Song: Savior - Skillet

"MIKEY!" Donatello shouts in rage as he shoves the orange-clad turtle away from the computer. "Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!"

   "I don't know how, D!" Michelangelo squeaks, slightly panicked. I can hear the guilt in his voice.

   And I know why he's feeling like that. I just found out that my brother is still alive, yet I'm going to lose him anyway. Even worse, it's the exact same fate I thought I had lost him to before. It's cruel, really: to send my hopes sky-high, only for them to come crashing down a second later.

   As Donatello and Michelangelo waste time jabbing buttons, Leonardo presses the note my mom had written into my hands. I look up at him and let myself drown in the sadness in his blue eyes. For once, I don't mind him showing me sympathy. I'm just glad to still have someone that cares, though he can never replace my mom or brother.

   "Maybe we can find them before the time runs out," Leonardo suggests hopefully. "Maybe we can scan every floor for humans. Maybe we can-"

   "No," I interrupt softly. He's just trying to make me feel better. There's no way we can search all of TCRI before the place goes up in flames.

   "No?" Leonardo's eyes are filled with surprise. "Lizzy, we can do this. If we just look quick enough-"

   "It's over, Leo," I stop him again. It hurts to hear him talk about it, much less listening to a plan that won't work. "He's gone. I never truly had him back anyway. I still have my mom, even if she is a mutant. So, it's alright. I'll be ok."

   My voice is barely more than a whisper. I'm numb with renewed grief. But I can't cry; I don't have any more tears left for them. Instead, I'll save that energy for when I can get my hands on the Shredder for giving my family and I such a horrible fate.

   A new, deep, menacing voice speaks behind me. It's so dark that it sends a chill up my spine.

   "So, the turtles think they can just destroy my plans and leave, do they?"

   I spin around to see something awful. It's a figure of a man, but that's where the human similarities stop. He's covered in metal. His hands have sharp, vicious-looking blades attached to them. The only part of his body that has skin showing is a small section of his face, and I don't even want to see that. He has nasty scars covering the exposed external organ and he is obviously blind in his right eye.

   "Shredder," Leonardo growls as he steps in front of me. He extends his katanas out in front of me, purposefully blocking me from going at the newcomer.

   That's the last thing on my mind, however. He is the Shredder? He's so terrifying! I finally understand why Leonardo tried so hard to stop me from going after him. One blow from those blades of his, and I'm a goner. I shiver at the thought. I want revenge, but I am definitely going to have to go another way about it.

   "Turtle," Shredder returns the unpleasant greeting. "Step aside. I've had enough of your games. First, you destroyed my secret TCRI branch, and now you're attempting to finish off the rest."

   "TCRI isn't yours," Donatello speaks up as he moves away from the computer. "It belongs to the Kraang."

   "Not anymore." Shredder takes a few threatening paces forward. "They work for me now. I own them and everything they have obtained."

   As he talks, something weird happens. Three strange creatures appear in the room. One looks like an oversized, purple fish with robotic legs. The next is a gigantic orange, black and white tiger with dangerous yellow eyes. Finally, the last intruder is a huge gold and white dog. They all have their teeth barred.

   Behind them, too many Footbots to count come into the room. Among them, I recognize a face that makes my insides burn with rage: Karai. She has a smirk on her face as she looks at me. The only thing preventing me from attacking her are Leonardo's katanas.

   "You're outnumbered, turtles," Shredder's voice booms throughout the room. "Surrender now, and we will make your end swift."

   Leonardo tenses beside me. I feel Michelangelo take up a protective stance on my empty side. Donatello and Raphael fall into the line, their weapons out and ready to fight.

   I risk a glance at the computer screen. 4 minutes and 30 seconds. We need to grab my mother and get out of here, but the turtles don't m seem to be as hurried. Trusting their judgments over mine, I whip out my dagger and narrow my eyes.

   "Very well." The Shredder makes a motion with his hands, and his minions launch themselves at us. "Then suffer."

   Time seems to slow down as I look at Leonardo. His blue eyes fix with mine and he mouths the very familiar words, 'Game on'."

   I feel the competitive instinct inside me ignite. I mouth back the same words as well. We both smile at each other, before time speeds back up and we're in middle of a battle.

   I charge into a wave of Footbots. They turn on me with sharp things in their hands. I spar with three of them at once, taking steps back to dodge their swift blows. I finally get a foothold and flick my dagger across one enemy's arm. Its limb disconnects and drops to the floor. Before I can inflict anymore damage, the 'bot escapes to another part of the battle.

   The other two Footbots barely notice a loss. They advance on me with more skills than I expected. Instead of purposefully attacking them, I decide my best strategy is to use their own weapons against them. I'm only trained in defense, after all.

   I fend the dangerous objects off as best as I can. All of the weapon suddenly come crashing down on me at once. I bring my dagger up to meet them, and something amazing happens. As my dagger collides with the Footbot's utensils, it sends all of their weapons flying into the air.

   In their moment of weakness, I lunge at them, recalling my ballet skills to help me stay balanced. I try to imitate the attack moves I saw Leonardo use in practice sessions. I must do it well, because the Footbots are all in pieces on the floor in a matter of seconds.

   A feeling of adrenaline rushes through my veins. I took down two Footbots at once! It feels great to be winning.

   With a wonderful feeling of victory, I dive further into the battle. I get locked in a skirmish with two more Footbots. They are just as easy to beat as the previous three.

   I steer them both near a wall. Once they're close enough, I leap into the air with my legs pointed forward, and shove them towards it with all of my might. They smash into the foundation, leaving dents behind as they shatter.

   I spin around to see a line of Footbots in front of me. I let out a battle-cry and run at them. I slice, dice, and serve their robot limbs to the floor.

   I get so caught up in destroying the line of enemies that when my dagger stabs a different-looking chest plate, I get confused. Then my gaze meets a sickeningly familiar one; I am standing face-to-face with Karai once again.

   "Nice try, junior," she sneers with a smirk. "But you're gonna have to do better than that."

   Before I can react, she knees me in the stomach. I hunch over in pain and she seizes the chance to drop her fist between my shoulder blades. I gasp and fall to my knees, groaning as my legs collide with the hard flooring.

   Karai laughs. It's such a menacing, cold-hearted laugh that it makes me shake. Not with fear, but with anger. A lot of anger.

   My pain forgotten, I jump back onto my feet. I extend my dagger toward her, daring her to come at me.

   Karai expression changes to a scowl. She clenches her empty fists together and throws a kick at me. I duck my head and grab her foot as it flies above my head. I quickly push her leg upward to unbalance her.

   It does, but not well enough. She yanks her leg out of my grip and lands expertly on her feet. She smirks again.

   "Someone's been practicing," she comments with an impressed tone to her voice.

   "Only so I can take you down," I retort as I get in the famous first-position stance Leonardo taught me.

   Karai's expression drops. She slides her tanto out of its sheath and holds it in front of her. "Then let's see what you've learned."

   She swipes her tanto, narrowly missing my nose. I hold my dagger up as the weapon whizzes by again and I stop it. The metal of our blades make a clinking sound as they touch. We each put pressure on our weapons to knock our opponent off her feet.

   We are locked together as we steer each other around the room. Our gazes never leave each other, because one glance away means weakness. We're wolves fighting over the same prey. Birds arguing over territory. Or just quite simply, teenage girls trying to prove themselves to each other.

   My muscles burn. My lungs scream for a proper inhalation of oxygen. My mind is even growing tired of telling my body to hold her tanto. Out of all my practice sessions, none of them strained me as much as Karai is.

   And when I realize that, that's when I screw up. I lose my footing and twist my ankle. I yelp in pain and try to get my dagger back against Karai's weapon, but it's too late. The very millisecond that the pressure on her tanto disappears, she uses it to knock my blade out of my hands. It glides across the floor and I fall ungracefully onto my back. I close my eyes and relax, because it's agonizing to do anything else.

   Through my anguish, I feel Karai pacing around me. She is speaking in a mocking tone.

   "You dare to challenge a trained Kunoichi? You're just a regular teenage girl who is mixing with the wrong crowd."

   She kicks me in the side, but I don't have the energy to respond. "Passed out? Wow, I've met city slums that could withstand a beating longer than you did."

   I can feel her face only centimeters away from mine. Her breath is hot on my right ear.

   "I'll let you in on a little secret: the turtles can't help you. They are powerless against Shredder and his plan, which has already been put into play." I can practically hear her smirk. "And I promise you'll be the first one who suffers from it."

   I'm tired of hearing her talk. I'm also angry that she speaks so ill-mannered about my best friends. I open my eyes and grab her shoulders tightly. Surprise lights up her mysterious eyes, but I barely notice.  I let my head crash as hard as it can into one of her shoulders. Her body grows momentarily weak and I toss her to the ground beside me.

   I scramble over to my dagger and get up, walking towards her with my blade pointed at her throat. Unfortunately, my newly-obtained headache distracts me, and I allow Karai to rise to her feet again without stopping her. I still hold my dagger at her, but I'm hurting too much to actually attack her if she tries to move.

   Through all of the chaos going on around me, Michelangelo goes by battling the oversized gold and white dog. "No one wins with a head-butt!" he informs me as his nunchucks fend off a swipe from the dog's nasty claws.

   "Yeah," I call back hoarsely as I continue massaging my aching head. "I learned that one that hard way."

   I turn my attention back to Karai and tense my muscles, but there's no need. She is looking around the room with a quizzical expression on her face. As I follow her gaze, I see why.

   The Kraang and the Footbots are escaping like water from a pail. They flood out of the exit, uncovering the view of the turtles.

   Raphael is grappling with the robotic fish. He seems to be winning, but he also looks exhausted. Blood clots the wounds on his arms and legs.

   Donatello dangles from a ceiling lamp. He jabs the tiger-thing in random places with his bo-staff as the creature leaps up, its claws extended. The purple-clad turtle looks safe, but the lamp sways dangerously under his weight. It could snap any minute and he will be feline food.

   Michelangelo is heavily overpowered by his much-bulkier enemy. He isn't about to admit it, but he is losing as he runs around shouting puns at the dog.

   "Quite hounding me, Dogpound!" he is saying. "You're acting like such an animal right now!"

   And lastly, Leonardo is in the center, his katanas connected with Shredder's blades. He is dripping sweat and has three identical gashes on one arm. A pool of blood is below him. But I never would have guessed any of it was his, because he's still going. The hatred in his blue eyes is almost terrifying, but it keeps him strong.

   I glance over at the computer screen.  I'm shocked to see how much time is left. We only have 10 seconds before the place is going to blow!

   Karai must see it too, because she puts her tanto away and makes a run for the door. "Father!" she yells as she darts passed the Shredder. "We must go! Now!"

   Shredder looks up from his brawl with Leonardo. He narrows his eyes at the countdown. With one final shove, he sends Leonardo sliding across the floor on his feet. He then turns away from the turtle and stomps towards the exit.

   "Tiger Claw, Bradford, Xever! We are leaving!" At his words, the rest of the fighting stops.  The strange creatures retreat along with Karai.

   At the door, Shredder sends a piercing glare at his exhausted enemies. "I will be back, and I will destroy you for this." As his eyes meet mine, I feel the breath catch in my throat. "All of you."

   Then he is gone.

   I stand there, staring blankly at the doorway. I made a new rival. A deadly one.

   I am terrified.

It doesn't matter that I proved myself to Karai. It doesn't matter that we made it out of the building alive. Because Shredder is plotting to kill me.

And there is no way I could protect myself from him.