Karai couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. Her whole world spun as she stared at the photograph on the ground. Tang Shen stood beside Hamato Yoshi, holding a baby.

Everything had been turned upside down by that photograph.

At first, she denied that Donatello could possibly be that little turtle. Somehow, it still had to be a trick. But when that photograph fell...

If Mei had been telling the truth, and Leonardo had been telling the truth...why would April have any reason to lie about the Shredder being—he tried to—April, someone Karai's own age?

Her father had lied about everything. Everything she knew and believed was a falsehood. The incense and lullaby should have been enough to convince her. Mei's physical similarities to Shen should have been enough to convince her. But it was that over her father's word—

"I don't believe it," she whispered. Her face felt cold. "He lied to me."

No, he wouldn't lie to her. He loved her. Fathers love their daughters.

But...he wasn't her father.

Did Shredder even love her a little bit?

"April! April, get back!"

Karai recognized Leonardo's voice, but she couldn't react. She just stared at the photograph on the ground. "Father—lied—" Her eyes stung with tears. They had all been telling her the truth. Her father was the liar. Finally, she managed to look up at Leo. "She tried to tell me. I thought—I thought she was lying..."

"But now you know," Leo said. His voice was cold, but she could hear pity in it. "You know that Splinter is your true father."

"Wait—what?" April said. "Karai is—Miwa?"

Miwa. It was what Mei had called her. It was what Splinter had called her all those months ago, right before he refused to fight her. Who am I?

Karai stared at Leo, utterly lost. Ever since they met, he had tried to reach out to her. To befriend her. She had hated him for trying to kill her father. Just like she hated Splinter for killing her mother. But according to Mei, a fire had killed her mother. How had that fire started?

What else was Shredder not telling her? Why had he kidnapped her? If she had been raised by Splinter, would she have games and television and fun? Would she have a father who actually showed her love?

A faint voice echoed from the other room. "Leo! We could use some backup out here!"

Leo hurried to cut through the zip-tie binding April's wrists. "Karai," he said, "you have to help us take down the Shredder."

Karai's heart was pounding; she nodded. She was done with Shredder's lies.

"What—you can't possibly trust her, Leo!" April cried.

Karai winced internally. April was right. She didn't deserve to be trusted.

"Come on, April," Leonardo said dismissively. "We've got to get you out of here."

"What about Donnie?" April squealed.

"Forget about Donnie! He's probably hiding somewhere safe. Now, come on!"

Slowly, retrieved her tanto. Suddenly, rage as black as the night overwhelmed her. She knew what she wanted. "Stop, Leonardo."

Leo whirled around. His eyes widened, and he crossed his katanas in a defensive pose.

"I told you not to trust her!" April cried.

April misunderstood her. "I just want to be clear on something," Karai hissed. "You let me kill the Shredder, you understand?"

That evil, cold, unloving man would never lie to her again.

A tiny grin passed over Leonardo's face like a shadow. "Done. Let's move." He ran out the door with April right behind him.

Bracing herself, Karai followed them. She found herself limping—at first, she silently cursed Donatello for biting her so hard, but then she realized that she had deserved it.

She deserved so much worse.

When she ran out into main room, she found herself mourning the devastation. The television and half of the games were smashed. She and Shredder had come here to wreak devastation and death—but all of these things could have been hers. Because she had believed Shredder's lies, her real father's home had been ruined.

Her home—what should have been her place in the world—was ruined.

"Daddy!" April cried, running to her father's still form that lay near the turnstiles.

Michelangelo lay dazed on the floor. Shredder held Raphael suspended by the neck; Raphael clutched at Shredder's hands, trying to pry them loose.

And Shredder laughed.

He laughed.

Leonardo was already more than halfway there. "Let him go!" He slashed his katanas; Shredder was forced to take a defensive position and dropped Raphael to the floor.

"Karai!" Shredder shouted. "Attack!"

"How dare you give me orders?" Karai screamed. "You lied to me about everything! Hamato Yoshi is my real father!"

Shredder narrowed his eyes. He threw Leonardo back with tremendous force. "If I am your enemy, then attack me," he hissed.

Karai started to charge, but then she froze. Memories flashed before her eyes.

Shredder smiling at her when she learned her first kata. A rare hug on her tenth birthday. Applying first aid to her various training injuries.

He was evil. He was evil and he didn't love her. But her love for him—however confused—had been real.

Tears blurred her vision.

Shredder laughed again. "That's what I thought."

"Get away from sons!"

Karai whipped her head toward the entrance. Splinter stood there, carrying Kobayashi Tang Mei in his arms. Her stomach plummeted. Shredder hadn't just interrogated her. What had he been doing those two hours?

"Hamato Yoshi," Shredder said. "At last, you come to watch your family die."

"My arrival is an unfortunate turn of events for you, Oroku Saki," Splinter countered. He laid Mei out on the floor and then nearly flew across the lair, drawing a katana as he did. "You have threatened my family for the last time!"

Karai marveled as she watched her fathers fight each other. They were both so fast, so skilled—

The three turtles and Splinter all converged on Shredder—there was no way that he would be able to escape...

He threw a handful of blinding powder into the air. Two swift kicks sent Raphael and Michelangelo flying. His blades swiped across Leonardo's front; Leo fell back with a groan. Splinter, distracted, ran to Leonardo's side.

Shredder raised his blades to strike.

"No!" Karai screamed. She launched headlong toward her lying father, raising her tanto to slit his throat.

He was too fast. Before she could even react, Shredder had her by the throat with his sharpest blade pressed just above her carotid artery.

"Karai!" Leonardo cried.

"Miwa!" shouted Splinter. "No!"

"How would you like to see your daughter die, Splinter?" said Shredder. "Unless you want her blood spilled all over your home, you will let me go."

"You coward!" Leonardo bellowed.

"Perhaps you would rather I just kill her anyway?" Shredder growled.

"Tosan, please!" Karai gasped. "Please—Tosan—I loved you!"

"I only care about one woman's love," Shredder hissed. "And thanks to Hamato Yoshi, she is dead."