To say it was less than an ordinary day for the twenty one year old Kenny Michaels would be a major understatement. It all started that morning. Kenny knew it would be a bad day the moment he opened his eyes. However, the pink haired boy rubbed his tired lids and began to get dressed, despite his foul mood. As a fresh newcomer to New York City, he wasn't used to the stale air and noises that accompanied such a large urban area. This would explain as to how he ended up not getting any sleep. Being from a small town in bum-fuck nowhere, noises were bothersome at the moment, but he knew he'd just have to get over it.

Since today was his day off, he decided it would be best to go ahead and get some important shopping done. He sat at his desk, doing a twirl in his chair, just to liven up the act of sitting as he grabbed his favorite pink gel pen. He pulled out his note pad and made sure to mumble what he needed as he wrote, so as not to get distracted, "Milk. Eggs. Tea... uhhhh... Probably should get cereal..."

After finishing his list, he tossed his notepad and pen in his backpack, making double sure to grab his keys and wallet before heading out the door. He took a sharp left down the hall of his apartment floor and pressed the button for the elevator. Kenny hoped to God no one would show up to join him or already be on the metal clangy death trap that was six floors up. He wondered how fast it would take him to die if the cable snapped. Sometimes he fantasized about it. Dying seemed pretty sweet since he was sure his life was going nowhere good or even mediocre.

After reaching the bottom of his building without having to talk to anyone, he was bombarded by the very shrill voice that he'd come to dread these past three weeks. This was the voice of the person who ran the desk in the lobby area. If you could even call the mess of chairs and cockroaches a lobby at all, "Hey there, Ken-Ken! My main man! The Abbot to my Costello! The butter to my toast!"

Kenny sighed and gave the man a polite smile, "Morning, Jim." He waved at him, not really feeling in the mood for a conversation. He lightly picked up the pace to act as if he were on a time crunch and rushed out the door before he could get into a conversation with the man. Sure, he was a nice guy, but Jim was the type of person to keep talking until his tongue fell out. Kenny did not want to have to deal with that before a cup of coffee and maybe a punch to the face. Who knows? It wouldn't be unwelcome at this point. Plus, New York City was known as a place where surprises happen.

As he walked, the young man, put in his earbuds, trying to tune out the sound of hipsters passing out fliers for their shitty coffee shops and car horns blaring. He plopped about five bucks in change from his pants pocket to an older woman on the street with a sign claiming she was hungry and homeless. Sure he hadn't had his coffee, but he wasn't about to let someone starve so close to where he lived. Five dollars was at least enough to get something from McDonald's or get some 7-11 food, or something.

After grabbing his six dollar coffee, he made his way to the store. When he saw the lines at the registers, he groaned, knowing that with his luck, he wouldn't be out of there anytime soon. And, of course, this assumption was correct. He had a long grocery list, enough to be getting several things from each isle. Each turn he took into the next section, Kenny was held up by quite a few people taking their time to figure out if they wanted store brand or name. 'Just get name! Fuck! You know it tastes better!' He thought to EACH person he was stuck behind. Ken swore to God he'd shoot himself if he ever found himself acting so old and dumb.

By the time the poor sap finally paid for everything, and had all his items stored in the bags he'd brought himself and in his backpack, it was almost five in the afternoon. Sure, he woke up at 11:30, but this was fucking ridiculous. An entire day off spent at the damn store. Amazing. 'Isn't life so Goddamn funny?' He asked himself as he headed home, slower than how he'd gotten there because of all the groceries. He really wished he had a car right then. Even sitting in traffic meant he wouldn't have to carry so much for so long.

As Kenny was almost to his block, he found himself frozen at the sound of a loud clicking sound. This was a sound he knew well from all the hunting trips with his father as a young boy. The voice that came after the click of the handgun made him start to shake at the knees, "Put your shit down and walk towards me, pretty boy!" Spoke the person behind the gun.

Kenny turned to face the man, setting his bags down, careful not to make any sudden moves, "Okay. Here I am. Putting my stuff down." He said, trying to remain calm and levelheaded as he walked towards the other, but his fear was only intensified as he caught sight of how the man was looking at him. This wasn't a robbery. The gaze wasn't on anything he set down. It was on Kenny. A twisted look of malice and a finger on the trigger ready to fire were clear signs by themselves, but his heart sank as he saw a black van pull up and slide open the side door. Shit. What the fuck was this?

"Get in the van, homo." Ordered someone fom in the darkness of the vehicle. Kenny hesitated. Clearly this was a hate crime, but what were they planning? A kidnapping surely, but... what would happen if they got him? Maybe his better option would be to get shot. At least then, he could play dead and maybe they'd drive off. If he got in, would he have a fate worse than death? Probably. This thought began to flood his entire being, filling his mind with anything and everything he'd seen on shows like SVU. Would they hurt him and then drop him back off? Or maybe they'd rape him until they got tired of him and then let him go. Or perhaps, they'd hurt, rape, torture, and beat him to death slowly. Either way, he wasn't going in that van. He'd rather get shot right here and die quickly than deal with whatever plan these assholes had. So, Kenny closed his eyes and took a step backwards, causing the man to lift his gun. His eyes were shut tight, ready for what was to come as he heard a shot fire. He huddled to the ground and covered his head, flinching heavily as more shots began to fire and the sound of metal crushing metal could be heard amongst other sounds that were close to a struggle. He didn't move. He didn't open his eyes. The poor young man just started to cry.

There was a long silence before he heard a deep, gruff voice speak from above him, "It's alright, kid. You're safe. Go ahead and stand up." Said the unknown person, clearly trying to sound like they were sympathetic.

Kenny lifted his head, body shaking more than it ever had as he looked up. And up. And up. There were large feet in front of him, a huge mace swinging beside the legs. There were gigantic hands holding this mace. He stood up to follow the body more, seeing a large shell and noticing greenish-blue skin. He looked up to the face of a giant mutant spiky turtle and put a hand over his mouth, stumbling backwards a bit.

The poor thing still had tears in his eyes as he just stared in shock at the beast that seemed to have saved his life. Was he meant to run? Was he supposed to thank the creature? What was this thing?! "Look, I know I'm a scary guy, but I need ya to talk to me." The creature said, taking a knee to look at Kenny in the eye, "Ya ain't hurt, are ya?" He asked, eyes scanning the boy over. Kenny responded by shaking his head and putting his hands back down to his sides as he realized this thing wasn't here to hurt him.

"Good. Now speak to me. You're in shock right now from what just happened and I ain't leavin' 'til you're calm again. Okay, kid?" Kenny nodded, "Alright. You're understandin' me. That's a good sign. Ya got a name, kiddo?"

"K-Ken..." He gulped, trying to breathe naturally again, but it just wasn't coming to him, "Kenny..." His voice was shaking like crazy, but at least he was speaking.

"Short for what, Kenneth?"

"Yes..."

"Ya live close to here?"

"A b-blooock away..." He took a deep breath.

"You're alright, Kenny. Take ya time. Ya got any questions for me?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering, "Wh-Who are you?" Kenny asked, knowing that was a better question than asking what the creature was.

"Hm. Never been asked for a name by anyone before." The giant mutant smirked, taking a seat against the wall next to them, "Name's Slash." He paused before his next question, "You ain't scared of me?"

"No... not really. I was a l-little at first, but..."

"But?"

"I think you saved me from a fate-fate worse than death, Slash."

The turtle seemed a little taken aback by such a statement. He hadn't heard his name come out of the mouth of anyone he saved before. Usually by now, the person had either run off or begun to sob and beg to be allowed to live, "I-... Uh... Just doin' my job, kid. No big deal."

"It... really is a big deal, Slash." Kenny said, finally taking a step forward, bending over a bit before he hugged the turtle that was sitting against the wall.

Slash froze, mace dropping from his hand as the handle hit the pavement. No human had ever gotten near him besides those friends of the turtles. And neither of those children had ever hugged him, "Chill, k-kid. It's alright... I've-I've gotcha." He wrapped am arm around the shaking boy, wondering why he said 'I gotcha.' Instead of something less intimate like 'you'll be okay'.

Slash's heart sank into his giant stomach the moment he felt the boy shake, hearing him begin to sob. What the Hell were these guys planning to do to this kid that had gotten the boy so worked up?

As if by some instinct in his minuscule amount of human DNA, his first response was to start rubbing Kenny's back. It was an awkward rub. One that showed his human contact was in the range of small to none at all, "You're okay... Just let it out..."

End of Chapter 1