A Fickle Shikomizue

It was just an ordinary mirror, but there was something about her reflection made Lea pause. Frowning, she went to have a closer look. The furrow between her brows only deepened the longer she looked. There were dings on her shell that weren’t quite where they should be, and there was something different in the face… she couldn’t quite place it.

“Why didn’t you save him?”

Lea’s head snapped up at the voice. It sounded like herself, but she hadn’t spoken the words. Then who…?

“You didn’t save him. You left him there. For her to find.”

The image of a crying infant, silhouetted by a burning home passed through her mind, and Lea’s stomach twisted. Slowly, she looked at the mirror again, and found the expression on reflection’s face was no longer her own. Her reflection was not surprised, nor afraid.

She was angry.

Sora rolled his eyes at his sisters’ attempt at style, but smirked all the same. Of course she couldn’t be bothered to slip in a sneak attack before her little speech. A better ninja would have disarmed the crazy ex-Foot using the advantage of surprise--but he was a little preoccupied at the moment.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though, and at least Lea’s entrance seemed to distract the girl... Granted, it wasn’t exactly the distraction he had expected, and his respect for Foot intel plummeted significantly as a result. It was one thing to mix up his sisters’ names--to mistake Donatella for Michelangela, or vice versa. Sure, they all kind of looked similar to the common idiot. But the Foot flunkie was even confused about their genders now? Did they really need--well, more obvious features--to stand out as girls? Idiots...

Moving to stand beside Lea, he shot her a quick, skeptical look before returning his focus to the pacing girl in front of them. Okay, she was really distracted by this. Had she been a new recruit...? Because within the Foot, a mutant turtle shouldn’t be a big surprise.

“I mean, if she’s really asking to be pinched...” he whispered in an aside to Lea.

“Sora, no.”

“Or, you know, punched. I could pretend I misheard her.”

“No.” 

Well, clearly that plan was a bust. 

There wasn’t time to talk it out and hug their feelings, or whatever Lea probably expected him to do at this point. Only time for one thing. 

Sora’s hand reflexively tightened on his blade, and he drew it to meet the girl’s with a metallic clash. “Hey, if you want to leave the Foot, then be my guest! Shredder is the last person I want to help. Trust me.” 

Something about this entire confrontation felt infuriatingly familiar. Looking at her face, he could almost... recognize the fury in it. He had days like that, too. Nothing he was too proud of, looking back, but he understood a little of where she was coming from. Shredder messed with his life one too many times, too.

A few more strikes and clashes of their blades were exchanged, and he was surprisingly... impressed. She was good. Too good. She matched him at every move, and he could feel his frustration building as his skin began to crawl with the threat of scales--that old, desperate drive for self-preservation creeping over him.

Keep it together, Sora. This is nothing to get worked up over. So she’s a good match? You like a challenge.

Right. People skills…

Trying not to steal an obvious glance to where Lea was hiding, Sora offered his most diplomatic smile. Focus on the girl, convince her to move along before Rhazar decided to show up again, and then call Lea over when the roof was clear.

As it turned out, it wasn’t that hard to focus on the girl. Something about her felt almost painfully familiar, but he couldn’t quite figure it out. …Maybe he just liked her hair?

Quickly shaking the weird feeling of déjà vu, he instructed tactfully, “So… You might want to go inside. I’m with… animal control. And there might be a really big dog on the loose out here.” 

It took a mighty effort not to cringe. A big dog on the roof? What idiot would buy that–especially from a guy with a sword? At least it was Lea listening in to his speech and not Ella, because this wouldn’t be the first time the ‘human diplomat’ angle didn’t really work for him. 

The unmistakable scrape of metal diverted Sora’s wounded pride back to the issue in front of him, and like any trained ninja, he reacted to the threat of a sword being drawn by reaching for his own. Gripping the handle of his blade, but not drawing it just yet, he narrowed his eyes first at the hilt of the girl’s sword, then her. 

How did she know about them? His family.

Right. People skills…

Trying not to steal an obvious glance to where Lea was hiding, Sora offered his most diplomatic smile. Focus on the girl, convince her to move along before Rhazar decided to show up again, and then call Lea over when the roof was clear.

As it turned out, it wasn’t that hard to focus on the girl. Something about her felt almost painfully familiar, but he couldn’t quite figure it out. …Maybe he just liked her hair?

Quickly shaking the weird feeling of déjà vu, he instructed tactfully, “So… You might want to go inside. I’m with… animal control. And there might be a really big dog on the loose out here.” 

It took a mighty effort not to cringe. A big dog on the roof? What idiot would buy that–especially from a guy with a sword? At least it was Lea listening in to his speech and not Ella, because this wouldn’t be the first time the ‘human diplomat’ angle didn’t really work for him. 

Before she could have second thoughts, and ignoring anything else Sora was saying, she moved towards the table and got on top. Lea slowly took in a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her hands as she stared at the machinery above her, then to Donna. If Shredder could do this, then so could she, especially with her sister keeping watch.

Lea was ready, but Donna wasn’t. Leaning forward, she grabbed her sister, holding her close as she willed her nerves to steady. “Be careful sis.” Loosening her grip, she offered Lea a shaky smile. “We already can’t afford to lose one overbearing bossypants. We certainly can’t afford to lose two.”

Unable and unwilling to delay any longer, she swiftly buckled Lea down and fixed the connections to the machine into place. With a last long, worried glance, she vaulted the console and started the power cycles.

“Good luck,” she said softly. “Both of you.”

“You’re even more stupid than I gave you credit for,” he laughed coldly, the internal voice barbed with poorly contained fury, and in this deeper level of exposure... fear. “Get out.” 

Seeking out the alien presence in his mind, he built a hard wall around it, then drew the walls down and in to keep it tightly contained. They may have taken all of his physical weapons, but here... He had the advantage. 

Katsumi’s brow knit where he twitched slightly on the table, his fingers digging into the seamless metal surface just as he made a sharp mental stab for the invading thoughts encroaching on his own. 

THE PAPER KITES

PSA that Shredder Ruins Everything

Because of this drabble in the first half of the post by rogueshinobi

This started out as a sketch… and then I ruined the sketch after taking one blurry picture (I didn’t realize it was blurry until it was too late, stupid bad vision D: ). Decided to fix the blurry pic up on the computer. Simple coloring/cleanup job quickly escalated into insane painting project. 11 hours later, this is the result.