A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1. Axel [mentioned] belongs to MariChat3.

Enjoy!

"Okay, so, I guess you can technically say that this is our second time at rescuing Karai. Doesn't it go as planned? Well, I mean, we do technically saved her, but... the outcome is one nobody was expecting."

IT'S BEEN A few days since the whole mind-switching fiasco and within the lair, Leonardo, Henry, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Eclipse, and Briana were going over the plan to rescue Karai from Shredder's lair without getting caught. Both Leonardo and Henry had been devising a plan that would allow them to rescue Karai and make it out of there safety--as long as everything went according to the plan then, the mission should go smoothly.

"This is the only way it can work, Raph." Leonardo told him.

"Yeah, look, I'm on board for the whole 'Rescue Karai' thing," Raphael said. "But if we're going through the trouble in invading Shredder's lair, we gotta take him down once and for all."

Henry shook his head. "It's too risky. None of us are ready to bring the fight to Shredder--or Jake yet. It'll be a suicide to bring the fight to them, especially with TigerClaw and Bradford double-mutated."

Michelangelo, eating a bowl of ramen, noticed something. "Hold up, dudes. Why do I have to be the bait while Donnie sits in the ShellRaiser?"

"Someone's gotta be the getaway driver." Donatello replied, earning a look from his brother.

"Besides, you wanted a chance to use your shadow puppet skills more often." Eclipse added as well.

Briana blinked. "How come I don't help Mikey instead of going with you guys to rescue Karai?" She asked, gesturing to Henry, Leonardo, Raphael, and Eclipse.

The moment that the question had left her lips, she didn't notice the small glances that the five mutant turtles and Henry exchanged with each other. They had all debated between them if they should had her come along with them on this mission, considering what Splinter had told them about her but in the end, they decided to put Briana with Leonardo, Henry, Raphael, and Eclipse so that way, and as a just in case, it was more eyes on her than just one. Though, none of them enjoyed keeping her in the dark still with what they knew but Splinter still hadn't budged from his decision on keeping it from her.

"My mad shadow puppet skills are a little more advanced than yours, Little Prankster," Michelangelo said, coming up with a excuse as he ruffled her hair.

Briana only shrugged as she fixed her hair, knowing that was true since although she could make a few shadow puppets from the ones that Michelangelo had taught her back when they were kids, he had a bunch more that he could make.

"Look, everyone is important here," Leonardo said firmly.

"Disagreement about a mission is never a good way to begin," Splinter spoke up as he walked past. "Leonardo, Henry, may I speak with you two?" Both Leonardo and Henry joined him away from the others. "I know you two are anxious to free Karai, but a plan that leads to confrontation with the Shredder is doomed to failure."

"Even if we have to face Shredder, isn't it worth it to rescue your own daughter?" Leonardo asked.

Splinter paused for a second. "I am not willing to risk your lives, or my daughter's."

The two teenaged boys sighed. "Hai, sensei."

Once Splinter had walked away, the two turned and walked back to the others. "So, is that a no-go on Operation: Rescue Karai?" Michelangelo asked.

Henry and Leonardo shared a quick glance before looking back at them. "No, sensei's wrong. We can't wait."

Raphael smiled and reached out his hand. "Let's do this!"

The rest of them placed their hands in as well.

👑👑👑

AS FAR AS everything went, the mission was going well at the moment. As planned, Donatello had cut the power while Michelangelo distracted Razar and FishFace with shadows, making it so Captain Violet, Boy Danger, Leonardo, Raphael, and Eclipse were able to sneak into the dungeon without any problems-- well, no problems so far. They entered the main chamber of the dungeon and began looking.

"Karai, it's us." Leonardo called in a whisper.

Behind a reinforced door, Karai called out. "Leo?"

Leonardo peered through a small viewing window to see a familiar pair of amber eyes. He smiled, relieved that his sister was unharmed.

"Took you long enough." Karai said.

"Well, we got tired of waiting for you to escape on your own." Leonardo teased with a smile.

"Is this a rescue or a romantic comedy?" Raphael asked as Leonardo turned red in embarrassment. "Come on."

"Bro, no, those jokes ended when we found out that Karai is your sister." Boy Danger said.

"Yeah, I don't want to be reminded of Leo's old crush on her." Eclipse added in agreement.

Leonardo drew a lockpick. "Just keep an eye out for the Foot and Shredder and Jake."

As Leonardo was jiggling and tweaking with the lockpick, Captain Violet felt her eyes being drawn to a wall on her left side, just a few inches away from where Karai's cell was. She didn't know why but something just felt... off about the wall. It felt like--

"You feel it, don't you? The magic?" Unagami questioned in her head. When she didn't get a response, the demon continued. "Jake might've been the one that did the spell to hide whatever it is, but it's your magic, not his. That's why you feel drawn to it--and if you want, you can take it down too."

"Got it." Leonardo's voice brought her back to reality as she looked over to see him pulling the door open. "Let's go."

As the three mutant turtles and Boy Danger went for the exit, Karai noticed Captain Violet taking one last look at the wall before looking away. For a split second, she hesitated before Karai found herself going over to her. 

"He's in there." Karai told her. "Jake and Shredder have him locked in there."

Captain Violet blinked. "Who?"

"Detective Carson."

"Guys, we gotta go." Eclipse said, noticing that the two were behind.

Taking one last look, Captain Violet knew that she had to let Zane know about this when she had time as she and Karai bolted for the exit, following the others. "How did you get past by TigerClaw?" Karai asked.

"They didn't."

In front of them, TigerClaw appeared, blocking their path. He gave them a 'come at me' me motion and they charged as a group.

Boy Danger charged him from behind, but he grabbed his twin swords and threw him back across the room. He turned, punching Captain Violet into the wall. Raphael tried to hit him with his sais, but TigerClaw blocked his blows and kicked him away. Eclipse swung her kamas at him but TigerClaw blocked her attacks, but she was able to give him a hard kick in the chest and knock him back. Then, Leonardo charged, and the mutant tiger ducked the katanas, grabbing his wrist and knocked the mutant turtle to the ground. Karai lunged him from behind, but the tiger spun and knocked her back.

Knowing that he wasn't going to let them escape, Boy Danger pulled out his T-phone. "Donnie, we could use the cavalry."

"On it," Donatello responded. "You're gonna want to start your music so the whistle won't affect you."

"Got it." Boy Danger responded as he placed his earbuds in, starting his playlist.

Although he had the music blaring in his ears, he could still faintly hear the high-pitched whine of the whistle through his T-phone and let himself focus on his playlist rather than the whistle. TigerClaw had it worse as he covered his ears, shouting and screaming in pain. Raphael wasted no time in knocking him to the ground. Then, they leapt over the tiger and made their escape, exiting the dungeon through the sewers. Once they were out, Boy Danger looked over and saw Michelangelo trying to regroup with them but the only thing was that he was holding his left arm and limping.

Boy Danger turned his music off and yanked his earbuds out, running over to him. "Mikey!"

"I'm good," Michelangelo reassured him. "It's not my water-balloon-throwing arm." His reassurance gave out and the orange masked mutant turtle fell forward. "Ow!"

Boy Danger caught him before he could hit the ground. Suddenly, Foot Bots surrounded them and Karai, Leonardo, Raphael, Eclipse, and Captain Violet drew their weapons.

TigerClaw entered through the doors behind them, drawing his pistols. "Surrender, brats. You're outnumbered."

The robots advanced, narrowing their circle while TigerClaw chuckled before covering his ears and screaming. Boy Danger hissed loudly as his ears throbbed from the dog whistle and then, the ShellRaiser showed up, running over some of the bots.

"Better count again!" Donatello shouted through the speakers.

The ShellRaiser parked in front of them and the doors slid open. Boy Danger and Michelangelo were the first ones in. "Sweet timing, D." The orange masked mutant turtle said.

Eclipse and Raphael went in next. Leonardo spotted Karai looking up as she stared at Shredder and Jake, who stood on top of the building, with a heated glare.

Leonardo grabbed her arm. "Karai, we gotta go."

Karai and Leonardo then entered the ShellRaiser. The doors closed, and Leonardo took the wheel and drove off down the street. Some of the robots had attached themselves to the roof but Leonardo swerved recklessly in order to knock them off, but that didn't stop TigerClaw, FishFace, and some more robots following them on motorcycles.

"Okay, who forgot to load the manhole covers?" Eclipse questioned. She looked back to see Michelangelo point quickly at Donatello, who gave him a look and got a glare from Eclipse.

Raphael deployed the garbage cannon and fired at the pursing Foot Clan. He hit the bots, but the two mutants avoided the cannon-fire and aimed their own guns at them. Raphael fired back, but the collision caused an explosion, making the ShellRaiser leave the ground for a couple of seconds.

"That's all you've got? Balls of trash?" Karai questioned.

"This baby's still got a few tricks in her," Donatello replied.

Captain Violet then used a smoker screen and an oil spill. Once the smoke had cleared, they turned a corner and the coast was clear as everyone sighed in relief.

"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh?" Leonardo asked.

Karai smiled as she was about to walk toward him, but a familiar sword blocked her path. The roof hatch opened and Karai was grabbed and being lifted out and onto the roof. Both Boy Danger and Raphael jumped and went to grab her, but TigerClaw had pulled her out by then. The hatch slammed closed, locking from the outside while Karai and TigerClaw were left to fight on the roof. The rest of them were struggling to open the hatch and Leonardo tried to help by driving the ShellRaiser into as many corners as possible in hopes of knocking TigerClaw off but the tiger mutant still had the upper hand.

But then, Karai was thrown off the ShellRaiser but Donatello had one more trick and was able to use the vehicle's scooper to catch her. As Leonardo drove the ShellRaiser straight for the archway, TigerClaw was knocked off and hit the road while the ShellRaiser drove off. Then, while Leonardo was driving, the others helped Karai get back inside the ShellRaiser.

"Guys... Leo," Karai started.

"I know, you're not good at saying 'thank you.'" Leonardo responded.

Karai smiled.

👑👑👑 

BY THE TIME that they returned to the lair, Michelangelo sat on the beanbag chair while Henry was grabbing the supplies he needed from the first aid-kit to attended to his wounded arm. "I hope this means you'll stay," Leonardo told Karai. "After all, you are family."

"With Shredder after me, what choice do I have?" Karai responded as she glanced around the room. "It's actually not bad."

"It's awesome, right?" Michelangelo said as he stood up once Henry was done wrapping his wounded arm. "This calls for a family hug." He raised his arms. "Bring it on." He quickly grabbed his wounded arm in pain. "Ow."

Henry lightly smacked the back of his head. "I told you to take it easy with that arm," he said. "Razar got you pretty good."

"Michelangelo, what happened?" Splinter asked, entering the room. 

"It's just a scratch, sensei," Michelangelo reassured him. "You should see the other guy."

"What have you children done? I thought I told you--" Splinter cut himself off as they all stepped aside to reveal Karai. "Miwa."

Karai rubbed her arm uncertainly as she slowly approached him and threw her arms around him. "Father." Splinter seemed surprised for a second before wrapping his arms around his daughter while the others smiled softly at their reunion.

"You see, sensei? I told you our plan would work." Leonardo said, smiling.

Splinter released Karai and turned to her, smiling. "Perhaps some things are worth the risk."

👑👑👑 

THE NEXT DAY, everyone was in the dojo as the five mutant turtles, Henry, and Briana were sparring while Karai watched with Splinter. Unfortunately for Leonardo, Michelangelo wasn't in the mood to take training seriously.

"Come on, Mikey. Focus."

Leonardo tried attacking him, but his brother only dodged and gave him a slap to the face. Leonardo then kicked him, knocking him back.

"Ow, dude!" Michelangelo exclaimed, holding his arm.

"Sorry, I didn't--" Leonardo was cut off by a water balloon hitting his face.

"Oh, yeah, son! Never underestimate the water balloon arm." Michelangelo started humming while doing a victory dance. 

Leonardo glanced back at Karai, who giggled, while Splinter simply facepalmed. Then, Leonardo tackled Michelangelo, the two of them rolling around the room as they wrestled. They ended up knocking Donatello down, who had been sparring with Briana, and pulled him into the fight. Briana blinked as she stood there, watching them but before she could react, she ended up getting dragged into their fight when they ended up knocking her down. Then, the next one to get knocked down and pulled into their fight was Eclipse, followed by Henry. Raphael just stared at them before he shrugged, dropping his sais and joining the fight.

"Is this how training always goes?" Karai asked.

"Yame!" Splinter shouted, ending their fight. "My sons and daughters, that is enough for today."

The teens began to leave the dojo while Karai got to her feet. Leonardo paused, looking back at her. "Karai, you coming?"

"In a minute." Karai said as she approached the shrine while Leonardo left the dojo, leaving her with Splinter.

"Not what you expected?" Splinter asked.

"I admit, it's a little weird being with people I was told were my enemies." Karai responded, picking up the picture of her family as she stared at it. "What really happened between you and Shredder and my mother?"

"I'm afraid it goes much deeper than our rivalry over your mother. The bitter feud between the Hamato, the Sentry, and the Foot Clans lasted centuries. Oroku Saki was the son of the enemy, but he was just a child, so my father gave him shelter. We were raised as brothers and rivals in all things, as brothers are. But that rivalry soon turned bitter when we met Tang Shen, your mother. Jealousy became hatred when Saki learned of his true heritage. He swore vengeance and rebuilt the Foot Clan. One night, Oroku Saki struck. The blow that was meant for me struck your mother instead. Shredder blamed me, and in his rage, he burnt our home to the ground, leaving me to my fate. He took you away from me."

"What about Quill Sentry and Flash Sentry?"

"Although Flash and Quill were nothing like their father, they were forced to obey him as the Sentry Clan's leader, Kenji Sentry raised them as soldiers and assassins. But when they were no longer able to stand by their father's teachings, they came to my father and like Saki, they may have been the sons of the enemy, my father took them in and gave them shelter. The four of us treated the other like brothers and rivals and then your mother introduced us to Twilight Sparkle, Briana's mother. When Saki saw Flash and Twilight get married, his jealousy over your mother choosing me grew tenfold and when Flash and Twilight discovered that they were expecting Briana, Saki planned to kidnap their child because of the prophecy on her and because of Briana being the vessel to Unagami. In order to protect Briana, Flash and Twilight sent her to me on the day of her birth to keep her out of Saki's hands-- and anybody else that would want her."

"After all this time, haven't you wanted revenge?"

"After all this time, I have learned revenge only leads to more pain."

"But I've seen you fight, father. You could take him out."

"We are safe here, and we are finally together again, my daughter. That is all that matters, not revenge."

"What about Briana? Isn't she angry at him? It's his fault that her parents had to send her away. He ruined her family." Karai questioned.

"Come with me."

Karai followed her father to the entrance of the dojo and Splinter motioned to the scene before them. Leonardo was watching tv with Eclipse and Henry, Donatello was on his laptop, and Raphael was doing push-ups but at the moment, none of them had noticed either Michelangelo or Briana sneaking up on them with a arm-full of water balloons. However, by the time that they did noticed, it was already too late as Briana and Michelangelo already thrown the water balloons at them, getting their brothers and sister wet. Leonardo, Henry, Raphael, Donatello, and Eclipse had yelled out their names and stood up with angry faces, chasing after them while both Michelangelo and Briana turned and bolted. 

But Karai watched as that scene turned into something else and before she knew it, it was a full-on water fight as the seven teens threw tons of water balloons at the other. 

"Although she does not the truth of her origins, Briana wouldn't take revenge on Shredder if it threatens everyone she cares about, and that now includes you, my daughter."

But as Karai watched the scene in front of her, she couldn't help but let her eyes land on Briana. Just from looking at her and seeing the smile on her face, Karai knew that she couldn't ask Briana to help her get revenge because already, she could feel it-- the urge to make sure that Briana would stay safe since she knew exactly why the girl had been sent away from her own parents, and Briana would never truly be safe as long as Shredder still lived. 

Karai clenched her fists, her resolve growing stronger. 

So, she'd be the one that would make sure that Briana stays safe.

👑👑👑

LATE AT NIGHT, Briana found herself waking up to a frantic yell. "Guys! Sensei!"

She jumped out of bed, quickly slipping on her boots and grabbing her katana blade before running out of her bedroom. She and the others found Leonardo by the turnstiles, looking panicked.

"Leonardo, what happened? Where is Karai?" Splinter asked as everyone reached him.

"She's gonna take out Shredder on her own." Leonardo said.

Splinter shook his head. "I was a fool. I fear I told her too much too quickly."

"We can catch up to her in the ShellRaiser." Donatello said.

After everyone had piled into the ShellRaiser and Leonardo had drove off, it didn't take long for them to get to Shredder's lair, only for them to spot the Foot driving off with Karai. 

"They got Karai." Henry said.

"We're too late. Raph, Clips, fire up the weapons." Leonardo ordered.

Splinter placed a hand on the turtle's shoulder. "No, it's too dangerous. Follow close, but don't let them spot us."

👑👑👑 

"WELCOME, MY OLD friend." Shredder greeted Splinter once everyone had jumped down after their cover had been blown by TigerClaw and the flare that the mutant tiger had shoot up at the ceiling to expose them.

"Let my daughter go." Splinter demanded.

"You are welcome to rescue her if you can." Shredder sneered.

Right on cue, everyone was surrounded by Foot Bots and Splinter wasted in no time going at Shredder while the five mutant turtles, Boy Danger, and Captain Violet handled the robots. Shredder smirked underneath his mask as he blocked an attack. "Yes, fight me, rat!"

Captain Violet found two Foot Bots running at her from either side. She waited till the last second to jump into the air as the robots crashed into each other. The moment her feet touched the ground again, Captain Violet used her katana blade to cut the robot's heads off. Another robot charged at her, but Captain Violet used her katana blade to stab it in the chest. Then, Captain Violet ran toward one of the chains and grabbed it with her hand, using her katana she held in the other hand to cut the chain as she let the chain pull her up. Once she was at a good view, she let go and landed on top of Karai's cage, grabbing onto the chain that held the crate and removed the tape with her other hand.

"Thanks." Karai told her and Captain Violet just smiled at her.

But what happened next happened too fast for her to react in time. 

Although Captain Violet heard Splinter's warning in time and the sound of a blade through the air, Captain Violet ducked in time to avoid Shredder's attack but, the attack ended up cutting the chain that held the cage in the air above the tank of mutagen and before she knew it, both her and Karai were falling.

Everything else felt like it was moving in slow motion for her. 

The last thing she heard were the shouts and yells of her name before Captain Violet fell straight into the mutagen along with Karai.

Everything felt muffled as she no longer able to hear her family shouting and yelling her name. The only thing she could see was the bright, green color of the mutagen as she struggled to breathe and she had no idea on what to do or how to get out. Then, Captain Violet could feel the burning, aching pain swept through her body that made her feel like her body was on fire-- like it was being destroyed on the inside as if all of her organs and cells were being tore apart. She wanted to get out--to kick and swim towards the top but the burning, aching pain got worse with every single movement of hers and for the first time, she just wanted to stop moving-- to just stay completely still to see if her being completely still would make the pain go away.

Then, Captain Violet saw something else in the mutagen--a white viper mutant with purple armor plating and snakes for hands. Immediately, she knew that it was Karai and she wondered what she'd now look like. Was she a mutant snake as well? But then, she found herself worrying about her family: would she attack them the moment she saw them? Would they now be afraid of her?

Captain Violet felt something wrap itself around her waist and she slowly looked to see a white tail wrapped around her waist before she found herself being pulled up. She slowly moved her hands to the tail and tried to untangle it from her waist, wanting Karai to get out without her but she didn't have the strength or the energy to untangle the tail from her waist. Then, she found herself being lifted to the surface first and found herself grabbing onto the edge of the tank while the tail had released her waist then watching as Karai's limp figure come out before falling off the edge. 

Captain Violet pulled herself onto the edge of the tank and onto her knees with her hands gripping tightly onto the edge. She wanted to push herself to her feet but Captain Violet could feel her eyelids slowly starting to shut as her body felt weak and drained of energy. The last thing she remembered was feeling like she was falling again as her eyelids closed, blacking out. 

The next thing she knew was that she woke up in Leonardo's arms. 

Captain Violet had forced her eyes to open to find herself in her brother's arms as his face held a worried expression. She could still feel the burning, aching pain there a bit but it wasn't as bad from when she was in the mutagen. Her entire body felt exhausted and she just wanted to close her eyes again. Then, she caught her reflection in the glass of the tank and what she saw shocked her. 

She was human.

She didn't get mutated.

"Leo?" Captain Violet asked softly, forcing her eyes to stay open since all she wanted to do was try to sleep the pain off. 

"Thank shell," Leonardo whispered to himself, relieved that she was awoke. "Are you okay?"

"Everything burns," Captain Violet said, her voice as soft as ever as she fought back the sleep that threatened to take over while forcing her eyes to stay open. "Just want... to... sleep."

After Donatello and Boy Danger were able to free the others from the spring-up cages that they were stuck in, they all ran up to the two with the same worried expressions Leonardo had on their faces.

"She's not... how come she didn't get mutated like Karai did?"

"It's like the same thing that happened to April," Donatello told his brothers and sister. "Remember what sensei told us?" Realization drawn on them as it hit them.

Her magic.

"You okay, Little Warrior?" Raphael asked her.

"Everything burns," Captain Violet repeated again, her voice as soft as ever as she fought back the sleep that threatened to take over while forcing her eyes to stay open. "Just want... to... sleep."

A broken Foot Bot fall into the oil barrels and ignited a fire around the lab as everything started collapsing down around them. "No, my lab!" Stockman-fly shouted before getting shoved aside by Shredder.

"You, Hamato Yoshi. You did this!" Shredder snarled.

Splinter just glared furiously at Shredder for everything that he did. Shredder yelled and would've charged to attack but before he could, a part of the ceiling crashed down and blocked his path.

"NO!" Shredder shouted.

"Master Shredder, we must go." TigerClaw suggested.

"Leave me!"

"Splinter will suffer for what has happened today. You have won."

"Won?" Shredder looked at the newly mutated Karai. "I shall avenge you, my daughter."

"We gotta get out of here!" Donatello shouted.

"Not without Karai." Leonardo said, helping Captain Violet to her feet while still holding onto her as the girl didn't have the energy to walk on her own.

"Karai, you must listen to me," Splinter called. "We must go." Karai hissed, binding him in her coils. "Daughter, please."

The aggression in her eyes calmed down as Karai spoke. "Father?" She released Splinter before slithering off and spitting venom from her fangs into Raphael's eyes as she fled.

"Wait!" Leonardo shouted.

Eclipse stopped him. "You can't follow her, Leo. You gotta let her go, for now at least."

"She's right," Boy Danger added. "Look, we'll find her again eventually, but not now."

And so, they all managed to escape the burning lab without injuries and retreated to a nearby rooftop as it began to rain.

"Easy, Raph," Donatello said. He poured a gourd of water on the acid in his eyes.

Raphael pushed it away. "Ah. Enough! I can see fine now."

Leonardo walked over to Splinter, head bowed. "This is all my fault. I should've stopped her when I had the chance. I'm sorry, sensei."

He didn't get a response and Boy Danger walked over. "Sensei?"

"We should go home, my sons and daughters." Splinter said sullenly, leading the way back to the lair.

"You can make a retro-mutagen for Karai, right?" Michelangelo asked.

"I don't know, Mikey," Donatello responded as he, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Eclipse left while helping Captain Violet walk. "I hope so."

Both Boy Danger and Leonardo turned around and took one last glance at the burning building. Then, he turned to Leonardo. "It's not your fault, Leo. We'll figure something out." 

"Yeah." Leonardo said softly in agreement before the two turned back around and followed the others back to the lair. 

👑👑👑 

THE MOMENT THAT everyone had gotten back to the lair, they all immediately went to bed as none of them were particularly in the mood to be awoke after everything that just happened. Briana found herself collapsing onto her bed the moment she stepped into her room, not even having the energy to put her pajamas back on. All she wanted was her bed, to get some sleep, and hopefully her body wouldn't be aching with pain in the morning. 

Right when she was about to drift off to sleep, her face scrunched up in pain as she pushed herself up a little, bringing her right arm to her mouth as she started coughing. She coughed for a good while and when she finally got herself to stop, she pulled her arm away only to find small droplets of blood on her arm. She wiped it off as quick as she could before she collapsed back onto her bed, the back of her head hitting her pillow. 

Then, her eyelids finally closed as she drifted off to sleep and while she slept, her face would scrunch up in pain every now and then and a small groan would silently leave her lips. 

"None of us expected for Karai--or me to fall into the mutagen and now, she's out there on her own, which really blows. Now, if you're wondering about what's going on with me or why I didn't get mutated, then you might want to pay attention for the next part cause well, it's not so nice."