It had been a few days since Leo's secret was found out. Since then, Leo had been working overtime in the dojo to make up for all the training he'd missed out. During this period, he barely spoke a word, only enough to respond to questions from Splinter and to reply to orders given. To his siblings, he remained a silent, passive statue.
It was during downtime on the third day that Hisako had decided she'd had enough. Leo had turned down the offer for lunch by merely ignoring them all, and was currently beating the shell out of a training dummy.
"Okay, that's it." she suddenly announced.
Mikey, who was currently playing with Klunk and a laser pointer, looked up at his sister.
"What's it?" he asked.
"I'm going to talk to him." she decided, pulling popping into the kitchen to grab a plate. "He can't be Silent Sven forever."
"I don't know." Raph protested, taking a minute to stop punching his punching bag. "I think it might be a bad idea to talk to him right now."
Donny looked up from his lab work, pulling his goggles up onto his forehead.
"He's got a point sis." Donny agreed, "When Leo's like this, it's best to just leave him be."
Hisako slid a few pieces of pizza onto the plate, then began walking towards the training area.
"Well, I'm still gonna try." she insisted.
She approached the mat quietly, taking a few tentative steps towards her brother. He was so focused on the dummy he was annihilating that he didn't even notice Hisako until she spoke.
"Leo?" she asked softly.
Leo reacted violently, turning and punching with all his strength. Thankfully, Hisako ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding the blow.
"Whoa." she called. "Friendly."
"Oh," he realized. "Sorry."
He then went back to wailing on the training dummy. Hisako slowly straightened up, then coughed slightly.
"I saved you some pizza." she told him.
"Not hungry." he answered, not even glancing at her.
Hisako sighed, then set the pizza aside.
"Look Leo," she began. "I know you're upset, and I know there's not much I can do to fix that-"
"So why are you here?" he asked in a dark tone.
"Because I'm trying to make things right between us." she explained, her voice a bit harder than she'd wanted. "Because you haven't said a word to us since you got grounded, and because you're not even sleeping with us anymore."
"Well I'm not in the mood to 'make peace' right now." he countered.
"Why?" she asked. "I figured after you realized how much of an idiot you'd been, you'd be clamoring to make it right. Enough to-"
"Yeah I get it!" he yelled. "I was an idiot! I screwed up! Will you guys just drop it already?!"
Hisako blinked at Leo's outburst, then felt her anger beginning to grow.
"Drop it? This is the first time any of us have brought it up!" she exclaimed. "What is wrong with you, Leo?!"
"Nothing!" he yelled back.
"Well it sure as shell doesn't look like nothing!" Hisako shouted, her eyes glowing with power as a few small household items began to float. "Look Leo, I came over here to make peace, to try and mend things since SOMEONE doesn't seem to give a damn about how much he's hurt all those around him with his stupid stunt and lying to us for two frikken months!"
There was an uncomfortable amount of silence that followed that outburst. The others had set aside their activities to watch the exchange, Mikey holding Klunk to his chest. Hisako took a deep breath to steady herself, the objects slowly going back where they belonged.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "That was wrong of me."
Leo said nothing. He just turned back towards the training dummy and continued beating on it. Hisako sighed, then slipped in between Leo and the dummy, catching her brother's fists.
"Leo-" she began, then her eyes flashed green. "You're still thinking of her!"
"And you peeked into my mind." Leo countered, yanking his hands free of his sister's grip. "Invasion of privacy much?"
"Well I wouldn't have to invade your privacy if you would just talk to me!"
"There's nothing to talk about!"
"Yes there is! So talk to me, or so help me-"
"You want me to talk?" he interrupted. "Fine! Whenever you guys mess up, it's fine. But when I make a mistake, everyone loses their minds!"
"Because you don't make mistakes Leo! You've always been so careful about everything you've done! Now you meet this random girl and all your training goes out the window!"
Outside the dojo, Donny, Raph, and Mikey were watching the events unfold before them.
"Do you guys think we should do something?" Mikey asked.
"Like what?" Donny asked back.
"Besides, do you really want to get between those two right now?" Raph added.
Mikey looked at the aura of green that was surrounding various objects with every minute that the argument went on.
"Point taken." Mikey whispered.
Hisako continued to lay into Leo.
"You don't even know anything about this girl, and you're risking everything we've worked so hard to protect just so you can see her!"
"You can't say that! You don't know anything about her!"
"And neither do you!" Hisako snapped. "What's her last name?"
"Well-"
"How old is she?"
"I-"
"Where does she go to school? Does she go to school? What do you know about her outside of motorcycle riding?"
"I can learn can't I?!"
"You should have learned that BEFORE it got this far!" Hisako practically screamed, grabbing her brother's arm. "For all you know, she could be a spy for the purple dragons, or the Motorheads!"
"I'll figure this out, just back off!" he shouted.
He threw her off of him, sending her flying into the wall hard. She hit it with an audible thud, sliding to the ground. She rubbed her head in pain as the others ran to her side. Leo's eyes widened and he ran towards her.
"Hisako," he said in a panic. "I'm sorry I-"
Hisako's eyes became solid green as she shoved her arm out, sending the blue turtle, and as well as half the decorations around the dojo, flying in the opposite direction. He too landed hard, the various other objects clattering down around him.
"Go." She snapped. "Go blow our secret, put our entire family in jeopardy. It's obvious this girl means more to you than any of us anyway."
Leo sat there for a moment before bolting out of the room.
"That's it," Raph said drawing a sai. "He's toast!"
Hisako grabbed his arm, shaking her head.
"Let him run." she growled. "Maybe after this, he'll finally realize he's been a huge idiot."
She struggled to her feet, the entire room spinning from the force of the blow she'd taken.
"Besides," she added. "He's mine."
There was a moment of heavy silence before the purple turtle let out an uncomfortable cough.
"I'll just…" Donny begins to say. "Go get the first aid kit."
…
Leo just kept bolting across the rooftops in a furious rage. Everything kept replaying over and over in his head. He couldn't believe he actually hurt his sister, even if he didn't mean to. It was overwhelming. He finally came to a stop so he could try and process things. In a burst of anger he kicked a TV antenna that was on the roof so hard it came loose and fell over.
"What is wrong with me?!" he screamed into the night.
…
Across town, Karai sat on top of a water tower, enjoying the relatively clear night. She chuckled happily as she remembered the street race from a few nights ago. If those purple dragons had only known who they were riding with, they would have flipped out. Thankfully, they were as dense as tree stumps, and easily fooled.
However, since that night, Leo hadn't answered any of her calls. Granted, he and his freaky family hadn't been seen since that night either, but it was beginning to worry Karai. Had she pushed him too far too quickly?
"Maybe I pushed it with the street race." she said out loud.
As she laid there, she sensed a presence behind her. Jumping up, she turned to see herself looking at a lone man. He was wearing a long trench coat over a dark suit. He had long black hair done up in a high ponytail, and a strange visor over his eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" She snapped.
"Someone who has taken an interest in your dealings with the one called Leonardo." he told her.
Karai's eyebrows rose, her hand instinctively reaching for her hip. However, she cursed herself when she found herself lacking any form of weaponry. She'd been careful not to carry any the past few days, and that decision just might cost her tonight.
"And does this someone have a name?" She asked, keeping up the appearance of bravery.
"I am simply a guardian." he answered.
Karai slid her feet into a defensive position on instinct.
"And what business do you have with Leonardo."
"My business is mine alone. All you need to know is that i will not allow your master's plans to succeed."
He reached behind him, grasping the handle of the biggest sword Karai had seen. He pulled it in front of him as a line of electricity began to spark in between the handle and the blade. Karai's heart launched into her throat as she backed off.
"WH-what are you doing?" she demanded.
He swung the sword at her, but she was quick to avoid it. He made several swings at her but she just ducked and dodged each one.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" She shrieked. "Why didn't I bring any weapon?!"
…
On another rooftop, Leo was leaning against an air-conditioning unit, thinking to himself. That's when he heard a familiar voice screaming off in the distance. He looked out too see a faint blue light in the direction the scream had come.
"Karai..." he whispered.
He reached instinctively for his swords, but swore when he only grabbed air. In his haste to get out of the air, he'd neglected to grab his swords. Snarling, he looked down at the antennae he'd kicked over, grabbing it instead. It was relatively thick, and though it had no blade, it would have to work for a weapon.
"Hang on, Karai." he said quietly. "I'm on my way."
…
Karai kept ducking and backing away from the sword strikes the guardian was unleashing. She then jumped over the guardian's head, landing on the other side of him. He then quickly turned around thrusting his sword at her. She quickly dodged it but stumbled a bit and fell to the ground. The guardian stood over her and brought his sword up to finish the fight.
"Hey buddy!" a voice yelled.
The guardian looked up just in time to see Leonardo coming at him, kicking the guy in the face hard. The blue turtle jumped off of the guardian, landing between him and Karai.
"You okay?" he asked, keeping his eyes locked on the guardian.
Karai's eyes widened. Out of all the things she expected tonight, she didn't expect to get rescued by Leonardo, or the fact that he didn't seem to be covered head to toe in biker gear. After finally processing this, she finally regained the ability to speak.
"Y-yes." she finally answered.
"Good." he told her. "Now hide. I'll handle this guy."
Karai wasted no time, jumping down off the water tower as the guardian regained his senses. Leo came at him with the antenna in hand and swung at the guardian, who quickly blocked it with his sword. The two continued to exchange one blow after another.
"I am not your enemy." the guardian insisted.
"Well, then you shouldn't have attacked my friend." Leo replied.
"You have no idea who she is."
"So I've been told." Leo snarled.
With that, Leo swept the guardian's legs and he fell off the water tower. Once he made contact with the ground, Leo got down to the ground himself and punched him in the face. Leo then picked him up by the trench coat and brought him to eye level.
"Look," he muttered. "I've been having a very bad week, and tonight it all came to a head. So I'm only going to say this once."
He pulled the guardian closer, his voice even and cold.
"Stay. Away. From Karai."
The guardian remained silent.
"Very well." he relented. "I suppose you must learn this the hard way."
He then broke free of Leo's grip, retrieving his sword before he leapt off the edge of the roof. Leo ran over to see if he survived, but saw no one there.
"Whoa." he let out.
All of a sudden, Karai came up next to him, nearly sending the two of them falling over the edge of the building with a huge bear hug.
"Thank you!" she shouted. "If you hadn't come when you did… Thank you thank you thank you!"
Leo was taken aback by the hug, but he did return the sentiment. Karai continued to hold him, then her hand began to pat up and down his back, or more specifically, his shell. Leo noticed this and tensed up. After a few more pats, Karai pulled back, a look of shock on her face.
"You… you have a…. A..."
"Shell." he finished for her.
"... Right." she said after a minute. "Shell… That means… that you…. You're a..."
"Turtle. He finished again.
Karai visibly gulped, then slowly slid to the ground.
"Turtle..." Karai repeated. "Have to say… I did not expect that..."
"I can imagine…" Leo responded nervously.
Karai took a deep breath, then slowly stood up.
"I don't know about you… but I need a drink… Like an entire 2 liter of soda or something."
"Ok… want me to come with you or… Leave…" Leo said.
"No, don't leave!" she said in a rush.
Leo blinked in surprise as Karai regained herself.
"I'm just saying… I think we need to talk… and I'm going to need some soda for this conversation."
…
Both Karai and Leo sat on the rooftop of the same building that they'd gone to on their first night together. Karai had a half-drunk 2 liter bottle of soda in her lap as she and Leo talked.
"So, you and your brothers are all turtles." Karai began
"Yes." Leo replied
"And your father… is a rat." Karai continued.
"Yes." Leo answered.
"And your sister is human… but she's also not human." She added.
"More or less." Leo admitted.
"How does that-?" Karai started to ask before cutting herself off. "Never mind. Something tells me I don't want to know."
"It's probably for the best." Leo agreed not wanting to share some painful memories.
There was an awkward silence between the two, neither one knowing what to say next. Finally, Karai sighed.
"I'm guessing this explains why you never took your helmet off." she attempted to joke.
The two of them chuckled, then the silence returned.
"So…" Karai started to say. "What now?"
"Honestly, I have no idea." Leo answered. "To be honest, I figured you'd run away screaming the second you saw I really was.
"Well, saving my life might have helped you avoid that scenario." Karai replied.
Leo laughed a bit at that.
"True." He allowed.
"Do people usually run off after learning you're a turtle?" Karai asked.
Leo got a bit embarrassed at that, rubbing his head.
"Well… to be honest, we're a bit of a secret." he explained. "Aside from you, only two people really know we exist."
"Only two people?" Karai repeated.
"Yeah. Master Splinter doesn't even like the fact that they..."
He trailed off as he remembered his Master, as well as his family. That's when it all sank in and Leo felt like a complete and utter idiot.
"Oh shell..." he swore.
"What's wrong?" Karai wondered.
"Technically, I'm not supposed to be out here." He explained. "Everyone found out about… well, they found out about you."
"Me?" Karai asked, though this did answer the question of Leo's absence these past few days.
"Yeah." Leo replied, rubbing the back of his head. "They think you're a threat to our secret, and that I've put all of us in danger by hanging out with you. They're gonna kill me when they find out that you know about us."
Karai thought about that for a moment, then an idea struck. This may be her one chance to find the rest of the turtles, so she had to play this right. Clearing her throat, she decided to give it a shot.
"What if… What if I explained everything?" she suggested.
Leo blinked.
"What?" He asked.
"Well… you said your family thinks I'm a threat." she clarified. "Maybe… if I went back with you, I could explain that I'm not, and your family wouldn't kill you. That, and you'd be able to hang out with me without any fear."
Leo thought about that for a moment, and as he did, the idea sounded better and better.
"Yeah..." He said after a moment. "Yeah. Karai, that's a great idea."
He smiled as he jumped to his feet, Karai joining him not long after.
"If I introduce you to everyone, they'll see that you're not a threat, and everything will be okay!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Karai asked, unable to keep the anticipation out of her voice. "Let's go!"
"Yeah, let's- Hang on." Leo suddenly said.
Karai stopped cold, fearing Leo had caught on. However, he simply slid his mask off his face, fastening it around Karai's in a way that she couldn't see.
"Sorry about this." he told her. "But I'm going to have to draw the line at you seeing our lair. You understand."
"Of course." Karai replied, fumbling for Leo's arm since she was now blindfolded. "You've got to keep some secrets."
Leo pulled Karai onto his back. As he did, she slipped a hand onto her belt buckle, quietly depressing a pair of buttons that activated a tracking device hidden in the buckle. She grinned as Leo jumped off the building towards his home, oblivious to the evil grin on Karai's face.
…
"Are we there yet?" Karai asked, the smell of stale water and mildew filling her nose.
"Nope." Leo replied.
"Are we there yet?" Karai asked again after about 5 seconds.
"Not yet." Leo answered, unable to keep the smile from playing on his face.
"Are we there-?"
"If you keep asking, I'm not going to answer." Leo told her.
"I only started asking because I'm almost positive you jumped down into the storm drain about five miles back."
"Technically it was six miles, but I'll give you partial points."
Karai chuckled.
"So you live in the sewers." she remarked. "That's gotta stink."
"You get used to the smell after a while." Leo replied. "Besides, where else would giant mutant turtles and a mutant rat live, in a condo on the west side?"
"Fair enough." Karai admitted.
Eventually, he reached the door leading into the lair, hooking it with his foot and opening it. Once they were inside and the door closed behind them, Leo set Karai down, reclaiming his mask.
"Karai, welcome to my home." Leo introduced.
Karai looked around at the sewer lair and was genuinely impressed.
"You know, this is not what I was expecting. Not at all."
Off down a small hallway, there was the sound of a door being thrown open and angry footsteps heading their way. Leo had a pretty good idea of whom the steps belonged to.
"There you are Leo!" Raph exclaimed as he came around the corner. "I'm gonna knock you so far into next week that you are gonna-"
As he finally came into sight of his brother, Raph's angry shouts cut off when he locked eyes on Karai. Karai gave a sheepish wave as Raph just stared.
"Hi..." she called out.
"Uh… Raph, Karai. Karai, Raph." Leo introduced.
Raph blinked, then finally turned back towards the way he'd come.
"Donny! Mikey! Get your shells in here!"
There was an instant commotion that came from down the hallway as both Donny and Mikey scrambled towards Raph.
"Is Leo home?" Mikey questioned. "Did you kill him? Do we need to hide a body?"
"Mikey, I highly doubt that Raph, or any member of our family, would ever kill-"
Much like earlier, the two turtles spotted Karai, and they both fell silent.
"Scratch that." Donny amended after a moment. "If Raph doesn't kill him, Master Splinter and Hisako are definitely going to."
Leo rubbed the back of his head. This was most definitely not going according to plan.
"Leo," Donny began to ask. "Who, may I ask is this?"
"My name's Karai." Karai answered. "Leo's told me so much about you guys."
"Has he now?" Raph snapped. "He never mentioned you."
"My sons." Master Splinter interjected, walking into the room. "What is the meaning of all this-?"
He spotted Karai, and his face became devoid of emotion.
"Leonardo." He called. "Why have you brought this stranger into our home?"
"She's not a stranger." he said in his defense. "Well… kinda… but just let me explain."
"It was my idea." Karai interrupted. "Leo told me that things had become difficult between you guys, and it was my fault. I figured if I came here, I'd be able to smooth things over."
"Oh that makes things so much better." Raph replied sarcastically.
About that time, various household items began to shake, a green aura surrounding them. Leo saw this, and began to think that bringing Karai to the lair was not the best choice he'd made, especially since he'd pissed off the most powerful member of the family before running off.
"Leonardo!" Hisako screamed rounding the corner. "You sure as shell better have a good explanation for this!"
She didn't even blink at the sight of Karai, no doubt reading everyone's mind about her presence.
"Um…." Leo started. "This isn't gonna be easy to explain."
Karai attempted to step forward, but Leo held her back.
"Don't Karai." he told her. "Right now, my sister exactly in the best state of mind."
"And I wonder why?!" Hisako screamed. "Maybe it's because my brother just did the one thing I thought he wouldn't do!"
Splinter gently grasped Hisako's shoulder, the action causing Hisako to slowly calm down. The green aura slowly faded from various objects as she regained control.
"Sorry Sensei." she told him. "I don't know why I can't control my emotions..."
"This is a… difficult situation." Splinter admitted. "But we cannot change what has happened."
"Right." Hisako agreed before stepping forward. "Hi. I'm Hisako."
She held out her hand to Karai, who looked at it nervously. After a second, she took the hand.
"Karai."
The second their skin touched, Hisako's eyes flashed green and a torrent of images flitted through her head, much like when she'd touched Leo earlier that night. She yanked her hand back, grabbing her fans and opening them.
"Guys, she's a Motorhead!" she exclaimed.
"What!" Raph yelled pulling his sai.
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.
"She's working for the Motorheads!" Hisako explained. "She's been manipulating you from the beginning Leo, so you'd lead her right back here to us!"
"What?" he exclaimed.
Karai's eyes went wide as she tried to back away.
"I- I don't know what she's talking about." Karai stuttered.
"So you don't have a tracking device hidden in your belt buckle?" Hisako challenged.
Donny stepped forward, grabbing Karai's belt buckle and pulling it free of the leather. He pulled the casing apart and gasped.
"It is a tracker." He proclaimed. "And it's active!"
As Donny began smashing the tracker, Leo turned to Karai, his face a mask of betrayal.
"I don't believe this!" Leo exclaimed. "I… I trusted you!"
"Leo, please… I didn't- I'm not-"
"What?" he questioned. "You didn't mean to lure the Motorheads here so they could capture us?"
"No, of course not!" Karai exclaimed.
Suddenly, she backed into the wall where the spare weapons hung. She grinned, then grasped a pair of spare swords that were there. In a flurry of motion that could only be pulled off by someone with years of training, Karai jumped away from the wall, landing in between the Hamato Clan.
"I lured them here to kill you." She clarified.
Just then, the door to the lair exploded. From its wreckage, several Motorheads poured into the lair, surrounding the Hamato Clan. Everyone got together, their weapons at the ready as Splinter brandished his walking stick as a staff.
"Also, they're not called the Motorheads." Karai added. "They're called the Foot Clan."
That name rattled Splinter. It was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. This was no time to dwell on it though, now was the time to fight.
"Foot Ninja, Attack!" Karai screamed.
The Motorheads charged towards the Hamato clan and a massive fight broke out, everyone fighting for their lives. Raph blocked several sword strikes with his sai, each one quicker than the last. He then back flipped out of the way of them then sprang forward tackling them. Quickly taking them out. Raph got up to see one Motorhead coming at him. He quickly dodged a sword strike meant for him, only for it to cut into his punching bag.
"My...my bag." Raph complained as sand poured out.
That infuriated by this so much, he charged towards the Motorhead and knocked him out using the blunt end of his sai.
Donny's bout with the Motorheads took him into his lab. He quickly back flipped behind a table and one Motorhead tried swinging his sword at Donny, buy only succeeded in breaking several pieces of equipment.
"Hey!" Donny yelled. "That stuff took months to put together!"
Donny then swung his staff at the Motorhead taking him out. One Motorhead came up behind him, but Donny struck him in the gut with his staff without even turning around.
Mikey was bouncing around the living room dodging the sword attacks of the Motorheads. He wasn't quick enough to avoid a kick from one that sent him into the TV, effectively breaking it.
"Aw man!" Mikey complained. "You guys really are evil!"
He then saw Klunk wandering around in the middle of the fight. Wasting no words, he got up and leapt on top of two Motorheads, knocking their heads together knocking them out and landing right in front of Klunk, picking him up.
"Hang on Klunk, I got ya." Mikey reassured.
Leo meanwhile was having a hard time. Without his swords, he was forced to go at it hand-to-hand. He just delivered a kick to one Motorhead just in time to avoid a sword swipe from another. He quickly grabbed the Motorheads arm and pulled him in close, kneeing him in the chest.
"Leonardo!" Splinter called out.
Leo turned to see Splinter carrying his swords and tossing them at him. He quickly caught them and proceeded to lock blades with the Motorheads.
Splinter was still rattled by the realization of the Foot, but he didn't let that affect his fighting. There was too much at stake for him to let the past cloud his sight. He used his walking stick to strike and jab any Motorhead that came close to him. One Motorhead tackled him into the dojo. He was quick to kick him off. Two other Motorheads came into the room and started attacking him. They were skilled to be sure, but he was a master. He blocked several attacks and knocked them both into a shelf where one of his old pictures fell to the ground, shattering on impact. Splinter didn't have time to think about it now. This was do or die.
Hisako meanwhile faced off against Karai. Her fans clashed with Karai's stolen blades as the two girls fought against each other.
"You… You used my brother… you played him like a fiddle!"
"Yep." Karai said with a cruel grin. "Had him wrapped around my little finger. It was a bit too easy if you ask me."
Hisako's eyes glowed brightly as she mentally slammed Karai into a nearby wall, knocking down several pictures of the siblings growing up together, as well as a growth chart Donny had started for Hisako. Karai snarled as she pulled free of the wall, launching at Hisako.
One Motorhead threw several shruiken at Donny, who blocked them with his staff. Another Motorhead came up from behind and kicked him in the back sending him to the ground. He looked up to see a Motorhead standing over him sword drawn back it was about to connect when it was blocked by Raph's sai.
"Watch your back, Brainiac." Raph told him.
"Isn't that what you're for, Raph?" Donny asked getting up.
Donny then struck the Motorhead in the gut with his staff and Raph beat him over the head.
"Guys, I don't think we can win this one." Mikey announced.
"He's right." Hisako agreed, "We need to get out of here!"
"Run away?" Raph questioned. "Forget it!"
Suddenly, several Motorheads were sent flying into the room, with Splinter following close behind.
"We do not have a choice Raphael!" Splinter told him.
Leo continued blocking sword strikes and delivered a powerful kick to a Motorhead knocking him away.
"Everyone, get to the garage!" Leo ordered. "Get to the Shellraiser."
"You don't give me orders!" Raph replied knocking out another Motorhead.
"Raph!" Hisako screamed. "Just do it!"
Hisako's powers flared brightly as she channeled them, sending out a wave that struck all of the bad guys and sent them flying in opposite directions. Now finally free, the brothers all scrambled for the tunnel, Donny scrambled for Hisako, who had drained all of her energy with that last attack. Raph looked at the recovering Motorheads, then at his fleeing family. He let out a growl, then took off after them.
…
As the Hamato family reached the garage, they could hear the Motorheads coming up after them. Hoping to at least hold them off for a while, Raph slammed the trap door closed, sliding a nearby work table over it.
"Everybody in!" Donny called out from the driver's seat of the Shellraiser.
"What about my bike?!" Raph demanded.
"You can build a better one, now get in the van!" Donny screamed.
Raph jumped into the Shell raiser as the motorheads began trying to get through the trapdoor. Once he was buckled in, Splinter turned to Donny.
"Get us out of here, Donatello."
Donny hit the gas, grateful that the armored front of the truck easily tore through the garage door. It also barreled through a fair sized group of Motorheads before peeling down the street. Within a few minutes, they were clear of the Motorheads.
"Okay, I'm just gonna say it." Mikey declared. "That was the worst fight we've ever had."
"We got our shells kicked." Raph snarled. "All because our fearless leader couldn't get it through his thick skull that he's not always right!"
Leo didn't say a word. He just leaned against the wall of the Shell Raiser, looking out the window with a broken expression. Raph noticed this and scoffed, turning away as well. Donny focused on the road as Splinter held the barely conscious Hisako.
"We cannot remain out in the open like this." Splinter announced. "We must find a place to lay low."
"What about Leatherhead's-" Mikey began.
"No." Hisako croaked. "Not Leatherhead's..."
"She's got a point." Donny agreed. "Those… Foot ninja will most likely be scouring the sewers for us. If we try to hide out down there, we risk leading them to Leatherhead."
"Then where do you suggest we go?" Raph snapped.
Donny thought for a moment, then an idea formed.
"I think I know exactly where we can go."
…
April shuffled down the hallway of her apartment, yawning widely as she did. She was finally done with work, and was ready to hit the hay. As she approached her door, she found something taped to the knocker, much to her surprise. She peeled it off and read it.
We promised we'd warn you next time we dropped in while you were out. Consider yourself warned. -TMNT
April chuckled, then stuffed the note in the pocket of her work uniform.
"Thanks for the note you guys." She said as she opened the door. "It's nice being able to open the door without getting a he- holy cow what happened to you guys?!"
Hisako was out cold on the couch, a few bandages on various cuts. Donny, Raph, and Mikey were all sitting on the ground in front of the couch, nursing various bruises and cuts themselves. Raph was even applying some duct tape to Mikey's shell. Master Splinter was on a small recliner and Leo was staring out a window.
"Sorry to just barge in like this." Donny told her. "But, we kinda need a place to crash for a while."
April was still staring at everyone as she spoke.
"Stay… as long as you need." she told them. "I'm sorry I don't have a guest room you can use."
"We will be fine." Splinter assured her. "Your hospitality is all we need, and we are most grateful for it."
April looked at everyone, then over at Leo. Never had she seen the blue turtle look so… broken.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
Splinter shook his head, looking at his children.
"We have suffered many wounds this night." He informed her. "The greatest to our pride, and to our trust."
April reluctantly walked away, taking one last look at her friends. With a sigh, she entered her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
