It Could Be Worse
by Reinbeauchaser
Disclaimer – No, I don't own them, so stop assuming I do. I just like to toss them into a few of my stories, is all. Other than that, read and review.
I do try to write original stories, but now and then, I find myself attracted to an idea that someone else started. I don't know if this fic is one of them, but in case it is, please accept my apologies if I seem to be plagiarizing.
Oh, and this first chapter is not based on Alice and Wonderland. It is far more surreal than that. Bwahaha!
Chapter One – Leo Through the Looking Glass
……...
Leo stared at the illuminated face of his alarm clock.
It was two a.m., thirty minutes later than it was the last time he had checked.
Groaning, he reached up and rubbed his tired eyes in frustration, muttering, "That's the last time I get talked into pizza and soda so late in the evening." Breathing out a deep sigh, he added, "No, wait, that's the last time I let Mike order pizza and soda late in the evening. Who in their right mind puts pickles on their pizza anyway?" He then shook his head and rolled over once more, hoping that maybe his left side might provide a better sleeping position. "Why'd he'd even think pickles would taste good is beyond me. I must have been half out of my mind to even have a slice."
After twenty more minutes of tossing and turning, it was becoming painfully obvious to Leo that lying in bed and thinking about trying to sleep was only making him more awake. Finally, he sat up and sighed, again, "Maybe a work-out for a half hour or so might help." The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded, "Yeah, maybe if I get tired out, I might be able to relax enough to fall asleep." His stomach gurgled about then, offering a bit of protest over the meal from earlier, causing him to lament, "That is if nothing else distracts me."
As he slipped off the mattress and stood up, Leo switched on the table lamp and reached over to grab his elbow and kneepads from off the nearby dresser. Quickly slipping them on, he looked over and saw his blue mask lying next to where the pads had been. As he reached for it, he stopped and decided otherwise, remarking with a shrug, "It's not like I need the mask to work out or anything."
Then, quietly, he eased out of his room, shuffling silently through the concrete corridor of the lair and towards the dojo. Along the way, he yawed big and then stretched his arms over his head, flexing his muscles in order to loosen them. Clearly, he was tired, but the pizza and the caffeine in the soda were doing a fine job of keeping him very much awake.
As he came closer to the training area, however, he could hear someone working out in the room. The huffing and puffing, combined with a few grunts, said as much to him. He smiled, then, and gently shook his head in empathy.
"Hmm…maybe Raph couldn't sleep either. Wouldn't be surprised if that pizza's affected him the same way it did me!" Leo brightened, looking forward to sparing with his assertive brother and quite confident that their combined workout would facilitate tiring them both enough so that they would finally be able to sleep.
However, the moment Leo stepped into the dojo he knew almost immediately that, whomever it was working out, it was not Raphael.
With only a small, lit candle nearby that provided a scant offering of light, the shadows were deep and concealing. Yet, they were not deep enough to hide the man who now performed in the center of the room and who currently had his back towards Leo. It was frighteningly obvious to the turtle that this man had compromised the lair's security measures.
"HEY! WHO are you and what are you doing here?" Leo demanded loudly, taking a defensive posture. He crouched low, now, with his legs in a stance, ready to move in any direction if needed. His arms were up level with his shoulders, his left hand out in front of him, palm facing his opponent, while he cocked the right arm back as if ready to strike. Where he had neatly housed his swords far against the wall alongside the other weapons, Leo knew they were too far away for him to get to them in time. He would have to rely on his karate and ninjitsu skills to protect himself – and the lair.
However, despite Leo's commanding verbal query, the man continued working through the kata he was now executing. He acted as if he hadn't heard the young ninja's question at all, but instead he swiftly whipped his arms and legs around, continuing to keep his back to Leo. His rhythm was flawless, with each movement crisp, sharp, and masterful. If not for the fact that this stranger had blatantly violated the lair, Leonardo would have been impressed.
As the man moved in and out of his routine and through the candle's small, bright bit of light, Leo noticed perspiration glistening along the human's body. It was obvious he had been in the dojo for quite a while all ready. With the stranger's black ebony hair tied behind him in a slick short ponytail, it eluded that, if left unfettered, it would have probably hung down along his shoulders. Additionally, his body was well muscled and toned to rock hard conditioning, another obvious testament that the man, this interloper, was well acquainted with martial arts.
Then, as if in answer to Leo's forceful query, the man finished his kata by snapping around with an almost terrifyingly wicked flying kick. He ended his 'performance' by gracefully dropping to the floor on one knee, while the other leg stretched out behind him, as if in preparation to run. With his hands resting flat against the surface of the concrete floor beneath him, he bowed his head quickly, further hiding his identity. His breathing, although deep and extended, sounded even and well paced, proving the man's physical fitness.
"So good of you to join me, Leonardo!" the man said, his oddly familiar baritone voice suddenly piquing Leo's curiosity even more. It softly echoed against the hardened walls of the dojo and reverberated around the room until it finally rested again with the one nearly prostrate before the turtle.
"What – did you say?" Leo exclaimed in halting surprise, a slow realization beginning to permeate his sleep-deprived brain. His eyes widened slowly as his mind frantically tried to recall from where he had heard the voice before.
"So glad…" the man lifted his head, revealing his face full on and causing Leo to gasp, "…that you could join me." The interloper smiled broadly, his white teeth glinting in the light of the waxy luminary.
"SAKI?" Leo seethed out as he backed up, now recognizing the man and clearly shocked that his old nemesis was currently and without warning in his home.
As if amused by the turtle's surprise, Saki chuckled, "Why, yes, of course. Who did you expect?"
"Expect, what are you talking about?" Leo declared hotly. "I – I expected Raphael or one of my other brothers, certainly not YOU! How in SHELL did you get in here, anyway?" He quickly looked back over to where his precious swords were, wishing he had kept to the habit of keeping them with him in his room, instead of storing them neatly in the dojo. "Stupid, so stupid; I should always have them with me!" he berated himself angrily. He glared back at his opponent again and swallowed. If Saki wanted to, he could easily make it to the weapons and have at least one sword at the ready before Leo caught up with him.
Rising to a stand and rounding his shoulders a bit to further release himself from his routine, Saki took two steps to his left, leaned down, and swiped up a towel resting nearby on the floor. He noticed Leo flinch ever so slightly, though, causing the man to furrow his brow just a little, as if confused. Then, as he straightened back up and as he wiped the sweat off his face, he asked, "Raphael? Why would you expect Raphael to be in here, Leonardo?"
Realizing he wouldn't have time to fetch his katana, Leo tried to stall. Maybe, his outburst had roused his other brothers, maybe even Master Splinter. If any of them had been here for back up, Leo knew they would distract Saki enough to where he could then retrieve his swords and finish his rival for good.
Leo spat out angrily, thoroughly offended that this terrible enemy of his had invaded his clan's territory, "Raphael lives here, idiot, and you don't. Why are you here? For that matter, how did you even find us?"
Leo glared venomously at the man, watching him with growing apprehension. As Saki casually wiped his upper torso down with the towel, he looked back in amusement at the turtle. A small, knowing smile gradually began to spread across Saki's face, with Leonardo's breathing becoming short ragged gasps. A subtle panic began to blossom in the pit of the turtle's stomach as he thought about an even graver scenario. A sudden and sickening realization came to him that this was merely a distraction in and of itself. The idea that Foot soldiers were possibly now disabling the rest of the family in their sleep teased menacingly at the edge of Leo's mind. Maybe Saki wasn't expecting him to be up at all, and this confrontation was the only way of keeping the turtle preoccupied.
"Leonardo, you truly are not a funny person; that's about the worse joke I've heard in a very long time," the man chuckled as he twirled his now damp towel into a thick rope, "But then, humor never was one of your strong suits." Saki then whipped the towel around the back of his neck, allowing the length of it to wrap around the top part of his shoulders and letting it hang down his chest. Holding on to both ends of the towel to keep it in place and as he attempted to walk around Leo to exit the dojo, he offered as he smiled wide, "However, if you're too tired to spar, then I can wait until morning."
Then, just as Saki came alongside Leonardo to head out into the hallway, without warning the turtle expertly swept the man's legs out from under him. The movement caused Saki to spiral up and then down towards the floor. However, just before the man would have crashed hard to the concrete ground, he deftly broke his own fall. Grabbing the floor with his left hand, he effortlessly pushed back and away from Leonardo, almost as if they had rehearsed the sudden movements.
"Hey, what was that for?" Saki barked, standing tall and straight once more. He whipped the towel off his shoulders and balled it up in his hands in mild annoyance.
"I asked you a question, SAKI. WHY are you here?" Leo demanded more earnestly.
Snickering as if trying to act amused, yet not the least bit entertained, the man scoffed as he cocked his head, "What are you talking about, Leo? After your brother, Raphael, killed Splinter and after I brought him to justice for you by convincing him to commit seppuku, once you and I made peace, I came to live here." He then began to laugh, as if the entire inquiry had been nothing but an amusing joke, "Good God, boy, where have you been?"
With his breathing coming in ragged gasps, now, Leo's head began to swim in unsettling vertigo. He felt ready to topple over from the sheer horror of what he had just heard. Then, the partially digested pizza in his stomach protested even more. Yet, as he listened to Saki laugh, Leo felt absolute terror rising up from the very pit of his stomach, seeming to strangle around his throat, as the man's words permeated his consciousness.
However, the only thing that Leo could do next, the only thing he seemed to be capable of, was to sound out a gut-wrenching and heart-rending scream.
A/N – This is for all readers who have found themselves hooked into any of my stories that are currently unfinished. With unsettling frequency, I am finding the 'well of creativity' dry as a bone around my PC. Consequently, I am taking an unofficial hiatus from working on any of them. I'm hoping that once my daughter is back in college (September) and I have the house to myself (peace and uninterrupted quiet until 6-6:30 p.m.), I'll get back on track once again. For the moment, family comes first.
Personally, I think I need new material that does not incorporate OC's. Keeping track of their personality profiles and quirks have become daunting, to say the least. Writing a story with just our green guys in a half-shell seems so much simpler by comparison.
This particular fic was supposed to be a one-shot, but the way it ends, it rather leaves you pondering what's up, which is probably what Leo is wondering, too. There will be four more chapters and then I'll either tag it with an epilogue or leave it at that.
Anyway, maybe between now and September, some inspiration will take route to help add to my other stories. Thanks a bunch for your understanding and for faithfully reading anything that I write.
Be blessed.
