The rain in October was cold. Not one person in their right mind would willingly stand under the overcast skies that gave up buckets of chilled water. But this was New York, where hardly anyone couldn't be considered out of their minds. So no one questioned the two teens standing at equal heights clad in black hoodies at the end of one of thousands of unmarked back alleys in the city.
The two young men stood quietly, one leaning up against the brickwork and the other seemingly more interested in his phone than the world around him. A businessman dressed to the nines and hurrying to get home from work during these late evening hours glared at one of the boys when he loudly snapped gum as he passed. The pop sounded like a cap gun going off and would have startled anyone. The robust office worker huffed at the smirking youth before hailing a taxi and directing it to his apartment, where he would no doubt sit down in front of his television on a comfy sofa, be served a steaming plate of lasagna, and go to bed peacefully, forgetting all about the two boys at the end of that alley.
"You just have to find any little way to get on my nerves, don't you?" One of the boys grumbled as he put his phone into the hoodie's pocket. He glared at the ornery grin the other boy gave him from under the shadows of his hood.
"Yup." Another pink bubble was blown and popped, only gaining an irritated eye roll from the adjacent teen, "How long do we gotta wait here? I thought these guys were supposed to have a rendezvous an hour ago."
"Patience, Raph. It's not like we had the most reliable intel," The one reasoned with the other, watching him scoff and scuff his sneaker toe against the saturated pavement.
"Says you. Casey is the guy to know for stuff like this," Raph defended his source with a snarl, "He's got friends on the inside from when his dad used to work for them guys."
"Yeah, but Casey is the same guy that thought starting a food fight on Mystery Meat Monday was a good way to give the principal a piece of his mind, and then got suspended for a week."
"Hey! Casey was speaking for all of us when he did that. Who knows what's in that stuff! For all we know, it could be turt-"
"Sorry to interrupt this meaningful conversation," An exasperated voice buzzed into the ears of both the boys, who stood a little straighter as if they had just gotten caught doing something wrong, "But we've got movement on the South side. Leo?"
"On it Donnie," Leo answered with a press to the small mechanical earpiece, nodding to Raph and giving him the go signal. Raph gave him a gloved thumbs up, making Leo chuckle, "You really think those fingerless gloves are cool?"
"They are so cool!" A second voice chipped in enthusiastically from over the headgear before Raph could voice his own defense, "What's a biker without his fingerless leather gloves? Nothing. A wannabe. Raphael's no wannabe!"
"Mikey, get off the line," Raphael groaned in embarrassment at having someone support his aesthetic choices. Snickers erupted from everyone that had been listening aside from the subject himself. Pretending to wipe a tear from his eye, Leo sobered up and got serious, heading out without reconfirming the action with his brother. He knew Raph would be right behind him. The two moved in practiced silence into the alleyway and looped down and around the back road meant for delivery and utility trucks. They stuck to the shadows and kept their hoods securely over their faces.
It didn't take long for them to find their intended target. A large white van, rusting in more places than an old sewer pipe. The double doors on the back were wide open in order for the buff men and women surrounding it to stack large silver suitcases into it. Raph and Leo settled on opposite sides of the dead-end alley's entry and both squatted down to listen and observe. While Raph seemed a tad fidgety, Leo was hoping he'd actually stick to the plan this time and wait for his signal before busting in sais whirling. He decided to trust his brother and reached up to tap his earpiece again, "You getting this, D?"
"You bet," Came the soft reply that held a tinge of curiosity that meant Donatello had found something, "It's odd that they're actually taking the time to stack those cases. Purple Dragons are usually pretty careless with their cargo. Whatever is in those cases must be pretty delicate. Try to get at least one before you blow the whole thing up."
"I dunno Don," Raph's excited whisper came over the line in response to Don's deadpan request, "I'll do my best but busting skulls takes priority."
"I was talking to Leo, Meathead."
"Maybe it's Meathead Monday," Mikey giggled boyishly, and Leo could envision the rain starting to steam off of Raphael as he was teased.
"Quiet, you three. It's Friday anyways." Leo scolded, ending the useless conversation and striving to listen in as one of the larger gang members groaned loudly.
"Can't believe we've been reduced to grunt work. We've got more important things to be doing than this!" The large man complained loudly and threw the box he was roughly into the back of the van. A much scrawnier, noodle like man squawked in surprise at his larger friend's outburst.
"Be careful with that you oversized oaf! You might not understand, but that doesn't mean the boss doesn't. This stuff is going to make us rich, and win us all the turf on this side of the city!"
Raphael tensed, and Leo shot him a warning glance that went ignored. He in turn also tensed since he didn't want to be caught unprepared when his brother would undoubtedly disobey his orders and spring into battle. Neither of them moved for the moment as several suitcases were passed around and tucked into the vehicle. It was nearly full before the larger of the men seemed to finally process what the smaller had said and make his reply.
"You're right, I don't get it. How is a bunch of chemicals gonna help us win this turf war?" The noodle man groaned and put a hand on his forehead.
"Chemicals? I don't like the sound of that. Leo, you have to get me a sample." Leonardo didn't reply to his brother's urgent request on the other end of the line, choosing to focus on the next words the gang members were exchanging.
"Look. You don't gotta understand. That's what I'm here for," the words were said slowly and condescendingly, as if spoken to a child, "All you gotta know is that you'll get rich, and you'll be able to crush the skull of that little punk that started all of this mess. Got it?"
"Got it!" The large man seem satisfied, a wicked grin stretched across his fat face. Until Raph punched the expression right off of it, that is.
"Are you serious?" Leo grit under his breath as he rushed to his brother's aid. He didn't know what set the hothead off this time, but he couldn't have chosen worse timing. So much for gathering intel. Hood falling back with his forward momentum, Leo managed to knock the wiry man aside before he could get a chance to use the gun he'd been a little too eager to whip out and aim at his brother. The weapon skidded across the pavement and into a black puddle. The disarmed foe scrambled back away from Leo on the ground, frightened beady eyes staring up and into the azure masked face of the teen. Leo didn't hold the eye contact for long, as the other Purple Dragon members had ditched the last of their precious cargo in favor of driving out the invaders.
"Take that you walking sandbag!" Raph roared triumphantly as the beefy man fell backwards onto the ground. Leo sent him a scowl as he drew out one of his short swords that were holstered incognito on his back. The fiery teen reached up to pull down his own hood, revealing a red mask, glinting amber eyes, and a smirk that held no regrets. Leo rolled his eyes as he used his sword to knock a switchblade from a young girl's hand. The constant drizzle of rain seemed to suddenly turn into a torrential downpour that made everything just a bit more difficult. Leo realized he should have taken Mikey up on that offer for a haircut the week before when his mop of drenched black locks stuck to his forehead and over his eyes. He managed to duck out of the way of a brass knuckle wielding fist, but slipped on a slick patch of asphalt and had to tumble sideways in order not to be stepped on by the gang members trying to run away from Raphael's furious offense. Then the sound of an engine roared to life over the sound of pounding rain.
"Need some help, Leo?" Mikey's voice cut in clearer than any of the other ongoing noises. Leo grit his teeth as the back brake lights of the van came on, filling the darkened alleyway with a ruby glow.
"No! Stay in your position." The masked boy commanded, managing to roll out of the way and grab an unconscious Purple Dragon before the reversing vehicle could run them over. Leo could see the contents in the back of the van tilt sideways since someone forgot to shut the back doors before trying to bolt.
"Really? It kind of looks like you need some help, or the baddies are gonna get away..." Leo grimaced as he recognized the noodle like man in the front seat, obviously preferring his chances in the giant machine over hand to hand combat. He was about to scold Michelangelo again when an outraged shout came from the brawl still ongoing in the alley.
"A little help, Fearless!" The leftover gang members, four in total, had converged on Raphael and were pushing him into the wall, "They're looking to make 'dead-end' a literal term here."
"We can take care of the van. You help Raph." Donnie's decisive, calm voice announced followed by a whoop of joy that sounded over the rooftops and earpiece from Mikey.
"Don, Mikey! No!"
"But Leo-"
"It's only logical, Leo-"
"LEO!"
"Fine! Whatever, just go!" Leo shouted as he was forced to agree with the decision. The van peeled away with a screech as Leo pushed himself up and made it over to the gang members surrounding his brother. Frustration flared and drove his attack as he jumped and spun, knocking his heel into the tender flesh between one of the gang member's ribs. The man fell sideways, winded, and suddenly Raph's odds were evened. The two made short work of the untrained youths and made sure to pile them up nice and neat for the police to pick up.
"Looks like nobody's crushing skulls tonight," Raphael grumbled with a snap of his gum as he shoved the largest of the members into the pile and ran a hand through his own raven locks to slick them back into place. Lightning cracked and the following rumble seemed to shake the ground, giving Leo an ominous vibe.
"Come on, we don't have time for your gloating," The teen remarked as he ran off towards where he hoped the van and his two younger brothers would be. He didn't hear Raph's grumbling or notice the overturned trashcans in the alley since they were unimportant at the moment. He just needed to get to Mikey and Don and help them. He was already formulating six different plans based on various worst-case scenarios that had wormed their way into his mind. The two were just rounding the corner to the last alley before the main streets when Leo was grabbed by his hood and kept from heading out to Fourth Street.
"Woah, bro, cool your jets! We're right here." Mikey's familiar voice laughed, making the two human teens swing around to face their shorter brother.
"Mikey!" The relief in Leo's voice was apparent as he took hold of the green, three fingered hand that had been clamped to his jacket. The turtle had a mile wide grin across his face, his own hoodie sliding off his shoulder from being both too large and completely soaked, revealing the edge of his shell and the forest green skin underneath, "Are you guys alright? I can't believe you just went off and did that."
"We're perfectly fine, Leo. As always." Everyone turned to look in Donnie's direction as the taller turtle materialized out of the shadows holding a silver suitcase and a deadpan expression. Leo's cerulean gaze flicked between his brother's nonchalant face and the briefcase he was holding.
"And the van?" He asked incredulously, as if he could hardly believe they'd actually succeeded. Don seemed to pick up on the tone and rolled his eyes with a rare smirk, while Mikey bounced around excitedly on his tiptoes.
"Oh! Come look, come look!" The orange masked turtle whisper-shouted while he bolted for the street corner, gesturing wildly for his brothers to follow. The two boys followed him over cautiously while Donnie seemed content to stay put where he was in the alley. Looking around the corner revealed a massive fire not even two hundred feet away. The flames were an off blue color, with bursts of crackling purple flames springing out every now and then. The flames were so hot that as soon as they peered into the street they could feel the heat on their faces, and not even the downpour seemed to be able to out the pyre.
"Is that the van?" Raph asked in what was obviously impressed amazement. Mikey leaned back and puffed out his chest.
"Like a turtle do, boi!" The small turtle's chin was raised towards the sky and made Leo and Raph shake their heads.
"What about the driver?" Leo added, sudden concern for the skinny man rushing through him. He'd rather not be liable for the fiery death of anyone, even a scumbag Purple Dragon.
"He bolted as soon as he crashed, but he managed to grab a suitcase before the whole thing combusted," Donnie, who had decided to join them after all, carefully stated. Leo looked back at the tall terrapin questioningly. There was a tone in Don's voice that meant he was concerned about something. Catching the leader's eye, Donnie went on, "I'm not so sure starting a chemical fire in the middle of New York was such a great idea."
"It's not like we started it, D! The whole thing just blew on it's own!" Mikey insisted whilst making several explosion sounds. Leo was tempted to ask what he meant by that when the sound of sirens wailed in the near distance. Instantly all four were back amongst the safety of the shadows. They quickly backtracked, not making a sound as they skirted pools of polluted rainwater and head for the nearest manhole cover. Raph reached down instantly to grab the cast iron and cement plate, straining against it in order to make it budge. Mikey silently came up beside him and lent an unwelcome hand. The cover came off in mere seconds with the help from the mutated turtle. Raph scowled at him.
"Showoff."
"Spaghetti arms."
"Let's go already," Leo groaned, cringing at Mikey's maniacal laughter as the turtle jumped down the sewer tunnel to be chased after by a livid Raphael. The boy looked back impatiently to Donatello, who was staring up at the stack of glittering purple smoke rising above the buildings of the city, "Don, come on."
Donnie hesitated for a moment more to stare at the ominous pillar before turning to the manhole with an unreadable expression. With his brother finally in the safety of the sewers, Leo allowed himself to go in as well and drag the impossibly heavy cover with him. As he managed to close the lid over the opening, he could see the flashing red and blue lights lighting up the alley and sky like a warning flare. Something in his gut told Leo that tonight wasn't just another Purple Dragon drug bust. Shaking his head knowing there was little he could do about it at this moment, Leo turned to the inky depths of the sewers to follow his brothers home.
Alright folks... A rewrite! I actually have a plan this time around, and I think you're gonna like it.