Blades of defiance

5. Unlikely ally

"Also, do you want that free drink or not?" Sydney teased.

"HEY!" Cassandra yelled. "I skated all the way over here for your offer!"

Sydney sniggered as Cassandra raged out.

That moment, Cassandra remembered it so well.

"Fiiine! I'll make you your favourite. Iced latte with two extra shots of coffee- shaken, not stirred."

Cassandra took a breather, Sydney sometimes lost her mature façade and used sarcasm. She wasn't always the well behaved one... Then Cass snapped back to reality, her drink was in a ready-to-go durable coffee cup.

"Thanks for the drink Syd!" Cassandra smiled, patting the sympathetic girl on the head before grabbing her latte and heading towards the exit. "Now, I'm off for hockey practise, I'll see you on your break!"

"Sure, see ya Cass!"

How Cassandra wished she'd stayed...

She was taking a break from her practise, scrolling through the nonsense posts. Until the news popped up.

'Listening to the racket they're reporting-'Nah! Bored anyways.' Cassandra had nothing else to do, even how rubbish the news is. For some reason she still tapped the link to the live report.

"-Now, Channel 6 news has a breaking story this morning at 9:00 AM."

The image came to a similar part of New York, apart from the subtly damaged buildings.

"-'Publicity stunt or Extra-terrestrial runt!' After a supposed attack occurring on Opera street at about 8:30 AM today, civilians question if it is a supernatural force or an bunch of teens in cosplay. But the witnesses state otherwise-"

Multiple mugshots of the bystanders appeared onscreen along with monologue- But Cassandra ignored the speech, she was focused on the witnesses.

"Opera street, that's where-" Cassandra connected the dots.

"Syd works on that street- But her face isn't among the bystanders..." She whispered, her heartbeat sped up a few paces. 'No, not her. Anyone but her- Execpt from Raph'.

"Coach! I have an emergency!" She yelled, running for the exit. The coach was so surprised by Cassandra's sudden announcement, he couldn't accept or dismiss what happened.

---------------------------

"Right, do ya get the plan now kid?" Raph had finally finished retelling Casey Jr the operation that he and the others were gonna take.

"Yeah. But Raphael, how are we meant to find them?" Casey inquired, Raph sighed at the question. "Donnie asked that exact question, I told him I dunno but were gonna find those Krang creeps and make them wish they'd never came to this planet."

Casey felt a sense of calm float over him, Raph managed to understand Casey's worries and goals even if they were off route.

"Okay."

Raph and Casey re-joined the others, they had prepared carefully for the ambushed attack. Raph had to just make sure everyone was on the same page.

"Alright team." Raph announced. "We have a plan ta take the Krang down, now it's only a matter of time until we find their base then kick them off Earth once 'nd for all."

"Raph, does this mean we get to do the team fist bump?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah Mikey, it does." Raphael answered. 

Everyone putted their hands in for the ultimate fist bump- Well, execpt for Splinter.

"Splints, are you okay?" April questioned, she was confused by Splinter's posture, he had his ear up like a dog listening for a cat and his tail was shaking violently. 

"I heard something..." He began, only to be disrupted by a 'CRASH!'

Everyone got into battle stances, only to be uttered to stand-down by Donnie.

"Donnie, why did ya tell us to stand-down?" Raph asked, hands still near his Sai's.

"Because, my alarms would have went off if an unfamiliar person was breaking in."

Mikey got anxious. "W-who is it then?"

"W-well... I-" Donnie tried to reply, but Michelangelo's question got answered by someone else as seconds later the 'person' came racing in and fell on top of Donatello; April took a couple of seconds to recognize the fellow. 

"Cass?"

Cassandra looked up at the red rimmed glasses April, she was in her Foot recruit outfit. "Yes?"

April, annoyed as ever looked downward. "Would you mind getting off Donnie." Cassandra's eyes pivoted towards the purple turtle who was extremely uncomfortable.

"I know now so I'll get off him." Cassandra got off Don, Mikey went to make sure he was okay.

"Donnie, are you okay?" Mikey asked, putting an hand out to help Donnie up that he accepted. "Yeah, just not good with touch... And also- WHY IS CASSANDRA HERE NOW?!"

Casey only now realised it was his mother. "Wait... YOU'RE MY MOM!"

Everyone was decently astonished by the sudden discovery, Cassandra especially. "Wait... Is this my kid, from the future?"

"Yeah-" Casey passed out, Splinter dragged the Future boy to the couch and plonked him down.

"Oh-okay... I now have a kid from the future." Cassandra had been yanked head first into the situation, now she had to figure things out for herself.

"Cassandra, why are ya even down here?" Raph queried, taking a step towards Cassandra.

"What did I come for?" She sarcastically quoted, pacing around. "Oh yeah. FRIGGING ALIENS ATTACKED INNOCENT PEOPLE!"

She paced, until April putted an hand on Cassandra's shoulder, trying to comfort her without being annoying. "We can still make sure no one else is hurt by them."

Cassandra groaned, knowing April was correct. "Okay... But we're teaming up to take these alien weirdos down!"

April was quite concerned about this, sure, Cassandra has slight experience and training from the Foot clan but she didn't have sturdy weapons. She could be injured or killed in a matter of minutes.

"Look, Cassandra." Raph pitched in. "I don't think this is a-"

"How come my future kid can go... BUT NOT MYSELF?!" She blurted back, Raph palmed his face. "C-Cass-Cassandra. This is the Krang, they could easily kill ya!"

"B-but..." Cassandra snarled in defeat, she then crossed her arms and leaned back against a wall. 

"Well, she's crushed." Donnie monotony muttered, heading out of the room to prepare the Turtle tank.

April and Splinter rushed over to check on Cassandra, Mikey sighed.

"Urm... Raph, that was harsh. Even for her."

Raphael gazed over at the teen. 'She wanted to help, I can't stop her... But what if I lose her as I did Leo?' 

"Cassie only wants to help Raph..." He reasoned with his oldest brother, knowing he was overthinking.

"I know Mikey, I'm just scared of losin' her..."

Mikey looked up at his brother, the fear in his eyes were crystal clear. "Cassandra is stronger than people think, the Foot clan underrated her." Mikey remembered when he was on a solo mission how Cassandra as Recruit attempted to prove herself to Lieutenant and Brute, she was mighty and independent.

"Tell her the plan Raph and let her help, even if it's only for an while." Mikey added on, finally finding the right words. "She'll just be happy to help."

Raph nodded in agreement, patting Mikey on the head. "Thanks for the advice littl' bro."

"You're welcome!..." Mikey then strutted away in the direction Don went. "Now, time to go check on Donnie."