Brianna sat at the table of the conference room. At the head of the table was the Shredder staring out at them with his usual malice-filled glare. Immediately to his right was Karai, with her right-hand woman, Shinigami, by her side. On the other side of the Shredder was Tiger Claw, who was carefully analyzing everyone, seat-by-seat. To his left, there was an empty seat, meant to be filled by Chris Bradford, and then one spot over was Xever. Her father, Baxter, was to the right of Shinigami, and Brianna was on his other side. Two empty seats separated her from River, then another chair sat between him and Nick. Charleston sat to the left of Xever, with Christian sitting between Charleston and Nick. 

Brianna could only stare at the two empty seats beside her, thinking of the Bradford twins. One minute, she had two very close friends that she could confide anything to, that she trusted with her life, and the next, they were both gone. There was no way of knowing what happened to Tyler after being injected with the mind erase serum, as the turtles scooped his body up before the Foot could. There was no way of knowing if it worked perfectly and Tyler was now sitting wherever the turtles were, completely confused and utterly useless or if the chemicals in the serum fried his neurons instead of just blocking their pathways. Either way, the Tyler Bradford she knew was lost.

And then there was Aiden. Brianna's throat burned at any reminder of him, and this empty chair was no different. She had spent the last week since the battle at the Bridgeport dojo crying at the news that she received from her father, that Aiden had died in the fire. In the world of chaos that the Foot Clan had become, Aiden had become the one person she could confide in with complete honesty, even if he didn't want to hear it. And now he was gone, and Brianna's world had become dull the moment Shelby pushed Aiden into the flames. 

"Thank you for meeting at the Headquarters today." Karai stated as she stood, breaking Brianna's attention away from the chairs as she looked up to her mentor with watery eyes. "As you know, my father would not ask you here, taking you away from your dojo and most importantly, your mutants, if it were not of dire importance. I'm sure you've all heard by now that Tyler Bradford has betrayed us for the Hamato Clan." Bri squirmed slightly in her seat, biting the idea of her cheek to stave off the burning sensation in her throat. "Since then, we've completely lost the Bridgeport dojo and supplies to a fire that started during that battle, and the Providence and Boston locations have fallen to the police and government agencies that have been working so hard to stifle our work. Luckily, we were able to clear all data of the those computers before they were found, but we may not get so lucky if something like this happens again."

"However, where there was once failure, there is now opportunity." The Shredder stated, standing up as Karai sat back down. "You must understand that while we fight our enemies in an battle as that goes back centuries, we have another obligation as a ninja clan, and that is to rule the land we call home without competing authority. But this is no longer 14th century Japan. The Bradford dojos show that the government, while lacking intel that would allow them to take the mutants out at the source, still continue to pose a great threat to our plans. The best remedy for this? Becoming one with the enemy." The Shredder's emphasis left Brianna confused. How do they become one with the government. "And to assist us, I have recruited a very powerful man into our ranks. Please stand and bow for our newest member, Eric Sacks."

The door to the conference room opened. A tall, spindly man walked in with a confident stride. Unlike the other humans in the room that wore Foot Clan attire, he donned a black suit and tie, with perfectly shined shoes and gelled back, thinned brown hair. His wrinkled face smiled and exuded charisma. He came the empty chair between River and Nick, almost directly across the the Shredder, but he did not sit down. Instead, he bowed to the table. Everyone was instantly on their feet and bowing in return, as to not upset the Shredder.

"Greetings, Foot Clan members, and thank you, Master Shredder for that exemplary introduction." His words were breathy but carried a heavy weight that made Brianna's ear perk in interest. "As stated, I am Eric Sacks, CEO of Sacks Industries. In case you're unaware, it is company that heavily invests in, restores and, creates ancient weapons for any paying customer interested in appreciating the beauty and simplicity of early peoples' forms of weaponry.  Recently, we've become interested in expanding to working within the world of martial arts and continuously expanding our influence in the political sphere. I mean, who doesn't want a direct say in the laws made in this great country? So I truly think that working hand-in-hand with the Bradford dojo franchise would be to everyone's best interest."

"So what does this mean for us and the mutant soldiers we're controlling?" Christian asked, his arms crossed.

"Great question, young man, great question." Eric Sacks placed on foot up on his chair, leaning his elbow onto his thigh as he gazed intently as Christian, causing him to squirm slightly. "We can't risk the government getting a hold of the fact that the Bradford dojos were involved with the inexplicable mutant activity- instead, the Bradford dojos, now partnered with the finances of Sack Industries, will take the mutants out, securing a positive light in all media outlets and gaining free advertisement for people to come from all over the country to join the Sack-Bradford Ninjutsu Association." Sack's eyes sparkled as he looked around the room. "We're going to see growth and we're going to see it fast. Stick with me, and you won't have to work in the shadows of society any longer."

Tiger Claw glanced at the Shredder, his gaze unsteady. "Are you sure about this, master? Bringing attention to ourselves when we work with such materials as mutagen, which we actively experiment with?"

"Not to mention that we're actively sitting at the table with a giant, talking tiger, fish, and fly." Nick commented. 

"These are risks worth taking to bring the Foot Clan back to its deserved glory." The Shredder stated in a rather harsh tone, causing both Tiger Claw and Nick to stiffen.

"I can assure you that Sacks Industries will work diligently to make sure our... appearance-challenged colleagues remain out of the limelight." Eric stated. 

"I personally am 100% on board." River said.

"Nobody asked, moron." Charleston muttered with a pointed glare. "This isn't a survey meeting, this is a "this is the new direction, get on board or you're out" meeting."

"Oh." River squeaked. Bri shook her head in disbelief. Surely, there could have been another member of Squadron Beta X that was more suited to a position of power than River Miley.

"Well, as a businessman, I'm pleased to hear that the plan is settling nicely among my new, beautiful partners." Eric smiled. Bri was impressed that one man could so seamlessly butter up the people in the room after meeting them less than 5 minutes ago. 

"All dojo leaders will return to their respective dojos and await further instruction. We will strategically spread out the battles against the mutants. After that, we will discuss those among your ranks who would be suitable for leadership positions within the new Bradford dojos. We plan on opening at least 4 more in the next three years, expanding west." Karai explained.

With that, the Shredder rose, dismissing the meeting and exiting the room. Tiger Claw, Xever, and Baxter followed. Eric Sacks wished a final goodbye to those remaining at the table before sauntering to the door as well.  River, Nick, Charleston, and Christian weren't too far behind, leaving only Brianna, Karai, and Shinigami in the room. 

Karai's amber eyes fell on Brianna instantly as Shinigami stood up. "Long time, no see, Brianna. It's good to see you've come out okay from the recent battle."

Brianna had to respond carefully, or else the tears begging to spill out at the memory of the tower of flames would succeed. "Thank you, I consider myself very lucky. Others... weren't so fortunate."

"I think there is more fortune to go around than you realize." Karai stated.

Brianna's felt her lungs falter for a minute. Suddenly it took a lot of effort to breathe. "What do you mean..?"

"So you really don't know." Karai shook her head.

"A pity." Shinigami commented with her thick accent.

Brianna's eyes bounced in between them so quickly she was starting to feel dizzy. "It really is. I mean, you're father probably had the best intentions, but I, personally, am getting really sick of fathers lying to their children." Karai's sentence started smooth as honey but slowly rolled into a scratchy growl, causing Brianna's skin to crawl. "Why don't you go exploring the medical floor? East most part of the floor, private room 1."

"But you did not hear it from us." Shinigami winked, and before Brianna could ask any questions, the girls exited the room.

Not a moment after, Bri was up on her feet, racing to the stairs. Her brain felt too foggy to think but her body moved for her. She flew down them 3 to 4 at time til she reached the second to last basement floor, rushing through the double doors. She dodged the medical personnel who tried to call out to her to slow down. It felt like her feet were hardly touching the ground. Within a minute she had her face pressed to the glass of one of the private doors, only to feel her heart fall. Inside, laying in a large hospital bed, was a giant, black dog creature with bones protruding out from the skin and fur, most noticable, his long, slender fingers and his snout. 

Brianna backed up, her breaths shallow from nerves and exertion, looking up at the room number above the door. 4. Her heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings as she looks to her left, her eyes landing on the door of room 1. No sooner than she spotted it that she was upon it, peering into the glass.

Within this room was a much different scene. The whole room was filled with smoke, the bed black and charred all over, a plastic shelf partially melted, wall paper peeling off the wall. The source of the damage was standing at the opposite end of the room. It held a humanoid shape, but the lines between its body and the world around it was almost indiscernible with the constantly motion of the flames that seemed to constitute the entirety of its being. It leaned with its arms extended and hands pressed against the wall, a fresh, dark smoke billowing out from beneath its hands.

Brianna felt her face sheen with sweat, but she couldn't tell if it was from the heat coming from inside the room or her nerves. Maybe she was crazy for the thought running through her head. But with Karai's words ringing in her ears, Brianna grabbed the warm door handle and opened the door.

As soon as she stepped in, Bri began coughing, the heat and smoke sawing immediately at her throat. The light of the figure across the room seemed to grow with intensity, with what Brianna could only guess was his head turning slightly to address her. "I told you idiots to stay the FUCK away from me if you know what's good for you."

Brianna could not stop coughing, which fanned the flames, quite literally. "GET OUT!" It roared, growing in stature and intensity as it turned on its heels to face Bri.

Then, silence. Brianna stared at the soot covered tiles, trying to catch her breath as the light diminished until only the ceiling lights provided any illumination. She was shaking with both nerves and anticipation as a shadow came over her. The figure bent down, taking her hands off the floor. The skin of these hands were feverish and shaking almost as much as she was as they held on tight. "Brianna?"

She knew that voice, looking up at him with tears in her eyes and her lips trembling. "Aiden."