「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

39; Part Three

Lucas waved a farewell to his group of friends and turned around, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. As he stepped back out into the crowd of party guests, he scanned the room for Karma. Last he'd seen her she was headed for the bathroom. But he couldn't remember ever seeing her come out. Now that he looked, he didn't find her to be anywhere in the vicinity.

    With a thoughtful crease of his brows, Lucas passed by the other guests to the balcony. The doors had been closed earlier since the wind had grown stronger as the night progressed. Looking around to make sure no one was going to stop him from leaving for a few moments, he turned the door handle and pushed one of the two large doors open. It slid out nicely and he stepped out, letting the door stay where it was since he was planning on heading back in as soon as he made sure Karma wasn't leaning on the rail.

    She wasn't, which meant she must still be in the bathroom. Odd, he thought. She specifically said she wouldn't be long.

    As he was about to return to the party, a strange, purple glow attracted his attention upwards. From above, a muted purple haze had settled over the building. It looked as though it came from the roof. Shouting from the same place peeked his curiosity. If he looked up and squinted, he could see the small frame of a woman sitting on the edge of the roof. Her red dress flapped around her in the breeze. He recognized that red dress immediately.

    Hurrying inside, Lucas crossed the party room and left it, half jogging on his way out to the fire escape. He rushed up the stairs, the voices from above becoming louder and easier to decipher. His breath came in short puffs as he ascended. He needed to workout more.

Finally, he came to a standstill atop the building, his eyes unable to understand what went on before them.

    First, to his left, a small missile-like contraption sat perched on its base and ready to fire into the night sky. That in itself was alarming. What exactly would the weapon do if released? It glowed dimly, casting a purple hue on the creatures on the rooftop.

    And 'creatures' was right. The second abnormality was the three, huge tortoise humans standing together alongside a redhead and a dark-haired hockey jock. A fourth mutant lay sprawled out on the roof, eyes closed, chest unmoving.

    To make the image more disturbing, Lucas' own sister sat on her knees, leaning over the apparently dead turtle man. Her face was in her hands and her dress had dark streaks on the chest and skirt. She had been crying, that much was clear. Most likely because these monsters had hurt her somehow.

    Standing before the clustered group was a familiar man, and Lucas realized whoever it was wore his own design for Karma, or something very like it. It was in the style of an ancient Japanese warlord, as the two of them had discussed. He frowned when he saw it, all the more confused at this point.

    But to top it all off, like a cherry on a chocolate sundae, or vanilla ice cream melting into a piece of apple pie, Karma herself sat and watched the entire thing. She was still in the exact same spot he'd caught her from below, on the balcony. Her observative eyes missed nothing, and at this moment, that included him.

Another man, tall and intimidating with his mass of toned muscles and strikingly handsome features, turned his head and noticed the newcomer as well. He then looked at Karma and wiggled his eyebrows. Lucas couldn't see her whole face very well in the dim lighting, but judging by the other blond man's laughter, she must've given him a reaction, one he had hoped to draw out of her.

    Little did Lucas know, it was a hard glare and a blush.

    But what Lucas did know, was that this wasn't right. Elly's words from their previous argument a couple weeks ago came to mind: "She works with the Shredder!"

    He glanced at the man in the costume. The Shredder. Of course. He'd been in the news more than once in the past for various reasons, most of them having an undertone of threatening negativity. Lucas never believed him to be an actual problem. He was just a man, after all. But now, looking at the missile and the expressions on the faces around him, he was beginning to rethink his stance.

Karma – or who Lucas would finally see as Karai – stood and made her way over to him. He stiffened as she approached, distrust overriding the feelings he had for her. She saw it. He knew she did. He decided she deserved it.

Without speaking a word, she begged him to forgive her. Without opening his mouth, Lucas replied. He held her gaze for a moment until he knew she understood, then stepped around her and walked away. She stared after him, and for the first time in years, she felt like crying.

Shredder was done with the turtles as Lucas ran to join his sister. He needed to get her away from all this . . . whatever it was. The mutants didn't seem particularly violent, aside from the menacing weapons tucked into their belts. He bent down on the other side of the dead turtle and stuck a hand out to grab Elly's wrist. She pulled her hands from her face and jumped when she saw him.

"Come on, El," he whispered softly, urgently. "We have to go."

She hesitated, then shook her head. "I can't. Leo," she said, glancing down at the mutant.

The way she watched him told Lucas she knew these creatures. She stared down at the turtle with a face that said she had trusted him, once. Once she had known him. Maybe even loved him. It was strange to imagine, but maybe it was true.

Lucas looked up at the other three. They were already analyzing him. He drew his hand away from his sister and rubbed both palms together nervously, then stood up.

"You look down, kid," one commented, his own rough voice teetering on the edge of despair.

Lucas looked the one who had spoken, the mutant with the red bandana across his face, in the eyes and said, "yeah, well you don't look too well yourself. Your brother?" He asked, nodding to the body on the ground.

Raphael breathed a soft laugh; a broken chuckle. "You haven't even been up here for six minutes and you already know everything you need to. What about you? Break up with your girlfriend?"

Lucas attention switched to his shoes, then the top of his sister's head. "You could say that." He craned his neck to look back at Karai. "She told me her name was Karma. I liked her a lot. I take it you know her?"

Part Three:

Raphael chortled again and took a step towards Lucas, slinging his arm around his shoulders. Startled, Lucas met the bright green eyes. "Let me tell you a little something about her, kid," Raph began, leaning in a little. "Karma's a bi–"

    His advice was suddenly drowned out by the sound of a whistling missile shooting high into the sky.