"WHAT?! HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE HIT?!" Raph stood up from his seat, pacing. They were in the council room, just a room with a large table, and 4 large throne-like chairs for Leo and his brothers to sit at. Leo fumed as he heard the guard's report. Apparently the guards heard NOTHING from what he said, and thought using lightning weapons were going to bring Ava back unharmed! There was an accident, where Ava was trying to disarm a guard's sword, and gave the guards a taste of their own medicine.
"Aproximately 1 Hexadeca-octopus Yokai has died and 13 other Yokai were injured." The guard reported. The report did not seem to ease Raph's worries.
"Let me get this straight." Leo stood up, fists clenched. "I say, after a CLEARLY EMOTIONAL SPEECH, that I can't lose Ava again. Your response was to CHASE HER WITH WEAPONS THAT COULD BE FATAL IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO OPERATE IT?!"
The guard stuttered, trying to find an excuse. "Sh-she was fighting! She caused property damage! She attacked private Calous first! She is a dangerous-"
"ENOUGH!" Leo shouted, barely containing his anger. "Ava was defending herself. Right?" Leo didn't even need to state the threat, the message was clear. She did nothing that would be punished. The guard nodded, terrified. The guard scurried out of the room like a dog with its tail between its legs.
"Harsh much?" Donnie commented. "The guard had a point, Leo. She killed a Yokai."
"She was being chased by a bunch of guards with weapons I TOLD YOU to keep in beta!" Leo snapped.
"She put 13 Yokai in the hospitals!" Mikey chipped in.
"It was probably all an accident. Ava would never hurt someone. Without cause." Leo denied.
"Leo! Don't you think you have a part in this?!" Raph accused.
"No. I told her to stay here. She didn't listen." Leo hissed, gritting his teeth.
"She wanted to go, and you just told her no! She can make her own decisions." Mikey added.
"So you guys are telling me you would LET her walk into her doom?! Even while out there she's in danger! Every mutant is ready to kill a human if they need to!" Leo shuffled through the papers spread out on the table, finding the document outlawing humans in the hidden city. "And even if she makes it out alive, they might think she's some kind of deserter or traitor when she says the Yokai are good! Or they might experiment on her powers! Or they might just think she's a Yokai in disguise!" All end up with her getting shot! Donnie, do you want her to end up like April?!"
"April was different." Donnie answered calmly. "April was unarmed and a known convict at the time. Need I remind you the detention center was found broken out of. Chances are April got her bat back, broke out of jail, and was shot at their attempt to recapture. And April could have been helped had one of us been there to protect her. However none of us could. One of us could have been with Ava. Rather than denying her feelings, shouting at her after 6 YEARS of being gone, and saying they would kill a thousand of her race to keep her safe."
Leo felt Donnie's eyes burning through him. "Except that's the thing, Don. We can't protect Ava from a bullet. And our lives have so much more weight on them than they did back then. Now we have a city to run. If any of us dies, we lose a council member and a brother."
Silence settled over the room once more. Leo was so. Tired. Of silence. "So the question is, which one of us wants to risk our lives just to keep Ava safe? I already risked my life with the Kraang, and I know I can't put you guys through that again. The solution is to keep Ava here. Here, where it's safe, here where she can stay until humans and Yokai can get along the way Ava and we do."
Leo walked to the door. "So damn it, I don't care what we have to do. Put a bounty on her head. She must be brought to us ALIVE. And anyone who dares to try to kill her is sentenced to death. Got it?" Leo didn't wait for their answer, shutting the door behind him. He had a city to run, and a best friend to hunt down.