From the Shadows: Warriors || BOOK 2 (TMNT)

Chapter 11. Contact

     The next day within the walls of the Foot's lair was no different than the last. The recruits' day was nothing more than training with only small breaks to eat. When they broke for lunch, Athena stayed behind. She wanted to speak with Karai, for she had many questions.

     "Aren't you going to go eat?" Karai mumbles.

     "Yeah," Athena says. "I just wanted to talk."

     "About?"

     "You've had a lot of run-ins with the turtles. I want you to tell me about them."

     "Why would I do that?"

     "It'll make my new job easier."

     Karai frowns. She was not a fan of Shredder's plan and certainly didn't trust Athena enough. "What do you want to know?"

     "I guess I'm just curious as to why they are the ones to fight against the Foot."

     "Our clans have been rivals for centuries."

     "But why?"

     Karai rolls her eyes. "The Sensei of the Hamato Clan, Hamato Yuuta, destroyed the Foot Clan and slew their leader, Oroku Keiji–Master Shredder's father."

     Athena fell silent.

     "Master Shredder reclaimed what was rightfully his and rebuilt the Foot Clan as its rightful leader."

     "That sounds... awful."

     "When he did, Hamato Yoshi, those turtles' Sensei, killed my mother."

     "I don't-"

     "You would do anything for your mother, wouldn't you?"

     "Of course."

     "Then I suggest you do your job," Karai growls.

     "Well, I certainly hit a nerve," Athena mutters.

     The room quickly fell silent. It surely became awkward, especially for Athena. She took it as her cue to leave and did just that. Instead of going to get food, she headed straight for her room. Suddenly, she was not hungry. Karai's story irked her. It all felt so wrong. These two families' feuds felt too simple. It must have involved more than that and Athena was determined to find out what exactly was going on. She decided that, when she would contact the turtles, she would get to the bottom of what exactly was going on. Athena knew that they knew much more than her about the Foot's plans and she was insistent on figuring out exactly what it was.

     And Athena was correct. The turtles knew much, much more than she did. While Karai's story could explain how the Foot rose from extinction (although her story described false facts), it didn't explain Shredder's new and revived motives. The turtles were the only ones who could explain Shredder's actual plans to Athena. Unfortunately for Athena, they had no intention of informing her. To them, she was on a need-to-know basis. Master Shredder's true plans were the sort of thing Athena didn't need to know. They figured the less she knew, the better off she'd be. The only thing Athena truly needed to worry about was getting out of the Foot and the turtles were set on finding a way to do so.

     "Even if we could manage to get all of them out," Raph says, leaning against the wall behind Donnie's desk, "they still know where they live."

     "I imagine they have as much information saved about their recruits in some file." Donnie taps his chin. "I doubt they'll have that stuff memorized."

     "Can we afford to assume that?" Leo questions. "I'm sure they'll at least have Athena's information memorized. Shredder wouldn't have placed her in charge of the other recruits at the docks if he didn't."