Karai's footsteps echoed in the hall of the Foot Headquarters as she approached her father's throne room. She hated being summoned this late, the purple discoloration under her eyes showing proof of her lack of sleep. Sleep evaded her these days. And if she did manage to doze off, she was haunted by nightmares.

And they all surrounded Shelby Bradford.

Karai was not a sentimental individual. And Shelby was not someone she would have even considered a friend. Not even an acquaintance. She was a rogue subordinate who betrayed them to the turtles. One would expect the mutation and loss of Shelby as a comrade to not bother her at all. In fact, she should find herself glad that Shelby was no longer walking among them. But Karai couldn't help but obsess over the whole situation.

First and foremost, Karai was no Foot Clan saint. Her and Leonardo's escapades proved that she was willing to bend the code of fraternizing with the Hamato Clan. And in her heart, Karai knew the consequences of that. That's why she could not get caught. That's why she was careful. So in that regard, she empathized with Shelby, but it was not Karai's problem that Shelby got caught.

Though, to be fair, she had always envisioned, in the event of getting caught, a very different array of possible punishments to face compared to Shelby. Where Shelby's options were death or mutation, Karai imagined her father would never have it in his heart to mutate her, and he would certainly never kill her. She had always pictured that her punishment would be to be sent back to Tokyo for harsh retraining or losing rank in the command to one of her father's lackies. 

All this considered, the nightmares originated from watching Chris Bradford allow his daughter to be mutated without blinking an eye. That was keeping Karai up at night. He almost seemed glad to lose his daughter to what was supposed to be a mutation that resulted in the end of her free will. THAT bothered Karai. Because ever since coming to New York City, she had noticed a stark change in her father's personality. He had always been strict with training and parenting, but there were also days where they read books together in the den, went out to the theater together to watch performances, days where he was more her father than her sensei. Those days didn't exist anymore. Karai was slowly losing her father to his obsession with Hamato Yoshi. And she couldn't help but wonder if her fate would have been any different from Shelby's in the end. 

Karai pushed the doors to the throne room open, the only light guiding her over to her father being that of the torches on the wall. Her father, Oroku Saki, stood in front of the large windows, revealing the sparkling lights of the city. His kuro kabuto was held at his side but he still donned the rest of his uniform, and when he turned to the sound of Karai's approaching footsteps, his brows furrowed. "What are you doing out of uniform, Karai?"

"Father, it's 11:30 at night." Karai brushed him off. "I was two seconds from falling asleep when I received your summons." False. She was two seconds from a night of restless tossing and turning, but that was besides the point.

Her father grunted in acknowledgement of her argument. "I apologize for the late hour, young one. I find that sleep eludes me in this wretched city."

Karai's hearted fluttered, though she kept her composure. "I too am growing sick of New York." She agreed. In her mind, she dared to ask her father if they might return to Tokyo. In reality, she only walked closer to join her father in gazing out of the windows.

"I have been thinking a lot about the direction the Foot Clan has taken in the last year." Saki stated. "I see now that the only way to move forward is to expand beyond the underground of the city."

Karai's brows furrowed as she frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that slinking around the city, using low-life thieves and gangs to search for our enemies has made me grow weary. Continued failure due to my incompetent henchmen has made me grow bitter and impatient. I am not the man I was in Japan." He shook his head. "This hunt for Hamato Yoshi has severely tunneled my vision."

The small smile began to grace Karai's lips. "Father... are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes. We must expand the reaches of the Foot Clan within the United States in order to consolidate our power on this side of the Pacific." Saki stated. "Since Stockman failed to transform the Beta-X Squadron into my own personal army of mutants, I have decided that the next best usage of your highly specialized and obedient legion is to spread them out at new Bradford dojos across the East Coast. We will amass great power and influence, and with our endless supply of mutagen... I envision great successes in our future that will leave Hamato Yoshi unable to find a safe place to pause and breathe as we hunt him and his vlan to extinction."

Karai's eyes widened in horror as she stared out the window. She searched her father's expression in the glass, only finding cruel pleasure in his wicked smile. "Father... where did you get an idea such as this?" 

"I was contacted by a former coworker of Stockman's after the fall of TCRI. He is interested in investing in our enterprise and bringing our underground work to light." Saki muttered. "You and I will go to Washington D.C's dojo and met with him there. I have already selected new dojos for Xever and Bradford, and I have contacted an old acquaintance from Japan to to assist us as well. Tomorrow, you will bring me a list of your six most competent Beta squadron members. Sleep on it. Two of them will be sent out immediately with a personal supply of mutagen to trial the finished dojos in Philadelphia and Virginia Beach."

Karai stared out at the city lights. How quickly this conversation took a turn. How quickly this conversation went from lulling her into a sense of security to showing her that her worst fears were coming true. This was not the goals of the Foot Clan that she had been raised on. Conquering a foreign country to pursue a lone enemy was not honorable. At this rate, the Foot Clan was becoming no different than the Kraang.

"Do you have anything to say, Karai?" Her father's voice snapped her out of her whirling thoughts. His glare was challenging her to step out of line.

"No, father. I will create my list and speak with you in the morning. Good night." She stated curtly, turning and giving her father a quick bow before hurrying to the door.

"Goodnight... daughter." His gravelly voice followed her like a predator stalking his prey as she swiftly left the room.

"Hey," Karai jumped, swinging a right hook at her perpetrator. Her fist was caught by an unimpressed Shinigami, who raised a brow at her. "Settle down, killer. I came to see what grand scheme your father has now. I figured that's what was happening anyways, when you didn't answer my goodnight text." She pouted.

"Your intuition is right as always, Shini." Karai muttered, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the throne room as quickly as Shinigami would allow. "Tomorrow will you meet me in the library? I need to start some research."

"I guess." Shinigami scrunched her nose. "What's the subject?"

Karai's eyes narrowed. "I want to know everything there is to know about the Foot Clan and Oroku Saki."