Episode 12: Winks From the Past – Part 3

Running back out into the open air, Jess could see that the rain had stopped and the clouds had begun to move on. She could feel a slight chill brushing against her, but the fur protected her against most of it and she still felt incredibly warm. Tigerclaw was nowhere to be seen, but Jess didn't care. She had no interest in following the big cat this time. Especially not without her siblings to back her up. Putting her kama's away, her eyes traveled over the buildings and the restaurant.

Moving across the now empty street, she put her back against the wall and slowly turned her head to look inside. There was a couple of guys that looked far too buff to be real people sitting next to the girl with long hair that Jess had noticed before. She was gripping a bat that she had in her hand and seemed annoyed with one of them that had just burst into laughter. At another table, a thin, tattooed Asian boy had his head resting on the table, his hair so short that it was nearly a total shave. Mako was nowhere to be seen and Jess felt a gnawing sense of disappointment.

"Hey, girlie."

She whirled around to the darkened alley behind the restaurant to find Mako was standing in the darkness, hands in his pockets, but the light of the window illuminated half his face and made the purple tips of his hair look like stingers. "I'm surprised you recognized me." Jess said, putting a cutting, accusation in her tone. "Y'know, with the whole me getting messed up by your friends and stuff."

Mako looked hurt by what she had just said but quickly covered it up, "Those Foot ninja's aren't my friends." he retorted. The expression he had given her and the sturdiness in the way he had said it made Jess want to forgive him but she quickly threw that temptation out. Mako's puppy dog eyes weren't going to work on her this time.

Jess shrugged, "I don't even know if you were trying to stop them, Mako." She said. "Sure you told them to stop, but honestly, you have no trouble beating up kids at school, why didn't you just punch Karai in the face or something?"

The Purple Dragon that she had liked for two years shifted his feet awkwardly against the dirty pavement littered in aluminum cans and wrappers, stained with car oil. Half of her wanted to hug him, the other half still wanted to kick him in the stomach. She groaned and put her and over her eyes, rubbing the fuzzy lids. The restaurant door opened and Jess' tail twitched as she flattened herself against the dark wall of the alley to make herself smaller. A second later, the thin Asian man stumbled away down the street, not even glancing over at Mako and Jess. Once he had vanished into the dark, Jess turned back to Mako with a glare.

"Did you come here just to yell at me?" Mako asked. "'Cause if that's all then I'm leaving."

Jess didn't like this new Mako. He wasn't being coy or funny anymore. He wasn't smiling and his usual cocky confidence had burned away, leaving nothing but the ashes of the kid in front of her. She was finding it more difficult to push her anger and frustration on him. "I just saw Tigerclaw and Hun talking." Jess said.

"You were there?" Mako perked up, "Very impressive, Jess."

"Yeah," Jess shrugged it off, "They are planning on taking over the city they said – do you know anything about that?"

Mako looked just as surprised and shook his head. "I haven't heard anything about that." he admitted and Jess listened for the honesty in his voice. She found it.

"Well, they said they are going to get a bunch of the Purple Dragons and mutate them. So, if I were you, I would stay far away from the Purple Dragons and especially Hun." Jess said quickly, folding her arms across her chest.

Nodding, Mako stepped forward. "Thanks." he said and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Jess stood rigid, arms pinned to her side and ground her teeth together, both loving and hating what was happening.

Then she put her hands up and tugged away. "Thanks." she said. "I mean – you're welcome." Slapping herself for acting like a moron she turned to go.

"Wait." Mako stopped her and she paused, but refused to look back at him, her eyes closed tightly. "You couldn't have known that Tigerclaw and Hun were going to meet. I hardly knew about it. So . . . you must have come the Purple Dragon territory for a different reason." His slyness had returned and she turned to look at him from the corner of her eye. He was grinning, arms folded across his chest.

"Psh." Jess scoffed, "You just underestimate how good of a ninja I am." She then left out into the open street and made her way back to the sewer, trying to shake away Mako's words she sped up, hoping to put as much distance between her and Mako as possible.

Ethan could feel himself falling, spinning as if through time. He tried to open his eyes but he couldn't. Something was keeping them shut. He continued to speed towards an unknown destination and he tried to grasp where he was – what was going on? Did he fall down the pit in the sewers after he kissed Karai?

He could hear birds chirping – the sound of grass moving. He could feel tatami under his knees. That feeling was familiar enough to him that he could remember it anywhere. He could feel his hands placed lightly on his knees and could hear the sound of water nearby. Was he back in his home near Murakami's place? Maybe he had dreamed up everything else – being a red panda, Shredder killing Master Hamato – maybe it had all just been a nightmare.

Opening his eyes still proved impossible. "My son." A voice spoke – a woman's voice. It was beautifully broken. The words seemed to come out of her throat only with great difficulty. He could still see nothing but blackness, his eyes permanently shut to the things around him.

"Y-yes, mother?" He answered unexpectedly, as if he had not willed it. He felt wetness on his cheeks and warmth as drops made their way down to his chin and dripped off. Suddenly he could feel a soft, warm hand on his own. Ethan desperately wanted to open his eyes – what was going on? No emotion ran through him, save confusion.

"You have to take care of the family now." She croaked. Even with a dimming voice, it sounded soothingly beautiful. "I don't have much longer to live." Her voice was fading.

"Don't say that!" Ethan said, grasping at the warm hand. He could feel his other hand as it left his knee touch something soft – sheets. "Mom!" But before more could happen, it was fading away. His body jolted with pain and he felt all of it disappear. Replaced with nothing but coldness.

Kaela heaved Ethan through the sewers, her breath coming out in harsh pants. Ethan was a lot heavier than she had expected. Her face had turned red and sweat dripped down her forehead and off her nose. Gross. "If – you – die – Ethan – I'm – gonna – kill – you." Kaela muttered between panted breaths as the red glow enveloped her and his body. She wasn't far away.

Her legs were trembling from the effort and she was sure that it was only adrenaline that kept them moving. Ethan lay across her shoulders, his face not far from her ear. His eyes were closed, his fur dampened from sweat, his bandanna hanging loosely from his face, the tails coming around his neck and down his belted chest. She was still in her pajamas.

She didn't really have time to choose an outfit before going to save her stupid brother.

Kaela couldn't remember a time being more upset at him than this one.

She had to hurry. The breaths that Ethan was taking were becoming more shallow in her ear. She grunted and slowly dragged Ethan up from the railway over the barriers and into the lair that they had found in the sewers. She could go no further and dumped his body onto the couch. He didn't make a sound and his body went limp, one of his red-fur covered arms falling over the side of the couch, his mouth hanging slightly open, his bandanna slipping off his face and stopping around his neck.

Well, now what do I do? Kaela thought frantically. But she already knew the answer. She raced across the living room and threw open the dojo doors so forcefully that they clattered against each other. She didn't bother to remove her shoes on the tatami and ran under the shadow of the tree and snatched up the scroll that had the ancient Japanese characters that Master Hamato had read in order to save Ethan from Karai's poison before.

That had to be what it was, although Kaela half wished it was just a severe case of mono. She burst back into the room. If a red panda could look pale, Ethan looked it. Kaela knelt beside him and threw open the Japanese scroll. She couldn't remember a single word that Master Hamato had said, although she did remember some of the finger motions as she had found herself aimlessly practicing them on occasion as if they were some secret, cool ninja kata. I don't know what I'm doing! She made the first hand motion that Master Hamato had taught her over Ethan's body and stuttered, trying to find the word that he had used.

Kaela gazed down at the scroll in front of her desperately, but the strange characters just looked like a bunch of inky lines to her. She was about to watch her brother expire. "Master Hamato!" She yelled aloud, as if he could hear her, "I don't know what I'm doing!" She broke her hand connection and brushed hair out of her face and felt like sobbing. She had just lost her master – she wasn't about to lose her brother too.

She closed her eyes and felt tears burning at the corners. As if she had gotten a divine answer, Master Hamato's voice came to her, saying a phrase she had heard him say over and over again and the memory rang inside her mind as clearly as a bell. Remember, in battle, every moment can mean life or death. If you do not remain calm, death will always be the answer.

Kaela relaxed her face as best as she could and let one of the fresh tears fall down her face. She opened her mouth and audibly exhaled out loudly. She then brought breath back in through her nose, cleansing her insides and for a single moment she felt clarity – determination – confidence. She closed her eyes and bowed her head over the scroll.

Then she opened her eyes.

The characters seemed to come together and she put her hands back over Ethan's chest.

"Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha."

She said each word with clarity, not a fear in her mind as she changed her fingers with each motion, as if channeling the scroll into herself. The characters floating and weaving inside her mind, dancing with as much familiarity as the moves she learned in school.

"Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen."

Ethan stirred and color returned to his cheeks. Kaela's determination grew and she followed the same pattern, each word coming out with loud determination so that it echoed around the living room and back out into the red glow.

"Rin. Pyou."

Ethan wasn't going to die.

"Tou. Sha."

The characters whirled like a tornado of color in her head.

"Kai. Jin. Retsu."

She felt her hands go warm as she reached out over Ethan.

"Zai. Zen."

He placed her hands on his chest and for a single moment, Kaela thought she had reached some sort of odd nirvana, her hands warm, her mind as clear as it ever had been. A second later, it vanished and Ethan's eyes fluttered open.

"Ugh." He muttered under his breath as he slowly sat up from the couch, holding his stomach.

"Ethan!" Kaela threw her arms around him and for a single moment, he stood rigid, and then he returned the hug. Kaela broke apart suddenly and glared at him. "If you weren't feeling sick I would punch you in the face!"

Ethan just stared at her, blinking slowly.

"You dork! You saw Karai on the screen, didn't you! You should have woken me up! I would have gone with you and then this wouldn't have happened because I wouldn't have let you been an idiot and kissed her!"

Ethan was quiet for some time and he looked down at his feet. "This wasn't about being around Karai because I like her." Ethan stated back quietly, "It was about saving her." Kaela sighed and face palmed herself loudly. He then looked down at the scroll in Kaela's lap. "How did you save me?"

Looking down at the scroll, Kaela snatched it up and showed it to him. "I don't know how, but I managed to say the incantation for this and got the poison out of you!"

"Wow." Ethan muttered. He then looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with Kaela and said "Did you see a brain worm?"

Kaela shook her head, "I didn't. But Karai wasn't there either."

Ethan nodded.

The two were silent for a few moments and then, "Definitely not the best first kiss though." Ethan said after a while.

The two laughed together.

"What's so funny?"

Jess had returned. She appeared from the red light.

Ethan went silent.

"Boy, do I have a story for you." Kaela said.

"When you're done, I have one too." Jess said solemnly. "One about how Shredder and the Purple Dragon's are going to try and take over the city."

Ethan and Kaela's mouth dropped open.

"Master Shredder, you have returned." Tigerclaw, along with the others in the welcoming party bowed their heads. Xever, Bradford, Anton Zeck, and Ivan Storengo along with the foot ninja.

Shredder walked into the room from the shadows, the pale moon glancing down on them through the window above and striking white light across the moving water that lay on either side of the long platform to the stairs and his throne. "I have returned with the most powerful person in all of Japan." Shredder stepped forward past his bowing minions.

They looked up at the darkness hesitantly, the sound of tiny footsteps sounding and then, from the darkness, came a beautiful yellow and white fox. A long black line moved up it's nose and patterned a circle on the fox's beautiful forehead. It moved with elegance, three tails waving behind it. "A fox?" Storengo asked in his heavy Russian accent, his horned head turning to look questioningly at Shredder who had ascended the stairs and taken a seat at his usual spot.

The fox paused in front of the rhino and stared it down with eyes so clear they were almost white, it's maw curling into a smile. Shredder glared at his minion. "Her name is Kitsune and you will show your the respect she deserves so long as she is with us."

"Dah, Sorry!" he bowed his head again.

The fox sat back up as if satisfied and as it moved, suddenly it's fur was morphing away into long embroidered cloth, sleeves forming around the creatures front paws, its ears drawing back to form long black hair that reached the ground and trailed away with the kimono that had appeared, purple and red in color. A crystal comb morphed onto the top of the hair and soon a beautiful, tall woman was standing where the fox had been a few moments ago, one hand grasping the edge of a fox mask that looked exactly similar to the living one that had been there a few moments ago. It was as if the life had been bled from the creatures face to create the mask.

The woman slowly moved the mask with her pale, delicate, thin fingers to show an Asian face, her eyes a golden color and her mouth in a tiny line on her face, painted beautifully with red lipstick to make her face all the more pale and fair. She stared back at Shredder's followers with indifference.

"A mutant?" Bradford asked through his wolf fangs, his orange eyes glowing like embers.

Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "Wrong, inu-chyan." She turned to face the crowd of ninja and mutants.

"Kitsune," Shredder said lowly, "Is the only witch in all of Japan and now . . . America."

The others moved away from her as if she was about to attack them. Her ruby lips turned into a smile, as if the thought of it pleased her. She turned back to Shredder, "Oroku Saki, would you not think that our conversation need not be in the presence of these mutants."

Shredder nodded. "All of you. Leave."

The whole group slowly sauntered out, giving a final glance in Kitsune's direction, but none of them daring to speak a word. Shredder looked down at the beautiful Asian woman, her kimono whistling across the stones as she walked to the edge of the stairs and slowly began to ascend them. "Now, tell me, Kitsune." Shredder said, "Although I have heard much of your service, what makes you think that you can do what Stockman could not."

Kitsune moved around the chair, her long finger stroking the edge of the chair behind Shredder as she moved as softly as a summer's breeze. "Oroku Saki, you're little scientist used his inventions to get into the chemistry, the nerves, and the senses of your enemies, did he not?" Her voice was like a blade over silk.

Shredder turned his head to watch her as she rounded the chair and went back to the front of it, her finger trailing behind her the whole way, her hair moving around her gracefully. She looked at him with a simple smile.

"Yes." Shredder replied.

Kitsune nodded humbly, "Impressive, but it should not surprise you that it failed. How did you your strategy was defeated again?" She asked in such a way that it was clear she remembered perfectly how.

Shredder glared. "The child's companions managed to use her emotions to destroy the worm." he hissed, his voice reverberating off the metal.

Kitsune chuckled lightly as if he had just made an amusing joke. "Sou desu yo ne." She simpered. "You see, emotion runs deeper than any bodily process, Oroku Saki. It is for that very reason that my methods will prove to be far more useful in this endeavor." she chuckled again and then turned, her eyes burning, her smile widened to split her beautiful complexion, "I go for the heart."