Ch.12: A Soul Burns

Karai shivered, backing away slowly as she stared into the depths of her dead grandfather's eyes.

"No, he is not your grandfather," Karai corrected herself.

She needed to stop associating herself with anyone in Saki's line. She was Hamato Yoshi's child, the proud daughter of the once lovely Tang Shen. Oroku Saki had no control over her life anymore. Gritting her teeth, Karai stopped shaking and took a stand, glaring at Kaigin with new resolve.

"You seem to have recovered" Kaigin grinned " but whether we are blood or not child, we are still family. Even if you believe otherwise, your soul has already been tainted by the Foot and my son's ambition. For the rest of your life you must carry a burden, impossible for any amount of love to cure. My son has done well in pleasing Kavaxas, but now it is up to me to complete the trade."

"What are you talking about?" asked Karai.

"When the Oni perishes the world shall end" said Kaigin, looking up slightly to the dark ceiling above. " I gave my soul over to Kavaxas so that all of my enemies would die. One remains, and my soul won't rest until all are dead. It was tricky manipulating my son in order to continue my work. His soul has been tainted. Now, our ambition reigns the same."

"That doesn't explain what you meant about the Oni," said Karai "What's going on? What have you done?"

"A trade" explained Kaigin "dragons were once fierce protectors of the land, 'till a pact was made that drove them near extinction. In anger, Kavaxas and a few of his followers rebelled, bringing devastation upon the human world."

"The Oni shall open the gateway, allowing them to reign their terror once again. And once I hand over the Fire Child, nothing on Earth will be able to stand in their way."

"You're mad," said Karai, drawing out her katana.

"Maybe" said Kaigin " but it's to late to stop things now."

Before either side could engage in battle however, a burst of dark flame suddenly sprouted inside the room, making Karai squint her eyes in confusion as she saw a dark figure slowly emerge itself from the raging, black flames.

Shock filled her expression as the fire went out and the dark figure was finally revealed. Blazing white eyes, dark skin, and a red bandana signified with a growl that reflected was no way, this couldn't be…

"Raphael?" Karai questioned, stunned.

The turtle seemed completely different from how he did before. Just what had the Trial done, Karai wondered, that would inflict this sort of change.

Answers would have to wait however as Raphael turned his dark glare from Kaigin towards the vulture, taking off towards the latter with amazing speed.

"Ack!" cried out the vulture, as Raph pierced him with his sais, releasing the tiny turtle that been struggling in his grip.

Blood poured out, but the demonic beast was still fine, countering the move with a quick slash to the head, and then pulling out as the turtle ducked, freeing himself from the deadly blade.

"Distracted my dear?" said Kaigin, as Karai quickly blocked with her blade, barely stopping herself from being killed in time.

Taking her mind off of Raphael and his opponent, Karai faced her demon in a desperate struggle to survive. As expected, it wasn't so easy to conquer a madman who gave birth to such people like the Shredder.

Even dead, Kaigin still possessed his skills, and Karai had to rely on all her training from both Saki and Yoshi, to bring this villain down.

Back to Raphael, the demonic vulture he was fighting was losing its steam. Heavy breaths escaped from the demon's beak, as the dark aura around Raph grew brighter and brighter with rage.

Teaming up with his dark half seemed like a bad idea at first, but Raph to admit, when their power was combined, it was a near unstoppable force. Slashing more with sais, Raphael took great pleasure as the vulture fell to its knees, and snuck a quick peak at Karai's battle with Kaigin, grateful that the kunochi seemed to be doing well on her own. Now was the time to end this.

"Kill!" screamed Raph's darker side " Slay the vulture now!"

Raphael was about to obey and make that move, when the baby turtle suddenly walked up, patting his leg, whining at him to stop.

"Get lost pest!" said Raphael's dark side, kicking the baby turtle away with a foot, commanding then to his lighter half " Now! Kill!"

Raphael looked in shock from the baby turtle towards the vulture, the demon beast barely breathing, easily taken care of with another deadly swing of the sai. So easy to eliminate, yet, something stopped the turtle from committing the final, lethal strike.

His dark half wanted this. This was a test of control. The main concern right now should be to protect the baby turtle and then see if he could help out Karai. If he killed this vulture…

Shock suddenly filled his own expression as Raph stared down to see a broken version of his own body lying in the vulture's place. Beaten, bruised, and void of hope, all that remained was a soulless vessel seeking to die.

"Go ahead. End it. Pay for your sins. I'll take on all of your suffering from now on."

"No" said Raph, stepping away in fear. He would not let the Trial end like this!

Pushing away the voice of his darker side, Raphael turned away from the defeated vulture and then rushed over to the baby turtle's side. His dark half screamed in rage, as black aura around Raphael's body slowly started to fade away, and the eerie, white glow peeled off, revealing his green eyes.

So close had the Trial come to committing self-murder, but it had failed. Picking up the baby turtle in palms, the little creature giggled and glowed, and Raphael knew that he had now earned his second chance. And, looking from the fight Kaigin was having with Karai, it seemed as if his sister was close to winning back her revival as well.

Heavy breaths poured from Karai's mouth as tightened up the grip on her sword. Cuts lay scattered among her legs and shoulders, but she was still determined to battle until the end. Kaigin stood, wounded, but smirking.

"You cannot kill me child" the devil spoke " No matter how much you try to deny it, the memories live. A part of your soul will always belong to the Foot, and you shall always be my granddaughter."

"Maybe" said Karai, bitterly " I can't deny my past. And I guess I'll always hold some love for Oroku Saki deep inside. But he's not the only father I have to fight for now, and I will not let you, or your master, control us anymore!"

With that said, partially transforming into her snake-self, Karai fiercely struck out with a lethal blow, slicing deep over Kaigin's heart.

"No!" the demon screamed, and was about to strike a counterblow at Karai, when Raphael came in, finished with his own test, and tackled the demon down.

Slowly and disturbingly, the body of Oroku Kaigin started to disintegrate and disappear. A cry came from across the room, meaning that the same thing was happening to the vulture as well.

Soon, Karai and Raphael both stood alone, their separate trials about control and acceptance finally passed.

"Man that was rough," said Raphael, tickling the baby turtle in his arms.

"Yeah" said Karai " but how do we get out of here now?"

To answer her question, the scene changed to an empty room, with a familiar, ornate-looking door. Shrugging that this was their exit, Raphael walked over, pushing the door open, allowing both him and Karai to enter the Nexus once again.

To their surprise, Shinigami stood, waiting outside, looking relieved to see them finally emerge.

"Oh thank goodness" she said " the Lady Daimyo is trouble. We have to hurry or she may not survive."