Tying a Loose End
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they belong to Mirage Studios, Eastman, and Laird. Nor do I own Final Fantasy VII or VIII, or Reno from FF VII, these belong to Squaresoft. Finally, I do not own Playstation, that belongs to the Sony Company.
The relationship Hun and Karai in this little one-shot could be construed in two ways, as a (mostly) friendly rivalry, or as something more. This story takes place just before the opening in "Exodus Part I".
I'm going a bit on the upper end for ages here. Hun's around 39 as of Exodus, Karai's about 27-28
A/N: I just want to go something clear beforehand: I am not bashing Dr. Chaplin, I happen to like what I've seen of his character, and sympathize with him. I even remember times when I act exactly like him
BTW, italics indicate thought.
Hun's hard grey eyes blazed as he stormed down the halls of his master's headquarters, muttering things under his breath about 'message-boy' and 'waste of time', and 'exercise in masochism'
"I can't see why someone else wasn't saddled with fetching Oroku Saki's Little Pet. I don't understand why the Master keeps forcing me to work with the…" his voice trailed off and he shook his head. "Nah, don't start thinking like that, or you might end blurting something very uncomplimentary about Karai in front of the Master. Your career doesn't need that."
"What about Mistress Karai?" Hun practically ground his teeth together as Dr. Chaplin fell in step beside him. He turned and glanced down at the scientist, letting his burning eyes do all the talking.
Chaplin shrank back and gave him a shaky grin. "Ah, I see…I like that color of black on you, it's very, uh, well…you know, you really missed a groovy time at my party the night before last. Now, I know you had work keeping you from my little party, but it was a way-cool get together. The whole tech division got together and watched flick after flick. Even Mr. Saki showed up for it." Hun tried to keep his burning scowl together, but he finally gave it up and let a smirk spread across his face.
"I'm sure it was great fun, Dr. Chaplin, though I doubt I would've enjoyed hangin' with your friends, if they're all as video-game obsessed as you are. I still have nightmares of the time you came down when I was shoveling coal and read me some of your latest Final Fantasy VII and VIII…fanfiction's what it's called, right?"
Chaplin frowned at this, but wasn't in the mood to press the issue overmuch. "Yeah, that's what it's called. I didn't know I was irking you. I mean, you even seemed happy for my company." Hun growled and quickened his pace, cursing softly as the little man at his side broke into a jog to keep up with him. "Ummm, yeah, so what does Karai look like in evening wear? Probably twice as perfect as she normally does, if that's possible."
Hun stopped dead in his tracks, spun savagely to his right, and stared impassively down at the red-headed head technician. "Dr. Chaplin, I held my thirty-ninth birthday party three weeks ago." 'If you can call getting drunk and trying to forget broken friendships and the death of my wife, the one woman I ever loved, a party.' He grimaced and fought to keep the pain from showing in his cold eyes. He couldn't show weakness, not in front of this little punk, or anyone for that matter. Weakness ina member of theFootwas normally the firstsign ofa ninja ready for 'retirement'. "So, I know I'm gettin' up there in years, and I might have misheard you." He took a step towards Chaplin and gave him the deepest growl he could muster. "But did you just ask how Karai looked like in evening wear? And did you just use the word 'perfect' to describe her? Do I need to talk to the Master about your little infatuation? In a word, what the crud is wrong with your head?"
Chaplin flinched and fell back against the far wall, much to Hun's amusement. Dark, cold laughter broke from the behemoth's lips as he stepped away from his Master's latest 'head tech' to lean against a wall and wave a dismissive hand in Chaplin's direction.
Chaplin glared daggers into Hun's shoes, not daring to actually lock eyes with the sadistic giant. As far as he was concerned, the newly-redeemed commander of the Foot Elite was nothing more than a bully, and even worse, had tried to kill off Karai more than once. 'I don't even know why I bothered to be friendly to you in the first place, and this last little exchange is the extra megahertz that melts the processor. It's bad enough that you keep on insulting and hating the sweet and lovely Karai, but then you go and badmouth my party and spurn any attempt of mine to be friendly. Alright, to the netherworld with you, you're too much like the punks I had to deal with at high school anyway.'
He whirled one heel, cursing the big gorilla under his breath as he headed back to his office again. 'Okay Chaplin, stay cool, don't put your foot in it, keep the smile going. You're going to be working with these people for quite a while and…oh God, I'm getting a headache. I'd better go blow off some stress with an hour on the Playstation…as long as I can get at least one controller from that one Foot Elite that's been hogging the system for the last two months.
Hun watched Chaplin until he vanished into his office, then pushed off the wall and swaggered off to Karai's room. His big, meaty hand thudded against the door a couple times, but the "Shredder's little pet" didn't answer the door as he'd hoped she would.
"Aw crud, Karai, open the door, will ya? C'mon girlie, don't make my job any more miserable that it is already." Hun knew that his voice carried quite nicely, and also knew that Karai could hear him perfectly through the door, but the door remained shut. He could sense her by the door. "Okay, that's it, Karai, I'm opening this door if I hafta bust the lock!"
He flung the (unlocked) door open wide and leant against the doorframe, peering about the room for his arch-nemesis, and grumbled as a quick scan of her bedroom and den revealed both to be empty. "Karai? Kar…" he lapsed into silence as his foe came out from the bathroom in black and red-trimmed evening attire, and carrying a pair of dress boots in her right hand. Her green eyes met his grey orbs with a magnificent mix of defiance and disdain, and Hun had to fight to keep from grinning down at her. Like it or not, Chaplin was right: Karai was gorgeous in a dress.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything; after all, pretty women are as scarce as a full wallet in a crowd of pickpockets, but who are you, and what have you done with Karai?" It was a cheap shot, he admitted that, but it was worth it to see those jade-cold eyes flicker for a moment. He pushed off the doorframe and stepped fully into the room before leaning back on the wall again.
"You never had trouble keeping yourself standing straight and tall whenever the Master was around. I don't understand why you can't at least try to keep some decorum when you are around me. Or is it just another part of your rebelling against my authority?" Oh, this one knew how to truly get under his skin, but he couldn't lose it now, not when he had such a great retort on the tip of his tongue.
"I don't recognize the authority of complete strangers, Madam. And you haven't answered my question: What have you done with the Shredder's Gutless Little Pet?" Hun barely managed to keep from smirking as he caught another flicker in his nemesis' eyes; alright, this strategy was working like a charm.
He pushed off the wall and extended a huge hand in her direction. "I must insist that you accompany me to the guard station to get your credentials checked and so's you can explain exactly what you're doing in Oroku Karai's room and wearing Oroku Karai's dress…and her new perfume, which, might I add, smells a lot better than the one she picked out for the last formal occasion. I just hope we run across the mistress on the way there; I'd love to see the fireworks when she realizes that someone's trying to usurp her already tenuous position here in the Foot." He paused and cocked his head to one side to get a better look into his rival's eyes.
"Oh, and I get to tell her that she should probably chat with Dr. Chaplin again. I gave him a bit of a ragging over his crush for her, and he's probably gone off to drown his sorrows with a copy of Final Fantasty VII." Hun did smirk this time, much as he fought the impulse. "The last thing I need is for him to think he's Reno of the TURKs and try to wreak vengeance on me with a stun-gun. I like Chaplin, I honestly do, and crud, I'd hate to Stockmanize him. But he'd better not zap me in the nads with a stun-rod, because, so help me, I will put all my 'techniques' to practice on him and enjoy every minute of it."
Karai's impassive mask broke at that; she was tempted to smile at the thought of Hun getting shocked in the…nads, but her anger at his joking about the torment he'dinflicted onthe treacherous, but unfortunate, Dr. Stockman won out in the end. "You are a heartless, sadistic, dishonorable, duplicitous, soulless wretch! And to think I almost started to like you after our encounter with Bishop."
Hun's eyes narrowed to the size of flints, and his hands clenched into huge, ham-like fists. "I'd rather be a heartless wretch than a gutless, disloyal little wench like you!"
Karai's jade eyes were blazing like a wildfire now, and her lips pulled back into a snarl. "That does not surprise me, Hun. You never could learn to think for yourself, and you never will; that would make you brainless and heartless. That isnot, as you would say, a winning combination, and it's made your position in the Foot even more 'tenuous' than mine"
Hun growled in reply, and his fists shook; he was going to hit something, he could feel it building up. 'C'mon Hun, you're thirty-nine, you should have a cooler temper than this'. He somehow mastered himself, he had no idea how, and he unclenched his fists, meeting his nemesis's furious eyes with that same cold smirk. "I don't think I want to think for myself if it's going to make me a Karai-clone or one of those Amazonian Blade-Bots. And I have to say that you're being extremely rude. You come here, usurp Karai's room and her clothes, insult me after I am limitlessly polite to you, and dare to call me by my first name without even introducing yourself. Forget taking you to security, I am going to escort you to the lounge of Oroku Saki himself!"
Karai snorted and folded her lean arms across her chest, before shaking her head in amused frustration'Ah Hun, you've always been a dishonorable beast, and probably will never change, but you do have moments when you are almost…likeable. I hate to admit it, but this is one of them.'
The fire in her eyes died, and those hard green orbs softened slightly. "Baka. The Master is probably wondering where we are…or did he not give you a time schedule for taking me to the lounge for this meeting with him?"
Hun's eyebrows rose ever so slightly. Was she fighting a grin? "Nah, he just wanted me to bring you over before the party started. I still don't really understand why the Master wants me to accompany you to the lounge before I return to my duties. I hate to admit it, but you're a grown woman and can take care of yourself, most of the time, and only when secret government agents named Bishop aren't involved in the situation."
Karai graced Hun with a small smile as she sat back on the bed and pulled on her boots. "You are not going to let me forget the Bishop incident, are you?" Hun shook his head again, and, to Karai's great surprise, waited patiently for her to finish getting ready, and held the door open for her as she rose to her feet. "Why the sudden politeness? I don't have some terminal illness, do I?"
"Nah again. I guess I'm starting to actually get used to you, shock of shocks and horror of horrors. I think that fight with Bishop might've killed off a few of my brain cells." Karai bit back a chuckle, and waited for Hun to fall in step with her before continuing down the hall.
"You did get off to a get start in that fight, and your beating Agent Bishop into that pole was the highlight of my day.He really didpummel you all the same, andI almost felt sorry for you, if you can believe that."
"I don't, but never mind." Hun sprang clear of her as she aimed a heel-kick at his shin.
"Well, at least he did not get to croon on and on about the 'lovely Karai' until he actually had you on your back. The man was ten times worse than poor Dr. Chaplin could or will ever be."
"Yeah, well." Hun decided to change the subject before he said exactly how he felt about Chaplin and Bishop. It wasn't that he felt possessive of Karai, really, but he didn't like to see grown men throwing themselves at her. It looked silly, and he'd watched and worked with her long enough to knowthatthat kind of courtshipjust aggravated her. "So, how're you feeling about the Master leaving?"
Hun got the impression that he'd made a misstep when Karai's face darkened and her eyes became jade-cold again. "Wrong question?" Karai nodded once and made a point of looking everywhere but at him. "I think he's leaving at the wrong time, to be honest. Our spies have absolutely no idea of what your Turtle-friends are up to. Granted, we never have a good idea of what they're doing, but at least we know something about their plans or actions. Nothing this time, though. I think that they've got something cookin', something we aren't gonna like."
"I thought you said they were my friends. Why would you include 'we' in your statement if you do not count me a comrade?" Hun stopped dead in his tracks for the second time in the day and really and truly glared at her. He wasn't really sure why that stung so bad; maybe because it had been the truth until quite recently.
"I've guess given you good reason to think that I don't trust you, right?" He held up a hand and gave her a wry grin. "Yeah, I know, I've said I wanted you dead, I've tried to kill you in the past. But I dunno, maybe Bishop knocked some sense into me instead of outta me like I originally thought. You and I were both raised by the Shredder; we should have been two matched swords. Instead I've been the odd one out, and I'm sorry for that."
"You're apologizing to me? I do not mean to offend you, but I wonder if you are well." Hun chuckled again and laid his hand on her shoulder. She slapped it away and gave him a bemused glare. "Don't touch me, Hun."
Hun smirked at her and took a slow step backwards. "I was trying to be 'honorable', to think for myself, Shredder's Pet." The smirk left his face and he gave her a humorless grin. "I'm being honest, little girl. I think the Turtles are going to attack us, and I don't know if I'm gonna be walking away from this one like I have the last half-dozen or so times. I've been living on borrowed time since Brenda, sorry, my wife, died; yesterday was the sixth anniversary of her death. I've been drinking extra hard so's I can forget her and I'm worried it's gonna catch up with me. It already has, in a way, as it's harder to keep on my toes and keep my form in a fight. Sometimes I put in a poor showing, but I'm really worried that my form will completely break down somewhere along the line. Then I'll get my guts spilled by one of fre…sorry, Turtles. Maybe the blue-bandannaed one or that aggravating son-of-a-gun with the red headpiece and sai. So I wanted to square things with you in case one of us goes under. Call it a truce, if you'd like."
Karai studied him for a long, throbbing moment. Was he being honest, or was this just another of his little jokes? "That may have been an unworthy thought, Karai. He really seems to want a truce. This is no joke. It will not dishonor me to 'square' with him. Better yet, I can consider it a reward for his sufferings in the Bishop incident, and thereby repay that small debt I owe him. Keeping short accounts with Hun is a good thing, because you never know when he'll try to call in old favors." "Alright, we're 'square' as you would say." Hun gave her a grateful nod, and they continued their walk to their Master's room in silence.
Karai knocked on the door once, and moved to enter the room as her father's voice greeted her, yet Hun's heavy hand on her shoulder gave her pause. Their eyes met again, and Hun gently squeezed her shoulder. "Watch your back today Karai. I'd hate for both of us to go down when it all hits the fan."
Then he moved away. Hs heavy footfall resounded through the hall as he rounded the corner and vanished from Karai's sight. Oroku Karai heaved a sigh, adjusted her hair once more, and went to greet her 'father' again.
Yeah, Hun's fears about dying were groundless, but it's logical for him to worry about that since he's not given the Turtles much reason to show mercy if he does leave himself open