Emotionless Mutation (Book Three)

Chapter 25: Lessons in Sacrifice

The teens traverse the hallways at a steady pace, only occasionally stopping when they need to duck into hiding as a few droids pass them. Sarina is slower to notice when the Kraang are near, thanks to her helmet, and that only serves to put her on edge. After a while, their cautiousness starts to fade in wary confusion.

"This is too easy," Casey whispers.

"Don't get cocky," Leonardo warns. "Stay alert."

Raphael slows down as they pass a room, peering into the window with a frown. "This place is deserted," he says. He turns to face his team, his brow still furrowed. "Something's up."

The boys cast a quick glance to Sarina, but she's already looking at them. "Indeed," she agrees, grave. She starts walking again, urging them to follow her. "The Kraang have struggled with their plans for Earth recently, thanks to you. They've been packing up what they can and bringing it back to Dimension X for further study. They only come back to Earth for updates and gathering supplies." Her eyes flash and her jaw clenches. "I, too, was scheduled to be taken to Dimension X with any other outstanding experiments. That, of course, is when I escaped."

"So the Kraang are really gone? That's what you're saying?" Michelangelo asks, eyes brightening with excitement.

"In a sense," she answers. "I was far too consumed with the idea of escape to worry about the possibility of the Kraang actually following me. I assumed that they would forget about it, give up the chase. I don't know why I'm valuable enough to warrant being hunted down by them. One of the unsolved mysteries of my life, I suppose." Her eyes flash and she suddenly looks a lot softer, a lot more pitiable. "Oh...I was foolish. The one time in my life when I did not think, when I just needed to escape, and I brought about all of this...how stupid." She stops walking and does an abrupt about face, making the ninjas also halt. "I am truly sorry for everything. I promise to make it up to you somehow."

Her voice dies abruptly as they lapse into silence. She feels slightly warm in the cheeks upon realization of how much she just said. Yet, even with that information dangling in the air, she hopes that it will somehow help her regain their trust. Never has she wanted anyone to trust her so badly as she does now. Feeling that absence is like nothing she's felt before.

Leonardo startles in place and lifts his hand, tilting his head slightly as he listens. There's faint, clanking footsteps in the distance. A few seconds later, Sarina feels the faintest buzz against the base of her skull and she reaches to brush the helmet encasing her head.

"There's more than before," she utters, eyes flashing. "They must have come back for another shipment."

"Got a plan, Leo?" Raphael asks, immediately looking to his leader.

Leonardo's expression is set. "We should split up. One half goes and finds the medicine while the other distracts the Kraang."

"I'll take Mikey and Casey," Raphael offers, spinning one sai. "We'll take out the robot happy meals."

"Aw yeah! Best team ever!" Casey grins, fist-bumping Michelangelo and making an explosion noise. Raphael looks as if he suddenly regrets his choice of teammates.

"Then I've got Sarina and Donnie," Leonardo says with an assertive nod. "Sounds good. Ninjas, split."

They obey the order, the groups breaking off in separate directions. Leonardo, Donatello, and Sarina move as fast as they can, spurred by the sound of Kraang bots being destroyed behind them. Sarina leads the charge, keeping just slightly ahead of Leonardo so that she can peer into the rooms as they pass.

"Any one of these should have the medical stash inside. My mind map is a little fuzzy," she says, stopping to stare through yet another window. "With luck, they won't have cleared that out quite yet."