"Shredder..."

I'm getting used to New York.

Leonardo's voice tightens as I lay on the ground, blinded from having light shown into my lenses with the night vision activated. There is an emergency setting in my cowl to counter this, but it uses my suit's power resources twice as fast as my other lens functions. "Batman", I hear Donatello shout. "Can you stand up?"

Whoever kicked me has backed away, allowing whoever is surrounding us to close in. I regain myself and stand, while still not being able to see. I have no choice, I have to use it.

Years ago, The Penguin tried to steal a prototype military helicopter and left Bruce Wayne temporarily blinded in the escape. I was able to modify a helmet by utilizing two ruby quartz lenses as artificial eyes, feeding a constant electro-magnetic pulse through my temples, and directly into the optic nerves.

I was able to minimize the components over the years to add it as a feature to the lenses in my cowl. However, the strain put on the circuitry already lined into cowl would guarantee that after a prolonged use, the fuse would go. The fuse in my cowl is near microscopic, and that's something I can't easily replace while out on duty. The image my brain would receive is an infrared-based visual that allows me to see solid objects in different shades of red, depending on their density.

The sounds around me shout of a small army. The warehouse was refurbished into a barracks of some type, including small but detailed training grounds.. The numerous sounds of steps and metal clanging against metal does not sit well with me. I activate the lenses, and I feel the uncomfortable jolt shoot into my head. Within seconds, I get the feed coming in from the lenses.

I count almost one hundred of them.

The Foot Clan.

They surround the six of us, slowly moving towards us with barely any fluid motion. The turtles and Karai are already in a defensive back-to-back position as I back into with them.

"This is not possible", Karai nearly shouts while clutching at her katana.

"Anyone know what hit me?" I ask annoyed.

"Everything in the kitchen, but the sink", Raphael says. "Looks like our ol' buddy is back, brothers!"

Everyone prepares to fight, then I notice something about our would-be attackers.

"Dudes, why are they...moving funny?" Michelangelo asks in confusion.

"Because they're not human", I say.

These ninjas were moving too obviously, too directly. I've seen machines like these before, but I have no idea what the extent of their threat is. If we can handle this without the assistance of the League, I can call this a good day.

"What did Shredder just call them?" Donatello. "Foot...Soldiers?"

"Hey Leo", Raphael says. "I think it's time to give the order."

Leonardo readies himself, as do the rest of us. Those who hadn't drawn their weapons yet are now armed and ready to fight. I don't have a blunt weapon of any kind, and I can't trust my aim well enough right now to use batarangs. Instead, I put on my hand pad that enables me to throw a punch at meta level strength. If it can knock a Thanagarian out cold, it should be able to do the job here.

"If they prove too much to handle", I start. "Then fall back immediately."

"These abominations will not force my retreat", Karai says.

She prematurely charges for the first Foot Soldier and cleanly slices it in half at the waist. The torso falls to the ground as the legs and pelvis remain standing, violently sparking from where Karai cut it.

"They are toys!" Karai shouts. "I will destroy every last one of them for daring to carry the name of our clan!"

Karai effortlessly destroys two more as the rest of us take action. The Foot Soldiers are armed with random ninjitsu weapons, ranging from kitantas, bo staffs and throwing stars. They wield them fairly well, but not enough to consider them a threat with them. What concerns me are their less than obvious capabilities they may not be showing us. I hear Karai and the turtles smashing their way through every Foot Soldier they see. I make my own case by dodging choppy weapon attacks that I could have avoided when I was five years old. The hand pad allows me to punch my way through every opponent easily as I flip and dodge my way through the crowd.

My eye sight must be getting close to normal, but I can't risk charging down the lenses and immediately charging them back up if needed. I'll have to keep them activated until we're done, which won't be much longer.

"Are you guys kiddin me?" Raphael shouts during the fight. "I've seen Mikey eat tougher pizzas than these tin-clowns."

I can barely tell from such a distance, but from the glances I get in their direction, the turtles are working fantastic as a team. Leonardo coordinates their attacks, and they seem to follow his lead almost fluidly. When I have Tim, Barbara and even Dick out for a mission together, we work in similar fashion. Except, I imagine myself to be a bit more...demanding. Karai seems to be working well on her own. Her inner rage seems to be in check for a moment as she allows her ability to carry her through this battle. Her work with her sword is masterful. Overall technique, flawless. I imagine the younger sister of Keyodai Ken who has dedicated her life to be like her brother to be no different.

"Hey Karai", I hear Michelangelo shout. "Maybe you should show these guys how to be real Foot members and run while they can."

"IDIOT!" she shouts back.

The collective laughter from the turtles - even Leonardo - shows just how in tune they are with their abilities and one another. These Foot Soldiers are sub par in every way, even slowed by attempting to yield weapons. We finish them all off easily, as scattered parts of our opponents lay all over the area we fought them. Everyone is collecting their breathes as Donatello kneels down to assess some of the damaged Foot Soldiers.

"This was too easy", Leonardo says while sheathing his swords. "This is not The Shredder's..."

"The Shredder has returned to America to dishonor the Foot Clan once again" Karai spits out in disgust. "I was ordered by my elders in Japan to end our truce with you turtles. Now it appears it was done to appease the return of Oroko Saki to power."

Oroko Saki...


We're back underground in the turtles' lair. Donatello and I managed to salvage enough parts in the rubble of the Foot Soldiers to completely rebuild one of the robots. Leonardo has been speaking with Splinter in the study since we got back, reporting this mornings events. Michelangelo and Raphael surprisingly stand by Donatello and I as we go over the multiple parts laid on the work table by their computer systems.

Perhaps the most surprising, Karai has chosen to remain with us, who is using one of their rooms to meditate.

Karai explained to us how Oroko Saki had influenced the elders of the Foot Clan in Japan. His brash, yet charismatic nature intrigued the elders as they allowed him to operate as he had pleased. Karai spoke of rumors that Saki was a favored relative of the head elder, which would make sense. They allowed him to lead the Foot Clan to New York and set up one of the most notorious crime syndicates the city has ever seen without any affiliation with the mob, ignoring any honor The Clan held.

"This is like that model robot set I have that took me, like, twenty hours to build", Michelangelo says behind us.

"The box said it should only take an eight year old ten hours, Mikey", Raphael replies.

"Well, I finished it."

Donatello and I are finishing the placing the components of the Foot Soldier on the table in order where we believe they come together. We both notice immediately that the bolts and screws used are not exactly purchased at a hardware store. They are definitely too unique, almost alien. The rest of the body is put together by clamps at the joints of the skeletal system, with wiring connecting behind the reinforced joints. The chassis itself is the most heavily armored portion of the body. We weren't able to open up the torso of any of the Foot Soldiers we were able to destroy, and it looks like we'll have to use a cutting torch to dissect it.

"I'm assuming the CPU inside should give us enough information to figure out where these came from", Donatello starts while holding the head. "I can run a current into the head and restart it's operating system, then I can hack into it and find out what we'll need."

"Then we can reprogram it to be on our side and buy it a leather jacket", Raphael says sarcastically. "I doubt they were sent back in time to protect us."

"No", I say. "But they were sent from somewhere."

I'm fighting back a yawn from my lack of sleep. It's been three nights since I last slept. I finished a mission with the League, then this case fell on my lap. If not for the severity of the situation, I would have waited on it, or deferred it to the League. But since my company was involved, including a band of ninjas, I had no choice but to see this first by myself. I met up with the turtles roughly nine hours ago, and now they're deep in the case as well.

"Earth to Batman", Donatello says to me. "I said that I've got the CPU up and running."

Zoned out.

"Work on that", I say composing myself. "I think I need to..."

"Morning guys!"

I quickly spin around as the turtles casually look towards the doorway. A woman enters the opened doorway, carrying two grocery bags. The turtles don't even act surprised, more as though they had been waiting for her. They never said anything about a women who could possibly pop up here at any time.

"Sorry I'm late with your breakfast guys, but I...had to...I..."

She walked halfway towards us, and stops dead in her tracks the second she sees me. I recognize this woman, her name is April O'Neil. She used to be a reporter for a television station here in New York, now she is archaeological antiques dealer. How you transition from the one job to the other one, I have no idea.

"The...The B...Bat..." She mumbles while dropping the bags on the ground.

"Come on, Babe. Be a little more Care...ful?"

She was trailed by someone who I've met personally before years ago. He carried in grocery bags that are now on the floor, while stopping as well.

"Whoa..."

"Great", Raphael says annoyed behind me, now walking towards the stairs. "You guys bring groceries to four talking turtles and a rat, and you go brain dead when you see a guy in a bat costume. I'm outta here, Mikey clean that up."

"Alright, more Cocoa Flakes!" Michelangelo shouts as he moves to pick up the fallen groceries.

"I apologize for not mentioning them", I hear Leonardo say coming from behind. "We forgot how important your secrecy was, but they're family to us. We trust them, and you can too."

"I see", I say not taking my eyes off of the two new guests. "Casey, it's been a while."

April O'Neil snaps back into attention when I mention his name.

"Whoa, wait a minute", she nearly shouts and half turns to Casey. "You...you know him?"

Casey is dressed in clothes he obviously slept in. April, who appears having trouble taking all of this in, is wearing a jumpsuit that matches her red hair.

"We met", Casey says, then approaches me. "Years ago, when I first started out. Batman saved my hide one night.'

"Twelve years", I say. "You tried to stop vandals at Gotham University."

"Yeah, I went there for two years on a hockey scholarship", he says. "I tried stopping some creeps from Blüdhaven College. They were tagging the outside walls of our rink, so I put on my goalie mask and put a hurtin' on them."

"They were gang members affiliated with some Gotham crews that I was following around", I say. "They would have killed you."

I remember Casey had fought fearlessly and with some controlled anger that night, easily handling the gang members. I only stepped in because he could have put them in a hospital, and they were affiliated with Tony Zucco. If Zucco found out any of the young gangs he controlled would eventually end up talking to police - like they would have - he would have put a hit out on them to shut them up before they could talk.

"So...what are you doing in town, and with these guys?" he asks me.

"The Foot drew him here", Leonardo says now standing beside me. "We're helping him out since we have history with them."

April slowly walks to Casey's side, obviously intimidated by my being here. I don't know the extent of everyones relationships here, but Leonardo calls them family. They're as comfortable with each other as anyone could be, I assume. Casey and April walked into their lair like it was a home to them. That comfort can only come from years of camaraderie.

But their relationships together serves practical uses, I'm sure. The turtles can't roam freely above ground, and they need someone to do their daily supply runs. She brought them groceries, after all.

"So you guys just met up and..." April starts while rolling her hands, using them to describe her confusion. "...now you're here?"

"Yes", I say sternly, not willing to admit my amusement in her jumping back slightly at my voice.

Donatello joins us, with his torch goggles resting on his forehead.

"Look April, why don't you two go sit down and Leo will catch you up", he says then turns to me. "You gotta see this."

Donatello walks me over to his work station, while Leonardo walks April and Casey over to the tattered sofa by their TV. Donatello shows me the information he pulled from the Foot Soldier's CPU, then runs though a brief explanation of what he found. Through the headache I've developed from being up too long - and Michelangelo's insistent crunching of his cereal with his mouth open - he showed me that the CPU was running a simplistic program operated by remote to control the Foot Soldiers. The logistics of the hardware are far more complicated than the functionality performed by these robots. They were engineered so efficiently, yet were completely torn apart by us.

Easily.

"Then look here."

Donatello shows on the screen that these Foot Soldiers actually have model numbers that were translated to Kanji by someone who could barely read it, given the many misuses of the lettering. There are plenty of mistranslations, but one word is used that is plain as day.

"Prototype", I say.

"Imagine these things improved upon", Donatello says.

"All they lacked were fluid motion and the ability to dodge attacks", I say. "If they could be drastically improved upon and mass produced, this adds to the problem. Can you trace the signal?"

"Eh", Donatello struggles. "I should be able, but it'll take time."

He turns towards his computer without saying another word, already at work. Donatello takes pride in his knowledge, and wastes no time taking on a task that falls in line with his field of expertise. Michelangelo walks up next to me, finishing off his bowl of cereal with a unnecessary belch.

"Sorry 'bout that", he says wiping off his milk mustache. "You hungry, bro?"

I am, but maybe I should... oh forget it.

"Yeah..." I say hesitantly. "What do you have?"


For living their entire lives underground as mutant turtles, these individuals know how to eat. I know my lack of sleep is always obvious, but even I forget to get a good meal in while I can. Alfred usually has a high calorie, high cabs meal waiting for me when I return from patrols. Normally, it's a large bowl of spaghetti with a half a loaf of toasted garlic bread. It's morning time, and I hadn't eaten since I left my penthouse at ten o'clock last night. I put in a decent nights work to warrant a good meal.

"So", I say looking at Michelangelo, who is half-buried in the lower cupboard in the kitchen. "Healthy foods aren't exactly a staple around here."

"No way, dude", Michelangelo's voice comes out muffled.

"Mikey is pretty much the chef de jour around here", Casey Jones says coming to the table. "If you're looking to eat something healthy, you're better off with fast food than this kitchen."

April follows him with Leonardo in tow. Leonardo explained our situation to them as thoroughly as he could. They seem to take it as an ordinary situation around here, which reminds me of the circles I run in. Yet, it's so different in a sense.

When it's time to enjoy a meal around the table, we take our masks off and pretend to be normal for chunks of time here and there. Personally, it would be kind of silly to have a breakfast with loved ones while looking at everyone through the lenses in my cowl. For the turtles, they patrol the city as they are, they eat as they are, they just live life as they are. They don't have the choice to put on a disguise and take it off at will. If they just stopped a robbery one night, they're eating dinner or watching TV looking the exact same way.

Like a family.

The family I have taken on over the years are not so different, but we don't prep breakfasts or lounge around in our uniforms off duty. I'm out of place in that regard, but this is just another morning for them.

April preps the circular table with plates and utensils. She was extremely taken aback by my presence, given that she was expecting just another breakfast that she seems accustomed to having here. I think with Leonardo's talk with them and Casey's history with me, it left her more at ease.

"I wasn't expecting another person, so sorry if we run a little low", she says in attempt at conversation.

I turn to see her looking back away from me, down at the table. She then slowly looks up again with an embarrassed and apologetic look after being caught.

"It's fine", I say in a less stern voice. "Thank you."

I give her a more relaxed look then I've had on my face all morning. I have no intention of sticking around here and causing problems for anyone. I have to wait for Donatello to trace that signal, but I can't do it if I ignore sleep and my hunger. Since we're all here, we might as well make the best of it.

"I understand you're into dealing archaeological pieces now", I say. "How do you go from reporting to excavations?"

"What's the difference, right?" she answers in a half laugh. "It's not like I could continue with the station after I starting hanging around these guys. How can you keep reporting news when you constantly protect the existence of the biggest news story in the city? If I were still a reporter, I would have ran to the bathroom on the phone to get the scoop that you were in town."

"Not if I stopped you first", I say with a full-on smirk.

Leonardo, Michelangelo and Casey let out laughs as April's comfort completely went away.

"Good one, dude", Michelangelo says finally coming out of the cupboard. "Found the sauce, guys!"

Casey was boiling noodles and pan-frying hamburger meat when Michelangelo looked for spaghetti sauce. After constantly badgering me with questions, I finally let out that spaghetti sounded good. It seems that everyone couldn't react quick enough to get it going, even if some of them found that an odd choice for breakfast. Michelangelo seemed the most excited to prep the meal, since he probably could eat anything at any time.

"Done guys", Casey says putting two containers on the table full of noodles and meat sauce.

This is it.

Everyone takes their spot at the table, save Raphael who's sleeping and Donatello who's still working on that Foot Soldier. Splinter remained in his study while no one had heard from Karai.I stand hesitantly with a sudden realization.

I don't do this.

I can't do this.

There's something inside of me screaming at how wrong this is. I've exposed myself so much to people I haven't even known for more than a day. It's like Jervis Tetch developed another warped reality to trap me in. Everyone sits as Raphael appears out of nowhere.

"Smells good, gang", he says taking his spot, but not before flicking the side of Michelangelo's head. "So bat, no cave droppings for you this morning, huh? Gonna eat wit the rest o'us?"

I say nothing as a sudden jolt of regret jumps inside of me.

"Here", he says while kicking a chair that perfectly slides and stops when it hits my legs. "Better sit down before you break Mikey's heart. Or do you want us to put up a bar over the table so you can hang upside down?"

Everyone laughs as I get even more uneasy. I can't believe I'm being razzed by him. Everyone was staring at me for a moment, but shrug in unison and begin to serve themselves. They're using the tactic to go about normally to make me feel even more awkward. When the devil is Donatello going to finish with that...

"So everyone is here this morning", I hear Splinter say coming from behind, like the rest of these ninjas seem poised to do on a regular basis. "April, Casey, good morning to you."

"Good morning, Master Splinter", they both say in unison and with genuine respect.

"Good morning my sons", Splinter says to the turtles.

"Good morning, sensei", they say in unison.

"Even you have joined us", Splinter says while I stay perfectly still. "A place at the table waits for you, my friend. You mustn't let your food get cold."

I slowly reach for the chair at my legs, then sigh to myself as I sit in the spot between Raphael and Michelangelo. The empty bowl in front of me is large enough to give me my usual serving after a patrol. The turtles sitting at my sides are eying me as they eat without missing a beat. I turn to Michelangelo, who is slurping a strand of noodle in his mouth, with a mess of red sauce around his lips. I then turn to Raphael, who winks at me while chewing at a meatball.

"Knock it off, you two", Leonardo says from across us.

"Yes mom", Raphael says under his breath.

The table goes silent as Splinter sits down at the last spot available. I must be in Donatello's seat, who is still taking his sweet time figuring out that signal.

"You should have seen them my first time here", April finally says breaking the silence. "I woke up from being unconscious and found four talking turtles and a giant rat in a kimono saying hi."

"I wake up at night shaking just thinking about that scream, April", Raphael says then turns to me. "Bat, this lady gets jumped by a bunch of Foot and I bring her back here. She wakes and BAM, starts screaming her head off. Gratitude, I tell ya."

"Hey, I took you guys back to my apartment and made you dinner", she says in defense. "I saved enough frozen pizzas for a party I was planning for that weekend and you cleaned me out in one night."

"I miss that loft", Casey said. "It was a really nice building."

"You were in there for two seconds before it burned down", April says while pointing her fork at Casey. "What do you remember besides us trying to get the heck out of there?"

"Well, it was a nice location", he says slurping up his food.

Before I knew it, Michelangelo had served my bowl. I look down at it, and it looks really good. The smell of it is just like Alfred's, but there's more meat in this. I reach for a fork with my gloved hand. I feel absolutely ridiculous eating like this. I hate eating in the Watchtower cafeteria while the rest of the League eat food casually with one another in full uniform. I know what I do for a living, but I still can't take anyone seriously who eats with a mask on their face.

"You must take time to relax yourself when the time is given to you, my friend", Splinter says to me as he shakes Parmesan cheese onto his food. "The world is a large place to make safe, but we cannot do our duty if our most basic needs are not met."

Splinter's right, and I finally stick my fork in the spaghetti. Everyone else seems to be more relaxed now and they continue with their meal. Michelangelo places the Parmesan cheese in front of me and flashes a large, spaghetti-stained grin. He turns back to his meal and speaks as he starts to eat again.

"Awesome, I'm eating spaghetti with the Batman."

I start to eat with everyone and decide to take another step on my social progression.

"Oroko Saki", I say as everyone looks at me while they still eat. "I knew him."

"The Shredder?" Leonardo asks. "How did you know him?"

I wait until I finish chewing my food to continue. This isn't so bad.

"When I was training under Yoru sensei in Japan, Oroko Saki visited our dojo one week. He spoke to us as a favor to Yoru, as a representative of the Foot Clan. He came to our dojo along with Hamato Yoshi."

Everyone continues to stare at me, but with a gleam of surprise in their eyes. Even April and Casey appear to know these names. I imagine Splinter had gone over the turtles' story for them.

"Small world, huh fellas?" Raphael says taking another fork full.

"How long ago was that?" Leonardo asks.

I hesitate, but find it easier to share information with everyone at the table. I know none of what I say will leave their lair.

"When I first left home at twelve", I begin. "I traveled the world. I then found myself in Yoru's tutelage. I trained and grew under him for six years."

I stop to take another scoop of my food as Raphael speaks up.

"So what happened?" he asks. "You one of those problem kids your folks sent away to teach you a lesson?"

I stop chewing and stared at my bowl for a moment. Everyone was paying close attention to me while I was talking, and now notice my abrupt silence. I stay silent for a moment, then decide to let it out.

"My parents were killed when I was eight", I say placing my fork down in the bowl.

Everyone remains still, then slowly look down at their plates.

"Hey, I... I'm sorry bats", Raphael says apologetically. "I didn't know."

I pick my head up and stare at nothing, really. Just looking blankly as I begin to speak again.

"I was there when it happened, and I swore on their grave that I would fight injustice with my every breath. I swore that no one would suffer the loss I had suffered. I spent twelve years in extensive training from that point on, and I've defended Gotham for the past fifteen years."

Everyone looked up at me again while I spoke. I can't understand it, but it actually felt... good to say that. Therapeutic, actually. It was thrown around before, but a lot of people suggested I seek therapy to help with my loss. I think Barbara suggested therapy just for the heck of it. It really does take a lot off of you to open up to strangers like I did just now. My training and logic would tell you I have just made the most fatal mistake I could make. Yet, Splinter's words and the kind, welcoming look in everyones eyes give me a comfort I haven't felt in a long time.

To them, I'm just the Batman. But, they know more than anything that it's the person that drives me to do what I do. It's the person that struggles with the pain that my life has endured. They welcome me not as an ally, but as a welcomed guest. The casual nature by them could almost be considered foolhardy, but this is how they live their lives. I don't intimidate anyone at this table enough to not treat me like a person, and I can't even say that about the Justice League.

"So, eight years old you say?" April asks me in a tone she hadn't used with me all morning.

I look at her, and already I see the reporter's intuition return to her. It won't take long for her to put the pieces together.

"Hey, when Mikey was eight, he couldn't stop falling off chairs for the life of him", Raphael says with a laugh. "So you just upped and took off to train for cracking heads in your city? I'm down with that idea, I'd probably have Gotham looking like a peaceful Utopia if anyone did that to my family."

"Raph, you'd probably end up causing more trouble than anything", Leonardo chimes in.

"Really, o'fearless?" Raphael shoots back. "What would you do? Be all 'Look at me, I'm Leonardo'. You'd find a suit to put over your fat shell and say stuff like 'vote for me and I'll clean up this town by lecturing the bad guys and playing patty cake with your kids' or some garbage like that."

Everyone tried their best to hold back a laugh, with April actually letting out a snort, and covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'd vote for you, Leo", Casey says finally.

"Look Leo", Raphael starts again. "You got one meat head on your side. Way to start."

Everyone gives up and lets out laughter, with even Splinter showing an amused look on his face. Leonardo blushes heavily, then looks down to continue eating.

With that back and forth between the brothers, I finished my bowl. Casey makes good spaghetti, despite the lack of any toasted garlic bread.

"I got it!" I hear Donatello shout from his work station.

That's my cue.

"Thank you very much for the meal", I say.

I stand up politely, yet swiftly and walk towards Donatello. When I stood up, I noticed from my vantage point that Karai was above us looking down from one of the rooms. She must have watched us all sit at the table together. I think she noticed me seeing her as she turned away and back into the room.

"Hey, bat", Raphael says as I walk away. "This ain't no restaurant, come clear this bowl out."


I enter Splinter's study where I find him and Karai kneeling down next to each other. Karai is eating from a bowl full of noodles, but notices me from the corner of her eye. She finishes her current mouthful and places her chopsticks inside of the bowl, and places the bowl on the ground. I approach them as she refuses to look me in the eyes.

"Thank you for agreeing to this, my friend", Splinter says to me. "There is much to be done, but so much more to be said before we can continue."

I managed to get a four hour nap in one of the vacant rooms the turtles have set up. I feel a little better, but I'm going to need a full night's rest before too long. After Donatello showed me what he found, Splinter all but demanded that I rest for a while if I intended to continue with this mission. When Splinter showed me to my room, he asked that when I awoke, to meet him in his study. I imagine that he knows of the connection between Karai and I. She believes I killed her brother, but he chose to let the volcano claim him all those years ago.

"Of course, sensei", I say as I kneel down.

"Karai and I have discussed many issues", Splinter starts. "But mostly about her lost brother."

I nod as Karai remains still.

"We agree that there is much not known of her brother's death", he continues. "We wish to hear your side."

Karai, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. It's taking her a lot to be in my presence right now, and she appears to respect Splinter as much as I do.

"The loss of my brother was crushing to me, Batman", she starts with her eyes closed. "I dedicated my whole life to the ways of the ninja as my brother had done. We were only separated by ten years in age, but he treated me as an equal from my first steps. We had no family, and he had raised me until I could wield a sword. He was more than a brother to me, but a father."

Her eyes remained closed, as water begins to build in her eyes. She does nothing to stop the single stream go down her cheek as she continues.

"Because of a man, we were banished from our dojo", she continues. "He was there to train from America, a rich man named Wayne, and I remember him well. His lies cost my brother his honor, and we fled with Oroko Saki. For years, he spoke of vengeance, and he devised a way to reclaim his honor. That is, until you interfered."

She stops for a moment, then opens her eyes and sharply looks me in the eyes.

"You were the protector of Wayne's city, Gotham", she says. "You saw Gotham's favorite son was threatened, and you acted accordingly to your duties. You succeeded in thwarting my brother from achieving his vengeance, and he was honorable enough to know his defeat by leaving Gotham and Wayne to rot."

Karai's emotion is gleaming at this moment. Her deepest feelings for her brother are obviously what drives her as a person. I wonder if her brother even bothered to reveal my identity to her.

"Then you show up in Japan to thwart my brother once again", she continues. "He chose to take his vengeance against the dojo that banished him instead of the man solely responsible. When he returned from Gotham, he had grown distant. He ordered me to remain with the Foot Clan as he left to gain his vengeance once and for all. The madness in his eyes, I can never forget his look. You changed him, and then you followed him here to finish him."

"I followed him here because he kidnapped the daughter of the man who trained me, who trained all of us."

She looks at me not knowing what to say, then a sudden realization took hold of her. From the corner of my eye, I see a slight smile on Splinter's face.

"It's...not possible."

"I've dedicated my life to fight suffering and injustice, Karai", I begin as I deactivate the fail safes on my cowl. "The loss I took in my life drove me to do good in a world that is dying all around us. I have protected the innocent for years in a fight that I can't win, that I won't win, and a fight that will possibly claim my life in the end."

I move my hands up to my cowl, and push back revealing the familiar face she knew as a child.

"Wayne...San..."

"Your brother knew who I was, what I was", I continue as Bruce Wayne. "His choices in life lead to his demise, Karai. He attempted to rob our dojo of its honor one night, and I unfortunately was the one who had to witness it. But I am NOT responsible for taking his life when I offer my own night after night to the innocent. I will not dishonor the memory of my family, or the ideals I devoted my life to. You remember those times when we spoke when you were young. I told you how my parents' death made me want to change the world. This is the best I can do, and I wouldn't waste everything I achieved, everything I promised to end the life of anyone."

She looks at me with a shock that begins to subside. I place my cowl back on and stand to my feet. She looks down at her knees as she now tends to the tears on her face.

"My brother was not an evil man", she struggles to say.

"His honor was too great to be an evil person, Karai", I say as Batman. "He made a mistake and was banished for it. Before he could decide to reach out to find good in this world, evil took advantage of him. He would be proud to know that very evil could not do the same to his beloved sister."

She doesn't move her face from facing the ground, but her voice is as clear as can be when she curses out her next word.

"Saki."


I'm back on the rooftop of my hotel as the night sky takes hold. I was able to leave the turtles' lair earlier on without being seen and was able to change into a stash of clothes I left on a neighboring rooftop. I got back around four this afternoon and checked up with everyone back in Gotham, the Watchtower and the Metrotower. When I saw everything was in order, I allowed myself a shower and some more sleep.

"You're late", I say as the turtles appear behind me.

"We had chores to do, and we still had to sleep from last night", Raphael says.

I turn around to see not just the turtles, but Casey Jones, Karai and two Foot ninja. Karai and Leonardo approach me and I meet them halfway. The air blows slightly tonight, just enough to give a comfortable coolness to the night. Everyone looks refreshed and ready for the night's duty.

"There's nine of us", Leonardo starts. "Karai brought some...help."

"These two foot ninja are loyal to me, and not that fool Saki", she says. "Their skill are among the elite and are ready to reclaim the Foot Clan's honor."

The two ninja stand in attention as Karai motions to them.

Donatello traced the origin of the signal back to Manhattan, directly underground. From where we're at, the point that Donatello zeroed on is roughly fifteen miles away. When we went over the information earlier, we determined the possibility that there would be more efficient Foot Soldiers waiting if there was an underground complex.

"So, like, do you got a Batbus that's gonna take us over there?" Michelangelo says, prompting his brothers to sigh in unison.

"No", I say.

"Well the van is out of commission", Raphael says. "We gonna take a taxi or something?"

"Not exactly", I say as I raise my hand to my ear. "Ok, J'onn. Nine, to the coordinates I gave you."

"Hey, who's batnut talking to?" Raphael says as I bring my hand down.

Karai looks me in the eye, this time with a different look on her face.

"You go out of your way to bring good to this world, when you can sit comfortably away from it", she says to me.

"It's who I am", I say as a light starts to engulf each one of us.

"Whoa, dudes!" Michelangelo shouts. "Scotty's beaming us up!"

Karai's face now holds a smirk, looking at me with a comfortable confidence.

"Your parents would be proud", she says as we all disappear from sight.