Author's Note
Hello Universe! Palkia's here with Chapter 13! Yee!
Thank you to all those who reviewed, favorited, and followed! It really means a lot to me!
Here's the music list!
(1) Bad Situation - Naruto OST 1
(2) Senya (Many Nights) _Naruto Shippuden OST 2
(3) Ninmu (Mission) - Naruto Shippuden OST 1 (this is used twice)
(4) Kenkonitteki (Risking It All) _Naruto Shippuden OST 1
(5) Anun (Dark Clouds) - Naruto Shippuden OST 1
(6) Sadness and Sorrow - Naruto OST 1
(7) Samidare (Early Summer Rain) - Naruto Shippuden OST 2
Let's go!
I do not own Naruto and I do not own TMNT.
Chapter 13
Common Bonds and Ideals
Time had begun to pass by at an alarming rate. Not that Leo paid much attention to it. His main focus at the moment was to continue on with his training, and balancing out his life along with it. Many challenges came over the past few weeks, and each only threw in another obstacle along the way.
First there was the Pulverizer incident. One night, the brothers had come across a strange teeenager named Timothy dressed up to look like them. Literally. Wearing a green turtle rubber suit couldn't get any weirder in his opinion. Actually it could, because the guy was trying to act like them, superhero and all. And unfortunately they accidentally brought him to the lair. All in all, the situation was a whole mess.
As a result, it led to a fight between the Foot, Raph being poisoned by the newly dubbed "Fishface," Mikey now calling Xever that for now on, Donnie bringing Timothy to the fight, and the Power Cell being damaged, now enabling the Kraang to track its whereabouts. And they did eventually lose the Power Cell as well.
Overall, just one huge gigantic mess of a situation.
Weeks ago, the brothers had obtained the Power Cell, a piece of alien crystal that contains a huge amount of energy, from a mutant alligator named Leatherhead. Their first encounter with him wasn't all that pleasant, as at some points he was nice and at other points he was insane and would attack them. Long story short, Mikey brought him back to the lair, which led to Splinter having to attack him when the alligator went berserk, driving him from the lair. In the end, he gave them the Power Cell to protect, having stolen it from the Kraang in their own dimension many years ago, only for them to lose it.
Later on, they raided TCRI to find out what exactly the Kraang were up to. And what they found out was shocking. The Kraang were planning to invade, that wasn't all that surprising. But for some reason, they needed April. On top of that, Leatherhead ended up returning to the Kraang's dimension, Dimension X, in order to stop a lava rock mutant from destroying them by forcing it back into a portal that was powered by the Power Cell.
After that stress filled fiasco, Leo was able to figure out what Raph was afraid of; cockroaches. Kurama was thrilled to hear of that, now knowing exactly what to use against the red masked turtle instead of threatening to kill him each time his jinchuriki was upset by him.
The information came out of another unfortunate situation, as one of Donnie's spy roaches, a cockroach with a spy cam on it, ended up getting mutated. The situation was finally dealt with when Raph defeated it and also stopped the Kraang from flooding the city with lava.
Finally, to add to the mind boggling mess, they had to deal with Baxter Stockman, who decided to trap the brothers, along with Dogpound and Fishface, into what he called, "The Maze of Doom." After having to team up with their enemies, they defeated the scientist along with his giant robot he called, "The Monster of Doom."
Besides the hectic-ness and all of those events, life continued on as it should.
Leo continued his training with Shishigami every night whenever they didn't go out for patrol or whenever he wasn't busy with his family. His chakra control was getting extremely better, able to keep shadow clones out longer and not disappear with just a single hit. He was beginning to learn more jutsu, and found that he was beginning to like anything that involved Wind and Lightning elements. They were fast and strong, just how Leo liked to fight.
Yet the jinchuriki felt as if there was something missing. A couple of times, when he attacked Shishigami head on, he would instinctively reach out with his left hand, which was strange since while he was ambidextrous, he would usually use his right hand. Either way, Leo pushed himself to ignore it for the moment and to focus on training instead.
He was improving, that much he knew. Shishigami could feel this as well. Leo's chakra reserves were growing steadily. On the track he was going on, the deer god wouldn't be surprised if the teen had a large reserve of it. Add in Kurama's own chakra, and you have a powerhouse of a shinobi. They just had to keep working at it, until a definitive fighting style was found that could match up for the blue masked turtle.
At the moment however, that wasn't the case.
Currently, the four brothers were staking it out on a building rooftop. Leo had his eyes glued to his small telescope, yet another object he bought with the money he earned from Mr. Murakami. Looking over at the familiar Kraang facility of TCRI which was about a mile away from them, as well as extending his sensing abilities, he looked for any sort of activity that was going on.
'Nothing,' Leo thought. 'I don't see or feel anything coming from that place.'
"Neither do I," Kurama noted. "For their inexplicable ability of doing a horrible job at language, they know how to keep to themselves."
'And that is what worries me…'
"Nothing happening at TCRI," Leo said aloud, lowering the telescope away from his eyes.
"Yet," Donnie mentioned to his right, looking down at his T-Phone.
"This game is awesome…" Their attention was brought over to Mikey, who was fascinated at a game on his T-Phone. "The combat is so realistic."
"Can I slap him? Or better yet throw him off the building?"
'Of all the times Mikey has to be focused on something else...ugh.'
"Oh you want me to make it more realistic?" Raph stated sarcastically, coming up to the orange masked turtle who was currently engrossed in the game.
"Idiots," Kurama groaned.
"Guys! Stop messing around," Leo scolded.
"According to the Kraang storage device I decrypted," Donnie began. "Some kind of scout ship is coming through the Kraang portal tonight." The purple masked turtle glanced over at the ominous, dark building.
And not even a moment later, Leo picked up on something, or rather someone. 'Karai, she's...honestly why am I even surprised. Of course she would be here.'
"So we all have to stay alert," he emphasized the last part. "Because someone," Leo turned in the direction where Karai was watching them, from atop of a water tower. "May be observing."
He could practically see her smirk. "Fox-boy has a point, you never know what could sneak up on you." Karai answered.
The kunoichi jumped down from the water tower, landing right in front of them. As Leo had seen a few seconds earlier, there was a smirk on her face. Karai looked, and somewhat felt from the jinchuriki's side of things, happy to see them for some odd reason. Was it because he pointed her out?
Regardless, they didn't need her appearing at the moment. If they didn't watch out for what was going on at TCRI, who knows what could happen? And Leo had a feeling she knew this as well. Karai just wanted information as usual.
"I'm not in the mood Karai," Leo told her straight away.
(1) In response, she pulled out her blade, running towards him. Leo blocked her attack easily, crossing his two katanas. Karai tried swinging from behind, but he blocked that as well. Stepping back a bit, Leo began to speak.
"We don't have time for this. Guys!" He mentioned for his brothers to attack. They pulled out their weapons and ran forward towards Karai.
"Booyakasha!" Mikey yelled, swinging his nunchucks.
Donnie struck first with his Bo staff, however as soon as his wooden weapon met Karai's blade, she pushed it down and used it as leverage to jump up, avoiding Mikey's attack. She landed on the back of the purple masked turtle's shell, catching him off guard. Karai couldn't stay there for long, as she then jumped off to avoid the swing of Raph's sai towards her. She landed on the ground near them.
"'Booyakasha?!'" She asked in interest and trying not to laugh, her blade over her left shoulder in a relaxed position. Clearly she thought this was a game. "What does that even mean?"
"I don't know," Mikey answered honestly. "But it's fun to yell!" He threw out his Kusarigama chain towards the kunoichi in order to grab her.
Karai easily moved out of the way, letting the chain wrap around the blade. She spun around, letting it go behind her shoulder. Using her right foot, she slammed it onto the chain, throwing Mikey forward to her. Quickly Karai kicked him off to the side. Leo then ran at the kunoichi, twin katanas colliding with Karai's blade.
"You really know how to make a girl feel welcome," she complimented, pushing Leo away. "I heard the scrawny one mention the Kraang. What's going on?"
This caught his attention immediately, but he wasn't sure whether or not to be surprised. "None of your business," he stated, running forward.
"And I'm not scrawny," Donnie retaliated. "I'm svelte!"
The blue masked turtle's blades clashed once more with Karai's own. Both Mikey and Donnie came up to her as she was busy with Leo, but the kunoichi managed to jump out of the way. It was then that Raph took the opportunity to attack her, jabbing his sai in her direction. Yet she was just too agile. He kept swinging until Karai managed to block his weapon, and force him away.
"Aww come on!" She faked her complaining. "Let me in on the fun!"
"Look, we're a little busy trying to stop the beginning of an alien invasion," Raph began angrily. "So do us a favor and get lost!"
"An alien invasion?!" Karai exclaimed. "Are you serious?!"
"Something is coming," Kurama pointed out.
Just before Leo could say anything to her, his senses began to pick up on a specific energy. He turned his head towards TCRI, and his brothers and Karai did so as well after hearing a crash of thunder. The sky lit up somewhat with a bright, white light, with a pinkish-purple light coming from TCRI. Panels on the side of the building began to open up, revealing a long corridor inside. And soon, something came out.
It was obvious by its appearance that it was Kraang technology, but they had never seen anything like this. Overall, the thing was large, plated with shiny silver colored metal, save for the middle of it, which had a pinkish-purple colored light band around the middle. It was circular shaped, with three, weird metal tentacle-like appendages coming from underneath it. In the middle of it was a black colored area, with a pattern on it that looked like an eye.
A Kraang spaceship. And it was creepy in every way imaginable.
"This can't be good," Leo muttered, as he and his brothers, as well as Karai, continued to stare at it. Only a few moments later did he realize that it was coming towards them.
"Um guys, I think I need to change my shell," Mikey told them, yet no one was really concerned about that, since there was a bigger problem coming their way.
"I hope you have a plan for fighting that thing, fox-boy," Karai said aloud, a little bit of nervousness in her voice.
"Heh. Of course I have a plan," he answered nervously, completely ignoring Karai's last comment, as they all began to back away slowly.
"Your plan is to run away." Kurama commented, most likely smirking at the fact that his jinchuriki didn't have a plan at all.
'SHUT UP!'
"Step one…" Leo began, but as soon as a pink colored bolt of plasma came shooting out of the center of it, he changed his mind. "RUN!"
Putting away his katanas into the duel sheaths he had on the back of his shell, the blue masked turtle ran, his brothers and Karai not too far behind. Unfortunately that was the only thing he could do at this very moment. As much as Leo could convince himself that he could fight that thing, he couldn't, seeing that his brothers were here.
The group of five jumped to the next rooftop, and a plasma beam nearly hit Leo. Thankfully he jumped away in time. Their escape route then had the five using fire escapes to get down to street level, hoping that no longer being on the rooftops would help them avoid that thing. Unfortunately, the spaceship appeared to be equipped with some sort of scanner, as harmless, pink beams of energy came out from underneath it to scan the area.
"What the heck was that!?" Karai asked, now running next to Leo, running ahead of the three other turtles.
"No idea!" He answered frantically. "But if I had to make an extremely good guess, they use it for flying and shooting lightning at things!"
"Yeah, like our shells!" Mikey screamed as yet another bolt of plasma was shot at them.
They ran out onto the street, and instead of following the brothers, Karai chose to run towards a nearby alleyway. Continuing down the road and turning down a side street, they hid behind a black car. However this attempt at hiding wouldn't work, as the scanner from the Kraang ship was too advanced.
"You think it knows where we are?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah, most likely," Leo answered, before the car they were hiding behind was lifted off the ground by the ship's tentacles.
His brothers screamed, as the ship let go of the car. Jumping out of the way, the Kraang ship let go of the car, and it landed back on the street. The brothers stopped off to the side, trying to regain their breath.
"Man, we gotta get underground!" Donnie exclaimed.
"I'll draw their fire!" Leo answered immediately, pulling out his katanas and running at the ship.
He dodged an incoming plasma beam by leaping towards a wall. Leo jumped off of it, doing a backflip midair. Once the turtle landed on the ground, he somersaulted forward to regain his footing. He couldn't stay there for too long, as the ship lowered itself towards the ground and began shooting yet another plasma beam at him.
Off to the side, Leo saw Raph removing a manhole cover from the ground. Yet his attention wasn't focused on his brothers for too long, as he had to continue to run forward in order to avoid the plasma beams of energy.
"Leo, come on!" He heard his red masked brother shout.
Moving away from another plasma beam, he used the side of a building to jump up and turn around. As soon as he landed, Leo threw a couple of shurikens at the ship. But just as he anticipated, they bounced off, not even leaving a scratch.
'I need to get underground now!'
Finally he was able to get away from the ship long enough to get to the manhole cover. Raph had already jumped down, with Leo following him afterwards. Quickly he grabbed the cover and put it back on, just before the ship activated its scanner. He met up with his brothers who were over by a storm drain, watching what was going on outside. And as soon as he got there, Leo witnessed the ship disappear, as well as the sound of police sirens coming close. (1!)
"Oh great," Raph said sarcastically. "Cause it wasn't scary enough when we could see it."
'We may not be able to see it, but I can still feel its presence,' the jinchuriki noted. 'Still, this could be a problem…'
"Like we can deal with it now." Kurama spoke up.
As the four began to head back to the lair, there was still a lingering thought in his mind that he just couldn't let go of.
'Hopefully Karai made it to safety.'
Ten minutes later…
Leo watched as Raph let loose his anger onto the practice dummy in the lair. The red masked turtle threw his sais at it, landing them in the chest area. At the moment, the eldest was pacing back and forth, trying to decide what to do next.
'Do I risk taking on that thing by myself?' He wondered. 'With the jutsu in my arsenal, as well as my speed and strength, I should be able to take it down easily. Then again, if the ship randomly disappeared, what would happen then?'
'Not to mention it's not like a Kraangdroid. I can't exactly drag it somewhere and have it remain hidden. It'll be noticeable once it's out of commission. Of course not that really mattered if it was taken down. And yet the most likely reason that thing is here is to target us. So for a ship like that to be taken down by someone other than us would be rather suspicious.'
"Your brother wouldn't happen to have any weapon launchers, would he?"
'Unfortunately no. The best we could do against that ship is maybe have some sort of rocket launcher, but Donnie doesn't have the materials to make something like that. The closest he has made to something like that would be the garbage cannon on the Shellraiser. Even then, the force wouldn't be enough.'
"That Kraang ship is incredibly dangerous," Leo said aloud. "We've got to figure out what it's doing here."
"Oh, we could just skip to the part where we destroy it," Raph suggested, jabbing his sais into the dummy, knocking it over.
Mikey went over to it and picked it up. "You're pretty tough when they can't hit you back," Mikey criticized Raph, since the red masked turtle didn't care one bit about the dummy.
In response, Raph held up a fist, ready to hit Mikey. So the orange masked turtle held up the dummy for protection. After a few seconds, it was then he realized that his older brother had faked it, only wanting to scare him.
"So what are we waiting for?" Raph asked Leo. "Let's load up the Shellraiser," he brought his hand and fist together. "And challenge that thing to a rematch!"
"First we need a way to find a ship that's invisible," Leo pointed out.
'And while I can sense it, it's not a good enough excuse to give either,' he added.
"I know, how about we shoot into the air until we hit it?" Raph suggested, and Leo wasn't surprised one bit.
"And alert the entire city of your existence, sure," the fox sneered.
"That doesn't sound too smart," he answered honestly.
"Yeah Raph," Mikey began. "Not too smart buddy."
Once again, the red masked turtle fake threatened to hit his youngest brother, which caused Mikey to let out a scream. Just then, Donnie came out of his lab, interrupting their conversation.
"Actually, Raph's got something there," he pointed out.
"Yeah Leo, Raph's got something there," Mikey answered, using the dummy's right arm to point at the red masked turtle.
This somewhat annoyed Leo after Mikey said that, but Donnie chose to continue on. "But instead of shooting objects, we'll shoot waves of electromagnetic radiation. In other words…" He held up a mini satellite dish. "Radar.
"I've built some radar beacons we can set up around town. If the ship gets near us, I'll get an alert on my T-Phone."
"Hmm. So that thing will detect the ship. It's almost like my sensory ability. Interesting."
'This could work actually. We'll be able to find the ship without just me detecting it.'
"Good work Donnie," Leo commented. "Come on guys. Let's split up and place those beacons."
As he walked away, he could hear the sound of something clanging on the floor. Most likely Raph punching the dummy out of Mikey's hands.
"You'll get him next time buddy," Mikey said to it.
Leo suppressed a groan, before shouting to his brother to hurry up. "Mikey!"
"Loosen your knee pads Leo!" He complained.
It took everything the blue masked turtle had in him to not reply back. 'I'm not a fan of these things anyway. Why we wear them is beyond me.'
A half an hour later…
In the Tribeca neighborhood of the city, Leo finished installing the small little satellite dish onto the ventilation box on top of the building. It wasn't too hard to set it up, but he had a feeling that Mikey would probably struggle somewhat with it. Good thing that Raph was near the orange masked turtle.
"Tribeca beacon installed," he said to his T-Phone, talking to Donnie.
"That's the last of them," his brother replied. "Raph and Mikey are finished too."
"See you back at the lair," and he hung up. Only, there was a feeling biting at the back of his mind.
"She is here," Kurama alerted him.
'I know.'
(2) Instantly, the turtle took out his twin katanas, turning around to block a couple of blows from the kunoichi. She smirked at him, then lifted her blade and ran at him, weapons clashing once more. Leo was pushed back, forced to jump off the ledge and onto a lower building next to it.
Karai jumped over him and brought her blade down, but Leo quickly blocked it, moving off to the side so she wouldn't land on him. Once they were both on the lower building rooftop, they charged towards the other, weapons in a deadlock.
"Don't you think this is getting old?" he asked her, noting the constant ways they keep meeting each other.
Since the incident at the Worldwide Genome Project, Leo had been meeting the kunoichi every so often. He ended up seeing her once again on top of the Byerly building, and thankfully didn't have to make up an excuse for it, rather preferring to sneak out instead.
Karai, in truth, had quite the social life, or rather quite the secret social life, considering her status in the Foot Clan. She did end up introducing him to her friend over the phone, who happened to be named Shinigami, or Shini for short. It took everything Kurama had in his very soul not to mention or groan about a certain incident involving the actual Shinigami, the Death God.
Not only that, but when Leo heard her name, he couldn't help but feel a shiver go up his spine. He knew exactly what a shinigami was. A god that was known for taking souls, usually making deals in doing so. Yet there was a certain familiarity when Leo heard the name, and he had no idea where it came from.
These specific "deja-vu" moments had been occurring ever since he was indirectly struck by plasma energy from Justin, the weird octopus-cat-whatever else mutant. Often they would occur in dreams, but even more often he would forget about them. When Leo heard that name for the first time, it was also the first time he had one of those moments.
Eventually he pushed it off to the side, learning more about the mysterious girl over the phone. She was a good friend of Karai, also being a kunoichi. But what interested him the most was that she was also a witch to some extent, which caught the jinchuriki's interest very quickly. No wonder Karai had said that the two of them shared some weirdness.
At the time, it was probably best to not ask about how she was actually a witch, rather favoring to do it in person. He did however, mention that he also had some mystic abilities within him, and gave a glare to Karai, meaning, "I'd prefer to tell her what I mean in person than over the phone." Better safe than sorry.
But Leo did end up learning more about Karai's friend. At the moment, she currently lived in Japan, and at some point in about a year or so would come and visit New York, as something in her line of work required her to be there. Shini also did share a love for manga and video games, but favoring things more towards the magic and mystical side of genre, which was okay with him.
Since then, the jinchuriki hasn't spoken with the witch. This was fine, and was awaiting the day they would meet in person. It would certainly be an interesting day to say the least. Even Kurama, the nine-tailed fox who often never really took a liking to a majority of humans unless they were deemed good by Leonardo and or just amused him, seemed to have perked up at the thought of her coming. Maybe it was something about magic and other things that gained the fox's curiosity.
Still, he kept meeting with Karai on occasions. And these more often than not were just casual. It had gotten to the point where not every meeting was met with trying to kill each other. Though it for some reason always started with the playful sparring. And also somehow ended with them buying more manga.
Back to the situation at hand, Leo saw her smirk at him. "I want to help you fight the Kraang," she answered.
This somewhat surprised him, but also didn't at the same time. "Really?" he asked.
Both of them put their swords away, with the jinchuriki thinking over her words. It was clear that Karai had taken a really good interest in the aliens. The events a few weeks ago proved that. But now she wants to help fight them? This was odd. Yet Leo could feel the seriousness coming from her emotions when she spoke those words.
Karai wanted to help. That much he knew. But there were some other factors he had to take into consideration. And because of these factors, Leo couldn't just say yes to them. After all, it may bring some things to light should those particular circumstances happen.
"I'm only saying no for a few reasons," he began. "We're supposed to be enemies. Even though you know not to destroy me, you want to destroy my family. You're loyal to Shredder… shall I keep going?"
"Look," Karai began, walking up to Leo. "If the Kraang win, we don't have a planet anymore. That makes our little fight seem pretty pointless, doesn't it?"
"As if the fight is considered small to begin with," Kurama scoffed.
"Even if this does work out, I doubt Shredder would agree should it come to light," he mentioned.
"Shredder is stubborn and short sighted. He drives me crazy!" Karai nearly shouted in anger. "His stupid vendetta is going to take us all down."
'Holy…'
"My thoughts exactly."
Out of all the things Leo would hear from the kunoichi, he never heard anything quite like this. Should the Foot Clan ever hear the words she said now, no doubt there would be punishment, or worse, death. This was Shredder that Karai was speaking about! And this...this was unbelievable!
"He may not be able to see that, but I know you do. What do you say, fox-boy? Work together for now?" She held out her hand to him.
Leo looked down at the hand that Karai was offering to him. Every word he heard was sincere and genuine, and he knew that for a fact. The kunoichi wanted to help. And while the offer was definitely vital, since taking down the Kraang would not be an easy task, there were still some matters to consider.
"I'm sorry, sister," he began, and frankly he was a little shocked as to where the word sister came from. "But I need some time to think this over. I'm not one-hundred percent sure if my brothers would agree on the topic, since the incident we faked last time. However, I'll give them my input on the situation, and I'll let you know."
"I would say yes, but there are some risk factors should I only accept the offer. One of those being my brothers discovering who exactly is taking down the Kraang other than the four of us. If it were just you and I, who knows what could happen? But it's not completely a no. I'll see what I can do. And should they not agree, then perhaps I might team up."
Glancing back at her, he could see the widened eyes on her face, before Karai broke out into a chuckle. "You just like to make things more complicated, don't you fox-boy?"
Embarrassment seemed to run across his face after hearing Karai's reaction to his rather long explanation. "Sorry! Sorry!" Leo apologized quickly, putting his two index fingers together. "There's just a lot of things to consider and-"
"I get it, Leo," Karai interrupted him, throwing a smile his way. "You know where to find me when you have your answer. Just let me know soon alright?"
He nodded to her, and the two ninja went their separate ways. One, down to the sewers to reunite with his brothers. The other, to hopefully avoid another lashing from Shredder. (2!)
"You think too much sometimes," a certain fox commented negatively in the back of his mind. "That goes for your words as well."
'Do you really have to criticize me now?' answered his annoyed jinchuriki.
"You're sounding like the human who sealed me."
'Oh...I'm sorry about that Kurama…'
"Go buy some ice cream and I'll accept your apology."
'WHAT?!'
Fifteen minutes later, in the lair…
(3) "I know we shouldn't trust Karai…" and Leo was met with three glares when he started off with those words.
At the moment, all four turtles were kneeling in the dojo in front of Master Splinter. April was off to the side, practicing a few katas and moves. When the brothers had all returned home from setting up the satellite beacons, Leo decided that it was best to talk about what happened with him and Karai in the dojo.
And of course, he could already feel the disapproval radiating from his brothers. Raphael mostly. The blue masked turtle couldn't blame them for feeling that way. After all, they had "seen" Karai run off while dealing with the incident at the Worldwide Genome Project. But what they didn't know was that it was fake to begin.
"But still...I got the sense that she is really fed up with Shredder," Leo continued.
And he had witnessed that first hand. The anger in her emotions as she spoke ill of him. How this whole vendetta would have them all dead. Did Karai really have that little faith in the Foot Clan leader? If she did, then why hadn't she left yet? Of course, Karai could still very well be loyal to the clan, and or forced to be in it, but just didn't like Shredder. Even then, it sounded strange.
"That's probably what she wants you to think," Raph sneered.
"I know! But…"
Leo was angry at his brother's words about the kunoichi. It took a lot of energy to keep his emotions in check and not let any chakra flare up. He kept reminding himself that they didn't know Karai fully. That was the only reason keeping him from snapping.
At this point, it was clear that his three brothers wouldn't go along with the plan. Too much had happened. Raph had a few meetings with Karai, and none of them were on the pleasant side. Donnie and Mikey met her twice, and both times she had caused trouble. A proposal like this would be out of the question in their minds.
"Sensei," he began, looking at the rat master with an almost pleading gaze. "Is there any chance she's telling the truth?"
"It is possible," Splinter answered. "Loyalties have been known to shift. But," Leo inwardly groaned at the oncoming words. "The Kunoichi is trained to use deception to her advantage."
'I already know this...I can trust her. I just wish they could believe my words.'
"Hell, even I trust her."
'And this is coming from the nine-tailed demon fox who's one-thousand years old and hates humans.'
"So she either will or won't betray us?" the turtle asked.
"Correct," the rat master told him, as Splinter headed in to meditate. "You must trust your instincts. But, beware the trap of believing something to be true, simply because you believe it to be so."
Now both turtle and fox were confused. "So I should trust my instincts...unless my instincts are wrong?"
"...Correct," and Splinter left, leaving two very confused beings behind.
'What the heck was that?'
"Confirmed, Splinter is on something."
'KURAMA!'
"Whoa," Mikey spoke, grabbing Leo's attention. "You know it's good advice when you're still confused afterwards."
Thinking back upon it, the blue masked turtle thought about it over again. 'I'm beginning to understand what he meant. I shouldn't try to believe something is true if it's false. I think...at least?'
"Guys, seriously," Raph commented. "An alliance with Karai? No way! Why are we even talking about this!?"
"It's too bad we can't trust her," Donnie mentioned. "It would be nice to have a kunoichi on our side."
"Um, hello? What about me?" April interrupted the conversation.
"No, I mean a real kunoichi," Donnie explained, realizing he shouldn't have said that. So he held up his hands in defense and tried horribly to correct himself. "I-I mean, not that you're a real one. Just that Karai is better."
This only made the situation worse. "I-I mean not-not better, just more experienced. Is it-is it hot in here?"
Leo suppressed the urge to chuckle at how his brother was struggling to keep his composure. Kurama however, was nearly laughing at how pathetic the sight was.
"It's okay, I get it," April spoke, putting on a fake cheery tone. "She's your mortal enemy, but hey, she's 'purty'."
"Hehehehehe-HAHAHAHA!"
And that was when Kurama began to howl in laughter.
"No she's not, you're way prettier!" Donnie blurted out without thinking, only to fumble with his words. "Not that I think you're pretty! I mean-you're not ugly! It's just that I-ah!"
Before he could say anything else, Raph covered the purple masked turtle's mouth with his hand and began to drag him away. Donnie struggles against his brother, most likely saying something along the lines of, "let me go," and etc. Yet Raph spoke.
"Don't fight it. You'll thank me later," was all he said. (3!)
Ten minutes later...on the streets…
"Guys, I think I found something!" Donnie reported, holding up his T-Phone. "Doesn't match any authorized flight patterns...It's gotta be the Kraang ship!"
'Thank deer god! I was so done with driving nowhere,' Leo mentally said.
At the moment, the blue masked turtle was currently driving the Shellraiser to who knows where as they were searching for any signs of the alien spaceship. For a while, there was hardly any sign of it. Mostly it was random birds. But finally, one of the beacons picked up the ship. Now, they were racing towards the signal.
"Or Santa!" Mikey said hopefully, wanting to run into him instead of the Kraang.
Leo took a right turn, leading the Shellraiser in front of a movie theater. Fortunately, in the case that they found what they were looking for, and rather unfortunately, since they were unprepared, there appeared the Kraang ship. Right in front of them.
"Nope, it's the Kraang ship," Mikey said in disappointment. "Argh...that's a bummer."
(4) A pinkish light began to glow from the eye-like pattern in the middle of the ship. Having an idea as to what is about to happen, Leo pushed on the gas and accelerated away from the ship.
"Move it Leo!" Raph shouted as he fired the garbage cannon, just as the ship fired a plasma beam at them.
"Hang on to your shells!" The jinchuriki yelled, making a hard right turn down another street, trying to throw it off. This still didn't work, as it kept firing plasma beams and continued to follow the Shellraiser.
"I think I figured out its mission...US!" Donnie answered, confirming Leo's earlier suspicion about why the ship was there.
The Shellraiser passed by Chinatown, then took a left, the Kraang ship still on its tail. Leo was running out of options. Clearly the ship was a lot smarter than usual Kraang tech. Just turning left and right wasn't helping at all, as it could still track them.
"Mikey, we need an escape route!" He shouted, turning the wheel again.
"You're trusting him with maps?!"
'We don't have much of a choice!'
"Take the alley on the right!" Mikey yelled.
So the blue masked turtle turned the wheel, leading the Shellraiser down an alleyway. Only, the alley wasn't what they hoped it to be. In reality, it led them nowhere.
"It's a dead end…" he groaned, instantly regretting the choice he made earlier.
Turning around, he saw Mikey fix the magnifying device over his map. "Don't take the alley on the right!" He fixed his mistake.
"We're doomed," Kurama groaned out in disappointment.
Immediately afterward, the ship began to fire a plasma beam of energy at the vehicle's behind. Alarms began to go off inside, as well as the Shellraiser's lighting system began to flicker. Mikey began to scream as the vehicle shook.
"Any ideas guys?" Leo yelled, holding onto the wheel.
"Just one," Raph said from behind, and he went to pound Mikey on the shell repeatedly.
A few seconds later, the jinchuriki turned his head to the right, feeling a familiar presence nearby. Looking at one of the screens that showed outside, he was soon filled with shock. For a few seconds, Leo saw Karai ride a motorcycle off of a building rooftop, jumping on top of the Kraang ship. She pulled out her blade and stabbed and struck it, causing the ship to fly away from the Shellraiser, leaving them alone.
"That was Karai!" Leo yelled, turning the Shellraiser around and flooring it. Fear was written all over his face.
'Is she crazy?! What the heck was she thinking?!' He thought frantically.
"She will most likely die if that ship throws her off."
"We've got to go back and help her," the blue masked turtle said aloud.
However, a hand rested on his left shoulder as he drove, and Leo found himself face to face with Raph. "She can take care of herself," his brother answered angrily, having no intention to help Karai. "Let's put some distance between that thing and us!"
"No!" Leo told him, knowing full well what could happen to her if they decided to leave her alone with the ship.
"But the Shellraiser can't take another onslaught like that!" He heard Donnie speak up from behind him.
At that point, Leo lost it. 'That's it! I'm tired of this! If they don't want to help someone who just saved us, then screw them!'
"Then I'll do it myself! Drive!" He yelled.
Getting out of the driver's seat, the jinchuriki ignored how the Shellraiser swerved until Raph got in it. Walking to the middle of the vehicle, he opened up the hatch that led to the Stealth Bike underneath.
"I'll meet you back underground," he promised.
"Hey, the Stealth Bike's my thing!" Raph glared.
'Oh for the love of-I'm done with this!'
Leo got onto the seat of the Stealth Bike. "Now your thing's sucking it up!" He sneered, closing the hatchway, much to the pleasure of a chuckling nine-tailed fox.
'Oh shut up Kurama!'
Before he launched out, he swore he heard Donnie say something along the lines of, "Hey! That's my thing!" which only made him angrier.
Managing to launch the Stealth Bike out in front of the Shellraiser, Leo kept going forward, while the larger vehicle turned down another street. He turned the bike around quickly, right before the Kraang ship rammed into him. Thankfully Leo ducked before anything else could happen, so he was fine. He revved up the bike, making it move forward towards the ship.
"This...is...so...NOT...FUN!" Leo heard her struggle to yell as she continued to slash her blade against the ship.
It began to fly sideways, dragging itself across the side of a building, with Karai holding on for dear life. Leo continued to follow the ship, watching as it turned a corner and he soon did as well. He tried to increase the speed on the Stealth Bike, but unfortunately the jinchuriki found that it couldn't go any faster.
'Dang it. Figures Donnie couldn't make it to go faster!'
To his slight horror, the ship flipped upside down, then resumed its earlier sideways flying position. This however, caused Karai to lose her hold, as she was thrown into the air. Soon, very soon, she was going to hit the ground, and probably get seriously injured. Leo looked around, having an idea about maybe using one of the cars on the side of the street as a ramp and reach from there. But he just had a feeling it wouldn't work. Something else however, came to his mind.
'Here goes nothing!'
Henging into the oh so familiar spiky blonde haired teen with a white hoodie and blue pants, Leo managed to get a good burst of speed out of the Stealth Bike. He jumped off of it and into the air, using his chakra to increase the amount of force he used to jump. This sent him up high, and the universe seemed to have slowed down as Leo grabbed her bridal style.
Gravity finally took hold of the jinchuriki, and he found himself falling onto the still moving Stealth Bike. He let go of Karai and put his now human hands back on the bike's handles. Leo increases its speed, hoping to get away from the Kraang ship.
"You okay?" He asked, voice slightly strained from the jumping attempt.
To say Karai wasn't shocked by the situation would be putting it lightly. No, she was outright astonished to have seen a fifteen year old blonde teen, who formerly looked like a mutant turtle, jump high into the air off of a moving bike and save her. Still, Karai gave him an answer. She was definitely better than she was struggling for her life on the Kraang ship.
"Yeah, are you?" Karai asked, still slightly astonished.
"Fine," Leo answered.
The jinchuriki could practically feel the variety of emotions the kunoichi was showing right now. From shock, to fear, to astonishment, it was a mix of everything. And to think Karai actually decided to jump onto that ship.
"I think you scared her," a certain fox smirked.
'Oh, let's hope not,' he added. Then, he felt a sudden change in her demeanor, as Leo glanced at the girl for a second, seeing her head down.
"I'm...not really good at saying thank you…" she stated, and they then proceeded to duck their heads as a plasma beam was fired at them from the Kraang ship.
"I understand," Leo told her. "Now hang on. I'm going to try to lose it!"
Pressing one of the buttons on the handles, the Stealth Bike then covered the two with black panels, now looking like a black turtle shell from the outside. Leo drove on, taking a left as the ship followed them. He turned into a small alleyway, hoping to hide away from it.
For a few moments, the ship seemed to pause, as if it were scanning the area for the bike. Then, to both their relief, it flew away, finally not being able to sense them. Leo decided to open up the panels, revealing the sky above their heads. They smiled at each other. (4!)
Out of nowhere, Karai seemed to have collapsed back, shock now wearing off and now able to take in what just happened. The jinchuriki grew very concerned about this behavior.
"Karai, are you…" the blonde teen wavered.
It was then he noticed the tears in her eyes, most likely from being terrified from being thrown off the ship. Yet Leo had a feeling that there was more to it. But he wasn't going to ask about it.
"I'm fine, I just...oh my god…" she sighed. "I thought...no one was going to come for me. I thought...I was going to-"
Karai was interrupted, as she felt something, or rather someone, warm embracing her. Leo hugged her before she could finish.
"Don't," he told her, cutting the kunoichi off. "I'm your friend Karai. Remember that. I'm here, and you're still here. Don't ever think that again."
Slowly, he felt her return the embrace. A few tears fell onto his back, and he had to hold down his urge to ask that dreaded question that he knew was a bad idea to ask her. Even Kurama was curious about Karai's words.
'Who made her say that?'
"You brought her inside?!" Raph complained to him. "Dude, she'll see all of our gear!"
"Yeah, because if Shredder finds out you have an ice cream lamp, it is over," she joked, hearing a blue masked turtle chuckle off to the side.
After their whole ordeal with the Kraang ship, Leo decided to take Karai to his brothers, who were underground in the Shellraiser, and hopefully discuss the possibility of an alliance. After all, what they saw tonight showed that the kunoichi was committed to defeating the Kraang. Speaking of said jinchuriki, he was currently back in his normal turtle form, having henged back before his brothers saw him.
"Karai just risked her life to save us," Leo informed, and being slightly reminded of her breakdown afterwards. "She's earned a little trust. Let's hear her out."
"You're the boss," a certain red masked turtle droned out, clearly not happy with the situation, and stopping the Shellraiser from going further along the train tracks.
(3) "You guys need my help," she began. "You really think you can shoot down an alien warship with garbage?"
"Compressed garbage," Donnie corrected her.
"And manhole covers," Mikey state's matter-of-factly.
"My point is to take out a ship like that, you need a real weapon," Karai mentioned.
"Oooo are we getting explosives?" The kitsune said in excitement.
'She has a point though,' Leo said to Kurama. 'That thing has a tough exterior. Normal blades can't get into it, and the force from the garbage cannon hardly did anything.'
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Raph asked.
"What if I got you a shoulder-fired missile launcher?"
To Leo's surprise, Raph was actually interested in this proposal. "I'm starting to like her," he commented.
"Keep in touch with her more often, and ask for more weapons later on," the fox answered with a mischievous smile.
'We're not getting more weapons…' Leo groaned.
"Where are you going to get a shoulder-fired missile launcher?" Donnie asked in disapproval, arms crossed.
"Shredder of course," she answered simply.
If the jinchuriki had anything to drink at this moment, he probably would've spit it out. 'Holy...she really hates Shredder…'
"That tone...the girl said it so casually too."
"Uh, we're talking about the same Shredder right?" Mikey asked stupidly. "Big dude, lots of blades, really hates us?"
"Yeah something tells me he's not gonna to want to share his toys with us," Raph noted sarcastically.
"He won't know about it," Karai answered. "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."
'Not a bad idea. Only I would say maybe just a few of us go. That way it would be easy to get in and get out. Or, I could just go myself. With my sensory skills, if he gets near where I am I'll know about it and hide.'
"Anyone else smell a trap?" Raph asked.
"Sorry, that was me…" Mikey said.
"Why would I trap you?" She asked, slightly angry at the assumption after she just saved their lives. "You're the only ones who know what the Kraang are up to."
"True," Donnie began, but pointed an accusing finger at her. "But you also don't have the greatest track record."
"I'll go with her," Leo blurted out. And his brothers looked at him as if he had three heads.
"Are you an idiot Leo?!" Raph yelled. "You go with her, and Shredder's going to end up finding you, and probably kill you! Why the heck do you trust her that much?!"
"I just do, that's all I will say," he answered simply, turning to Karai. "You're really willing to steal from Shredder?"
"These things have to be stopped," she reaffirmed. "If Shredder's not gonna do anything about it, then I will. With your help or without it."
Leo knew she was sincere with her answer from the beginning. So he turned to Mikey and Donnie in the back, who nodded their heads. Then he turned to Raph. All the red masked turtle did was hold his hands up and turn around, no longer looking at Leo. He smirked, finally having won his brothers over.
"Alright," Leo began. "Here's the deal. I'll go with you to get the missile launcher, and we'll team up."
The two ninja smirked at each other, the alliance they've been trying to put together for a while finally formed. They shook hands, ready to work together.
If only they knew of the events of the future… (3)
The next night…at the docks...
"Focus the chakra into your feet and walk," Kurama answered simply.
'Really? That's it?'
"It is a lot more tricky than that. Too little, and you will fall. Too much in one area of your feet, and you will also fall. You will not get it on the first try."
'Hey! Have some faith in me! I got here a half an hour early for a reason. Once I sense they're coming, I'll hide. For now I'll practice. There isn't any place like this nearby. Besides, no one uses this dock that much.'
"Fair point."
'Now how come I have to practice like this?'
"In this form, you are the lightest out of your three preferred forms. Not to mention the fastest. In turtle form, you are hardly able to perform any type of jutsu because of your hands, even though you prefer to not use hand seals and it is your most familiar form."
"Lion form is heavier than turtle form, and it is the one you use the least. That in mind, your sense of balance isn't as on par as it is in turtle and human form. Not to mention the tail."
"For the fastest result, Shishigami recommended this form. You use it quite often. You can learn this technique with your other forms later on."
'I can't use shadow clones for this, correct? Since that would just be divvying up more chakra and making the situation more complicated? And I probably wouldn't get it as easily since there would be too little chakra at some point that wouldn't be able to hold me up, right?'
There was silence for a moment, and Leonardo was concerned as to why Kurama didn't speak afterwards. 'Oi, Kurama?'
"Yes, you would be correct Leonardo."
'Ah, alright then. That makes sense.'
In the back of Leo's mind, unnoticed by the jinchuriki, the giant fox sweat dropped.
'That kid can be scary sometimes when it comes to being a genius. And that is what worries me.'
The last thing Kurama wanted was another blonde genius running around. Thank deer god the last one was dead and in the Shinigami's stomach. He never, ever, ever wanted to see that blonde brat again. Although the Yondaime did have his other half. That was a bit of a problem, he supposed.
His fur stood on end in fear at the thought of the two meeting each other. They were so similar in personality that it could've been hard to tell them apart should they look the same. He could imagine Leonardo somewhat fanboying over the sheer skill and power the blonde Hokage possessed. Still, the encounter was likely inevitable, since he really wanted his other half back.
He really didn't want to see the blonde haired monstrosity that was Namikaze Minato again.
Being sealed inside Uzumaki Kushina meant he had seen the Hokage a lot. And while the man had been a genius, he was also an insane idiot. And crazy. And, well you get the point.
'Alright, here goes…'
And the blonde haired teen poured chakra into his feet, and stepped out onto the water.
Leonardo was currently at the docks, waiting for the moment Karai would show up with other Foot Clan members, most notably Shredder. He decided to go out an hour early, wanting to get a little bit of fresh air and not to mention some practice with a specific technique.
Shishigami had told him about it after seeing the deer god one time. At first, he didn't quite believe that it was actually possible. But when Leo was actually shown the technique on a nearby lake, he immediately wanted to learn it.
Water walking.
The boy's eyes lit up as his foot stood on top of the water instead of sinking down into the inky black abyss. It was a mystifying and enchanting sight to behold. Carefully he placed his other foot out, not letting his concentration fade. And soon, both of his feet were off of the dock. Leo was walking on water.
'I...I can't believe it! I'm actually doing it! I'm on the water!'
Kurama's mouth hung open. Leonardo had done it on the first try. The first fricken try! He didn't expect this to happen. He at least expected the kid to fall in once or twice then get some sort of grip on it. But this...this was unbelievable!
A smile began to form on the teen's face. He started out by walking slowly. Then, once his confidence began to build up, he broke out into a normal run. Said run then turned into a chakra infused sprint. And Leo began to laugh with pure, utter enjoyment.
'This...is...awesome!'
Soon, he was jumping up and down, landing back on top of the water like it was nothing. His body twisted and turned in the air, jumping as high as he could, then landing on the water as if it were normal ground.
For the first time in a long time, Leo was enjoying himself and having fun. His brothers weren't here to complain or get angry at him. He could be himself, the energetic teen that didn't have to deal with stress, leading the team, making all the-
"What the heck fox-boy!?"
There was a splash, and the shouting of, "COLD! COLD! AHHHH!" was heard. For that split second, Leo had turned his head and lost his concentration. There was Karai, at the edge of the dock, shouting at him in shock. And unfortunately that ended up in him crashing into the water. As well as a kitsune dying of laughter.
Thankfully, Leo wasn't that far from the dock, so when his head broke the surface, he began to swim back to shore. He grabbed the edge with his hands, beginning to pull himself up. A hand reached out to him, and Leo grabbed it. Karai was helping him up. But as soon as he was out of the water, she noticed how his usual spiky blonde hair looked like a mop and covered his face, she burst into laughter.
"I was...hah...doing fine until...you showed up...oh deer god it's cold…" he shivered out.
"Were you walking on water?!" She asked.
"Ye-yeah I was," Leo said, still shaking from the cold. "Or-or at-at least att-attempting to. That was my-my first time. Why are you here so early?"
(5) "Shredder wanted me to scout the area to make sure there weren't any spies," Karai answered simply. "The guy Shredder's buying from is an old friend of his, but he's pretty shady."
"Well, I can tell you no one's arrived yet if that helps," he stated, shaking off the cold. He henged out of his human form and into his turtle form.
"Someone is coming," Kurama spoke up.
Leo felt it too. "Someone's nearby, I don't recognize him. Probably the guy selling you the weapons."
She began to walk away from him. "You better get going fox-boy," Karai began. "Shredder will be here soon, in a few minutes."
"I'll be under the dock if you need me," he answered. "I'm able to hold my breath for a good amount of time, ten minutes more or less. But I believe there's an area underneath where I can breathe and stay hidden. And I'll know when you're ready."
The kunoichi nodded to him, walking towards where she came from. Leo got ready to dive into the water, when he felt something.
"Wait Karai!" He said.
Said person stopped, and noticed how Leo had closed his eyes. He seemed agitated by something, and trying to concentrate. A small gasp escaped him, and he opened his eyes.
"Why...why do I sense my brothers coming this way?" He said aloud.
"I thought they were staying behind cause they chickened out," Karai commented.
"They seemed fine when I left," Leo answered. "Raph even told me good luck, which was very strange."
Suddenly, he began to feel even more presences nearby. "I have to go. I'll be under the docks. Hopefully whatever has my brothers coming here doesn't interfere with this."
But before Leo could jump in himself, to his surprise Karai pushed him into the water herself, a joking smirk on her face. He let out a yelp just as he hit the water, feeling the cold sting on his skin again. It was then that Leo felt a warmth spread throughout his body. Red chakra had formed over his skin, making him feel warmer.
'Arigato, Kurama,' he thanked the fox.
"Don't mention it. Now go under the docks before you lose more air."
He began to swim forward, now seeing a big shadow blocking out the sunlight coming in from above. Knowing that he was under the wooden structure, Leo went up to the surface, taking in a fresh breath of air. The turtle grabbed onto one of the wooden beams so that he wouldn't exert his energy that much.
'Now, we wait…' he told himself.
Minutes passed, and nothing seemed to have occurred above. However, Leo then heard the sound of a car pulling up and someone getting out. Using his sensory skills, he could tell it was the person he felt earlier. Said human dragged a few heavy boxes out of the car, and he had a feeling what was inside them.
More time passed, and unfortunately Leo didn't have a watch to tell what time it was. Yet he had a feeling that it was almost time for Shredder and this other person to meet. Feeling Karai's presence above him, Leo knew they had arrived.
His answer was also confirmed when the jinchuriki felt a familiar, bone-chilling presence above him. Shredder was here. He would never forget that time on the Wolf Building rooftop when he had first felt the emotions of the man. The experience had been very overwhelming, so much so that it caused him a headache and shook his very soul.
Shishigami taught him how to get past this. With enough mental training, as well as a bit of a confidence boost and reminding him that while fear is a good thing in a fight, showing that you shouldn't be overconfident, too much of it could overtake you, he was able to get past it. Leo could not afford to fear Shredder too much, otherwise it would cost him.
Though the man here was very different from the man he and his brothers encountered that night. Shredder seemed to be calm and composed, but also slightly on edge. Compared to the overwhelming pressure and was imposing on his soul that night weeks ago, this was a great change from before.
He remembered Karai's words about the man they were buying weapons from. The guy was shady, she had mentioned. And, Leo couldn't help but think, the man had every right to be that way. He didn't know the guy above him personally, heck he never encountered the man until today, but there was a legitimate reason as to why that behavior was there.
This was underworld dealing. Of course the man had to be shady. No bright-eyed, kind and caring person could do a job like this. The selling of these kinds of weapons, especially how Karai had mentioned about a missile launcher in the supply exchange, was very much illegal. You had to be secretive, otherwise you would be caught.
"Try listening in on the conversation," the fox suggested.
Leo nodded, opening up his senses once more. Even though there was a pretty huge wooden barrier separating him from the enemy, the area was open rather than enclosed around him, besides water of course. So he concentrated, and listened to the conversation.
"Where is the shipment?" Shredder asked, voice low and intimidating.
"You brought what I requested?" The other man questioned, and Leo could clearly hear the Russian accent.
The movement of feet was heard, probably one of the Foot Soldiers giving the Russian man whatever he asked for. Tension didn't seem to have risen far beyond what it was at the moment, and for that the jinchuriki was grateful for. The less number of issues, the more likely he and Karai would be able to steal one of the rocket launchers.
"I'll inspect the merchandise," Karai spoke from above, and heard footsteps move over to where the crates were.
'This is going well,' Leo thought to himself. 'Once she's done with that and Shredder's gone far enough away, I'll head up there and retrieve one of the rocket launchers.'
However, he felt three familiar presences nearby, not quite on the docks, but more so above it, probably on one of the shipping containers. His brothers were here. Leo frowned.
'I thought they were going to stay behind?' The jinchuriki wondered to himself.
It was then that he felt the nine-tailed fox stir uncomfortably within him. A very bad sign. "They have ill intent…" the fox whispered. "Warn Karai, NOW!"
Without a second thought, Leo gathered chakra into his hands and feet, pushing himself up onto the water. Soon he was standing on top of it with ease. The jinchuriki knew that Karai was kneeling down next to the crate, so he jumped up towards the underside of the wooden dock, reaching it instantly.
"My brothers, they're going to attack him!" He said through the boards, just before gravity took him down again.
Thankfully, she had heard him, as he could hear the vague shout of, "Look out!" before he hit the water. The splash was heard by everyone, but too much was going on for anyone to care.
'What the heck did they do!?' Leo couldn't help but think.
"Idiots. They decided to go attack that human behind our backs."
A bright light was seen shining through the water for a second, and he could hear the sound of an explosion. 'I've got to get up there, now!'
So he swam up the surface and broke through, deciding to no longer stay underneath the dock. Swimming out into the sunlight, Leo came close to the edge and peaked out. Over to the side, he saw a red car, with a few Foot Soldiers and an unknown man, probably the dealer, unconscious. There was no sign of Shredder or his brothers, figuring they were fighting.
'I'm not helping them!' he affirmed. 'They decided to come here and attack Shredder first of all, without saying anything to me, and second of all, taking advantage of the fact that Shredder was going to be here but we already had an agreement with Karai!'
"And that thing is back again."
Out of nowhere, the Kraang ship appeared, probably following his brothers the whole time. With its cloaking device gone, for the moment, it just observed, not firing off any plasma beams of energy.
'And now I have to deal with that thing too! What next!?' (5!)
But before Leo could get out of the water, a blade was pointed at him. Looking, there was Karai, anger and betrayal written all over her face. His eyes widened in shock, feeling the negative emotions pouring out from her.
(6) 'She thinks I planned this...oh deer god no…'
"I thought you were better than this!" Karai accused him. "I thought you were my friend! How could you betray me?! You're just as short-sighted and obsessed as Shredder!"
It was too much. Too many emotions were running through his system. His brothers had betrayed their alliance. His only true friend, who he had gotten to know so well over the past few weeks, was accusing him of treachery. And not to mention the Kraang ship was here. So many things had gone wrong in one moment. He snapped.
"Damnit Karai!" Leo shouted, not even caring if anyone else heard him, slamming his fist into the water. The kunoichi was extremely shocked by the tone and language.
"I didn't plan any of this! Hell, I didn't even know any of this was going to happen!"
She noticed his pupils turning slightly red, the mysterious energy he had told her about, chakra, beginning to leak out. This was not how Leo normally was. He hardly ever, ever showed these emotions. Karai had only seen it happen once, when she was spying on him on a rooftop, and that was before they met.
"How do you think I feel!?" He continued. "How does it feel to know that your own brothers decided to go and do something stupid like this without you knowing?! I would have objected the moment I heard about it!"
"I left a few hours early to go out and train by myself! You saw me earlier, how I was out on the water having fun, enjoying who I really am! I even told you how I was surprised to feel them coming here, when they told me they weren't coming at all!"
"Heck, I even warned you the minute I sensed them! I was prepared to come out from underneath that dock and stop them, but I had to warn you first. My attention was on how the supply exchange was going, that I didn't feel them until seconds before they attacked!"
"Listen, I know he drives you crazy for some unknown reason that I'm not going to ask why, and I know that there are points where you probably hate him, and that he wants to kill us, but I wouldn't go out of my way to break our agreement to kill him now! They took advantage of the fact that they could catch him by surprise! It's dishonorable damnit! And I'm ashamed of it!"
He could feel the trust that had built up between them slowly begin to slip away. Leo was hurt. He didn't want to lose her as a friend. Who else could he go to besides her?
"I'm sorry this whole mess happened. I'm sorry you have to deal with them ruining all of this. It's my fault, I should've known about this sooner! Now our alliance fell through and the Kraang ship is here. I...I don't deserve to be your friend...I-"
Her blade dropped, the clang of it being dropped on the ground very audible. She held out her hand to him, helping him out of the water yet again. Leo looked at her in astonishment.
"Don't," she told him, noticing his eyes return to normal. "I'm not really good at apologizing...as you know...but, I believe you fox-boy. Forget the words I said earlier. I was wrong."
Leo looked at her, letting the words slowly sink in. She...believed him. "You believe me?"
The kunoichi nodded, sincerity written all over her face. And his emotions immediately brightened up. Yet he had to ask about something.
"What exactly happened up here?" The turtle wondered aloud.
A scowl was clear in her features, but she continued. "They stood on top of one of the shipping containers and had some sort of slingshot thing. As soon as you warned me, I shouted and pushed Shredder out of the way. That thing your brothers launched...it was some type of electrocution device."
His eyes widened at the revelation. If that had landed, it probably would've killed him. The armor would've helped in the conduction of electricity, amplifying the shock the device created.
"I'm sure he was thrilled to have been pushed to the ground by his subordinate," he tried to make a joke.
But there was a slight shift in Karai's emotions that Leo caught on to. Her head was lowered, her eyes downcast. Something wasn't right, and the jinchuriki could feel like clearly.
'I didn't offend her, did I?' He mentally thought.
"It's more than just that," she spoke. "I'm…"
Karai struggled to get the words out. She didn't want to reveal this. Would this jeopardize their friendship again? It nearly got thrown out the window just a few seconds ago. But the turtle's slight glance for her to continue at what she was saying urged her to move forward.
"The reason he drives me crazy is because he's my father."
And the world seemed to stop turning for that one moment. It took everything Leonardo had to not show any signs of shock. He held in a gasp.
"I expected that."
'WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN YOU EXPECTED IT?!' Leo thought. 'There's no way he could've had a daughter! From what Splinter mentioned, he was too devoted to-'
"Have you not noticed how different she is from the rest of the clan?" The fox inquired. "All you have fought are normal soldiers and those two idiots, who were subordinates. Why would that human hold someone like her in high regard?"
'Still! It doesn't make sense! Shredder wouldn't have just found someone to marry! You have to consider Tang Shen and-'
Suddenly, everything fell into place. Why Leo had accidentally called her sister. Why she had felt so familiar. Why he had been so ready to trust her. And even the story of fifteen years ago made sense.
'Oh my deer god...she's…'
He didn't need to ask her who her mother was. It explained why she was still devoted to the clan, and why she wanted to take down his family's own clan. Karai must've believed her own mother, Tang Shen, was killed by Hamato Yoshi. When in reality, it was quite the opposite.
Karai was really Hamato Miwa, Splinter's long lost daughter.
Leo spoke immediately after he felt her emotions dwindle. "You know me better than anyone Karai that I'm the least likely person to judge someone based on something blood related or secret related. After all, I'm more than I appear to be. But I understand why you withheld it."
The jinchuriki came up to her, looking her in the eye. "I revealed my secret, and you did as well. Even with this information, you're still my friend. And I'm sure you feel the same way even with a giant killer fox inside of my soul. You're not my enemy, but my friend." (6!)
To his surprise, she chuckled at his response. "I guess what I said earlier is true. You make everything more complicated fox-boy."
A groan was his response. "Would you please stop calling me that?" Leo answered in an annoyed tone. This only got a chuckle from her.
"You're my friend, so I can call you that if I want to."
"I never said anything like-!"
Out of nowhere, the Kraang ship appeared once more, firing a plasma beam of energy at them. They both jumped out of the way in time, just as the ship flew over.
"We've got to stop that thing!" He yelled.
"Our deal is still intact," Karai mentioned, running over to one of the boxes holding the weapons. She took one of the rocket launchers and handed it to Leo.
"You shoot that thing down, you've got better aim than I do."
There was a visible smirk in his face, as he strapped it to the back of his shell. The two then raced over to the small little warehouse, climbing on top of the metal roof. Off to the side, Leo saw Raph go flying across the dock, and his other brothers joined him soon afterward. Then, he could clearly see Shredder as well, and the two made eye contact.
"That demon…" the turtle heard Shredder say from afar, but nothing else was said as he had to avoid the incoming Kraang ship, as did his brothers.
It flew up into the air, and Leo began to aim. 'Alright here goes!'
"Fire it now!"
And the turtle pulled the trigger. A missile came flying out of the weapon, heading straight for the ship. It tried to move out of the way, but was too slow, and Leo's aim was just spot on. The missile hit its target, bringing the ship down.
Unfortunately however, it went down into the docks, right where the three other turtles and Shredder were at the moment. Leo could hear a, "Heads up, guys!" from Raph, warning the other two about the incoming ship. The three managed to get out of the way.
Shredder, instead of dodging, decided to take the ship head on. This was a rather foolish decision, as it was too much for him to handle, and it sent him into the water, along with the ship. Leo felt Karai's emotions flare up in great concern.
"Father!" She cried out.
Before the kunoichi could jump in after him, Leo put a hand on her shoulder. "Call me when this is over, alright?" He said, a proud smile on his face.
Karai nodded, a smile on her face as well, and proceeded to jump into the water to rescue her father.
"Stubborn and faithful, just like her father," Kurama commented.
Leo chuckled at that. But his positive state of mind was soon interrupted as he saw his brothers. They shared a glance at each other before they ran off. The blue masked turtle's fist clenched in anger.
'I'm going to have a really good talk with them on the way home.'
Ten minutes later…
(7) The sky was dark now, as the four brothers traversed through the city rooftops. No one had said a word to each other. Not even a single joke was made. Leo ran ahead of them as usual, with his three younger brothers at the rear. They shared a similar glance with each other.
Something was wrong with their older brother. They thought he would be happy with the fact that they decided to take advantage of knowing where Shredder was ahead of time! If only Karai hadn't noticed them. How did she even notice them to begin with? And where was Leo during that whole ordeal anyway?
The blue masked turtle in front of them slowed his pace, and so did they. It was only when they saw him sit down that things took a turn for the worst.
Leo was fuming with anger. If his crisscrossed seated position and his arms crossed didn't give it away, it was the hurt and betrayal in his eyes that showed it clearly. He was trying his best at this point to keep his chakra down, not letting it deep through at all.
It was then that Donnie decided to break the tension. "Leo, it's not that bad. You blew up the Kraang ship!"
He got a response of a fist slamming on the rooftop, and the purple masked turtle swore he saw a few cracks in the stone, which scared him slightly. Mikey and Raph saw the same thing as well, and knew at that moment, Donnie had broken the ice the wrong way.
"'Not that bad!?'" Leo yelled in hatred, turning his head to look at Donnie. "You went behind my back! You specifically jeopardized our alliance with Karai! And worst of all, you engaged the Shredder in a fight that wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Look, she's Shredder's daughter!" Raph answered. "His blood! She's never going to be on our side!"
"That has nothing to do with it!" He continued. "You still went ahead and tried to kill Shredder behind my back! I would have objected to that idea!"
The jinchuriki got up afterwards, beginning to walk away. Raph immediately saw what his brother was doing, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"And just where do you think you're going?!" The red masked turtle asked.
"I'm going for a walk, so I can calm down before I say anything that could be bad, and figure out how I should address the fact that you betrayed my trust," Leo answered, pushing away Raph's hand.
"Oh no you don't!" He grabbed Leo's shoulder. "You've been going off on your "walks," for a while now, and you're barely at home with us. So why don't you sit down and explain to us why it was a bad idea to take Shredder by surprise!"
"Let me go Raph."
And Leo got away from him, leaving his brothers behind. He could hear his red masked brother shouting his name at him, but he ignored it. Once he was out of their sights, Leo increased his speed, running faster than any normal person could, rivaling the fastest shinobi in history.
"Leonardo?" Kurama asked.
He hesitated to answer, but he finally did. 'Yes?'
"You do not seem fine."
It had been a while since the fox ever really asked about how he was doing. Kurama almost always knew what was going on and why his jinchuriki felt the way he did sometimes. But this was one of those times that the two needed to talk to each other.
Leo sighed. After all the events of the past two days, he was tired of it. He wanted a break.
'No Kurama, I'm not fine. And it might be awhile before I am.' (7!)
Author's Note
That's the end of Chapter 13! Yee!Again, not shipping Karai and Leo. Friendship is all it is. I did say that some characters would get more interaction with Leo than they did in the show. Next chapter you'll get to see more April interaction with Leo. Also, did the original ending of this episode just not sit well with some people? Why the heck would Leo just decide to take down Shredder that easily and ignore the alliance? Not to mention he would've been able to figure out that Karai wasn't really Shredder's daughter. Just...eh.
About the scene after Leo rescues Karai. In the show, specifically in "Follow the Leader," Shredder had Karai take on a bunch of FootBots so that they would learn from her. She says something along the lines of, "I thought they would finish me off. You wouldn't let them do that, right father?" But Shredder said nothing about it. So I have a feeling something like that also happened in the past, where Karai was placed in a room of enemies or obstacles and Shredder wouldn't help her.
Lastly, tell me what you guys think! I love reviews! They keep me going and let me know you guys enjoy the story!
Until next time, See Ya Universe!
Palkia