RAPH'S P.O.V

I was running down the hall where I saw the soldiers take Splinter and search every cell that I passed but so far I couldn't find Splinter. As I went deeper I heard someone making painful sounds and what sounded like a whip hitting flash.

I ran faster and found a big metal door where the sound was coming from. I looked through the peak hole and saw two soldiers whipping my poor exhausted looking father. I glared at them, fire coming out of my eyes. I opened the door and came in.

The two soldiers turned to me. "Hey! What are you-!"

The soldier was cut off when I punched him in the face and before the other one could react I threw him against the wall. They were both knocked out and I turned to my father who hadn't even realized I was here yet.

I took off my hood and walked up to him. My heart broke at the sight of the powerful man who raised me. Splinter's back was turned to me, he was on his knees, crouching down, blood all over his poor back.

I took a step closer and then Splinter's ears perked up. He slowly turned around and his eyes widened. We both just stared at each other for a long while, both in shock at seeing each other. We both thought that we would never see each other again...yet...here we are.

Splinter had tears in his eyes. "R-Raphael?" His voice shook both from pain and shock.

I couldn't take it anymore, tears poured down my eyes and I ran to him. "Dad!" I cried. I wrapped my arms around his neck, being careful not to hurt his back and cried in his chest.

Splinter stood frozen at first then he hugged me back as tight as his weak arms could. We both cried our eyes out, taking in the comfort of each other. Splinter pulled away a little and looked me over. "Oh, Raphael."

He kissed my cheek and forehead before pulling me back in the hug. "My warrior, I was scared I would never see you again."

"...So was I, Dad." I responded with a little chuckle as more tears came down my face. After a few more moments Splinter and I finally realised each other. "How did you get here, my son?"

I shook my head. "It's a long story but we have to get you out of here, now! Karai is going to destroy the machine!"

I said before putting his arm over my shoulder and helping him to his feet. "Miwa...Is she alright?" He asked, worried. "She's fine, she managed to get away before the soldiers could get her."

"What about your brothers? Are they here too?" He asked as we walked out of the cell. I hesitated and looked down a bit sadly. "No...they're at home."

Splinter looked down sadly as well. "So it's as bad as I thought, isn't it?" I looked at him a bit confused. "I went to the spirit plane to visit Leonardo and when I saw him...he was...not himself. I'm guessing your other brothers haven't been themselves either."

I looked away which gave Splinter the answer. "When did it start?"

I hesitated. "When you died. We all slowly became broken when you left. We just...we were not ready to go on without you! We missed you but nobody would even dare bring up your name...that's how painful it was! We can't even be in the same room without getting into a stupid fight, I've been trying to make us into a family again and be strong like you taught me to be but I-

I stopped when Splinter stopped walking, making me turn my attention to him. I did not plan on saying that much, it just came out. Worse time and place you could have chosen, Rapheal!

"Rapheal, this is not your fault, don't you ever think it was your fault!" Splinter said sternly and my eyes widened but I wasn't really surprised. He could always read me like a book, no matter how hard and well I hid my feelings, he always knew exactly what I felt.

"I am the one at fault here." Splinter said softly and before I could tell him otherwise he continued. "I knew something bad was going to happen to me. When I fell into the undercity I had a vision of the RatKing, I thought it was just my fever but after I was healed the visions continued. I didn't know exactly what they meant but I had my suspicions, so I tried to prepare you all without telling you. I thought you all would be fine without me as long as you had each other but I was wrong."

He cupped my chin and looked me in the eyes. "Sometimes I forget that you boys and Miwa are still children. You all had to carry so much weight on your shoulders this last year, didn't you?"

I looked down again and Splinter continued. "I'm sorry, Raphael, I wish I knew what I could have done to prevent what happened to me but I didn't. I'm sorry that you all had to give up being children and take on all of my responsibilities. But...I must say that I am proud of you for taking care of your brothers and sister even though you were still hurting as much as them."

I couldn't help but grin a little. "...Dad, you couldn't have done anything, I don't blame you, I never have! You're standing here telling me not to blame myself but here you are blaming yourself." I scoffed. "Sometimes I think you're the biggest hypocrite on Earth!"

Splinter smiled a little. "I guess that's true." He then frowned. "I'm still sorry, Raphael."

I smirked and took his arm. "Don't worry about it, let's get you home. Once you're there, you can start whooping us straight." I joked and Splinter laughed. "Oh, trust me, I will. That I'll make sure of!"

I laughed a little and we both went on our way.

...

KARAI'S P.O.V

I was standing near the control buttons on the machine, I looked at the plans to try and figure out how I could blow it up but I suddenly sensed someone behind me. I threw a knife at them but they caught it.

"Ah, Miss Hamato, it's nice to finally meet you." It was the RatKing. He was smirking at me and I saw a little white rat on his shoulder. I stood straight and glared at him. RatKing smirked in amusement. "I can tell you are as stubborn as your Father, if not more."

"If you think I'm going to let you continue to hurt my father and turn the whole world into rodents, you're wrong! I'm going to send you back to whatever messed up place you came from!"

"And how will you do that?" The RatKing asked. "I'm already dead."

I raised a brow and he took off his hat and bandages, reviling a processed man. My eyes widen in shock and fear. I could have really used Shinigami right about now! RatKing put his stupid hat and bandages on and walked closer to me.

"Miwa, you are simply not seeing the bigger picture." He started. "If the whole world is mutated into rats, everyone will live free and at peace."

Tsk* "I don't think anyone could live in peace with you as it's ruler!"

RatKing shook his head. "Oh no, Miwa. I am only the ruler now until the world is transformed. You see, this body won't be able to hold me for very long and when that comes I will be returned to the dead world."

"Then what's the point in doing all of this if you're just going to leave as soon as it's over!" I snapped.

"I was never doing this for myself, I was doing it for the world. I was hoping you would be interested in being it's ruler?"

"What?" I said, taken back.

RatKing smiled. "I tried to get your father to do it but he, of course, refused. You are just as strong as he is, I am sure you will make an excellent ruler."

I stepped away from him. "Yeah, well, you can forget it! There's no way in hell I would ever be part of this! And what do you mean you're doing this for the world?"

"I used to be a scientist before I became the RatKing. We scientists research not just for ourselves but for the whole world and how we can make it better!" He responded.

"You lair! This is all for yourself! You were always jealous of Rockwell's discoveries, how he always topped yours! You're just doing this because..." My voice faded in realization. "Because you want everyone to think you're something and you want to hurt everyone who has hurt you because you think that will make it better, that it will make it go away but it never will. No matter what you do, your past will always haunt you, the scar it gave you will never go away."

RatKing turned to me and I looked at him. "You want revenge on the world because they didn't think you were as good and as talented as Rockwell." I paused for a moment.

"Revenge leads to more pain." I muttered to myself. "I hear it now. I finally hear it."

RatKing crossed his arms. "I'm guessing that's a no then?" I glared at him. "It's a dead no!"

RatKing sighed. "You and your father are a lot alike. Always wanting to do things the hard way." A huge rat grabbed me on the arm and dragged me off. "Get off of me!"

I demanded but of course I was ignored. "I tried to reason with you Miwa but you forced me to go to extreme measures!" RatKing called out before he was out of sight.