"Alchemy's Pet"

Ch. 1

Bryan stared at himself in the mirror. For seven long years his life just seemed to get worse and worse; the death of his sister, constantly being hunted down by Dominick and the police, always having bad luck with love. He was sure he would always be miserable for the rest of his life. No matter where he went, trouble seemed to follow him.

He sighed, watching the blood run down the sink. Tears pattered onto the porcelain sink, his shoulders shaking slightly. As the young male cried, the sounds of a car pulling up in front of his apartment could be heard, then the slamming of doors. He would have ignored it if it hadn't been for the familiar voices that soon followed. Running over to the bathroom window, he looked down and to his horror he saw three big men in suits and behind them was an old nemesis he hadn't seen since his criminal years. He had helped put him in jail but it looked like he had gotten out… so much for the judicial system.

Spinning around he ran out of the bathroom. As he ran through the halls, he heard the smashing in of the door and loud footsteps going through the apartment.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Bryan thought frantically. Looking around quickly, he spotted the fire escape and made his way towards that.

"I found him!!"

Sweat beaded down Bryan's forehead and he jumped on to the fire escape, his pursuers right on his tail. He skipped the stairs completely and jumped down to the ground. He yelped in pain, landing on one of his legs wrong. Pulling himself to his feet, he began to run down the street.

What do I do now, what do I do now?? He screamed in his head, because even with the head start, the others were gaining up on him fast. His eyes scanning for a quick escape, he soon spotted an open manhole and dove in. Panting, he pressed himself up against the sewer wall as his pursuers ran past the manhole. For a long time, he just stared up at the opening, waiting any second for them to turn back and find him. Suddenly he heard a noise quickly approaching him. It was a sort of grating sound like… wheels on concrete? He slowly turned it his head toward where the sound was coming from and his eyes widened in shock as a giant turtle with an orange bandana headed straight toward him on a skateboard.

"W-whoa, look out, I can't sto–!"

"Mikey, what the hell were you thinking??" Raphael yelled at his younger brother as he set the neko-boy on the couch.

"I'm sorry!" the younger turtle cried, looking like he was on the verge of tears. "I ran her over with my skateboard. What was I supposed to do, just leave her there?? And besides, she's just so cute with those kitty ears!" Michelangelo began to play with Bryan's cat ears.

"Uh… Mikey, I believe she is a he…" Donatello pointed out.

Michelangelo just stared at Donny, and then went back to playing with the neko-boy's ears.

"Okay, everyone just calm down. I'm sure we can figure something out. Just as long as Master Splinter doesn't find out, everything will be fine," Leo butted in.

"Find out about what?" Splinter suddenly entered the living room, Gina right behind him. He had been teaching her a few katas in the dojo.

"Master Splinter!" The four turtles exclaimed almost in unison.

Mikey quickly stood in front of Bryan, hiding him view. "How's it hanging Master Splinter?" The youngest turtle asked, trying to act non-chalant and failing.

The rat just raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you hiding from me?" He asked in a stern voice. "Leonardo?" Splinter turned to his oldest son who just looked down. "Raphael?" He turned his gaze to the red bandana clad turtle who just whistled, looking around the room. "Donatello?" The elderly rat was beginning to get irritated as he turned to look at Donny who was fiddling with a random gadget. Finally, he settled on Michelangelo who gulped. "Michelangelo," he said in a warning tone.

Mikey stared at his sensei then finally blurted out, "Okay, I was skateboarding in the sewers and accidentally ran over this cat boy… so I… brought him here…" He stepped aside to reveal Bryan on the couch. "Please, can he stay? Oh please, oh please, oh please?"

The rat hesitated looking at Mikey who just gave him puppy dog eyes. "I'm not sure… We know nothing about this human… if he is human at all."

"I've never seen anyone like him…" Gina walked over to the couch looking Bryan over from head to toe. He looks so young… and those cat ears – and a tail?" The young male stirred slightly and that's when she saw the tattoo on his back. It was of a winged serpent eating its own tail with a six sided star in the middle. "Hey, Donny, what do you make of this tattoo?"

Donatello took a closer look. "Hmm… I don't know. Maybe I should do some research on it."

"Maybe the kid just has a fetish for that sorta thing," Raph suddenly said.

"You mean like Mikey's fetish for cute things?" Leo grinned slightly

"Mikey looked up from playing with Bryan's tail at his brothers. "It's not a fetish!" He cried defensively which just caused the others to laugh except for Splinter.

"I should probably go do that research…" Donny quickly retreated to his lab.

"I'm right behind you!" And Gina quickly followed close behind.

Just then there came a soft moan and Bryan began to stir. Opening his eyes, he looked around the lair seeming half asleep. Then suddenly his eyes widened and he stared at Leo, then Raph, Splinter and finally Mikey, who was just inches from him. A soft squeak escaped him which quickly elevated in to a scream as he scrambled to get away. "Oh my God I'm in Hell! I don't know how but I'm in Hell!"

"Geeze, could that brat scream any louder??" Raphael held his hands over his ears, flinching.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down little dude. You're not in Hell; you're in the sewers beneath New York," Mikey said, trying to calm down the freaked out Bryan.

"Th-the sewers…?" Bryan finally calmed down. "Wh-who are you? What are you?"

"If you will listen, I will tell you everything you need to know," Splinter said in a soft tone.

Bryan shakily nodded and slowly settled himself down to listen to the rat's tale.