The Scorpion, the Kunoichi and the Kabuto Chap. 2

The turtle brothers soared down the streets of New York in their Shellraiser, and Leo was already working through ways to scout the Shredder’s headquarters. “I'm thinking we might have better luck if we tunnel up from underneath Shredder's lair,” he told his brothers.

“Ooh, what if we tunnel down from above?” Mikey suggested excitedly. “That'll really confuse 'em.” Raph sat between them, looking rather annoyed and wishing he was anywhere than where he was currently.

“You can't tunnel down from- ugh!” Raph groaned at his brother’s idiocy, holding his fingers to his temples in frustration. “We're not tunneling from anywhere. We can't do this. Karai was raised by Shredder. She's one of the bad guys.” Donnie sat at his station, ignoring the bickering. He was focused on the tech that kept their massive vehicle running. He heard one of the alarms sound. Not a particularly loud one, just a perimeter alarm that notified them of impending impact. Donnie looked at the screen that showed footage of what was in front of the Shellraiser. There was nothing there. He looked below it, to the screen that showed infrared of the same footage above it. That screen showed the heat signature of a man running down the road. “Huh?” Donnie gasped, looking quickly between both screens trying to figure out what he was seeing. “Is that a guy? Leo, hit the brakes. Hit the brakes!” Leo slammed the petal to the floor and the Shellraiser screeched to a slowing speed. Donnie saw in the heat signature footage that the man turned to see the oncoming vehicle just before it hit him. They heard the thud of the impact, and the groan of someone being knocked down by a large traincar-turned-vehicle. The Shellraiser continued to skid, and Leo had to spin to the side to stop sooner. The Shellraiser was spread diagonally across the street, nearly spanning the entire width of the road. The turtle brothers filed out of their car to investigate.

“What did we hit?” Mikey asked, popping out of the vehicle first.

“A guy,” Donnie told him. “An invisible guy! He only showed up on infrared.”

“Is this a Kraang thing?” Leo asked in a hushed tone, not sure where an invisible guy might be standing.

“No idea,” Donnie confessed, just as something caught Raph’s eye. Raph ran over to it as his genius brother continued. “We'd better find him.”

Raph approached the object, and on closer inspection it looked to be a high tech backpack. He turned it around in his hands, considering opening it. But just as he reached for the zipper, a familiar robotic chattering dragged away his attention. He looked to where it came from and saw an army of Foot bots lining the roof edges surrounding the turtles. They had their various assortments of deadly weaponry drawn at the ready. Curved knives replaced robot hands, katanas were firmly gripped, and spiked maces were held aloft in two hands.

“Guys,” Raph spoke to his brothers, understanding why the Foot bots had been on them so quickly. “You aren't going to believe this.” He pulled the shiny object out of the bag he had found and revealed it to his brothers. It was the Shredder’s Kuro Kabuto. Their jaws dropped as gasps escaped their gaping mouths. This was certainly not what they had planned, or even expected, for the evenings events. Raph swooped over to his brothers so they could form their back to back defensive block; weapons at the ready. “Huh? Well, tonight just got interesting,” Raph said sarcastically, just waiting for the moment when he could say ‘I told you so’ and rub it in his brothers faces that he was right not to go out in the first place.

“What's the plan?” Don asked seriously, ignoring his hot headed brother and not taking his eyes off the surrounding Foot bots.

“Oh, you know, kick, punch, stab,” Leo told them nonchalantly, partially unsheathing one of his katana.

“Right in my wheelhouse, brah,” Mikey chimed, always the optimist.

...

Shredder stood in the center of his throne room, surrounded by his mutant soldiers and Foot bots. They stood uniformly, at attention, waiting for the order to be given. “You will find my helmet,” Shredder demanded, his growling tone demanding respect, but earning intimidation and fear. “Until it is returned to me, you will do nothing else. Nothing!”
“Uh, Master Shredder,” Fishface spoke up hesitantly. “Can't you just get another helm-“ He wasn’t able to finish. The Shredder’s fist made a striking impact to the fish mutant’s skull, and he was thrown back a good ways. The others in the room gave no reaction, and made no attempt to help him; they knew better. The clunking footsteps of the Shredder’s armor approached Fishface, and the Foot leader loomed over him.

“That helmet, the Kuro Kabuto, has been the symbol of The Foot Clan for over 1,500 years. The clan's founder himself, the dreaded Koga Takuza, was said to be the greatest ninja in the history of Japan. His skill with a blade was greater than any Samurai. Takuza laid waste to warriors and rulers alike. He stole the sacred totems of his defeated enemies and fused them into an alloy stronger than Steel. He himself forged the Kabuto, and it has survived undamaged to this day.” The Shredder looked to his soldiers. “I am sworn to protect it with my life. You will find it, and you will bring it to me.” The blades on his forearm swung out and he shoved them into Fishface’s face. The mutant tilted his head to the side as the blades got uncomfortably close to his scaly skin. “Understand?” Shredder demanded.

“Uh, Yes, Master,” Fishface stammered his reply.

The Shredder pulled back his blade to point at his followers. “Xever, you go with the fly. Tiger Claw, go with Bradford.” His soldiers bowed in obedience to their master. He turned away, walking to his throne. He stopped to give one final warning, “Do not fail me. I promise you, the consequences will be dire.”

...

The breeze hit Drawback’s face as he opened the window, and he greedily breathed it in. After days of breathing nothing but stale air, it felt good to have something fresh fill his lungs, even if it was New York City air. He hung halfway out the window for several minutes drinking in the night air. And then he leapt out, over the alley that separated the Shredder’s headquarters from the next building, and landed on the neighbouring roof. That surprised him. He glanced back at the Shredder’s building, surveying the distance he had just cleared. It was impressive, and definitely not something he could have been able to do as a human. He grinned, looking at his mutant hands in the moonlight. He was beginning to like this new form. He took off running, clearing the alley gaps with ease. His tattered clothes flapped on his left shoulder as he picked up more and more speed.

“Woooo!” he howled in excitement, just before skidding to a stop. Something caught his eye just down the road. He inched to the edge of the roof, his movements becoming more animal-like. He peered into the distance, focusing on the fast movements. It looked like a fight; Footbots against … the turtles!

‘That’s it!’ Drawback thought. ‘The turtles can help me free Karai.’ He quickly darted across the rooftops, closing the gap between himself and the battle, but just as he arrived on the scene, the turtles were back in their vehicle and racing down the street. ‘Well, let’s see just how fast the new me can go.’

...

Leo sat in the front seat of the Shellraiser, his grin spread clear across his face. “This is perfect. Perfect!” he nearly squealed in delight.

“Yeah!” Mikey pumped a fist in the air, before quickly bringing it down to his chin in confusion. “Wait, what?”

“Shredder's helmet,” Leo clarified, turning to face his brothers behind him. His glare stated that it should be obvious what was on his mind, but he continued to explain anyway. “We can trade it for Karai.”

“You're delusional, you know that?” Raph blurted, getting increasingly tired of hearing about rescuing the daughter of the Foot. Leo remained facing forward, watching the road with a furrowed brow. “How many times does Karai have to try to kill us before you get that she's not on our side?” Raph demanded.

“You're wrong about her, Raph,” Leo snapped, spinning his head around to face his brother. He was about to continue his argument when a loud thud was heard from the other side of their windshield. A large figure had landed on the hood of the Shellraiser. Leo slammed on the breaks, causing Raph to fall forward. Don and Mikey braced themselves in the back as their vehicle skidded to a halt. The four brothers quickly exited the Shellraiser, weapons drawn, and came face to face with a mutant they hadn’t seen before. He was wearing rags of torn clothing that hung from his right shoulder and tan cargo shorts that were split in half, but still hung tightly to two of his legs. The brothers eyed his large claws and scorpion tale warily.

“Another mutant?” Don questioned with surprise, even though he should have been used to it by now.

“Where do they keep coming from?” Leo asked, directing his question mainly towards Don. Donnie ignored his brother’s question as he visually examined the new arrival.

“He appears to be a mutant scorpion. A deathstalker scorpion to be specific,” Donnie told them. The new mutant remained perched on the hood of their vehicle, and snickered at Don’s comment.

“Well, I guess that answers the question that’s been rolling around in my head,” Drawback spoke. He crawled forward and stepped down onto the asphalt. “And I certainly like the idea of being a ‘deathstalker’.” The turtle brothers gave each other confused glances at the familiar sounding voice.

“Who are you?” Leo asked.

“It’s me, Drawback. And I need your help.”

“Drawback!?” the turtle brothers exclaimed, nearly in unison.

“Whoa, dude! What happened?” Mikey asked dramatically.

“The Shredder blamed me for Karai turning on him,” Drawback explained. “He mutated me once Tigerclaw brought us back to Shredder’s headquarters.” He paused, looking at the ground solemnly. “I think he took Karai to the dungeon.”

“He locked up his own daughter?” Leo breathed out the question disgustedly, but the surprise was not lacking in his voice and expression.

“Uh, she’s not his daughter, Leo,” Raph reminded him.

“But he still raised her. And then he just, what, forgot all that and threw her away like she was nothing?” Leo clenched his fists as the anger ran through his entire body.

“That’s what I need your help with,” Drawback told him, bringing their attention back to the newly mutated teen. “I want to break her out.”

“You and Leo ‘ought to start a club,” Raph joked under his breath, followed by an annoyed grunt. He crossed his arms, furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted. A medium sized blast seemed to come out of nowhere and strike in the center of group.