As he ran up the stairs, Raphael second-guessed his decision to leave Mikey alone. Yes, Mikey would be going straight to Master Splinter, and Splinter could handle anything, but what about the three floors and two rooms between Mikey and that delivery door?
He almost turned around.
No. Mikey could handle himself, and besides, he had better odds alone than Leo did with Karai.
Karai. What was she up to this time? Raph didn't believe for a second that she hadn't started the project herself, whatever the others thought. Maybe she did it for a good reason, at least in her mind, but she definitely did it. Raph thought he'd seen something in her face when she denied it – something that was off just enough to be disturbing. He'd kept his mouth shut because everyone else was convinced by her little charade, and nobody would listen to him anyway.
Raph, you're being bitter, they'd say. Raph, you need to stop blaming her. Raphael, you must control your temper.
So he kept his mouth shut, like he usually did. Nobody listened to him the rest of the time, why would this time have been any different?
But, as usual, everything was going to heck in a handbasket, and Karai was once again at the center of it. Big. Flippin'. Surprise. But this time, she wasn't going to get the drop on them.
He reached the top of the stairs and burst out into the corridor. Laser fire sounded from around the corner at the end of the hall. If Raph remembered the schematics of the place, that was exactly where Leo and Karai should be. He doubled his grip on his sai and ran forward silently. When he peered around the corner, he saw that a door was open. The laser fire was coming from inside, but a contingent of Kraang – maybe twenty or thirty – was waiting in the hall, presumably to provide backup.
Raph smiled grimly. They weren't going to be providing any backup today. With a shout, he launched into the mass of robots. Two sai stabbed into two heads, and two Kraang droids hit the ground before the rest of the Kraang even realized what was happening.
Raph had made his way into the middle of them and had his sai at the ready when they finally wised up.
Just like he'd hoped, many of them were careless enough to start firing at him. He dodged the blasts and allowed the laser beams two take out several of the droids that were behind him. He dropped to the floor and did a low spinning kick, taking down four of the firing droids in one smooth motion. They were still firing as they fell, and their laser beams ricocheted off the walls and back into the group of droids. Three more droids went down.
Finally realizing the stupidity of their tactics, the Kraang fired up their chainsaw bayonets.
Raph had no problem with that. Close quarters combat was his thing. He hooked his sai around the wrist of one of the charging droids and flipped it to the ground, then immediately whirled around, jabbing his sai up into the systems of the next droid. There were only five left.
"Kraang!" one of them said. "Go for that which is known as 'reinforcements'!"
Raph threw a handful of shuriken at the fleeing droid. "Oh no, you don't!"
It collapsed to the floor in a shower of sparks.
The four remaining droids shrank back. "Oh, Kraang."
Raph brandished his sai. "Yeah, you better be afraid – "
Leo ran past Raph, katanas extended, and sliced through two of them. Karai followed him, taking down one more. The last one went down as Leo whirled around, taking off its head with a crisscross strike of his blades.
Leo glared. "Raph, what the heck are you doing here?"
"You're welcome," Raph said, folding his arms.
"Karai and I had it under control!"
"Karai is exactly the reason that I came back." Raph turned to look at her. "What's your game this time, sister?"
"For your information, Raph, Karai has been – wait a second." Leo looked around. "Where's Mikey?"
"He's on his way to let Splinter in."
"You left him alone? Are you crazy?"
"Mikey can handle himself – "
"Look out!" Karai shouted.
Raph whirled around. Dozens – no, hundreds – of Footbots were surging down the hall from the other direction. At least fifty of them branched off and ran down the hall toward the staircase.
"The Foot," Raph said. "Of course her highness Karai asked her henchman to be here. You got an excuse for why you betrayed us this time?"
"This wasn't me."
"Sure it wasn't –"
"Can we argue later?" Leo ran forward to meet the attack, swinging his blades in what, Raph had to admit – was a pretty impressive kata.
Blood sprayed across the floor.
Leo gawked for a second. "Holy cow! Some of these guys are…real."
Karai gasped. "Ronin's men. I don't have any soldiers who aren't robots."
"Well," Leo said, "don't bother helping me fight them off or anything!"
Raph hurled himself into the fray. He smashed one of the robots and then turned to fight one of the flesh-and-blood guys. It was really inconvenient actually – the code that Splinter had taught them of avoiding killing if at all possible meant that Raph had to focus on disabling some of the attackers while just flat out obliterating the others.
And he had to be able to make that judgment call in a split second.
Karai didn't seem to care, though. She actually killed several of the men. Her expression was cold and calculating, all except her eyes. There was a touch of fear there.
Was she afraid? Why would she be afraid of her own guys? Why would she be killing the people who worked for her boss?
Was it all part of some elaborate scheme?
All Raph knew was that whether she was fighting with them now or not, he was still braced for when she'd flip and turn the tables against them. And it wasn't a question that she would, that lying traitorous…
Raph didn't have time to finish the thought. He dodged and avoided the strike of one of the Footbots, then knocked it off balance. Leo finished it off, then clean knocked out one of the real soldiers. They were actually doing a fairly good job of keeping the small army contained, using the hall as a choke point, when one of them spiked a smoke bomb that went off with an unusually bright flash and loud bang right in front of him.
Raph squinted. Not only was his vision messed up, there was smoke everywhere, and his ears rang so loudly that for a second, he thought he'd gone deaf.
A flashbang grenade, ninja-style. Of course, it didn't affect the robots at all, and dozens of them surged past. Many of them went down the hall toward the stairwell.
Toward Mikey.
The first fifty had gone that way, too.
Mikey!
How could he have been stupid enough to leave Mikey alone? Maybe he could handle himself against the Kraang, but the Kraang and the Foot? And if the Foot was here…were Aunt Mei and Splinter safe? Would Mikey even be able to reach them?
Still dazed, Raph stumbled after the robots. He thought he heard Leo shouting his name.
Someone knocked into him, and he fell to the floor.
He pushed himself up again, and through his shaky vision, he saw Karai lying in front of him, a throwing knife impaled through her shoulder.
His head, vision, and hearing started to clear. Leo was single-handedly holding off the advancing ranks of Footbots – he looked madder than Raph had ever seen him – and Karai was lying on the floor, clutching at the wound and moaning.
It took Raph another second to realize what had happened.
She'd taken a hit for him.
She had taken a hit for him.
"Karai!" he shouted. He helped her into a sitting position. "Karai, are you okay?"
"Yeah…it's nothing…"
But it wasn't nothing. She was hurt – badly – and she'd done it to protect him. She and Leo had been farthest from the blast, and they must have gotten their sight and hearing back faster. And one of the attackers must have thrown a blade at him, straight at the back of his head…
And Karai took it for him.
Her eyes widened. "Look out!"
Raph looked up in time to leap up and block another attack. "Karai, can you stand up? Can you still fight?"
Karai winced as she clambered to her feet. "I – I think so…" She stumbled back to the floor.
"Is she all right?" Leo shouted, a touch of panic in his voice.
"That's a no," Raph said. "Stay down, Karai – I'll cover you."
Karai smirked. "You can't even cover yourself."
Raph suddenly felt guilty. This whole time, he'd thought nothing but the worst of her, and she'd risked dying to save him. "Listen, Karai…"
"Raph!" Leo said. "I can't keep them back by myself for much longer!"
Apologies would have to wait. Raph turned to face the onslaught of Footbots, when he saw one of them raising its arm to spike something.
"Leo! Flashbang!"
Raph closed his eyes and dove away from the point of impact. It still messed up his hearing, but he could normally – except for the smoke screen. Several more Footbots pushed their way past. Raph and Leo struggled to close the choke point again.
"Karai, call Casey and April," Leo shouted hoarsely, still coughing from the smoke. "Tell them to warm up the Shellraiser. We gotta get out of here!"
Karai pulled out her phone and fumbled with it while Leo and Raph continued to hold off the Footbots. "They aren't answering!"
Raph gritted his teeth. Mikey was in danger. Sensei and Aunt Mei were in danger. April and Casey were in danger. Karai was badly injured.
All because of the stupid Foot…
Blind rage took him. Roaring, he redoubled his attack on the Footbots, screaming obscenities that Master Splinter would assuredly not approve of.
"We've got to retreat anyway!" Leo said. "Fall back!"
"No!" Splinter emerged from around the corner, his robe torn in multiple places. "We cannot leave until this is finished."
A few paces behind him, Mikey carried Aunt Mei on his shoulders.
"Where are the computers?" Aunt Mei said.
"In there," Karai said, pointing to the room. Mikey promptly followed her gesture.
"Miwa." Splinter ran to Karai's side and dropped to his knees. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine – just help them!"
"Yeah, a little help would be great right now," Raph said, pushing back against an attacking Footbot.
His expression dangerous, Splinter stood up and raised his blade. He joined them, taking down so many Footbots it was surreal. With the three of them fighting, the ranks began to thin. They had almost finished the robots off when they heard it.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound came from behind them. Raph wheeled around.
The Ronin stood in front of the door to the room with the computers. Next to him, two of his henchmen held Mikey tightly, holding their blades poised in front of his throat.
"An excellent performance," the Ronin said, his eyes cold. "A noble attempt, indeed. As your reward, Hamato Yoshi, I present you with the soon-to-be-dead body of your beloved son. The purge begins now."
"No!" Raph ran to attack, sai raised, blind to everything except his target.
Preternaturally fast, the Ronin leapt forward and kicked Raph so hard in the head that he blacked out.
Somewhere in the fog of unconsciousness, Raph thought he heard the sound of screaming.
Author's note: Hey, thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! Also a special thanks to all the people who have followed and favorited me! You guys are the best, and thanks for sticking with the story for so long. Your support keeps me encouraged to write. Thanks!