Remember. [TMNT 2012]

Chapter 38; Elizabetta

Song: How To Survive - Of Mice and Men

The huge viper's fangs are only three inches from my face. The only thing I can register is that I am going to die for no reason. It's all I can do to hold in a scream as the snake's teeth get closer.

   "Karai!" Leonardo suddenly gasps. He stares at the snake with an intense expression.

   I, on the other hand, get confused. Karai? No way. It can't be her. She looks... Well, different. She's even acting strangely.

   Leonardo doesn't think that, however. "Karai!" he repeats desperately. "It's me! Leo!"

   His name seems to jolt the creature out of a trance. It snaps its attention to him, backing up. "Leo..." Its reply comes out as a stalled hiss.

   "That's right," Leonardo says with a nod. "It's me."

   The viper turns on me again, glaring deviously. "You..." It hisses again, showing its teeth.

   I see its snake-face flash with a recognizable hatred. What have I done to the animal that was so wrong?

   Before I can react, the snake gets back up in my face, hissing viciously. I scream and bang my head off the wall. I wince at the pain it brings me, turning my head to avoid a bite from the vicious creature.

   "No, Karai, don't!" Leonardo inserts a katana between us. "It's Lizzy. She's a friend. Please don't hurt her."

   My heart rate increases when I think the large viper won't listen. But it reluctantly backs off, watching me closely. "Friend..." it mumbles, its feminine voice trailing off again.

   Leonardo slowly pulls his katana away. "Right. Good. Now, why are you here? Were you looking for me?" he asks curiously.

   He's so relaxed that it scares me. Since when are he and Karai, if that's who it is, on good terms? Isn't she the Shredder's daughter? I'm so mind-blown that my head is pounding.

   Karai fixes her piercing green gaze on the blue-clad turtle. "Shredder... Up to... Something..." she answers slowly. "Wanted... to... warn you..."

   "Wait, what?" Leonardo suddenly looks panicked. "Up to what? What is he doing?"

   Karai doesn't answer. Freezing rain started pouring down, frightening her. She hisses in surprise and quickly slithers away, out of sight.

   "Sewer apples!" Leonardo shouts in frustration. He attempts to block the rain from his face with one hand, grabbing my wrist with the other.

   I stumble after him, confusion clouding my mind. We race through the raindrops until we reach the safety of the sewer pipes. Down here, we lean up against a wall, trying to regain our breath.

   Once I recover, I start to voice my curiosity. "Was that really Karai?" I ask in disbelief. It still seems unlikely.

   "Yes," Leonardo answers. He sounds distracted. "The Shredder mutated her into what she is now," he explains.

   I raise my eyebrows in shock. "Her own father mutated her?!"

   Leonardo shakes his head, still looking off into the distance. "He's not her father. Her father is Master Splinter."

   I look at him with wide eyes. "Karai is Master Splinter's daughter?" I gasp softly.

   Leonardo nods.

   I lean against the wall more as I try to process what I just heard. Karai's father is Master Splinter, but she works for the Shredder. The Shredder is our nemesis.