Donatello did not like the loud sound that blared through the room. Something was wrong. Really, majorly, seriously wrong. Somehow, he felt like he recognized that weird blaring sound, and he was pretty sure that it meant something bad was happening.
The humans seemed to be scared too. At first, he just wanted to hide inside his shell. But after a minute, he peeked out again. The man was playing with that weird black thing again, and his food-dispensing lady seemed to be really nervous. They made a few sounds at each other before his food lady ran out of the room. The man kept anxiously peering out the door.
He didn't want his food lady to go. Why wasn't she hiding in here like the man? Did she not understand that there was some kind of terrible danger?
Who was going to bring him extra-special delicious food if she didn't come back?
He was going to find her. He crawled toward the door and walked between the man's legs. Once outside the room, Donatello saw his food lady go into a different room. It must have been miles away. It would take him hours to cross it.
But then, he saw a channel of water that ran along one side of the room. He would be able to swim much faster than walking, if he could just get there.
He was only half a mile or so away from the water when he realized that there were strangers walking around. He wasn't even sure that they were real people. But they were busy looking around and didn't see him crawling on the floor.
Finally, he was just about to slip into the water when there was a loud, sharp, bang.
There was no time to hide in his shell. He leapt into the water and started swimming as fast as he could.
Karai's heart was pounding. She could hardly believe that Splinter's lair was just a little past the next junction of tunnels. Nervously, she looked over her shoulder at the 20 Footbots they had brought with them. Would it be enough? Splinter and the turtles would be in their own element.
"Are you ready, my daughter?" Shredder whispered.
Karai hesitated. "Father, before we do this, I have to ask you a question. Please."
Shredder sighed. "One question."
Karai's head swam. She had to ask one question that raised more. "Do you remember the lullaby that Kobayashi Mei used to sing to me?"
Shredder jumped. "What did she tell you?" His voice was filled with suspicion.
"That she watched me when I was a baby," Karai said. If Shredder wasn't going to be completely honest with her, she had no reason to be so with him. "That she was my mother's best friend."
Shredder narrowed his eyes. "That is true. More than one friendship was damaged the night your mother died."
"Do you know the lullaby?"
"No. My patience is wearing thin, Karai."
"Did you and Mother ever sing to me?"
"Enough. You have asked your questions. We are moving in."
Silently, they moved past the junction. Just ahead of them was a row of old subway turnstiles. Drawing her weapon, Karai moved in slowly. Shredder stood at her side, signaling the Footbots in.
It was completely vacant. There was no sign of any life at all, but then Karai thought she heard a beeping sound. "Do you hear that?" she breathed.
Shredder nodded. He waved several of the Footbots in. As the robotic ninjas walked further into the structure.
Karai was surprised by the place's appearance. She had expected it to look something like her father's various hideouts—sharp, cold, and unwelcoming. But there were games here. There was a television—not once had Karai ever watched a television program. Shredder wouldn't allow her to. All she had was ninjutsu.
Empty pizza boxes and the like were scattered around. A laptop computer sat on one of the couches.
Karai marveled at how much freedom Splinter gave to his disciples, yet they were every bit as good as she was. How did they have time for fun? Fun. That was what this whole room centered around. The lair was clearly far more expansive than this one place—but there was an entire room devoted to nothing more than fun!
Karai swallowed back the sense of envy that filled her.
One of the Footbots was approaching a pair of sliding metal doors that stood open. Slowly, it craned its neck to look into the room beyond.
Bang!
In a shower of sparks, the Footbot staggered back and collapsed.
Gunfire? What would disciples of ninjutsu even be doing with guns?
"Footbots!" shouted Shredder. "Move in!"
At that moment, on the far end of the main room, Karai spotted motion in a doorway. April O'Neil stood there, her eyes wide and panicky.
More gunfire sounded. April jumped and ran back through the door.
Ignoring whatever it was that her father was yelling, Karai took off after her. If April was hiding there, someone was guaranteed to be in there protecting her.
Someone's here, April thought. Slowly, she crept to the dojo door and peeked out. She didn't see anybody, but she knew that someone was out there. She leaned against the wall just inside the door, holding her breath so that she could hear.
She didn't hear anything. She strained her hearing even more, until the silence itself seemed deafening.
Bang!
April almost screamed at the sound of gunfire, but she managed to stifle it.
"Footbots! Move in!"
Shredder. Shredder was in the lair, and was sending those creepy robots into the lab after her father.
Dad! she cried internally. She had seen skilled ninjas dodge bullets with ease. Her dad didn't stand a chance. Dropping all caution, she whipped out her tessen ran to the doorway.
The first thing she saw was Karai standing near the subway turnstiles. Shredder was only a short distance into the lair. Suddenly, Karai jerked her head toward April and looked right at her.
More gunfire went off. Karai took a single step forward, her eyes fixed on April.
April jumped and ran back into the dojo. The Foot wasn't here for her dad, they were here for her. For Splinter. For the turtles. Leonardo's plan had totally failed.
For a split second, April weighed her options. She could hide, thus backing herself into an inescapable corner, or she could stand and fight. She whipped out her tessen, wincing at the stab of pain in her arm as she did, and spun around, ready to strike.
Not seconds later, Karai appeared in the doorway. "April O'Neil. Good to see you. Where are your bodyguards?"
"You're looking at her," April snapped, trying not to flinch at the sound of gunfire in the background.
Karai tilted her head. "Seems a bit unlike the turtles to hide behind an inexperienced little girl."
"In case you hadn't figured it out, the turtles aren't here!"
A sly grin crossed Karai's face. "Oh, really?"
Stupid, stupid, stupid, April thought. What the heck was I thinking?
"Well, I'm sure that once we've captured you," Karai said, drawing her tanto, "they'll come looking for you."
An instant of panic seized April. There was no way that she could hold off both Shredder and Karai. And who knew how long before the turtles and Splinter came back. And if Shredder re-captured her-
Raising her weapon, Karai charged.
April froze. Everything slowed down. She stood helplessly while she watched Karai run toward her, frame by frame.
Where are your bodyguards?
There was no one to help her.
You're looking at her.
She had been bluffing. There was no way that she could do this.
You used to be a brave, strong girl.
You still are.
April gritted her teeth and tensed her muscles to react.
I still am.
At the last instant, she reacted. She whipped up her tessen and deflected Karai's strike. Everything sped up again. Her arms screaming with pain, she dodged strikes and returned them.
"You'll have to capture me first, Karai!" April shouted. The words bolstered her defiance; her pain fueled her adrenaline.
"I'll admit, it's going to be harder without your friend Kobayashi here to knock you out for me," Karai countered, lunging forward.
April dropped to the ground and rolled. She flipped back up onto her feet, grabbed a shuriken, and flung it at Karai.
Karai leaned out of the way as the projectile whizzed past. She laughed. "What was that? I'll show you how it's really done."
Yelping, April flipped to avoid a volley of shuriken. One of them nicked her temple as it passed. She ran behind the big tree, her heart pounding, bracing herself for the next attack. She realized that the sound of gunfire from the other room had ceased, though she thought that she still heard the sounds of metal on metal. She thought she heard shouting, too, but she couldn't make it out over the sound of her own pulse thudding in her ears.
Ready to strike, April jumped out to the left—
But Karai had circled around the other side of the tree. With a shout, she knocked April to the floor and pinned her. April screamed as Karai pulled her arms back and pulled a zip-tie tightly around her wrists.
"Wow," Karai said, using her knees to pin April to the floor. "You really should hire a better body guard."
"You're a filthy lying traitor, Karai," April screamed, her face squashed again the floor. "Mei trusted you. She trusted you, and you handed her over to your pervert, rapist father!"
"What are you talking about?" Karai snarled, holding the blade of her tanto close to the side of April's throat.
"What, daddy didn't tell you that he tried to rape me?"
"You're a liar!" Karai bellowed. "You're a liar and so is—" Before she could finish, she burst into a scream and jumped off of April.
April rolled over, ready to jump to her feet. In spite of everything, what she saw almost made her burst out laughing.
Donnie was dangling from Karai's Achilles' tendon, his jaw clamped down tight.
"Get her, Donnie!" April leapt to her feet and delivered a spinning kick to the side of Karai's face.
Karai landed on the floor with a thud. Gasping, she finally managed to shake Donnie loose from her heel; he pulled back into his shell as he went rolling across the floor. "That's—that's Donatello?"
Still standing ready to kick again, April frowned. "Yeah. Why do you think Leo was desperate enough to ask for your help in the first place?"
Karai's eyes widened. "No. No, it was just a trick—they were lying about it." Her voice was filled with panicky denial. She staggered to her feet. "Kobayashi—they just wanted to kill the Shredder—it was a trick."
Karai lost her balance and stumbled into Master Splinter's shelf of treasures from Japan. Splinter's old family portrait fell to the ground with a clatter. It lay face up; Karai stared at it. "I don't believe it," she whispered, all the color draining from her face. "He lied to me."
Suddenly, Leonardo burst in through the doorway. "April!" When he saw Karai, he gasped. "April, get back!"
April was too fascinated by Karai's reaction to move.
"Father—lied—"
Leonardo ran to April's side, his weapons drawn. When he saw what Karai was looking at, his eyes widened.
Karai looked up at Leo, her eyes brimming with moisture. "She tried to tell me. I thought—I thought she was lying..."
"But now you know," Leo said, his voice an odd mix of coldness and sympathy. "You know that Splinter is your true father."
"Wait—what?" April said. "Karai is—Miwa?"
In the moments of quiet that ensued, April heard what sounded like Mikey shouting from the other room. "Leo! We could use some backup out here!"
Leo finally resumed motion. He used the tip of his katana to cut through the zip-tie binding April's wrists. "Karai," he said, "you have to help us take down the Shredder."
Breathing heavily, Karai nodded.
"What—you can't possibly trust her, Leo!" April cried.
"Come on, April. We've got to get you out of here."
"What about Donnie?" April squealed. She surveyed the room, but she didn't see him anywhere.
"Forget about Donnie!" Leo said. "He's probably hiding somewhere safe. Now, come on!"
Karai picked up her tanto. Her face was twisted up in rage. "Stop, Leonardo."
Leo whirled around. Seeing her, he crossed his katanas in a defensive pose.
"I told you not to trust her!" April squealed.
"I just want to be clear on something," Karai hissed. "You let me kill the Shredder, you understand?"
The slightest of grins danced across Leo's face. "Done. Let's move."