Chapter Three: New Life

Rats were not on the menu.

No matter how appealing they seemed in his other form. The temptation that crawled through him was sick and disgusting. He wouldn't allow it. Never in a million years. However days past and Michelangelo was starving.

Food was a rough deal. Normally Michelangelo would just order a pizza and call it a day, however his unpredictable shifts left him with no options. Rats scurry past his foot, fleeing from the trash fan with meals at hand.

His stomach growled heavily but he eyed the trash cautiously. Though it was day time, Michelangelo had no choice. He hadn't eaten since he was mutated. He was willing to take the risk. He watched slowly as a man from the restaurant walked out back, tossing a fresh bag.

After he seems to safe enough, the turtle jumps at the bag, tearing it opened. He watched as trash fell onto the dirty New York alley floor. Most of the trash was skin from fruits and veggies and napkins. However nothing promising. That was until he saw a plate of leftover pizza just slide out. His stomach roared again. He picked up the slice, eyeing it. His hunger was terrible yet for some reason looking at this slice of pizza didn't feel the same. Part of him was glad for a slice of good old New York pizza. However another part found it uninteresting. Like he hadn't just found food to eat. He decides that it wasn't time to be picky. Food was food. Not to mention he loved pizza!

Mikey gobbles the piece up before jumping back to the ladder he came down from. This whole endeavor was risky and now he had to hide. He makes it to the roof, noting there wasn't any place he could really hide from. Though thag wasn't concerning him cause when he looks to his left he sees a water tower standing in the distance which had a curious white streak painted against it. Making a quick leap he makes it to the tower. Pushing against where the white streak was, the door opens. Michelangelo was back. He slides the thing shut before sitting inside.

Inside the water tower was Mikey's hangout. With cozy bean bags, comics, and heck even a portable radio. He's had his secret hideout in the works for a while. Before he was mutated, this place was where he'd go to be away. To destress. He filled it up with a few items that he loved and would visit occasionally to make sure nobody was messing with his place. Even had a second story room. Up there he kept a blanket and a sorry excuse for a bed which was made out of another blanket. Screams comfort.

It wasn't much but it was all he had. At night, he sits in here. Looking through his stuff, trying to keep entertained. However he's more careful with that. He had enough shredded comics to start another collection. When he shifts, it isn't exactly easy. His whole body is twisting and bending. Bones replacing other bones. He's been caught reading and suddenly finds himself a snake. He wanted his inventory to last him so he tries to be more careful. However there's one thing he wouldn't touch. Not ever. A collage of photos that covered the walls of his fortress. Pictures of him and his family. Leo, Raph, Donnie, Master Spilinter, April, and Casey. He couldn't afford to lose them.

Michelangelo is suddenly knocked from his thoughts when he feels his stomach twist. A sharp pain like nothing he's felt before. Thag pizza wasn't doing too well. Grabbing a bucket, he vomits what little amount of food he had straight into it. After heaving it up, the thought of pizza sent chills down his spine.

As his body trembled over the can, he felt something. The animal inside him. It wanted to take over again. He tried to fight it. He couldn't turn. Not now. His body began to sweat, his vision was getting dizzy. Man, that pizza really messed him up.

"Please not now...now now-" Mikey begged, curling his fingers on the ground. His body trembling as he fought the rising urge inside of him.

Coo!

Right outside the water tower, a pigeon landed on the ground, pecking at the dropped crumbs near the entrance. It's mindless peeking while the crumbs lead to a discarded paper plate near the entrance.

The door slowly shifts open, drawing the birds attention. While shifting eyes, the Pigeon watched as the gate slowly opened. Then with the strike of a viper, a smaller snake head grabs the bird, dragging it straight into the tower. All that could be heard from the outside was loud rumbling coming from within.

"I sense something is troubling you, my daughter."

Karai was sat in the dojo, deep in meditation. She wasn't aware of the fact her father had been watching her for the past five minutes. She kept her gaze forward, exhaling.

"It's nothing."

Lying was second nature. The action had been done so much that sometimes she doesn't even realize she's doing it. She knew Splinter would want to talk to her about her thoughts. Why she was suddenly meditating in the Dojo without any provoking. Usually she would have to be dragged in but today was different.

'The truth will get you nowhere Karai. It only brings failure.' Shredder's voice echoes. The distant memory brushing across her mind.

"Very well," Master Splinter clears his throat, "If something does happen to bother you, please now I am here. You can always speak to me."

The tense girls figure sitting on the floor didn't even flinch during that. Instead, she remained still, seemingly as if she wasn't listening at all or didn't care. Splinter is forced to turn, realizing the tense air was to be left alone. If his daughter wanted to speak, she'd come on her own terms. Once gone, the ex-foot member's shoulders drop. Her body sags down, weighed by her own relief.

Karai's eyes refused to move, her gaze affixed onto stained carpet below her. She hadn't wanted to turn her back to Splinter. She should've been all over her real father. Asking him about his life story, her mother, his mutation, Shredder. Yet she wasn't. Hamato Yoshi wasn't a man she was told was evil. From the moment she could comprehend words, Shredder filled her life with anger and hatred towards the man who supposedly killed her mother. It would take a while for her to trust him.

"Just give him a chance and you'll see, he's got a good heart."

Those words haunted the young ninja. As far as she was concerned, those were the last words Splinter's ninja turtle. He used his last moments defending the man. Blessed with the knowledge and memories of Splinter.

"She deserves to be out there! Not Mikey!"

Looking back, Karai could agree. Her fate seemed to line up to her falling into the pool of mutagen. Every action led her further and further down that path. However it was like last minute the world changed its mind.

Michelangelo changed it all.

Without his blissful ignorance, Karai would've been strapped in alone. Shredder would've cut the chain that held up his own family and she would've fell into her gooey demise. All those years of their family bond snapped like the iron bars holding her. The youngest turtle had managed to shift fate by a fraction, and now he was the one facing the consequences.

Karai couldn't stop seeing those big blue eyes and his smirk. She didn't know why this affected her so much. Anywhere she goes, the last image of Michelangelo falling is pinned into her brain.

The decision to save her was stupid. She should be glad. Yet she wasn't. Her heart felt heavy and her brain wouldn't let her sleep. No matter how much she tried to ignore it, it always slither back into her head.

Karai clutches her fist. She couldn't understand it. Why did she feel this way? Nothing made sense to her. She grits her teeth, frustration boiling inside her. Stupid Turtles. Stupid Hamato Yoshi. Stupid Shredder. Everything was stupid!

"You've gone weak, my daughter." Shredder's voice echoes.

"You lied to me," Karai sneers, her whole body tensing up. Anger starts to pool through her like an open faucet.

"You've aligned yourself with the enemy. The Foot Clan was your home until you betrayed them."

Karai's head shifts to the side, as if Shredder was right behind her, speaking. She shook her head. The Foot Clan was never her home. She knows that now. It was only a prison.

"I am a part of you Karai whether you like it or not. I raised you. I made you into the being you are now."

"Proud of me yet, Father?" Karai asks. The word 'Father' drips with hatred and anger. Two emotions she knew far too well.

"What a disappointment you turned out to be."

Grasping the handle of her blade, she unsheathes her sword before spinning around. The metal clashes with air. She heaves, shoulders high as she realizes that she was alone.

Karai's shoulder's drop, her blade hitting the ground with a clash. Shredder wasn't here. She was in the turtles lair.

"Is everything okay?" It was Leonardo. He came into the room after the loud clash. Greeted with the sight of Karai standing in the middle of the dojo, sword on the ground, face looking like she saw a ghost.

"Are you hurt?" Leo asks.

"I'm fine. Just dropped my sword." Karai looks down at her blade, shame filling her. She forces herself to pick it up from the handle, unable to focus on what actually happened. She didn't want to think.

"Shouldn't you be out looking for your brother?" Karai asks, her tone dark. She didn't mean to come off rude but hated the feeling of Leonardo's eyes on her.

The mention of their missing brother was enough to draw his gaze away from her. His face turning into an unreadable statue. Clearly a touchy subject still.

"It's day time." The answer was short but told Karai enough. She never did see the turtles out in the daytime. Probably because it was too much of a risk.

"Right..."

An awkward heavy silence fills the dojo. Karai places her weapon back into its holster, trying her best not to seem on edge. She glances at Leonardo, who seemed to be keeping a brooding glare on his face. Man, awkward.

"Well, I could use some fresh air.."

"It's too dangerous. With Shredder-"

"With all due respect Leo, I'm not your brothers. You don't protect me."

"You're basically my sister," Leo shoots back, "And it would be reckless for me to let you go topside without backup."

Karai felt her stomach flip. Again with the whole sister thing. The last person who called her sister was gone.

"I'm technically older than you. Therefore you can't tell me what to do," Karai states confidently, walking towards the exit. Nothing Leonardo said would change her mind. She was going up.

Leo seemed to sense that as well. He exhales, shoulders dropping.

"Great talk."

Karai moves to leave when a hand latches onto her hand. The grip iron tight.

"Promise me, you're not gonna do anything stupid."

Karai is speechless for a moment. She had never seen Leonardo so...serious. Of course she has seen him a few times but never like this. His blue eyes flared into her soul, searching for an answer. It was almost scary. Almost. She couldn't help but wonder why the leader never acted like this with his enemies before.

"Promise me." The leader sounded desperate for an answer.

With a single finger, she drags it across her heart. The grip is let go, and Karai is free to go. As she walks she notes a strange feeling in her hand. She looks down to see a phone. She's seen the others have similar ones. This one looked banged up but it appeared to work. She turns it on, revealing the screensaver to be a photo of the four brothers. They looked to be happy, except Rapheal, who was on the left, pounting. She pauses, glancing back at the eldest turtle. He didn't meet her gaze.

Without a word, she continues to walk away.

There was no point.

Michelangelo would never remove the taste of dead animals from his mouth. He couldn't even taste himself over the dried blood. He felt horrible. His eyes were puffy red as he rocked back and forth.

Why did this have to happen?

Why couldn't he just go back to being normal? He was cold, he missed his family, and felt exhausted. His head felt like it was splitting straight open like a tin can. Things were jumbled up and he couldn't figure out why. Memories he thought he had, fading.

He was scared.

"I just wanna go home," Mikey hiccups, his sobs becoming rough. He hated it. Being alone sucked.

Nothing around his little makeshift place made him feel better. No amount of comics and collectibles would help. All by his lonesome, he regrets leaving. He wanted to go home badly but he couldn't. He had to protect his brothers. He couldn't control the monster inside him. It was fighting him.

Quick, what would Master Splinter say?

"Spilt water won't return to the cup, Michelangelo."

Master Splinter looked over his youngest child. His eyes puffy and red, clearly having been crying. The three year old had managed to spill a glass of water on the dojo carpet despite the whole no food rule. It left him sobbing for his mistake.

"No use in crying my son. What is done is done." Splinter bends down, looking the young turtle in the face. He watches as his son struggles to stop crying but patiently waits until his wails fade into hiccups.

"All you can do is learn from your mistake and move on."

"O-Okay..."

"Now, how about we get towels to clean up?"

Michelangelo let out a rough breath as he remembered that moment. Despite his shaking body, he manages to stop the tears. Now he was just shaking.

All those years, Michelangelo thought his father was actually talking about water. He should've known better. Sensei was practically a book of proverbs.

There was no use crying. Crying won't solve anything. Crying over this won't fix what happened to him. He's still gonna be a double mutant no matter how many tears he shed.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Mikey steadies himself. His hasty breathing managed to calm down, his shaking was just tremors now. He couldn't give up now. He'll figure something out. He doesn't know what, but he'll do it.

The turtle stays put until sunset. As the giant ball of sun begins to go down, Michelangelo lays in his cot, taking a small nap. He had tuckered himself out and the fact it was sunset did little to deter him from taking himself to bed.

It isn't until he's jolted awake by a loud voice does he finally move.

"You shouldn't have come here."

It was a man's voice. Deep, and unfamiliar. It left Michelangelo frozen. The voices weren't close enough that they had to be on the roof. However perhaps the alleyway to his left. He knew it was very peacefully hidden from the public that it made it the perfect places to have base by.

"Where is he?" Another voice pitches in, angry. Unfortunately it was one he was all too familiar with yet the distance between the voice and him made it hard to be sure. "Tell me!"

"Shredder should've ended you that night! Instead he keeps a foolish girl escape! All for her to betray him!"

"You're useless, all this talk but can't cough up a simple answer?"

"You're lucky."

"Not really," The voice bites back, annoyed by the deeper voice.

"Kanojo wa koko ni imasu!" At least a dozen rushing footsteps could be heard passing on the rooftop. Whoever was down there was in serious trouble.

Michelangelo carefully creeps down to the second level, crawling towards his entrance door, pulling it open slightly to get a look.

"Shredder wants you alive." Foot members stand over the alleyway, peering down.

Mikey's pupils dilate, slitting down at the sight. He could hear what sounds like fighting coming from below.

It's like a bomb. Michelangelo couldn't control it. He watched it detonate right before his own eyes. The seeping agony as his body twists and morphs. He doesn't get to scream, or cry out. In an instant, what was once a turtle was replaced with the form of a serpent.

Exploding out of his hideout, the serpent lets out a mighty screech, baring fangs and fixated eyes.

Karai started off well.

She had actually searched for the lost turtle. She hadn't left the lair under a lie. She traveled fast too, ruling places out twice as fast. She was about to head down a new block when she saw him.

A strangler. A soldier. A ninja.

She recognised them instantly. Their movements, their forms, and their outfit. Nobody else with that level of training and outfit who isn't Foot would be around. Judging by his lonesomeness, he was on patrol, scouting the area for anything that could pose a threat to the clan. She watched the soldier jump to another rooftop and escape her view into the alleyway.

This was her chance. She could end it all. Finally take down Shredder. He must be weak after the last fight. His defenses numbered after Michelangelo tore through most of his clan. She wouldn't let this opportunity go. She just couldn't.

Her feet traveled like an engine, quickly making it to the spot where she saw the ninja disappear to. She lands on the rooftop near a water tower, paring down. The ninja stood in the alleyway. She was able to tell by the fluid human movements that underneath was all flesh and bone.

Karai unsheathes her sword, gripping the handle before jumping down. Her legs hit the ground sounding like a feather. Grabbing the ninja, she pushes them against the wall, disarming them with a quick hand. Whoever was underneath hardly pushed back, taking whatever Karai did with ease.

Karai unmasks the ninja, revealing a disheveled man. He looked almost tired. As if he'd been running for hours. With a case of mask hair and piercing grey eyes, the man takes a look at his attacker. Recognition flashes over the man's face.

"You."

"I can't believe they let you into the Foot Clan with fighting skills like that." Karai enforced the guy against the wall, making sure he had no space to move.

"Traitor!"

"Where is he?" Karai ignored the jab, focusing on the task. Finding out where Shredder was. That's what it's all about.

"I'll never tell you."

Karai rolls her eyes, slamming the guy again against the wall before asking him the same question.

"Where is he?" Karai enforces her voice. She didn't have time to play around. She decided that the man wasn't speaking fast enough, so she spun him around, pressing the edge of the blade against their throat. "Tell me!"

"You shouldn't have come here."

Karai only grew irritated. This was taking forever. Surely, nobody would just trust her father enough to lay down their life for them. The fact he wasn't giving it up was blood boiling.

"Shredder should've ended you that night!" The soldier exclaims. "Instead he keeps a foolish girl escape! All for her to betray him!" He seemed almost angry. Though she couldn't tell. She was too busy not caring about the Foot.

"You're useless, all this talk but can't cough up a simple answer?"

"You're lucky," The soldier states, a mysterious smirk crossing his face. What was wrong with him?

"Not really."

"Kanojo wa koko ni imasu!"

Karai found herself surrounded by a dozen Foot soldiers. Their masked faces as far as the rooftop. The stray soldier moved her blade away, smirking, clearly happy with having the upper ground.

"Shredder wants you alive."

Karai was flung into an attack, forced to defend herself against at least five soldiers at a time. All of them fully trained by her father, causing her to work overdrive. Blows seemingly never stop. Always leaving her at the bottom of the chain.

SCREECH!

Before everyone's eyes, the ninja's that had stood above them now were beside them, laying on the ground. Meanwhile down below, Karai is knocked down to the ground. While down, she sees a sight she last expected to see.

A giant serpent on the rooftop with a Foot-bot in their mouth. Karai gasps, sitting up. Clearly not the only one shocked, the other ninja's perk up, aware of the strange presence.

HISSS!

Karai jumps, rolling out of the way as the gigantic snake comes down. She could hear the door scream and cry out. Real people being thrown and tossed around like meat sacks. All the ninja could do was lay on the ground, motionless, trying her best to appear dead.

"Retreat-"

Crunch!

The last of the pack found themselves in the jaw of the serpent, crushed by the immense pressure. Circuits explode as the machine hits the ground, free wires hanging out emitting electrical shocks.

Karai laid on the ground, her arms covering her head as parts flew by her, tossed like a piece of lettuce. She tried her best to seem still and inanimate, however once the noise of destruction dialed down, she felt in her gut that it was pointless. She could feel the exact moment when the attention switches to her.

Bizzarly, she decides that acting wasn't going to get her anywhere so she lowers her arms from her face. The sudden movement is met with a nasty deep bellow. Michelangelo seemed to turn his full attention to Karai, flashing his newly adopted fangs.

"G-Good snake..." She whispers, trying to stand. She could only pray that under the teeth and scales that the orange band ninja was still there and knew who she was. However the moment she makes a move, another warning comes her way telling her that it wasn't in her best interest right now.

Laying on the ground, Karai takes a moment to study the predator sitting right across from her. The most notable trait being the orange hue around the eyes, clearly left as a reminder of who he was. With lime-ish green scales that stretched around his whole body. Bits of plastron and shell cover his torso and back, serving as protection from threats. Though the most bizzare thing she sees is that instead of having two hands, the snake mutant had snakeheads as replacements. Each head a working snake, equipped with sharp fangs of its own.

"Easy there...it's me Karai. Your brothers-"

Karai is met with a loud monstrous shriek right in her face. She pondered how nobody heard anything and come looking. Maybe New York knew better than to follow monster noises. However she finds herself sweating underneath her armour. She seemed to be blanking on a solid plan to bail her out.

At this point, the end of Michelangelo had started to flick around, agitated with the presence of this girl. Yet he didn't attack. He just watched, warning her to stay back.

Karai's gaze fixes onto the snake eyes, watching with grave interest. She notes that Mikey didn't seem completely there. This version of him was far more angry and overprotective. The teen she met had been a goofball, half brained, and a never ending pain.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

Silence floods the air as Mikey's head tilts with confusion. Judging by the complex demented look in the eyes, he didn't.

"You fell into a tank of mutagen. You were mutated into this snake." It was like telling a story to a stranger. No indication of familiarity flickered over the serpent's face.

"Do you know who you are?"

This managed to catch the mutant off guard, looking over itself, asking himself the same question.

"You're Michelangelo."

The mention of Michelangelo's name set the snake off in a rampage, throwing down at Karai by darting for her vulnerable body. Luckily for her, she manages to roll away, dodging the sharp teeth. During the roll, she manages to drop something. The shell phone Leonardo had lent her.

Karai jumps up again, preparing to hold herself against the attack when a loud ring cuts through the air. A stupid jingle. It's origin she actually could recall. That stupid commercial jingle from that dump, was it Tony's pizza? Maybe it was Greg? She couldn't recall.

"Not just pizza, but something yummy for everyone one! With tons of fun! Call Tone's pizza today!"

Karai half expected her face to become snake chow. She notes that she'd die in a dingy alley with her knees on the ground while standing off against her ex-enemies double mutant brother. She feels the snake's looking presence like Shredder's mental one. Like an impending sense of doom that lingers over her shoulder. The sense was so overwhelming that she shied her face away, clutching her fingers and her eyes squeezed close.

Seconds past and she realized, she wasn't dead. She was on the ground, writhing in pain as she slowly bleed out. She wasn't even feeling any sense of another presence. Cautiously, the teen pries her eyes open. The first thing she sees is that she's still on the dirty ground, curled up. Slowly she moves her head to peek over her shoulder.

Across from her, not even a full foot away, Michelangelo was frozen in place. His one thin pupils dilated, staring at her. His head was tilted a bit, his expression almost cat like.

Karai feels all the breath exhale from her body. She couldn't believe she was alive seeing this. Her eyes temporarily drop from the giant reptile towards the ground. She could see bodies littering the ground. Part of her wondered why she was still alive to see this?

Karai looks back at the snake, who seemed deeply focused on her. Almost as if in a trance. She takes a closer look and realizes something, his eyes weren't meeting hers. No his gaze was deep focused on something else beside Her gaze travels down to the ground around her, following the stare down to a familiar cell phone.

The T-Phone.

The phone Leonardo had given her before she left. It was vibrating, emitting the stupid jingle. Slowly she lifts her hand, reaching out for the phone. Grabbing it, Karai notes the big monster eyes following her movements like a hawk. On the cell phone, Leonardo's photo was present with the ID 'Big Bro Blue'. Leo had let her borrow this phone and Mikey seemed to recognize the song playing. The only reason they'd have a spar phone is if one of them was no longer using it. She didn't remember Michelangelo having his on his belt the day they got captured. In fact, that day he barely had anything. Wouldn't be far fetched if he left his phone behind.

Realization passing through her, she found herself slowly understanding. Meanwhile, The call seemed to automatically tap out, leaving the air full of silence. She half expected the snake to attack her then but he still was memorized by the electronic in her hand. Gently, she turns the phone around, showing the mutant.

"This is your phone..." Karai states gently, taking the opportunity to stand slowly, inching her hand towards her blade. Keeping her hand by her side, her thumb slips, clicking the home button.

The phone blinks to life, startling the serpent from its trance. Mikey slithers back, clearly distressed. The wallpaper of the turtles family knocked the double mutant off its track. He emits a loud cry, backing further away from Karai.

The young girl could only watch as the serpent backs away, thrashing his head around violently. His screams piercing her ears. There's a moment of pause. The serpent stares straight at her, his expression almost mortified.

"Kaaaaari?" Mikey croaks.

The voice was smooth, yet very underdeveloped. Like a bunch of letters were thrown around and made into a word except it's spoken that way. She remains speechless, unsure of what to say.

"Hey, what's going on down here!"

Karai jumps, shocked by the sudden voice. Down at the entrance of the alley, a cop stood, dressed in uniform, carrying what looked to be a tazer. She glances back towards the mutant to find him gone. This left her alone with Foot bodies everywhere.

Karai turns down the other alley connected, disappearing from view.