Ch.30: A Brotherhood Dies

For a moment, everyone stood frozen, hardly able to believe the sight of horror lying before their eyes. Splinter's gaze was among shock and tears, while Mikey and Don looked like they wondered what just happened was real.

There was no doubt in Leo's eyes, just a mixture of sadness and fury. His dark blue eyes glared at Raphael, who looked lost and confused to what he had just done.

However, before any fury could be taken out on the red turtle, Shredder's henchmen arrived, with Rahzar leading the charge.

"Get them!" shouted the mutant wolf, as he and his group of fiends came in to attack.

At that moment, the turtles and Splinter's survival instincts kicked back in, and they moved quickly in order to escape.

Scooping up the bleeding Karai fast in his arms, Master Splinter quickly ran to where Leo and the others stood, with Raphael following behind.

Once both Raph and Splinter had reached their destination, Mikey and Don each threw down a pair of smoke bombs, blocking them from the bad guy's sight.

"Raar!" growled Rahzar, as he sliced at the black-purple cloud.

His claws met nothing but air. When the cloud finally vanished it was clear that the turtles had escaped their sight.

"Grr!" growled Rahzar " We'll get you next time turtles. I swear it."

A few minutes later, down deep in the sewers, a tense atmosphere had settled down as Donatello leaned next to Master Splinter, carefully checking Karai's wounds.

Raphael had never seen his father look so sad, and felt his heart overflow with guilt as he watched the whole process from afar.

Not long after they had escaped, Leo had pushed Raphael away from Karai, his eyes angry and cold. Raphael did not fight with that look, and stood away, feeling torn from the family bond.

A spark of hope lit up on Donnie's face as he realized that Karai wasn't dead quite yet, but was quickly losing the fight. The wound that Raphael had cut in with his Shredder's gauntlets had been deep, but the purple-masked turtle worked quick to stitch it so his sister could survive.

However, this was a battle long past lost. Too much blood had been split, and in a matter of minutes, Karai would finally die.

Before the light completely vanished from her eyes, Karai gazed up, looking at all of her family members, and whispered aloud so that they all could hear.

"To think…" she gasped " this is the end…just after…I found….my family."

Her eyes rested on Master Splinter as the turtles gazes went down.

"Dad…" continued Karai " I love you."

"And I love you too my little Miwa," said Master Splinter, holding Karai's hand.

Karai slipped nodded and finally breathed, her mind slipping back into the dark. Steadily, her pulse began to slow, until it finally stopped, indicating that she was dead.

The tense atmosphere intensified, as the whole Hamato family simply gathered around and mourned. Raphael, still standing far away, looked angrily at the gauntlets on his hands, still stained with Karai's blood.

With a jerk he tore them away and threw them on the filthy sewer ground. He never wanted to see those weapons again. They could rot for all he cared.

Finally, the silence was broken as Master Splinter at last stood up from Karai's body and spoke out loud.

"Come, let's go home."

"I don't know if home is safe anymore Sensei" said Donatello honestly " Shredder knows where we live now. We can't go back."

"Then where else we could go?" asked Mikey solemnly.

"Slash" breathed Raph a little quietly, although he suddenly knew he was the target of his family's stares. " We're going to see Slash."

Meanwhile, in the Underground, Slash was slowly shaking his head in disappointment at the failure of locating his old 'friend'. The large turtle still couldn't believe that the Newtralizer had attacked them like this.

Why strike now, after the whole was still recovering from an alien attack?

"He just wants to make sure they're gone" thought Slash in his head " but if he finds that device, the whole world could end."

Suddenly Slash was disturbed from his thoughts when he was informed that visitors had arrived.

Leatherhead and Rockwell were still busy at work repairing the Underground lair, so it wasn't in the best shape for guests to see. But the group that entered didn't care, and Slash's eyes widened in shock when he realized the visitors were his family.

Each one of them bore a deep frown upon their face, and before Slash could ask the reason why, he saw the answer being gently carried in Don and Mikey's arms.

"My God," whispered Slash, and then called over Mondo and Muckman to help the two brothers carry Karai's body where it could properly be laid.

Master Splinter smiled gratefully towards Slash to the help with their burden, and slowly began to explain to the large reptile what they had endured back at the Shredder's lair. Slash was horrified by the torment they suffered, and agreed when Splinter asked if they could stay, just until they found a new home.

Calling Rockwell away from repairs so that he could show Splinter around, the mutant monkey led Master Splinter away from the entrance and deeper into the room. Leo followed in Splinter's footsteps, throwing a harsh glare at Raph before turning and walking on.

The threat was not lost to Slash as he looked his former owner, who still stood at the mouth of the door, still, with his head down, and an expression of anger and grief on his face.

"Raphael?" asked Slash calmly, speaking to the red-masked turtle.

Slowly, Raphael lifted his head, looked at Slash, shook 'No', and walked away. He was not in the mood to talk about how he feels.

Sighing in defeat that he now had more problems to deal with, Slash glanced around the Underground and noticed that he should fetch more supplies since extra guests came.

Hefting his mace to his belt, Slash geared up and walked out, back to his former home, the turtles lair.

"Meow," greeted Ice Cream Kitty, as Slash opened the fridge to scoop up the desert-flavored feline.

"In you go Kitty," said Slash, dropping the cat into the cooler before closing up the lid.

At least the kitchen didn't look to badly damaged compared to the rest of the lair. The den area had been completely messed up, shattered debris from Tiger Claw's bomb affecting every corner of the room.

"Well" thought Slash, setting the cooler down along with the rest of the stuff he had gathered, that he thought they might need. " I guess that's all, but…Hmm."

Without a word, Slash headed over towards Raphael's room, opening up the door to distant memories back when he was an un-mutated turtle, listening to his master's needs. Those times seemed so lost now.

Shaking off the memories from his mind, Slash immediately started to bend down and search through Raphael's stuff, keeping a lookout for a very special device hidden away.

The minutes passed, and Slash's frustration grew when he could not find what he was looking for. The device seemed to be no longer here.

Then where could it be? Where?! If it fell into the hands of 'him', then the entire world was doomed.

The End

Author's Note: This fanfic turned out way longer than I originally thought it would be. I will have to extend this story to a sequel in order to continue the plot. So be on the lookout soon for the sequel to Beyond Control titled Twisted Loyalties. Good day my reviewers. Glad you enjoyed the fic.