Tiger Claw stood in one of the old cell blocks in the former lair of Shredder. While many of the small time petty thieves left yesterday shortly after the decapitation, Tiger Claw knew the building well enough to step away from the chaos. He quietly leaned against the wall while sharpening one of his blades. The entire scene still burned in his mind. Strange wasn't it? Even though he spent most of his life in the underground Japanese Yakuza and the underground crime world, something about that moment stood out to him in significance. First and foremost of course was that strange power or magic. He wasn't for sure what it was, but its appearance reminded him of something from an old story told back in Japan. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he sensed someone approaching. On high alert, Tiger claw swiftly turned around the corner and pointed his gun at the closest moving object. He found himself face to face with Fishface. "Hmm." Tiger claw muttered while flipping his gun back into its holster. Fishface held his hands over his eyes. "Watch where you are pointing that thing!" He said regaining his composure. Tiger Claw looked curiously to his sushi friend. "Why are you here? I thought you left the city. And why come back here of all places?" Fishface sighed. "I did. Rahzar and I have shared residence for a short time trying to figure things out. It seems though that finding acceptance has been harder then we thought." Tiger Claw scoffed, "So you have come hoping to find riches? Justice to the people who have turned their backs? A new Shredder to lead you?" Fishface scowled, "Don't confuse this as a measure of desperate aid. We were curious as well. I mean, why are you here exactly?"
Tiger Claw stayed silent, before speaking again. "So what do you think of his offer? Is it intriguing?" "Money is not a concern of mine anymore, Rahzar is more into that then I am." Fishface said sitting against the wall. "Personally, I sort of want to see what happens. I grew up in a very poor town in Brazil where people were ruled by clans. I'm not sure what exactly to think of this new guy yet, but the results he has created intrigues me. However..." He trails off. Tiger Claw looked down in anticipation. "What is it?" He asked. Fishface pulls up his head. "There is something about this guy. I'm not sure what it is, but his demeanor is..." He pauses. "Familiar."
Tiger Claw handed Fishface a cigarette, "Where I'm from, the offering of a smoke is a sign of understanding between two folk. I apologize if your aquatic anatomy makes this gesture void." Fishface shook his head and took the cigarette, Tiger claw lit it before lighting his own. "I too noticed this." Tiger Claw muttered between puffs. Fishface looked up at the tall Tiger in surprise. A realization hit him. "Either we have faced this foe before, or he is mimicking a former adversary." Tiger claw nodded. "I do not wish to brake promises that I have made. But putting my feelings aside, I shall do what I believe is the best for the same kind of people that I once wronged. It's the least I could do for my sister." Tiger Claw said nearly fished with with cigarette. Fishface sighed. "Regardless, I can't help but anticipate the next events to unfold. I don't what side I'm on anymore, but as long as I keep people from dictating those weaker then them..." Fishface took the bud from his mouth and pressed it against the brick behind him, leaving a burn mark. "Then I suppose I can stick around for the time being."
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Back at the turtle lair, Leo and Karai were training together as they discussed new developments. "Did Donnie finish analyzing that sample?" Karai asked as she braced for Leo's kick. "Not sure yet. It took forever just to cut a small piece of that vine. Donnie says its physical structure is like nothing he's ever seen from a basic table of elements. Or something along that line." Leo tried advancing to throw Karai off balance, but her legs quickly morphed into a snake tail so he couldn't trip her. "Hey that's not fair! You can't use powers in sparring." Leo said half laughing. In all reality he wasn't taking the spar the most seriously. Karai snickered. "Oh please, I'm a mutant now. That never stopped you from hitting me back when I was still human." She pulled out her sword and tried striking him under his arm, but Leo blocked too quickly. "So." Karai continued, "Do you think its some sort of alien or magic?" Leo drew his own sword and they both held there blades in front of each other. "Maybe, that might explain why it seems to bother April so much. If that's the case though I don't know how much data Donnie will be able to retrieve." Karai advanced towards Leo but held her sword behind her back. "Oh Leo that's a lot of stress to deal with... how about I let you win this time?" She said tiptoeing his fingers on Leo's shoulder to his face. Leo became flustered. "Well... uh." He said leaning in closer to her. But Karai laughed and turned the sword in her hand and hit Leo in the gut with the handle. She giggled. "You let your guard down Leo. A ninja never lets his guard down to a girl." She said reaching out her hand to help him up. Leo grabbed her hand but then pulled her down to her knees where she found her face inches from his. "Well you cheated." Leo said with a grin. Her face turned red, but then they heard the Dojo door open. "What are guys doing?" Raph asked in a sarcastic tone. Leo shot up to his feet and helped Karai up off the floor. "J-just training Raph, going over mission stuff you know?" Leo's face was completely red, and Karai couldn't help but laugh. Raph snickered and gave a sly look to Leo. "Oh I completely know what you mean." He said forming his hands to act like they were kissing. "Raph!" Leo said pushing by him to leave the Dojo. "Easy their Bro I'm just messing with you." Raph said heading into the TV area behind Leo.
Donnie sat on the couch with a vial and a petri dish on the table in front of him. "I can not seem to get this to react with anything. I'm really worried this might be some non-earth freaky substance. And the world knows we don't need more of that kind of stuff." Donnie groaned before setting down the vial of dark purple substance. April sitting beside him picked up the vial and looked at it closely. "It's definitely got a weird Aura to it. It almost makes me sick." April said, setting it back down. Casey came in carrying a few boxes of pizza with Mikey. "We brought dinner!" Casey said looking pleased with himself. Along with Karai, Slash and Leather head were hanging out in the base currently. Therefore, they had to get more dinner. "I've got the pepperoni!" Mikey said putting the boxes down on the table next to Donnie's equipment. He saw the vial Donnie was testing, and hesitated for a moment. "What's that?" Mikey asked. Donnie lifted the glass vial and displayed it in front of him. "This is a sample of that weird organic matter that weird guy has been using. I'm trying to analyze its properties-" "Yeah that's cool dude." Mikey abruptly interrupted. If he stared at that thing any longer he swore that something bad was going to happen. He could control the crystals sure, but in its raw form it screwed with his head. Donnie just figured that Mikey didn't care about the science, which was half true in his defense. "Hey Leather head!" Mikey said to his favorite crocodile. They fist bumped before going to the couch. Leather head looked curiously at Mikey before proceeding.
Soon everyone was eating in front of the television. They enjoyed the moment while they could, because Karai and the others weren't just there to hang out. "It was too obvious to go in myself." Karai stated. "But I didn't need to, the word is all over the streets. Tell them what you heard Slash." She said motioning to the largest turtle in the room. Slash wiped his face of pizza. "Raph it was crazy. Bunch of them no good thieves just up and left. The rest brave enough to stay are scared out of their minds. From what I heard even that Vizioso fat guy had to submit. I've heard a lot about rebellions against Nightshade, but apparently somethin really bad happened to someone who didn't listen." "Like what?" April asked. Spike mimicked a slicing motion across his neck, getting the point across to everyone. Everyone sat silent for a moment, looking from one to another. Mikey pondered what Slash said before. "I heard a lot about rebellions against Nightshade." "Noted." Mikey thought to himself.
After dinner, Leo stood up and grabbed a map. "Alright everyone. Here's the plan." Leo said loud enough where everyone could hear. "We know from rumors that the meeting was held in the former foot clan base. Since Karai still has the keys to the place, it'll be easier to sneak in. We get in, see what we can find, and get out. Got it?" Everyone made some sort of gesture of agreement. Mikey tried to follow along but was preoccupied in the back of his mind. He moved his suit into one of the backrooms at Shredders old lair. It was safer then in the ceiling of his room, but it would be risky to go poking around when Karai had all the keys. He wasn't sure if she had ALL of them, but regardless there was still a chance. He had to go with this time. "Well what are we waiting for then?" Mikey asked with enthusiasm. Leo was happy that Mikey wasn't trying to back out of this one. He felt like Mikey was much more like his normal self again. "We'll head out now. Come on team!"
The somehow managed to fit everyone except for Slash into the Turtle Van. Spike leaped on the rooftops as they traveled to the Old Lair. When they arrived, they were surprised to this that it was already guarded. Worst of all, someone got a look at Rocksteady. "Great." Raph said frustrated. If that Rhino is here then that means that pig is too." "You mean Bebop?" Raph rolled his eyes. "Who came up with all these names?" Mikey smirked and didn't say a word.
They grapple hooked their way onto the roof. There was a window that could be opened from the top as a way for maintenance to be done. Karai used her keys and unlocked the window, letting them all inside. Except for Slash, who was too big to fit. Poor Slash. "Don't worry buddy." Raph said whipering from the window, "You keep an eye on our perimeter. Send me a distress call on my T Phone if someone spots us." Slash nodded.
Mikey tried his best to divert them away from the room under the stage platform where Shredders chair used to be. Thankfully, he started to wonder if Karai even knew if that room existed, as she never even seemed to bat an eye as they passed the throne room. Making their way into the dungeon, they saw a few people in cells. One cell said 'trouble makers', another said 'never will change', and the third said 'Broke Rule 3'. It was very strange, but Leo didn't like any of it and asked Karai if she had cell keys. Mikey about exploded while whispering. "Leo what are you doing!? We can't just let random people out! They're all thieves!" Raph sighed, "I hate to say this but I kind of agree with Mikey." Mikey perked up, confused. "Really?" Leo shushed all of them. "I don't care what they are! They should be taken to the police! We have no idea what will happen to them here if we don't get them out. Remember what Slash said about..." He motioned his finger across his throat while mimicking the sound of of blade cutting. The team looked at each other, and then back at Leo, but Karai made up her mind. She handed Leo the keys. "Good, now let's hurry up before-" "Who's there?" Said a familiar deep graveling voice. "Is that?" Donnie asked in horror. "Everyone hide!" Leo commanded.
Tiger Claw walked into the room, sniffing the air. The turtles tried staying as still as they could. Too bad Mikey had a small rock in had hand. Whoops! A small stone fell giving away a few of them hiding in the crevices in the ceiling. Tiger Claw pointed his hook gun and fired it at Raph, pulling him down from the ceiling. "Aghh!" Raph said hitting the ground hard. "Raph!" Leo yelled as they all come out of hiding to surround Tiger Claw. They lost the element of surprise, but they couldn't risk Raph. "What are you turtles doing here?" Tiger Claw asked less aggressive then they expected. "We should be asking you the same thing!" Leo replied. Karai followed, "What happened to our agreement Tiger Claw? I thought you were going to turn around!" Tiger Claw sighed and put his gun back in his holster. "I assure you, there is nothing personal about this. I simply wish to make a world that I and my sister may live in freely." Leo wasn't satisfied with that answer. "You really think Nightshade is doing something for the greater good? He killed people! Look at those guys locked up!" Leo said pointing to the cells. Tiger Claw continued to stay calm. "You are to young and naive to speak of killing someone, that is a demon of my own I must suffer though. Also, we do not mistreat the prisoners. Strangely enough, Nightshade made it a priority that they get feed enough and had enough pillows to sleep." The turtles looked at each other in confusion. Tiger Claw continued. "I understand your concerns, but I'm afraid I have my own reasons for doing this. I will not hurt you if I do not have to, but.." He drew both of his small guns. "I can't let you interfere with this either. Not yet at least." The two starred each other down. Mikey felt awkward. At least he knew for sure now that Tiger Claw hadn't caught on at all. Leo was the first to make a move, kicking towards Karai who was holding the keys and shooting them into the lock. (I don't speak Physics -_-) Donnie then rushed to turn the key but Tiger Claw was quick to retaliate and they soon got into an intense battle. Rahzar, bebop, and Rocksteady soon made their way to the cell black. The got one of the cells open, but there were still two left. However, battling in this tight space was being more and more hazardous. "Leo!" Mikey yelled. "We can't stay here! We're gonna be outnumbered soon!" Leo fought for a short time longer, before yelling in frustration. "Everyone fall back!" They all quickly made an escape and April used her power to push the enemies back to give them time. Interestingly enough though, once back on the roof it didn't seem like they were being pursued. They went back to the turtle van and headed back to base.
Meanwhile back at the cell, Rahzar was upset. "They were getting away! Why didn't we try and stop them!" Fishface intervened. "Nightshade said that no one is allowed to kill or capture anyone without his approval." Rahzar grunted in frustration. "That's really dumb!" He then left the room. Tiger Claw stood silent, looking at the current prisoners. Fishface saw his expression, "Does it bother you?" He asked his Tiger friend. Tiger Claw delayed responding right away. "Not yet."
Karai and the Mutanamals got their stuff together to leave. "Rockwell is expecting us. He wants to know the results of our findings." She said as she walked up to Leo. They hugged for a moment before departing. Raph said goodbye to Slash, and Mikey said goodbye to Leather Head. "See ya dude!" Mikey said giving Leather Head a cool handshake. However Leather Head didn't seem to focused on the handshake. "Michelangelo." He asked. "Is everything okay with you?" Mikey was a little surprised. "O-Of course dude! Why would you ask that?" Leather Head took a moment. "Your eyes. They look... sad." Silence floated between them. Mikey wasn't sure what to say. "C'mon you big Crocodile!" Slash called out. "He's actually an Alligator." Donnie corrected. He was ignored. Mikey playfully nudged Leather Heads shoulder. "Don't worry big guy, I'm fine." Leather Head reluctantly nodded in agreement, before leaving with the Mutanamals. After they left Leo called everyone to the couches before bed. "I know we didn't do everything we wanted, but we did good today team. It seems like this has become more complicated then we thought. But together, we can beat this." All the turtles plus April and Casey fist-bumped. Mikey tried to smile, but it was getting harder to hide his anxiety. For over in the corner behind the TV, Splinter just stood there...
Taunting him.