Two months had passed since Artemis' disappearance and Raph had quite the personality change. Sure, he was always rough around the edges but lately it was just done right extreme. The last few fights the turtles had with the Foot, Raph had all but beaten them black and blue. Even in training he didn't hold back much and there were times Splinter had him sit in the sidelines to watch the practice matches. Raph even destroyed his punching bag and they had to go get a new one just so he wouldn't have any pent up aggression. He had visited her family only once after the day she left and he did not get a warm welcome. Cecile didn't even bother to stop the fighting between Logan and Raph and Manny had to be the one to tell Raph to leave. Raphael didn't even want to go back again, most likely because he felt guilty that he was the reason she left. She didn't say that in her note but it was fairly obvious. Most days he wanted to try and go find Art but knew it would just create another fight and to be honest, he couldn't even try to guess where she went. He noticed so many things about her now that she was gone. The way she would lightly punch his shoulder when she was angry but still didn't want to hurt him. Even the way she smiled right before she released his sai they practiced with. He wished these details came to mind before because maybe he could've used them as some connection with her and try to fix their friendship. She never left his mind and that was part of the reason he went so insane with fighting. When he was fighting his mind would go blank and his body would take over. He couldn't handle how one human was affecting him so much and one he barely knew.

Raph growled and decided he might as well get up since sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon with his mind racing. He went to the kitchen and hoped for some leftover pizza but of course Mikey ate it all. It was always Mikey. He wondered what to have instead but heard some voices coming from the living room. He walked over and noticed his brothers huddled around each other and whispering.

"What's going on?"

They all jumped and looked to him nervously. Mikey was the only one brave enough to answer. "Oh Hey Raph! I thought you were asleep? What are we doing? Just uh discussing the latest about um...Donnie's huge crush on April!"

Donnie smacked Mikey and was blushing a deep red. "Mikey! We were not!"

"Then what exactly were you talking about?" Raph got closer to them and hoped to put some pressure on them.

Leo sighed and stepped forward. "There was an alert with the foot. They're targeting some capacitor over by the west side."

"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's go already." Raph adjusted his belt and made to leave but Leo stopped him.

"We were discussing whether or not to leave you behind on this one."

Raph scoffed and turned to them, fire dancing in his eyes. "You can't be serious."

Leo crossed his arms, putting up his walls. "We are. You've been reckless and frankly dangerous on our missions lately. I get it Raph you're upset and want to take it out on the world but we can't have that on our missions on actually saving the world!"

"Cut the crap! You're just upset I've been showing you up and making sure the foot don't win. That's the whole point right? Stopping them at any costs!"

"Raph, I'm sorry she's gone. Really I am. I know you considered her a close friend."

"Don't! I'm perfectly fine and I'm going with or without you. Which is more dangerous do you think?"

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. "Fine, you can come just please listen to me and follow orders."

"Yeah, sure."

They all left their home but three of them were feeling not so confident about one turtle in particular. Raph had some untapped rage to use and he was ready for action. They followed Donnie's directions and ended up in the alleyway next to a shipyard full of containers. Leo looked around and noticed how quiet it was. "Where's the capacitor, Donnie?"

"Well that's the problem. There's no set location just general area."

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"Oh I'm sorry Leo. How about I rearrange the whole shipyard and know where everything is just for you!"

"Shh! Alright fine. We wait until they come and we surprise them. They don't know where it is so they'll be searching for awhile."

Mikey groaned, "Aw man! But stake outs are so boring! Can't they just be here already?"

Right on cue they heard trucks pulling in and parking in the middle of all the containers. The turtles all glared at Mikey like he had some connection to when they showed up. He sheepishly rubbed his neck, "eh-heh, what weird timing."

A whole fleet of the Foot clan came out followed by Dogpound sniffing around. His deep voice rang out his commands. "Find that capacitor and make it quick! We don't want any turtles coming our way."

The turtles just lurked and watched as the Foot split into two groups and went into different containers. They heard some robotic mechanisms and saw Fishface come around and glared at Dogpound. "We don't have time for this. Can't Shredder just buy one?"

"What's the fun in that fish breath? Besides they aren't regulated this way and we don't have to pay. Let's just find it and get out of here."

Raphael felt his hands reaching for his sais. Leo noticed the movement and whispered to him, "What do you think you're doing? We're not going after them yet."

"Oh I can't be prepared? Since when?"

"Since you got all trigger happy about busting heads. We do this the right way Raph."

Raph would've loved to tell Leo where to shove it but a noise stopped them both. It was a bell sound, small but melodic. Another figure came out of the truck and it was someone they've never met before. She was definitely a kunoichi as she wore the black ninja garb of the foot clan but without the head piece. Instead, her face was covered with a full kitsune mask. It was black with electric blue and dark red markings. The blue surrounded the eyes and ears while the red was painted on to make a nose and some symbols on the forehead and made whiskers on the cheeks. The bell sound came from her mask as there was one attached with navy blue thread on the left ear. It hung down and rested against the left eye hole and whenever she moved her head to search the area it would give that same small but melodic sound from earlier.

Mikey was impressed. "Woah, who is that?"

Leo shook his head. "I don't know but she's no one good if she's helping them."

The mask wearer pointed to a warehouse building over to the side and Dogpound noticed. "What is it pup? What's in there?"

Fishface rolled his eyes and spoke with his thick accent. "What do you think? She's saying that it's in there. Which makes sense since more expensive things are put away in a more secure place. Let's go guppy and uh dog for brains how about you gather up the rest of the Foot to help us out, eh?" Fishface laughed as him and the one he called guppy headed towards the warehouse. Dogpound growled but decided to just hurry things along and gathered everyone to look for their target. The turtles looked to each other and gave a silent agreement. They waited until all their enemies were inside and headed to the roof to get a better angle on them. The turtles found windows placed right next to the roof edge and decided to go in and hang out in the rafters to watch the Foot clan. The obvious lackeys broke open every box they came across and still couldn't find what they were looking for.

"This is bad Leo. If they get that capacitor there is no telling what they will use it for. We have to stop them," Donnie whispered so only his brothers could hear.

Leo nodded and scoped out the best plan for them to make it out safely while also making sure the foot clan didn't steal anything. "Alright, we have to let them find it first and when they put it into their truck we sneak over and take it away from them. If this works we only need to take on a few guards." Leo was glad to see that everyone seemed to agree. Well almost everyone. Raph didn't even acknowledge him and that could only spell trouble. He was about to ask for Raph's input when he heard the melodic sound again. They all watched as the kitsune moved away from Dogpound and Fishface and moved to the side. She disappeared outside and no one seemed to bother to care. "It's fine, we just need to stick to the plan and make sure we get that equipment." Leo hoped it would be okay. A few minutes felt like hours up in the cramped spaces of the rafters. The foot were still searching and breaking boxes without even getting a hint of what they needed.

Raph huffed in frustration, "This is stupid! We should go down there and scare them away by kicking their butts all the way to Shredder."

"We stick to the plan! It's just that simple!"

"Nothing is simple with you Leo! It's plan this and plan that! Things change and we can't control that so let's just go ahead and stop them now."

While the two were arguing, it went completely unnoticed that Donnie was wrapped with a chain and went flying off. Mikey wanted to stop the two but he felt an absence and turned to see Donnie was gone. "Uh guys, I think Donnie-Woah!" He too was swept up by a chain and went away with Donnie.

"Stay out of it Mikey!" Both Raph and Leo spoke in unison but kept their glares on each other. Raph shook his head but continued his angry whispering. "That's it! I'm taking action, you're being too slow!" He turned to find a good spot to land. Leo was about to reach for him. "Raph I said-!" Just like with his brothers, he was also swept away.

"Don't try to stop me Leo," Raph growled. He turned when he got no response and noticed that they had all disappeared. "Guys? Where did you go?" That's when he heard the bell coming from right behind him. He turned just in time to see the Kistune mask staring him right in the face but that was it as he was pushed and was forced to land right in the middle of the warehouse. He was soon surrounded by the Foot clan as Dogpound and Fishface glared from the top of some crates just so they could look down on him. Raph took out his sais and was ready to attack when he felt a chain wrap around him and he was face planted into the ground with the kunoichi on top of him.

Dogpound chuckled, "Well look what we have here."

Raph tried to struggle but she was stronger than she looked. He could only look up and see his brothers bounded with chains and had cloths around their mouths, hanging upside down like trophies in front of Dogpound. Fishface smirked, "Looks like we have some new toys for our new pet. Look how happy she is."

The kunoichi tightened the chains on him in response. Raph squirmed, "Quit it! I'm not a stuffed animal!" Raph felt the need for punching any thing near him increase and he tried to escape for the second time. The kunoichi didn't seem to like this and made a show of pressing down on his neck with her foot. He stopped instantly and waited for whatever the head villains decided to do next.

It didn't take long for Fishface to come up with an answer. "I say we bring them back to Shredder and maybe he can use them as bait."

Dogpound smiled. "Oh I like that idea. What do you think pup?"

They looked to the Kitsune and she seemed to think about it for awhile but ultimately shook her head. Fishface frowned at her decision. "Eh? And why not little guppy? We may not get another chance like this again."

She reached down and grabbed onto the chains and tugged at it. It took Dogpound a couple of minutes but he figured it out. "That's true. We would have to put them in different trucks and with all the moving around the chains won't hold onto them for long and they would escape. Rope would be too stupid since they'll easily cut through that with anything slightly sharp." He growled in annoyance, "Fine, we could just kill them."

Fishface rolled his eyes, "Do you think Master Shredder would appreciate not having the pleasure to do that himself? For now let's just get what we came for and guppy can watch over them until we're far enough away."

Dogpound nodded, "Fine and for the last time quit calling her guppy, she's a pup."

"I can call her as I please. Besides she likes it. Right?"

The kunoichi just shrugged, not caring what they called her. Satisfied with that answer, the Foot continued trying to find the capacitor. Before long one of the foot had broken a crate with the capacitor and Dogpound picked it up with his furry hands. They all filed out and got into their trucks leaving the Kitsune girl behind. She grabbed a hook and attached the chain Raph was wrapped in and sent him up to be next to his brothers. He looked at them all in turn. "Hey guys how's it hanging?"

Leo effectively glared him into silence. It was a few minutes before the girl interacted with them. Raph had more of a good look at her. She had what looked like a sickle and chain wrapped around her waist and a leg pouch on her right thigh. She went closer to him and just stared. That was it. At least, at first that's what she did. She started to mess around with him by poking him and then pushed him back as far as she could and released so he would go swinging. "Cut that out! I'm not a toy!" She did the swinging a couple more times before switching to spinning him around, faster and faster until he swore he was about to throw up. All of a sudden she stopped him and waited. As if by some hidden cue she turned to leave and that's when Raph really felt close to throwing up by what he saw when she turned. She turned her head to the turtles and saluted them goodbye before running out of the warehouse, her bell tingling along the way. They knew she was long gone when they stopped hearing it. Raph didn't even feel fazed by his brothers trying to squirm and wanting to get free, he was still shocked by what he saw. His three brothers eventually swung to each other and ungagged themselves and Leo finally had his ability to talk again.

"Raph snap out of it and help us already!"

Oh yeah, Leo had his mouth no longer gagged all right. Raph did his best to swing to them but he was further away than they were and couldn't get a good reach. He was left swinging as his brothers apparently deemed him useless and continued working on helping themselves. Soon, Leo had unhooked Mikey and Donnie and they fell to the floor. Luckily with their ninja training they landed on their feet and helped each other to loosen the chains. They were set free and decided it best to just go home. Along the way they discussed the new enemy they just encountered.

"Okay I hate to say this but she totally kicked our butts," Mikey said while nodding as if confirming for himself as well.

Leo sighed. "Don't remind me but now that we know she exists, we can prepare better for next time. We can't let them win again."

"Oh! While we were chained up I decided on a good name to call her," Mikey said with enthusiasm.

"Better than pup and guppy? I can't believe those guys would ever go for nicknames like that and it wasn't in a mean way; they seemed to like her," Donnie noted.

Leo tried to wrack his brain and could only think of one solution. "She must've been trained by them and they grew attached or something. They're bad guys but they were human at one point so who knows."

"Well I, for one, think my name will be a hundred times better! Her new name will be Kit!"

Donnie groaned. "That's what you came up with? How is that better? It generally means the same as what they were calling her."

"Hey cut me some slack! I was upside down for who knows how long! It affected my thinking process."

"Air messes up your thinking process."

"Hey!" Mikey glared at Donnie. As much fun as his brothers bickering was, Raph needed to get to his room and possibly try to get some sleep to wake up from the personal nightmare he was experiencing. They made it home and Raph was in his room before his brothers could blink. He sat on his bed and closed his eyes. It kept flashing over and over in his mind. When the kunoichi turned in front of him, he saw it. It was unmistakable. That flash of blue on the ends of her hair and the high ponytail style, it had to be her! It had to be Artemis. He had spent weeks training her and hanging out with her, there was no one else like Artemis. He knew his brothers wouldn't recognize her since they never really looked at her and talked with her. Splinter would be able to notice but only if he was there and he wasn't leaving the sewers anytime soon. For now she was safe, but why work with Shredder? Why be with the Foot clan? Was this the job she was talking about? It's not like he could go into their headquarters to ask but maybe there was somewhere he could get some answers.

He had to wait to sneak out as his brothers were winding down from the earlier fight. Not much of a fight since they were hung upside down the whole time but they needed to come up with what the villains were possibly planning to do next. Leo went to meditate while Mikey and Donnie went into the lab. Mikey mostly went to bug Donnie but it was perfect for Raph to leave without his brothers trying to stop him. He finally made it outside and reached the area of Artemis' family. When he walked into the clearing he stopped short and had to do a double take of the place. It was practically barren. The tents were gone and the only thing around were the logs surrounding the spot where the fire pit used to be. Some wrappers and cans were scattered around but that was it. They were all gone. Raph went to take a step when he heard a familiar bell. He turned swiftly around, his sais at the ready, and stared a few feet in front of him down the alleyway entrance. She slowly moved forward and he was able to see her in the full moonlight. The Kitsune mask had a little shimmer to it but overall it was just dull paint. The only unique thing was the bell, it only made sound if it was shook hard enough.

Raph lowered his sais. "Artemis."

She lifted her hand and took off her mask to reveal what he already knew. Artemis had such an intense glare that her blue eyes seemed to be much more icy than ever before. He never thought he had seen such anger except maybe on Shredder. She put the mask in the pouch that was on her thigh and stalked forward like she knew he wouldn't attack unless provoked. She went and stood in the middle of the clearing next to the logs. "It's been a while since you've been here hasn't it?"

"Yeah, over a month, I think." He stayed in place, afraid he would interrupt her in whatever mood she was in. He still didn't want to believe it even though it was staring him in the face. She had joined the Foot clan and became a kunoichi. She was a good one too considering he had the bruises to prove it.

"They're all gone Raphael."

He wanted to hug her so badly by how broken she sounded when she said that. Considering they were enemies he decided against it and hoped he could send telepathic messages to comfort her. "Where are they?"

She gave a dry laugh and shook her head. "I don't have one clue."

"What happened?"

She turned to look at him. "Now that I do know. You see Raph what happened was..."

He barely blocked her with his sais in time from slicing at him with her sickle that she held in one hand while holding a chain in the other. "What happened was you!"

He used his strength and pushed her back, making sure they gained distance from each other. "Are you crazy?! You could've seriously hurt me!"

She smiled dangerously at him. "Don't worry Raph I'm much more controlled than that. I received some intense training from multiple mentors in the last couple months and let me tell you that they don't hold anything back, even for a newbie." She twirled the sickle by her side while circling him and watching his every move. The curved blade moved so fast that it was just a blurred image. On the other end of the chain was a metal ball painted black with a white skull on it. She noticed him examining her weapon. "Like it? I decorated it myself. No one liked using it since it takes a lot of control and grace but guess who was practically a master?" To demonstrate what she meant she threw the ball end at one of his sais and it wrapped around his weapon before he could even register it happening. She ripped it from his grip and made it go sailing towards her. At the last second before she got hurt she simultaneously grabbed the orb while kicking his sai high into the air. They watched it as she threw the sickle and hooked the blade around his and made it go crashing into the ground. His sai stuck deep into the dirt and she brought her own blade back to her and grabbed it from the handle.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Now who's the show-off?"

"Make jokes now Raph while you can. The only reason I'm not fully fighting you is because Master Shredder wants all of you turtles together to make Hamato Yoshi suffer."

"Do you hear yourself? All this because you're mad at me?"

Her eyes became glassy but she refused to let those tears fall. It just made her eyes brighter but all the more angrier. "All this because it's your fault my family is gone!"

"You know I'm really getting tired of people blaming me for things I didn't do!"

She gave a dry laugh. "Oh? Do you really think it's not your fault? How about I clarify what happened then. Do you remember the last time you visited them?"

"It was two weeks after you left."

"Very good! You see I also visited that day because I finally got my first payment and my family told me you were here to look for me, even though they told you to stay away. Then the next day I came again but what did I find? I find a completely empty lot! I thought maybe they all went out to find me or went to a shelter but I had to be sure. I asked around from other people we knew and one told me they saw you Raphael, a ninja who should never have been caught! They thought they saw some giant reptile go into an alley from the roof and guess what? He wasn't the only one to notice you! Someone was worried about some loose wild animal and called the authorities the next morning. The cops came and found my family, who were here illegally, and took them away in their squad cars. All because you wouldn't stay away!"

"Are they...are they in jail?"

"You know I thought that too but when I went in they said they had to send them away to a prison!"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That's insane! They wouldn't go to a prison for squatting!"

"That's not why you moron! We had a fugitive with us and we kept him safe all this time. Logan was in hiding and now they're considered his accomplices!"

Logan was a fugitive? Man, Raph really didn't know these people at all. No, that's not completely true. He knew Artemis and knew she cared about people. "You were hiding a fugitive?"

"Don't! Don't try to play any games! He was in the group before I was but they told me everything. Logan did some bad things but he never hurt anyone, however his former associates did. He was the scapegoat and he was my friend! Cecile kept us together and Manny made us happy! You destroyed it Raphael! You should've never been in our lives and now I'm to blame because I let you in. A liar and a betrayer! So I'm going to make sure you understand how I feel."

She was completely blinded by rage. She couldn't see what it was doing to her but he did. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Shredder's work and he wouldn't be surprised if he manipulated her to be this way. Who knows what happened in those months she was with the Foot clan. In such a short time she was attacked and lied to and not long after she would go through intense training while losing her family in one go. With all this trauma rolled into one girl it manifested into something so horrifying it could possibly rival Shredder's obsession with destroying Splinter's life. "Don't make me do this Artemis."

She reached into her pouch and grabbed her Kitsune mask. Before she put it on she smiled darkly at him, "Oh please. There's nothing you can do to me now to make it worse. Just be ready Raphael because before our plan is finished I'm going to have some fun." She placed the mask over her face and used a smoke bomb to escape. Once the smoke cleared he grabbed the sai from in the ground and took one last look at the clearing. He couldn't tell his brothers about her being Kit. He just couldn't. She was his responsibility the second they met and stayed in contact, so it was his job to fix it. He would be the one to get his best friend back.

"Just wait for me Artemis, I won't give up on you."