Tug of War
part 2

An assistant had awakened her a little after two a.m. to inform Karai of the fire in one of the Foot Clan's warehouses.

Along with that information was the video feed from the security cameras mounted on the outside and inside of the building. Karai had sent the assistant away before running the film.

Darkness destroyed some of the clarity, but it was easy enough to see the images that had been caught were of four giant turtles. Viewing it for a third time, Karai bit her bottom lip in vexation. Something was distinctly wrong and she could no longer put off dealing with it.

After the first incident there had been murmurs of dissent. The more obvious detractors had been dealt with quickly and the voices had quieted. There was no way for Karai to avoid confronting the turtles this time. Not if she wanted to maintain a strong hold on the Foot clan.

She knew that some of those who had been the most loyal to Oroku Saki had only accepted her because her father had publicly stated that Karai would handle all of his business affairs once he left. Since the Shredder had been gone for some years now, these same loyalists would use any excuse to claim that Karai was not adhering to his wishes.

Such a claim would be tantamount to a declaration that Karai was no longer herself loyal to the Foot Clan. It would be the first step towards robbing her of her position as its leader.

Already there was noticeable unrest with regards to her announcement of a truce with the Hamato Clan. One of her trusted aides had informed her of the rumblings of discontent from many members of the Foot who had suffered defeat at the hands of the turtles. They whispered that Saki himself had wanted the mutants destroyed and that by making peace with them, she was being disloyal to the Foot.

Honor and loyalty were all that Karai knew. These were the things that drove her actions and gave her direction. They had been split where the turtles were concerned. As Leonardo had pointed out on many occasions, her loyalty to Saki went against the Bushido code of honor. As she had countered, that code held that duty and loyalty were of equal merit with honor.

It was only when Karai finally came to understand that the man to whom she had given her loyalty did not himself hold to the virtues of Bushido that she was able fully accept what Leonardo had to say to her. Because of this, a truce had been reached.

Now it seemed that the turtles had broken their word of honor. It left Karai feeling dazed, confused, and sure of nothing. She had put her faith in Leonardo; had even begun to feel things for him, and it appeared that she had been duped.

"Karai."

Startled, Karai jerked upright and spun around to find that the turtle who had just been in her thoughts had somehow entered her private chambers without being seen or heard.

Karai immediately dove into a forward roll, coming up next to her tatami mat where she grabbed her katana in one hand and a pair of throwing stars in the other. In one fluid motion she threw the metal stars at Leonardo and then raced towards him, sword raised.

Leonardo's hands flashed upwards to his katanas, pulling them from their sheaths in time to bat the throwing stars aside. He managed to utter the word, "Wait!" before Karai was on him.

She ignored his plea; might not have even heard it. Rage and feelings of betrayal drove her as she slashed at Leo with her sword, only to have the weapon blocked by his own. Spinning, she kicked at his mid-section, but Leo pivoted to the side, avoiding her foot. Finding that her momentum would carry her past him, Karai dipped into a side-split to stop her forward motion and then sliced at Leo's legs.

Leaping up and back, Leonardo put distance between them. When Karai jumped up and turned towards him again, he threw the masks at her feet.

"Wha - ?" Karai stopped moving to stare at the rubber masks.

"It wasn't us. There were four men, members of the Purple Dragons, who dressed in costumes to masquerade as us," Leo explained. "Considering my reception, I can tell that you understand the implications."

Karai slowly lowered her sword and bent to pick up the mask with the blue bandana wrapped around it. As she examined it, Leo sheathed his swords but remained wary.

"Hun." It was a single word, but it carried a lot of venom.

Leonardo nodded. "Yes."

There was an extremely grim expression on Karai's face when she finally looked up at her visitor.

"He has gone too far," Karai said. "These incidents have caused me trouble. I cannot abide such treachery. Hun must pay."

"What will you do?" Leonardo took a step nearer. "A war between the Foot and the Purple Dragons will mean destruction to the city and injury to the innocent people caught in the crossfire."

"Do not think to direct my actions," Karai snapped. "The Foot are under my rule, not yours."

"I am only urging caution," Leonardo said. "Consider it advice from a friend."

His tone was soft and even, leaving no space for Karai's anger. She realized that she was lashing out at him in frustration and that doing so served no purpose. Taking a deep breath, Karai calmed herself and then gathered up all of the masks.

Carrying them to her desk, she laid them out in a row. Pressing a button on her intercom panel, she said, "To my room, quickly."

After issuing that command, Karai began to dress. Leonardo moved over to the window that he'd used to enter and averted his eyes when Karai removed her shorts and top in order to replace them with more suitable attire.

Karai laughed lightly. "You are a gentleman. I will have to remember that."

Hearing light footfalls in the corridor outside of Karai's room, Leo turned. Her two most trusted aides, the Foot bodyguards who had accompanied her from Japan, entered and bowed. When they saw the turtle standing near the window, both pulled their weapons, but a signal from Karai stayed their attack.

Pointing at the masks, Karai said, "I have been informed by Leonardo that this has all been a masquerade perpetrated by Hun and the Purple Dragons. I have promised the mayor that the Foot stand ready to aid him in ridding the city of crime. Since we must operate within the confines of that promise, I cannot send the whole of the clan against Hun's gang. We four will locate proof of his actions, and deliver it and Hun to City Hall."

Leo had to admit that idea was a good one, if properly orchestrated. Hun had been operating some legitimate businesses in order to hide his connection to the Purple Dragon gang. While posing as a businessman, Hun was never seen without a jacket, thus hiding the tattoo which snaked down one arm.

"There are probably better ways to catch Hun than by going directly at him," Leo said, concerned that Karai might be making a rash decision.

Eyes sparking, Karai said, "This is the Foot way. We do not leave an attack unanswered. He was responsible for this bombing tonight and tonight is when we strike back. In deference to you I am not calling upon a contingent of my soldiers to join us. We will employ stealth and remove him from the protection of his men without their knowing we have been there."

Leonardo could see that there was no point in arguing with her, so he simply said, "I will meet you at street level."

He exited through the window and made his way to the street by climbing down the outside of the Foot headquarters building. Leo found a spot in the shadows near the entrance to the underground garage and waited until a dark SUV drove up from the depths. When it stopped, Karai rolled down a back window in order to wave, and then slid across the seat to the opposite side of the vehicle.

Opening the door, Leo stepped inside and then rolled the window up again. The taller of Karai's aides was behind the wheel and he pulled onto the street.

"I was told that you had been searching for the shipments of arms that were stolen and hadn't found them. How will you find Hun?" Leo asked.

Karai glanced at him. "I always know where Hun can be found. Knowing now that he was responsible for that theft will make it easy to find my shipment."

They sat in silence for a while. Karai's head was turned as she stared through her window, deep in thought. Leo watched the streets, but every now and then he turned to contemplate the woman next to him.

"Did you have a question?" Karai asked, her gaze still on the outside world.

"Why didn't you call?" Leonardo asked. "I gave you a phone that you could use to reach me. You could have called after the first theft and asked me what had happened."

"If you had betrayed me, then how could I trust that you would tell me the truth?" Karai countered. "There would be no point in making that call."

She'd finally turned her head to look at him and their eyes locked. "I would have thought we'd at least have reached a stage in our association where you would give me the benefit of the doubt," he said.

"It is a learning process," Karai said. "In the future, I will try not to rush to judgement so quickly."

A short while later they had reached the docks. In the distance they could see the lights of emergency vehicles.

"Your warehouse is close to where Hun conducts business?" Leo asked.

"To move goods of any sort you must have a presence on the river near a container terminal," Karai explained.

Karai's aide parked the SUV behind some buildings a couple of blocks from the docks and the four proceeded on foot, moving in and with the shadows. When they reached the tall fencing that surrounded the area, one of the aides boosted Karai and the other aide over the fence. Leo then gave him a boost and leaped over the fence on his own.

Leo followed Karai's lead to a warehouse a short distance away. When they reached it, she began to climb, scaling the outer wall by using shuko spikes. Taking their cue from her, the bodyguards and Leo climbed up as well.

On the roof were several skylights, all neatly lined up in a row. The group fanned out around one of them and peered inside.

"Most people knock on the door when they want to visit."

Whirling at the familiar deep voice, Leonardo saw Hun standing several feet away, near the door which gave out onto the roof. Karai cursed under her breath as Purple Dragons began flooding the rooftop.

Hun spoke again, a self-satisfied look on his face. "It doesn't matter how stealthy you are, my street people are going to see you and report. You've gotten lazy, Karai, always wanting to be driven everywhere. We know which license plates belong to all of your vehicles."

"You will pay for your treachery." Sword in hand, Karai glared at the mountain of a man. "We were not enemies until you began stealing from the Foot."

That earned her a laugh from Hun. "We've always been enemies, Karai. I never liked you. It will give me great pleasure to kill you and take my chances with the man who steps into your shoes. In fact, I know that he and I will get along just fine."

Karai nearly spat her retort. "So, it is true that someone in my organization has been feeding you information. When I am done with you, I shall proceed to cut the head off the snake who has betrayed our clan."

"I'm going to make him a present of your head," Hun said, "and that of your green boyfriend."

The words had barely left his mouth when Karai charged, going straight for Hun.

So unexpected was her move that she almost made it to him. At the last second three of his gang jumped in front of Hun. One raised a gun, but Karai slashed into his wrist, cleaving his hand clean off.

Leo and the two aides leaped into action to battle the gang. Although he made every effort to avoid killing blows, Leonardo's swords were soon bloodied.

A shot rang out, drawing Leo's attention. One of the gang members was taking a bead on Karai's short aide after having missed with the first shot. The short aide shifted direction suddenly and ran directly in front of Hun just as the gang member pulled the trigger.

The bullet went right by Hun's head and into the wall behind him.

"No guns!" Hun roared as he took a swing at the short aide who was flying past him again. The aide easily ducked his punch and then dove into a group of Purple Dragons.

Hun turned his attention fully on Karai. She was faced away from him while she fought to drive back the group of Dragons who were surrounding her. Stalking towards her, an evil grin spread across Hun's face as he pulled a blackjack from his pocket and raised it overhead.

"Look out!" Leo shouted, dashing towards the pair. He leap frogged over a man who attempted to stop him and then yanked Karai aside just as Hun brought the blackjack down where her head had been.

The two aides had been separated from their mistress and were battling against sheer odds on the opposite end of the roof. Karai and Leo stood back-to-back as gang members closed in on them, a variety of deadly weapons held ready to take down the pair.

"It doesn't matter how good you are when the numbers are against you," Hun said, taunting them. "My plan has worked out even better than I imagined."

"You are a fool," Karai snapped. "My father kept you around as muscle and nothing more."

Hun sneered at her and then looked at his men. "Finish the turtle and bring Karai to me."

"I am sorry to have dragged you into this, Leonardo," Karai said.

"I came of my own free will, Karai," Leo replied. "Let's make certain they know they've been in a fight."

The Purple Dragons converged on them, weapons swinging and stabbing at the pair. Leonardo's katanas were a blur as he slashed left and right, taking a few blows on his shell. Something stung his calf and he knew he'd been cut, but it wasn't deep enough to be disabling.

Behind him Leo heard a grunt of pain and glanced back to see Karai down on one knee. Kicking away the nearest Dragon, Leo pivoted on his heel and caught Karai's arm, pulling her up as he swung his sword in an arc to make room.

Laughing, Hun picked a length of pipe up from where it had fallen and stalked towards the pair, who were backing towards the roof's edge.

"It's time for the finale," Hun announced.

He hadn't taken two more steps when a dark form swept through the air directly at him. Hun glanced up just as Nobody's feet lifted.

"Oh, crud!" Hun shouted a second before Nobody kicked him, knocking him back and onto the glass of one of the skylights.

Unable to sustain his weight, the glass shattered and Hun plunged straight through and into the dark depths of the warehouse.

Nobody dropped to the rooftop and barreled into the group of men surrounding Leo and Karai. Finding themselves set upon from behind, most of the men turned, giving the trapped pair room to maneuver.

Seeing that their leader had fallen took the fight out of many of the Purple Dragons. Leo looked across the rooftop and saw that Karai's aides had gotten the upper hand in their battle. As more and more of the gang fell, the remainder as a group began backing towards the door.

After clouting a Dragon on the jaw with the pommel of his sword and knocking him out, Leo looked to see where Karai and Nobody were. He saw Karai rock a man's head back with a well-placed kick, and Nobody dropped another man with a hard uppercut.

"Retreat!"

It was hard to tell which of the Purple Dragons who were still standing shouted that order, but it had an immediate effect on the gang. They began to scatter, most running for the roof exit, but some opted to use the fire ladders, scurrying down as quickly as possible.

Suddenly without an adversary, Karai darted to the broken skylight and Leo raced over to join her. Looking down, they could just make out Hun's large frame. Though it was easily a three-story drop, the man had landed on some crates and was in the process of extricating himself.

"He must not escape," Karai hissed, lifting a foot to the skylight's frame.

Leo saw that she was wobbling a little and caught her arm. "You took a blow to the head. No jumping."

She tried to shake his hand loose but he refused to let her go. "I came for him."

"I know that, but . . . ."

"Get back," Nobody interrupted. "I've got this."

Leaning into the opening, he fired a grappling line into the ceiling. Hearing the sound, Hun looked up and then ran out of sight. Nobody swung through the broken skylight and disappeared as well.

"Mistress." The two aides, having been beckoned over by Karai, bowed.

"Go down to the street," Karai commanded. "Be certain Hun does not get away."

Both bowed again and then scrambled over the roof's edge on opposite sides of the warehouse.

"We can take the stairs," Leo said, urging Karai away from the skylight.

The pair quickly descended, with Leo taking the lead to ensure that Karai didn't lose her footing. When they reached the ground floor Karai seemed to have shaken off her slight dizziness.

No one was around. From outside they could pick up the faint sounds of fighting, but heard neither Hun's or Nobody's voices.

"This way," Karai said.

To Leo's surprise, it wasn't towards an outer door that Karai led him, but to an office inside the warehouse. The lights inside were on and Karai went directly to the desk where a desktop computer sat.

Extracting a flash drive from her pocket, Karai plugged it into the computer.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

Karai glanced up. "This is where all of Hun's information is kept. It is always guarded from inside this office, but our arrival drew the guards away. I am going to copy his files and use them as proof of his nefarious dealings."

She was typing as she talked and then frowned. "What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"He has protected it with a password. If I enter the wrong one three times the system will begin to erase itself."

"I don't want to rush you, but it's always possible that to keep up his guise as a legitimate businessman, Hun will call the police," Leo said. "We're technically trespassing."

"I doubt the police will be concerned with trespassing once they take a look at you," Karai said. "Damn."

"What?"

"I tried 'Purple Dragons' but that was not the password." Karai started lifting things on the desk and looking under them in the hopes that Hun had taped the password to something.

"Too bad Donny's not here, he could probably figure it out," Leo said.

He was keeping his eyes on the warehouse, but heard Karai typing again. Her huff of frustration turned his head. "No dice?"

"Knowing how greedy he is, I tried 'money', but that didn't work either."

Leo thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "Try 'Shredder'."

"What? I have only one attempt remaining, Leonardo. How certain are you?" Karai asked.

"Hun wants nothing more than to emulate Saki, or at least the empire that he built," Leo said. "It's either that or something we'll never think of in time."

Karai stared at the keyboard for a moment and then took a deep breath and started typing.

"That was it!" Karai exclaimed. "I am in."

The keys began clicking again, followed by silence. Leo had seen Don copying information before, and knew that Karai was now waiting for information to transfer to her flash drive.

A thought struck Leo. "I'm surprised that Hun would run away like this, knowing that he's leaving invaluable information unguarded. He has never been a coward."

"Perhaps he means to circle back," Karai said. "Perhaps he thought his guards remained on watch despite that rooftop fight. Ah, it's done."

"Good." Leo stepped out of the office. "It's time to make our exit."

Karai joined him, holding up the flash drive for him to see. Though she rarely smiled, she gave Leo one that was quite genuine. "This should convince the mayor that Hun deserves time behind bars."

They started to walk towards a side exit as Karai carefully tucked the flash drive into an inner pocket. Before they reached the door though, Karai suddenly turned, her hand on Leo's chest as she pushed him into deep shadows.

"What is it? Did you hear something?" Leo whispered.

"No." Karai moved close to him. In the years since they'd first met, Leo had grown, and was now taller than the woman. She gazed into his eyes, her palm sliding up his plastron and onto his shoulder. "I want to apologize for ever thinking you would betray me."

Confused and slightly flustered, Leo said, "You have nothing to apologize for. I can only imagine how difficult your position must be. It's hard to know who to trust."

"Nevertheless, I should have known that I could trust you," Karai replied. She leaned in, her free hand coming to rest on Leo's hip. "Our alliance has proven most beneficial, for both of us, I hope. I can think of a way to make it even stronger."

As she spoke, her hand moved downwards, drifting onto Leonardo's outer thigh before crawling inwards.

"Karai, I . . . ."

"Shh." Karai hushed him, her lips close to his. "Come, Leonardo, experience the pleasures of the flesh with me. Seal our clans together the way my lips seal yours."

Leo had no chance to respond as Karai kissed him, her mouth and body insistent as they pressed against his. The hand on his inner thigh was tracing an upward course and Leo shuddered as her fingers skimmed across his groin.

He lifted his arms, unsure whether to hold her or push her away. When he was younger, he had entertained fantasies about Karai, but the interceding years had mostly pushed them from his mind. Mostly.

With her tongue dancing over his, Leo found it too difficult to maintain any sort of control. He wrapped his arms around her and tightened his grip, too lost in Karai's passion and his own adrenaline high to remember where they were.

"No!"

The shout startled the pair apart. Leo reached for his sword and then realized the person who had interrupted them was Nobody.

He strode towards them, his gait purposeful. Because of the mask it was impossible to read his expression, but then he reached them and shoved Karai away from Leo.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked, hearing Karai draw her tanto.

"She is no good for you," Nobody said. "I told you this type of involvement would be a mistake."

"You are interfering in matters that do not concern you," Karai said in her coldest tone.

"If it involves Leonardo, it does concern me," Nobody shot back at her.

Karai moved as if to attack him, but Leo swiftly stepped between them, holding out his arms to keep distance between the pair.

The last thing he had expected from this night was to have two humans fighting over him.

To be continued...