Destiny is aware that she is probably the most terrible mutant ever. Just awful, her internal monologue scolds, and she can't help but agree.
To make it worse, she's also aware of how she is not thinking straight or approaching this situation calmly. In fact, most of what she feels right now is an insatiable urge to tackle Emery to the ground and repay the favour that the leopard dealt to Destiny in the first place. To get to Emery, however, she has to follow her into the building standing before her.
Destiny swallows, staring up at the cathedral from the adjacent rooftop. There's a small ledge near the stained glass window and at each of the four corners below the slanting rooftop are stone pillars that end in triangular points. Out of the four walls of the building, only the front has windows from what she can see, meaning she could climb the sides and there'd be no way of them seeing her aside from the possibility of security cameras.
A guilty feeling curls in her gut and she grimaces. The wind blows her curls across her face and she pushes them out of the way before giving in and reaching for her phone. Preparing for an onslaught of scolding, she dials the number of her choice and positions the phone against her face.
It's scary how fast the line is picked up. "Destiny, where are you?"
Hearing Leonardo call her by her full name makes Destiny internally cringe. Suddenly, she has a much better understanding of what the turtles feel when Splinter snaps out their full names when they're in trouble.
"I caught the trail again, I'm still up on the rooftops," she says, starting to twist a strand of hair around her finger. "It's better for me to be alone."
"How? How is that better?"
She attempts to come up with the most logical response, but it's weak at best. "If I'm alone, the chance of me getting out alive is better," she says, snagging one pointed tooth against her bottom lip as her foot begins to tap against the gravel of the roof.
There's a long pause before she hears him take a deep breath. "Be careful. Alert us if something goes wrong."
"I will."
"Promise?"
She smiles just a little. "I promise, I'll be safe."
"Alright," he sighs. "I'll be waiting for you."
She hangs up at almost the same time as him, slipping the phone into her pocket as she turns her attention back to the cathedral. For something that's supposed to be a church, it looks very menacing.
Destiny checks her uchigatana once more, tightening the belt before unsheathing her claws. Bouncing twice on the soles of her feet, she shakes out her wrists and then breaks into a sprint towards the building. She nears the edge and with pushes herself into a powerful leap, going weightless for a few heart-stopping seconds before she hits the building wall and digs her claws into the rivets between the brickwork. A rush of breath leaves her as the pounding of her heart fills her ears, her eyes closing involuntarily so that she isn't tempted to look down.
Mustering every ounce of strength she has, she tugs herself up the wall, digging her toes into the jutting masonry and gripping with her claws and fingers both. When she finally does reach the rooftop, she collapses to her knees against the concrete, gulping in air and brushing dust and dirt from her bleeding fingernails. She has climbed before, but never that high or from such a starting point and she doesn't want to do it again soon.
With her brief rest complete, she slips around the lip of the roof until she reaches the stained glass window at the front, where there's a jagged hole in the corner that she can crawl through. She does so easily, emerging into a large room surrounded by windows. There's a glistening pool that takes up most of the floor with a long stone path cutting its way through the glassed-over water.
At the northern side of the room, the farthest away from Destiny's perch, is an elevated perch where a throne stands tall at the peak. Seated on the throne is the spitting image of the man from Destiny's nightmares, a man who can only be the Shredder.
Standing before the throne is another familiar person, his cloaked back turned towards his master and his white hair the brightest thing in the gloom of the space. Destiny lowers herself onto her stomach, aiming her ears forwards as much as she can so she can listen in.
"This is taking longer than I wanted, Diaval," Shredder says. He props his elbow against the throne armrest, leaning a clenched fist towards his mouth without wavering his glare from the boy.
Diaval inclines his head to the floor, but that's the only movement he makes. "Sorry, master. She's...strong."
"You could easily take her down with one swipe of your hand," Shredder retorts, rising from his seat and taking a step forward. "Apply that physical strength to your mind."
"Her mind's stronger, master, she—" Diaval starts.
Shredder raises his arm and unsheathes his blades in one quick sweep, instantly earning a flinch from Diaval. One hand moves to the edge of the cloak and grips it, stretching the pale skin of his knuckles.
"You have been useful to me in the past and that is the only reason I'm giving you this chance, but remember, Stockman made sure that if you fail, I have other ways of obtaining the wolf mutant."
Destiny's claws unsheathe, her bleeding nail beds protesting the movement. A feeling like thousands upon thousands of tiny bug legs crawl up her spine and cause her to shudder. Whatever this is, she doesn't like it.
"But...you have t'control her," Diaval says. "She isn't—"
"I have...my ways," Shredder repeats, emphasizing his words and simultaneously shutting down any argument against the matter. "Don't think that I have enough trust in your little skill set to leave it without a backup plan."
The boy again bobs his head down as if to imitate a bow. "Understood," he whispers, his low voice making it very difficult for Destiny to catch it.
"Now, try to connect to her again," Shredder commands.
Below Destiny's ledge, a set of doors slide open and Emery enters with a motorcycle helmet tucked beneath her arm. Destiny slides back just a bit, her tail tucking closer to her legs.
"Master Shredder, the turtles were out again tonight," she says in a bored tone, pausing to blow a wisp of her pixie cut from her eyes. "Destiny was with them, but there weren't any signs of the plan working."
Diaval mumbles something to himself and hunches his shoulders. Emery walks past him, the harsh yellow of her eyes glaring daggers into the side of his head. He becomes very interested in the far wall.
Shredder moves down the steps towards the leopard woman as she halts before she reaches the raised platforms. She lowers herself to her knees and bows her head. Shredder finishes his descent, stopping right in front of Emery.
"You interrupted me," he utters. Her fur prickles and she swallows. He lowers his blade closer to her neck. "Remember your place."
"Yes, I'm sorry, Master Shredder," she says.
"While you're here," Shredder continues, retracting the blades back into its gauntlet, "did you find anything about your brother's whereabouts?"
She slowly stands back up, shaking her head. "No, there's no trace."
"Keep looking."
She nods and turns back towards the door, starting to walk at a rather brisk pace as she reaches a paw to her eye and brushes it. She inhales sharply, clearing her throat once before she disappears from Destiny's view. The wolf mutant frowns.
"Diaval, try again. The serum won't work to its full potential if you don't get used to it," Shredder says as his mismatched eyes focus back on Diaval. His words should sound kind, but there's not a hint of anything remotely warm in his voice. It's as if he cares more about the results of a serum than of Diaval's wellbeing.
Diaval shuts his eyes and takes a long breath in, both his hands clenching into tight fists. Immediately, Destiny has to bite back a screech as a searing pain explodes against the back of her head. She crumples against the ledge and secures her hands in her hair, strained whimpers fighting against her lips, begging to be freed.
"Destiny, you can't win," Diaval's voice murmurs. "Giving in's easier. If you don't, your friends could get hurt."
She squeezes her eyes shut, starting to tremble. "I can win, I know I can. I can win," she repeats to herself.
"Stupid wolf, your will is weakening," Shredder cuts in. Her eyes fly open and fall back on the man, but he isn't speaking out loud or looking at her at all. It's all in her head, just as she thought. "You can't resist forever. You will fall."
A hand touches her shoulder, the same rough hand that she's felt before. She tears her eyes from the people standing below her to see Diaval kneeling at her side. He gives her a blank look, his pale eyes staring deep into hers, and another stabbing sensation pierces her brain.
She shakes her head and forces herself to look away, her mind becoming foggier with every passing second. Diaval is still standing before the Shredder, still as a stone, and yet she can plainly feel his hand.
"It's all in my head," she breathes. "All in my h-head."
"Course it is," the fake Diaval says. "That's where the control is."
A tear runs down her face and she clamps her hands against her eyes, forcing out as much as she can as the coolness of her tears swells against the heels of her palms. More fog invades her senses. She starts to feel almost sleepy, drifting away from reality without a care in the world as the fake's hand applies gentle pressure to her shoulder.
"Join him, Destiny."
She rips her hands from her eyes, throwing her body weight sideways so that she rolls towards the window. At the same time, the fake disappears. Aching and still very disoriented, Destiny crawls through the hole in the window and out into the night.
The further away she gets, the better.
----------
By the time Destiny gets back to the lair, she can hardly focus on any one thing. She goes stumbling past the turnstiles in an almost daze, taking in the muted activity of the lair with exhausted eyes.
There's a muffled call from beside her and she turns just in time to become engulfed in a gentle hug. She blinks slowly, dragging her eyes from the plastron and green neck to the blue-masked face of Leonardo. He tilts his head as he pulls away from her, still holding her arms and keeping her in place as his mouth moves without making a discernible sound.
She blinks a few more times and shakes her head. "Uh...w-what?" she stammers.
He squints. "I asked you what happened," he repeats. "You look like you're about to collapse."
"No, no, nothing happened," she says. "I just did a lot of..." She glances down at her fingertips and nails. "...climbing." His deep blue eyes drift to her hands, instantly gaining a new spark.
"Holy shell...what did you do, use a brick as a scratching post?"
Destiny puckers her lips in a small frown at the new voice, turning her head as Raphael wanders up. The red-masked turtle smirks at his own joke, Destiny gives no reaction, and Leonardo snorts and shakes his head.
"Apparently, she just did a lot of climbing," he says.
Raphael arches an eye-ridge. "Yeah?"
"Climbing," Destiny says, yawning once and blinking back the tired moisture in her eyes. "Nothing else."
Leonardo's hands cradle her own, his fingertips prodding at the dried mess of her nails. She's faintly aware of their soreness but doesn't react.
"Is that all?" Leonardo asks. "Didn't seem like it on the phone."
Destiny's lips purse and her head droops slightly. She doesn't want to tell them about what she heard in the conversation between Shredder and Diaval. There's nothing they can do to stop Diaval or Shredder. Destiny has to face it on her own and she's fully prepared to do so.
"I saw Emery on a bike," she admits, but every word after is a little white lie. "She parked it and met up with the pink fish guy, Xever. She said she had done a sweep of the streets but couldn't find her brother."
Raphael and Leonardo meet one another's eyes at the same time.
"So they're looking for Tiger Claw?" Raphael laughs, but he cuts it off abruptly. "Good luck. He got swallowed by a Kraang worm."
"I guess so," Leonardo says before his attention falls on Destiny. "You need sleep."
"Mmkay," she mumbles, stepping away from him in the direction of the bedrooms. "Goodnight guys. See you tomorrow."
"Goodnight Des," Raphael says.
"Sleep well," Leonardo adds.
She gives a weak, half wave before dragging herself to her bedroom. Inside, she collapses onto her bed and hugs the pillow against her head. She shuts her eyes as a shudder rolls through her.
What is happening to me?