Sorry for the lateness! A storm rolled in outta nowhere and turned off our freaken power )x but here we are and ready to go! Wooo!
Dragan pointed her sword at the neck of her victim, staring him down with cold, black eyes.
Kara walked up to the whimpering man and bent down so they were face to face. "I believe you owe something to our friend, Master Shredder. Now give it up or you will suffer the consequences." Kara grabbed the man by the collar pulling him close to her. He let out a startled yell and moved his hands to block his head, crying out, "I d-don't have it! I just need more time, please!"
Something in Dragan stirred causing her to flinch. This didn't feel right but these were Master Shredder's orders. She clenched the hilt of her sword watching as Kara stood up, pulling the man up along with her.
"Master Shredder has been more than lenient with you and your store. Your time is up and you still lack what we were promised. Dragan, show this man what he has earned." Kara smirked as she dropped the man flat on his butt and moved aside to let Dragan take over.
Dragan raised her sword, staring down at the cowering man. Their eyes met and she could see fright in them; begging her not to do this. Tightening her grip on her sword she went to bring it down on him but hesitated.
"Dragan.." Kara warned watching her closely under the bandages wrapped over her eyes.
"I know..." Dragan brought her sword down towards the man, him screaming thinking his life was over and squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the end. When he didn't feel any pain he slowly opened his eyes to see the sword on the ground right next to him.
Kara clenched her fists watching Dragan lift her sword and put it away. "Dragan!"
"I won't kill him." Dragan closed her eyes and put her sword away.
"Master Shredder will not like this.."
Dragan flinched at those words but she looked away having made her decision.
Kara let out a disappointed sigh and walked up to the man. "Fine."
The man backed up and turned to try and get away but Kara pressed her foot hard against hims back, shoving him down to the ground. "You're not going anywhere." She grabbed the back of his collar and punched him in the gut.
Dragan watched as Kara beat the man close to death. She pulled her fist back for the final strike but Tigerclaw, having watched over them from the sidelines to see how they would fare, grabbed her arm before she could kill him. "Enough. Master Shredder still has use of him. You are doing very well, young cub." Tigerclaw let her go as she stood and backed away from the man. "Your friend is disappointing though. Master Shredder will not be pleased." Tigerclaw's ear twitched as he glanced behind him at her.
"Your shop is now under Master Shredder's control. You're lucky you are still needed. Have a good day, sir." She leaned her head to look down at him before walking away Tigerclaw right behind her, Dragan following after them.
They arrived back at the lair to see Karai in human form standing by Shredder's side.
"Master Shredder." They all bowed in front of him to give their report. Karai stared down at them, surprised to see Kara and Dragan.
"What news do you have for me?" Shredder asked.
While Tigerclaw began to explain to him what happened Kara could feel Karai's eyes on her and this not only made her uncomfortable but irritated as well.
"What are those two doing here?" Karai sneered her eyes never leaving Kara's.
"These are my new apprentices, daughter. They are proving to be excellent soldiers of the foot..atleast..one is. They will be of great use to you when we take down the turtles and the rat." Shredder's eyes turned to Dragan and she flinched under his gaze.
"I...will nae fail ye next time, Master. I promise." She bowed her head for forgiveness.
Karai scoffed and turned her head away. "As if I need any help. They'll only get in my way, father."
Kara clenched her fist and lifted her head up to Karai. "You best watch your tone, Karai. I've beaten you before and I have no problem doing it again."
Karai hissed at Kara ready for a fight when Shredder moved his hand in front of Karai. "Enough!" He shouted. "Take them away, Tigerclaw. I will deal with Dragan in a moment. I must speak to my daughter privately."
"Yes, Master Shredder." He bowed his head before standing up, the two girls following behind him.
"It would be wise to hold your tongue when speaking to Master Shredder and Karai." Tigerclaw warned as they sat in a lounge room of sorts watching Kara walking back and forth.
"She has no right to act all high and mighty! I'm just as strong, no, even stronger than her! Yet she continues to act like-"
Tigerclaw placed his hand on top of her head to silence her. "She was born into power, young cub, they always act like that. It takes a true warrior to know when to fight and when to hold back. You are learning and soon, perhaps, you will outrank her and join Master Shredder's side in battle."
Kara tilted her head in his direction and gave him a smile. "Thanks, Tigerclaw."
"How does the bandages fare for you? Are they too tight?" He gently pulled her head back to inspect them, making sure they were doing their job remembering what Master Shredder explained to him after their first mission in retrieving Dragan.
"It's clear Kara has a strong bond with the turtle, Donatello. It'd be best to keep her away from them until Baxter Stockman comes up with a much stronger mind control worm. Until then, keep her eyes covered with these." Shredder hands Tigerclaw a roll of black bandage wrap. "These should not fall off so easily and she won't be able to take it off herself. They must not know about the creature inside their mind."
Tigerclaw took them from him with a nod then left to put them on her.
Kara lifted her hands over the bandages, feeling the fabric. "They are fine. They're tight enough to where they won't fall off, that's for sure." She laughed some as she turned her head in Dragan's direction. "Dragan..what happened back there? Why did you not finish your job?"
Dragan looked away, having been leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, and clenched her hand around her arm. "I...I cannae kill..ma code will not allow tae harm the harmless"
"A code?" Tigerclaw's ear twitched curiously.
Kara walked up to Dragan and placed her hand on her shoulder. "We must follow orders. That is why we are here. He saw potential in us and with his help we can become great." Kara smiled, placing both her arms on her shoulder so that Dragan was looking right at her. "There's no one else I'd rather have fight my side. We're in this together, right?"
Dragan looked at her and smiled. "Ye are correct as always, ma friend." She chuckled softly before bringing Kara in for a hug.
Tigerclaw watched them and smiled some before looking away, clenching his fist. He inhaled sharply through his nose to collect his thoughts but blinked when he saw Dragan walking away. "Where are you going, cub?"
Dragan turned her head, grinning his way with her hand over the hilt of her sword. "Gotta reclaim ma honor."
Both of them knew where she was going. Tigerclaw stared at the doorway but blinked when Kara suddenly stretched.
"I think I'm going to take a nap." She waved her hand as she went to leave but stopped when Tigerclaw spoke.
"I'm going after Dragan."
"What, why?" Kara turned to Tigerclaw clearly confused.
"We should not let her go after the turtles on her own." Tigerclaw said before walking towards the door but blinked when Kara grabbed his hand.
"What? No way. She can handle it on her own. She's stronger than you think!"
"That's not what this is all about!"
"You know what? Fine! I'll go find her and we'll bring them here to show all of you we're not weak!" Kara shouted and ran out the door, slamming it before Tigerclaw could follow.
He opened the door to see her already halfway down the hall and roared for her to stop but she had her ears covered so she couldn't hear him.
Dragan was walking down the path that lead to the lair, her sword drawn out and by her side. She heard voices and running coming in her direction and stopped right in the center just as Leo and Donnie came into view.
Donnie skidded to a halt, Leo beside him and blinked, whispering to him, "L-Leo..that's.."
"I know..." Leo stared at her for the longest time his hand hovering near the hilt of his katana. He squinted his eyes at her uncertain if she was under control or not; her bangs covering her eyes. "Dragan, we don't want to fight you."
"Aw, come now, Leo. That wouldn't be fair tae me. Ye see, I have tae fight ye an ya brothers. In order tae prove tae Master Shredder what I can do. So draw your sword an prepare tae fight." Dragan charged for them.
"Ah, this is not good!" Donnie shouted as he and Leo brought out their weapons as Dragan began the attack, both of them mainly just blocking.
"Dragan! This isn't you! You're under control of Shredder! You can fight it!"
"Shut up an fight me, Leonardo!" She shouted as she kicked Donnie in the gut and went to strike at him but Leo intervened, blocking with his sword.
"Fight it, Dragan! Remember when we first met? You didn't freak out like normal people did! You gave us a chance and befriended us!"
"Yeah..ugh..r-remember how you'd help me fix the Shellraiser?" Donnie slowly stood up with his weapon ready but blinked when he noticed Dragan seemed to be hesitating in her attacks.
"B-Be quiet!" Dragan jumped back to put space between them staring down at the ground as the memories flood her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut feeling a throbbing pain in her head and dropped her sword, grasping her head.
"Fight it, Dragan! We're your friends!" Donnie shouted to her.
Dragan let out a frustrated scream as she fell to her knees slamming her head against the floor, her body trembling at the pain and confusion.
Donnie went to take a step forward but Leo put his hand out to stop him and shook his head. Leo stared at Dragan and put away his sword as he walked up to her. He bent down in front of her hearing soft, muffled sobs. "Hey, Dragan, shh it's ok." He whispered lifting her head up so she would look at him.
Tears fell down her black eyes and she instinctively went to grab her weapon but Leo saw this coming and grabbed her hands. He leaned forward and planted a deep kiss onto her lips. Dragan's eyes widened as their lips met memories of them together were too much for the worm and she began to feel it thrash around in her head. She pushed away from him and squeezed the sides of her head, letting out another scream and continuously slammed her head against the ground as the worm wiggled and writhed out from her ear screeching as it flopped on to the floor.
Dragan panted heavily and slowly looked down at the worm, her eye color returning to normal and she smashed her fist into the worm, splattering its remains over her fingers and the ground. She slowly looked up at Leo, now back to normal, sorrow in her eyes. "I'm so sorry..."
Leo pulled her into an embrace giving her a gentle squeeze. "It's almost over. We still got one more thing to do. You should probably stay behind."
"Nae..thay still have a hold o' Kara. I have tae help her."
"We all do. Come on." Donnie walked up and held his hands out to both of them. "Karai has Casey, Mikey, and Raph. We're going to go help them."
Dragan smiled at him and took his hand being helped to her feet. "Thanks. Ye guys can sneak up on Karai. I'll try tae buy ye some time."
"Ok, she said for us to meet her at the abandoned station under Grennich street."
"Good luck guys an Donnie...I'm sorry." Dragan gave him an apologetic smile before running off.
Kara kept to the roofs still in her armor and growled in frustration not finding any sign of Dragan anywhere. She stood up when a thought occurred to her. "Of course..she'd go straight to the lair but..would she be enough to take on Splinter? Only one way to find out." She went turned to leave when her phone started going off; placing it to her ear when she pressed the green button. "This is Kara."
"Hello Kara." Karai's voice said over the other end. "I'm having such a wonderful time with the turtles. You should come join the fun." She playfully taunted. "Oh, your friend just arrived so you might want to hurry up before the fun ends." Karai hung up the phone and tossed where the turtles were as the footbots began to hang them up from the wall above them. "You're here pretty early." Karai glanced over at Dragan as she stood unresponsive. "See? I knew I could do this without you two. It was too easy, really." She smirked her way. "Now all we need are the final tw-" She leaned backwards dodging Dragan's sword. "What the?!" She turned to see Dragan going for another attack and jumped back, away from her. "Of course.." She hissed.
Dragan stood up straight while spinning her sword and getting into a fighting stance. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes showing their normal color.
"You really are weak!" Karai spat at her.
"Weak? Or strong enough tae get loose o' Shredder's grasp?" It was her turn to smirk when Karai narrowed her eyes her way, hissing threateningly at her.
The footbots moved to attack but Karai shot her hand out for them to stop. "Leonardo and Donatello will be here momentarily. I'll just have even more fun until they arrive." Karai's eyes widened in excitement as she charged for Dragan.
"My venom is toxic in any form; even in water. It seeps into the skin in seconds." Karai chuckled as she threw Dragan past the guys just as they came into view.
"Dragan.." Leo panted feeling weak.
"I'm ok!" She stood to her feet but blinked when Donnie fell over. "Donnie!" She went over to check on him.
"It's over, Leo. You and your friends are finished." Karai stood over him with a smirk on her face.
Hearing the clang of Leo's sword hitting the ground she stood to her feet to see him fall over as well. "Nae, Leo!"
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not done with you, yet." Karai grinned while bringing out her weapon.
Dragan glared at her and stood to her feet. "Ye will pay for hurting ma friends." Dragan picked up her sword and got into her fighting stance.
"Aw, come now, Dragan, I was doing what you were ordered to do, but better." Karai smirked as she charged going for an aerial attack first, bringing her foot down. Dragan dodged the attack and sliced at Karai's waist only for her to jump up and go for another kick in the face. Dragan brought her sword up to block and when she felt contact she immediately grabbed her ankle and threw her off to the side.
She stood in front of Leo and the others protectively having her sword pointed at Karai. "Tell me the antidote, now!"
Karai stood to her feet and grinned at her but blinked when Leo was up on his feet and took down the footbots. "Beating the poison, impressive."
"Shredder..used some kind of brain worm on you." Leo struggled to speak with the poison still in his body.
"Lies won't help you. I'll just have to finish you myself!"
"You'll have tae get through me first, Karai!" Dragan shouted and charged at her. Karai lowered herself for an attack but blinked in surprise when Dragan was punched across the face and sent flying towards Leo.
Kara stood in front of Karai, in her fighting stance, and slowly stood up straight not saying a word.
"You made it just in time, Kara." Karai walked to her side and leaned her arm against her shoulder. "Dragan has betrayed Master Shredder and she needs to be punished. Keep her out of my hair while I deal with Leonardo."
Kara clenched her fists but nodded her head. "Understood, Karai." Kara ran at Dragan without hesitation while Karai went for Leo.
"Kara! Don't ye understand?! We were just pawns o' Shredder! He used a mind control worm on us!" Dragan dodged her attacks not wanting to hurt her but Kara wasn't letting up. "Everything he told us was a lie!" She brought down her sword, Kara using her blades to block again as they both began having a struggle, Kara both physically and mentally.
"Yo..You're wrong.." Kara grunted as she was beginning to be pushed back.
"The turtles are not oor enemy. Thay are oor friends! Leo, Mikey, Raph..Donatello!" With a heave Dragan managed to push Kara back noticing she seemed to freeze at that name,but only for a moment. "Remember aw the good times we had wi them? How he an the others nurtured ye back tae health when ye were sick? How ye both fought side by side?" She watched as Kara seemed hesitant now.
Kara felt a weird sensation in her mind as Dragan spoke; as if something was moving inside her mind but tried to shake it off. She went to take a step forward but blinked noticing some figures hanging from the wall above her, one of them in particular was very familiar She reached her hands to her head but stopped, a voice echoed inside her head.
"Stop, it's against Master Shredder's orders." A voice slithered in her mind.
Her memories were dark, seeing herself and someone else beside her but the person them self was blackened out as if to keep her from remembering. Something in the back of her mind was nagging at her to remove the thing from her eyes but the voice was forcing the feeling back. Her hands hovering near her head she finally placed them over the bandages but when her fingertips went to grab at it she couldn't find a loose end and began to scratch at it with trembling hands trying to get it off.
Dragan put away her sword and slowly walked over to her. "Here." She pulled out her switchblade from her pocket and cut a part of it so it began to unravel on its on. Kara moved Dragan's hands away and finished removing it from her eyes, which were closed.
She lifted her head up where the figures were and slowly opened them to see...something she wished she hadn't.
Hanging by their arms and displayed like trophies were Casey Jones, Mikey, Raph, and...Donatello.
Her eyes shot open as the memories came flooding in, every memory of the blackened person was replaced with Donnie. She grabbed the sides of her head, panting heavily as pain jolted through her head. She fell on all fours and before she could let out of scream she puked up a large worm that was screeching and throwing its body everywhere. Kara snatched the switchblade from Dragan's hand and began stabbing it repeatedly, tears streaming down her eyes as she stabbed it one more time, leaning her body weight against her arm.
Dragan went to help her up but when she heard Leo and Karai fighting up ahead she knew Leo needed help but also wanted to stay with Kara. She blinked in surprise when Kara stood to her feet and ran straight for them.
Karai was getting ready to finish Leo off when Kara intervened, punching her across the face.
Leo stared up at Kara seeing her standing over him. "K-Kara?" He looked over at Dragan to see her coming into view and nodded her head. He slowly stood to his feet and took a deep breath lowering his gaze where Karai had bitten him before he began to perform the mantra's Master Splinter taught him.
Karai stumbled backwards, holding her cheek to see Kara glaring at her with tears sliding down her face. "So, you betrayed father to-" She wasn't able to finish for Kara was right on top of her, bringing her fist down once more.
"How dare you...HOW DARE YOU!" Kara screamed as each blow landed on Karai. Karai used her snake arms to bite at her but she was still wearing the armor so it had no effect. Instead, Kara grabbed the snake head and pulled at it, pulling Karai right into her fist and on to the floor.
Kara pinned Karai and raised her fist back. Karai's eyes widened as she stared into Kara's seeing the hatred and rage in them. "I'm going to kill you!" Kara screamed at her, activating her blade and went to slice down at her but was tackled by Dragan.
"Nae, Kara! Ye are not a murderer!" Dragan shouted at her as Kara struggled against her grip, her eyes never leaving Karai's
"She must pay for what she has done!" She screamed but no matter what she did, Dragan still held on, tightening her grip on her friend.
Dragan turned to Leo and blinked in surprise to see him glowing. Karai stood to her feet and glared over at Leo thinking now was the time to get rid of him and charged, sending her snake arms to finish him off.
"I'm sorry, friend." Dragan knocked Kara out and began to loosen her grip when Kara went limp. She slowly stood to her feet and turned to see whatever Leo had done, he was healed and had managed to force Karai down. She gently laid Kara down before helping Leo bring his brothers and Casey down from the wall.
"You're coming with us, Karai." Leo turned to get her but blinked when she was suddenly gone. "Oh Karai.."
"Come on, Leo..we need tae save your brothers and Casey..let's go." Dragan placed her hand on his shoulder before grabbing Kara and Casey carrying them home on her shoulders while Leo took care of his brothers.
While Leo and Master Splinter took care of the guys Dragan stayed out in the livingroom by Kara's side, waiting for her to wake up. Hearing the moans and groans of the others, she knew they were healed and smiled in relief.
Leo walked out and went to her side. "..How's she doing?" He asked softly.
"She should be waking up soon..I...thank ye for freeing me. I...I..." Dragan couldn't finish what she was trying to say before she burst into tears, covering her mouth so she wouldn't alarm anyone. "We..we were in such a dark place..it was horrible. The things they made us do but ye guys...ye saved me, saved us. Thank ye!" She cried as Leo pulled her in to a hug.
"We are happy to have you back, Miss Dragan." Splinter walked into view with the others right behind him.
"Kara..." Donnie ran over to her side and lifted her hand up, stroking it softly. "Is she..."
Leo nodded to him gently rubbing the back of Dragan's head. "She'll be awake shortly."
"We must give her some space when she wakes up. Her mind must be fragile from the fight she had to endure." Master Splinter explained. "Especially you, Donatello."
Kara stirred awake, beginning to slowly open her eyes but they were foggy and she had trouble seeing what was in front of her.
"She's waking up!" Donnie yelled, smiling wide as he saw the blue eye he loved so dearly, placing his hand over her cheek. "Kara, you're safe now."
Once her vision had cleared she stared up seeing Donnie's face above hers. Her eyes widened the image of him dangling almost lifeless stuck in her mind. She slowly reached her hands up to his face, her fingertips gently brushing the surface of his skin to feel if it was real. "Donnie?" She whispered in hopes she wasn't dreaming.
"Yeah, yeah it's me." He laughed softly, tears in his eyes. "I'm here." He brought her close in an embrace and she held on tightly never wanting to let go until she looked down at her arms and she gasped before pushing him away.
Donnie stared at her confused but watched as she was looking down at herself in fright seeing the armor.
She jumped to her feet remembering everything she had done. She began to back away while ripping the armor off. "No..no..no no no...it was just a dream. A bad nightmare. I couldn't have done those horrible things.." She gripped the sides of her head and looked over at Dragan who turned away in shame for both of the things they had done but she thought it was because of what she had done to her.
"No...I-I-I'm sorry..what have I done.." She fell to her knees, gripping the side of her head as she broke down into tears. "Please, forgive me!" She cried out, hugging herself while whispering, "I'm sorry." over and over again.
Dragan walked over to her and bent down at her level, pulling her close and held her tightly. "I forgive ye, Kara. It is over now." She said softly in her ear.
Kara let out another cry and hugged Dragan, burying her head in her shoulder, muffling her tears. Dragan gave her another squeeze, crying softly as well.
Master Splinter walked up to them and placed his hands on each of their shoulders. "Come, follow me. I may be able to help you."
Leo and Donnie helped the two girls up and lead them to Master Splinter's room where he performed a mantra to soothe and calm their minds, both of them sleeping peacefully.
"Take them home." Splinter said to his two sons and turned to leave.
Leo and Donnie nodded and took the Shellraiser to their home; both of them placing the girls in their beds. Leo kissed Dragan goodnight. "I'll always protect you." He whispered in her ear before leaving, waiting patiently for Donnie outside.
Donnie stroked Kara's cheek, staring at her for the longest time not wanting to leave her side. He jumped when Leo came into the room and placed his hand on his shoulder. "We need to.." Leo stopped short seeing the tears the fell down his brother's face and he sighed softly before turning to Dragan's room. "We'll watch over them." He smiled gently down at Donnie and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before heading back to Dragan's room.
Donnie smiled, watching him leave and climbed into her bed, bringing her into an embrace. "I won't ever leave your side." He whispered while moving her bangs from her face and kissing for forehead softly.
Both of them were asleep when a large, dark figure landed on the balcony of the girl's home. It slid the door opening seeming to be surprised that it was unlocked and walked inside. It sniffed the air curiously and went straight for Kara's room. Her door was open and Tigerclaw came into view. He stared down seeing Donnie and Kara cuddled together in their sleep and stared curiously at them. He noted the dried tears on her face and knew she was feeling the effect of being under control and forced to hurt her friends.
His eyes slowly trailed to Donatello and his instincts told him to take care of him now but his eyes went back to Kara. Making a decision, he closed his eyes and placed something down on the nightstand before walking away, leaving no sign that he was there in the first place.
When they sun rose the next morning the rays shined through the window into her room revealing her cap sitting on the nightstand.
Soooooo? Whatcha think? *Notes: 1. I had no idea what Karai said regarding the location so I made up something that I could make out. If anyone knows what said then please, tell me so I can change it. 2. Despite being under control with the worm I feel like that they'd still be themselves but would still follow orders and I feel that they'd bond with the henchmen, mainly Tigerclaw because I feel he isn't really a bad person there is some good in him. 3. Kara has more of a dramatic response after being freed because of what she did. She told Shredder about Dragan, fought, brainwashed her, and almost forced her to break the rules of her code, which is a big part of Dragan.* Anyways, you know what to do! Rate/comment! All feedback is appreciated! See you when I see you :D