Chapter 22: Lessons in Paranoia

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There's a short buzz, like a warehouse electrical system turning on, and Sarina lights up. Her eyes peel open and she blinks slowly, her brain whirring as it kicks up to normal speed and her retinas adjusting to her unfocused surroundings.

Once it becomes clear, she finds that she's in Donatello's lab, her back up against the wall. She frowns and starts to get up, only then feeling the tug of something metallic against her wrists. She cranes her neck around in alarm, just able to see that her wrists have been chained to some piping on the far end of the lab. To make it worse, there's some kind of cage surrounding her that's made with crude metal, all patched together hastily. The only semi-positive thing she can find is the fact that she's been hooked up to a battery via her forearm.

She tugs against the restraints, her eyes flashing rapidly as she again looks out at the lab. She kicks at the base of the cage, making it rattle, and starts to shout as loud as she can.

"Donatello! DONATELLO!"

She waits, trembling more and more with every passing second. There's a creak at the doors and Michelangelo appears, moving towards her with heavy, guilty steps. Sarina relaxes somewhat, but the chains around her wrists are still keeping her on high alert.

"Michelangelo, what's going on? Let me out," she pleads.

He kneels in front of the cage, his face sunken with sorrow. "Can't do that, Sari," he says. "We...we're worried that you might be a traitor. I want to, but..."

Sarina's eyes flash and she shakes her head. "What? That isn't true, I would never!" she insists. "Is this about the fight? I swear, I had good reason to hide my abilities. I..."

She remembers the fight, how she lost all her inhibition and revealed her powers. She can see the stunned faces of her allies. She can hear the Kraang ordering one another to recollect and capture Sarina. Her chest tightens.

She swallows and shakes her head. "I...I had good reason..."

He doesn't say anything for a moment. Then, he takes a deep breath and bows his head. "Everything happened so fast, no one really knows what to think."

"Go get Donatello," she says. "I must speak to him."

"Sure thing, dudette."

Sarina is again left alone. She stares helplessly at the door, trying to calm down. She is usually a very calm person, but right now she can't get a grip on herself and instead, all she's thinking about is the fact that her newfound friends think that she's a liar.

She hears approaching footsteps and Donatello enters, looking even more exhausted than Michelangelo did. He's got dark circles under his eyes and his entire posture is slumped. Sarina's immediate response is to try and get up, to try and run to him, but she's stopped yet again.

"Donatello," she breathes as he gets closer. "You know that I would never betray you. You know that," she insists.

He sighs and kneels in front of the cage, one arm resting against his knee. "We're going right to the hard stuff then, huh?" He sighs. "No good afternoon or anything."

"I would say that, but my afternoon hasn't exactly been good," she retorts. Her eyes flash again and she desperately tries to get closer to him. He doesn't look her in the eye. "Donatello...please, speak to me. Tell me about what's going on in your head right now."

He exhales heavily, sinking down so that he's seated before her. "You escape TCRI right when the Kraang are at their weakest, you hide in the sewers with us," he starts, keeping his words slow and deliberate. "You seem, in all aspects, completely harmless, but then you race out of the lair and the Kraang show up the second you reach the surface. Can you honestly say that that isn't suspicious?"

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