Donnie had informed them that the Kraang were planning something big tonight, so they came prepared to their stakeout. They knew better than to get close to the building without knowing what they were up against this time. They barely made it out last time with a heartbreaking loss.

Leo kept his eye on the building with his telescope and reported, "Nothing happening at T.C.R.I."

"Yet." Donnie clarified. He was still using his T-Phone to follow up with the data he found.

Mikey had his eyes glued onto his T-Phone too, playing a new game he downloaded, "This game is awesome. The combat is so realistic."

Hikari was performing some simple stretches, both to loosen up her muscles and to pass the time. She had her left leg up past her shoulder when she asked, "We spend most of our day fighting. Don't you get sick of it?"

"Speak for yourself, I'm bored." Raph groaned and laid down onto the floor.

"Guys, stop messing around." Leo turned around to reprimand them.

"According to the Kraang storage device Mikey swiped, some kind of scouting ship is coming through the Kraang portal tonight." Donnie reminded them of the mission.

"So, we all have to stay alert." Leo said sternly with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, you never know what could sneak up on you." A feminine voice came from above them. Hikari recognized it and shifted herself closer to Leo. She could already feel her energy charging and cackling between her fingertips.

Leo looked up to see the Foot Clan's kunoichi drop down from her hiding place before him, "Cute, Karai. But I'm not in the mood."

Karai looked at Hikari's less-than-subtle gesture and smirked, "I see you two made up."

"Don't think I forgot what happened in the World Genome Center." Hikari scowled, "Leave before I spill your blood for that."

She simply pulled out her Wakizashi with that smug grin on her face, "Bold words. Guess you have a type, Leo."

"That's it!" Hikari transformed her uniweapon into her signature whip and cracked down at Karai. Karai rolled out of the way before rushing at her with her Wakizashi. Hikari quickly shifted the whip into a rapier and parried the blade before it could get close. She used her rapier to push Karai's blade away before thrusting hers at her left shoulder.

As the two girls started fighting, the others just stood and watched it all happen. Realizing that they weren't stopping anytime soon, Leo got fed up and pulled out his katanas, "We don't have time for this. Guys!"

The others armed themselves with their own respective weapons as Mikey let out a "Booyakasha!"

Karai noticed the four turtles joining into the fight and backed away from Hikari to deal with them. She stopped Donnie's bo staff with her Wakizashi and hopped onto his shell to dodge Mikey and Raph's attacks. She put some distance between herself and the group. "Booyakasha? What does that even mean?" She asked in amusement.

"I don't know. But it's fun to yell." Mikey shrugged before using his kusarigama on her. She swung her blade at the chain and let it wrap loosely around her shoulders. After that she twisted her body and stomped onto the chain, pulling Mikey towards her and sending him falling with a high kick.

Leo took the opportunity to attack her with his katanas, only to have her block them with her Wakizashi again. "You all really know how to make a girl feel welcome." Karai said, "I heard the scrawny one mention the Kraang. What's going on?"

"None of your business." Leo answered.

"And I'm not scrawny. I'm svelte." Donnie added with indignation.

"Oh, come on. Let me in on the fun." Karai responded playfully.

Raph was done and blew up at her, "Look, we're a little busy trying to stop the beginning of an alien invasion here, so do us a favor and get lost!"

Karai's playful demeanor switched to one of disbelief. She knew they were fighting weird robots and that the Lightfury girl wasn't human, but still…" An alien invasion? Are you serious?"

Just as she said that, a loud ramble came from the T.R.C.I. building and an ominous purple glow came from the top of the building. Leo ignored Karai's question and pulled out his telescope again. The door on the side opened up and a large alien spaceship with a giant purple eye on the front came out. He noticed that the ship was flying towards them and put down his telescope, "This can't be good."

"Uhm, guys. I think I need to change my shell." Mikey muttered as they all looked at the ship with horror.

"I hope you have a plan to fight that thing." Karai started backing away, now realizing that they were telling the truth.

"Of course I do." Leo nervously chuckled. The iris on the front of the ship begun to glow, firing a laser at the six of them. "Step one: Run!" They ducked out of the way and started running away. They started dropped down from the buildings as shots after shots were fired right behind them. They made it to an alleyway and started running away from the ship.

Karai was still reeling in the revelation that there are plans for an alien invasion. She thought it was just weird mutant stuff but she had gotten herself far too deep, "What the heck was that?!"

"I don't know! But off the top of my head, I'd say they use it for flying and shooting things." Leo answered, still watching over his shoulder for the ship.

"Like our shells!" Mikey shouted as he dodged another blast aimed at them.

Karai noticed a small space between two buildings and hid there but the team kept running. They all hid behind a parked car when they noticed Karai wasn't with them, but they had more pressing things to worry about.

"We need to get underground." Donnie said.

"Manhole, across the street." Hikari pointed to the manhole at the end of the alleyway on the opposite end.

Leo pulled out his katanas and stood up from his hiding spot, "I'll draw their fire."

Hikari stopped him for a moment, her hand on the wrist where the braided cord bracelet was. "Be careful."

Leo took in her concern with a firm nod. She let go as he ran out towards the ship, "Over here, cyclops!"

While Leo was jumping off the walls to dodge the lasers, the others made it over to the manhole and hopped in. After he saw his team safely underground, he threw a barge of shurikens at the ship before making it to the hole and covering it.

The team watched as the ship scanned the streets with a purple glow, then turn invisible when it couldn't find its targets. "Oh, great. 'Cause it wasn't scary enough when we could see it." Raph grumbled.

"We did learn more about the Kraang. Those ships are going to be a problem if they brought more of them here." Hikari said.

"Let's get back to the lair. Maybe I can find out more about that scouting ship." Donnie started tapping away on his T-Phone as they all made their way home.

Meanwhile, Karai had made it back to the Foot Headquarters with a lot on her mind. When her father told her that they were moving to New York to settle a vendetta, she was expecting espionage and a swift attack. The Foot clan was feared for a reason after all. She was not prepared to deal with mutants and non-human entities, but she knew that anything could be a tool for ending this feud so they could go back to Japan. She had missed the few friends she had back home, and she wanted to be this over with as soon as possible.

Meeting Yoshi's new disciples were a refreshing change of pace, a bit of unpredictability to shake up the status quo. But an alien invasion was a whole new scale that she couldn't look past. What was the point of a war if they weren't around to see the end of it? So, she tried to reason with her father. She entered the throne room and bowed before him. "It's true. The Kraang are plotting an invasion. I saw the ship myself. They've got some serious hardware. We've gotta do something before it's too late." She concluded her report and looked to him expectantly, "Father?"

Shredder, unmoved, simply responded, "We shall proceed as planned."

"But-"

"Tomorrow night, we will receive a shipment of new weapons. These shall help us put an end to the turtles and Splinter."

"We can deal with that later. Didn't you listen to a thing I-" Karai's protests were shut down swiftly when Shredder slammed his fist onto the arm of his throne.

"Karai!" His booming voice made her bow her head in submission, "You have said your piece. Now you will do as I say."

She bit her tongue and answered like the daughter she should be, "Yes, father."

Back in the lair, tensions were still pretty high after their recon mission. Raph was taking it out on the training dummy at the pit, while Leo was still pacing around and lost in thought. Hikari walked out of the kitchen with two cups of warm tea, standing in front of Leo with his cup in hand, "You're going to give yourself blisters if you don't stop."

Leo sighed and took the cup from her, sipping the tea, and did his best to hide his smile. "Pretty good, but not quite." He said, still continuing their little game.

"I'm out of ideas then. I've done everything you did, and it's still not right." She grumbled and sat down on the seat behind her, taking solace in her sweet milk tea.

Leo sat next to her with his tea, "Thanks. This really helped."

"I am glad it did." She leaned into him and placed her head on his shoulder, "I know you're worried about that ship, but we'll figure it out."

"I know that ship has to be here for something. We've gotta figure out what it's doing here."

Raph's voice cut in and interrupted the couple's moment, "Or we could just skip to the part where we destroy it." He punctuated that with a double sai attack, knocking the dummy off the hook. "What are we waiting for? Let's load up the Shellraiser and challenge that thing to a rematch."

"First, we need to find a ship that can turn invisible." Leo stated.

Raph thought for a moment, "I know, how about we shoot into the air until we hit it?"

"That doesn't sound too smart." Leo remarked.

"That sounds like we would destroy a city block before making a dent." Hikari added.

"Yeah, Raph." Mikey agreed before flinching when Raph's fist stopped right in front of his face, "Ahh!"

"Actually, Raph's got something there." Donnie came out of his lab to join the others with his latest creation in hand, "But instead of shooting objects, we'll shoot waves of electromagnetic radiation. In other words, radar. I've built some radar beacons we can set up around town. If the ship gets near us, I'll get an alarm on my T-phone."

"Good work, Donnie." Leo smiled and headed for the turnstile, "Come on, guys. Let's split up and place those beacons."

The rest filed out with Raph hitting the dummy one more time before walking away. Mikey scrunched his face and turned back, picking up the dummy and comforting it, "Don't worry buddy, you'll get him next time."

"Mikey!" Leo's voice carried all the way to the pit.

Mikey set down the dummy and joined to his team, "Loosen your kneepads, Leo!"

Donnie gave them all a radar and a point on the New York City Map to place them so he could track the ship. Once they all got their locations, they parted ways with their T-Phones on standby.

Leo finished installing his radar and activated it, watching the light blink. He pulled out his T-Phone and called Donnie, "Tribeca beacon installed."

"That's the last of them. Hikari, Raph, and Mikey are finished too."

"See you back in the lair." Leo hung up the call before pulling out his katanas to stop the oncoming Wakizashi blade. He turned around to see Karai with her usual smug smile. The two battled once again, but Leo could tell there was a lot of fight in her strikes. She was just playing with him at this point. "This is getting old, Karai."

Karai backed away and sheathed her Wakizashi, "I want to help you fight the Kraang."

"Really?" He sputtered. Seeing Karai unarm herself was shocking, hearing those words put him in a state of disbelief. It took a moment before he wanted to kick himself for even asking. "No, of course not. We're enemies. You want to destroy us. You're loyal to Shredder. You hurt Hikari." Leo counted them off on his fingers, "Should I keep going?"

"Look, if the Kraang win, we don't have a planet anymore. That makes our little fight seem pretty pointless, doesn't it?"

He realized that she was serious and put his katanas away as well, "I doubt Shredder would agree."

"Shredder is stubborn and short-sighted. He drives me crazy. His stupid vendetta is gonna take us all down." She ranted before turning back to Leo, "He may not be able to see that, but I know you do. What do you say? Work together for now?"

She offered her hand out, waiting for Leo's response. He thought about it, but he knew his team would never work with her. "Sorry, sister." He said before jumping off the rooftop, leaving Karai with his refusal.

Even though he gave her his answer, he couldn't stop thinking about her words. The others were waiting for him in the lair and noticed the contemplative look on his face. Hikari pulled a coin out of her pocket and slid it over to him, "A penny for your thoughts."

That made him chuckle, "I'm pretty sure you don't actually need to give me a penny for that."

"Humor me. What's on your mind now?"

Leo thought about telling her and his brothers about his encounter with Karai, but he wasn't sure how they would take it. He decided it was best to tell them all at once. "I came across something while I was installing the radar, and I need to talk to Splinter about it. Get the guys and meet me at the dojo."

Hikari nodded and did as he asked. Leo went over to the dojo and knocked on the door. He felt bad for interrupting April's training, but this was important. Splinter opened the door and looked at his son, "Is something the matter?"

"I need to talk to you and the guys about something, Sensei. I need your advice."

"Very well." He let Leo come in, where April was performing some basic katas. "Keep practicing, April. I will be back as soon as I can."

Once Hikari and his brother all arrived, Leo recounted everything that he and Karai talked about on the rooftop. As expected, they reacted negatively as soon as Karai was mentioned. Hikari's eyes went from silver to a dull iron color. But Leo finished his report by giving his own opinion on it, "I know we shouldn't trust Karai. But still, I got the sense she really is fed up with Shredder."

Raph responded, "That's probably just what she wants you to think."

"I know." Leo sighed, repeating that one phrase like a broken record now, "But Sensei, is there any chance she's for real?"

"It is possible. Loyalties have been known to shift." Splinter answered, "But the kunoichi is trained to use deception to her advantage."

"So, she either will or won't betray us?" Leo asked, a little annoyed he wasn't getting an actual answer.

"Correct." Splinter affirmed, "You must trust your instincts, but beware the trap of believing something to be true simply because you wish it to be so."

"So, I should trust my instincts, unless my instincts are wrong?"

"Correct."

That left Leo even more confused than where he started, but he did ask for Splinter's advice. "Uhh…thanks Sensei." He said, more so out of courtesy.

"Whoa, you know it's good advice when you're still confused afterward." Mikey awed.

Raph stood his ground, "Guys, seriously. An alliance with Karai? No way. - Why are we even talking about this?" He then looked to Hikari, who has a neutral expression on her face, "Why haven't you said anything about it?"

"Because I do not trust myself to be unbiased." She answered curtly.

"It's too bad we can't trust her." Donnie said, "It would be nice to have a kunoichi on our side."

Hikari got up after that and walked out of the dojo. A loud bang was heard coming from the bedrooms. The turtles winced at that, but April wasn't ready to let that go. "Uhm. Hello? What about me and Hikari?"

"No, I mean a real kunoichi." Donnie tried to explain but ended up fumbling over his own words, "I mean, not that you're not a real one. Just that Karai is better. I mean, not-not better, just more experienced! Is it-is it hot in here?"

April rolled her eyes at his attempts, "It's ok. I get it. She's your mortal enemy, but hey, she's 'purty'." She sent daggers at Leo with the last word for making one of her best friends stomp out of the room like that.

Donnie must've missed her tone because he kept trying to explain himself. "No, she's not. You're way prettier." He clarified before realizing what he said and started to backtrack, "Not that I think you're pretty. I mean, you're not ugly. It's just that I-"

Raph got up and put his hand over Donnie's mouth, pulling him away from this entire mess, "Don't fight it. You'll thank me later."

Mikey piped up, "Nee-chan was pretty upset, Leo."

"Well, we're gonna keep running into Karai if we're fighting the Foot. Hikari just has to get over to it." Leo got up off the mat and walked out of the dojo, avoiding the glares coming from April.

Mikey was lost, on how Hikari reacted and on how Leo reacted. He thought them getting together would stop this from happening again. "Relationships are weird." Mikey concluded.

"Tell me about it." April muttered, wondering how long it would take for those two to work it out.

Hikari threw herself onto her bed and covered her mouth to muffle her infuriated screams. She thought she was over this. She and Leo talked about this that night after all and he confirmed that any feelings he had for her were gone. Their relationship wasn't always perfect, but they were happy. So, why was she so angry?

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. She realized that she had been punching her pillow too. She placed the pillow aside before opening the door. To her surprise (and disappointment), it was Raph who knocked. "Were you beating up your pillow just now?" He asked.

"No." She glanced back at the pillow.

"I would if I were you. I mean, how stupid would you have to do to trust the person who betrayed us?"

"Leo…had a soft spot for her." It still pained her to admit, "I could see why he would trust her."

"And you don't have a problem with it?" Raph raised a brow.

"Fine. I am jealous, OK?" She admitted, "I know Leo chose me, but he did have feelings for Karai and I'm worried he's going to have second thoughts now that she's on our side."

"Leo would be an idiot if he decided to go with a backstabbing kunoichi. And I mean more than he usually is."

"I know. I know." She ran her hand down her face, "I know Leo wouldn't do that. I just wish I could stop feeling like this."

"This is why I am never dating." Raph responded.

"I thought it was because there wasn't someone good enough for you."

"Well, yeah. But this whole mess here, a big reason why." He gestured to her.

"You're no help." She said the words, but there was a small smile.

"I made it clear that I don't want any detail about your love life, especially since it has to do with my brother."

She blinked, "Then what are you doing here?"

"You looked like you were gonna blow up if you didn't say anything." He shrugged, "Also, we're gonna use the Shellraiser for the patrol tonight. We're moving out in a few."

She picked up her weapon and clamped on her guard. Once she had everything she needed, she followed Raph out and met up with the others in front of the Shellraiser. Leo and Raph shared a quick look before his blue eyes focused on her. She didn't have time to think about it, they had a mission. They all got into the Shellraiser and made their way to the surface. While they were on their way, Hikari got up from her seat and approached the driver's seat. She decided to make the first move, "I'm sorry for how I reacted. It's no secret that I dislike Karai and I don't trust her at all, but that was no reason to act out."

Leo kept his eyes on the road but his shoulder sagged, "I'm sorry too. I get it, she betrayed us and hurt you. But we're gonna run into her again at some point. I just want you to trust me."

"I do. It's her I don't trust."

"Well, trust me to know what I'm doing. I won't let her manipulate me again."

Donnie's face came up on the screen next to Leo, "Guys, I think I've got something. Doesn't match any authorized flight patterns. It's gotta be the Kraang ship."

"Or Santa!" Mikey said excitedly. The Shellraiser turned the corner and they all saw the ship right in front of them. "Nope, it's the Kraang ship. Ugh, that's a bummer."

The iris of the ship started glowing again, which was their cue to leave. "Move it, Leo!" Raph cried out while gripping his seat. Hikari had gone back to her station and activated the shield around the vehicle. Any blast that didn't hurt the shield made dents onto the road behind them. Hikari was taking the hits well, but the surge from the lasers reminded her of being too close to the Kraang's power cell. She did her best to keep it together, they needed her after all.

"I think I've figured out its mission: us!" Donnie exclaimed just as another blast hit the shield. This time it was too much and Hikari let go of her controls, the shields dropping with her.

"Mikey, we need an escape route!" Leo shouted.

Mikey took a look on the map before giving directions, "Take the alley on the right!"

Leo followed his word, only to arrive at a dead-end. "What? Mikey!"

Mikey paused and took another look at the map, "Oh. Don't take the alley on the right!"

The Kraang ship caught up with them and fired its laser at the vehicle. Without Hikari's shield, the Shellraiser wouldn't be able to take much more. Leo was running out of ideas and they were going to be burnt chips if they didn't get out of this mess.

The laser suddenly stopped, to their surprise. Leo switched to the cameras outside to see Karai on top of the ship, slashing at it with her Wakizashi. The ship flew away with her and left the Shellraiser alone. "That was Karai!" Leo exclaimed. He backed out of the alleyway and gave chase, "We've gotta go back and help her."

"She can take care of herself. Let's put some distance between that thing and us." Raph reasoned with him.

"No." Leo refused to let her get hurt just to save them.

"But the Shellraiser can't take another onslaught right now." Donnie stated.

Mikey was by Hikari's side as he tended to her, "Plus, Hikari doesn't look too hot right now."

"I'll remember that." She mumbled, still drained out and dazed from the onslaught.

"Then I'll do it myself." Leo took off the seatbelts and got out of his seat, forcing Raph to take his place. "Drive! I'll meet you back underground." He opened the chamber to the Stealthbike.

Raph was not happy about it, "Hey, the stealthbike's my thing."

"Now your thing is sucking it up." Leo shot back before getting on the bike.

"Hey, that's my thing!" Donnie retorted, but Leo had already left as the bike swerved back towards the ship.

Hikari groaned at all the rapid jerky movements. It was not helping with her tired and aching head. Once the Shellraiser was underground again, the vehicle stopped and Mikey came over with a bottle of water. "Thanks, nii-chan." She took the cool bottle and put it on her forehead, sighing in relief as the cool touch soothed her.

"I can't believe he ditched us for her!" Raph slammed his fists onto the steering wheel.

"She did just jump onto a spaceship for us." Donnie countered.

"Yeah. Did you see that jump she did?" Mikey gushed, "Man, we'd all be grilled turtles if she didn't-"

"She did one thing and that's enough for you to be all buddy-buddy with her? That's how she messes with your head!" Raph turned to Hikari for support. "Are you going to just forget everything she did to us?"

"Leo told me to trust that he knows what he's doing. So, that is my answer."

Before Raph could fire back at that, they could hear the stealthbike coming their way. Raph opened the hatch to let it back in.

"We're back." Leo popped in. They were stunned to see Karai with him as well.

Raph took this as well as he would have, "You brought her inside? Dude, she'll see all our gear!"

She looked around before replying sarcastically, "Yeah, 'cause if Shredder finds out you have an ice cream lamp, it is over."

"Karai just risked her life to save us. She's earned a little trust. Let's hear her out." Leo said in a placating manner.

Donnie and Mikey shrugged and listened. Hikari nodded stiffly but it was the best he could do for now. Leo looked to Raph who relented, "You're the boss."

Karai, for the first time, looked sincere and open, "You guys need my help. You really think you can shoot down an alien warship with garbage?"

"Compressed garbage." Donnie clarified.

"And manhole covers." Mikey added, crossing his arms proudly.

"We have a few tricks up our sleeves too." Leo tried to keep it vague enough that Karai wouldn't know what he meant.

Karai knew more than she was letting on. She rolled her eyes and responded sardonically, "Ah yes. Your Lightfury girlfriend."

Hikari was shocked that she knew, "How did you-"

"I was there, remember? I heard the Kraang call you a Lightfury, whatever that means." Karai got herself back on track, "My point is, to take out a ship like that, you need a real weapon.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Raph asked cautiously.

"Whatever you guys have in your arsenal isn't enough. So, what if I got you a shoulder-fired missile launcher?"

The five of them looked at her then at each other. Donnie blinked, "And where are you going to get that?"

"Shredder, of course."

"Uh, we're talking about the same Shredder, right?" Mikey's voice pitched, "Big dude, lots of blades? Really hates us?"

"Yeah, something tells me he's not gonna want to share his toys with us." Raph remarked.

"He won't know about it." Karai explained, "He's buying a big shipment of weapons down at the docks tomorrow night. All we need to do is sneak in and help ourselves."

Raph didn't buy it, "Anyone else smells a trap?"

"Why would I trap you?" Karai looked like she was ready to facepalm, "You're the only ones who know what the Kraang are up to."

Hikari didn't say much at this point, and Leo noticed that. She felt his eyes on her and he asked nervously, "Hikari, what do you think?"

She took a deep breath, calming herself, and thinking it through. After a long bout of silence, she asked him, "Are you willing to vouch for her, Leo?"

Leo glanced at Karai before looking back at Hikari with conviction, "Yes."

"You asked me to trust you, so I will." Hikari got off her seat and approached Karai with crossed arms, "If I find out you're playing Shredder's game, you'll know what Lightfuries are capable of."

"And you guys?" Leo turned to his brothers. Donnie and Mikey shared a look before they both gave Leo a nod. He then looked at Raph, who knew he was outnumbered. "If she's on board, then I'll go along with this." Raph answered begrudgingly.

"We've got a deal." Leo shook Karai's hand.

"Meet me by the docks tomorrow. I'll keep him busy while you grab what you need." Karai left after that. They made sure that Karai could no longer see them before heading back to the lair.

Leo gathered the whole team at the kitchen to talk about their plans, "Alright, tomorrow will be one of the toughest missions we'll ever pull off. We need to make sure that we cover every base we can."

"I got the map for the docks." Donnie pulled out a printout of the layout, "Karai said the shipment should be coming in at 7. We should be able to hide with all the shipping containers. We'll have just enough time to grab it before the Foot start loading it up in their vans."

"Stoked! I can't believe we're getting a missile launcher. What should we blow up first?" Mikey said excitedly. Hikari couldn't blame him, it was going to be different having such heavy artillery for a change.

Raph looked at Mikey like he was stupid, "Uh, the Kraang ship?"

"Oh, right. What should we blow up second?" Mikey didn't lose that excited demeanor, which endeared her as much as Mikey's enthusiasm had gotten them into trouble.

"Let's think about that after we get the missile launcher." Hikari reminded them of the seriousness of the mission, "Like Leo said, it's not going to be easy. Shredder's gonna be there too."

"Hey, you're right!" Raph realized, "For once, we know where Shredder's gonna be ahead of time, which means we could set a trap for him."

Leo looked appalled at the suggestion, "What? Look, we made a deal with Karai. We can't just go behind her back. This is about that Kraang ship."

"This may be our only chance to take him by surprise." Raph argued, "Are we really gonna pass that up?"

Leo thought about it before answering, "It's not worth it. Dealing with the Kraang is more important right now."

Raph wasn't impressed with that answer but didn't bring it up again. Donnie and Leo planned out their route for their infiltration, with the others adding in their input. After a few hours of meticulous planning, they felt like they accounted for everything they could. They had plans on how to deal with Dogpound and Fishface if they showed up, an escape route if they got spotted, and a backup plan if Karai really was lying. Leo clearly wasn't pleased that they didn't trust his judgment, but he knew it was because of her more than him.

Once they were done with their plans, they all went to relax in their own ways. Hikari was practicing her technique in the dojo when Mikey showed up. She was surprised, Mikey never really came into the dojo unless it was for training or if he wanted something. "You need something, Mikey?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm cool." Mikey tried playing it cool, "I just wanted to see how my favorite sister is doing."

Hikari stopped herself from laughing at his attempts. He was here to check in on her after all. "Tense. But it'll be fine once the mission is done." She asked honestly.

"You sure? I know you reeeeeeeeeally don't like Karai."

Her smile dropped at the mention of Karai, "My issues with Karai are more than just plain distrust. But that's something I have to deal with myself."

"Can I help?" Mikey asked with the same enthusiasm he always had when he wanted to help.

She couldn't say no to that, "I am a little hungry. How about we make some pizza casserole?"

"Awesome, I'll go preheat the oven." Mikey headed out of the dojo to get everything ready. Hikari came into the kitchen after a quick shower. Mikey showed her how to make his 'famous' pizza casserole, which was one of the few things all five of them enjoyed eating. Once it was done, they sat down and took a nice helping of it for themselves.

Hikari had a big bite of that cheesy tangy goodness and nearly melted in her seat. It was better than the pizza noodle soup. "Thank you, nii-chan. This really helped." She said between her bites.

"It's pizza, man. It's the cure to everything." Mikey responded with his cheeks filled, "So, you said that you've got more beef with Karai. Are you jealous?"

"Since when was I this easy to read?" She murmured and put her fork down, "Leo asked me to trust him, and I do. But I feel like I'm being replaced. He's acting on her interests and he's doing everything to accommodate her."

"I don't get why you're jealous though. You two are together, and you guys are awesome! I'd rather have you than Karai on the team."

"Thanks, Mikey." She patted him on the head, "I really needed to get my mind off this whole thing."

The team made it to the docks and hid before the Foot showed up. They were as well-armed as they could be for this mission. Leo was nervous about this, mentality checking off his list to keep his team safe. He knew it was a huge risk to trust Karai again after what she did to them. No matter what Hikari or his brothers said outwards, none of them trusted Karai. But he had faith in her this time that she was going to do the right thing.

That didn't mean the deal wasn't straining his relationship with Hikari. The bad blood between the two kunoichis would need to be settled before they all could work together. He hoped that Hikari would get over her jealousy and understand in time that Karai wasn't really a bad person… or at least she could do good things.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Shredder and the Foot approached to a large man in a thick coat. The two parties chatted for a moment before a Foot soldier handed the man a black suitcase. Karai took this opportunity to spot them out and give them the signal. They watched her turn the corner and followed her, making sure to stay out of the Foot's sight. They made it over smoothly as Karai opened a crate up for them. "Missile launcher, as promised." She whispered.

Donnie looked into the weapon crate, surprised with the wide selection in there, "This is incredible."

"Too bad most of these were meant for us." Raph remarked, reminding them of who they were dealing with.

Karai finally snapped at him, "Look, I was born into this fight. I don't get a say on what side I'm on."

"You can join us." Leo offered his hand to her, "You said yourself how bad Shredder is, you don't have to stay by his side."

Before Karai could give her answer, Donnie's T-Phone started beeping. Donnie pulled it out to confirm their worst fear, "The radar! The Kraang ship is nearby!"

"Take what you need and go." Karai said quickly, looking behind her in case Shredder was coming by to check himself.

"Uhm… I think we're too late for that." Mikey paled and pointed up. The purple eye looking down on them as the rest of the ship appeared. The ship fired down a laser beam, hitting the crate and triggering the explosives. There was a loud explosion that threw them back onto the ground. The crate was on fire, while the only things left were the missile launcher and the few rockets they took out before the ship arrived.

"Karai!" Shredder appeared to the scene and spotted his mortal enemies, "The turtles."

Before Shredder could do anything, another laser blast came at them. The team got up and ran down the maze of shipping containers, making twists and turns to try and throw the ship off. However, the metal clanging above them confirmed their fears. Shredder and the Foot were chasing after them too. "Split up, team!" Leo shouted.

Leo and Raph ran down one way, while the other three continued running straight. The two looked back and noticed Shredder chasing the three of them. They nodded and went back to the weapon crate. Karai was still there with the missile launcher in hand, "Here."

Leo took the missile launcher and looked for a place to use it. He noticed a warehouse with a clear view of it, and made his way towards with Raph and Karai behind him.

Suddenly, Hikari pulled out her Wakizashi and started slashing at Raph. He drew his sais to stop her blade. Raph was about to call her out when she whispered to them, "Shredder is watching. Just go shoot down the ship."

Raph gave Leo a quick look of affirmation before he took the missile launcher to the roof of the warehouse. Leo was locked onto the Kraang ship when he noticed that Shredder was winning. Mikey and Hikari were attacked from a distance with their kusarigama and whip, but they were being backed towards the shipping containers behind them. Donnie was throwing shuriken at him, but they weren't very effective. He looked up to see a giant crane holding a shipping container above him. He aimed it and fired the shot at the chain of the crane.

As the shipping container fell, Karai grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. "What are you doing?! You were supposed to use it on the Kraang ship!"

He pulled her hand off his shoulders, "Shredder was going to hurt them. I'm not going to let that happen."

"You could've killed him!"

"And he's trying to kill us!" Raph retorted, "Read the room, sister!"

Karai steeled her glare at him, "You're not going to use my help to kill him."

"Why? 'Cause he's your boss?"

"Because he's my father!" She shouted at them.

Leo blanched at that, sputtering as his brain tried to catch up, "Y-your father? Shredder is your father? You're Shredder's daughter?"

Another laser blast from the Kraang ship at them brought them back to the moment at hand. "Take that thing down!" Raph shouted and handed him another missile. Leo reloaded the launcher and fired it at the Kraang ship. It was a direct hit and the ship crashed onto the pier with smoke trailing behind it.

Leo and Raph gave each other a high-five before he offered a handshake to Karai. She looked at Leo's hand and shook her head, "This was a mistake. We're better off as enemies."

"Karai, wait-" Leo called out before she could walk away.

"Just go before Shredder catches you again." With that, she leaped off the roof and headed over to where Shredder was. Leo's shoulders dropped at the realization that she was still going to be their enemy. Raph pulled him back and they left to meet up with the rest of the team.

The team scattered off after the ship was taken down. It was for the best. Karai didn't want to explain why she didn't capture them. She ran over the container to see that Shredder was still alive. From the heavy dents on the container above, it appeared that the container bumped onto the top of the stack and tumbled down. It crushed his armor, giving Splinter's students a chance to escape. She cut a hole in the container, allowing Shredder to escape from beneath it.

Shredder brushed off the metal dust on his armor as he stood up, "Well done, Karai."

"Unfortunately, most of the weapons from Steranko's shipment were destroyed." She reported.

"No matter, we may have stumbled across something better." His eyes looking at the smoke coming from the Kraang ship, "You mentioned the Kraang are planning an invasion, is that right?"

"Yes, father." She responded reluctantly, already dreading what he was going to say next.

"Then, it is time for a new alliance."

She didn't want to do this. She knew Shredder was still stuck in his old feud, and that it would likely bring about the end of the world. But there was nothing she could do. She couldn't betray her father like that, and she had nowhere else to go. So, she did what she was taught to do. She swallowed any protests she had and followed his lead.

Hikari, Donnie, and Mikey met up with Leo and Raph at the rendezvous point. The three of them were pretty thrilled that they managed to take down the Kraang ship, even if there were more complications than they planned. However, their excitement dampened when they saw the sullen look on Leo and Raph's face. "Dudes, we destroyed the Kraang ship! Why'd you look so sad?"

Leo didn't answer. Instead, Raph did, "Turns out Karai's the princess of the Foot Clan. Literally."

"Oh." Mikey's response had summed it all up. She must not have been happy when Leo fired that missile to help them then. But deep down, Hikari was glad that he chose to help her instead of pleasing Karai.

Regardless of what she felt, Leo needed her more right now. "I'm sorry. I know you wanted Karai on our side." She said as sincerely as she could.

"It was like she was expecting me to choose between you guys and her. I thought she could be reasoned with, but she decided that being enemies was better than helping us fight the Kraang."

"Look, she's Shredder's daughter, his blood. She was never gonna be on our side." Raph reminded him.

Leo sighed and pulled his knees to his plastron, "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe I was just believing what I wanted to."

She approached him and placed her arm over his shoulders, pulling him in for a side hug.

Donnie looked over the skyline and noticed dawn breaking, "The sun is rising. We should head back to the lair."

They all made it back before Leo went over to his room. Hikari pulled the three of them aside and asked them to let her have the TV for the day. Mikey made a fuss but Donnie and Raph pulled him away from the lair. Once she got the privacy she wanted, she went into the kitchen to start preparing everything she needed.

She took her time to get everything ready before she knocked on Leo's door. He looked fine but his eyes had a shadow of guilt and self-depravation in them. "I don't wanna talk about it right now." He said, his body still hidden by the door.

"I'm not going to make you. I have something in mind to help you get your mind off the mission." Hikari offered her hand, waiting for his answer.

He looked at it for a moment before taking it. She slowly walked him out of the room and into the pit, though it looked cozier than before. The usual mess of comics and pizza boxes were gone. Instead, there were pillows and a large throw blanket on the seating area. She brought him over and sat him down. She then handed him a warm cup and a large bowl of popcorn with candy and other snacks mixed in with it. "I got your tea, some popcorn, and a mostly-complete boxset of season 3 of Space Heroes." She shook the boxset in her hand and sat next to him, "I even told the guys to leave us alone for a few hours."

She knew she did something right when Leo had that soft smile on his face. "You're amazing. You know that?" He said as he picked out a tape and handed it to her.

She got up and put the tape in before curling up next to him with the blanket pulled up over them, "I wanted to make it up to you, for how I treated you the last few days."

They enjoyed the silence for the first few episodes, mostly the spouting out quotes and one-timers from the show. She still giggled at his enthusiasm but she could see how similar Leo was to his hero, and still be the leader she knew he was going to be. As the end credits played for the end of the first tape, Leo decided to break the silence, "I know you don't like Karai, and I totally get why."

"Believe it or not, it wasn't because of your past feelings for her. It was how you treated her. You were so quick to defend her, to help her. I feel like she was more important to you than I was." She murmured with her head resting on his plastron, "You have no idea how it feels like to have someone you love care for someone else like that. The most interest someone had shown me was the Pulverizer and we know that's a joke."

Leo didn't say anything for a while, making her look up at him as he said, "Raph."

"Huh?"

He seemed uncomfortable to continue, but she was too curious to stop him, "Before we got together, I thought you were interested in Raph. I mean you two have so much in common and when you were sneaking out… I was so jealous and I hated myself for being jealous because he's my brother."

"Raph is like my big brother. I'm not interested in him, and I am definitely not his type."

"That's how I feel about Karai. I just want to help her. There's good inside her and I can't stand by and let Shredder corrupt her."

"Leo, she might not want to be saved." She reasoned, "Maybe she feels like she belongs by his side."

"I'm not going to give up on her."

"I know, that's just who you are." She gave him a peck on the cheek.

The couple had reached an understanding, though they still weren't sure how they would handle it in the future. Karai was still out there, and she had made her choice. All they could do was deal with it whenever the wave would come for them. For now, they were going to enjoy this stolen moment to be two teenagers embracing each other against the world.

And if Mikey and Raph took pictures to tease them after they fell asleep together, well it was worth it. Plus, she got a new wallpaper for her phone.

A/N: So... I made a last-minute decision to swap out writing "Baxter's Gambit" for "Enemy of my Enemy", the reason why will be explained in that chapter. This took longer than I wanted, but I liked how it turned out. If you couldn't tell by now, I do enjoy Karai's character and what she is supposed to be. The execution in the show was a little sloppy though. The one thing I never bought was how easily Leo was willing to betray Karai's trust considering their relationship and his own sense of honor. He was supposed to be the conscience of the group.

Because the circumstances have changed, Karai's motivations will change accordingly. She is still obeying Shredder but that doesn't mean she stopped thinking for herself. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy the way I'm doing this.

Hikari and Leo's relationship is pretty stable at this point, they both have a routine and they take time out to be with each other. But no relationship is perfect. It's not that Hikari is actively hiding her jealousy from Leo. She saw no point in sharing it when it was her own problem to deal with. It was only because Raph and Mikey brought it up that she realized how her emotions were affecting everyone else too. This is what got her to open up about it.

I'm glad I managed to make you laugh, Stegz. Although Leo and Hikari are dating, her relationships with the others are still important. I'm doing my best to balance them all out.

Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.

Thank you all for your support c: