Destiny rounds a bend, catching sight of a large construction site surrounded by graffitied walls. On a nearby roof, Shredder stands with his four chosen minions, every pair of eyes latched on something happening within the site. The surrounding buildings are dotted with Foot bots armed with bows.

Destiny jogs closer. A breeze passes her, bringing along with it a smell that she knows all too well: incense, sweat mingling with the aroma of the outside air. Her heart starts to pound.

"Leo."

More sounds fill her ears, far different than anything else she's heard today. There's grunting, shouting, and the unmistakeable clash of weapons against other weapons. There's a battle going on in there and Destiny is sure that Leonardo is fighting it alone.

She races along the edge of the wall, finding a break in the metal and slipping through. She readies her sword, the curved blade glinting even when the sun is covered by clouds. She creeps along the outskirts, ears swivelling to catch any nearby sounds.

"Stop hiding behind your Foot bots! Face me, Shredder!"

She straightens up, eyes widening for a split second as she recognizes the voice. It is him. Fuelled by that knowledge, she continues on, emerging into a space that's far more open and littered with broken pieces of Foot bots.

There's a rush of wind behind her as something, or someone, touches down, and she spins around. She doesn't have time to react as Emery pins her to the ground, knocking her uchigatana out of her grip.

The leopard lets out a snarl. "Wolf girl is back for more?" she hisses, her yellow eyes glinting. "Tiger Claw thought we had a shadow trailing after us."

Destiny grunts and curls her legs up, shoving them against Emery's stomach and effectively removing her. The wolf rolls and snatches up her sword again, getting to her feet as Emery does the same.

Emery lets out a yowl and lunges, claws aimed for the girl's throat, and Destiny just manages to dodge to the side as she sweeps past. Destiny swings her sword, but Emery acts faster and spins, landing a solid kick to the girl's middle and sending her smashing into the nearest wall, bits of splintered wood raining down around her as she lands hard against a new platform. She moans in pain.

"Ha! Weak, stupid little girl," Emery laughs, leaping through the newly made hole and stalking towards her enemy. "How long have you had that weapon? You handle it as well as a newborn baby would."

Rage fills Destiny. She sets the sword down and stumbles to her feet, baring her teeth before morphing into her wolf form. With a roar, she tackles Emery and the two mutants go tumbling away, lost in a flurry of animalistic cries, claws, and teeth.

Destiny flings Emery off her back, sending the leopard careening and bouncing over the icy wooden floors of the construction site. Destiny's wolf ears perk up as there's a sharp grunt from above her.

She turns around just in time to see Leonardo plummet from a higher level with a scream, rolling down a slick slope and into a pool of icy water far below, his katana sheathes empty and his eyes closed. Destiny doesn't stop to think as she retrieves her weapon and starts to clamber down the steep incline towards where he disappeared beneath the surface.

She reaches the bottom just as he bursts from the water, climbing onto land again only to collapse onto his shell, body heat radiating off of him like steam as he pants. Destiny reaches his side and kneels down, gripping his shoulders.

"Leo, Leo!"

His eyes open, the deep blue colour clouded with exhaustion for a moment, but the cloud disappears when he sees who's kneeling over him. "Destiny?" he asks, pushing himself into a seated position. "What are you doing here? I thought..."

"I wanted to come home, but it looks like I came at a bad time," she says.

Leonardo almost smiles, but then he looks over her shoulder and any minuscule amount of joy disappears. He gets to his feet and steps in front of the wolf girl, putting his fists up, his breath like smoke in the cold air.

Destiny follows his gaze to where Shredder is now standing alongside his ninjas. Emery is back on her feet, her murderous glare only on Destiny and Tiger Claw's paw holding her in place until an order is given. The wolf narrows her eyes and steps to Leonardo's side, sheathing her sword as she clenches and unclenches her stiff fingers.

"Des, get away from here," he orders between heavy breaths. "This isn't your fight."

She says nothing, remaining rooted in place. There's a moment of tense silence where the two groups stare one another down.

"Now you can finish them," Shredder says.

The four other mutants nod and attack, Emery going straight for Destiny, whipping a dagger from her belt, and the other three going for Leonardo. Destiny snarls as she morphs back into her wolf, chomping down on Emery's shoulder as the leopard slashes her anywhere that she can reach. Destiny can hear Leonardo's pained grunts from nearby as he's beaten, but she can't do anything to help him when she's got Emery on her tail.

She keeps fighting, losing all sense of order. Destiny bites, Emery slices, kick, swipe, jab, growl. The battle between feline and canine is evenly matched, Destiny with her larger size gaining more power with every blow that she does land, but Emery being faster and able to evade the attacks with far more grace and skill.

Destiny catches Emery's leg with her paw, the leopard landing hard on her back, and Destiny takes the chance and smack her down the nearest slope. The wolf bares her teeth as Emery struggles to get back up, but a powerful battle cry from Leonardo causes Destiny's head to swivel towards him, dividing her attention.

He grabs Fishface by the breathing tube and throws him aside before pouncing on Rahzar. The dog growls and snarls as the turtle piggybacks him, giving his head a mighty swing that sends Leonardo sailing. He rights himself as he touches down on an open piece of piping, using the momentum to launch himself back at Rahzar. Leonardo swings his leg out and makes impact, knocking Rahzar to the ground with the mighty blow. Tiger Claw takes his chance next, but Leonardo is ready, letting out a battle cry as he runs to meet his foe halfway. As Tiger Claw swipes, the turtle tucks in and rolls under the cat's claws before popping up and forcing both feet up into the soft part of Tiger Claw's stomach, sending him sliding across the icy wood like a striped hockey puck.

Leonardo catches his breath, slowly getting back to his feet and momentarily wobbling as he looks around, his eyes meeting Destiny's. There's a flash and Shredder appears behind him just as Leonardo takes a step in her direction. Her heart stutters in its beating and she's screaming when it's already too late.

"LEO!"

Everything in Destiny's sight moves in slow motion as the ninja turtle turns to face his enemy. Shredder's tekkō-kagi slash Leonardo across the front, Leonardo lets out a short scream, and then he drops like a stone. His eyes shut as he hits the ground, the air knocked out of him in a final exhale.

Destiny doesn't have time to react as Emery leaps onto her back, claws digging into her shoulders, and the wolf buckles from the surprise. She bucks, but Emery holds on for dear life.

Exhausted and emotionally wounded, Destiny takes one last chance. She kicks out her hind legs as she returns to human form, the sudden loss of mass beneath Emery causing her to sail into the air and land hard on her knees, skidding for a few centimetres. As the cat rounds on her enemy, Destiny spins and unleashes her blade, the hilt of the sword making solid contact with the side of Emery's head.

There's a crack and Emery collapses into a furry heap. Destiny gasps, pitching to the side as her hand flies to her waist. Blood coats her fingers, the pain of the wound sending spiderwebs out of her body as she presses her sliced shirt against the raw cuts, her body starting to shake.

There's a familiar ringing from Leonardo's t-phone as the Foot mutants surround him. Tiger Claw picks the limp turtle up with one claw under the strap across his plastron, snatching his phone from his belt and looking at the screen.

Destiny tries to make a sound of protest, but it comes out as nothing more than a pathetic squeak.

"They wait for him in the girl's home," Tiger Claw reports.

"Bait them out and destroy them," Shredder orders.

"What about the wolf?" Rahzar asks.

Four sets of eyes fall on her. She groans, still struggling to get up, her vision going in and out of focus and the iron smell of her blood clouding her nose. All she can focus on is Tiger Claw holding Leonardo like he's nothing more than an old rag doll.

Shredder moves to her as she manages to get back to her knees, watching her with distaste in his mismatched eyes. He raises his foot and braces it against her shoulder before shoving her over, knocking her onto her back with a pitiful noise.

"Leave her here to die. Emery did well," he says, tone as heartless as ever.

The remaining mutants nod and take off with Leonardo in their grasp. Shredder disappears along a different path. Everything falls silent as Destiny lays there, surrounded by the smell of blood and sweat, snowflakes drifting down all around her and mingling in the black and brown colours of her hair.

She smacks her fist against the ground, gritting her teeth. "Come on, Destiny. Come on," she urges under her breath, reaching out and just managing to curl her fingers around her uchigatana. "For Leo. For your family."

Her head rolls to the side, where Emery is still laying face down, sprawled and motionless, the golden fur around her shoulder stained with red. For a split second, Destiny feels her gut twist with the fear that she might have killed her, but then the leopard shifts her paw, putting any worry to rest.

With any energy she has left, Destiny pushes herself to her feet, stumbling into a pole that she instantly grips as her way of staying upright. She tilts her nose upwards, trying to smell past her own blood, but everything mingles together in a mess that's as chaotic as New York at the moment.

She wanders off, weapon dangling limply in her hand and eyes vacant. "Just get back to April's house," she tells herself. "Get back to April's..."