Out Of The Shadows

16|| The Journalist

"The truth isn't the only thing that hurts."

~~~Sawrina~~~

I sat up and rubbed my eyes before climbing out of bed. My braid was a mess so I took the time to brush it out and redo it hoping no one would walk in or wake up in the process. I never really liked my hair down. I didn't look right with it that way in my opinion. I mean sure it was long, wavy, and had the perfect shade of brown but it got in the way during battle and made it difficult to do day-to-day things.
I made my way to the dojo passing my Donnie who was once again, in his lab and Mikey who was making breakfast. "Morning Dudette." He greeted me happily as I smiled a little before walking in the dojo. Splinter stood in front of a wooden shelf holding a picture frame as I approached him. I got a quick glance at the frame noticing it was three humans; a man, a woman, and a little girl. They must've been his family. "Good morning Sensei." I greeted as he glanced at me and smiled before placing the frame on the shelf. "Is that your family?" I asked. "Yes. My wife and daughter before Shredder." He paused. "What was her name?" I asked as he took a deep breath. "Miwa." He answered. Miwa was a gorgeous Japanese name. It meant harmony and beauty which appeared to match the child perfectly. "She's beautiful." I commented as he smiled softly. "Yes. Miwa would've been about your age by now. I would like to think she would've turned out just like you." Splinter stated. Those words had a deep meaning to me however I wouldn't want his daughter to make the same mistakes I did. I smiled softly in return before he sat on a cushion and motioned for me to sit in front of him. "What about your wife?" I questioned as he sighed again. "Her name was Tang Shen." He replied. I wanted to know what happened to her. The full story. Of course Shredder gave me details but I want the truth. Not details. "Today, your training will be meditation. I will teach you how to calm your mind and spirit. It may be difficult if your mind is constantly running however I will teach you to do it just right." He said as I nodded.

~~~Raphael~~~

I was done with my morning work outs so I decided to go find out what everyone was doing. "Guys, you need to see this!" Donnie shouted as Sawrina and Sensei walked out the dojo and we all gathered in front of Donnie's laptop screen revealing what looked like a news reporter and an image of a man in the top left corner. He clicked the screen and a video played.

Local journalist Jack J. Kurtzman claims he knows the strange yet continuous mutant sightings. His exact words were "I don't know why, but I believe we are soon to be under an alien invasion." Such rumors have been going around saying that Mr. Kurtzman disappeared a few days later after stating his claim. A police officer was sent to check his apartment however there was no sightings of Mr. Kurtzman. The only thing recovered at the scene were several printed images of mutants and the aliens he calls The Kraang.

"Looks like we're not the only ones hunting the Kraang." Leo stated as Donnie paused the video. "We need to find this Kurtzman guy." I said boldly as Leo shook his head. "We don't even know if we can trust him or where he is." Leo argued back. Of course he disagrees with me. No surprise there. "I'm with Raph. Whatever this guy knows...whatever evidence he has, it's worth finding out." Sawrina stated as I smirked a little knowing at least one person was on my side. "I'm with them two." Mikey agreed as Donnie nodded. "Then it's settled. We leave now." I ordered as Leo looked a little disturbed.

_____

Donnie managed to hack into the systems and figured out where the guy lived so we were just wondering through his apartment going through all of his stuff. The freaky thing was that he had a ton of pictures involving the Kraang and even some of Sawrina and us. Seconds later, I heard Sawrina shout "gotcha!" before I turned to see her pinning a guy to the wall with one of her blades to his throat. "Please! Please don't hurt me! I'm on your side!" He pleaded. "That's enough Sawrina. Let him speak." Leo barged in as she removed her blade but kept him pinned against the wall. He was wearing a brown suit with a brown hat. "I'm Jack Kurtzman. I was a journalist. I was studying the recent appearance of mutants but that's when I found something even deeper. The Kraang." He explained as we kept our attention on him. "They've been around for centuries using their mutagen on animals, plants, even people. Here." He said handing us a hard covered notebook filled with photos and writings about the Kraang. We flipped through the book before coming across a picture of a little girl.
She was about eight in the image with her hair pulled into a side braid and several bruises across her face. She was wearing some dirty and torn up clothes however the picture was in black and white so I couldn't get a good observance. "Who is that?" I asked as he pointed to the image. "That...is you." He said motioning to Sawrina. She looked a little unsteady and even backed away. "Are you alright?" Mikey asked as she took a deep breath but maintained her distance. "This picture was taken by Timothy Kraang. I managed to get my hands on it. They want you because your immunity to the physical effects of mutagen are very valuable to them. They want you to help them invade. With your blood, they can power the portal with enough energy that they can bring their whole empire through it." Kurtzman informed as she looked at the open window we climbed through to get here before climbing out and disappearing. I rushed to the window sill only to see her crawl into a manhole cover that was in the alley just below us. "Let her go. She needs space." Leo stated as I sighed. Whatever this was...it wasn't good for us...or for her.