Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT or anything associated with it except my character. All things are noted from the 2012 series unless noted otherwise.
Note: This starts after the last episode "The Deadly Venom".
Above the streets of New York City, if one was looking well enough, the outline of four figures jumping from rooftop to rooftop could be seen. If one looked really closely the outline of shells could be seen, but no one would have really believed that four turtles were roof jumping across the city.
"How's everyone holding up?" The blue masked turtle Leonardo, or Leo as his friends called him, called back as he ran slightly ahead of his brothers, his katana holders bumping up against the back of his shell. It had only been twenty four hours removed from all of them being poisoned by their mind controlled sister Karai.
"We're doing just fine, thanks." The red masked turtle Raphael, or Raph for short, replied a little snappishly. He of all the turtles was the one most likely to not admit it even if this simple exercise was killing him.
"Speak for yourself." Gasped the purple masked turtle Donatello, Donnie for short. Considering the fact he was by and large the brains of the group, he was the least fit of the team, at least relatively speaking since they were ninjas and trained appropriately.
"I should have brought my skateboard." The orange masked turtle Michelangelo, or Mikey, mused to himself, not so much because he was tired but because he wanted to have some fun rather than do the exercise.
Leonardo continued on, knowing somewhere their human friends April O'Neil and Casey Jones were conditioning themselves a bit as well after being poisoned. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if their red headed friend was now at their lair training with their sensei Splinter. Casey would then be there too, tagging along.
"Hey, stop for a minute." Donatello called out as he slowed down.
His three brothers slowed down as well and Raphael mock glared at him. "Getting tired already there brainiac?" He inquired with a smirk.
Donatello gave him a mock glare back as he answered, "No shell brains. I thought I heard a scream."
"I think you're hearing things dude." Mikey said idly as he placed his hands on the back of his head.
Leonardo took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to focus his hearing. At first all he could hear was the slight bickering of two of his younger brothers and was too about to dismiss Donnie's claim when he thought he heard the start of a scream and then the sound of flesh on flesh. "He's right." Leo proclaimed. "This way."
The three turtles exchanged glances for just a moment before following their blue masked leader as they jumped a couple rooftops and landed on a fire escape. By that point the scene was clear.
The four turtles could make out four guys, all of them well-muscled and seemed to be about the size of one of their foes Chris Bradford before being double mutated into his current form that Mikey had named Rahzar.
Even more disturbing was the girl on the ground of the alley. She seemed a couple of years older than April, her long blonde hair dishelved, some of it covering her face. That did nothing to hide the black mark over her eye socket and upper left cheek. She wore a tank top that was torn from the bottom halfway up, revealing her tan and trim stomach, the left strap torn, and a pair of torn blue jean shorts.
"What the hell is going on?" Raph growled with a glare at the guys.
"That's not right." Mikey commented.
The girl tried to move away, the street lamp casting light over her and revealing several bruises on her arms, as well as several cuts on her arms and her knees were scraped up. One of the guys lashed out and stamped his foot on her left side, causing her to gasp in pain.
Donnie thought he heard a cracking. "Leo..." He started.
"Let's teach them a lesson." Leonardo said, beating him to the punch. Then all four turtles leapt down.
One of the guys drew a knife and glared down at her. "Stupid little girl." He snapped. "I'm going to make you regret all of your running." He started toward her, "Going to carve my initials right on your…"
"You won't be doing anything to anybody." Raphael said as he landed in between him and the girl, lashing out his arm and catching the knife in between the middle and left point of his three pronged weapon, the sai, and disarming him as he flipped the guy onto his back.
"You guys are jerks." Mikey stated as he brought his nunchucks around and slapped one of them across the face with it.
Donatello withdrew his six foot staff and twirled it around a moment before using it to sweep another of the guy's legs out from under him.
Leonardo had only drawn one of his katana as he landed in front of the last guy and feinted a slash at him. The guy stepped back as the blue masked turtle anticipated and followed up with a kick to his gut. "You guys are just sick." He stated.
"Our boss wants the girl back." He snapped as he glared at Leonardo.
"In how many pieces?" Donnie questioned sarcastically as he dodged the attempted leg sweep his opponent tried to deliver.
Raphael's opponent swung a punch at him, but the turtle in the red mask stepped to the side, flipped the sai in his left hand around, and trapped his arm in between the prongs of his weapon before whirling around and tossing him.
Mikey noticed the maneuver and did a side flip out of the way as his older brother's 'missile' sailed right into the guy he had been facing. "Nice move bro." He said.
Raph hadn't noticed as he turned to the girl. "Are you alright…er, I mean how are you feeling?" He amended his question as he realized she clearly was not okay. He was actually now sure Donnie was wrong, not all of these bruises were recent.
She blinked up at him and for a moment Raphael expected her to freak out but instead she tried to take a breath and said in a small voice, "I feel…not so good…" She wanted to say something more but ended up coughing. Raphael was relieved that she at least did not cough up blood.
Leonardo's opponent tried to attack him and the blue masked turtle moved to the side and shot his knee into his opponent's stomach and then tripped him. "Not too bright." Leo noted.
"Tell me about it." Donnie agreed as his opponent stood only to receive a staff jab into his stomach and then across the small of his back.
Mikey went to stand next to Raph as the girl got up. He then gasped a bit. "Raph, I think she's bleeding." He stated as he looked where she was getting up from.
Raph wanted to make a smart response to his younger brother's obvious statement until glancing at her and realized where it was coming from. She had a small knife sticking out of her right side, it looked to be in between two of her ribs. "Leo, we got to go." He said.
Leo and Donnie both turned to see what Raph was talking about, then they knew. "We have to get her to a hospital." Donnie said and then remembering they're mutants who can't be seen lamely added, "Somehow."
"No time." Leo replied and looked at Raph. "We need to take her to the lair and hope Master Splinter can treat her."
Raph nodded and reached out for her. Rather she would have fought or not became a non-issue as she lost consciousness and started to fall forward. Luckily he caught the girl in his arms. "Let's go." He said.
"Good thing you caught her Raph." Donnie commented as they headed toward the nearest manhole, not five feet away. "Given the direction she was falling it would have likely driven that knife further into her side."
"I'm sure she'll be glad to know she missed that." Leo said idly as he lifted the manhole cover and allowed his brothers to go before him.
From another rooftop the large skeletal looking dog known as Chris Bradford, but more commonly called Rahzar growled a bit. "What was that about? Who do those guys belong to?" He asked.
A few feet from him stood the mechanical legged fish named Xever, more commonly called Fishface. "I don't know." He answered his sometime nemesis and partner in crime. "They aren't from my neck of the woods. They don't look like Purple Dragons, and I don't think they belong to Steranko either."
"We seem to have new players on the field." Rahzar observed. "We should report this in."
"Perhaps we should…" Fishface started but lost his train of thought at the moment when he saw that the four goons the turtles had seemingly taken out were already gone. "They're gone." He noted.
"How is that possible?" Rahzar wondered but of course Fishface didn't know either. "Even more intriguing. Now we need to tell the others." The two mutants turned and started toward foot headquarters.
April raised her right arm to block, used her left arm to unfurl one of her Tessens, a fan like weapon that was never the less sharp around the edges, and brought her left arm up in an uppercut motion as if she were using the weapon to cut an adversary in half and then back flipped into a fighting stance.
"Yanmea." Master Splinter called out to his latest pupil in a quiet but firm voice. He walked toward her and stood in front of her, his wooden cane lightly tapping against the floor. He limped slightly as he was still recovering from a large mace attack due to the mind controlled actions of Slash, one of their allies. "Well done." He complimented her.
"Thank you sensei." April replied as she bowed to him.
Splinter thought that soon she might just be ready to accompany his sons on missions but thought it best not to tell April that just yet. Not that it mattered to much as circumstances, sometimes of her own doing and sometimes not, often found her on the battlefield anyway. Instead he simply said, "That is all for today."
April nodded and headed out of the dojo area to see her human friend Casey Jones sitting on the couch munching on a slice of pizza and flipping through channels. "Nothing good on." He muttered to himself. The he looked in her direction. "Hey, Red. Done for the day?"
"Yep." April said as she sat down next to him. "Definitely almost a full blown kunoichi." She added to herself.
"Rad." Casey said. "Of course, there is something to be said for the epicness that is Casey Jones." He added, not one to be shown up if he could help it. April rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"I hope the guys get back here soon." April remarked as she laid her head on the back of the couch and looked at the ceiling. "After all we just went through we all deserve to relax a little." She shuddered just a little at the memory of the snakes in her bed that promptly poisoned her at the order of there on again/off again ally Karai.
"Ditto on that." Casey agreed. He had not told anyone that Karai had poisoned him by giving him a kiss on the lips. He wasn't even sure it meant anything, but then again how could he know. It was kind of confusing in his mind.
It was then they saw Leonardo and Donatello barrel over the turnstile entrance to their lair. As Donnie ran to his lab Leo glanced over at their two human friends. "We need the couch clear." He announced to them before heading into the dojo, presumably to find Splinter.
April and Casey exchanged glances as they got up, wondering which of the two remaining turtles had been hurt. The looked to the turnstile as Mikey came through, followed only moments later by Raph. In his arms he held a girl that April thought was only a little older than her, though she was beaten up and seemed malnourished. "What's going on?" She asked Raph.
Raph started toward the couch. "We found her being attacked by these guys. Said their boss wanted her back." He started to explain.
"The Purple Dragons? Hun?" Casey asked, eyes narrowing. He was not a fan of the Purple Dragons, to say the least. To say nothing of their new leader Hun. "They did this?"
Mikey shook his head. "No way, man. These dudes weren't packing tats." He was heading toward the kitchen. "They still sucked though, not on the hanging level of the ninja." He added.
"We stepped in to help, but when she stood we saw the knife in her side." Raphael said as he nodded slightly to said object, which was facing away from Raph's body for obvious reasons. "We had to bring her here." He set her gently on the couch.
Donnie came out with the first aid kit. "We got to get that knife out." He proclaimed and looked at Casey. "Jones, when I tell you to, pull the knife out." He then looked to April. In this rare instance there was no trace of the infatuation he felt for the red head present, the situation being to grim. "When he does that, I need you to put pressure on the wound to staunch the bleeding." He handed her a towel.
Both of their human companions nodded in consent.
"Now." Donnie said. Casey grimaced slightly as he pulled the knife from her side as gently as he could. As soon as he was clear April knelt down and pressed the towel gently but firmly against her side as Donnie began to unwind some gauze. Meanwhile Raph took the knife from Casey and tossed it into an empty pizza box and muttered a choice curse word.
Mikey came out with a bowl of water in one hand, a cloth on his shoulder, and his pet Ice Cream Kitty in his other hand. Other side Leonardo emerged with Splinter.
Donatello assumed his older brother explained things to their surrogate father already but he felt the need to say, "We're sorry about this sensei, but she needed help and there was no way we could get her to a hospital in time even if we could even get to one without a problem."
Splinter nodded solemnly. "It is alright, my son. I understand." He assured him and came to look at her. "She has been through quiet an ordeal." He noted. "And not just because of this incident."
Raph glared at Mikey. "Why'd you bring that out?" He questioned as his glare slid to Ice Cream Kitty.
"Some people find animals very relaxing." Mikey responded and then stuck his tongue out at him. "At least, when they're awake." He added. She added her own, "Mrow."
While that went on April gently sat the girl up so that Donnie could apply the gauze around her waist, dropping the blood soaked towel. She kept the blonde as still as possible. "Is she going to be okay?" April asked.
"I believe she will recover." Splinter reassured her and glanced at Donatello. "Do not forget to warp the gauze tight around her broken ribs."
Donnie nodded. "Of course." He agreed, already having factored that in. "As far as I can tell the knife wound is a clean stab. No ruptured or damaged organs." He said and when Splinter didn't correct him he moved on. "The ribs also seem to have been broken clean, at least they'll heal properly on their own."
"I don't think that kind of thing is new to those guys." Leo remarked dryly.
"Is there anything else we can do to help her heal?" Raph wondered.
"When she wakes, I can brew her tea that has healing properties." Splinter answered.
April shook her head a bit. "Too bad all of these weird Kraang powers don't include the ability to heal." She lamented.
"I'd still like to know who those guys were, who they worked for." Leo noted.
"You and me both bro." Raph agreed.
"Perhaps when she is able to, she will provide us with answers." Splinter said. "For the moment once she is taken care of she should be allowed to rest."
A few hours passed. Splinter retired to his sanctuary to meditate. Leo spent some time trying, and failing, to play pinball. After taking a few moments to clean the blood off of him, Raph took his roiling emotions out on the punching bag. Mikey had returned Ice Cream Kitty to the freezer after figuring out the girl would not be waking for a while and then he and Casey sat on the floor watching an episode of Crognard the Barbarian, their new favorite show. Donnie and April had reluctantly left the lair to get some pizza for a late dinner.
A small moan drew their attention as they saw the girl slowly getting up. Her hand went to her side and seemed surprised that it was bandaged up. "My brother Donnie and our friends April and Casey took care of that." Mikey explained as he stood up.
"Where am I?" She asked, her throat raw.
"You're in our lair." Leonardo explained as he started toward the couch. He looked at Mikey. "Get her a glass of water." The orange masked turtle nodded and started toward the kitchen.
"Who're you?" Casey asked her. "Why were those goons after you?"
"I…" She started and coughed.
"Let her get some water first, man." Raph said to Casey. He nodded in agreement.
Donatello and April came in with a few pizzas and a small bag from a local grocery store. "She's awake." April noted happily.
"Just now." Casey said.
Donnie set the pizza down to get his first aid kit in case she needed it further and April followed suit, heading toward the couch now. "She doesn't seem to fazed by everyone surrounding her, if you know what I mean." Casey said, subtly implying the mutant turtles in case she hadn't noticed beforehand.
Mikey came out with a glass of water and, much to Raph's chagrin, Ice Cream Kitty. He set Ice Cream Kitty on the table and then handed her the water. "Here you go." He said gently.
She nodded and took the water, taking a small drink. "Thanks." She replied softly and then took another sip. After another moment of drinking she looked at everyone. "Thank you for saving me." She said softly, almost as if she thought it shouldn't have happened.
"What were those morons' problems?" Raph asked.
"They were supposed to take me back to my fath…our employer." She explained.
No one missed the fact she seemed about ready to say father. The starting parallel to Karai shocked Leo a bit, though unlike their prodigal sister this girl seemed to have no problem thanking others.
"What's your name?" April asked her gently.
"Jennifer." She answered as she moved some of her blonde hair behind her left ear. "Jennifer Quinn."
"Why did your employer have those men come after you Jennifer?" Asked Master Splinter softly as he came out of the dojo.
The girl did a small double take at the sight of a giant rat walking and talking but like with seeing the turtles she seemed to take that in stride. "My usefulness to him hasn't ended." She explained. "I ran and he's not ready to let me go."
"Too bad for him." Raph stated.
"I assume if you left that means you don't want to go back." Leonardo surmised. She nodded her head slightly and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Then you won't be going back. The Turtles of Justice will keep you safe." He stated, drawing small moans from Raph and Donnie.
Splinter nodded. "I agree. We will keep you safe." He looked to April. "Show her to the restroom so that she may shower." He said. "Then we will make something light for you to eat."
"Too bad." Jennifer noted as she gingerly stood. "I like pizza."
Mikey laughed. "Me too." He said happily.
"I do not think you should try that right now." Splinter said. "I suspect you haven't had anything substantial to eat in a while and we do not wish to make you sick."
"Master Splinter is right." Leonardo said. "We don't want you to get sick."
"Come on." April said as she gently took Jennifer's hand. "I'll show you to the restroom and the shower. I have some shampoo and conditioner here for when I need it and we stopped by my aunt's place to get you some clothes that she used to wear. It should fit you." She explained.
The guys watched the two girls head down toward where the turtle had their rooms and then looked at each other. "Her father?" Casey said quietly, incredulously.
"That seemed to be what she was going to say." Donnie agreed.
"Bummer." Mikey noted as he placed his hand gently on Ice Cream Kitty's head.
"There is more here than we know." Splinter cautioned them all. He glanced in the direction where the two girls had gone. "There is more here than I suspect even Jennifer knows."
Donnie kept the gauze and tape out. "Might as well keep these out." He noted. "She'll probably need her bandages changed after she's done."
"He's not done with her." Raph repeated. "What could that possibly mean?"
"Maybe she has some super powers." Mikey suggested.
Raph rolled his eyes and bonked his little brother on the head with his fist. "If she had super powers she wouldn't have been letting those guys beat up on her dummy." He retorted.
"Do not underestimate the influence men such as those can have on their children." Splinter cautioned Raphael. "If he convinced her it was necessary it is likely she would let that happen. Some of those bruises and cuts are old enough to support that idea."
Leo didn't say anything but he fully agreed. All one had to do was look at Karai and how much she had believed their arch nemesis The Shredder until she had seen the picture their sensei had of her, him, and her departed mother Tang Shen.
"Something tells me she isn't Power Girl." Casey commented.
Splinter cocked his head a bit in consideration. Though Jennifer wasn't 'Power Girl' as Casey Jones had put it, he was sure something about her was special. Something about her, the only other one who had ever resounded to him that way was April.
What secrets does Jennifer hold? What new threat has just presented itself? These questions will start to unfold. In the meantime, what would you like to see or happen? Review and let me know and I'll see about working it in.