Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Following Splinter's orders the brothers have started searching the city for the missing mutagen but it's been a slow processes despite Donnie's newly created ooze scanner. But still it has to be done which brings us to one of the many thousands of New York's alleyways, in which the brothers are currently searching.
"Don't get so hung up over April Donnie" said Raph, trying to comfort his brother over their recent split from the redhead. "She just needs time. She'll come around."
"Yeah" Donnie sighed, adjusting his mutagen tracker. "Guess you're right."
"Not that April isn't important but has anyone found the mutagen yet?" asked Harry, wanting to focus on something a little less depressing. Apparently the brothers weren't the only ones April wasn't talking to, she'd gone so far as to cut anyone with ties to Harry and The Turtles out of her life. While this didn't really bother the group from Hogwarts given they'd only met during the Technodrome incident, it did sadden Hedwig, Mr. Murakami, and Master Splinter though they each believed it was April's right. It was clear April was trying to go back to having a normal life and that couldn't include them, hopefully she'd let them back in someday.
"No sign of any mutagen" Mikey reported, popping out of a dumpster, a smile on his face. "But check out what I found! An iguana wearing a top hat! Isn't it cool? Why would anyone throw this out?!" Mikey then began playing with the stuffed lizard's mouth, speaking in a horrible British accent though Harry had to admit it was slightly, just slightly better than his. "Hello, governor. How do you like my mon-ockle?"
"Monocle" Donnie corrected.
"Whatever" the orange turtle said dismissively, still playing with the stuffed lizard.
"You do realize that could be a distant cousin" Raph pointed out. "And he's stuffed with sawdust." With this information Mikey quickly threw the lizard away in disgust.
"Quiet you guys" Donnie ordered. "My ooze scanners going crazy again. I told you mutagen was close by"
"Eh your scanners about as useless as trench coat on a turtle" Raph replied.
"Just give him a chance Raph" said Leo. "It's our fault those containers went missing. We've got to find them before some random Joe gets mutated." The scanner led the boys up to the roof of a nearby building, where after a quick search Mikey hit pay dirt.
"Found it!" the orange turtle cheered.
"Maybe you should start looking for a trench coat huh Raph" Harry quips, remembering his brother's earlier comment. "How many does that bring us up to?"
"One…and a half" Donnie answered, causing his brothers to groan in frustration. "Look at the bright side only sixty three more to go." As the brothers discussed their slow progress at collecting the missing mutagen, unbeknownst to them Karai was watching.
"So Potter and The Turtles are searching for the missing mutagen supply. This makes the game so much easier" she smirked, a sinister plan forming in her head. A few nights later the brothers were still on the hunt for the mutagen but sadly they'd yet to find another canister.
"Ugh we've been looking for mutagen for days now, dudes" Mikey complained. "This is so boring I'm gonna scream. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Mikey!" his brothers snapped but Mikey just kept on screaming.
"Ok, ok we get it!" Leo yelled. "We'll take a little break and do something fun. Cool?" Harry, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph jumped at the chance to do something fun after so long. Their mood quickly fell once they heard Leo's idea for fun. "Training session!"
Harry and the others groaned at this since they were hoping for something a bit more leisurely.
"Seriously Leo, I like training too but we want an actual break" said Harry, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey nodding their heads in agreement.
"Guys, Sensei wants me to train you and that's what I'm going to do." Taking a minute to check their surroundings Leo points to an archway designed in Chinese architecture. "You see Dragon Gate over there, I'm going to defend it, like king of the mountain. Now the only way you can get past me is to use traditional close quarters fighting. Got it?"
"Whatever you say fearless leader" Raph replied. "Let's just get it over with." As Leo headed for the gate, Raphael feeling a little mischievous pulls the others aside deciding they should mix up Leo's training session a bit. Positioning himself on top of Dragon Gate, Leo stabbed one of his swords into the tiling, Harry assumed this was for dramatic effect. Drawing his second katana, Leo balanced himself perfectly on the connecting wire as he waited for his first challenger.
First up was Michelangelo, going along with their plan to mess with their uptight brother, Mikey slipped on his earphones and stepped forward.
"What're you doing Mikey?" Leo questioned, confused by his younger brother's antics. But Mikey living up to his reputation as a party dude, fell back and started spinning on his shell completely ignoring Leo. Annoyed Leo charged his brother, kicking up to his feet Mikey evaded his brother's attack countering with a comical bop to the head. The blue turtle swung his sword in retaliation but Mikey simply leaned out of the way, this time countering with a solid punch to the side forcing Leo back.
Regaining his balance Leo charged once more but Mikey had different plans. Using the cable as a spring board Mikey launched himself over Leonardo's head, landing triumphantly at Dragon Gate.
"That's not fair" Leo complained. "That wasn't a real fight." He didn't have long to complain, for Donnie soon stepped up to bat. Drawing his shuriken the brainy turtle mentally ran through calculations plotting all the trajectory of his throwing stars.
Done with his calculations Donnie threw several shuriken, strangely none of them were aimed at Leonardo. Leo was starting to think his brother was off his game, suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his shell.
"Are you kidding me Donnie?" Leo complained, as his brother's strategy became clear. Donatello had the trajectory of his shuriken so they'd ricochet off the surrounding roof tops back at the Leo, effectively attacking him from all sides. Forced on the defensive the blue turtle used his sword to deflect the on slot of throwing stars, by the time Leo had time to catch his breath Donnie had already snuck past him with a triumphant cry. Growing frustrated Leo was next faced with a smiling Harry.
"Alright, show me what you got Harry" he challenged, over the years The Turtles have all developed the ability to track Harry during his teleports. Of course Harry was well aware of this and already had a crazy new idea up his sleeve.
"Keep your eye on the Harry" the boy laughs, charging at his older brother. Leo prepares to clash blades with his younger brother think at least someone was following his orders. He was sorely disappointed when Harry started randomly teleporting around him, slowly increasing the speed of his jumps until it appeared as if the turtle was surrounded by duplicates of human brother.
In keeping with the illusion Harry attacked Leonardo whose quick reflexes saw him block each attack. As he blocked each attack Leo countered with an attack of his own but each time his sword simply passed through Harry revealing it to be nothing but an illusion. Finally once all the Harry clones were dealt with Leo was shocked to see the boy in question smiling as he stood next to Mikey and Donnie on top of Dragon Gate.
"You must use all your senses Leonardo not your eyes" Harry taunted, in a good imitation of Master Splinter. Now completely fed up with his brothers Leo turned to Raphael, not even entertaining the idea that the hot headed turtle would follow his orders.
"Alright so what's your trick?"
"Trick? What're you talking about?" without warning Raph throws one of his sai at his brother.
"Hey! A ninja never throws away their weapon" Leo chastises, knocking the sai away, leaving him open for Raph to shove him off the wire. As he climbs to his feet the sword he left on top of Dragon Gate drops to Leo's feet the name "Lame-O-Nardo" written on it.
"Why do you always have to undermine my training?!" he demands, aware this was most likely Raph's idea.
"You just want us to fight, exactly like you fight!" Raph argues. "But the whole point is to make it to the Dragon Gate anyway we can, right?"
Nothing more to say the brothers return to the lair for the night. As his brothers are busy entertaining themselves Leo decides to voice his concerns to Master Splinter.
"I don't know Sensei, maybe I'm not cut out for this. I don't really think the guys respect me" said Leo, his personal fears and doubts coming to the surface. "I just want to be a good leader."
"Leonardo, a true leader doesn't always impose his will. But helps his followers flourish, grow." Splinter advises, but his son was still having doubts.
"Maybe I shouldn't be leading the team."
"My son, how can your brothers believe in you as leader if you do not believe in yourself?" Leo isn't the only one whose mind was unsettled for across town at the Bradford dojo, Karai was fixated on a torn photo of her mother Tang Shen.
As she imagined the mother she'd never gotten to know, a trio of Foot ninja entered the room each with their weapons at the ready. One of them carrying a sword approaches the kunoichi intending to take her head, only to find their sword stuck in a wooden beam as Karai expertly avoids the attack.
Drawing her tantō, Karai clashes with the Foot ninja forcing him back, suddenly she leaps into the air avoiding a second ninja's mace. Planting her feet into the back mace wielding ninja's head, Karai transitions into a flying kick at the sword wielding Foot, who manages to side step the attack, sensing movement from behind Karai spins around bringing her blade up in time to block the third ninja's kama.
Back flipping away to gain some breathing room Karai faces down all three of her assailants, sheathing her tantō, her eyes narrowed as the trio of ninjas charged. The first to reach her was the kama wielding Foot, Karai flipped over his shoulder and before he even knew what was happening the kunoichi lands a devastating kick to head. Landing on her feet, she turns in time to see the mace wielding Foot approach, sidestepping his attack Karai lands a solid punch to gut sending him to floor. Finally the Foot with the sword charges at the kunoichi, grabbing him by his wrist Karai throws the ninja over her shoulder.
With her attackers now lying beaten on the floor Karai turns to leave, when suddenly the ninjas get back on their feet. The eyes of the Foot ninjas' masks light up and Karai can hear a strange mechanical chirping from her assailants. Once more the trio rush the kunoichi and once more Karai met the challenge. However this time the Foot ninjas were one step ahead of her, anticipating her every move and before long Karai found herself in an arm lock, the sword wielding Foot ninja mere moments away from taking her head.
"Enough!" Shredder orders, walking into the room, the ninja release Karai as they bow to their master. "The Kraang swore these new Foot soldiers would be deadly. They were true to their word."
"I thought they'd finish me off" Karai gasped, unnerved by how close Shredder allowed her to come to death. "But you wouldn't let them do that right father?"
"I am leaving for Japan to take care of urgent business" Shredder informed, ignoring his daughter's concerns. "You are not to make any moves against Potter and The Turtles until I return."
"But I…" Karai's protests fell silent as Oroku Saki unsheathed his gauntlet blades.
"Disobedience comes with a stiff penalty child."
"Even for your daughter?"
"Especially for me daughter" Shredder replied harshly as he took his leave. A few nights later Harry and The Turtles were in the Shell Raiser on another mutagen hunt and Leo's mood hasn't improved since the training session.
"You're not mad at us, are you Leo?" asked Mikey, holding a comic in his brother's face. "I'll give you Mutant Puss Monsters 23, if you're not mad."
"I'm not mad" said Leo, pushing the comic out of his face. "I just think you guys need to be a little better at following my orders."
"Aw it's too bad I can' play my violin while I drive" said Raph sarcastically.
"What's your problem lately Raph?" asks Leo, getting tired of his brother's attitude. "Still jealous you're not leading the team?"
"Cool it Leo, we were just having fun" said Harry.
"Stop the Shell Raiser!" Donnie cried, interrupting Leo before he could turn on his little brother. "The scanner picked up another mutagen canister." The tracking device led the brothers to an old apartment building, with the signal coming from the basement.
"Alright let's not make any sudden moves until I give the…." Leo's words fall on deaf ears as his brothers ignore him and enter through basement access grate. "…orders" he sighs, quickly moving to catch up with his brothers.
Following the scanner the ninjas enter what appears to be a storage area, it doesn't take long for them to spot the mutagen sitting out in the open.
"Oh yeah!" Mikey cheers, running to pick up the ooze canister. "Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!"
"Don't!" Leo yells, feeling that something was wrong. His senses prove correct as a trip wire was connected to the canister trigger the room to seal itself shut. "See if you would listen to me…"
"Easier than I thought" said Karai, revealing her presence standing over them on a stack of crates. "Been a long time, Leo." The boys soon find themselves surrounded by Foot ninjas.
"You're lady friend's getting good at setting ambushes" Donnie remarks, as they draw their weapons.
"They're just Foot soldiers" Raph laughs. "Won't even break a sweat." Raph lands a solid punch to one of the Foot's jaw, grabbing him by the head he throws the ninja a side. Transitioning into a jump kick to a second ninja's head. As the ninja rolls along the floor into a crouching position, a small group of Foot come to his aid, their eyes glowing accompanied by a strange mechanical chirping.
Jumping to his feet the Foot soldier charged at Raph, he quickly brought up his sai to block the ninja's mace. Blocking a second ninja's sword the turtle was left wide open, taking a brutal kick to the chest sending him flying into Donnie.
Mikey came to his brothers' aid swinging his nunchuck into a Foot's head, strangely not only did it not have an effect there was a strange clanging sound upon impact.
"They armored up or something?" Mikey questions, confused as the Foot soldier's eyes started to glow.
"I don't know but am I the only one freaked out by the weird glowing eyes?" asked Harry, rolling under a Foot soldier's sword, countering with a spin kick to the head.
Leo had just forced back one of the ninjas before aiming a jumping slash at another approaching from behind. Somehow the Foot managed to not only catch the blade in his bare hand but punched straight through the sword, snapping it in half, before sending the turtle flying with a savage roundhouse.
The boys bunched together as they were losing ground against the Foot soldiers, seeing no other option Leo ordered them to retreat.
"What? We're running away?!" Raph asks in disbelief.
"It's not running. It's a tactical retreat" Leo replies, trying to appease his brother's ego. "Now move!"
"I don't care what Leo says. I don't run from The Foot" Raph charged the ninjas the resulting beat down has him singing a different tune. Prying open an old elevator shaft the boys start to climb up, the Foot in hot pursuit.
"Get off, you bug eyed creep!" Mikey cried, as one of the Foot ninjas grabbed his ankle, trying to pull the turtle back down the shaft. Seeing his brother in danger Leo pushes off the side of the shaft, landing on top of the offending Foot ninja, sending him falling to the ground revealing their true nature.
"Those guys are robots!" Donnie announces, seeing the broken Foot bot lying on the ground. Reaching the top of the shaft, Raph pries open the doors and starts helping his brothers climb out until finally the only one left is Leonardo.
"Hurry Leo!" Raph calls, but as Leo reaches his hand out the Foot bots manage to catch up to him. As the Foot bots swarmed the struggling turtle, the elevator cord snapped sending Leo falling into darkness.
"Leo!" Harry cried, teleporting back down to rescue his brother but it was no use Leonardo was gone. Returning to the lair, Harry and the remaining turtles were wracked with guilt believing that if they'd just listened to him, Leonardo would be home safe with them.
"How're we going to explain this to Master Splinter?" said Mikey miserably.
"Not to mention Hedwig" Harry added. "They're going to kill us."
"And why would we do that?" asked Splinter, revealing his and Hedwig's presence.
"Where's Leonardo?" asked Hedwig, noticing they were one turtle short.
"Karai captured him" Raph explained.
"I knew it would come to this eventually" said Splinter, his words confusing his family.
"Come to what, Sensei?" asked Donnie.
"Karai wants to take revenge. She believes that I took one of her loved ones away."
"But it's not true right?" asked Mikey, unable to imagine his father doing such a thing.
"Of course it's not true!" Harry snaps, jumping to Splinter's defense. "Sensei would never hurt an innocent!"
"Harry, calm down" said Hedwig gently, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "No one here thinks Splinter would ever do such a thing."
"I did not kill her mother" said Splinter. "It is very much the opposite of what she thinks" the ninja master turns his gaze away from his sons, as the pain builds within him. "Find Leonardo that is all that important right now. Rescue your brother."
Hanging from a small cage in the Bradford dojo, Leo can't help but feel humiliated that we was beaten so easily and Karai's taunting doesn't help.
"You know I'd probably make a small fortune if I sold you to a science lab" the kunoichi laughed. "Could you imagine the press: Talking Ninja Turtle Found IN Sewer?"
Great captured and now totally humiliated. Awesome day, Leo. Awesome day the turtle thought bitterly to himself.
"You deserve everything you're getting Leo. After you betrayed me last time" said Karai, her playful tone turns ice cold as she referred to their failed alliance attempt against The Kraang. Snapping her fingers the Foot bots march into the room, kneeling before their mistress with nothing but a single gesture.
"Don't you just love my new Foot bots? They follow my orders to the T. No arguing, no prodding, they do whatever I want."
"Yeah real nice" Leo replied flippantly.
"I've been teaching the Foot bots new skills but now I'm turning the training to someone new." Tossing a kunai at rope holding Leo's cage, the turtle falls to floor where he's quickly joined by his swords. "Hope you appreciate me having your sword fixed. I thought the Foot bots should see you at your best. Foot bots de-shell him!"
On their mistress' orders the Foot bots move in to kill Leonardo, picking up his swords the turtle slices the closest bot in half. The Foot bots respond with a spray of shuriken, quickly rolling to the side Leo avoids the throwing stars and charges at the robots. Moving quickly the turtle slices another bot in half and takes the arm off a third. But just as Karai said the Foot bots were learning fast as the next bot manages to block Leo's katanas. The turtle struggled to press his attack but was quickly sideswiped by another Foot bot's flying kick. Climbing to his feet Leo retaliated with a powerful kick of his own sending the bot crashing to the floor and once again the collective robots absorbed this new information.
Karai: "You spend years learning a fighting style"
Another pair of Foot bots charge Leo, back stepping just far enough to evade one the robot's sword the turtle quickly slices the offending bot's head off. Sidestepping a second bot's attack, Leo slices its leg off before another robot catches him by surprise landing two solid punches on his jaw. Staggering from the hit, Leo just manages to bring his sword up in time to block the robot's blade, as they clash swords they're surrounded by another wave of Foot bots.
"And my Foot bot's learn it in seconds….from you!"
As Leo manages to push back the robot, the surrounding Foot bots begin racing around the turtle at high speeds. Having a teleporting younger brother, Leo is used to dealing with high speed movement and manages to avoid the Foot bots' attempt to dog pile him impaling a couple in the process. But not even being run through with a sword is enough to stop these robotic ninjas as they force their way up the blade to their wielder, forcing Leo to ground.
"Karai!" Leo calls, as more robots pile on top of him.
"I never got to know my mother because your rodent master took her away from me." Karai's words were laced with pain and hatred but Leo refused to believe his father could ever do something like that. Breaking free of the dog pile, Leo raced towards the kunoichi only be held back by more robots.
"That's a lie! Karai listen to me, Splinter would never hurt your mother!" but Leo's words fall on deaf ears as Karai has the Foot bots drag him away. Meanwhile as Leo was busy playing sensei to the Foot bots, Donnie had managed to hack into the city traffic cameras revealing he'd been taken to the Bradford dojo.
"Guy's looks like we've got trouble" said Donnie, as they approached the dojo. "The roof's wired with security."
"No problem" said Harry, pulling out his invisibility cloak.
"It's not just one. The whole roof's covered in security cameras." Donnie had a point, if it were just one camera the cloak would work perfectly. But all those cameras were sure to pick up on a window seemingly opening itself.
"Don't worry I got this" Raph assured them, pulling out a pigeon from behind his back. With some gentle cooing the bird flew over to one of the cameras blocking its view. What happened next was simply amazing as Raph's pigeon called and directed a whole flock of birds to cover the entire roof.
Wow, Raph's got a real talent with birds Harry thought to himself, as they used the opening to slip inside. Moving across the rafters they spotted Leo bound and gagged in a chair, guarded by Foot bots. It was only the moving shadows that alerted the turtle to his brothers' presence, spotting them hiding in the rafters Leo began frantically shaking his head and mumbling something. Unable to understand Leonardo the boys dropped down taking the bots by surprise.
"We can't understand what're trying to say, Leo" said Donnie, taking the tape off his brother's mouth.
"It's a trap!" a squad of Foot bots entered the dojo as the doors behind them slid open revealing Karai.
"You've got two choices sweetheart. Let us go or walk out of here in a sandwich bag" Raph threatened, cutting the ropes holding Leonardo.
"Sorry Raphael, can't let you go" Karai replied, unfazed by the turtles threats. "It's really not that personal with the rest of you. I just need you for bait."
"She want's Splinter" Leo clarified.
"Your sensei will eventually track you here. And when he shows up Splinter will know what it's like to truly suffer."
"Alright enough!" Harry snaps, getting tired of hearing Splinter's name being dragged through the dirt. "Splinter would never hurt an innocent!"
Karai knew full well that like her Harry had lost his mother, in fact he'd lost both of his birth parents. This however wasn't about to persuade her into listening to the boy. "Restrain them" she orders, sending the Foot bots on the attack.
After losing Leonardo because they didn't follow his lead Raph, Harry, Donnie, and Mikey had decided to fight the Foot bots using traditional fighting techniques just like Leo had wanted. However this was a decision that they soon regretted as the Foot bots had no problem adapting to such tactics and the boys found themselves losing ground fast.
"What do we do?" asked Harry, looking to his eldest brother for a plan.
"If I order you to run away, will you guys listen this time?"
"Heck yeah!" Mikey answered for them. "And we can still call it a tactical retreat if you want." Having kunai graze his neck was enough to silence any possible argument from Raphael and the boys quickly escaped back through the skylight, with the Foot bots in hot pursuit.
"Our moves are useless" said Raph, they were going to need a miracle to get out of this one.
"They know my every move I can make" said Leo, trying to think of a way to defeat the robotic ninjas. "Every fighting style, skill, eve….wait a second." Inspiration strikes as Leo leads them to a nearby playground. "Remember king of the mountain?"
"Yeah what about it?" his brothers reply. Leo's plan becomes clear once the Foot bots catch up to them, making a whooping sound the turtle draws their attention. As the Foot bots focus on him, Leo randomly throws one of his swords into the air confusing the robots, as the bots are distracted the turtle breaks his earlier rule and throws his weapon away, sending it flying straight threw a Foot bot's head.
"Oh I get what you're saying. Be unpredictable" says Donnie, realizing Leo's plan he begins making calculations as a group of Foot bots chase after him. Ricocheting his kunai and shuriken off a nearby dumpster, onto a basketball hop, off a manhole cover the Foot bots are left lying in a broken pile of metal once the weapons hit their targets. "Didn't see that coming did you?"
"Alright let's get crazy!" Harry smirks, once more using his speed clone trick the Foot bots struggle to anticipate the boy's true location. Before they even knew what hit them Harry had sliced them into bit sized pieces. "Got to keep your eye on the ninja."
"Yeah boy!" Mikey cheers, swinging himself over the top of a swing set plants his foot into a Foot bot's head. As more of the robots comes at him Mikey decides to show off his breakdance skills, dropping onto his shell he spins like a top evading their attacks and sweeping their legs out from. The orange turtle's crazy moves make it impossible for the Foot bots to adapt as he continues to run his feet up and down their faces.
Raph's having some fun of his own, choosing to forgo technique and go with brute force the hothead turtle charges a pair of Foot bots, tearing their heads off with his sais as he passes. Seeing another bot coming up behind him, Raph spins around the attacking robot trapping it in a head lock before using one his sais to pin the robot through its head into a wall.
Up on the rooftops Leo had just finished slicing another robot in half when his hot headed brother came out of nowhere and tossed the remaining Foot bot of the building.
"I've never had so much fun following your orders" Raph smiled.
"We're even. I've never had so much giving them" Leo replied, returning the smile. The robotic chirping alerted the turtles to another incoming wave of Foot bots, something Raph didn't hesitate to face head on. As Leo watched to see if his brother would need help a battle cry alerted him to Karai, just managing to avoid her blade.
As Karai pressed her attack Leo was kept on the defensive as the kunoichi used all her speed and skill to keep the turtle off balance.
"You might as well give up now" Karai taunted. "The more you fight the more my Foot bots adapt."
"Your robots may know my moves but you don't" Leo throws his sword at Karai, the kunoichi skillfully knocks the blade away believing the turtle had made a foolish mistake.
"Fool! A ninja never throws away their weapon"
"That's the point!" Leaping into the air, Leo catches his sword using the brief opening to take control of the battle. Coming down on the kunoichi, the force of Leo's swing forces Karai back. As the pair clash blades Karai now finds herself on the defensive as she struggles to hold back Leonardo's sword, as she continues to be pushed towards the edge of the building. Maintaining her composure Karai simply jumps back off the building, incidentally landing on Dragons Gate.
After gaining some breathing room Karai continues her battle with the ninja turtle, now on more even footing, as Leo pursues the kunoichi the pair clash swords once more each struggling to gain the advantage.
"Do you think you've won?" Karai snarls, leaning back she lands a solid kick to Leo's jaw. Slightly thrown by the kick Leo still manages to sidestep Karai's tantō as the kunoichi attempts to stab him in the head. But the kunoichi isn't out of tricks yet, the palm of her armor reveals hidden tegaki, using the hand hooks she grabs onto Leonardo's sword using it as a balance to flip herself over the turtle, sweeping his leg out from under him before he can react.
Seeing Leo fall off the roof of the gate, Karai inspects the edge looking for any sign of the turtle but somehow he'd disappeared. In truth Leo had managed to stab his sword into the underside of the roof, using this opportunity the turtle swings himself up over the other side behind Karai. She turns just in time to see Leo's fist hit her as she's sent falling off the roof, just managing to catch a wire to break her fall.
As Karai lifts her head she finds herself staring down Leo's sword.
"Shredder is lying to you" said Leo, sharing Harry's absolute faith in their father's innocence. "Splinter would never hurt an innocent." Karai stays silent but it's clear she's not about to listen to his words. Sheathing his sword Leo warns her to stay away from his family or she'd be dealing with him. As Leo leaves to join his brothers Karai watches confused as to why he didn't just finish her off.
"Um Leo the robots have learned our moves!" Donnie cautions.
"Our crazy has become normal!" Mikey adds for emphasis. With the Foot bots' numbers seemingly endless the brothers decide it's time to leave, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Back in the lair Leo watches as his brothers are enjoying a round of pinball, smiling as Harry complains about Mikey beating his high score. Deciding not to play Leo starts to head for the dojo but not before Raph traps him in a headlock.
"It's good to have you back Leo" said Raph sincerely. "I mean it brother."
"Thanks Raph." Carrying in dinner from the kitchen Hedwig smiles as she catches Leo and Raph share a fist bump. Much better. Later that night as his family gathers around the living room Leo finds Splinter meditating in the dojo.
"Sorry for bothering you Master Splinter, about Karai."
"It is late, Leonardo. These questions will have to wait for another time" Splinter replies, getting up to leave, he had no desire to burden others with his grief.
"She said you took her mother away" Leo persists. "But I know that's not true."
"No it is not true" the ninja master sighs. "But the truth is…almost as difficult."
"Please Sensei. Tell me. Trust me." Reluctantly Splinter decides to trust Leonardo with the truth, if for no other reason to at least somehow ease his pain.
"Karai…is my daughter."
Thanks for reading.