He heard a loud crack ring out as one of the guns went off, and saw a few strands of Karai's black hair fly from her head as a bullet flew too close to her. Her eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in outrage, and her half-drawn katana whipped out of its sheath.
"Treachery!" she shouted. "Foot, attack!"
Raphael didn't need to be told twice. He leaped forwards towards Marino's men, his sai already protruding from his hands like steel claws, his eyes burning like twin embers behind his black mask.
Out of the corner of his eye, Raphael saw Karai whirling through a number of the thugs, her sword flashing like a stream of silver. Most of them seemed to be coming out of the crevices of the warehouse, streaming like ants out of an anthill.
One of Marino's men went down with barely a struggle, not realizing that the mutant was hurtling at him until it was already too late, and a sai had slashed across his throat. The gunman next to him swept his arm towards Raphael, a gleaming pistol already out and preparing to fire. Raphael had barely enough time to kick it straight up into the air, and kicked the man hard enough to send him flying back into the massive steel shelving unit behind him. He crumpled to the ground, blood trickling from his head.
Another man lunged at him, this one smart enough to keep his pistol close to his body. His dark eyes were frenzied with loathing.
"Freak!" the man spat. "This is for my brother!"
One of the sai flew directly into the barrel, splintering the gun from the inside out. Raphael snatched the weapon back as he kicked the man in the torso, and kept kicking until he heard the crack of ribs being broken, and the man crumpled to the floor like a wilted flower.
He was just about to turn when he felt a line of fire cutting itself down the side of his arm, and looked down just as a bloody knife was drawing away from his bicep. One of Marino's men, a brawny man with small glittering eyes, had drawn an enormous knife and was brandishing it against the mutant, Raphael's blood still dripping from the blade. The man seemed very pleased with himself for finally getting a strike against the Foot mutant.
Too bad for him that sai were meant to defend against blades, Raphael thought with a smirk.
He feinted to the left to draw the man closer, and waited for the guy to swing his knife again. When he did, Raphael swung one of his sai up and caught the blade, then twisted it from the man's grip, sending it clattering away into the darkness behind him.
"Gotcha!" Raphael said, grinning.
The man was stupid enough to not simply run while he had the opportunity, and drew another, smaller knife from inside his jacket. Raphael would have rolled his eyes if he had the time to spare, but as it was, he simply slashed at the man with the tip of his sai. The man dodged away, only to have a sai crunch through the bones of his hand, pinning it to the cracked concrete wall. He uttered a bloodcurdling scream and clawed at his bleeding appendage.
"Time to learn when to give up," Raphael grunted, giving the man a final strike to the neck before pulling the sai free. For good measure, he slipped the man's fallen knife into his belt, before plunging back into the shadows of the warehouse.
Two of the Foot ninja had already been killed — or so Raphael presumed, since they were sprawled in puddles of blood — but the others were putting up a good fight against the thugs who had been hiding in the warehouse's shadows. And the clatter of feet on the rooftop showed that the conflict even extended outside the building.
Raphael turned a corner and gritted his teeth. Two more Mafia thugs were waiting there for him, their eyes glinting in the dark. These two seemed to be smarter than the rest, as they lunged towards Raphael in almost perfect unison, knives gleaming and teeth bared.
He lashed out with his left leg, catching one of them in the gut and throwing him backwards, while swiping his sai at the other one. Another knife slashed past him, barely grazing his plastron.
"Monstro!" one of them snarled. "Not so tough when you have to deal with more than one of us!"
"Most people—don't boast—about gangin' up!" Raphael grunted, dodging another slash.
Something cracked against his back, and a shiver seemed to run through his shell. Raphael swept around to find a weedy, weasel-faced little man holding a crowbar, a look of panic crossing his face as he realized that he had barely fazed the angry mutant in front of him.
Raphael plunged his sai into the man's shoulder, throwing him backwards, but didn't have time to finish him as another knife swept by his face, almost slicing off the tails of his mask. Instead he tightened the grip on his sai, and smashed it into the attacker's trachea with all his strength. The man wheezed and went down.
His partner looked at Raphael with wide, terrified eyes as he realized that he was the only one there, and that nothing stood between him and the unstoppable green creature who had taken down half a dozen Mafia underlings, and suffered only a slash on one arm. He began to back away, still clutching his knife defensively.
Raphael started to go after him, determined to finish what he had started, but something gray moved swiftly in the corner of his eye. As he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of something lanky and tall vanishing out onto the loading dock. Marino.
A snarl crossed his face as he charged out after Marino. He could hear a car engine purring outside, and saw the blinding white flash of headlights as a black car swerved into the bay. As he leaped towards Marino, he caught a glimpse of something glinting in the light of the headlights, and saw the man stretching out his arm.
A loud bang cracked out through the night air, and Raphael felt a bullet dart past his face. It was just enough to throw him off-balance, making him stumble back a step. Marino flashed a shining grin at him, as if taunting with his failure, and stepped into the car.
"No!" Raphael shouted, his hand going to his belt and clasping around a shuriken. Desperate to do something, he flung it with all his strength — and heard Marino scream. But then the car swerved away and vanished into the street outside, leaving behind only the smell of burned tires and exhaust.
A bestial growl tore its way from Raphael's chest, and his hands balled into fists at his sides. He had been so close, so horribly close — if he hadn't stumbled at the last minute, he would have had Marino. He could have brought him down easily, even if Marino had a gun. He could have brought Master Shredder the treacherous man's head that very night, and proved that he was worthy to be part of the Foot Clan.
Then Raphael heard the sound of a sword being sheathed behind him, and stiffened. For a moment he thought someone was about to attack him again, and his hands were holding his sai, ready to fight. Then he saw the moonlight gleam on a cap of chin-length black hair.
"How long have you been there?" he said bitterly.
"Long enough," Karai said sharply, stepping out of the shadows. Her mouth twisted into a mocking smile as she surveyed the turtle. "I'm sure my grandfather will be pleased that you worked so diligently to capture Marino, even if you failed."
Failed. The word rang in Raphael's ears, tightening every muscle in his body. His first mission, and he had failed. He looked down at the bloodstains on his sai, and wiped them absently against his leg.