Here's another chapter you all have been waiting for! Remember, bold is to represent text messages. My two reviewers - this one is for you! You know who you are! :)

Hope you enjoy!


April nodded once, and immediately turned to grab her backpack. "Come on," she said. "We're leaving."

Karai couldn't believe her ears. "Leaving?!" she repeated. "To go where? It's after midnight!"

April's jaw was set. "I think it's time for you to meet my friends."


"Tell me about that boy you liked," April teased, back to Karai, dying to know a little bit more about her friend. Karai snorted from behind her, and there was the sound of rustling clothes.

"I think I'm past him now," Karai said, a little distantly. "He had nice blue eyes."

April rolled her eyes and finished tugging down her shirt. "You already told me that," she whined and turned around. She couldn't help but gasp. Karai was changing too, and although her sports bra covered most of her side, her skin was littered with green and yellow bruises. There was a dark handprint in the middle of her back, and what looked like knife slices on her shoulder.

At the sound of gasp, Karai stiffened and finished pulling on her shirt, covering the bruises. "What?" she whirled around, already on the defensive.

April knew she was staring at her an abject horror, but she couldn't bring herself to stop. "What happened to you?!" she asked with concern, and Karai's scowl grew.

"I thought you said you weren't looking," she spat, picking up the rest of her clothes and stomping to the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her and left April frozen in her bedroom.

Holy shit, April thought to herself. Someone did that to her! she felt her stomach drop out, like she was going to be sick.

She followed Karai and banged on the bathroom door. "Karai, that looks bad. Did you go to the doctor? Who did that to you?"

There was a long silence on the other side of the door, and April hurriedly pulled out her phone to text Leo.

HELP. I think one of my friends is being abused. I don't know what to do! she sent off to Leo.

"Forget about it," Karai hissed. April felt like she was going to throw up.

She tried to make her voice as calm as possible. "Did your dad do that to you?" she asked quietly. Karai was silent on the other side of the door.

"Of course not," Karai finally said. "What makes you say that?" She sounded resolved and defeated, and April's concern only grew. She knew her suspicions were correct about Karai's dad.

Leo, I can't let her go home. Please help!

"Let's see, you're super defensive, you said something about you and your dad arguing last night, you favor your side a lot on gym class, and you also refuse to change in front of people," April rattled off quickly, silently begging for Leo to respond. Karai was silent on the other side of the door.

April, are you sure? Leo sent back. That's a serious accusation to make.

I saw her bruises, she sent. Leo did not send an immediate text back, and she sighed.

Karai opened the door and came out, clearing her throat. Her eyes roamed over April's face, and she looked... scared.

"Let's just forget this ever happened," Karai said.

"I'll beat your dad up for you," April vowed, narrowing her eyes. Karai laughed bitterly at that. "I'm serious! Have you told anybody about this? Karai, he's abusing you!"

Karai's eyes widened, and she sighed, pushing past April to go into the bedroom. She threw her things back on her duffle and stood there, looking a little lost.

"No," she said finally, and April's mind raced. Her phone buzzed, and she looked at it quickly.

You can bring her here, Leo said finally. But she cant say anything about us. Do you trust her?

April tapped her phone in her hand absently. She looked at Karai. Maybe they weren't friends at the start, and maybe they hadn't even been friends for super long, but there was absolutely no way April could stand by and just let her continue to live like this.

Yes, she replied to Leo, and she knew exactly what to do.

She nodded once, and immediately turned to grab her backpack. "Come on," she said over her shoulder to Karai. "We're leaving."

"Leaving?!" Karai repeated scornfully. "To go where? It's after midnight!"

April set her jaw, hoping this wasn't going to be an awful idea. "I think it's time for you to meet my friends."

Karai blinked at her, eyes wide. "Your homeschooled friends?" she asked, sounding incredulous. First, she couldn't believe that that is all it took to get April to reveal the truth. But second, she really didn't want to meet the turtles. All her mission entailed was information — not face to face interaction. She assumed they didn't know who she was, and when they did see her, it would not end well. But when did she ever run from a fight? "Why now, at 3:15 in the morning?"

April met her gaze evenly. "I think they can help you," she said earnestly, and Karai groaned internally. This was not going to go well.

"They can't," she assured her. "Believe me. It is not a good idea for me to meet your friends." Especially because once she turned in her visible proof, it would ruin her friendship with April for good.

April narrowed her eyes and stubbornly stuck out her chin. "You can't win on this one," she said, pointing at her bag. "Grab your things. I'll be downstairs." She trotted off, leaving Karai standing dumbfounded in her room.

Karai knelt next to her bag and pulled out her tessan, shoving it in the back of her pajama pants. It was a good thing she'd packed these extra weapons. She'd need them for walking literally into the heart of enemy territory. She strapped some of her extra knives to her legs and threw everything else in the bag. Hesitating, she pulled out her phone and gently tucked it into April's bookshelf. When she didn't report back tomorrow, her father would come after her. It's the least she could do for April.

And if the turtles really could help her...

Karai shook her head, banishing that thought from her mind. She didn't even need to consider that. The turtles were her enemies. And technically, so was April. She needed to tread lightly.

"Karai!" April called out, a note of impatience in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Karai called back, standing up and throwing the bag over her shoulder. With one final reassuring pat to her Tessan, she headed down the stairs.


"Where are we going?" Karai finally asked April. She felt like they'd been walking forever, and they looked like they were in Chinatown now. Going by rooftop was so much faster. If she made it out of this in one piece, she was going to teach April how to roof-jump.

"We're almost there," April said quietly. She was on high alert the entire walk over, looking out for the Purple Dragon gang, or so she claimed. Karai was mildly amused that April didn't realize Karai herself was scarier than any of those weak Purple Dragons were. "Here," she grabbed Karai's arm and tugged her into a seemingly random, dark alley.

"Uh, your friends live here?" Karai asked, unimpressed. The scent of the sewer reeked even worse than usual from where they were standing. She and her father had known the turtles lived in the sewers, but they'd never been successful in finding exactly where.

"Look," April said, still loosely holding on to Karai's wrist. Karai fought the urge to brush it off. "My friends are a little... unorthodox. They won't hurt you, but you have to promise me you'll never tell anyone about them. Okay?"

Karai hesitated. She could see how sincere April was; it glinted in her eyes. But on the other hand, she had to do her duty to the Foot clan - and her father more importantly.

"Okay," Karai said finally, and she couldn't tell whether she was lying or not.

April nodded and took a deep breath. She dropped her bags on the ground and hoisted up the manhole cover. Karai watched, a little impressed. Who knew this scrawny girl with obviously no weight training would have the strength to lift this?

"Hop down," April said, jutting her chin towards the hole. Karai gave her a look that screamed do I have to?, and April raised her eyebrows. Karai sighed and deftly jumped down, landing in something damp and squishy she prayed wasn't what she thought it was. She kept her bag firmly up by her shoulders so she wouldn't dare accidentally touch it to the ground.

"This is disgusting," Karai sneered to April as she jumped down, landing next to her. The manhole cover was slid back into place, and April's blue eyes flashed.

"Tell me about it," she said, splashing muck all over Karai's pajama pants as she started to slosh forward. "You never really get used to it."

They sloshed through the sewers in silence, a sharp twist in Karai's gut as they got closer and closer. As a faint light shone ahead, Karai's heart leaped into her throat, and she grabbed April's arm, yanking her to a stop.

"April," she said, voice catching embarrassingly in her throat. April blinked at her, confused. "I don't think I-"

"April? Is this your friend?"

Karai stiffened and turned around to face the turtle who came to meet them. He was hidden in the darkness, wary of the newcomer, but she'd recognize those blue eyes anywhere. He recognized her, too, and immediately swung out his katana defensively, spraying her and April with mud.

"Karai!" he spat. "What are you doing here? April, how could you?" He looked at April, betrayed, and she swung her head back and forth, widely confused.

"Leonardo," Karai said as evenly as possible, hand creeping off April's and towards the Tessan tucked in her pants.

"Wait, you know each other?!" April's voice grew louder and louder.

"She's the enemy, April! I can't believe you led her to our lair!" Leonardo looked like he didn't know whether to cry or attack, nothing like the shy boy Karai had been toying with on the rooftops.

April seemed to process this, and to Leonardo, unsuccessfully whispered, "... this is the girl you were telling me about? Seriously?"

Karai's fingers froze in reaching for her Tessan. "Whoa, you were talking about me!?"

"April, she's Shredder's DAUGHTER!" Leonardo cried, and there was the sound of other people running towards them.

"You tricked me!" April turned on her, arms waving. "You befriended me solely to get to my friends! Your dad is The Shredder?!"

"No, April, it didn't start out that way, believe me-" Karai said, but April cut her off.

"I can't believe you!" April cried, looking at Karai with betrayal.

The other turtles ran up, and half of them were looking at her with confusion. The red one - Raphael - glared, however and unsheathed his Sai, standing next to Leonardo.

"I told you she was bad news!" Raphael snapped. Leonardo firmly ignored him, and the other two exchanged confused looks.

"Uh, guys," Michelangelo said, "someone wanna let a guy know what's going on?"

"Leo's girlfriend here is a member of the Foot clan," Raphael snarled. "And Donnie's girlfriend is the one who brought her here!"

"That's not how it happened at all," April tried to say, but she got cut off.

"Wait, you have a girlfriend?" Michelangelo said. "Dude!"

"I'm not his girlfriend," Karai snapped, but nobody listened to her.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us about her!" Donatello said, casting a hurt and angry glare at Leonardo. "If she's a threat, Mikey and I have just as much of a right to know about her!"

"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Karai snapped.

"Leo didn't think you could handle it," Raphael sneered, and Donatello's eyes narrowed even more. He crossed his arms, glaring.

"Mikey, go get Sensei," Donnie said, turning to his brother. "I'm sure he'll know what to do. April, I can't believe you did this to us!" Michelangelo turned and bolted off, leaving the others in the dust.

"I didn't know!" April said, hands covering her mouth. She looked horrified. "Believe me! I never would have even mentioned it!"

Raphael made to lunge forward and attack, and Leonardo grabbed his arm and yanked him back. Stiffening, Karai saw the attack and finally pulled out the Tessan, ready to defend herself.

Raphael snorted. "See? If she was honestly here for help she wouldn't have brought her weapons!"

Michelangelo came running back and skidded to a stop next to Donatello. Panting, he pulled out his nunchucks and readied himself in a defensive position.

"Splinter's coming," he made out, slightly wheezing as he leaned forward on his thighs.

"Oh, get ready, Fearless," Raphael sneered. "Splinter's gonna kill you."

Karai turned her head and felt her eyes grow wide as a giant mutant rat came out of the shadows next. This was Hamato Yoshi? This is the man that killed her mother? The man her father was so desperate to find? Huh. She didn't think he was going to be a mutant rat.

His expression was hard, and his ears were pressed flat against his head. But when he looked at her face, his eyes widened, and his tail twitched. She swallowed and raised her Tessan closer to her face. She could probably take on the turtles, sure, but she wasn't so sure about him.

"Miwa?" he said, breaking her momentary concentration, and the turtles gasped. Even April turned to her, looking startled.

Karai blinked. Why were they all staring at her?

"Who?"


Karai's not really the fainting type, so I didn't make her pass out like I wanted to, but I think anybody would get a little lightheaded at this showdown. R&R!