A.N: I'm back! New Year, more Fall or Fly LET'S GO BOOYAKASHA! I also want to start updating on Fridays to get some more readers in so I'll be seeing you again this coming Friday.

I don't own TMNT

(Translations)

CHAPTER 20

An animal-like groan was heard throughout the sewer system. The source? Karai in her human form recovering from slithering headfirst into a cement wall. As she lay there on her stomach with her eyes half-open, she tried to remember what happened. She was walking down the tunnel when she saw Splinter. So what happened after she blacked out? Karai's eyes widened when she saw flashes of a memory. She was chasing… Splinter. And she was…hungry. "NO!" Karai sat up and then scooted back to sit up against the wall. Her arms were up as if she was clawing the wall for a hold. Her eyes shifted around nervously. What did she do? What did she just do!

She did exactly what she feared. She almost killed Splinter. "Not…" Karai began to shake as she held her head in her hands. It shouldn't have been so easy to break. What she learned during her travels with Fillien should have kept her emotions in check. But all she seemed to have learned was to control her emotions as a beast when not facing…. Her past. Karai's body began to fluctuate. Human to snake, human to snake.

All these memories she was getting. From Slash, to Shredder, to anything that reminded her of her time in the Foot. New York would never let her forget the horrible stuff she had seen, what she had done, and what she could do. Karai gave a loud yell that echoed throughout the tunnels. Then she fell to her side and curled herself into a fetal position.

When those memories came, they brought the beast. Is this…. Is this what it was like… to suffer from PTSD? Still laying on the cold sewer ground on her side, Karai pulled her knees closer into a hug. Even though this wasn't her fault, the effect of what her trauma had caused... still made her feel so ashamed. Especially when it… hurt. Hurt others… hurt family. Friends. No… must stop… must not kill…

Karai lay there as her snake form took over when she began to sleep.

)))))))))))))))) Mutanimal Wharehouse (((((((((((((

March ended with the last of the snowfall, only leaving behind snow on the ground that had yet to melt. Since then, Fillien had stayed in the Mutanimals Hideout in East Village for at least two weeks as she healed. She'd watch as Kurtzman would delegate missions so that the Mutanimals would go out and deal a heavy blow to the Kraang occupation.

As much as she was impressed with their teamwork and compatible skills, she'd always ask upon their return if they spotted Karai. No sign of the missing snake girl. At the start, Fillien would thank the team and hope for the next night. But as the days went on, Fillien could only nod in recognition of their efforts.

When the Mutanimals returned from patrol, the night would have passed and everyone would rest the day away and get up around sunset. That's when Kurtzman and Rockwell would check on Fillien's progress. The first week was just nothing but pain killers and a bed. But at the end of week two, she had been allowed to roam around the warehouse. The pain started to become minimal and she no longer needed the pills.

To keep her stamina up, Rockwell advised Fillien to walk around the warehouse for short periods of time. She would do so, in addition to extending her good wing out every so often to strengthen it. But even with this freedom, she was still feeling sad. She really missed her best friend

One night Fillien looked out the window of the second floor. She hadn't noticed the Mutanimals get back from a night out until a huge presence stood next to her. Slightly spooked, Fillien jumped about three feet off the ground before facing Slash. She was having a hard time getting to relax around him, but she had gotten to the point where she could breathe and say, "Oh, it's you. So… how was it?"

"Stopped a couple of Kraang from offloading a shipment of more mutagen," the giant turtle said sitting down next to her. "One word: Boom." Fillien smiled and gave a nod before she sat down again and looked out the window once more. Then Slash asked, "Not gonna ask about Karai?"

"Hu-huh?" Fillien said as she was forced out of her daze. "Oh um, I didn't want to bother you with the question. I ask you guys all the time."

"You haven't asked in a while though."

Fillien winced and looked down with a sad look, "I guess… I'm becoming forgetful."

Slash shook his head as he stood up. "I didn't take you for the lose-all-hope kind of person."

Fillien would usually be offended by such an accusation, but she wasn't feeling in the mood to fight back. "It's… it's not that. I just…"

The giant turtle stepped back. He didn't expect this reaction. Maybe he should back out of what he said. Clearing his throat, he leaned over to lightly pat Fillien on the back and say, "Sorry about what I said. And we're going to find her eventually. The city may be big but we know it best." And then Slash walked away. Grateful that Slash tried to end it on an optimistic note, Fillien looked out the window with her eyes scanning the horizon now as the sun started to come up. Even if she still felt bad, she had a tinge of hope in spotting Karai.

)))))))))))))) Footclan Hideout ((((((((((((((

Sounds of claws scrapping through metal were heard throughout the training dojo of the second-floor bellow. Bradford had been in there all morning, practicing after not going out the night before on patrol. He had been spared the hassle of looking for Karai since Shredder's focus had been on one thing recently.

As much as Shredder wanted there to be a never-ending search for the Kunoichi, the armored man knew he could no longer do it with such few resources. The Kraang were busy 'ruling' New York and preparing to expand their invasion world-wide. The Footbots weren't the most efficient even though Baxter had done his best to reprogram them. So Shredder went back to an old idea he had before the Invasion. Long before Karai became a turncoat.

Mutant Army.

Bradford stopped sliding through training Footbots when he heard a noise below him. It was soft being it was several feet below the underground floor he was in. But he heard it well. A machine starting up.

He walked out of the dojo and went left down the hallway. He passed the medical room on the right and went to the far end where there was another door. There he opened it and went down some stairs to the catacombs which were made into the Hideout's personal jail. He walked down the long hallway before he got to the round room. Several jail cells lined the wall, all empty except one. "Looks like this mysterious project is finally finished, Monsieur le Chien (Mister Dog)."

"Argh….." Bradford growled as he remembered their prisoner. He walked by the cell ignoring the former-Griffis member as he went through what used to be a hole in the wall. Now there was a silver door open wide. He went in and walked down some more stairs finding himself in another round room. This one, unlike the purple hues the jail gave, was a bit brighter with more torches of fire giving the room a yellow glow. There was a Buddha statue at the far end with two dark open tunnels on either side

Bradford hadn't really been down here since the Shredder decided to use the Footbots as labor to create these underground passageways. The reason that he hadn't come down here until now was the reason behind the creating of such pathways far below the surface.

Another sound of a machine running below his feet was heard. More vibrant and load. But then it stopped. And soon smoke came from one of the tunnel entrances. That's when a giant humanoid fly with a bulbous head and body dressed in a pink fleece and pants flew out. As it fell on its knees and hands to cough out the smoke in its lungs, it suddenly threw up a little. Bradford growled and raised a clawed hand up to obstruct his view as he said, "So, Stickman, another day, another mess of your new lab you have to clean up."

The fly had finally recuperated and began to hover in front of Bradford. "First of all… It's Stockman – Bbbzt!" he yelled as his head jerked when buzzed. "Second, it's not my lab. Not yet until it's fully been constructed. We just had a little—bzzzt - trouble with some of the power couplings. Those -bzzt – Footbots don't know the difference between ground and negative."

Bradford lowered his hands, "Right. Tell that to Shredder." Then he began to walk back up the way he came.

Stockman followed by flying behind him. "Yo-you're not going to tell Shredder—bzzt—about this?" the flyman asked nervously. "It's just a minor setback."

Bradford smirked making sure Stockman didn't see it as he the dog mutant faced forward. "Perhaps… You know… I'm one of Shredder's best students. I can't lie to my master."

Once they got into the jail cell area, the flyman came around the dog and waved his hands out in front of him to stop him. "No—no, you don't—have to—"

Bradford gave a laugh which made Stockman fly back a little in shock. Bradford managed to say between laughs, "I can't believe you're still such a wuss, Baxter."

Baxter's stockman's wings began to beat harder in annoyance. "Oh I should have known- bzzt—You know I don't have to go through this bull! I can just fly off and do my own thing."

"And why don't you?" Bradford asked, still chuckling but curious all the same.

Stockman sighed and crossed, "I need a new lab after my first one blew up, you know that. I need to still run my own experiments somehow. The only way to do- bzzt - that is to do what Shredder says and that's to create his mutant army. As much as I hate the idea of—bzzt—being around more of your kind."

"My kind?" Bradford yelled angrily. "Well, you're one to talk—"

"You don't like the idea of creating mutants?" came a voice from the occupied jail cell. Both mutants stopped arguing and looked to Ulrich. He was leaning back against the metal bars of the gate as he fiddled with his watch. He played around with the leather strapped that connected to the metal latch. It almost looked like he was playing with it like a toy. The man didn't look back though. He just waited for an answer.

Baxter answered, "No. But it's not like anyone—bzzt – here cares."

"Really?" Ulrich asked surprised as he made the tiny metal stick piece of the watch's latch move up and down. It looked like a little creature with a metal head talking. "You don't see the potential these creatures have?

"The potential I see is what I have. I can fly around and my senses are—bzzt-heightened. There's nothing else." Suddenly Baxter threw up, making Bradford step back. "See what I mean."

"Oh, so you're hypocrite," Bradford began.

"No, I'm just—"

"Stockman," came a deep booming voice that echoed around the jail. Bradford bowed as Baxter flew around and hid behind Bradford. Ulrich only tilted his head back to see Shredder walk in. "What is the cause of the delay now?"

the flyman flew up nervously, his eyes and even wings twitching in nervousness. "We-well, I was manning the main control panel when one of the circuit breakers blew but since the Footbots—"

"No more excuses. Finish the Lab or I FINISH YOU!"

Ulrich scoffed as Baxter saluted and said, "Right, right, sorry, Master Shredder—" He turned to fly towards the entrance to the deep when he flew into the wall by accident. Then he flew back, shook his head, and continued down the tunnel.

Bradford bowed to the Shredder, "Do you have need of me, Master. I could send a couple of scouts—"

"No. Tiger Claw has already sent out the morning patrol. I will have need of your skills shortly. Continue your training."

"Yes, Master."

With that, the skeletal dog man walked away. Shredder never left though, not yet. He heard what Ulrich said when he walked in on the two mutants fighting. "You have a fascination for mutations."

"I did say I want little Lefevre for a reason, no?" He stopped playing with his watch and put it back on his wrist before laying his head back on the bars and closing his eyes.

A.N: Can't forget we got the Footclan up to no good. And with Ulrich added to the mix? Things can't be good. Also, I think it was time to bring up one of the many mental disorders that the mutation has caused Karai to have. PTSD. There's another one but this one I've been hinting at the most since the start of her mutation. Fillien's got something too but that one will be addressed as the story progresses. So yeah, like I said before I really want to add relevant topics into the character development so here's one way. Can't wait to explore some more. I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!