Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, because I am not Nickelodeon. I know this because Nickelodeon probably doesn't have Chemistry coursework to prepare for... sigh.
Also, sorry for grossing everyone out last chapter... *shudders* Believe me, that was horrible to write.
"It's not true," Karai whispered to herself in the mirror. She examined her reflection, trying to find anything she could liken to the humanoid rat she had encountered that day. She found nothing, and was relieved. "It's a trick. A ridiculous, foolish trick. You are Oroku Karai."
She knew from her training that she should take any opportunity to gain information about your enemies, which was why she had hung around to eavesdrop on the Hamato clan after the battle. While she felt a bizarre sense of smugness about Tiger Claw's defeat, she had remained stoic as she listened from her position behind a billboard.
They had called her Hamato Yoshi's daughter. The rat had claimed it was up to her whether or not she accepted the truth. That stupid redhead remarked that she was a witch, and that she couldn't understand how she could be related to Yoshi.
Well, she wasn't. She knew she wasn't. She couldn't be. She was Oroku Saki's daughter, and nobody would ever tell her otherwise.
"Lying, dishonourable..." Her fists shook at her sides in rage. "How dare they?!"
She had considered consulting her father about it, but had turned against the idea because she knew it would pointlessly infuriate him. She knew the truth, and they wouldn't throw her off. They wouldn't. She wouldn't let them.
A scream tore from her throat and she punched the mirror so hard it shattered. The glass shards cut her hand open but the blood dripping from the wounds calmed her, strangely. A single, jagged crack sliced her reflection's face in half like the yin-yang symbol, and her features scrunched up in displeasure. The scorned woman glared into her own eyes for an indefinite period of time, simply unable to do anything else. Pain throbbed in her hand, head, and heart, and suddenly it all became too much.
Karai collapsed in a heap on the floor, her body shuddering with violent sobs. She pressed her head into her knees and cried furiously. She cried because they were trying to make her question her roots; she cried because it was working. She cried because she wanted to believe Leonardo wouldn't do this to her, but she cried because she knew he had every right to once she declared them enemies. She cried because she wanted someone to comfort her, and she cried because she didn't know who she wanted. She cried because she was weak enough to cry. She cried because crying helped, and she hadn't done it in so long.
And once she ran out of tears to cry, she scrubbed at her eyes with her uninjured hand and retrieved her emergency first-aid kit from her bedside table. She bandaged her hand carelessly, only bothering because she knew she would need to clean up any blood that dropped. Exhausted emotionally, physically and mentally, the girl tidied the mess her outburst had left behind, already preparing an excuse about breaking the mirror during a kata. Hopefully her punishment wouldn't be too bad if he could see she had already caused herself injury.
Despite her father raising her in a secluded Japanese mountain range, Karai was fully aware that teenage-girls had a stereotype of emotional breakdowns, but she had never experienced one quite so earth-shattering before. And she was praying to her lost mother that she never experienced one again.
"Angel?"
The girl ran to meet Casey at their apartment's door. "Are you going out already?"
He nodded. "Yeah..." He lowered his voice and whispered, "Leo's going insane trying to find someone, and he wants to search as much as possible, which means we gotta go out earlier."
"Aw, that sucks." She pouted.
"I guess, but hey, at least this way there's a better chance I'll get to bust some heads tonight," he commented with a grin.
"You're so freaky, dude," she giggled, hugging him goodbye. "Have fun busting heads, bro."
"Not even necessary to say, sis." Casey squeezed her shoulders. "I'll be back sometime after midnight, so don't wait up for me, okay?"
"... I'll try not to," she finally replied.
He sighed. "Thanks, kid. But c'mon, you've got school tomorrow; you gotta get some sleep."
"You have school, too," Angel pointed out.
"Yeah, but my duties as a vigilante are way more important."
"Uh-huh. 'Cause when you're applying for jobs and stuff, you can just say 'I failed my exams, but I'm a vigilante', and they'll hire you right away."
"If they've any common sense, yeah they will."
Both siblings laughed, before Angel hugged her brother again. "Be careful and all that."
"Yeah, yeah."
With that, Casey called out a quick farewell to his father and slipped out of the door, fully armed with all of his make-shift weapons. Angel was still proud of the crazy things that her brother had built all by himself, even if she wasn't thrilled by how frequently he threw himself into danger.
The rest of her night was relatively normal, including tossing and turning until well past eleven P.M attempting to sleep but worrying about her brother. When it was clear that sleep wouldn't be arriving any time soon, she carefully crept into Casey's room next door. Originally, she had been searching for an old jacket or something to calm her nerves, but when she spotted his leather-bound notebook tossed haphazardly onto his desk... she couldn't resist.
Casey had first presented the book to her after the alien invasion, because he wanted her to have an idea of what happened below the city's radars so she had a better chance of protecting herself. Ironically, she had learnt a lot from her temporary alliance during the invasion itself, but she didn't tell Casey anywhere near how much because she had been sworn to secrecy. Being sworn to secrecy was very exciting.
But while Casey had told her lots and lots of interesting stories, she knew for certain that he hadn't told her everything. Normally she would respect his privacy and his choice, but she was curious about something. He had complained constantly about these searches Leo was making them go on, but he had yet to say who they were searching for. Casey had briefly said that it was his friends' lost sister that their father's arch-enemy kidnapped, but he hadn't given her a name, and that was what Angel desperately wanted to know.
And that was why she sat there, flicking through the pages of her brother's handwritten journal. She felt the urge to just sit and read the whole thing cover to cover, but she knew what she was looking for. Finally, she found notes about 'Master Splinter' having a lost child named 'Miwa' who 'The Shredder' kidnapped as a baby, and later pages told of her accidental mutation. Though eventually, after much skimming and scanning, she discovered what she had expected.
When this so-called Shredder kidnapped the girl, he renamed her Karai.
"Who... are you?"
"My name's Angel... I'm lost."
"As am I..."
"Well, maybe we can be lost together then? What's your name?"
"... I don't know..."
"You don't know?"
"... I used to be called Karai."
Casey's amazingly good artwork definitely helped, because the sketch he had done was almost identical to the Karai Angel remembered. Except, of course, less scaled. The young girl carefully studied Casey's description of Karai's mutation, which was disappointingly vague since he hadn't been present. The focus of his writing was mainly how the family was coping and reacting, which was interesting enough, but she wanted to know how and why it happened.
"You... You don't want to stay with me, Angel..."
"Why not? You seem nice enough."
"I... can't control it well..."
"Control what?"
"Can't you see?!"
"No."
"... I'm a freak."
"That's not true! You're not freaky, Karai."
"You know nothing about me."
"I know I like you. And that you remind me of Casey."
"Casey...? Look, I'm a mutant snake... It's taking all of my strength to stay in this hybrid form currently."
"Well, you must be pretty strong then. But I don't think it's weird, Karai. I think it's actually kinda cool. And anyway, I feel like I trust you."
"You really shouldn't."
"Oh, well. I do a lot of stuff I shouldn't."
She nibbled the end of her ponytail musingly as she read, thoughts buzzing in her head. A particularly sad page in the book detailed why Karai had actually left her; she didn't trust herself and felt she was losing sentience. She had met with what should have been her family to say goodbye to them for good.
And now, her brother was out searching for the girl his sister owed her life to, without having any idea about it.
"Maybe I should tell Casey..."
"Tell me what?"
Angel's head shot up guiltily, to see her older brother stood in the doorway. He had obviously just come home, because he still had the horrifying skull painted onto his face and was still armed with his weapons.
"Why are you reading my journal?"
"I..." She took a deep breath. "I was checking to see who you were searching for."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because I thought it might be Rai, and it was."
She motioned for her brother to come closer and sit beside her on the bed, which he did. "I want to tell you what happened during the invasion," she told him. He nodded solemnly. "At first, I got lost in the chaos, and I was really confused and scared. After a few weeks, I found an old warehouse, and I met a really interesting girl..."
Casey listened intently as she described the six months she had spent with the serpentine girl, only asking questions that would be beneficial to the search. Yes, they had moved to Coney Island quite quickly because less Kraang patrolled there. Yes, Karai had explained about mutagen and the fire from her childhood, but no, Angel had not received any names. Yes, Angel told her about him and the secret missions he used to go on, but Karai had never mentioned knowing him. No, Karai hadn't left any clues as to where she planned to go.
"Wait, so, when we went to Coney Island to find her, were you there?" Casey asked suddenly.
Angel mulled it over. "I think so, but I didn't know you guys were there. Rai told me to stay hidden in the Spook House, and-"
"Hang on, you were in the Spook House?!" She nodded. "Damn it! Me, Donnie and April went through that place! How the hell did I not find you?!"
"I was under one of the trapdoors, for safety." Angel shrugged. "I guess Rai didn't know you were the Casey I meant."
Sighing, Casey draped an arm over her. "But didn't you hear us? Kid, we must've literally been fighting it out over your head!"
"The fighting I heard, but I didn't know it was you. I wasn't even sure if you were alive, and I didn't know any of your friends existed," she explained sheepishly.
"Well… whatever. Guess it doesn't matter now anyway." Casey slung his bag of weapons to the floor silently. "You staying here tonight?"
"Might as well." Angel pushed herself back against the headboard and ducked under the covers. "I was missing you, anyway."
"Aww," teased Casey with a smirk. "Okay, I'll just go wash this stuff off my face; I'll be back in a sec."
The girl nodded, snuggling down comfortably in the meantime. She felt warmer and brighter than she had that morning. After all, now there was a chance that Rai would be okay. And if she could pick anyone in the world to be on the lookout, she'd choose her brother in a heartbeat.
The lights flicked off, but she wasn't scared. He tried this every time. An arm slid around her, pulling her against a familiar warmth. "You're so annoying," she muttered as she cuddled closer.
"We come from the same genes, sis – it takes one to know one."
Quick Note: I didn't know what to call the attraction they fought Bebop in during 'The Pig And The Rhino', but the TMNT wikia called it the Spook House, so I went with that. And I've changed Angel's age from 11 up to 14, because I just didn't think I was writing her like an 11-year-old.
Also, no, that bit with Casey and Angel at the end wasn't creepy foreshadowing or subtext; that was just kind sibling interaction, okay? ;)
Thank you for reading, and please review :)
