A/N: This is my second story, but my first story that isn't a crossover. So once again, please be constructive in your praises and criticisms. Funny thing, while I do have a basic idea for the plot of my story, most of the details I'm making up as I go along, so we'll just see how it goes won't we? Oh, and *bored monotone* I don't own the ninja turtles in any way, shape, or form. *normal voice* There Nickelodeon, ya happy?
Summary: Two years have passed. Michelangelo is now seventeen, and famous as the Turtle Titan. He is an idol to many young children, and he is a great help to the city. But what does the public think of the Titan when he is revealed for what he really is? Based off 2003 series. I'm ignoring the new lair the turtles and Splinter had to find in season 4. In this story, they still live in the lair they found in season 1. Contains some language and violence, as well as an original character.
Through the Eyes of All
Chapter 1: Michelangelo: The Turtle Titan
Michelangelo looked down upon the bustling city from one of its many rooftops, taking in the atmosphere. He could see the city's inhabitants on the streets arguing with each other to speed up the traffic. He could hear the sounds of dogs' barks throughout the city and the groaning of the industrial plant off in the distance. He could taste the salty air and smell the pollution. In other words, his senses were telling him this was another typical New York City night.
He let a small sigh escape his lips. He missed days like this. Ever since he had become an official member of the Justice Force, his life had become much more complicated, if that was possible. From the very start, he knew that if he were to make a single mistake during a battle, his life would be on the line. Previous experiences with the Shredder, Karai, Bishop, and Hun had proven that point to him before, but with the added weight of his new professional fighting career, that point became more obvious to him than ever. Over the last two years, he had trained harder and more extensively with his brothers in the dojo in order to better prepare himself for whatever would come his way. As a result, he had not only vastly improved his speed and strength, but had developed a slightly more serious attitude when fighting criminals. He still joked around with his family a lot, but when it came to fighting crime, he was often more business than talk. Even his costume had changed over the two years since he started. Rather than the green, orange, and black mix he had when he began his professional career, he now had a costume that was all black, except for the symbol on the front, which was now green instead of orange. His mask now completely covered his face, including his mouth, preventing anyone from noticing his green skin.
It's not that Mikey minded the extra work too badly. He knew the perks that came with being a superhero. There was the copious amounts of citizens that adored him and the good deeds he did. There was the press that reported on his deeds and helped him become well known. And of course, there was the girls. There was also the joy of seeing the smiles of so many little kids, and the knowledge that he was helping change New York City for the better.
But he also knew the drawbacks.
He knew that more criminals than ever would be after his shell, and being a famous public figure increased the chances of both his and his family's discovery. He couldn't make a single slip-up, or else the entire city would know one of their favorite superheroes was a mutated turtle. That's the main reason why he changed his costume in the first place. Granted, he hadn't revealed himself to any humans yet, so he was still unsure as to how he would be seen in the publics' eye. But he wasn't about to risk it just yet.
It was all very stressful for a seventeen year-old.
Mikey snapped out of his daze and stood up, his cape billowing in the late summer breeze. It was nearly midnight, and nothing serious had happened yet, so he decided to call it a night. He turned away from the ledge of the building he was standing on, and took off. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, keeping a well-trained eye out in case he had to stop someone from committing a misdeed. He was only a few blocks away from the abandoned Eastman & Laird building, where the elevator to his family's lair stood inside. However, as he jumped over another rooftop, he noticed a scene not too unfamiliar to him. He backtracked to the building above the alley where the scene took place. He jumped down silently to the bottom of the alley and watched so as to fully understand the situation.
A woman was being assaulted by three men in the corner of the alley. That part Michelangelo had seen many times before, but one thing that interested him was that two other men were on the ground, clearly unconscious, next to the three men and the woman. He noticed that the woman, rather than wearing a typical outfit, was wearing a gi, most commonly used in karate of taekwondo. She also had a brown belt around her middle. From that evidence, Mikey could only assume that the woman had at least two years of experience with martial arts, if not more, and had knocked out the other two men. She also appeared to be no more than eighteen or nineteen. That impressed the turtle, so he decided to stay back until it was clear the woman needed help.
As he watched, one of the men charged the woman, who flipped behind the attacker and performed a spinning back kick, which knocked the man against the wall. The man hit his head on a brick that jutted out farther than the others, and slumped down to the ground. The woman smirked for a second before turning to the other two men, who looked rather shocked. They quickly got angry again, and pulled out two lead pipes. Now, the woman was the one to looked shocked. From Mikey's perspective, she clearly wasn't expecting the men to pull out weapons, especially this late in the fight. The men charged at the woman simultaneously with their pipes and began swinging them at her. The woman managed to dodge several of their swings, but eventually one caught her in stomach. She gave a small "Oof!" and doubled over for a second. Unfortunately, that second was just enough time for one of the men to tackle her to the ground. She tried to push the man off, but due to the fact that this man was rather large, she couldn't quite get him off of her. The other man gave an evil grin, and tossed his pipe away, only to take a short blade out of his pocket. He said to the woman, "Now we got ya, ya bitch. It's time for you to learn what happens when you mess with the Red Lizards."
The woman chuckled while Mikey held one down in the shadows. Red Lizards? Mikey thought. Sounds like some kind of Purple Dragon wannabees. They can't be serious.
The woman responded in a similar fashion, "Red Lizards? Are you kidding me? What, the Purple Dragons suddenly aren't good enough for ya?"
The man got infuriated, "It don't matter. We still got ya don't we?"
She responded quietly, "Well...yeah, I guess."
"And we're still gonna make you pay." The man said, as he lowered his knife towards to woman's neck.
The woman's eyes widened, and she struggled under the other man's weight. "Get OFF of me, you BASTARD!"
Michelangelo was surprised. At this point, he had been expecting a high-pitched scream. Clearly, Mikey thought, I've been following stereotypes too much. This woman was pretty tough. But regardless of how tough she was, Mikey couldn't stand there and watch any longer. He took a step towards the men, while still in the shadows, and said, "If I were you I'd step away from that woman. NOW."
The perpetrator holding the knife gave out a gravely laugh and said, "Oh yeah. And who's gonna make us?"
Mikey responded by stepping out of the shadows and saying simply, "I am."
The man holding the woman down eyes widened, "Holy crap man! It's that Titan freak!"
Mikey took another step forward, "That's right. And this Titan freak is about to make you two wish you never messed with a martial artist."
The man with the knife smirked and folded his arms over his chest, "Oh really? And why is that?"
Mikey smiled under his mask, "Well, let's put it this way," he said as he pulled out his nun chucks, "We tend to stick together."
The man holding the woman down got off of her and began to back away slowly, "Hey man," he said to his partner, "Maybe we should go. I mean, three of our guys have already been taken out, and things suddenly ain't lookin' so good for us. We should probably..."
"No!" The first man shouted. "We don't need to back down from THIS guy. I mean, look at him. Tryin' to pass himself off as some kinda ninja." He said in reference to Mikey's costume. "Besides, there's two of us and only one of him. We can take him."
Mikey chuckled softly, "You can try if you want to. But I warn you, I don't go down easily."
The first man said back, "Well, we'll just hafta see about that."
Mikey got into a battle stance. He was about to charge at the men when he noticed the woman get off of the ground. He called out to her, "Hey, young lady. You mind if I take care of these guys for ya?"
"Sure," The woman responded as she brushed off her gi pants, "Be my guest. Besides, I already got three of them. You can have the rest."
Mikey gave her a sly look, even though she couldn't see it, "What, you're sayin' these are just the leftovers? That's no fun."
"Enough talk!" The first man shouted at Mikey, "Let's see what you're made of!"
The two men charged at Mikey, their pipes swinging wildly. It wasn't even a challenge for the turtle. As soon as the men made their first swipes at him, he jumped several feet into the air. He jumped so quickly that the two men were confused as to where he went. When they finally looked up, all they saw was the ends of two nun chucks smash into their faces. They slumped to the ground, unmoving.
Mikey landed on the ground silently and looked at a nonexistent watch. "Hmmm, five seconds," he said, "I expected better from people that think so highly of themselves."
He turned away, and was about to climb up the side of the building when he heard the sound of clapping behind him. Turning around, he noticed it was the woman he has just helped.
"Impressive," she said, "You took those men out without even trying."
"I'm more impressed with you," Mikey responded, "You took out three of those five men. And it looked like you would've gotten the other men had they not pulled out those pipes."
"Yeah," The woman said with a frown, "I should've seen that coming."
"Don't worry about it," Mikey said as he patted her shoulder, "When you've been doing this as long as I have, you tend to make a mistake sooner or later. You can't win em' all."
"Yeah, I guess not." She took Mikey's hand and shook it briskly, "My name's Judy."
Mikey returned the shake, hoping silently she wouldn't feel his three fingers, "Nice to meet you Judy. Hey listen, from what I've seen, you're really good on martial arts. I hope you don't plan on giving up on it."
"Don't worry," She said, "I'm not giving up on martial arts anytime soon, especially not with my black belt test coming."
"Oh really," Mikey asked, "When is your test?"
"September 18th."
"Well," Mikey said as he turned around, "Good luck then. Maybe I'll see you some other time."
Judy smiled at him, "Maybe so."
Mikey was about to leap back up to the rooftop when Judy's hand grabbed her shoulder. "Wait a minute," she said, "You got to know my name. I think it's only fair that I know who you are."
Mikey grinned under his mask, feeling like Spiderman all of a sudden, "You know who I am."
Judy got confused, "I do?"
Mikey jumped off the sides of the buildings and on to the rooftop. And as he began running across the building towards home, he shouted loudly enough so Judy could hear, "Your friendly neighborhood Turtle Titan!"
A/N: Hope you liked my first chapter! And don't worry, the story's just begun. The story will really start to pick up in the next several chapters. I just need to solidify my entire plot.