Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Takes place after The Pulverizer.
Friday Night Fights
New York, the city that never sleeps. Music and laughter poured into the street from the bars and clubs, and the Friday night crowds were bustling around ready to have a good time. People were hollering for taxis, loudly greeting old friends, or getting into heated arguments in the streets. In the distance one could even hear police sirens piercing the cool night air. But despite all of the busy night life below, one sound rang loud and clear from the rooftops above.
That sound was the rumble of Raphael's empty stomach.
"Could ya hurry it up back there, Donnie? I'm starving!"
"Well, we wouldn't have had to make a run out to Murakami's if someone hadn't burned our dinner!"
Raph grumbled a few curses under his breath as the two ninjas continued to race across the empty rooftops. Cooking was hardly the temperamental turtle's strong suit, but after the way Mikey had protected him while he was out from Fishface's venomous bite, he felt he owed him. Making dinner in place of his youngest brother for a change had seemed simple enough. Who knew it was so easy to burn ramen noodles?
After his disaster in the kitchen, he had been sent on a pizza gyoza run. Donatello had tagged along as an extra set of hands, though Raph couldn't help but suspect that he was really there to act as his babysitter under Leo's instructions.
"We could have just taken the patrol buggies, you know."
Raph turned to look at his sibling without missing a step. "The go carts? On a Friday night when half the city is roaming around? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one," he said with a smirk.
"Patrol buggies," corrected Donnie as he shot a glare at his older brother, "And I'll have you know I happen to have the perfect app for avoiding traffic that would have -"
His attempt to defend himself was cut short as Raph quickly skid to a stop at the edge of the roof and held out an arm, halting him in his tracks. Peering over the edge, it was obvious what had caught his brother's attention.
"Come on, sweetheart, don't be like that."
In the alley below a young man had his palms placed against the wall of the next building over, a teenaged girl trapped between his arms. She was holding her purse in front of her like a shield, refusing to look the man in the eye. The look of terror on her face was unmistakable. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.
As Donnie looked closer, he could just barely make out some markings under the man's vest. It was an unfinished Purple Dragon tattoo.
"Must be a new recruit," he whispered, earning a nod from Raph whose gaze never left the scene below.
"Don't worry, babe. I'll let ya keep yer purse." The Purple Dragon removed one hand from the wall and whipped out a knife, brandishing it next to her cheek. "I didn't grab ya cuz I wanted yer money."
A low growl escaped through Raph's clenched teeth and he quickly drew his sai. Before he could make his way to street level, however, he felt a hand grab his arm, holding him back. He looked back at Donnie in surprise.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go down there and kick this sucker's -"
"Not like that. You said it yourself, it's Friday night, and half the population of the city is wandering the streets," he said quietly, "We need to use stealth." He paused as he glanced over the edge. "Besides, the girl looks scared enough as it is. We don't need to add seeing teenaged, mutant, ninja turtles to the list of reasons to be traumatized."
"Ugh, fine!" grumbled Raph as he put away his sai reluctantly, "Let's just hurry up about it, alright?"
The two turtles swiftly descended toward the street below, not wanting to waste another moment. Staying above, Donnie remained hidden on the fire escape while Raph landed softly on the ground, ducking behind some trash cans several feet away to the man's right. Looking up at his brother, he pulled out a shuriken and waited for the signal to jump into action.
The Purple Dragon leaned in toward the girl, a cruel grin on his face. But as he raised his knife, the clink of metal hitting brick suddenly drew his attention to his left. He immediately turned to face the noise, his right palm still resting on the wall while his left hand gripped the knife just above his shoulder as if expecting an attack.
The one that came was not the one he was expecting, however. Without warning, he felt a sharp pain stab his outstretched hand from behind, causing him to drop the knife.
"Ow!" he cried as he grabbed his wrist and brought it in front of his face. The shuriken now embedded in it stared back at him as blood trickled from his wound. "What the -"
The sound of garbage cans crashing to the ground behind him cut him off, and he quickly whirled around.
"Who's there!?"
One of the metal cans slowly rolled through the alley as the frantic demand went unanswered. The Purple Dragon crouched down and picked up his fallen knife, wielding it clumsily in his right hand as he approached the spilled trash.
"Come out and fight, ya coward!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth then two clouds of smoke burst up from the ground, one in front of him and one behind. With a cry of surprise, he tried to shoo the smoke away. His efforts were in vain, however, and he soon felt something kick his feet out from under him. Falling to the ground with a thud, the knife again clattered out of his hand.
The girl who had been silently watching the scene unfold with wide eyes gasped as she too was enveloped by the dark cloud. Gripping her purse tightly to her chest, her legs began to shake, but before she collapsed to the ground in fear, she felt a strong hand pull her off the wall and push her out of the cloud of smoke and toward the street.
"Run!"
That was all the prompting she needed. Without even glancing behind her, she scurried back to the busy street and turned the corner, the clacking of her high heels fading into the sounds of the night.
As the air began to clear, the Purple Dragon's head darted to either side, desperately looking for his attacker. He slowly pulled himself to his feet as he wildly searched for his knife which was no where to be found. Glancing all around, he carefully began backing further into the alley before turning and breaking into a run.
"Saved the girl and stayed out of sight," said Donnie as he and Raph watched the retreating man from the rooftop. Turning to his brother, he couldn't hold back a smirk. "See? I am the smart one."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Raph frowned. "Hmph. Whatever. I still say we shoulda beat the stuffing outta that loser."
Donnie turned back to watch as the Purple Dragon reached the end of the alley and took a left. His smirk turned into a grin.
"Well, he did just run into a construction zone," he said casually as Raph glanced at him in curiously. "I'll bet there aren't too many people hanging around there at this time of night."
Blinking a few times as he processed what his brother was saying, an evil grin suddenly slid across his face. He unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles before drawing his sai.
"Let's go give him a warm welcome into the Purple Dragon gang."
Without even waiting for a response, Raphael silently took off toward the construction site, Donatello close at his heels.
"Finally!" cried Mikey as he snatched the pizza gyoza from his brother's arms. He quickly began shoving them into his mouth, chewing loudly.
"What on earth took you two so long?" asked Leo. He eyed Raph suspiciously as the red masked turtle brushed past him and plopped down on the beanbag chair in front of the TV, wasting no time in filling his own empty stomach. Looking back at Donnie, the eldest turtle patiently waited for an answer.
His brother merely smiled, though, exchanging a knowing glance with Raph. "Sorry, Leo," he said with a shrug, "but you know how it is. It's just so crowded on Friday nights."
A/N: And Prompt #4 (for SewerSurfin) complete! Writing these two playing off of each other is quite fun (I've got another prompt with just the two of them in line, in fact). Almost didn't get this done in time - I've been sick all day and that seriously drained my energy - but here's the first one for week two. I'm keeping pace for my planned three a week!
As always, critics and grammar police appreciated!