Burn Image

Chapter 3-

The Scars

Rated 18+

For "mature" scenes, and Gore

Note to Readers: If you don't want to read about a non-canon temporary intense pairing then this isn't the chapter for you.

"What do you MEAN he doesn't have time for calls?! This is important!"

"I'm sorry Master Shredder, but I-"

"This is unacceptable! You tell him to call me right away or I will come down there myself!"

"Yes, ma'am. But we ARE hard at work on the information that April gave us the other day. We've been running through all the blood samples again, but nothing else appears similar. Since we can't study the bodies of the victims we can't be sure, but when going over Commander Leonardos blood it would appear that he has a healing factor in his coding. We took a sample from Commander Michelangelo and his blood is the same. But we still can't be sure that these are the reasons that the people are after them."

"I don't need excuses or you to re-explain everything to me that I already know! You tell Donatello that he had better call me by 4 pm tomorrow or I will pull the funding from his other projects! Make that perfectly clear!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

SLAM

The phone slammed down onto the table beside her. Then followed the same action with her hands as she gritted her teeth. "Dammit..."

Karai's hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore her full armour, "How can I protect them?"

The door creaked open into the meeting room, and she quickly turned around.

"Karai, it's time to go."

Her eyes softened at the orange clad turtle that stood at the door. His smile trying to worm its way into her heart. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was just as worried as she was.

She sighed as she walked over to him. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled at him half heartedly.

It was hard for her to look at Michelangelo. He was taller and thinner than when she first met him. He had been in rough situations before but now that he had matured he seemed to show the severity of situations in his expression. The light heartedness he had once shared on them was only a glimmer in his eyes.

The two stepped out and headed to the elevator. As the door shut they stood in silence. Of course they had a long way down. There was no way that even the new Mikey could keep his mouth shut.

"Were you able to talk to him?"

"No...hehe, but I made a little threat so I should be hearing from him soon."

Mikey smiled at this, "Good. He needs to talk to people, haha."

The door opened to reveal a short hallway. Upon opening the door they entered a large room with precisely 40 foot clan members geared up and ready to go, with Leo standing before them.

"What took you two so long?" He groaned.

"Sorry." Laughed Mikey, but Karai frowned and just walked past them.

"Listen up! This is a simple scouting mission. You will not, I repeat, will NOT engage in any form of combat! If you are attacked you run. Group A will be with Michelangelo, group B will be with me, and group C with Leonardo. Your job is too pick out anything suspicious you may see. I don't care if it turns out to just be a random mugging you happen to witness, you take note of EVERYTHING! Understand?"

Swiftly the ninjas bowed to her and stood awaiting the next order. She turned to her fellow commanders.

"We meet at the roof of the world bank in four hours."

The two brothers nodded to her and without a moment passing every ninja in the room disappeared.

Despite the finesse and skill each group held...they were met with no luck.

The moon shone bright above them. Mikeys team moved swiftly but in strange serpentine patterns. If anyone could see them they would think this team to be unorganized. But they would be far from correct.

"Commander Michelangelo." Called one of the ninja who caught up beside him.

"What's up?" Smiled Mikey as they stopped on a roof top and the others ran beside them.

"...What ARE we looking for?"

Mikey instantly lost his smile and looked stern but in a sense that made him appear tired and weak. The cold winter wind was the only sound that came between them now.

Across the city Leonardo slid in and out of alleys rather than the roofs. Shadows became their warm friends.

"Commander Leonardo."

"What is it?"

The two stopped as the other snuck ahead. Not that even Leo could detect them.

"Um...if you don't mind me asking...what are we looking for?"

For a moment Leo didn't say anything, but finally turned back, "Same thing as always...those mass murdering weird-os."

"Right..." Even the foot ninja could tell that they weren't being told the whole story just through Leos voice.

"Master Shredder." Whispered one of the Foot Ninjas that caught up to her.

"Did you find something?"

The ninja shook his head, "No, it's just time to meet up with the others."

Her eyes seemed like they were holding back tears at the sound of his words, but the rest of her kept her calm leader stance, "Very well." She flicked her hand and her squad followed behind. Please tell me they found something...

As they leapt through the shadows Karai placed her finger tip to the collar on her neck and pressed a button, "Nightwatcher, do you copy?"

Miles away, sitting on the edge of a roof looking down at a busy New York street despite the fact that it was 4 am people were either heading home from bars or they were leaving for work that started way too damn early.

He didn't jump as a crackle went through his collar. He raised his hand up, "Nightwatcher, go ahead Shredder..."

"Nope, 'fraid not...There wasn't a single victim last night as far as I'm concerned. Looks like Quiver is watching his steps, hehe...WHat? No! I am not getting cocky! Dammit woman-...yes. Nightwatcher out..."

Raph removed his hand from the collar and sunk his head, "How can I protect my family when we can't even find anything..."

Karai leapt up the final windows to the top of the World Bank. She grabbed the edge, but couldn't help but notice that her squad leapt past her onto the roof directly...why hadn't she been able to do that? She wondered. She started to pull herself up the roof but was met with two giant hands lifting her up instead.

"What happened?" Asked Leo as he raised an eyebrow.

"...Just a minor miscalculation."

"Well that miscalculation could have sent you plummeting towards your death." Complained Leo as he crossed his arms.

Mikey smiled as he walked up beside him, "Yea, but good thing she's got someone like you always looking out for her." He teased, but both parties ended up glaring at him bitterly.

"Did you find anything?" She asked as she folded her arms.

Both shook their heads.

"Everything was cleared out...nothing happened tonight..." Added Mikey to his head shake.

"Then...we'll just have to come out again tomorrow night." She groaned.

Leos serious face melted into a concerned one, "You can't do this every night. You've got-"

She placed a hand up to silence him, "Don't concern yourself with that. This is a little more important." She looked back to him only to find him making the "you're talking too much" sign with his hand, to which she was not amused.

"Look...Karai, all I know is that no matter how many times we go over the city...those Burn people know what they're doing...they're only going to leave clues they WANT us to find...I don't need our Commander dropping from the stress. I would prefer if Mikey and I just took squads out every night. You should be back at Technodrome, dealing with your other problem." As he said this he found himself gravitating closer and closer to her. When his elongated sentence finally ended he froze in his tracks having realized it himself. Her eyes showed how tired she was and how much she was HATING to admit that he was right.

"But you're saying it like...I'm just getting in the way." Both Leo and Mikey practically jumped out of their shells from the tone in her voice. Even a few of the Foot Ninjas next to them that had heard her jumped. She sounded so defeated.

"N-No, Karai. That's not it. You're tired from this other thing, and when you come out here it shows in your performance. I'd rather you be able to handle yourself out here rather than me having to look back every ten seconds to make sure you're okay."

A scowl spread across her face, "Then DON'T look back. I can handle myself."

"Obviously you can't!" Both were back to their old selves.

As Mikey looked back and forth from each one he finally stepped in, "Okay dudes. Time to take a breather. Why don't we go home, and you can fight about this AFTER you both have actually had a decent night's sleep."

Neither one wished to comply with MIkey's request, but they both knew he was right. They didn't speak for the rest of the night.

"Dammit!" A book found its way into the mirror on top of Karai's dresser, "Who does that little blue dork think he is!?" She grabbed a small vase next to her dresser and threw it blindly.

KLUNK!

The loud hollow sound filled her ears and she turned around as the glass shattered around the object that had fallen.

Despite the fact that she was barefoot she ran over to the object that had fallen and fell to her knees. She lifted it up. Her fathers helmet...She solemnly stared at it. She missed her father very much. But that's not what concerned her right now.

Her eyes went from sad to plainly neutral. It was almost as if the helmet itself was possessing her. Demanding that she put it on.

"This situation I am in Father...you would have had it taken care of immediately...how did you do it? How did you always know which step to take next? What made you so fierce and merciless..."

The door to her room opened up, but she didn't bother turning to look just yet.

"He had hate to drive him to the end of his road..." Said the voice that Karai immediately identified as Raphael.

She heard his footsteps quicken to her, and before she could even turn around she felt herself being whisked off the ground and scooped into his arms. The helmet slipped from her grasp and she came back to reality.

"Raph!? What are you doing!? Put me down!"

Despite her anger she didn't strike him as she normally would have and he set her down on the side of the bed. In her sitting position she could finally see why Raph had so hastily decided to lift her away from where she was. Her lower legs were covered in blood from the glass of her broken vase.

Before she could say anything Raph was back over to her and pulling little slivers of glass from her leg.

"What the hell were you doing sitting in glass? That some kind of weird thing you're into now?" He joked as he started cleaning off the blood.

"What are you doing back already? I told you to stay away from your brothers." She wanted to be angry, but she still smiled at him as he continued working on her legs.

"Wanted to ask ya somethin. Mikey called me after you guys got back tonight. He said you didn't find anything. I figured."

Her nose crinkled and she furrowed her brow, "So are you saying we wasted our time?"

"No...just saying that if they really are after my brothers and I...they'll come for us. No point in goin' out and looking for them. I don't think they're going to have any more random targets."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well...if they were after blood of people that couldn't bleed...and now they've found blood that can actually heal...then what's the point of hunting normal people anymore?"

Her eyes widened in realization. Raphael was right. There was no point. They were in a waiting game now, and it probably wouldn't be long.

Karai sighed as Raph started placing band-aids over the cuts that needed them, "Then we need to move all of you out of the country tonight. That way they can't find you."

Raph shook his head, "If they don't find us soon then they'll start going after humans again. It's a no win situation unless we deal with them on their terms."

She groaned, "I wish I could do more..." She turned back to face Raph who was now staring at her from completing his task.

"You've done enough. Leo will go on and on about how you are too stressed to take on this mission, but I know he just doesn't want to see you hurt again."

"Again?" She cocked her head to the side, curious as to how she had already been hurt.

"I mean physically...let me see how that's healing up by the way. I wanna see if it looks better than Leo's little eye scratch." He joked.

She sighed as she slowly lifted her long pajama sleeve to reveal a large scar circling up her arm three times. It had faded significantly.

"It's healing pretty well. Good."

"It's a year old...I would hope it'd almost be gone by now."

"We've all got scars we can't erase...some physical...some emotional." Raph closed his eyes as he said this, almost as if he was trying to hide any feelings that he might give away through his eyes.

"Raph..." She lifted one of her hands under his chin to try and raise his face back to hers, but instead he gently grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her palm.

"Don't worry about me Princess. You've got other things on your mind. And I hate seein' ya be all "sentimental" like this. It's just not you." For a moment, there was silence as Raph still didn't release her hand. His eyes still shut. He wasn't kissing her palm anymore, but he rested his lips there regardless, "How is your whole...grandparent situation working out?" Said Raph trying to change the subject.

"I hate seeing you like this too." She moaned, but she found it impossible to not spill her guts to him, she needed someone besides April to listen. "...They're coming here on Monday...if I don't find someone by then...then they're choosing someone for me..." Her eyes began to well up. Since her Father's death her Grand Parents had taken over every aspect of her personal life. Wanting her to get married and have her husband take over the foot clan. But they wouldn't just let anyone take that title. She hated this. If she was in a normal family no one would give a crap. But being who she was...she had no escape from the protocol of her life.

Tears started to fall from her eyes without control. She desperately tried to stop them before Raph could notice, but it was too late. "How can I help all of you if I'm stuck playing house wife to a guy I don't even know?"

Raph felt for her plight. Truly he did. He knew that this would not make Karai happy, and seeing her completely out of character like this almost made his stomach flip upside down...but at the same time...he kind of liked seeing her weak like this. He was happy that even though she didn't want to be this way that she trusted him enough to let it all go in front of him.

"Hehe, imagine what Leo'd say if he saw you like this?" He laughed

"Fuck Leo! He doesn't care about me! I'm just in his way. The only reason he needs me is because I can give him the resources he needs."

Raph shook his head, "That's not the only reason he needs you...he's just really bad at showing it."

"Like you're any better." She complained.

The room fell into silence as Karai tried to hold back her tears. Raph always liked how loyal Karai had been to her family. Even going so far as to marry a possible loser just to make her family happy. She had fought it off for so long, but now she was forced to suffer with whatever her Grandparents chose.

He let his eye peer open to look at the girl before him. Right now, she didn't look like the bitch she had been since the moment he had met her. Seeing her look so defeated and pathetic almost got Raph going a little.

He felt disgust for himself for even thinking it. Was he one of those sadistic perverts? He only liked girls in this way when it looked like he had defeated them in some way? Though in reality Raph could NEVER hurt a girl this way. He never liked seeing anyone in pain that was outside of just messing around.

But this time...her hair hung loosely around her shoulders, the tears on her face almost made her seem elegant. Her pajamas clung tightly to her revealing the shape of her body. He almost couldn't bare it.

"Like you're any better", She had said. Those words rang through his head...was it an invite? No, it couldn't have been. She wasn't that desperate. Right?

He decided to take the chance. The atmosphere around him filled his head and made everything go very blurry. It was almost as if he couldn't control himself anymore. He had never seen himself as some kind of romantic, but even still it was as if he just knew what to do.

Without her permission he started kissing lightly up her arm that he had been holding for so long. He only made it part way up until he reached her waist and started lifting up her shirt just enough to begin kissing up her side.

He was in such a daze that it hadn't even clicked with him that she wasn't stopping him.

Karai had never had her bare skin touched like this before. She had kissed Leo a long time ago, and had had a few playful moments with him when they were younger, but since then she hadn't had time to even think about it. She knew it was wrong, but she didn't want to stop Raph.

She allowed her shirt to continue to slide up her body until it was finally discarded on the floor.

With one long trail from the bottom of her ribs Raph licked all the way up her neck and gently placed his lips against hers. She practically melted in his hands that were now placed behind her head and the center of her back. She leaned back into them as they continued to hold her up. Their eyes closed as the both slipped into the moment.

Her tongue finally danced across his and she felt him nervously jerk. Slowly he started placing his knees on her bed over her. Part of him liked this feeling of dominance, but another part of him feared what Karai might do if she changed her mind, but the even worse part...was Raph feeling as though he didn't deserve this over his brother.

Raph knew all too well that after Karai's father had been killed there had been almost literally nothing between her and Leo. At least not with words or physical actions towards each other. Raph could see it in their eyes. Their desperate clawing for each other. Thinking about this made him feel guilty. He pulled himself back up and gently let go of Karai as he turned his head.

"Wh-what's wrong?" She asked almost nervously. He could hear her real tone start to over take her once more.

He shook his head, "This isn't right...Leo...he'd be heart broken if he ever found out."

Karai stopped breathing for a moment and Raph knew it. He nervously looked back to her as she covered her chest with her arms. She started to blush and kind of pull away but another part of her wanted Raph to grab her again.

"You're too good...Why sacrifice what you want for him?...Or...do you not want me?"

Raph felt like he was going to hurl. He could feel his own excitement stirring below and it was hard to contain. He had never been this far with a girl, and he had NO idea where he was getting it all from. "It's not that...I don't want you...I mean...I'm not really into you...that way so it wouldn't be right for me to-..." He turned his head back to see her half mast eyes staring at him. Her lips slightly parted open, glossy and inviting.

"No one says you have to be in love with me for us to have a good time." She said playfully which only made his heart jump more. "Leo isn't going to find out unless we tell him. Secondly...it shouldn't matter. He was never going to make a move on me...and frankly...I have too much pride to make a move on him now...I don't want him to win. I want him to be the same Leo he was when I met him...and tried to kill him, but you get the idea. Besides...after this weekend...I won't have to worry about my own choices anymore...let me make this one last stupid decision."

He sighed sharply as he clearly mulled over the idea in his head, "Is this an order?"

"Only if I have to make it one." She replied seductively. It was too much for him. He couldn't hold back anymore, and she had clearly given him the Green light.

He practically lunged to her, forcing her back onto the bed. One arm wrapped tightly around her as the other went straight to removing her pajama shorts. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she held herself to him tightly. She fell back and slowly started unhooking his armour. Letting each piece land on the floor with a loud thud. Finally he was stripped down to nothing.

He arched himself over her to get one last look at her before he turned off the lights. He had seen her in a swimsuit many times, but seeing her in just her thin underwear and covering her chest with her arms. It was different. It was intoxicating. He didn't feel like this was wrong anymore.

He wanted more than anything to feel needed even if only for a night, and she wanted anything that could help her take a stab at her fate. She was just as inexperienced as he was, but she lacked the shyness he had in the situation. The lights turned off and he was back over her instantly. Feeling every corner of her. Her skin was soft. Softer than he thought possible. The cherry blossom perfume she had been wearing for years melted his brain now. He couldn't hold back anymore once her red lips mouthed his name.

As Raph began to get a little more forward in his actions, trying to make it more comfortable for him to insert himself she played with the tail ends of his mask. Her mind slipped back into a conversation with Leo. How he wouldn't let her remove his mask, because he didn't want her to see.

Instantly Karai collected herself, she decided she wouldn't do this at all if Raph kept his mask on. But she didn't want him to leave either. She was just as hot and bothered as he was. She nervously slid her finger tips to the sides of his face and slowly started to place her fingers underneath his mask.

She noticed him stop his movements for a split second and she stopped trying to lift the mask off his face. She nervously waited for his next action. He took one hand of his and placed it over one of her hands on his face.

She clenched her eyes shut. She didn't want the pain in her heart, knowing that even the brothers didn't trust her enough to let her remove the masks. But she was taken by surprise. Instead of pulling her hand off he was pushing her hand up, slowly helping her peel the mask off his face.

Though this night was made of passion and lust even Raph knew that the mask was important. He knew what it meant to Karai having allowed her to remove it. And to be honest...he did trust Karai enough. He didn't care that she would see his whole face.

That moment sealed the deal.

The room was still dark, but Raph could tell by the weight of himself that he had slept longer than he was supposed to. As his eyes opened he noticed Karai beginning to stir as well. She was practically glued to his chest. His hand found its way to the side of her face as he brushed her hair back. He looked at the clock on the table and half chuckled as he looked back to her. "Come on Princess...it's late." He said half jokingly.

She smiled as her eyes began to flutter open, "Just because you did some things that no one else in the world has done to me, doesn't mean you have the right to tell me when to get up."

"And THERE'S the Karai I know." He loudly whispered. "How do you feel?"

"Nn..." She snuggled back up into the comforters, "Sad that I won't have the freedom to make decisions like that anymore...but...I feel like the stress of it has melted away...I don't really know how to describe it. But...I can't feel my legs." She giggled.

He raised an eyebrow as he smiled, "Heh, sorry about that." He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on her forehead.

Knock Knock Knock

"Karai? Are you still in there? I need to talk to you?"

Both Karai and Raph instantly sat up in the bed as they stared nervously at each other. It was Leo.

"A...about what?" She asked as she turned her head to the door. Raph leapt out of the bed and started picking up all of his armour and weapons as quickly as he possible could. Usually he would have been out of this situation in an instant. But whenever it involved his brothers he found his ninja skills to be ...sub-par.

"About last night. Can I come in?" He asked through the door.

Raph looked to her with a face that screamed, "What the hell? Now he wants to apologize to you?"

She merely shrugged at him, "Um. Just a second Leo. I'm naked." It wasn't a lie technically. She leapt out of the bed but found her legs near useless as she hit the floor.

"Are you okay in there!?" Demanded Leo

"Y-yes. Just, fell. I'm okay."

Raph had finally gathered his stuff and through a t-shirt from one of Karai's chairs to her and she quickly slipped it on. He opened the window from her room but quickly sprinted back and planted his lips against hers. She didn't push him away. She gratefully pressed hers back.

"Heh, you haven't fallen for me have you?" Said Raph cockily

She scrunched up her nose and smiled, "I love you." She poked the middle of his mask, "But I'm not IN love with you. Now get out."

"Is someone in there with you?"

She quickly pushed him off and he leapt off the balcony of her room down to the fire escape that started two levels lower. She quickly shut the window and closed the drapes as she sprinted across the room and threw open the door.

Leo gently pushed her aside as he sternly walked past her and started scanning the room.

"What?" She asked as she folded her arms.

"Nothing, Just thought...Thought I heard voices."

"I was on the phone." She harumphed as she made her way back to her bed. Leo turned and noticed she had trouble walking, but then noticed the bandages on her leg. He leapt to her on his knees as he stared at her leg.

"What happened!?" The worry in his voice was worse than Raph's and almost made her jump.

"I broke a vase. That's all."

Leo looked over to the corner of the room where Shredders helmet sat and the glass around it laid.

Leo marked it up as "Father issues" and let the situation go. Suddenly the scent in the room filled him. Her perfume was there but...something else...something familiar...

"Was Raph here?" He asked as he stood up in front of her.

"Um...yes. He stopped by last night with a report. Needless to say he had nothing."

Leo once again looked around the room, "Smells recent."

Karai rolled her eyes.

" ...Why is it so warm in here? My room is right across from yours and it's freezing." Normally the winter air would fill up the top story of Technodrome before the companies heater kicked in.

Karai did her best not to fidget. She knew Leo would quickly pick up on something if she did so.

"What do you want, Leo?" she demanded. Leo quickly decided to ignore his curiosity and turned to her. He wanted to push the situation further but felt that if he was to stay focused on why he was here then he had better just do it and leave the room.

"...Karai,...about last night. I'm sorry I said those things...well...no...I'm not sorry about that. I'm sorry about HOW I said it. You're going through all this stupid marriage crap with your grandparents and I know you're stressed out. Sometimes I forget you're a girl you know?"

Her arms crossed as she perked up one of her eyebrows, "You forget I'm a ...girl?"

Leo jumped from the irritated tone in her voice but quickly collected himself, "Ahem...sorry, wrong choice of words again. But you know what I mean."

"I forgive you, but I'm still mad." She harumphed.

"Why are you still-" He stopped himself and took a deep breath, he decided to let it go. "...I leave before I make my apology worse." He laughed half-heartedly. As he turned away to head out the door Karai managed to catch a glimpse of his eye. The eye that had been scarred by the Children of the New Flame cult. He always had this "hurt" look in his eye since that day, but right now...it looked sad and desperate. She wasn't able to put her finger on the exact word she was looking for. Regardless, it broke her heart to watch him walk away.

"L-

"Karai." As he turned around he stopped, almost surprised knowing that he had just cut her off from calling his name. For a moment the room was filled with silence as they both waited for the other to speak.

"Um...G-go ahead." Said Leo as he nervously looked down.

"No...you go first." Her eyes looked hopeful. Leo had a guess as to what she was hopeful for but he wasn't sure he wanted to take the chance. He instantly lost his nerve.

"...Tonight...just tonight...take the night off. I know you're our leader, and maybe I am just being overprotective but I think just having a night to yourself...you know...to do girl stuff, or...Karai stuff, I don't know. I just think a good day of rest would do you well. Please?"

Normally Karai would have shown her dissatisfaction for this request by talking down to him, but the tone in his voice and the worry in his eyes made her withdraw her would be statements. She nodded, "All right. Just for tonight...Is that all?"

She asked almost hopeful that he would talk to her a little longer.

He responded by nodding to her and once again he began to turn around, "Oh um, Karai?"

"Yes?" She asked a little to excitedly as she stepped closer to him.

"Um...y-you...sigh...make sure you watch those cuts on your legs." He said as if he wanted to say something else. She noticed his gaze linger down to her arm that was scarred from a burn circling around her arm three times. Raph had looked at it the night before even and she had already forgotten that it was exposed in the short sleeve shirt he had thrown to her in his haste to get out of the room.

"I will" She replied as she covered her arm as best as she could with her other hand.

There was no more forcing conversation. The door closed behind him as he left her in peace.

As he shut the door he walked the couple feet across the hallway to the door that lead to his and his brothers room. He walked in and shut the door. No one else was there. He leaned against the wall, made a fist and hit the wall by swinging his hand back. "Why can't I say anything right?" Followed by his hands cupping over his eyes. As he slowly pulled his hands down his face his left one stopped at the scar on his eye where it still peaked out from under his blue mask.

"If I continue with my mission...I'll lose her...emotionally, and any chance of physically that I had..., but if I give it up and just fight that cult whenever they come around...I'll lose her to death...the cult will target her...Sigh...I can't win..."

Leo felt as if he were about to cry. Though these thoughts had gone through his head before he had never admitted them to himself out loud. He slipped down the wall to sit on the floor. He laid his hands over his knees followed by placing his head on top of them.

"How can I lose something I never had?" He thought back to only a few minutes ago when he stood in her room. The smell of her and Raph...it was very obvious to his sense of smell of what they had done. Raphael was stronger, more apparent in his wants, and when he knew he could get something he wanted he'd leap at the chance.

He shook his head. There was no reason to mope around about this. He had more important things to worry about than his feelings. Like the safety of his family.

Once again he placed his hand over his scar, "These are the scars we must take...to protect the ones we love."

Karai sat at the vanity table top in her room. Turning out the lights she stared at the object before her. Her fathers helmet.

Karais eyes glazed over as a hate began to devour her very soul. Her eyes shifted through the dark to the burned scar that twisted its way three times up her arm. It was so old and yet it could still haunt her. It would always be a reminder of the day she wasn't able to protect Leo from being captured...the torture he endured, the distance he had placed between himself and the others, his actions changing his very character. She felt the blame had fallen on her shoulders, especially now that all of the brothers that she had grown to love so much were in danger. "These are the scars we must take...to keep us focused, so history cannot repeat itself." She stood up as she lifted the helmet off the table and slowly placed it over her own head. The much needed darkness spread across her soul.

As Raph sat on the edge of the roof he tried to focus on unimportant things, like the weather, but found it impossible. He was either drawn to thinking about The "Children of the New Flame" which filled him with rage, or he thought about his night with Karai, which made him feel guilty. His Night Watcher costume covered the stab wounds that lay scattered across his body. He removed one of the gauntlets that covered one of the scars. "These are the scars we must take,...to keep my family safe."

Mikey kicked his feet back and forth against the desk that he sat on top of. As he looked around he realized he was gaining irritated looks from every scientist in the room. He smiled and quickly stopped after one of the men cleared his throat, realizing that it was meant for him. He couldn't sit still for to long, but he didn't need to, April made sure the noise re-entered the room.

"I did it...it has to be..."

Mikey curiously turned his head over to April who stood, but laid her upper body over a desk. The map beneath her was scribbled all over with red pen, except now...there was a red circle.

"What is it, April?" He finally asked.

"I think I just found one of their hideouts..."

Ring~...Ring~

"Finally you called me." Moaned Karai as she continued to scribble down notes on papers around her.

"You said call by 4, it's 3:59...I tested my blood as well. Not that I needed to. I could have told you that our blood had a healing factor in its coding."

"Donnie...why would these people want your blood? What could YOUR healing factor do for them?" There was a long pause for a moment as Donnie thought.

"DNA? Cloning? If they were making an army for their cult then they could hypothetically clone us and have an army that could heal itself. Mutate the gene itself. Or perhaps they would attempt a blood transfusion on themselves to see if they could gain the ability. I have never spent much time thinking about our healing factor. More so just being grateful that we had it at all. I'm not sure why our blood specifically does this instead of our skin or anything else, but it does. I'll have to look more into it. Either way...if they end up against those cult weirdos again...I would just make sure that no blood is spilled." He finally finished.

"...They would have an easier time if you assisted them." She added in an almost irritated tone.

"...I've gotta go finish something up. I'll talk to you later." He hung up.

She sighed angrily until her phone lit up and revealed that she had a text message from April. She must have read it over a hundred times in that moment. A smile curled across her face.

"All right...Children of the New Flame...Let's take the fight...to you."

Authors Notes: Not a very action packed chapter, but still a necessary one. But we'll be back to the action in the next chapter! See all of you then!