Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
At long last the brothers are all united in the goal of rescuing Karai. They were determined to see Splinter reunite with his daughter, especially after the way Shredder had tricked them the other night. Now they simply needed to work on a mission plan. Which Leonardo was currently trying to explain using a series of hastily created dioramas.
"This is the only way it can work, Raph" he said.
"Look I'm on board for the whole 'rescue Karai' thing" said Raph. "But if we're going through the trouble of invading Shredder's lair; we've got to take him down, once and for all."
"It's too risky" said Leo.
"Hold up dudes" said Mikey, looking over the plan. "Why do I have to be the bait, while Donnie sits in the Shell Raiser?"
"Someone has to be the getaway driver" said Donatello.
"Well then why can't Harry just poof on in and grab Karai?"
"I can't" said Harry. "The area around Shredder's layer is warded, and I mean good. I'm guessing Kitsune's handiwork. I can teleport within the ward lines no problem. But there's no way I can punch through them with a passenger."
"Which means everyone needs to do their job!" Leo stressed.
"Disagreement about a mission is never a good way to begin" said Splinter, walking into the lair's living room. "Leonardo, may I speak with you."
Already suspecting what Splinter wanted to talk about, Leo walked over to their father.
"I know you are anxious to free Karai" said Splinter. "But a plan that leads to confrontation with the Shredder is doomed to failure."
"Even if we have to face Shredder, isn't it worth it to rescue you're daughter?" asked Leonardo.
Splinter closed his eyes and sighed; he didn't want the boys thinking that Miwa was more important than their lives.
"I am not willing to risk your lives" he stressed. "Or my daughters."
"Hai Sensei" the blue turtle sighed, watching as Splinter walked off before returning to his brothers.
"So is that a no on; Operation: Rescue Karai?" asked Mikey.
"No, Splinter's wrong" said Leo. "We have to do this."
"Splinter isn't wrong." The boys turned to see Hedwig standing behind them, having heard everything. "He's worried about you. Yes, he wants his daughter back but he doesn't want to end up losing the fiver of you in the process."
"We know, Hedwig" said Harry. "That's why we won't fail."
Part of her wanted to dismiss the boys' confidence as arrogance, wanting to remind them of the last time they allowed themselves to get overconfident, when facing the Shredder. But Hedwig had to admit that there was something different here; before the boys were simply feeding their egos. Now they were fighting for Splinter…though she suspected at least part of Leonardo's motivation was due to his crush on the kunoichi. But still she had seen the boys grow tremendously since she first joined their little family; even if they weren't ready to face Shredder, they had still proven time and again it was a mistake to underestimate them.
"You better drive fast" she said.
"You got it" said Raph.
The brothers put their hands together, vowing to return home victorious.
"Let's do this!"
With the Shell Raiser in position, hiding near the Foot HQ it was time to put Leo's plan into action.
"Donnie, you monitor from the Shell Raiser and give us some cover."
Hacking into the city power grid, Donnie shutdown the electricity in the area surrounding Shredder's lair, taking out all electronic security.
"Mikey, will distract them with his mad skills."
Within the now darkened throne room, Rahzar and Fish Face are confused by the sudden power outage, when they suddenly spot Mikey's silhouette in the window, moving along the upper level.
"While Shredder's henchmen are distracted; Harry, Raph, and I sneak in through the sewers."
The trio emerged from the waterways running through the lowest level of the building. Moving quickly and silently they took out any Foot bot that they came across as on their way to the dungeons.
"Karai, it's us" Leo called softly, once they reached the cells.
"Leo?" Karai called, drawing the turtle's attention to her cell. "Took you long enough" she said impatiently, hiding her relief at the sight of the turtle.
"Well we got tired of waiting for you to escape on your own" Leo replied, falling into their easy routine of sarcastic remarks and quips.
"Is this a rescue or a romantic comedy?" Raph snapped, bringing an embarrassed blush to Leo's cheeks.
"Right just keep an eye out for Foot and Shredder" he said, getting over his embarrassment and getting to work picking the lock to Karai's cell.
Investigating the turtle's presence, Rahzar and Fish Face moved onto the roof splitting to find Mikey. Spotting the turtle's shadow on one of the ornaments, taunting him by blowing raspberries, Fish Face rushed to attack the fun loving turtle. On the other side unbeknownst to Fish Face, Rahzar was also following Mikey's shadow, this time performing a silly dance.
Angered by the turtle's behavior Rahzar speed around a corner expecting to find Michelangelo but instead all he found was Fish Face's head as the two henchmen crashed into each other, with Bradford landing on top of Xever, as he knocked him flat on his back.
"What?" Fish Face gasped, his new position allowing him to spot Mikey sitting on top of the glass roof, performing shadow puppets of himself. "It's a trick!"
Climbing off of Fish Face, Rahzar wanted to be the first to take a crack at the turtle, who had made a fool of them.
"You are looking good, Rahzar" Mikey taunted, nunchucks at the ready. "You lost some weight?"
Sick of the turtle's jokes, Rahzar growled as charged the turtle, running across the rooftop on all fours. Mikey dodged to the side as the dog mutant swiped his claws at his head, though he avoided the worst, Bradford's claws did manage to do some damage to his right shoulder.
Rahzar passed by him, landing in a low crouch preparing for a second attack, but Mikey was quicker on the draw, rushing forward, sliding into a kick, hitting Rahzar hard and knocking him off the building, landing into a dumpster below.
"Ugh" Mikey groaned, as he got back to his feet, his shoulder throbbing in pain telling the turtle that he was going to have to make due with one arm for now.
"Let's see how well you fight, with one arm" Fish Face taunted, coming at Mikey with a switchblade.
Mikey didn't hesitate to match Fish Face blow for blow, using his nunchuck to deflect the mutant snakehead's attempts to cut him into little turtle bits. But working with only one arm was proving difficult as Mikey found he was losing ground and fast. The absence of his second nunchuck left openings in his fighting style, something that Fish Face didn't hesitate to capitalize on as he forced his blade through such an opening, forcing Mikey to stumble back to avoid the knife, and sending himself off the rooftop.
Fish Face leaned over the side to watch as Mikey was sure to splatter over the sidewalk below, but the orange turtle was quick to act, extending his weapon's chain to loop around Fish Face's leg, pulling him off the building with him.
Saving himself, Fish Face dug his blade into the side of the building, letting the blade slow his descent until coming to a stop, leaving him hanging off the side. Thankfully for Mikey, while Fish Face was still stuck dangerously high above the street below, his nunchuck chain was just long enough to let the turtle drop harmlessly to the sidewalk.
With his part of the plan complete, Mikey took off to meet his brothers at the rendezvous point, but not before taunting Fish Face with a raspberry for his troubles.
Down in the dungeons, Leo had just managed to open Karai's cell. It was time to escape but as she retrieved a sword from a downed Foot bot, Karai couldn't help but think things were going too well.
"How did you get passed, Tiger Claw?" she asked.
"They didn't" the mutant in question replied, as he and Kitsune stepped into the room.
"Now, Karai, you didn't think we'd actually let you go without saying goodbye" Kitsune taunted.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this" said Karai, moving to stand with Leo, Raph, and Harry.
Tiger Claw beckoned them forward, an offer that Leo and Raph didn't hesitate to accept, leaving Kitsune to Karai and Harry.
Raph was first to reach Tiger Claw, coming at the powerful mutant with a series of jabs with his sais. But Tiger Claw easily deflected each blow, not even bothering to use a weapon as he blocked each of the red turtle's attacks, before sending him flying with a powerful kick.
Tiger Claw was then forced to shift back to defense as Leo's swords came at him, the powerful mutant kept light on his feet, sidestepping the turtle's blades. Shifting his grip on his swords, Leo spun around, keeping Tiger Claw in sight, as he came at him for a second strike but to the turtle's dismay, Tiger Claw not only evaded his attack, he quickly countered, grabbing the blue turtle's arms and using them to pull him forward, bashing his head painfully against the wall behind him.
On the other side of things, Harry and Karai each came at Kitsune, working well together despite being the first time they had ever fought together. But still that same inexperience left openings in their timing, allowing Kitsune to stay ahead of their every move, with aggravating ease.
"Would you just stand still!" Karai snapped.
"You just had to ask" said Kitsune, surprisingly coming to a stop.
Angered by the masked kunoichi's taunts, Karai charged forward, ignoring Harry's cry to stop. She came to regret this as the witch caught her by surprise, blasting her back towards Harry with a powerful shockwave.
Harry was quick to react, sliding under Karai's body as she was sent flying towards him, reaching an arm out, the former Foot kunoichi took his hand, using his forward momentum to right herself.
With Karai safe, Harry charged forward using his ability to teleport to close the distance as he came at Kitsune with his tantō, the masked kunoichi simply leaned back, just out of the reach of the short blade. But in doing so, she had inadvertently played into their hands, as Karai used that moment to dive down from above, sword at the ready.
But before she could land the decisive blow, Tiger Claw intervened taking Karai by surprise, knocking her to the ground with a swipe of his claws.
Saved by her sensei, Kitsune turned her attention back to Harry, conjuring a chain around the boy's wrist, using it to swing him towards Tiger Claw, who sent him flying with a savage spin kick.
"They're tough" said Harry, climbing to his feet, as Karai, Raph, and Leo did the same.
It was obvious that while each was a powerful fighter in their own right, like with Harry and the Turtles, their true strength was shown when fighting together.
We need to split them up Leo realized. "Donnie, we need the cavalry" he said over the brothers' coms.
"On it!" said Donnie, from within the Shell Raiser, typing frantically at his keyboard. "I hope this dog whistle works on cats."
Kitsune launched her next attack, overwhelming Harry, Raph, Leo, and Karai with a continuous spray of conjured arrows. While their training allowed the four of them to dodge the deadly projectiles, in doing so they had been forced into position for Tiger Claw, who used the distraction to close the distance, knocking them each painfully into the ground with a series of powerful swipes of his claws.
For a moment they were afraid that their rescue attempt was doomed to failure when suddenly Tiger Claw stopped his assault, clutching his ears in agony from the high frequency soundwave, Donnie was transmitting.
"Sensei?" Kitsune cried in concern, unable to hear the source of her teacher's pain.
"Seems he's busy" said Karai, who had used the masked kunoichi's distraction to close the distance between them.
Caught off guard, Kitsune was left open for a solid hook to the jaw from Karai. Stumbling from the blow, before the witch could launch a counter strike, the bars from one of the cells ripped itself off its hinges, and wrapped themselves around the masked kunoichi.
"What?!" Kitsune gasped, her eye's widened behind her mask as she realized she had lost track of Harry.
"I've been practicing" said the boy in question, standing behind the bound witch, resting a single hand on the bars. "Just one more thing."
Focusing his magic, Harry transfigured the bars into a metal slab, not unlike the prison she had once created for him, during their first meeting.
At the same time, Raph had used the opportunity to land a knockout blow on Tiger Claw, leaving the powerful mutant lying on the floor of the dungeon.
"Alright, let's get out of here" said Leo.
"Not just yet" said Karai, who took this time to land another punch on Kitsune, this time knocking out the masked witch. "Ok, now we can go."
Leaving back through the sewers, Raph, Leo, Harry, and Karai climbed out in front of the building just as Mikey rounded the corner.
"Mikey, you ok?" asked Raph, upon seeing his younger brother cradling his injured shoulder.
"I'm good" said Mikey. "It's not my water balloon throwing arm."
A sudden stab of pain from his shoulder, caused Mikey to slump, so Raph draped it over his own, allowing Mikey to lean on him for support. They were just about to head for the Shell Raiser when, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Foot bots.
To make matters worse, Tiger Claw having recovered, marched outside to join them.
"Surrender reptiles" he said, drawing his pistols. "You're out numbered."
Tiger Claw let out a malicious laugh as the Foot bots grew closer, backing our heroes into a corner. The laughter came to a painful end as once again his ears were assaulted.
"Better count again!" Donnie's voice rang out, as the Shell Raiser arrived on the scene, tearing through Foot bots as it came to a stop in front of Karai, and his brothers.
"Sweet timing, D" said Mikey, as Raph helped him inside, followed closely behind by Harry.
But while the brothers were quick to get inside, Karai lingered looking up towards the rooftop, where she could see Shredder looking down on them…on her. Her blood boiled as she remembered all the lies and deception; her entire life she was just a tool against her true father, a trophy to feed Oroku Saki's delusions.
"Karai, we've got to go!" Leo cried, pulling her towards the Shell Raiser. Silently vowing revenge, Karai followed him inside, as the Shell Raiser raced away from Shredder's lair.
But it wasn't over yet as Tiger Claw, Fish Face, Kitsune, and a trio of Foot bots followed after them, on motorcycles.
Raph quickly got on the weapons but to his frustration on of their best weapons was out of ammo.
"Ok, who forgot to load the manhole covers?!" he demanded.
Mikey and Harry quickly pointed to Donnie, neither of them wanting to take the blame. In their defense, they shouldn't have been left alone to wash the Shell Raiser; of course they were going to go on a joyride, during which they may have fired the manhole launcher at some old junk, but Raph didn't need to know that.
With the manhole launcher down, Raph took aim with the garbage cannon; firing giant balls of garbage at the approaching Foot. While Tiger Claw, Kitsune, and Fish Face, swerved out of the way, the Foot bots proving to be easy targets, were taken down quickly.
"We just need to make it another five blocks out, Leo" Harry told him, as the blue turtle directed the Shell Raiser down a series of alleyways, while Raph continued to fire the garbage cannon. "I'll get ready to make the jump."
"That's all you've got? Balls of trash!" Karai snapped, as they started firing back at them. "And what's to stop, Kitsune from just teleporting in here?"
"Shredder's not the only one that can ward" said Harry, opening a floor panel to reveal a modified EMP.
Donatello had figured out that Kraang metal generated its own magic disrupting magnetic field. So with some tinkering he had managed to duplicate the effect, while only leaving some wiggle room for Harry's unique energy signature. It didn't have the same range as Shredder's wards though and Harry didn't really understand it, when Donnie tried to explain the specifics but hey it works.
"And this baby's still got a few tricks in her" said Donnie, selecting the smoke screen of his monitor's list of the Shell Raiser's secondary weapons.
It did the trick blinding them and forcing them to stop firing, as they choked on the smoke. Donnie then followed up with a pizza grease, oil slick tripping up the bikes and sending their riders crashing into a building.
The brothers sighed in relief as it looked like they made a clean getaway.
"Not a bad bit or rescuing, eh" said Leo.
Karai turned to face Leo with a smile but before she could say anything, a blade pierced through the Shell Raiser's roof, coming within inches of her skull. The roof hatch was torn open, revealing Tiger Claw, who had used his jetpack to continue the chase. Reaching down into the van, pulling Karai out onto the roof, before any of the boys could save her.
"I have you now" said Tiger Claw, armed with gun and sword, while taking care to remain on top of the hatch.
Karai scowled at the deadly assassin, refusing to show fear. Tiger Claw then opened fire on the kunoichi, who dodged each shot in an impressive display of acrobatics. Releasing spikes under the soles of her shoes, Karai kept herself balanced on top of the Shell Raiser, as she charged forward. Switching tactics, Tiger Claw swung his sword just as Karai was within range, but the kunoichi proved resourceful, using the metal plating around her hands to dull the damage as she caught the mutant's blade.
But Tiger Claw had a clear advantage in strength, pushing Karai off his sword, barely keeping herself from falling off the Shell Raiser. Tiger Claw kept up his attack, firing laser bolts at Karai, who used her armor to deflect the blasts, as she moved forward.
Deflecting a laser bolt back at Tiger Claw, Karai used the distraction to close the distance and knock the sword out of the assassin's hand. Following up with a few solid jabs to the gut, but Tiger Claw wasn't affected in the least, and simply brought his fist down on Karai's head, knocking her against the Shell Raiser's hull, and off her feet. She would've gone flying off the van, if not for Tiger Claw grabbing hold of her at the last second, for a moment she thought that maybe he was still under Shredder's orders not to harm her; turns out he simply wanted to make sure she was dead and threw her in front of the Shell Raiser.
Watching from the monitors, Leo quickly raised the van's battering ram, catching Karai before she ended up street pizza.
"Leo, we're clear!" Harry announced, sensing that they just passed the edge of the wards.
Pushing himself to the limit, Harry then teleported Karai, and the Shell Raiser out from underneath Tiger Claw. The loss of his foothold and the van's forward momentum, saw him flying painfully into a Chinatown archway.
Mission completed the brothers and Karai walked into the lair; immediately Raph got to work wrapping up Mikey's injured arm. While Donnie carried a completely exhausted Harry to the couch to rest; turns out teleporting the Shell Raiser and all of them, takes a lot of a guy.
"I hope this means, you'll stay" said Leo, as he led Karai inside. "After all, you are family."
"With Shredder, after me, what choice do I have" said Karai, taking a moment to really take in their home. "It's actually not bad."
"It's awesome right" said Mikey, spreading his arms out. "This comes for a family hug, bring it in…ow."
"You should probably take it easy on the hugs for now, Mikey" said Harry.
Turns out he wasn't the only one concerned about the orange turtle's injury as Splinter and Hedwig walked into the room.
"Michelangelo, what happened?" asked Hedwig, walking over to check the turtle for further injuries.
"It's just a scratch" said Mikey. "You should see the other guy."
"Hedwig, told me what you boys have been up to" said Splinter. "I thought, I told you…" the words died in Splinter's throat, as he caught sight of a nervous looking Karai. "Miwa" he gasped.
That was all it took as Karai took a hesitant step forward, before finally throwing her arms around Splinter's middle, hugging her true father for the first time. Hedwig and the boys smiled at the display, understanding that this would forever be one of the most precious moments in Splinter's life.
"See, Sensei, I told you my plan would work" Leo grinned.
"Perhaps, some things are worth the risk" said Splinter, smiling at his now complete family.
Back in Shredder's lair, Tiger Claw returned to the throne room, kneeling before the Foot clan's master, reporting his failure in tracking down Karai. Strangely Shredder didn't seem to be concerned.
"Karai's escape was inevitable" he admitted. "In fact I was counting on it."
"Why?" asked Tiger Claw. "She knows everything."
"Before long, Karai will return with Hamato Yoshi" said Shredder. "And I will have my vengeance! Get me Baxter Stockman."
In the short time she'd been with them, Karai had come to learn about the family dynamic in the lair. Donatello as she expected if not spending time with his brothers was usually working in his lab, which she had to admit was very impressive considering it was salvaged equipment.
Michelangelo was just always goofing off.
While, Raphael mostly kept to himself; though didn't seem to mind a little family time, when he wasn't working out or just reading a magazine.
Harry, she learned spent his time spray painting, or riding through the sewers on his broom. Admittedly she found the flying broom to be cliché.
As for Leonardo, well she already knew he took his training seriously. It was finding out he was a Space Heroes nerd, that made her laugh.
Hedwig was the mother figure, who occasionally stepped up to help the boys; be it during a mission or sampling filling in whenever Harry needed a partner during training.
But most importantly, Karai got to know her father, Hamato "Splinter" Yoshi. Since reuniting with her father, she had seen Splinter interact with each member of the strange family. He treated the roles of both teacher and parent with importance, though he would adjust when the situation made it impossible to be both. He was kind and patient with each of his sons and was easily approachable and fully listened to their concerns; though he could be eccentric in who he passed his wisdom. A huge contrast from Shredder, who never really seemed interested in anything other than her development as a ninja, caring little for her personal concerns.
She also noted the close friendship he has with Hedwig. Karai suspected that it might've originated from their shared concerns for the boys wellbeing, but it'd obviously evolved to the point where her father would accept the owl mutant's council during those moments where her father found himself conflicted by his responsibilities as both father and sensei. Another huge difference between Splinter and Shredder; the Foot clan leader, never really listened to anyone but himself; preferring to rule over the clan, even her through fear.
Karai had to admit that while she kneeled by her father's side, watching as Harry and the Turtles took part in a sparring session, she preferred the lighter and more caring approach, over Shredder's borderline torture sessions.
As for the training session, the brothers had been paired up for two groups of sparring; Leonardo vs. Michelangelo. And a three-way match between Donatello, Harry, and Raphael. Splinter had wanted to give his daughter more time to get used to living with them, before having her join the boys in their training.
Training was going smoothly well it did until somehow the boys had gone from sparring to ending up in a giant dogpile in the middle of the dojo.
"Is this how training always goes" Karai laughed, while Splinter just sighed at the display.
"Hey, we beat you" said Harry, defending their ridiculous behavior.
"Well I can certainly see why you're all so unpredictable. Guess it's a good thing, the Foot never invested in dogpiles and water balloons."
Seeing that they weren't going to get any further work done, Splinter called for the boys to line up.
"My sons and daughter" he said, happy that he could finally say those words. "That is enough for today."
With training over the boys started to leave the dojo, when Leo noticed that their family's other human member was lagging behind.
"Karai, you coming?" he asked.
"In a minute" she replied, wanting to have a moment with her father.
"Not what you expected?" Splinter asked, sensing that his daughter wanted to talk. He waited patiently as she moved to the shrine he built for Tang Shen.
"I admit, it's a little weird being with people, I was told were my enemies" said Karai, picking up the framed picture of their family. "What really happened between you and Shredder…and my mother?"
Splinter sighed making Karai afraid that she had asked too soon. But as her father began to speak, she understood that he was simply preparing himself for the tale.
"I'm afraid it goes much deeper than our rivalry over your mother" said Splinter, images of the past beginning to play before his eyes. "The bitter feud between the Hamato and Foot clans lasted for centuries. Oroku Saki was the son of the enemy but he was just a child so my father, gave him shelter. We were raised as brothers. Rivals in all things, as brothers are. But that rivalry soon turned bitter when we met Tang Shen, your mother. Jealousy became hatred, when Saki learned of his true heritage.
He swore vengeance and rebuilt the Foot clan. One night, Oroku Saki struck; the blow meant for me struck your mother instead. Shredder blamed me and in his rage he burned our home to the ground, leaving me to my fate. He took you away from me."
Karai was left seething with rage, as she listened to the tragic tale. She couldn't understand how her father was able to remain so calm after going through all that.
"After all this time, haven't you wanted revenge?" she asked at last, needing to know the answer.
"After all this time, I have learned revenge only leads to more pain" said Splinter.
"But I've seen you fight, Father" Karai urged. "You could take him out."
"We are safe here and we are together again, my daughter. That is all that matters. Not revenge."
In a way Karai could understand why her father wouldn't be interested in revenge. Splinter had suffered greatly and through it all had managed to create and new family and reunited with the child once thought lost to him. But the kunoichi just couldn't ignore the fact that Shredder would be hunting them, now more than ever, all because of her.
So that night she waited for everyone to fall asleep, before leaving her room. She had made to the exit but of course there was one person that saw this coming.
"Going after Shredder alone is a bad idea" said Leo, dropping down from above, blocking her way.
"Don't try to stop me, Leo."
"I want to go with you."
"What?"
"You're right. Shredder will never stop hunting us. The only way for us to be safe is to take him down."
"So much of my life has been about revenge. I can't ask you to risk your life, too."
"Let me help."
You just won't stop trying to save me. Karai walked up to Leo, placing a hand on the turtle's chest as she leaned in. Leo's eyes bugged out as he struggled to meet Karai's now seductive gaze. His brain was working overtime, trying to figure out if she was going to kiss him or if he was supposed to kiss her.
"Sorry, Leo" she said, dropping the act. Catching him by surprise, Karai lands a solid punch to the turtle's chest, knocking him off balance. Before he could right himself, she quickly pulled a pallet of knockout gas, throwing it in Leo's face.
Watching as Leo fell to the ground unconscious, Karai took off for the tunnels.
"This ends tonight!"
By the time the gas wore off, Karai was long gone.
"Guys, Sensei!" Leo called, bringing the family running.
"Leonardo, what happened?" asked Splinter. "Where is Karai?"
"She's going to take out, Shredder on her own" he explained.
"I was a fool" Splinter scolded. "I fear I told her too much too quickly."
"She still deserved to know" said Hedwig. "Right now, we just need to bring her back."
"We can catch up to her in the Shell Raiser" said Donnie.
Determined not to fail his daughter again, Splinter joined Hedwig and the boys as they rushed to the Shell Raiser.
But it was too late, Karai had already reached Shredder's throne room, having easily dispatched the Foot bots guarding the roof.
Sticking to the shadows, she dropped down behind the throne, where the Foot clan's leader rested. Drawing her tantō, she silently creeped up from behind, moments away from driving her blade through the monster's heart. But before she could strike, she was shocked to find that instead of Shredder, it was the robot Chrome-dome.
"Karai" Shredder acknowledged, emerging from the shadows.
"Shredder" Karai shifted into a stance, but before she could strike, Chrome-dome suddenly came to life and grabbed her arms from behind.
"You returned even sooner than I expected."
Irritated that he'd anticipated her arrival, Karai pulled herself free from the robot, driving her blade into its chest, taking it out of commission.
"The time has come for me to say goodbye, Shredder" she declared.
Disguising her movements with a series of cartwheels, Karai threw a blinding bomb at Shredder, who quickly brought an arm up to block. On impact with his gauntlet, the bomb released a large cloud of smoke, covering Karai's movements as she flipped overhead, bringing her blade down on the Foot clan leader. But Shredder had seen through her deception and easily blocked with his gauntlet blades.
Keeping up the pressure, Karai spun on her heel bringing her blade around for another attack but Shredder simply sidestepped her. Karai didn't let up and launched herself back at her enemy, but once again Shredder simply stepped to the side.
Though she was the one on the offensive, it was obvious to Karai that she wasn't the one in control.
"Foolish child" said Shredder, as he caught Karai's blade mid-swing. "I taught you everything you know. You have no surprises for me." With a twist of his arm, Shredder ripped the short sword from Karai's hands, sending it flying across the room.
Disarmed, Karai quickly countered with a spray of shuriken. But the throwing stars proved ineffective as Shredder easily deflected the projectiles, catching the last between his fingers.
Shredder's blood boiled once he saw the shuriken carried the lotus symbol of the Hamato clan. Distracted by the perceived betrayal, he missed Karai's follow up attack, taking a roundhouse kick to the face.
Karai charged forward to continue her attack, thinking she was finally making some progress when suddenly, fueled by his anger, Shredder lashed out, knocking her to the ground with a savage swing of his arm.
But before Karai could get back up, she found herself pinned down as Shredder brought down his gauntlet blades, trapping her head between the two side prongs, the third ready to be released should she try anything.
"This has gone far enough!" Shredder roared, as the chamber's light suddenly clicked on revealing the room was flooded with Foot bots and his top henchmen.
"Still no sign of Potter and the Turtles" Tiger Claw reported.
"They can't be far behind." Tossing Karai into the tiger mutant's hands, Shredder marched out of the chamber. "Take her to Stockman. It is time to begin the experiment."
In his lab, Stockman worked tirelessly over the project Shredder had given him. Though he had finally given up, his dreams of escaping from the Foot; his mutation hadn't done anything to help his ego.
"Whatever you require, I can create it. More mutagen, a few chemicals, and some..."
"Stockman!" Shredder's voice bellowed.
Frightened, Stockman jumped from his seat, accidentally knocking some chemicals into his experiment.
Oops! Um... that should be okay. "Master Shredder."
"Is the mutagen ready?"
"Prepared to your specifications" said Stockman, flying up to pour his serum into a giant vat of mutagen. "The serpent DNA is ready."
"No!" Karai gasped, as Tiger Claw carried her inside. "You wouldn't!"
Having grown tired of the assault on his ears of late, Tiger Claw silenced Karai, placing a strip of tape over her mouth.
On Shredder's orders Foot bots then secured her inside a cage suspended over the mutagen vat.
"You are more ruthless than I thought" said Tiger Claw. "Mutating your own cub."
"I have no intention of mutating her" said Shredder. "She is bait, when Potter and the Turtles attempt to rescue her I will drop them into the Mutagen. This will mutate them into mindless serpents. I want Splinter to witness his pupils become one of the rat's deadliest predators, then when his spirit is broken I will shatter his body."
Suddenly Tiger Claw sensed something was wrong. Sniffing the air, he quickly found the source and fired a flare up into the rafters, revealing Splinter, Hedwig, Harry, and the Turtles.
With their cover blown they dropped down to the floor, with Raph taking special care to land on Stockman-fly, taking him out early.
"Welcome my old friend" said Shredder.
"Let my daughter go" Splinter demanded.
"You are welcome to rescue her, if you can" on cue an army of Foot bots emerged from the shadows, surrounding them.
Seeing there was no other choice but to fight, Splinter drew his sword from his cane and charged Shredder, trusting his family to deal with the Foot bots and Tiger Claw.
Thirsty for blood, Shredder released his gauntlet blades clashing against Splinter's first strike. Pushing Splinter back, Shredder swung for his head but Splinter's easily dodged, countering with a sword strike, that Saki quickly deflected off his armor. The Foot clan leader then came at the rat man with a flurry of kicks, each one expertly evaded by Splinter who returned with a series of quick swings of his sword, the force of which sent Shredder stumbling back.
"Yes, fight me rat!" Shredder roared, consumed by his hatred.
Splinter didn't bother responding to Shredder's taunts, as he circled his archenemy. But suddenly he found himself bound as Foot bots broke away from attacking Hedwig and the boys, instead whipping cables around his arms, legs, and torso, keeping him pinned.
While the Turtles got to work dealing with the Foot bots; Harry and Hedwig found themselves facing off with Tiger Claw.
"So what's the deal, Tiger Claw" said Harry, dodging a laser bolt. "No Kitsune today?"
"Do not think, I won't be enough to deal with you and your mother hen" said Tiger Claw, deflecting Hedwig's feather blades with his sword.
Using the slight opening, Harry quickly closed the distance, swinging his tantō for Tiger Claw's head. But the mutant assassin's reflexes were sharp, and spun himself around Harry's blade, stepping behind him to counter attack. Luckily Hedwig had his back and swooped down on Tiger Claw, forcing the assassin to abandon his attack, lest he meet the end of the mutant owl's talons.
Hedwig then forced Tiger Claw back further with a spray of her feather blades, while ordinarily the projectiles wouldn't be a problem, Harry had come up with a winning combination, as he added his shuriken to the mix, lacing the throwing stars with the current from his Raikiri.
Conductive shuriken, thank you Donnie! Harry smirked, as the lighting charged shuriken cut through Tiger Claw's sword, leaving him open as Hedwig's feather blades dug into his flesh.
"You will pay for that" Tiger Claw growled, charging forward. Catching Hedwig off guard with his speed, he landed a solid kick to her chest causing her to stumble back on a strange black tile. To her and Harry's surprise the tile suddenly snapped up from beneath her revealing itself to be a large, spring loaded cage.
"Guys, look out!" Harry cried, but it was too late, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the Foot bots had corralled Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie into the cages. Even Master Splinter was in trouble.
So distracted by his family's predicament, Harry was unable to defend himself as Tiger Claw sent him flying across the room with a powerful swipe of his claws, landing right into an especially small cage, making sure he wouldn't have any way to move. Obviously Kitsune, had reported about the one sure fire way to keep a magical from being able to teleport.
Honestly it wasn't looking good, luckily the Foot bots hadn't noticed Leo had used his sword to jam his cage open. Using it as a crowbar, Leo pried his cage open and rushed over to the vat, cutting one of the chain supports to launch himself up onto Karai's cage.
"Hang on, Karai" said Leo, pulling the tape of her mouth.
"Thanks" she smiled.
"Leonardo!" Splinter cried, as he spotted Shredder coming up from behind.
Leo reacted just in time, ducking under Shredder's blade, saving his life but in doing so caused it to snap the chain holding Karai's cage up. Leo and Shredder were sent falling to the side as Karai's cage fell towards the mutagen.
"Miwa!" Splinter cried desperately.
No…No….NO….NO! Harry panicked, aware of the dangers of mutagen and what the loss of his daughter could do to Splinter. Desperate not to let Splinter feel that way again, Harry summoned all the magical energy he could as he tried to force himself past his limits…and then everything changed.
The world seemed to slow down as all eyes watched as the new mutant emerged from the tank. As Shredder intended the mutant was a serpent; the mutant was white long arms ending with snake heads for arms.
Disoriented from the change the mutant fell from the vat. Afraid of further injury to his child, Splinter found new strength, using the ropes holding him to pull the Foot bots, slicing them cleanly in half with his sword. He then rushed forward, managing to catch the serpent mutant just before it hit the ground.
"Miwa" Splinter said heartbrokenly, turning the serpent on its back. "My child."
Suddenly the serpent's eyes opened revealing bright green eyes, and Splinter felt his heart shatter. "No, please tell me you didn't."
But the serpent didn't reply instead, driven by instinct the mutant lashed out whipping its tail at Splinter, driving him back. The serpent then slithered around the room, going after the Foot bots, knocking over barrels as it passed.
As Leo took the opportunity to cut Hedwig and his brothers free, one the Foot bots destroyed by the serpent released an electrical spark, igniting a spilled barrel of oil. The resulting fire hit Stockman's chemicals, causing a chain reaction that set the entire warehouse up in flames.
"No, my lab!" Stockman cried, but Shredder quickly put an end to his whining, as he pushed him aside to glare hatefully at Splinter.
"NO!" he growled. "You Hamato Yoshi, you did this!"
Splinter easily returned the hateful look as he knew something Shredder didn't. Shredder stepped forward to continue their battle but before he could attack the roof collapsed in front of him, cutting him off from Splinter.
"No!" he roared in frustration.
"Master Shredder, we must go" said Tiger Claw.
"Leave me!"
"Splinter will, suffer for this. You have won."
"Won?!" Shredder's gaze then turned to the serpent mutant, crying out in agony, as the building fell apart around them. "I shall avenge you, my daughter" he vowed, before following Tiger Claw out of the building.
"We got to get out of here!" said Donnie.
"Not without, Karai" said Leo.
"But that's not, Karai."
Hedwig and the Turtles' eyes widened as the saw Karai walk out from behind the mutagen vat.
"What did you, do?!" Raph yelled.
"I don't know" said Karai. "It was, Harry."
"Harry, couldn't move!" Donnie snapped. "He couldn't teleport!"
"He switched the cages" Karai explained.
Somehow, Harry had managed to switch the location of his cage with Karai's. He had taken her place inside the mutagen.
"Harry, we must go!" Splinter urged his youngest, hoping that there was enough humanity left in him.
Acting on instinct, Harry struck at Splinter, constricting his body around him.
"Please, my son" Splinter begged.
In that moment somewhere inside the real, Harry woke up.
"D-Dad" it was just a single word but it was enough. Harry had been the one to hold on to calling Splinter, 'Dad', even if now usually only did it when he was emotionally drained. Without another word, Harry teleported out of the building.
Hoping he hadn't gone far, Leo and the others raced outside into the now pouring rain but could find no sign of Harry.
"This is all my fault" Karai said guiltily, as Splinter's earlier words played in her mind. 'Revenge only leads to more pain.'
"Yeah, it is!" Raph snapped, grabbing her threateningly by the collar. "We saved you. Brought you into our home. And you go and lose us our brother!"
"Cool it, Raph" said Leo, pushing himself between his brother and Karai.
"Oh so now you're putting her ahead of Harry!"
Leo was hurt by the accusation. He looked to Donnie and Mikey for support but while they didn't say anything, he got the feeling that they blamed Karai too.
"I'm not saying that" said Leo. "I'm saying it's my fault. I should've stopped Karai from going after Shredder."
"But I'm the one that chose to go" said Karai.
"That's enough" said Splinter, keeping his back to the others, allowing the rain to hide his tears.
He knew why, Harry would even try such a thing. As far as he was concerned the blame was not on anyone else but him for unintentionally burdening his child with his sorrows, and Shredder for his obsession with revenge that he spread to Karai and that ultimately Harry was now paying for.
"Let's go, home" Hedwig said gently, not bothering to hide her tears.
"You can make a retro mutagen for Harry, right?" Mikey asked Donnie.
"I hope so."
AN: So there you have it. Karai stays with the family but it came with a price. I had a hard time deciding about this one.
So review or leave a comment to let me know what you think.