As Fishface and Rahzar entered the room, the Shredder immediately knew that something was wrong. He scanned their bowed heads with a severe eye as they stood before him, instantly noting the missing associate.
"Where is Karai?" He growled to the two present henchmen before him. He glared at them as they hesitated, again fighting the battle of the eyes as they silently fought over who's turn it was to relay the news. The Shredder's anger grew as he assumed by their reluctance to answer that this was the thing that had gone astray.
"Well?!" He demanded, infuriated by their refusal to respond. Fishface and Rahzar simultaneously jumped as his rage-filled yell bounced off the walls loudly.
"Karai has...b-betrayed us, Master." Fishface managed to say in a very undignified squeak.
"WHAT?!" The Shredder bellowed, his voice so loud that it made the glass ceiling tremble.
"Sh- She let them g-go, master." Fishface returned fearfully. At this, the Shredder roared with fury. He leapt from his seat and marched towards them, then, before they could think, he lashed out and knocked them both off of their feet. Fishface scrambled up again. "But Master, I, being faithful to the Foot Clan, took care of the turtles myself."
The Shredder glared down at Fishface. "You?" He asked, the disbelief obvious in his voice. Fishface nodded eagerly. "And how did you manage that?" The Shredder asked, his voice still seething.
"Bombs, Master." Fishface said. The Shredder continued to stare at him. "I blew it up. Their whole home. There is nothing left." He added. The Shredder pondered this.
"And they were in the 'home' at the time?" He questioned. Fishface's head bobbed again.
"Of course, Master."
The Shredder nodded to himself over this, but then he glared at the two henchmen once again. "But how am I to believe you are telling the truth?" He asked. "You miserable whelps always fail in the end." At this, Fishface fell short.
"I.. Uh..." He began, but stopped, finding no answer suitable. The Shredder growled.
"I knew it." He stepped towards them menacingly.
"No, no, no, Master!" Fishface blurted, covering his face instinctively. "I can bring proof!" He cried. The Shredder stopped.
"It must be worthy proof." The Shredder said. "Or you will regret it."
"Anything Shredder! What is it that you desire?" Fishface asked eagerly. The Shredder took a moment to think, then he turned his disgusting eyes onto Fishface and Rahzar.
"Bring to me the masks that the turtles wear upon their brows. And the weapons they so dearly rely on." He ordered, to which Fishface automatically nodded.
"Of course, Ma-"
"And of Hamato Yoshi." The Shredder interrupted. "I need something especially difficult to locate." Fishface and Rahzar glanced at each other nervously.
"O-of course, Master."
"I can remember a photo, from years ago..." The Shredder said. "A photo of him and the woman he stole from me." The Shredder's face contorted in disgust. "He keeps it to mock me. To laugh every time he sees it, at the pain he has caused me." The Shredder said. "I want it. I want to have it, to laugh at him." The Shredder said sinisterly. "Bring it to me."
The two henchmen nodded. "Yes, Master." They said in unison.
"And one more thing..." He said to them as they began rising, sensing their time to go. They stopped, looking at him expectantly. The reluctance was clear in their expressions as they awaited for yet another instruction from their master. "Find Karai." He said. "Bring her back to me." As Fishface and Rahzar accepted this, beginning to turn away, the Shredder added: "Unharmed."
This time as they turned they were relieved to see that their master had nothing more to say. They both marched out with a sore attitude, bracing themselves mentally for a very rough mission.
Karai crept out of the large hole in the broken window of the TCRI building. She had been listening in on the conversation between The Shredder and his two laborers. She quickly jumped to the next building over and continued moving away, wanting to be away from the building.
They thought the turtles were defeated. That was good. But now they needed to locate the items that the family carried with them. That was bad. Luckily, they were sure to search the home in the sewers first, but once they realized that the items were not there, they would start to discover that their plan had not gone as well as they thought. At least for the moment the turtles had some time to take a break.
They would also be searching for her. She must find a place to hide. But first, she must warn the turtles.
"Gracie!" The boisterous voice of the drunken man yelled.
Sarah sighed and turned away from the huge pile of dirty dishes she had been scrubbing at. She wiped her wet, pruned hands on a towel hanging from the oven, then headed into the living room of their house, where her father sat amid a pile of trash.
Sarah's father, Brent Hamilton, had once been a very attractive man. He had been tall and well built with a strong jaw and fierce brown eyes. He was always well groomed and his hair was always combed. He would never leave home without a clean-shaven face and a crisp suit on as he headed out to his well-paying job at the bank.
It was hard to imagine that that man had ever existed as Sarah looked down at her father now. His good figure had gone down with the large beer gut he had developed in the years he had spent drinking, and at 44 years old he already was balding, the rest of his hair hanging in shaggy, greasy waves over his eyes. His face was overgrown with stubble that he now scratched at with his beefy fingers.
"Gracie!" He bellowed again.
Sarah shook her head hopelessly to herself. "What, Dad?" She answered. Their father still hadn't realized Gracie was gone. On the days when he seemed to remember the name of the daughter that is most often caring for him, Sarah would answer the calls instead, not wanting to go through the rampage that would ensue if their father were to find out. The man was currently too drunk to tell the difference.
"Get me another drink!" He yelled at her in a slurred voice, aiming his fist towards the kitchen. In his hand he held another can of beer that Sarah could tell was not empty by the swooshing noise it made when he swung it. She sighed to herself.
"Dad, I think you should drink what you have and be done for the day." She said. His face screwed up at her, and he looked at her with a frown plastered on his face.
"Don't tell me what to do!" He shouted. "I am the adult here, I make the rules! Now, I said, get me anther drink!" He threw the beer can that he was holding in Sarah's direction, and it landed next to her feet, spilling the large amount of alcohol it still held into a large puddle around her slippers. Sarah growled to herself, sick of her idiotic father's behavior. She spun around and headed to the kitchen. She flung off her soggy slippers once she was there, and marched towards the pantry instead of the fridge. She stuck her head inside to find Ethan huddled up on his bed wrapped in his favorite turtle blanket reading a small book. He looked up at her irritated face with wide eyes. Sarah smiled at him kindly, calming her features.
"Ethan, let's go for a walk." She said. He nodded, giving her a small smile back. He got up from where he sat and placed his book on one of the shelves that lined the walls. He dug around in a pile of his junk for a second, then he finally pulled out both of his shoes. "Don't forget a jacket." Sarah reminded him. "It's chilly outside."
"Okay." He answered meekly. Sarah left him to put on her own stuff. She shoved her feet into some slip on shoes and grabbed a small jacket from off the hanger in the hallway. She stopped by the bathroom and quickly twisted her hair up into a bun before heading back to Ethan's tiny room, where she found him ready to go.
"Come on." She said, holding out her hand. He took it and she began leading him out of the kitchen.
"Gracie!" She heard her father bellow once more. She groaned to herself, and suddenly turned around, releasing Ethan's hand. He watched her as she went to the fridge and grabbed the pack of beer. Instead of taking it to her father, she took Ethan's hand again and continued walking to the door. Ethan unlocked it for her since her hands were full, and they both headed out.
Once they stepped outside of the apartment building, a kind looking man turned to Sarah. "Hey, you look a little young for the alcohol..." He said. Sarah shoved the pack into his hands, causing him to gasp with surprise.
"Take it." She muttered, and walked on, ignoring the bewildered stare he was giving her.
She turned to Ethan a little ways down the sidewalk. "Where do you want to go?" She asked him. He shrugged, looking at her with his big, sad blue eyes.
"I don't kno-"
"Sarah!" Sarah looked up to see Alex rushing towards them. He stopped in front of them, looking between them excitedly as he caught his breath. Once he was finished, he surprised them both by wrapping the three of them in a bear hug. Sarah gave him a confused look once he released them.
"What is it?" She asked, confused by how animated he was. He looked at her, his green eyes gleaming with hope.
"I think I found someone who knows something about Gracie." He said. Sarah gasped, her eyes going wide.
"Really?" She asked. He nodded eagerly, grinning like a child.
"I am going to see her right now." He said, his voice almost hiccuping in his excitement.
"I am going too." Sarah said, eager for answers. Unlike Alex, she was more questioning of this person that Alex claims to know something. Her realistic attitude often prevented her from jumping to happy conclusions, as Alex seemed to have done.
"Yeah." Alex said quickly. "Yeah, come on!" He took off sprinting past Sarah and Ethan.
"Alex!" Sarah cried out in protest, but there was no stopping Alex. Not now that Gracie was involved. "Come on, Ethan! Hurry!" She said, taking his hand tightly and beginning to follow Alex through the clusters of people, her own heart beating much faster than she wanted it to.
April jumped when she heard the loud banging on her door. All of the turtles looked to the door and then to April with a prudent look. April walked to the door and stuck her eye to the small peephole. Then she pulled away and let out an exasperated breath.
"Why is he here now? I didn't mean now." She asked herself. The turtles all watched her expectantly. When she saw their curious looks, she shrugged, gesturing towards the door. "It's this guy..." She started, causing the turtles to give her a skeptical look. She frowned. "No, no, he's, uh...He's Gracie's friend." She winced at the turtle's faces afterwards. Leo was the first to speak.
"You told him?" Leo said, shocked. April shrugged again, looking away with an embarrassed expression.
"No... I mean, not on purpose, he just... got the hint, I guess." She supplied, tugging her hair nervously.
"The hint?" Leo asked. April threw her hands in the air.
"Look, I didn't go up to him and tell him that his best friend was a mutant taken in by a family of giant turtles that was being chased down by a psycho and his army of ninja robots, something just.. slipped out. I'm sorry, okay? He was really upset about her, I couldn't just let him believe that she was dead! He knows I know something, that's all. If he loves her, of course he is going to come running like this!" Her cheeks turned red in frustration. She was confused by the expressions on the turtles faces after this. She could swear they almost looked.. jealous? She didn't have the chance to look again, as another hyper banging sounded from the other side of the door, causing her to give it another frustrated look. She turned to the guys, raising her eyebrows. "What do you want me to do?" She asked. Automatically everyone's eyes turned to Leo. He let out a small groan.
"I would say to not let him in, but I think that may just make him more suspicious. I mean, we don't want to make him think that we are hiding her from him or something." April raised an eyebrow and looked to where they were keeping Gracie on the couch suggestively. Leo rolled his eyes, waving her off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"So, you guys better get out of sight, I guess." She said, turning to the door. The guys cleared out, Donatello reluctantly picking Gracie up as gently as he could and carrying her to April's room, laying her on the bed. As he set her down, her arm fell and her fingers finally uncurled from the object she had been clutching. It rolled off of the bed and onto the floor. Donnie bent down and picked it up, his stomach twisting at the sight of it. It was Leo's Captain Ryan figurine. Donnie looked to Gracie's face, reminding himself how truly hopeless he was. He had no chance with her. But, he shouldn't want one. He couldn't stand this. Wasn't it bad enough that he was already head-over-heels for one girl he knew he could never be with? But no, now there was two that didn't like him back. He looked at the small figurine that was so precious to his older brother. Not him.
When Mikey came in the room, Donnie found himself shoving the figurine into his belt. Mikey gave him a questioning look, to which Donnie returned with a sheepish smile. They could hear the door to the apartment opening, and Mikey put a finger to his lips, looking to Donnie with a giddy grin. He crept to the door and put the side of his head against it, listening.
Leo looked through the crack of the shuttered doors of a closet into the living room vigilantly. He was curious about who this person was who was so determined to find Gracie. April opened the door, unveiling a tall boy from the other side. He was grinning to himself. Leo looked him over skeptically. He was skinny, added to his height giving him a lanky appearance. He wasn't bad looking, he had a handsome face with bright green eyes. They seemed to shimmer as he looked around April's house and walked in. He had sandy brown hair that looked slightly ruffled, as though he had just run his hair through it and forgot to pat it down again. His bright white teeth glinted in the light as he grinned excitedly.
This was all from Leo's honest opinion. He knew that the boy was attractive, it was something that everyone could see. He was sure a girl would most likely describe the boy as 'cute' or even 'hot' in some cases. Leo looked away, feeling awkward. He couldn't look at the boy long enough without getting the feeling that he seemed to be checking him out. Of course, no one could see Leo and assume that, so it didn't really matter anyways. He still looked away, his embarrassment getting the best of him.
The boy laughed about something and Leo found himself being reminded of Mikey. This was the kind of guy Gracie hung out with? Leo found himself thinking. If Gracie was into people who acted like Mikey, than Leo definitely had no chance. His shook his head harshly, scolding himself mentally. What was he doing? Focus, Leo, focus. He turned his attention back to the boy and April. Suddenly the boy gestured to something out the door that Leo could not see after saying something that Leo had not been paying attention to.
April nodded, smiling with ill sincerity to whatever Alex had pointed out. "Uh, yeah, of course. Come on in." She said. At this time Leo's attention was snagged from the boy as another person entered the room. A young girl. Or, young woman, to be exact. She looked older than Alex, but couldn't be any older than twenty. Leo realized that for some reason this girl reminded him of Gracie. She had dark eyes, a hazel color not like Gracie's foggy blue ones. She didn't have any of the freckles that littered Gracie's skin, or the straw blonde hair that Leo had seen in the picture of Gracie before her mutation. Her mouth, Leo realized. They had the same mouth. The young woman smiled at April with the same hesitant smile that Gracie wore. The nose, too, now that Leo thought of it. He had only seen Gracie as a human once, but he could remember the gentle slope of her nose, the way it rounded on the end, finishing of her nose with a cute little bump. That was another thing they shared. The more Leo looked at the girl, the more she looked like Gracie. Then, a child walked in reluctantly, with the urging of the girl.
It was a little boy, who looked even more like Gracie than the girl had. He had the same blue eyes and the same blond hair, added to the freckles on his face and the features of the nose and the mouth they all shared. Leo looked between the boy and the girl, thinking of Gracie. Family, he suddenly realized. Yes, he had heard the phone call on the news. He looked between the three people who were now in April's apartment. This had to be the group of people that had been on the phone. Siblings, Leo guessed. Alex didn't look to be related to them by blood, but the little boy and the girl could definitely be her siblings. Leo watched them curiously, interested by the thought of what Gracie's life had been like before she had been mutated.
The little boy did not smile. His wide eyes surveyed April's house skeptically with a wisdom unlike his age. Eventually they settled upon the door of April's bedroom. Leo realized that two of his brothers were hiding in that room. He looked back to the boy again, who's eyes remained fixed upon it. Leo frowned, wondering what was running through the small boy's head. As he thought this, the child's eyes then turned upon the closet that Leo was peering at him from. Leo shrank back, feeling creeped out by the strange boy.
"Um, Hi. I'm April." April finally said, turning to the young woman.
"Sarah." The young woman answered, staring at April intensely. April nodded awkwardly. . ?docid=41550751
"And this is..?" April asked, looking to the boy that stared at Leo's hiding place. His eyes flickered away from the closet door and looked at April, much to Leo's relief.
"Ethan." Sarah answered for him. Leo was slightly shocked when Ethan smiled up at April, melting away the eerie look of wisdom that was too much for a child his age. He appeared now as a innocent, happy boy.
"Where's Gracie?" Ethan said, speaking the question that lingered in the air plainly, as though he had simply lost her for a moment in a crowded room of people. Everyone in the room, including Leonardo, turned their eyes to April. She looked to the side nervously, trying to think of how to reply.
"She, uh.. She..." April was suddenly cut off as a huge crash sounded throughout the room. April shrieked, jumping away from the window that was now broken all over the floor, and the too-familiar Karai, who now stood atop the broken glass, looking around the small home.
"Leo!?" April cried. At his name, Leo sprung out of the closet, leaping between the guests and the intruder. Sarah screamed. Alex gasped in something along the lines of surprise and horror. The small boy, oddly, remained silent.
"What are you doing here, Karai?" Leo asked warily, unsure of how she would act after their last encounter. Karai gazed at him with something that almost seemed, shy.
"Leo, I came to warn you-" Karai was interrupted as Sarah screamed again. Leo turned around to see that Mikey and Donnie had emerged from the bedroom. Sarah grabbed at the little boy, pulling him away from them. Alex moved to stand by her side, staring at the turtles with wide eyes. He placed a shaky hand on Sarah's shoulder.
"Woah, woah, chillax." Mikey said to Sarah. "We won't hurt you." He took a small step toward her and the young boy, but she just shook her head, clasping the boy tighter to her. Donnie grabbed Mikey's shoulder, stopping him. Mikey looked to Donnie, then he turned his eyes around the room, taking in the situation, a puzzled frown forming on his face. "Um, so what's up?" He asked.
"Y-yeah." Sarah suddenly said. "That's what I would like to know." She gave April a steely glare. "What are those things?!" She asked, pointing at Michelangelo. His shoulders sagged at the harsh question, making him look deflated. "Who the hell is that?!" Sarah continued, moving her finger to point at Karai. "And who are you, even?" She asked, looking at April again. "What does any of this, this madness have to do with my little sister?!" She took a deep breath once she was finished, kneeling down and hugging the boy to her chest.
"Sarah, calm down, okay? These guys," She said, putting a gentle hand on Mikey's shoulder, "are friends." She patted Mikey's shoulder, giving a small smile to him. He gave her a crooked smile back, standing up a bit straighter. "And her..." April stopped, looking at Karai, who was silently watching them all. "Why are you here?" April asked. April suddenly put her hands on her hips, looking at the ground below Karai. "And why did you smash my window?!"
Karai too looked to the ground below her, littered with glass shards. A sheepish look that had not been possessed by her features in a long time crossed her face as she realized that she had no clue why she decided to take the dramatic entrance and ruin the window. "Uh, sorry, about that..." She said awkwardly, causing everyone who knew her to drop their jaws in surprise. She looked around the room at everyone present, then back at Leonardo.
"I need to talk to you, but here doesn't seem like the best place." She said. April rolled her eyes.
"Now she figures that out." April mumbled.
Leo nodded, than looked back at the situation. "We go to the roof and talk. Make it quick, Karai." He said. Mikey rushed over to Leo and pulled on his elbow childishly.
"Dude! Why are you trusting Karai? Did you somehow forget the whole: 'Evil ninja lady just destroyed everything we owned', thing?" Leo realized that his family still had no clue of what had happened when Leo had gone to retrieve Gracie. Leo looked at Karai. She looked at the ground guiltily.
"Yeah, I remember." Leo said. Karai looked at him uncertainly. There was a moment of silence, only interrupted by the whistle of wind coming in through the broken window.
"Um, guys...?" Alex said hesitantly, having no clue of what to make of what was going in. Leo nodded, as if Alex had asked him a question.
"Yeah." Leo said. "Come on, Karai." He moved past her and carefully slipped through the broken window. Karai looked at the room of people once more, then followed Leo out.
There was another long second of silence in the room after they had left. Mikey turned to the three people crouching together against the wall. They all stared back at him. April and Donnie exchanged glances of 'what do we do?'. Mikey finally smiled hesitantly at the guests, waving his hand slowly.
"Uh, hi... I'm Mikey." He said. Sarah gave him an incredulous look, than looked at April.
"April, you have a lot of explaining to do. Unless you want this... Mikey...to do the talking for you?"
Hey, all my awesome readers! I finally did it! Chapter twelve is out! I am so sorry it took absolutely forever, just like every other time... but I have been battling with some severe writer's block lately, added on to the fact that I am guilty of being the worst procrastinator ever. But I think I am getting back into it, especially with all the excitement happening at the moment. I got the super juicy chapter out, like I promised! I got a little bit of everyone in there, so I hope you're happy! I hope you guys liked it, please leave me reviews, tell me what you think! Thanks for reading, see you again in the thirteenth chapter!