Chapter 20: Lessons in Strength

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Raphael, Michelangelo, and Sarina duck into an alleyway, blocks away from where they originally got the alert. Sarina checks for their pursuers and, seeing none, turns to face the turtles.

"We've lost them," she says. "We are safe for the time being."

"Who's them?" Raphael asks. "How did you know they were coming?"

Sarina's eyes seem to darken. "I was afraid of this," she murmurs. The turtles stare at her and she blinks, giving her head a quick shake. "To be frank, I am very tuned to the Kraang. I get an alert when they're nearby." She exhales. "That, unfortunately, is who's coming."

"We blew the Kraang back to Dimension X!" Michelangelo says. "They were gone, caput!"

She shakes her head. "Not all of them."

Her head buzzes again and she gasps. Right on cue, the familiar sound of guns booting up echoes through the empty streets. The trio spins around to find that another group of Kraang has appeared, blocking them into the alley.

"Kraang has finally succeeded in tracking down the one known as Subject 60184," one says. It looks to its nearest companion. "Kraang, why did Kraang not find the one known as Subject 60184 at a time that is sooner than the time that is now?"

"Kraang could not find the one known as Subject 60184 at the time increment that Kraang has stated," the other replies. "The signal coming from the one known as Subject 60184 was untraceable for Kraang."

"Kraang does not need sass from—"

A sai lodges itself in the droid's head before it can finish. Raphael comes directly after it with a bellow, snatching his weapon back as he smashes the destroyed body beneath his feet. The Kraang open fire on him and his face breaks into a wicked, excited grin.

Michelangelo flashes a smile at Sarina. "Stay back, girl. We've got this," he says before backflipping into the fray.

Sarina looks around, searching for a plausible escape route. There aren't any fire escapes in this alleyway; the closest thing to it is a homemade, metal flower box with no flowers in it. The Kraang bullets whiz without causing any distress to her as she looks to a large dumpster, then to a few windows with sizeable ledges, then to the faraway flower box. If they move quickly, it could work.

"Raphael! Michelangelo! Follow me!" she hollers.

She hops onto the dumpster, snatches the nearest window ledge, and hoists herself up. As she straightens up and tries to jump to the next ledge, two grappling hooks whiz past and hooks onto the roof ledge. Sarina's eyes flash as she looks down at the turtles.

"I forgot that you had those," she admits.

Raphael leaps onto the dumpster, pulls Sarina to his side, and releases the hook, sending them zooming up the side of the building. Michelangelo follows swiftly. Once the trio is on the roof, Raphael releases her and they break into a full sprint. Every time they reach the edge of a building, one of the turtles grabs Sarina and carries her with them over the jump, dropping her off on the other side.

"Now that they know of my whereabouts, they will send more troops," Sarina says as they run. "We've got to lose them before returning to the lair."

"What happened to you going to TCRI?" Michelangelo asks from her right side.

"Well, seeing the Kraang has reminded me of something."

"What?" Raphael asks from the left.

"I hate them." She smiles, and for the first time, Raphael believes that she could undoubtedly be capable of murder.

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