Are You Sure I'm Not A Villain?

11

Kai watched the turtle's turmoil with glee. He raised his scythe to strike him down.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion.

Kai brought down his scythe upon the vulnerable turtle. The distorted voice of Donatello echoed off of the walls of the surrounding buildings as he tackled Kai to the ground. Kai's grip on the young leader's mind left as his head slammed against the ground with a sickening thud.

Everything caught up to Kai as he realized that the turtle in purple was straddling his waist, pressing his bo staff against his throat, slowly strangling him. Gasping for air and hanging onto the small amount of breath that he was able to get into his needy lungs, Kai wrapped his fingers around the bo staff.

He tried to get the weight off of his neck to no avail. His vision blurred from the head injury and the lack of oxygen. His scythe was nowhere in sight. He gazed up at the purple-clad turtle. Donatello looked down at him with unparalleled ferocity in the mutant's eyes. Donatello turned his head to his brothers, saying something, but all Kai could hear was ringing. Kai knew that the Foot were all defeated; he could see some of their metal gears strewn in his line of vision.

This was not his best plan, that was certain.

The other turtles pulled Donatello off of Kai, causing the staff to loosen against his throat. Kai turned on his side and began to cough, gasping for the precious oxygen that he so took for granted.

He looked up with water-filled eyes at the turtles who stood above him, weapons drawn and pointed at him. Kai was beaten by the four ninjas. And all Kai could think about was how his father would respond.

"If it's all the same to you," Kai said, raising his hands in surrender. "I need to go to school tomorrow. So, please, make this fast."

The turtle in red smirked at the comment. His other brothers, however, were not so easily amused. Kai put his tired arms down.

"You are going to answer our questions," Leonardo said in a threatening manner, very different from his previously smug comments. "And you are going to tell the Shredder that he will have to face us himself, not send some lackey to do his dirty work for him."

Kai felt as if someone had plunged a knife into his heart. Was that all they saw him as? A... lackey?

"I'm not going to tell you shit," Kai sneered.

Kai was thrown onto his back by Raphael's foot. He groaned in pain on the impact of the sharp gravel on his back.

"Raph!" Leonardo shouted. "Control yourself!"

"I am, Leo!" Raphael shouted at his brother. "I'm controlling myself by not beating this little guy to a pulp!"

Kai chuckled as he sat up. He felt the back of his head. It was sticky with blood. He shakily stood up, noticing that his scythe was only a few feet away from them and easily accessible in case of a quick get-away. These turtles were better fighters than Kai had anticipated. Kai knew that he would not be able to escape using force. He thought that since the turtle leader wanted to help so much that he could appeal to that side of him by playing victim.

"I can't tell you anything," Kai said. "He'll kill me."

"Who will kill you?" Donatello asked.

"The Shredder," Kai answered. "He'll find out if I told you anything and--"

"I thought Shred-head was your dad, dude," Michelangelo interrupted. "Why would he want to kill you if you are his son?"

"He's not the best father," Kai relented. He was already saying too much.