Forbidden

Chapter 1 - The Night We Met

I'll never forget the night that I met Karai. Even now when I think about it, I get shivers down my spine.

It's just like any other night in New York. My brothers and I are on patrol, keeping an eye out for any suspicious behaviour. Our biggest threat at the moment is the Foot Clan, and rumours have been circling that Shredder has an apprentice. The way I see it, he's just another pawn in Shredder's twisted games and it won't be long before he becomes redundant - in the worst way possible.

Donatello, also known as the nerd of the family, is on surveillance duty. It's his job to watch out for any Foot activity. He stands silently on the edge of the building, peering through a set of binoculars.

Raphael, my badass of a brother, lies on the ground facing the deep blue sky twirling his sais between his fingers, clearly bored.

Michaelangelo, however, is hanging from an old metal ladder, messing around. He's the goofball, if you couldn't already tell.

As for me, I'm Leonardo. I'm the leader of my team. I keep everyone in line, and make sure everything runs smoothly.

"Hey guys," Mikey says. "What am I?" He starts scratching himself and making monkey noises.

Donnie turns around with a sheepish look on his face. "Mikey, could you please be mature for once? We're on surveillance!"

He just pouts and folds his arms across his plastron. "No one knows how to have fun anymore."

Donnie rolls his eyes and goes back to surveying the area. After a few seconds, he gasps. "Foot Clan spotted!" He hisses.

Raph, Mikey and I rush to his side. Below us stood a small army of people dressed in black, with red bandanas around their heads and weird Spider-Man like mesh material over their eyes.

Raph pulls out his sais. "Alright," he says. "Finally a challenge!" He goes to dive off the building, but I stop him.

"Easy, tiger." I say. "We need a plan."

He narrows his eyes at me. "I have a plan - smash their heads in."

I roll my eyes, and lean over to take another look. "We jump down and catch them by surprise. Stay silent."

Donnie and Mikey nod, while Raph just grunts. I count down from three with my fingers, before we jump down silently, landing with a quiet thud.

The foot soldiers turn around in surprise, and I hold both my Katana's. "Halt, ravenous villains."

Behind me, I can hear Mikey sniggering and Donnie groan. "Seriously, just don't." He says.

I roll my eyes and prepare to attack. All four of us charge at the army, weapons blazing. We clear them pretty quickly, tossing the knocked out bodies into a heap for when the cops arrive.

When we've cleared the whole army, Raph plants both hands on his hips. "Well, that was easy."

"Too easy." I reply.

Raph faces me. "Stop being so paranoid, Leo." He says. "We won."

Before I can reply, something lands behind me. I spin around on instinct, to see a womanly figure. Nice curves, black hair with bangs on either side of their face, dressed in pretty much all black, wearing a mask that covers half their face and gold eyes. They hold a katana blade, almost identical to mine.

They stand before us for a few seconds, studying us, looking us up and down, before removing their mask. I'm stunned when I see who it is.

"Shredders apprentice... Is a girl?" I babble.

She chuckles. "For someone so high and mighty, you don't act very tough." Before I can reply she swings her katana at my head. "It's almost a shame that I have to finish you off."

I dodge all her attacks with my own Katana, while Raph, Donnie and Mikey try to attack her while she's on me. Surprisingly, she manages to dodge all of them, while also blocking my own attacks.

Eventually she pulls up, and stares me in the eye. "Your master taught you well." She says. Right now, I'm as confused as anything. First she tries to attack me, then she stops and compliments me? "My name is Karai."

"What's your angle?" Raph interrupts, pushing past me.

"No angle." She replies, confused. "You four are the only things in this city that haven't bored me. I'm just looking for some fun."

"Then what were you doing with the foot clan?" He snaps back.

"Looking for trouble." She replies, a glint in her eye. She takes a step towards me and lifts my chin with her finger, making our eyes meet. "Huh," she mumbles. "Interesting."

"What?" I say.

She just smirks at me, before throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing. After the mist has cleared, she's nowhere to be seen.

Raph coughs. "Who was she?"

I scan the buildings for a sight of her, but she's gone. I just shrug and face the others. "The cops will be here any minute. Get back to the sewers." I say. They nod, and before I join them take one last look to see if I can spot Karai.

Almost as if it's a mirage, I spy her standing on top of a nearby building, watching me. I stare at her for a few more seconds, before she disappears again.

As I wander back towards the sewers, I can't get her image out of my head. I don't know how, but I have a feeling that I will be seeing her again soon.

Very, very soon.