"Marty, are you seriously just going to sit on the roof for all of New Years Eve," Robbie yelled from an open window. "Aren't you going to come inside for the party?"
"Not if I can help it," I shout back. " You know that I'm not a party person. Can't I just go home?" Then I look down the side of the building and he's got his thinking face on. His eyebrows are furrowed and he's biting the inside of his dark cheek. I really don't want to be here, so I resort to using the puppy face. I hate doing the puppy face, but I hate parties even more. And it works!
"Fine, but you have to take a cab home," he waggles a finger at me.
"Okay, I will! Thanks!" Then I climb down the fire escapes of the three-story, brown brick building. Then he lets the wind blow his short blond hair, like the model he is, as he waves good-bye from the window with a perfect white smile plastered to his face. And I wave back before walking around the block. Then I hear him shout from the building, "I'll be back from my business trip in a couple of weeks. Take care of yourself!"
I stop under a street-light to look around and the streets are packed. It's not even 9:00 and there are already some drunk people bumping around the sidewalk. I know I should've expected it, but I'm new to the big apple so I'm still kind of getting a feel for the city. It's a little overwhelming. Coming here from Wyoming has been a major transition. The people here aren't very friendly, not that anyone back home liked me very much either.
I walk towards home, bumping passed all the boozers, but I stop at a convenience store. The bell rings when I step passed the glass door and the cashier is too busy playing on his PSP to bother greeting me. I grab a Vanilla Coke from one of the fridges and a pack of gummy bears. And just as I'm about to pay, a group of guys walk in. They're all dressed in purple and covered in tattoos; they look like bad news. If I just ignore them, they won't bother me. So, I keep my head forward and calmly hand a five-dollar bill to the guy working the counter. He trembles a little as he takes my money, obviously scared of the guys behind me. "You're change is $2.50," he says eyeing the people behind me. He's shaking so bad that he can't even break a roll of quarters for me.
And then the leader of the pack comes up behind me. "Haven't seen you around here before," he says with a sickening smile. But I stay quiet. This guy sends shivers crawling up my spine, I don't like it. Just keep calm, Marty. He'll go away eventually. "Oh, you're a shy little mouse, aren't you?" And then he puts a hand on my shoulder and I know that I have to get out of here.
Okay, not good. Forget the snacks, I'm out. I calmly give him back the soda and the gummy bears, but my heart feels like it's going to beat right out of my chest. Then I put my wallet back into my camouflage backpack and get the hell out of this store. I plug in my headphones and try to look nonchalant as I walk back into the street, but they file out behind me. Shit.
I'm pretty fast, I think I can get these guys off my back. In an attempt to loose them I start to run down random streets and duck into little alleys. But that wasn't a very good idea.
I storm into one particular nook wedged between two abandoned buildings, and it's a dead end. I try to climb the fifteen-foot chain-link fence, but I'm grabbed by the waist and get yanked down. "You didn't think you'd get away that easily, did you?" He says in a mocking tone. I'm kicking and trying to squirm out of his reach. I'm struggling so much that I wind up throwing my back pack on the ground and my sketchbook falls out.
One of the other gang bangers picks it up and starts looking through it. "Hey guys, it looks like the mouse can draw," he chuckles. Then I make a noise that's something between a gasp and a yelp. I hate it when people go through my sketchbook.
The guy that's holding me takes notice when I react. "Guys, it looks like she speaks after all. Let's see if we can get her to scream." Then he yanks off my jacket, exposing my arms to the chilly, night air. I need help, but there's nobody here. I wince a he chuckles. Then I harshly get thrown to the ground. The gravel digs into the left side of my body and my cheek strikes the concrete. I try to get up to my feet only to get pushed down again.
Alright, I have to fight back. I'm on my own right now and I can't count on anyone to get me out of this time, I get to my feet faster and start lunging at anyone I see. I nail a couple of guys in the stomach, and I know I kicked somebody in the groin. Another guy tries to grab onto me, but I duck, stomp on his foot as hard as I can and ram him into a wall. The leader takes a knife out from his jacket and tries to cut me. I dodge all of his blows so it looks like he's blindly slicing the air. For a split second his movements become slower and I grab hold of his wrist and twist it backwards, bringing him down to his knees in pain.
Okay, I'm not doing THAT bad. But this group fights dirty. One big guy grabs me by my waist-length black braid, only to launch me into a dirty puddle.
At this point, the others have decided to join in this senseless beating. They're all kicking me while I'm down, it's not fair . Under any other circumstances, I'd be able to fight back, but there's too many. I just want them to leave me alone. Then somebody's boot makes contact with my rib cage and there's an enormous "CRACK". Red, hot pain sears down my torso and tears start stinging the edges of my eyes. But I can't let myself look any weaker in front of them, it'll just make things worse.
But then, The leader scrapes me off the concrete and brings his mouth up to my ear. I just feel every muscle in my body tense up, so does he. "Don't struggle, Babe. It'll be less painful if you just relax." And he smirks a kiss onto my neck as he snakes a hand up my shirt. Then his other arm slinks around my waist as he tries to unfasten my belt. A cold sweat starts itching my arms and my breathing gets uneven. He has a firm grip on me and I can't move. Not that it matters, fear would've frozen me in my tracks anyhow. I don't know what to do. I feel so helpless.
Just as he unbuckles my belt, the shadows in the alley start to move. There are flashes of green whizzing by and one by one, these guys hit the floor unconscious. All except my captor. He cautiously brings a knife up to my neck as he starts to yell into the darkness. "You assholes better not try anything funny, or I'll kill her! I'm not fucking around, I mean it!" But then, something silver flies by, knocks the knife out of his hands, and obviously freaks him out. So he pushes me back onto the ground and makes a run for it.
I lay there, unable to move, just watching shapes get fuzzy. Everything stings. It starts to snow and I feel myself go cold. I'm watching my breath materialize and then four shadows loom over me. After that, I blacked out.
"Leo, what are supposed to do? What if she has a panic attack?" A softish voice whispers.
"We have to explain our situation calmly without looking like a threat, and just hope for the best," another deeper one answers.
"Uh, Dude, we kinda look freakishly threatening. Even I know that," someone else chimes in.
"Then we'll have to let her freak out, maybe scream a little and she'll tire herself out eventually." This voice is hard and a little less sympathetic. "When she's done, we can explain ourselves."
Alright, I'm hearing voices. Maybe I'm starting to come to. All of my other senses are coming back. Dammit, I can't move. I'm too racked with pain. I can smell incense burning somewhere. My mouth tastes coppery with dried up blood. And I think I'm on a couch. It's an old couch at that, it's soft and feels like the cushions are fraying. I groan a little when I try to get up, but then it feels like my ribs have been struck with lightning, so I don't get very far. Then I hear a voice say, "Guys, I think she's up!"
When I open my eyes, four big figures are looming over me. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the light before I can tell what they look like. When they look less fuzzy, I rub my eyes in total disbelief. Okay, I'm not gonna panic. I'm gonna stay calm. I'm gonna keep my cool. "Did I get kicked in the head that hard, because I'm pretty sure that people in comas have crazy delusions like the one I'm having," I say barely above a whisper. They're turtles! THEY ARE FREAKING HUMANOID TURTLE HYBRIDS! WORST OF ALL, I'M IN A COMA! (realize that I'm internalizing my fear, I have the facial expression of a brick right now)
Then the one with the purple bandana looks down at me. "You do have a lot of bodily damage, but you aren't suffering from any head trauma, surprisingly enough. So, no. You aren't in a coma."
Before I have time to digest what's happening, The one in the red bandana steps forward. He doesn't waste any time getting to the point. "Alright, I'm just gonna skip to the chase,"he says sharpening an already very sharp looking sai knife. "Me and my brothers are the result of a mutation accident. We started out as turtles at birth, but a truck that had a big container of glowing ooze tipped over on us, and now we're like this." I feel my eyes get big and I don't say anything.
Then the turtle with the blue bandana starts his little speech. "We usually go on patrol at night and try to keep the crime rates down to a minimum, and the we saw the Purple Dragons ganging up on you. We kind of had to step in," he says rubbing the back of his neck. "And we couldn't very well leave you in the alley, they probably would've killed you after they woke up." Oh, lovely. I've been here for a whole three days and someone wants to kill me. Well that's just peachy.
"So we had to bring you down to the lair. But dude, you did pretty okay holding your own. It wasn't really a fair fight, it was four on one. And plus, you're a girl and they were all guys," he says with a goofy thumbs up. Then they all look at me expectantly, but I just sit there like a lump. I blink back at them, but I don't really respond to anything that they just told me. I look at my watch and it's already 10:30, I guess that's probably my cue to go.
"Well, thanks for helping me out, I think I'll just get out of you're hair and head home," I say ignoring the panging in my ribs as I slither off the couch and slip my Doc Martins back onto my feet. I look for my backpack and the turtle with the red bandana clears his throat.
"Uh... Aren't you supposed to be flipping the fuck out?!"
"Maybe I should be, but you guys saved my sorry ass from a bunch of bangers and I don't really think there's a reason to be scared of someone who saved my life." My voice isn't that audible, but they still hear me. Then I search my general area for my backpack, but it's nowhere to be found.
Then the blue bandana-ed turtle holds up my bag and says," Is this what you're looking for?" I nod and reach out for it, but he holds it over my head.
I make a small, exasperated noise when I try to snatch it back, but he only holds it up higher."You shouldn't go out for awhile, the Purple dragons are still out there."
"Besides, you're too weak to go anywhere. And none of your wounds have been bandaged yet," says the one in the purple bandana. "You might want to let us help you out with those." He holds a hand out to me, but I hesitate to touch him.
"Dude, we won't bite," the orange one says. The other guy's hand is still stretched out to me, so I take it. He leads me back to the couch and pulls out some gauze and burning alcohol.
"Okay, this is going to sting a little," he says pouring it onto a cotton ball. I nod back at him and brace myself for the pain. He applies it to my arm and god dammit that shit burns! But I only suck in a breath and let him do what he has to do. He tenderly wraps my entire left arm."Geez, you're scraped up pretty bad. How did you run into those guys anyway?"
"They kinda ran into me. I went to a convenience store and they just started following me," I say quietly. I don't get why they were even chasing me in the first place! Just as he's about to start on my cheek, something on the table starts buzzing. It looks like a turtle shell, but it has a lot of buttons. He sighs before picking it up. "I've gotta take this. Raph, help her out with the bandages, will ya," he says to the turtle in the red bandana.
Then he groans and snatches the bottle of rubbing alcohol from him. But he's surprisingly gentle when he takes my face in between his big, green hands and applies the liquid to my cheek. I still wince at the burning sensation, though. "You really shouldn't be out in Mid Town alone after dark. It's dangerous and pretty freakin stupid," he grumbles. I only nod back at him. But in my defense, I've only been here for a few days, so I don't know any better.He grabs a big Band-Aid and tapes it to the side of my face. But no, he's not done putting in his two cents. I'm still going to be scolded. "You can't let yourself get cornered by those guys, if we hadn't shown up...," but he cuts himself off and lets out an angry sigh."Just try not to draw so much attention to yourself." I just sit there and take his criticism, but the turtle teen in the blue bandana comes to my defense.
"But she didn't draw any attention to herself, Raph. Look at all the physical damage she's taken; and she didn't scream the entire time. We almost overlooked that alley completely. It was their voices that made us aware of their presence, not hers." Alright, I like this guy in the blue bandana. He totally gets the situation. "She's barley said three sentences since she's been here; do you really think she would go instigate a fight with the Purple Dragons?"
"That kind of silence is most rare in women," a hard, accented voice in the corner of the room says. Then, out of the shadows, a large humanoid rat in a brown robe is staring at me from the corner of the room. I stare back in response.
The boys all stand up and greet him simultaneously with a,"Hello sensei."
Then the rat-man waves his hand and they all sit back down.
Then he looks at me with hard, aged eyes. "You, young lady, have had quite a long night."
"Yes, sir," I say feebly.
"I can only imagine how scared you must be of my sons and I. But I would like to assure you that we're good, and won't cause you any harm." I nod and smile at him. I know these guys are good; why else would they be so concerned for me? Then he smiles back before continuing. "You have already met my sons, but I don't think that you've been formally introduced. This is Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael," he says while pointing at each of them. "And you, may call me Splinter," he says while rubbing his walking staff with his thumb. I know that he's pretty up there in age and all, but something tells me that he doesn't use that cane for walking.
"And what are supposed to call you," Donatello asks.
"Marty,"I whisper.
"Marty? But isn't that a guy's name," Michelangelo says. But then, he's promptly smacked in the back of the head by Leonardo. And I suppress a giggle. It seems kinda mean to laugh at someone getting hit.
"Nah, it's short for Martina. I just never thought that my real name suited me very well."
"Miss Marty, you should probably call your parents and let them know that you're safe,"Splinter says rather seriously.
"I don't think that's necessary sir," I say not looking any of them in the eye.
"And why the hell not? They're probably worried sick about you, the least you can do is give them a call," Raphael says sternly.
"Yeah, but I don't think that they get cell service in heaven," I say trying to hide a frown with a smile. Then the he immediately looks like he wishes he hadn't said anything."My cousin is technically my legal guardian, but he's on a plane to France as we speak. He won't be back for a few weeks, and he thinks I'm home right now. So there isn't really anyone worrying about me at the moment."
"I see," the old man says. "If there is nobody expecting you to be home, you should spend the night here. It's not safe to be out on the streets during this hour."
"That's very kind of you, but I couldn't impose like that. You guys have already done too much for me," I smile. Then, the pain in my ribs starts hammering again. I squeak and grab my middle, but just as quickly as I slipped up, I pull a face of stone.
"Marty, what's wrong," Leonardo says worriedly. Shit, he noticed!
"N-nothing," I say smiling nervously.
Then he raises an eyebrow, or the scales where his eyebrow would be."Really," he says sarcastically."Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I poked you." Then he jabs a finger in my direction and I step back. He tries again, so I step back again. And this cycle of poking and dodging pokes goes on until my back gets pressed up against the kitchen table. Just as he's about to stick a finger in my side, he surprises everyone by pulling up my shirt(below my bra) to reveal dozens of bruises and a lot of swelling around one rib. "I knew it," he mumbles. "Mikey, get the bandages. She has a broken rib." Then Michelangelo tosses a roll of gauze across the room and Leo catches it without even looking. "Alright, just try to hold still," he says, already wrapping my middle. I wince, and he chuckles. "You've got a lot of stamina, kid. Ya know that?"
"Don't call me "Kid". You don't even look that much older than me. You only look seventeen at best."
"We're not quite that old. Our birthday is next month. We'll be sixteen," he says very as-a-matter-of-factly. "But you can't be that old either, you look like a fourteen-year-old."
"Hey, that's not true! I'm fifteen," I huff.
"But you're so tiny!" Michelangelo yells from the other side of the room. Ugh it sounds like his mouth is full.
"Am not! I just hit my growth spurt,"I yell back.
"Dude, you're like 4'11" though." And then he starts laughing uncontrollably.
"Now you're just being over dramatic, I'm '5"2!" But I don't think he heard me, he's still laughing hysterically. OOH THAT GUY STRUCK THE WRONG NERVE! Out of pure rage, I pick a fork up from the table and aim it in his general direction. Then I chuck that motherfucker as hard as I can and there's a loud "ZOOM". The next thing I know, there's a slice of pizza stuck to the wall with a fork through it.
"HEY MAN! Don't take it out on the pizza! ANYTHING BUT THE PIZZA!" He screams.
"Holy cow! How did you do that," an awe-stricken Donatello squeals. Raphael is standing not too far from him with his arms crossed. But I could've sworn that I saw a hint of amusement twitch across his lips.
"Whaddya mean?"
"The thing with the fork, how'd you do that," he says, practically ready to burst out of his shell.
"My parents used to own a bar back home, and I had to stay there after school because we could never get a babysitter to look after me. Well, there was this dart board on the quieter side of the pub, so I spent a lot of time playing darts after I finished my homework. I guess that's why my aim got so good," I shrug. Then, the four brothers give each other a look. I don't like it. They huddle up in a circle with their shells facing me. They're all whispering to each other but I can't really hear anything.
After conversing for several minutes, they turn around and face me. "So..." Donatello says. I only raise an eyebrow in response. Then Leonardo takes over the conversation.
"Look, Marty. You've got some serious fighting skills, but you could use some training. We think that it would be a good idea for you to take up ninjutsu. The guys and I think that you'd be a great asset to the team."
"Whoah, whoah, wait a second. Team?! So, you want me to kick bad guy ass?With you?"
"Pretty much," Raphael says, rather bluntly.
"I'm not sure if that would be a good idea. Don't you guys remember the events that took place just a couple of hours ago? I got creamed!" WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING!?
"Yeah, but with the right training you won't get pulverized next time. AND you'll have four other teammates to watch your back," Donatello says convincingly.
Then I bite my lip and turn away from them completely."I guess it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Robbie is always out on business trips, so he wouldn't notice if I was gone. And it's not such a big issue that these guys roll at night. I go to an online school, so it's not like I'd fall too far behind. But it sounds so dangerous. I already have a broken rib, who knows what else might happen! But If I train hard enough, I might not get injured so easily. Oh god I hope I won't regret this." I gulp and face them.
"So, what's it gonna be, Kid,"Leo says.
I take a breath. "I'm in," I say shakily. "And quit calling me Kid, will ya?"
"WHOO! We like totally have a ninjette," Michelangelo crows. and then he lifts me off the ground in a huge bear hug.
"Mikey, Mikey,... Suffocating! Broken... Ribs... Ow... MIKEY!" That's pretty much all I can say because MY FRIGGIN RIB IS BROKEN! Take the hint dumbass!
"Mikey, let go. She's turning blue!" Donny yells at him. Then I feel him tense up before he promptly puts me back down.
"Sorry, Marty. I just got a little excited," he says, rubbing the back of his neck. Aw, the poor guy didn't mean any harm.
"No biggie. You can hug me as hard as you want as soon as this bone fixes itself, okay?" And I crack a small smile to try and ease the tension a bit.
"Okay," he says. And immediately, his face lights up again.
Then Raph calls everyone to the living area. "You guys are gonna miss the ball drop," he yells before cranking the old television set up to full blast. Then we all cram onto the couch and I'm awkwardly in the middle. Leo and Raph are on either side of me and I can't really move. Due to my lack of mobility, I have to slide out of my shoes without using my arms and while I'm at it I peel my socks of with my toes.
I don't know why he was in such a hurry to see the ball drop, there's still fifteen minutes left. Despite the feeling of being in a turtle sandwich, This is kind of cozy. I've been trying to keep my head up all this time, but everything that's happened today is catching up with me. And quite frankly, I'm exhausted. These guys are a little too absorbed into the New Years Eve specials to notice much. I don't think they'll mind If I close my eyes for a few minutes. I'll definitely wake up in time to see the ball drop.
RAPH'S POV
"Alright guys, this is it!" Then we all get up to our feet and start the count down.
"Five, four, three, two, one," we all shout at the top of our lungs. We're all being our usual brand of hyper, but there's one person missing from our little shouting match. We look back at the couch and Marty is curled up in a little ball, out cold.
"Dude, that looks painful with the way her ribs are, ya know?" Mikey says quietly.
"And now you remember that she broke a rib?" Donny mocks.
"I'm serious, man! Maybe we should take her to the spare room or something. There's a mattress in there, right?"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mikey's right. She'll be more comfortable there. You guys can help me out with the sheets," Leo says to the other two. "Raph, you can take her."
"Hey, why me? Make one of them take her!"
"Marty winces the least with you, therefore you are the gentlest with her. So you can carry her down the hall,"he says seriously. I open my mouth to make another argument, but Leo cuts me off. "Would you quit acting like she's the mutant? Just bring her up." And with that, he takes her shoes and jumps up to the far end of our dome-shaped home and disappears into the shadows.
I growl and just look at the girl that's softly sleeping on our couch. I squat down to her level, wrap one arm under her legs and the other around her waist. As I pick her up, her head slumps into my chest. God, she's so small. I'm actually kind of scared that I'll crush her. Shaking slightly, I take her to the spare room and the bed is already made. But my brothers aren't here, I guess they turned in. I try to be careful when I set her down, and I guess I was careful enough. She hasn't moved at all. I bring the blanket up to her chin and she only stirs slightly. Her black eyelashes are resting on the tops of her cheeks and her inky eyebrows finally look relaxed. As she exhales, all the air escapes from her pouty lips. She has a very pretty face, but her clothes sort of contradict it. Her jeans are covered in paint splatters and are completely torn at the knees. She's wearing a very plain black hoodie and a murky green muscle shirt underneath. Wait, why do I care!? I try to shake those weird thoughts out of my head and then I realize that Master Splinter is standing in the doorway.
"Raphael, it's getting late. You should go to sleep. I can keep watch over our new friend," he says.
"Thanks, Sensei," I answer back. "Good night." Then I walk passed him, but he looked very amused. I don't get why.