A/N: This chapter (and maybe the next one) will feature parts (some modified) from "Alien Agenda". Just a heads up!
Chapter Twenty-Four- Pain
Days passed. Then an entire week. All the while, the main piece of gossip in Shredder's headquarters centered on Kuro. She spent days on end in her room; a Foot Ninja brought her her meals so she wouldn't starve. Karai and Dogpound visited often, trying to get her to talk. Every time, they failed; even Shredder came to talk to her, but he could not get her to say a word. By the end of the week, she finally left her room and found herself in the training hall. The Foot Ninjas and Dogpound paused and watched with wide eyes as she mercilessly beat up a punching bag, punching and kicking and slashing with her gauntlets. She let out furious shouts and cries of effort until the punching bag became reduced to shreds of fabric and little piles of stuffing. Then, she fell to her knees and her nails dug into the floor. She breathed hard, her body rocking with silent sobs.
Dogpound cautiously approached the young konoichi. "Kuro?"
Kuro didn't answer. She just stayed in that position for a moment before suddenly collapsing on the ground. Dogpound turned her over to her back and felt her forehead. If only my hands weren't mostly stone. He growled. "Find Shredder and get a doctor!" he ordered one of the Foot Ninja. "Get them to Kuro's room immediately!" He scooped up the konoichi without another word and ran off to her room. He could cradle Kuro in the larger of his arms and used the free one to open the door. But he paused when he entered the bedroom, noting how trashed it looked. Claw marks on the walls, crumpled and torn papers strewn about the floor, the sheets and pillows on the bed ruffled.
"Aw, Kuro." Dogpound sighed, gently laying the girl on her messed up bed. "What's wrong with you?"
"Bradford!" Shredder snapped as he entered with a man in a doctor's coat. "What's happened?"
"I'm not sure." Dogpound admitted. "Nobody knows. Kuro just…collapsed."
"Her vitals are normal." The doctor reported. "Maybe a slight fever…"
"Does she have a fever or not?!" Shredder growled.
"I don't know what to tell you." The doctor said worriedly. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong—"
"Then get out of my sight!" Shredder ordered. The doctor hurried out before the armored man could harm him. Shredder turned to Dogpound. "Are you sure you don't know anything?"
"If I knew anything, I would tell you right away." Dogpound affirmed. "But she won't talk to any of us."
Shredder stared at his daughter for a moment. "Leave her for now." He turned sharply on his heel and walked off. Dogpound stared solemnly at Kuro for a moment before following.
Karai casually walked across the rooftops, glancing around as fellow Foot Ninja followed her. They stopped for a moment and Karai turned to them. "The Turtles have been spotted in this neighborhood." She told them. "So stay alert for any sign of them."
"Booyakasha!"
Karai turned sharply and looked down into an alleyway. What do you know? A sign of them. She put a hand on her sword but held up her free hand to stop the ninjas from attacking. A strange sound mixed with the Turtles' cries of effort, a sound unfamiliar to Karai. She stepped up to the edge and looked down, jumping a little at the sight of the terrapin ninjas fighting some strange metal men with even stranger guns.
"When fight is concluded," one of the men said. "the ones called the Turtles will be defeated by Kraang." The Turtles paid no mind, continuing their onslaught of slicing off limbs and disarming the metal men.
"Fighting robots?" Karai wondered aloud. The Foot Ninja approached behind her, but she once again stopped them, staring at a fallen robot whose arms Leo recently sliced off. Her eyes widened when a strange brain thing with eyes and six legs crawled from the robot and scurried away, making strange, high pitched grunting noises. "Whoa. This town's more interesting than I thought." She mused. Then, her eyes traveled to Leo, and his dark blue eyes locked with her golden brown ones. Karai watched with a mix of amusement and impressed as Leo single-handedly took down the remaining robots, before doing some fancy flips and smirking triumphantly at her. Hmph. Show-off. Karai scoffed. No wonder Kuro lost interest in you. She suddenly blinked. Oh, right! Kuro! She turned and hurried off before the other Turtles could spot her. "Come on!" she hissed, leading the Foot Ninja away. I can't believe I forgot! I was going to check on Kuro before she left!
Karai ran ahead of the other ninjas and reached the headquarters a few minutes before they did. She only waited for them long enough to dismiss them to training before sneaking into her father's throne room. She waited near the clock face, staring down into the room. Dogpound and Fishface were down there, along with an African-American man in jeans and a pink sweater. The man, Baxter Stockman as Karai learned, worked at some metal legs attached to a belt around Fishface. When he finished, the large mutant fish finally pushed himself to his feet.
Dogpound chuckled, amused. "Aw, the mermaid's growin' legs!"
"Please!" Stockman growled. "Settle down!" He turned to Fishface. "Xever, get ready to walk!"
Fishface, formerly known as Xever, smiled in anticipation. Stockman activated the legs, and sure enough they started moving. Fishface smiled as he moved across the floor, but his excitement quickly turned to panic as the legs suddenly twitched and began to run. He slammed into the wall before the legs turned around and ran the other way, forcing him to slam into the steps beside Dogpound who laughed so hard his ribs hurt.
"Fix this!" Fishface ordered Stockman as the legs kicked him in the head. "Or I will bite your head off!" Stockman nervously powered down the legs and stopped the onslaught, but Dogpound continued to chuckle. Even Karai had to stifle down a few chuckles.
"Baxter Stockman!"
"Mister Shredder!" Stockman whimpered. "Uh…how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to witness your failure." Shredder growled, staring down at the man. "My patience is wearing thin."
"Yes sir." Stockman nodded. "I-it's just…..the control mechanism's proving trickier—"
"Enough!" Shredder interrupted.
Time to interrupt. Karai decided. She stood from her spot and jumped down to the floor, some feet behind her father. Stockman jumped, staring fearfully at the konoichi.
"I will give you one more chance." Shredder threatened. "And then I—"
"Father." Karai interrupted, shedding her mask. "We spotted the Turtles fighting some guys in suits. But they were actually slimy brain squids in robot bodies!"
"Your mission is to destroy them and find Splinter!" Shredder reminded her. "Everything else is a distraction!"
"'A distraction'?" Karai repeated with a scoff. "Father, don't you want to know what's going on? Robots and creatures? Splinter's disciples are turtles! Mutants! Your own men got turned into hideous freaks!" She crossed her arms and glared at her father. "Don't you think we should be finding out what's going on? I mean, there's more to life than your vendetta."
"There is nothing more!" Shredder snapped, silencing Karai. He stepped around her and put a hand on Karai's shoulder. "Have you forgotten what Hamato Yoshi did to me? To us?"
Karai looked down. How can I forget when you keep reminding me? But she kept a solemn look, as though the thought of it hurt her.
"Every day that Splinter lives in a stain on our honor that we must wipe clean!" Shredder said firmly. "Stay focused on your mission, Karai."
Karai looked up into Shredder's eyes. "Yes, Father." She put her mask back on her face and walked off. But she paused when she reached the door. "Father, is Kuro still around?"
"No, she already left for her apartment." Shredder reported. "She's spending a few days there to clear her head."
"Oh, all right." Karai nodded. "I just thought I'd talk to her before she left." She stared at the floor for a moment. "Father, I think there's something seriously wrong with her. Like something went wrong with her mission and she feels bad about it."
Shredder narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Karai sighed. "Okay, maybe something didn't go wrong. I mean, this is Kuro we're talking about. She always follows through as far as I know. So, obviously, she succeeded and killed Splinter. But then she comes home and she's acting so…..freaky…."
"M-maybe something spooked her." Stockman tentatively suggested.
"Come on!" Fishface scoffed. "This can't be the first time Kuro's ever killed somebody!"
Everyone paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, has Kuro ever killed somebody?" Dogpound asked.
"What are you saying, Bradford?" Shredder asked in a low voice.
"I'm saying this might be the first time Kuro's ever killed someone point-blank rather than in battle." Dogpound explained. "In battle, you kill from self-defense and your opponent sees you coming. But this kill was more assassin-like."
"So?" Fishface asked.
"So, maybe the shock of the kill was too much for Kuro." Dogpound reasoned. "Yeah, she's tough and all, but everyone has their breaking points. Maybe Kuro didn't like how everything turned out and she's traumatized by it."
Karai turned to Shredder. "Father, do you think you can talk to her? I think you're the only one that can get through and make her speak. I think she needs more than just a friend or surrogate sister to console her."
Shredder thought for a moment. "I will give her a day to gather her thoughts and talk to her tomorrow night."
April kicked at the stones on the ground as she walked, her thoughts wandering. She hadn't seen hide or hair of Kuro— or, Miwa, rather — since the whole "almost-killed-Master-Splinter" incident. April only wished she could help her sister-like friend, truly concerned over where she might be and what might be happening to her. Right now, though, she wished she hadn't left her iPod in her locker before leaving for the weekend. She really didn't want to have to go to school on a late Saturday afternoon, but she soon realized that she couldn't focus on her homework without her music. Besides, the boys were no help after watching her collect spit for the World Wide Genome Project. Mikey wouldn't stop bugging her about it and when Donnie started wrestling with him they almost crushed her laptop. So April decided to distract them with her music, but soon discovered where she last left her iPod.
April pushed through the doors, thankful the janitor left them unlocked. She started up the stairs when a voice made her pause.
"Hello." A middle-aged woman at the top of the stairs greeted. She looked very business-like, holding a folder and wearing light brown shirt and a darker brown skirt, complete with loafers. "I'm Ms. Gamble from the World Wide Genome Project. Are you April O'Neil?"
"Uh, yes." April greeted with a small smile.
"I am here to present your DNA test results." Ms. Gamble informed her, turning to look at the teenager. "Come with me."
"Wow." April raised an eyebrow, albeit suspiciously. "I figured you guys were just gonna send printouts."
"No." Ms. Gamble said. "We don't send printouts. Come with me." She turned fully to April, and she noticed how Ms. Gamble's voice sounded awfully monotone-like.
"Uh, where exactly?" April asked, taking a step back.
"We are going to a place where I will present your DNA test results." Ms. Gamble said simply. "Come with me."
"Um….what did you say your name was again?" April asked, taking another cautious step backwards. She didn't like this at all; and Splinter trained her to be alert and listen.
"I am Ms. Gamble from the World Wide Genome Project." The woman said. "I'm here to present your DNA test results."
"Right." April said unconvincingly. Time to go. I can get my iPod when there aren't weird people hanging around. "I gotta go." She turned to leave, but Ms. Gamble suddenly grabbed her arm in a tight grip.
"Come with me." Ms. Gamble repeated.
April gasped.
Mikey sighed, leaning against the counter and fiddling with his teacup. Splinter suggested tea and time alone would settle his thoughts, but he started losing hope in that ever happening.
One week. He thought. One whole week. And we haven't seen Miwa anywhere. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to reveal her identity to Splinter. But then she might've killed him, and I couldn't just let that happen. I just want Miwa back. I wanna see her smile again; I wanna know that she's okay. I don't care what I have to do, even if I have to go and face Shredder alone. Mikey sighed. "I want you back, Miwa." He finally stood up. I gotta cook something. It'll take my mind off things. "Hey guys! Get in here! I'm cooking dinner!"
Minutes later, Mikey's brothers joined him in the kitchen. Donnie messed around on his laptop. Raph and Leo entered together, both sharing glares that indicated they were arguing (again).
"Okay guys, what do you want?" Mikey asked, trying to sound as cheerful as possible as he opened the fridge. "Omelette pizza? Or pizza omelette?"
"What's the difference?" Raph scoffed.
Mikey held up the large bowl of eggs with a smile. "Okay, you called my bluff."
A familiar ringtone made everyone pull out their T-phones and stare at the screens.
"Hey, did you guys just get a mass text from April?" Donnie asked.
His brothers voiced their confirmation.
"Well, does yours also say she's being attacked by an old lady?" Donnie asked.
Again, confirmation.
"Is that considered an emergency?" Donnie asked.
"I guess." Leo agreed.
Pause…..
"Let's go!" Leo shouted, urging all of them into action.
Kuro pressed herself against the wall, peered around the corner. Sure enough, her target stood down the hall, right in front of the trophy case. Kuro made sure her gauntlets were ready and her mask snug over her head so only her eyes were visible. She moved to jump into battle, but a loud commotion made her pause. She waited and watched, mentally cursing in Japanese when she saw four familiar terrapins. She stayed hidden, though, crouched down and unmoving, as the Turtles fought Ms. Gamble. The woman fought back hard, although soon revealed the more robot side of her when she shot exploding pointed spikes from her elbows. Soon, Ms. Gamble returned to her spot in front of the trophy case, and the Turtles stood ready to face her again.
"All right guys." Leo said. "Let's put old mother hover back in her cupboard."
Kuro groaned along with Leo's brothers. "Merciful heavens, Hamato Leonardo." She ran out towards Ms. Gamble, unsheathing her claws. She stabbed them into the robot's back, holding her still while Leo and Donnie sliced/smacked off the robot's face and arms. Kuro pulled her claws free, but the robot kept advancing towards the Turtles.
"Mikey!" Leo called. "The water fountain!"
"I know!" Mikey cheered. "School has everything!"
"No!" Leo urged. "Spray her!"
"Oh." Mikey pressed the button on the fountain hard, spraying a stream of water that hit the robot's face and caused her to short circuit. She hit the ground and lay there, unmoving.
"April!" Donnie called. "Where are you?"
April burst from the supply closet she hid in and kicked the robot's head. "And stay down!" she growled before turning to her friends. She put a hand on Donnie's shoulder, making him blush. "Thank you guys."
Donnie opened his arms for a hug, but awkwardly realized April didn't catch on. "You are so welcome." He ruffled April's head, but he also had a strange look on his face.
"So what the heck is that thing?" April asked, staring at the robot.
"It looks like a Kraang droid." Leo noted. "Minus the Kraang."
"She said she was from the World Wide Genome Project." April informed them.
"Whoa." Mikey breathed, holding Ms. Gamble's face in front of his like a mask. "How did the Kraang know you sent your DNA spit to the World Wide Thingamajig Project?" Raph turned to snap at Mikey, but jumped with a small scream when he saw Ms. Gamble's face. The shock didn't last long; he punched Mikey soon after.
"The Kraang must've hacked into their system." Donnie deduced. "Who knows what kind of info they could be stealing?"
"April, you better head to the lair where it's safe." Leo told the redhead. "We'll go check out the World Wide Genome Project."
"But first, we gotta take down the East Side High Panthers!" Mikey reported, staring at a poster. "According to that poster, they got it coming."
The boys and April exchanged looks, but refused to gratify Mikey's comment with a response. "Let's go." Leo urged.
"Wait a minute." Raph looked around. "What about…" He looked past April, but didn't see the ninja he swore he noticed before.
"What is it, Raph?" Donnie asked.
"I could've sworn I saw…" Raph looked all around him and noticed a flash of black. "There!"
Mikey turned and his face broke into a smile. "Miwa!"
Kuro spun around briefly and stared, wide-eyed, at Mikey. She resumed her mad break for the door, but Mikey leaped into the air and landed right between her and the doors.
"Miwa, wait!" Mikey pleaded. "Or Kuro! Or Moon Shadow! Whoever you are! Just listen to me."
Kuro didn't move for a while. She just stared at Mikey with her dark chocolate brown eyes. Leo, Raph, Donnie, and April stayed at the top of the stairs, watching them carefully.
"Maybe I don't know your name." Mikey said softly, his focus entirely on the girl before him. "But I know who you are. You're a good friend and an even better sister. And you're confused and angry and you don't know who or what to believe. I don't want to tell you what's right and what's wrong because I'm afraid you'll do something terrible. You decide what's right and wrong, not me or Shredder or even Splinter. Just listen to me when I tell you this." He stood up straight and smiled warmly. "You can trust me. And I would trust you with my life. All I ask is that you give me the chance."
Kuro stared at Mikey for a moment before darting past him and out the doors. Mikey sighed as he stared after her. Leo approached his smaller brother and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did your best, Mikey."
"You guys should go." April encouraged. "If I see her, I'll try and talk to her." She and the guys hurried out the door and parted ways. April jogged down the sidewalk, hurrying to get to the lair where it was safe.
"April!"
April skidded to a halt when a black-clothed figure suddenly landed hard in front of her. "Kuro!" April grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her into an alley. "Or Miwa! Or…..oh I am not getting into that!"
"April, listen to me." Kuro requested, not taking off her hood.
"No, you listen to me." April said firmly, glaring at her friend. "If what the guys and Splinter told me is true, then you are Miwa and therefore you are Splinter's daughter."
"April, I just want to say I'm sorry for—"
"Lying?"
Kuro nodded solemnly.
"You don't have to apologize." April assured. "I never really told you about the guys anyhow. But I want you to know that the guys and Splinter would never lie or kid around with something like Splinter's family. The fact that he lost them hurts so much that he can hardly bear it. So if he truly believes that you're his daughter, and then you're his daughter."
Kuro looked down. "April, it's not that simple for me. I need solid proof. A name carved in a charm doesn't cover it. I was raised by values and principles that contradict everything Splinter and the Turtles say."
"What more do you need?" April asked in a soft voice.
Kuro's eyes narrowed in determination. "I need to talk to someone I've trusted for years. Someone I once called 'Father'." She leaped up to the fire escape nearby and disappeared before April could say another word.
The redhead stared after her friend worriedly. "I gotta get Splinter."