Episode 4: A New Serpent in Town – Part 3

The dojo was silent.

Master Hamato pulled out a long white bandage and slowly stuck it to the cut on Kaela's face that he had just finished washing. Kaela seemed to be fine now, her shaking had stopped and she gripped her weapon in her fingers tightly. "So," Master Hamato said quietly, "You were attacked by a kunoichi." he stated. "I did not know that the Shredder had any of those at his disposal. You were very lucky to have gotten away."

"She was an awesome fighter." Ethan said, mostly in awe.

Jess raised an eyebrow at him, her arms folded across her chest as she leaned against the window. Ethan ignored her. Master Hamato pulled away from Kaela and then turned to Ethan and Jess. "You failed to mention why it is that this Karai attacked you. If there was no mutagen there, what purpose would she have in returning to the warehouse."

"She wanted information from us." Kaela piped up. "She wanted to know about Splinter and the turtles."

Master Hamato furrowed his brow and closed his eye, a finger under his chin. "The same turtles that Shredder mentioned I assume." He said slowly. He then opened his eyes with a flash and turned to Ethan. "If these turtles are an enemy to the Shredder and the Foot Clan then they are an ally to us. You must go back tonight and follow Karai. You must find these turtles before she does."

Ethan felt eagerness grow in his stomach and he suppressed a smile, hastily bowing with his fist placed lightly on his palm. "Hai, sensei." He turned to the other two. Jess' expression had not changed. "Let's go find Karai." Ethan made for the door and Kaela got up, shaking her head as if to rid it of her previous fears and then followed. Jess was on her heels, her skeptic expression did not change. Ethan felt confused. As they made their way to the wall, Ethan considered what he needed to do. As soon as we find Karai, I'll need to make sure she doesn't hurt Jess or Kaela. He thought. He could still remember her snake eyes staring at him.

The three used their usual hand holds to get to the rooftops and then they began their sprint again. Sweat was forming under Ethan's hairline and dripping down, stopping at the bandanna. They had been moving a lot tonight. But Ethan wasn't going to let this chance pass him up. He needed to figure out about the turtles – and he wanted to see Karai again too.

Jess caught up with him quickly. "Why are you so eager?" Jess asked suspiciously.

Ethan turned to look at her as he jumped over one of the nearby buildings. Jess didn't slow down. He didn't slow down either. "Sensei wants us to find these turtles. It must be important." he said.

Jess didn't look convinced. "Right." She muttered and then she fell back again until she was running alongside Kaela. She whispered something as they moved and Ethan tried to ignore it. It wasn't long before they reached the warehouse again. Ethan held up his hand to stop them and they slowed until their toe's rested on the hard surface of the lip of the building. Ethan glanced down into the alleyway. This time, it wasn't empty.

Karai was standing in the alleyway, glancing this way and that. For a second, Ethan thought she looked up and his heart froze, but she didn't react. She turned to the footbots that surrounded here their red eyes glowing in the dark. "The turtles should be down here." She said pointing the ground.

What the heck? Ethan thought, but then in the darkness, he heard the sound of a manhole cover being shifted and slamming into the wall along with the excited buzz of the footbots as they looked down. The sewers? Do turtles live in sewers? Ethan thought, but his attention turned back as the glowing red eyes of the foot began to vanish into the darkness. They were definitely going into the sewers. Ethan's eyes moved back to Karai who watched her small group disappear and then, with one last look around, she vanished into the darkness with them.

"Let's go." Ethan said.

"Wait." Jess held out her hand to stop Ethan. "Are you sure about this?" She asked, "I am not sure how I feel about how eager you are to jump into this."

"Why not?" Ethan asked. "Sensei asked us to find the turtles first and if they are going in the sewers, then that is where we need to go too."

"No," Jess continued, "I'm concerned because your usually mister 'we need to be quiet, be stealthy, be careful, we can't fight, retreat!' and now you want to run into this headlong? What's up with that?"

Ethan coughed, feeling his cheeks burn again and he shrugged, "I dunno. I just think we should hurry." he then glared, "Besides, I'm not like that!"

Kaela and Jess gave each other worried glances, but before they could question any further, Ethan had turned and dived off the side of the building, landing softly on the fire escape below. He heard them following behind him as he began his descent down the stairs towards the alleyway floor. Once he reached it, he was pleased to see that the warehouse doors were closed, and a large gaping hole had appeared in the ground. A nearby manhole cover was leaning against the wall where it had been thrown. Cracks ascended up at it's edges from the thrown weight. These footbots were stronger than Ethan thought. Duly noted.

Jess and Kaela landed, one knee to the ground right behind him. Ethan smiled at how much more coordinated they were getting as a team. He turned to the manhole cover. "Ready guys?" he asked, even though he honestly didn't care how ready they were.

"Ready." Kaela said enthusiastically.

"I guess." Jess added in a mutter.

Good enough.

Ethan turned to the hole that led to the sewers and, pulling out his naginata to be safe, he leaned over it. The smell of sewage immediately met his nose and he coughed, backing away for a moment to get rid of the dizzy feeling that had come over him. "Freak, that's awful!" He hissed into the darkness. He wasn't going to let it stop him though. He nodded to the other two and then slowly made his way down into the blackness, his hands on the rungs of the ladder. He had to holster his naginata to do it, as one handed simply wasn't working, but when his feet squelched into the murky liquid below, he pulled it out again hastily.

Little yellow lights buzzed on either side of him, illuminating a dark passage that led both in front and behind him. He kept himself in ready attacking position, the naginata pointed out, his legs bent into horse stance. Nothing came from the darkness though. Jess and Kaela landed next to him, splashes of sewage water drenching him further. He ignored it and gave each of them a look that said 'seriously?'

If Karai shows up, attack first, ask questions later. He demanded of himself.

Ethan looked both ways. He wasn't about to let Karai and the foot get away. They needed to get to those turtles first. "This way." Kaela said pointing down the one behind them. "Look," She pointed at a blade mark on the wall. "Weird. It definitely looks like it was marked on purpose." She frowned and looked over her shoulder at Ethan. "We might be walking into a trap."

Moving past Kaela, he placed his fingers on the groove. He knew that she was right. "Let's go, but be cautious." he warned. They slowly trooped down the sewer. Getting used to the smell was easy, getting over the thought that they were walking through New York sewage was not so simple. They moved out of the tide of water and walked on the stone shoulders by the lights. The water was too noisy. Karai would be able to hear them, even if she were halfway across the New York sewage system.

Eventually, they reached a three way split. Ethan stopped. The one on the right veered off into darkness, the left was certainly more moist with large patches of green moss growing on the sides. The middle one led off into blackness, but looked a litter newer than the other two. Ethan slowly moved in front of the other two and examined each one. He could see down the one with moss that there were LED red lights that vanished, as if they had waited for someone to look down the tunnel before disappearing. He was about to say they should go down the that one when he noticed another scratch mark in the one in the middle.

Karai had to be there. He nervously glanced behind his shoulder at the other two. He couldn't risk either of them and he feared more than anything that Karai wouldn't talk if they all cornered her.

He turned to the other two. "We split up." he said.

"Okay, that is the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Jess said. "If any one of us gets attacked in one of those tunnels, we're dead."

Kaela nodded nervously, holding her weapon close to her chest.

Ethan shook his head. "They are definitely moving through all three tunnels. Give it five minutes down the tunnel. If we don't find anything, meet back here. If you do, yell and we will all come find you."

He then turned and began his way down the middle tunnel. He could hear Jess complaining all the way down and for a few moments, he wondered if they were going to follow him. But he was walking alone. Jess' voice became a faint echo and eventually faded away all together. Only his own footsteps echoed around him. He could hardly see anything at all and for a few minutes of walking through slosh, he began to second guess and considered turning back. Then light appeared and he quickened his pace. The water vanished away until he was stepping on dry stone. Suddenly, the tunnel opened up into a much larger area. Ethan peered out nervously to find that his assumption had been right.

Old train tracks ran up the empty, dusty tunnel. An underground subway. By the looks of it, train's had not come here for some time. Benches sat on either side of the subway rails, but nobody was waiting for a train. Instead, leaning against one of the large, rusted pillars was Karai. She looked up at the sound of his feet.

He kept his weapon out and ready. He wasn't going to let her charm her way out of this. Her arm was folded delicately under her other arm which she had up close to her face, examining a thin, polished blade in her hand. Her black bangs hung by the sides of her face. The silver of her armor encased tightly around her body perfectly – it had clearly been created just for her. Silver earrings winked at him from the top and bottom parts of her ear.

Her coy smile appeared on her lips and Ethan stopped and went into a lower bow stance, his staff out, the blade pointed at Karai. She pretended she didn't notice any of this. "I've only known you for a few hours and already I can predict you so easily." She said. "I knew you'd follow me." She threw herself off the pillar and down onto the tracks. She walked with poise towards him, one of her hands on her hips. "I had a hunch you'd come alone too. And look at this. I'm right again."

She paused a few feet away from him and with a thrust, Ethan brought his weapon out closer to Karai's face. "I want explanations. Why are you working for the Shredder? – And who are the turtles?" Ethan demanded to know. Get the information you need and get out. He commanded himself, but her smile was making it hard for him.

Karai frowned. "Your lies won't work on me, Ethan. You know exactly who the turtles are. As for why – perhaps you didn't know but Shredder is my father." Ethan's heart skipped a beat, but he did his best not to show any shock on his face. He couldn't show any weakness or Karai would notice, and then it would be over.

"Listen," Ethan said, "I only came down here because I want to know – who are the turtles? I don't care how many times you say it, I have no idea who they are."

Karai's hand lowered from her waist and her eyes grew wide with confusion. "You really don't know. . ." she whispered. "You have shurikans with the Hamato symbol. Your fighting style is the same! How can you be a disciple of Hamato Yoshi and know nothing?"

Ethan opened his mouth, realizing now that 'Splinter' and Master Hamato's son were the same person. He considered explaining himself but ultimately decided it would be better for him to shut his mouth. He was beginning to realize how stupid this idea was. Why was he here again? To talk to Karai – someone he had only met a few hours ago? He mentally slapped himself and shifted his feet backward. It was time to go.

Karai seemed to have noticed as well and she turned and shrugged her shoulders. Her face had gone so pale it was almost white again, her eyes glowing in the darkness. "Well, it seems that you aren't really any use to me then." she said.

The sound of hissing could be heard and Ethan immediately saw a change. He could see the tracings of scales on her face, and suddenly she lashed her hand out, but it wasn't a hand anymore. It was as if her arms had become snakes of their own, serpent like mouths appearing at the ends to snatch at him with their white glimmering teeth.

He shrieked and jumped backward to dodge them. "Karai!" He shouted, "What the – ?" She ignored his comment and burst forward with incredible agility, her snake-hands snatching again at his face. He ducked and hit the other one out of the air with one solid swing. But they had been distractions. Karai had closed in on him and with a yell that sounded like an angry hiss, she kicked him in the stomach.

Breathing in a gasp of air, he recovered his feet, not allowing himself to fall backward and he swung his naginata. The serpents entangled it and with a wrench it was thrown form his hands and clattered across the railroad track.

Feeling a burst of anger, as if Karai had tossed away one of his best friends, he lunged forward with a wild punch, but she moved out of the way. One of her arms and hand had resumed their original state and she brought her elbow down on him, but Ethan was ready. He dodged with his forearm and then snatched her wrist and threw as hard as she could.

She moved over his back and somersaulted across the rails, landing on her two feet, crouched low to the ground, the weight of her upper body carried by her palm that rested expertly on the tracks. "Your pretty entertaining." She said slyly, "I'm almost tempted to keep you."

Ethan glared and fought down another blush. "Your cuteness wears off after a while." he lied.

"I'm just getting started." she replied.

She lunged and her arms elongated, flesh vanishing in the wake of purple and white scales and he suddenly felt both of the snakes tangle around him, throwing him off his feet. His shoulder smashed into the hard, bumpy rails and he slid across the railroad tracks before finally skidding to a halt in the dark. He shook his head and tried to get up again. Why on earth did I think this was a good idea? He tried to keep his breath level and think of a way out of this. What was I thinking – that Karai might just tell me everything we needed to know? That just because she seems so awesome that she actually might have a feeling other than the desire to kill me? I mean – Shredder's daughter? Seriously?

Suddenly Ethan's body froze and went rigid.

Intense pain burst from both of his arms and he felt his breath vanish a quick woosh! As if it had been carried away by the wave of shear agony. He looked down at his arms to see that her two snake-hands had lunged from the darkness and had sunk their long fangs into the flesh just above his elbow. He gasped and felt his mind reel as they released and vanished back into the darkness, the sound of snapping bones sounded, letting Ethan know that the snakes had resumed back to her arms and hands. Karai slowly walked down the railroad tracks, emerging from the dark. "Are you feeling the effects of my venom?" she asked as casually as if she were talking about the weather.

Ethan fell forward on his hands, a wave of nausea coursed through his body as he felt the liquid venom burst through his veins like fire, his vision going hazy. He coughed, feeling like he may vomit. He could see large pricks in his flesh, red, angry and getting puffy. "You're weak Ethan. And you're done for." She smiled down at him. "The poison is slow. Within the hour you will perish."

Jess and Kaela waited at the tunnel entrances. Kaela bounced nervously on the balls of her feet. "Well, it's been over five minutes." Jess grumbled, arms folded across her chest. Neither of them had found a single thing in their tunnel.

Kaela glanced nervously in the other tunnel. "We should go after him. He should be back by now." She said. "Why did he want to go off by his own anyway?"

Leaning forward, Jess brushed the brown hair out of her face. It was beginning to come out from behind her bandanna and it annoyed her. She reached out and touched a groove on the rocky tunnel side. "I knew it." She hissed. "Karai went down this way." She said pointing. "Ethan went on his own to find her!"

Kaela raised her eyebrows. "Why would he do that on purpose?"

Jess glared. "Because he's an idiot! He's obsessed with her!"

"What?" Kaela whispered in disbelief. "That doesn't sound like Ethan."

"Did you notice him and Karai at the warehouse? They weren't fighting – they were flirting!"

"I was busy trying to not be killed by a bunch of footbots."

Jess realized the truth in what Kaela said and gave up trying to prove her point. She pointed down the dark tunnel that Ethan had chosen. "Let's go." She said and they both disappeared down into the tunnel.

Slowly standing, Ethan tried to straighten his back. Every tapping noise of Karaia's feet against the cement felt like a jackhammer was ramming into his skull. He placed his hand on his head and felt his limbs losing their strength. His stupid idea was going to kill him.

"You know, it's a shame." Karai was saying, her voice echoing around him so much that it only increased his dizziness. He stumbled forward towards Karai. If he could just reach his naginata, maybe he could fight through this. He pushed his body forward, as if he was physically shoving the venom away from him. "You remind me of Leo, a lot." something sounded odd about her voice and in this strange delirium, Ethan began to realize something was wrong with Karai. Something besides her mutant body – something different than her relationship with the master of the Foot Clan. Something that was so recognizable to him that it seemed to burn inside him, pushing him forward.

A fear that he recognized from a past scar.

Was she being . . . controlled?

For a split moment – as his mind spun backward and forward, turning this way and that, he thought he saw the shadowy form of another woman. Was Karai with someone? But as soon as it had come, it vanished. Karai was so close to him now.

He could see his naginata tossed in the corner of the room.

"Leo..." She spoke the word softly, as if she was confused by the way it sounded to her.

Ethan could hardly tell what was real or not anymore. "Karai..." He muttered, "Who are you?"

Karai reached out until her fingers touched his shirt, drenched now in his sweat. Her fingers curled around the crew neck opening and she lifted him from his feet. "Sorry, Ethan." She said. "This was never anything personal." Her voice had changed back to that coy, venomous tone. "But, if you can't lead me to the turtles then, as interesting as you are, you aren't worth it."

"Let go of him!"

Ethan felt his feet hit the ground and he collapsed onto his face, the smell of rust and dirt filling his lungs, his face resting against the rails of the old train tracks. He lifted his face to see a hazy, moving image of Jess and Kaela, their weapons out.

"Your friend is finished." Karai said. "Now it's your turn."

"He's not just our friend!" Kaela snapped, "He's our brother."

The two burst forward, Kaela's dart smacking the ground with a ping! Karai hissed through her teeth in anger and moved out of the way, just in time, but she wasn't able to dodge Jess' kama in time. She fell backward with a yell of pain and suddenly her snake hands burst forward, snapping at Jess. The two yelled in surprise and backed out of the way. "Snake hands!" Jess cried. "Sick!"

Kaela's hands were on Ethan's side and she lifted him up. "Ethan!" she cried. "Are you okay?"

He nodded trying to blink away the pain that was screaming on his insides. He could feel his eyes watering. "My we-my weapon."

Kaela turned to see his naginata had rested at the side of the tracks. "I got this!" She flung her ribbon which moved through the air in a rush of blue and it wrapped around the shaft and with a wrench, it flew up into the air and landed at their feet. Ethan stopped down and picked it up. His fingers were losing their feeling and he could feel tingling moving up his arm.

Jess flipped out of the way of another strike from Karai and cut through the air with her kama's towards Karai, but she had retreated further into the shadows, her snake eyes glowing in fury as she burst forward and tried to round-house kick Jess across the face but Jess slammed the end of her kama into Karai's ankle, throwing her off balance.

"Ethan!" Kaela called again, but her face was going blurry, melding into an odd pale shape in his vision and he felt the nausea intensify. "Ethan, what's wrong with you?"

"P-poison." he managed to get out through gritted teeth. He could feel spit fleck on his lips that were tingling.

Kaela's eyes grew wide and she turned to Jess. "We need to get out now!" she yelled. "Ethan needs Master Hamato, now!"

Jess glared at Karai. "This isn't over, snake-lady!" she snapped.

Karai flinched away from another strike and Jess wrenched a smoke bomb from her belt and threw it against the ground. A blast of purple smoke burst into the air and Karai silently slipped into the darkness. Ethan could feel another arm wrap around him and heard Jess say, "Idiot." It echoed around him and he felt his body slowly being dragged. The looming tunnel turned in every which direction and then the blackness consumed him and he was gone.

Rin. pyou. Tou. Sha.

Images swirled around him in an array of color. He could see green tree's flecked in the sunlight, and fields of grass, not a single building in sight, high mountains towered near him. They looked liked spires jutting out of the ground. He could feel soft cloth on himself and feel the golden light on his face and he smiled. Bamboo sprouted from a nearby garden near him and he could see the ocean glittering like diamonds in the afternoon sun. Then the image of a woman behind him, reaching out to hold him. She was Asian, black hair, warm smile, wearing a long kimono.

Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen.

The details seemed to haze away and suddenly he was opening his eyes.

He was in the dojo, flat on his back. Jess and Kaela were peering nervously down at him and he felt his stomach turn a little sour but then it relaxed. Master Hamato was stooping over him, his hands out, nearly touching Ethan's chest and he smiled as Ethan slowly lifted himself up. He felt exhaustion, but was relieved that that was the only thing he felt. The venom was gone . . . somehow. Those words that he had heard sounded familiar. It certainly had been Master Hamato that had said those words. Master Hamato placed a hand on his back and immediately Ethan felt better, the warm running from his Sensei's hand to him. "You failed to mention that the kunoichi you encountered was a murderous snake." he said, his smile not fading.

"Ha ha." Ethan grunted and smiled back at Master Hamato. The circles were deep under his eyes and Ethan was sure that whatever he had done to heal him had taken a lot of energy.

Kaela threw her arms around Ethan as he slowly stood up. "Ethan! We thought you were dead!"

Jess walked up and put her arms around both of them and Ethan smiled. "I'm fine guys!" he said, but he was grateful for the warm of their embrace. He felt chills – likely an after effect of the venom. Once they broke away, Jess ruffled his hair with her hand, his copper locks moving over his eyes. "Thanks for saving me." Ethan murmured.

Master Hamato stood up and motioned to the back door. "I have something to speak with you about." Ethan nervously followed Master Hamato. Jess and Kaela shrugged – they obviously didn't know what was about to happen.

The cool air was nice on Ethan's skin. He had dried sweat on his skin and he realized the collar of his shirt was soaked still. The sound of the brook calmed his heart to a steady rhythm and Master Hamato turned to him. "Jessica and Kaela tell me that you went off alone." he began slowly, "Is there something you wish to tell me?"

Ethan sighed. "Not really." He fidgeted uncomfortably.

Master Hamato placed his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "I am aware," He began, "That although you are a leader, you are also a teenager. It is admirable that you want to protect your sisters and find these turtles. That is key to the earth's survival. But, you must realize that a kunoichi like Karai's greatest skill is not her fighting style, or even mutagen-given power, but rather, her influence over you."

Bowing his head Ethan nodded, "I understand." He said grimly.

"My son, I am dying."

Ethan looked up again, confused at the words he had just heard in that order. "Why would you say that?" Ethan asked, bewildered.

Master Hamato let his hand drop from Ethan's shoulder and he placed them behind his back and walked out further into the garden until he stood near the shadow of the tree. "It is much easier to deal with a straight on strike than a surprise attack." he said. "I will not be around much longer. Your siblings will need to know that they can trust you as a leader. There are times when you will need to be that for them. There will of course be times for you to be a teenager as well."

"Sensei, you are going to be around for a long time." Ethan retorted.

Master Hamato shook his head. That was not the conversation they were having. "To be clear, Ethan," he said, "When you are cornered by a venomous kunochi from the Foot Clan, that is not the time for you to be a teenager."

Ethan, giving up on fighting it anymore, bowed. "Hai, sensei."

"Good." Master Hamato said quietly, closing his eyes. "From now on, your highest priority is to find those turtles. You may go."

Ethan didn't speak another word and he turned and went back into the dojo, leaving his master outside in the darkness of the garden. Jess and Kaela quickly ran up to him, as if they thought he was going to collapse again, but they saw his expression and asked nothing concerning the conversation for which Ethan was grateful. They walked into their room together and Kaela switched on the light. Jess sat down on her bed and folded her arms, but her expression was soft. "So," She said, "You wanna tell us why you went off on your own? Besides the fact that you wanted to keep us safe."

Ethan didn't want to talk about it and so he collapsed on the bean bag and searched the ground for the remote. He didn't want to think anymore. "No reason."

"Okay," Jess said, "I'll just say it then. You are totally crushing on that psycho!"

Ethan felt blush appear under his cheeks.

"Jess, I'll kill you!"

Ethan jumped up to tackle her and Kaela slapped her forehead and groaned, but she was smiling.

The stone doors slammed open with a resounding boom. The moon glimmered through the glass roof onto the floor. Tigerclaw and Rahzar had vanished in the early hours of the morning. Shredder sat alone in his chair, waiting. "Karai." he said as she walked in and bowed lowly to the ground, keeping her eyes on the floor. "Did you find the turtles and Splinter?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

"They are nowhere to be found." Karai replied. Before Shredder's anger could explode in her face again she said, "But we did find the three teenagers you had captured before." Shredder leaned forward, but did not say a word to her. His anger had only gotten worse since the escape of the Hyena mutant.

Karai slowly lifted her head until her eyes met his own. "I spoke to one of them, Father. They do not know anything of Splinter or the turtles."

Shredder glared down at her and stood. "We have spoken of this nonsense before." He hissed, his voice echoing off of his metal mask and booming around the empty room, reverberating off the glass. "I will hear no more of these useless lies."

Karai's eyes narrowed and that same rebellious feeling emerged but was immediately and painfully suppressed. "Father," she gasped. She tried to bite her own tongue from speaking, but through gritted teeth she said, "I only want to execute your commands. They mentioned a Master Hamato, but I do not think it was Splinter they spoke of."

Shredder's eyes widened and he slowly sat back down on his large chair, his fingers gripping the stone arms so tightly that it looked like his gloves would burst. Karai looked up into his eyes again, hoping to see some sort of recognition. Understanding filled them, and then almost immediately, that turned into fury, more chaotic than she had ever seen before, his shoulders shaking. "It cannot be." He said, his voice trembling as he said it, "Hamato Yuta."