance to attack.
Leo blocked the sai with a katana, and the white-banded turtle pulled him back.
"Raph, don't! I gave her my word of honor!"
Now, Raph might fight with Leo about his honor, and throw it in his older brother's face, but he couldn't do that with Cat.
Her own honor was fragile, with fate and chance deciding if it would shatter.
He already promised to protect her from them, make sure she comes out whole, and he couldn't break it in order to turn around and shatter her like a glass figurine.
Though Cat often looked tough, she was as breakable as Mikey was innocent.
Grudgingly, Raph lowered his weapons.
Karai said she was from the Japanese faction of the Foot, and had come to restore order to New York.
She had a plan, of course, but wanted them there as a 'Plan B'.
In return, the vendetta against them would be lifted, and New York would be saved.
"I say we do it." Leo stated in the huddle the six formed.
Mikey and Don seemed uncomfortable with the idea, but agreed, while Raph completely rejected the thought.
"…It might be the only way…"
Raph shot Cat a nearly betrayed look.
"Kitten!"
"But think about it! The Foot would leave us alone, and we'd stop the gang war!"
"It isn't our war!"
"I know that! But these four are going!"
She gestured to the others.
"And I can't let them get killed!"
With a heated glare, Raph left with hardly a backwards glance, and Cat sighed.
"Hothead…"
So they agreed to help Karai, and were soon waiting in the destroyed remains of the Foot Headquarters.
When Karai came back, disguised as the Shredder, they hid in the rafters.
As Hun, leading the Purple Dragons, the Mob, and the Foot arrived, Cat felt worry fill her gut.
She was restricted from fighting unless absolutely necessary because of her ankle, but…
'What if they're too much for these four to handle? What if I can't save them?'
It seemed some of the Purple Dragons turned on Hun and the 'Shredder', and a fight broke out.
With the Purple Dragons turning against each other and the Mob attacking them and the Foot, who protected their 'leader', Cat hardly saw through the rain of bullets.
'Maybe Karai's plan will actually work…'
When the fighting quieted, Cat relaxed against a beam…
Until a strange grenade went off…
Cat nearly fell off the beam, and Karai was knocked back, the Shredder's helmet flying off her head.
The Foot and Hun felt particularly betrayed, and attacked with a new vigor while the Mob beat a hasty retreat and the Purple Dragons stayed moaning on the ground.
So her three brothers and Casey jumped down to help Karai and her two henchmen fight off the masses.
They were outnumbered and out-weaponed, and Hun raised his rocket launcher to blast them to pieces.
'NO!'
Cat jumped down as the rocket was blasted from its holder, and caught it with her right hand, her arm getting pulled back from the force.
"Hey, Hun!"
Her eyes hardened as she braced herself, already in the action of throwing the explosive.
"CATCH!!"
Pain flared up her left leg after the rocket was racing towards it new target, and she fell to one knee.
"Kitty…" Mikey muttered, looking worried.
Smoke pellets went off, and three Foot ninja went down in the barrier.
Taking the opportunity offered, Cat threw a shuriken, which impaled Hun's rocket launcher.
After it blew up, sending its holder back, Raph walked out of the smoke.
"Raph!"
Cat would've stood, but her ankle hurt more when the mere thought of movement entered her head.
It seemed the red-banded turtle had taken time to calm down and realize how stupid he'd been.
"You figured that out on your own?" Mikey asked jokingly.
"I had some help on THAT one…"
Splinter jumped out of the thinning smoke, kicking a Foot ninja down.
"My children! I was worried we wouldn't make it in time!"
"Sensei!"
Cat rolled away as Hun swung a large beam.
"Hey! Respect the injured!"
Cat ducked below another swing.
"Fine! Be a jerk!"
She caught the beam with both hands, and pulled it from his large hands.
With a powerful swing, Hun was smacked through the wall, and Cat dropped the beam, falling back on her shell.
Chest heaving, she tried to control the pain as the Foot ninja were subdued.
After Karai showed her authority and dominance over the Foot Elite, she thanked the turtles for their help.
"You are all great ninja. I hope the next time we meet, it will not be as enemies."
Cat, being held in a bridal style by Raph, caught something hidden under those words…
Karai left, and they decided to go home.
Cat didn't mind being carried home…
After all, she enjoyed being lulled to sleep by the steady beat of Raph's heart…