Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 31: Changing Objectives

"Guys, I'm sorry."

Raphael stops punching the lair's resident punching dummy, shoulders heaving, teeth gritted. Whether it's out of anger or exhaustion is a toss-up. Michelangelo looks up at Leonardo and Destiny from where he sits on the living room bench, swinging his feet idly.

Destiny nods, bowing her head. "I'm sorry too."

"We should've told you what we were up to," Leonardo says. He pauses, looking between his brothers, taking in their silence. His shoulders droop. "I know I...probably don't even deserve to lead this team after what I did."

Raphael scoffs, shooting his brother a glare before crossing his arms and turning away again.

Leonardo purses his lips, catches Destiny's eye, and takes a deep breath. "Karai isn't going to stop," he says. "I know we all wanted more time. We wanted to plan and find allies and figure out what we're doing but Karai won't wait. We need your help now."

The silence lasts for a few agonizing seconds. Michelangelo stares adamantly at Raphael, while Raphael still doesn't look at his brother. The message is clear. Michelangelo is following Raphael's lead this time.

"Okay," Raphael says, finally uncrossing his arms. Leonardo and Destiny's shoulders slump and Raphael aims a finger at them, making them tense back up. "One more mission. You guys were right about one thing; I'm pretty tired of fighting for every second of peace I get."

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When the doors to Shredder's throne room, Karai is again perched on her throne while Shinigami sits on the stairs near her feet, playing with a black cat. Leonardo and Destiny enter first, Leonardo still dressed in his black vigilante gear, and Raphael and Michelangelo come in behind them.

"Leo, Des, I didn't think you'd make it," Karai says, head perched on her hand. Shinigami lets her cat hop out of her lap and Karai sits up, face softening. "How's Donatello?"

"He'll be fine. He's a tough turtle," Raphael says.

Shinigami's cat trots up to them, weaving between Michelangelo's legs, and he stoops to pick it up. It meows as he cradles it in his arms, looking up at the girls.

"Hey, Shinigami. What's this little guy's name?" he asks.

"Shiro," Shinigami answers. She giggles and waves her hand through the air. "I enjoy the irony."

Karai gets to her feet and things get quiet again. She moves down the stairs, stopping a few feet ahead of the turtles and Destiny before she snaps her fingers. Four mousers, all lingering around the throne, open their mouths and project a hologram into the air, revealing a video of some kind of factory.

Immediately, the turtles are more on edge. The robots are nearly identical to a Kraang Foot bot design from a few years back, one that resembled Chris Bradford's human form and was programmed to capture April. Destiny tilts her head, brow furrowing in confusion.

"We underestimated Tiger Claw's army," Karai says. "There's no telling how many Foot bots he has. We need to go after the source."

"A Foot bot factory?" Raphael repeats. "Are you crazy?"

Leonardo shoots him a glare, but Raphael just shakes his head and aims a challenging glare right back.

"It'll be worth it," Karai insists. "Without soldiers, Tiger Claw doesn't stand a chance at taking back the city. It'll be that much easier to get rid of him and all the others for good."

"You make it sound easy," Raphael scoffs. "These guys are like cockroaches. You think you've smashed 'em but they keep coming back!" At the thought, he shudders to himself.