Welcome to Raphael's favorite two AM brooding spot. A nice, quiet pond, in the heart of Central Park. The stone bridge there had been under construction since the Mets made the playoffs. Most of the structure was covered in plastic sheeting, and after straightening a 'Do Not Enter' sign, Raphael strolled to the middle of the bridge where it was clear. Looking down at the water, he imagined what it would feel like to be a normal New Yorker.
"Knew I'd find you here." Leo sauntered up and rested his elbow on the concrete slab that served as the side of the bridge.
Raphael didn't move, pretending his older brother hadn't just spooked the hell out of him again. "Stop looking for me."
"I'm sorry."
"What?" He made sure the world wasn't ending.
Leo pulled his friggin' mask down and gazed into the darkness. "I started out on the wrong foot. I knew you wanted to be alone. I just. I wanted." He hung his head. "Sorry."
Raphael chewed his toothpick. After the suspense killed him, he asked coolly, "So, what's up?"
Leo rubbed his scalp. "All our lives we've trained to fight. To win. And now that The Shredder is gone, I miss the action."
"And, this is a bad thing?" Raphael knew that itch all too well.
"A ninja who chooses their own fights dishonors their Master. And, Dad doesn't want us doing anything now. Anything."
"Sometimes you gotta scratch a few bad guys."
"We're not vigilantes! There are rules!"
"Take a night off from being a ninja-saint, alright? Let's have some fun."
"What?" Leo looked hilarious when he was stumped. "You want me to hang out with you?"
Raph pulled his mask down, too. "Bro, if you're Down-To-Fight? I would be honored."
Fearless gave a rare 100-watt smile. "Lead the way."
Raphael cracked his knuckles. "I know exactly where I'm taking ya." He hadn't been back to the Purple Dragon's territory in months. He was pumped. Some tore up plastic sheeting snapped in the wind.
There was laughter. Approaching. Leo seethed. "10 o'clock!"
Raph swiveled his neck. The toothpick fell from his lips. "Holy shit. Girls."
Peering around, the ninjas took coverage behind a Port-O-John. The females' voices got louder and clearer.
One of the teenage girls kicked something over to a blond. "Think fast!"
The blond squealed and stopped the object. "Ew, gross, some blood got on my shoe!" Digging in her pocket. "l'm bored with this thing."
Raph shook off the crazy which ran up and down his spine. "This ain't right."
Leo's breath shallow. "That is not a ball."
The blond turned over a dome shaped object and spun it around. The shell scraped and skittered on the gravel pathway.
"Is it dead yet?" The other girl adjusted her baseball hat.
"Let's find out." The blond clicked her lighter, and the flare demonized her face in the darkness.
Clenching his fists, Leo asked, "What would you do if they were a couple of guys?"
"If they was guys? I'd be breaking bones already." Sure, Raph had bounced a few bad guys down an alley or two, but girls? They were his weakness. Fucking-hell! A turtle was about to be set on fire!
"We shouldn't discriminate." Leo didn't make jokes.
Raph couldn't believe it. "You're right." Fearless had shown him the way. "I'll take Hat-girl."
Leonardo nodded at his target. "The Blond is mine."
The Blond crouched on one knee. The flame approached the reptile. Her face jerked up when the nearby lamplight went out with a pop of shattering glass. The distraction.
Pitch Black. The girls yelled out, asking who was out there. This was already creeping Raphael out. The turtles circled the humans in silence. They were so deep in the park they couldn't hear the City at all. And the City couldn't hear them.
"We should go." Hat-girl backed right into Raph's plastron. He gave her a big hug. When she screamed into the palm of his hand it didn't seem right, but just like Leo said, being a chick don't give her a free-pass.
The Blond sprang up from crouched over the bloody turtle and got sucked into Leo's shadow. He mirrored Raphael, covering the girl's mouth. Both girls' screams were muffled as they struggled. Leo looked way too at ease holding fast to his captive. Almost like he was counting.
His brother wouldn't meet Raph's pained gaze. When both girls quieted and their moans turned to whimpers, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Leo. I don't think-"
A below-zero stare made Raph's tongue stick to the top of his mouth. Fearless growled. "Come closer Raph, let them see us."
Raph and Hat-girl didn't move.
Leo was serious about breaking the rules and shuffled The Blond forward. The girl had been keeping it together pretty good, then she focused on Raph's face. Her tears ran over his brother's fingers, still dampening her cries.
Raph's girl made him feel ill. She was a twig, shaking in his arms. He smelled urine. "We should just call the cops." Her baseball hat turned towards Leonardo, and she stopped breathing. Listening.
"What? So, they get community service for murder?" Leo whispered something in The Blond's ear. The girl nodded. Leo removed his hand from her mouth.
Raphael restrained Hat-girl against her will. His stomach churned. His head pounded. He wished he didn't notice a tiny tattoo when he whispered to her ear. "We just gonna ask you some questions." He almost said, 'don't worry'. What a mind-fuck. He focused on the turtle, belly up, dead eyes seeping blood and puss.
Released back to back, the girls locked elbows and comforted each other. Were they sisters? Did he care?
Leo raised both swords from his holster. The steel rang. He inspected the razor-sharp edges at his own pace.
Trapped between him and his brother, the girls went silent
Hat-girl looked for escape with frightened-as-fuck eyes, trying not to look Raph in the face.
Leo asked The Blond, "Do you know who we are?"
She sniffled and shook her head.
"That little guy's big brother." Leonardo thrust a finger at the nearly decapitated turtle.
"This. This can't be happening." Hat-girl squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh, God!"
Raph was failing. "Wait! What if they found him like that?"
Leo snorted at The Blond. "She's guilty as hell."
"But we did find the thing like that!" Hat-girl elbowed her friend's back.
"Who has the knife?" Leo's question caused the crickets to come out.
Hat-girl clutched at her back pocket and there was no hiding the oh-shit look on her face.
The Blond told Leo. "If we had a knife we woulda used it already."
"Bullshit."
"Fuck you, let us go."
Now both Leo's katana crisscrossed in front of her neck, ready to scissor off her head.
Raph choked on his breath. "Jesus, Leo, what are you doin'?"
"Thinking about the satisfaction I would get from removing this animal's head."
"I think she's learned her lesson."
"Maybe you want to write them a ticket?" Leo's hands didn't shake at all. The freshly sharpened katana blades scraped a bead of sweat off The Blond's neck. He told her, "You chopped off our brother's head! You owe us blood."
"No! Please don't kill me!" The Blond squealed.
A switchblade sunk deep inside Raphael's left eye socket. Turns out, Hat-girl did have a knife in her back pocket and he was an idiot. Reacting without thinking, he cold-cocked her and she went flying backwards. Pushed, Hat-girl plowed into her friend's back, surging The Blond into Leo's katana.
Everything was red. The blood fountained into Raphael's mouth. He fought off the panic and the pain, heard two bodies hit the earth, some gurgling noises, and low moaning. "Leo!"
"You're okay! Don't touch it!" Leonardo helped his brother to sit.
"What happened?"
Hands shaking, Leo bandaged his brother. Finally, he admitted, "The Blond is dead."
"Da'fuck are we gonna do?" Raph asked with the knife skewering his face.
"I don't know."
...
To Be Continued! Thanks for reading!