「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

37; Part Two

Eleven thirty, read the phone in Karai's hand.

Good, she thought as she clicked across the floor and headed for the door. Lucas would miss her if he came back, but she should return before he finished talking with his friends. He'd introduced her to them earlier, but she had escaped to the bathroom to prepare for the night ahead.

When she reached the balcony, she slipped off her heels and tossed them to a corner under an unused table and chairs. Her clutch found its way to the shoes as well before she jumped onto the table itself and propelled herself into the air.

    Grabbing onto a ledge that jutted out a few feet above, she hung on with one arm and swung herself up and onto it, landing gracefully on the skinny slap of concrete. Her red dress fluttered around her legs as she crouched. Then she jumped again, grabbing the next ledge. This one happened to be the edge of the roof, and she swung silently onto it.

Just as she straightened up, a scream pierced the air, beating on her eardrums. She crouched instinctively and looked around. Across the roof, two bodies moved. One helped the other lay down, then kneeled beside it. The shape of the sprawled out person told her it was clearly a turtle brother. She noted the weapons and height.

Leonardo.

She crawled steadily closer, and caught a glimpse of the other person's hair; light brown with traces of dirty blonde. A dark green dress to compliment it.

    Elly.

    And retreating from the scene was the one and only, wide-shouldered Jeff. He backed up quickly. Karai knew he was paranoid about the sickness, especially since he was in full health. She didn't care to get it either.

    She would've walked over and helped Elly. Except she hadn't brought the cure, and there was no point. Leonardo would die anyway. Better that he suffer for a few minutes and see the love of his life alive before him, than wait until midnight to watch her end as well.

    Karai watched the two carefully. She saw Elly call April in desperation, then try to comfort the dying mutant. She noticed the whispered words and soft hands. Her ears screamed their own throbbing tune as Leo sung his.

She stared during Leonardo's last moments, listening for the exchanged conversation. Eyes glued to the apparent couple, she witnessed their first kiss – their last kiss – and saw the life leave Leonardo's body.

But she made note of the way he looked as he passed. Struggling, but peaceful. In intense pain, and suddenly cured. Pleading, yet smiling.

Her eyebrows furrowed during all of this. It was touching, really. Pathetic and sweet. And it took her back to her kiss with Lucas.

It definitely had not been her first; she was not completely innocent in that respect. She'd kissed many a man to seduce them into doing her bidding, though she hated it. Of course, it was never her bidding, but Shredder's.

    Karai spotted a cluster of people standing together across the alley on the rooftop behind the crying couple. They laughed together before hopping across and landing beside Elly and Leo. It was the rest of the turtle brothers, come to join their dead family member.

The tallest one, Donatello, crouched beside Elly, who looked at him dismally. His expression immediately turned to one of worry. Then she mumbled something to him, an he froze. They all did. As if a cold front had blown through the city all of a sudden and taken the souls of each individual with it. Karai could see it on their faces; their hearts had dropped down to their toes and kept them rooted heavily to the roof.

    Jeff had moved to watch the image as well. He crossed his arms over his chest, surprising Karai when he stayed where he was instead of choosing to harass the disappointed group. He just . . . observed.

She looked guiltily down at her hands, which kept her propped up as she knelt on the balls of her feet. She couldn't explain the guilt, since she hadn't done anything to Leonardo to prompt this unexpected death. Perhaps she just felt this way because he had died at all. Maybe she wasn't the only one. Maybe all people felt guilty when they discovered a person's death, as if somehow, someway, maybe, they could've stopped it, even if they couldn't have.

She shook her head to clear it, and that's when the wailing began. The weeping. The crying. The sobs. They were loud, and strained, and wretched. Sad.

It's also when the choppy sounds of a helicopter squeezed its way into the mix.

Part Two:

    Karai glanced up at the sky, watching for the source. When it came into view, small at first but growing steadily larger, she finally stood up fully, and back up a few feet. Jeff did the same, watching with his arms still across his chest.

As the copter got closer, the noise got louder and captured the attention of the mourners. They all looked up and watched, confused, swiping hot tears from their cheeks. The confusion only increased when a second helicopter joined the first, following close behind it. They kept creeping through the sky, until bandanas flapped and clothes rustled.

    Attached by ten, thick cables, a large base hung from the first air machine. It was a circular, cone-like shape with an opening at the top. As the copter closed in, it lowered the giant piece to the roof. Ten men, dressed in black ninja attire, crawled down the cables from inside and unhooked them, then jumped down to stand around this base.

    When the first helicopter had cleared away, the second replaced it. Attached by only four cables on this one was a very small missile. No one understood why such a tiny object needed to be carried with such extra care. Maybe it had something to do with the glowing, purple etchings stretching across the gray exterior.

The missile was lowered and the ninjas secured it inside the hole atop the base. It fit in place perfectly. Before the helicopter flew away, the sliding door on the side flew open, and there stood the Shredder. Cape blowing around his body, he descended to the rooftop on a rope and turned to face his audience.

When the helicopter was gone, he said, "welcome, all, to the new world."