Author's Note: Well, I got done with this chapter faster than expected. So Donatello accompanies April to this charity event being hosted at the Olizweski estate, hoping to get an interview with Chief Raphael or Mayor Hamato. But while he's there, he meets the heiress Cheyloe Olizweski. Will the two end up forming a friendship? Or will the fact that Donnie's a journalist do more harm than good? Read and review, and stay tuned!


Chapter 2

Donatello honestly had a hard time lending his keys to a valet so the latter could park his car, but considering it was hard to find a parking space out at the now-crowded Olizweski estate, he had no choice but to let them go for the time being. Well, at least he didn't have any valuables except his coffee mug and favored copy of "Deadly Heat". Though it took a while, he managed to find and dust off a suit jacket and pants he had from his job interview days. His roommate helped him pick out a bow tie, and he made sure he didn't smell of espresso and sweat in time for this soiree. He picked April up at her residence and went from there, though it was anything but a date.

"Wow April, never knew you were a fan of the frilly stuff." Donnie quipped, snickering at the frilly yellow and white dress she had on.

"Ha, ha, Donnie." April griped. "It's not my fault my grandma gave me this for my birthday."

"So exactly what kind of charity is being hosted here, anyway?" The turtle inquired. "You didn't exactly fill me in on the details."

"It's concerning the local children's hospital. It lost a lot of funding due to threats from the mob." April explained. "So Nikita Olizweski and her daughter Cheyloe are raising money to make sure they don't close down and leave sick kids without hope."

Donnie's eyes widened. "Wow…they seem like nice people."

"That's what I hear, even though they're kind of reclusive." April agreed. "Oh, and a word of warning. When you go in, don't make it obvious that you're a journalist. Thing is…they don't like journalists or reporters."

The turtle was about to ask the redhead why that was so, but she had already went inside the mansion and disappeared amongst the crowd of people. If the Olizweskis were such nice people, why didn't they want to talk to anyone related to the news? Did they have something to hide? Well, if he couldn't get answers from April, then maybe it would help to go to the source. If not Nikita Olizweski…then maybe Cheyloe Olizweski. That and finally corner the chief and mayor and get their input on the crime occurring in the city.

When Donatello finally managed to squeeze his way in, he felt a bit overwhelmed by the sights and smells in the manor. He smelled champagne being offered by butlers hired for the evening, some of the hors d'oeuvres, if they could be considered that, and cigar smoke emanating from a few country club regulars who came looking for gossip. Hmm, knowing the chief, he would be somewhere talking with the mayor, maybe making a plan on how to deal with the criminal empire in Manhattan. Tugging at his bow tie, he brushed through the crowd to get himself something to drink first.

While he wasn't a big fan of alcohol, one glass of champagne wouldn't hurt, or a piece of shrimp. He squeezed past and got awkward looks from some of the socialites, in turn offering them a nervous grin and an 'excuse me'. When he got to the table of food and drinks, he noticed someone-by the body shape, a woman-seemingly sampling some of the delicacies. Would this woman know where to find the chief? Or better yet, Cheyloe Olizweski? Clearing his throat, he put on a polite face and greeted, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

The woman turned around to see who addressed her. Turning around almost made her long brunette bangs smack her in the eye they didn't cover, and she kept the mouth of the champagne glass to her lips. Donnie had to admit, though she looked sort of tomboyish, she was quite attractive. He smiled again and continued, "Hi, um, could you tell me which one of these ladies is Cheyloe Olizweski?"

The brunette stared at him, her cheeks now wearing a tinge of red; she admitted to herself he looked kind of cute. She gave him a smile in return before answering softly, "I'm…not entirely sure."

"Oh, well, thank you, anyway." Donnie nodded, disappointment lacing his voice. "Sorry to bother you, ma'am."

The turtle walked away from the table, not noticing the brunette staring at him and suddenly looking nervous and uncomfortable. Maybe someone else would give him the answers he wanted. He walked through the crowd and, to his excitement, found Chief Raphael and Mayor Hamato conversing while staring at a display case full of collectibles from other countries. This was his chance. Ignoring April's earlier warning, he went to pull his phone out and turn on the voice recorder when he was suddenly blocked by a figure about as tall as he was.

"Whoa, hey, long time no see!" The tan-skinned man greeted with his own gap-toothed smile. "You're Donatello, right? You interviewed me a few months ago about me and the community theater!"

Donnie held back his feelings of frustration at being blocked off from the people he wanted to see to remember who this guy was. He did remember doing an article on the theater's production of "Beauty and the Beast" a few months back and interview the guy playing the Beast. It suddenly came back to him and he wore a small smile. "Oh yeah, you're Mike! You were one of the leads! Well, your hair is certainly as wild as ever; how's your acting career going?"

"I've actually got an audition for the Broadway production of 'Chicago'!" Mike replied gleefully. "I really want to play Roxie Hart's lawyer, Billy Flynn. What about you? Are you climbing the journalism ladder?"

"Well, sort of." Donnie sheepishly admitted. "I came here with a friend of mine, but I've seem to lost her in the ocean of people."

The actor laughed loudly, wiping at his eyes; the turtle remembered this guy having an odd sense of humor, but oh well. Mike calmed down and pointed towards a hallway. "Hey, you should really check out this room. It has some of the craziest stuff in there! These people must have a lot of free time on their hands!"

Well, Donatello couldn't help but feel curious. With a little prodding, he followed Mike down that weird hallway and they came across a large room, almost the size of a ballroom. Besides a few full-length mirrors on the walls, what stood out the most was the collection of statues-or maybe suits of armor-all of different origin. A few looked like something straight out of an old horror flick, and it made Donnie a bit anxious. Mike seemed to be amazed by all of them, particularly one that seemed to be of Asian origin.

"Whoa, hey, where do you suppose this one came from?" The actor asked, motioning his thumb towards it. "India? Indonesia?"

The turtle stared at the tall figurine, noting the reds and oranges and yellows-white was in it too- and wracked his brain on where it possibly came from, not noticing footsteps entering the room. "It's not Japanese or Chinese. Hmm…I honestly have no idea."

"It's Thai."

Donnie and Mike froze, turning to the middle and seeing a third person with them. The former immediately recognized this individual…the woman over at the refreshment table. He watched her cross her arms over her mahogany dress shirt and stare at the valuables with some sort of masked pride. Mike glanced down at the woman and asked, "Really? How do you know?"

Without missing a beat, the brunette replied, "Because I bought it in Thailand." When she noticed both of them wearing shocked expressions, she laughed awkwardly before adding, "Where are my manners? I'm Cheyloe Olizweski!"

The actor slowly chuckled and shook hands with her. "Mike. The pleasure's mine."

Cheyloe noticed Donnie, the guy from earlier, and shook hands with him. "Cheyloe Olizweski."

The turtle chuckled and cocked an eyebrow. "Donatello. Are you sure this time?"

"I'm pretty sure." She replied with a lopsided smile. "I apologize for not-"

"Miss Olizweski?" A man called, appearing near the doorway of the room, catching the brunette's attention. "Would you like for us to open up any more cases of champagne?"

Cheyloe thought for a moment, glancing at Donnie and Mike, before replying, "Yeah…mm, I think six more cases should be enough for everyone. Open up six, please."

The man nodded before he left to carry out the task. The woman looked back at her guests and continued, "Sorry about that. I've been leaving the spotlight to my mother most of the night. I'm not exactly used to giving orders, if you know what I mean. So what brings you boys here? I didn't think anybody my age would consider charities."

"Oh, I got talked over here by my stage director. We thought about doing a play just for the kids in the hospital." Mike admitted. "Then I ran into Donatello after he interviewed me a while back, just catching up on stuff before we came in here."

Cheyloe seemed to pale at the word 'interview'. "Did you say 'interview'?" Her eyes went to Donatello. "Are you…you're not part of the news, are you? Did you come here hoping to talk to me or my mother? Look, Mr. Donatello…you seem nice, but I'm not too fond of news people."

Donnie looked quite shocked at her statement. "N-No, no! I mean, yeah, I'm a journalist, but I didn't come here looking for a story. My coworker invited me because her friend got sick and couldn't go. I also kind of wanted to congratulate the new mayor…that's all."

Cheyloe tilted her head a bit towards the side. "That so? Hmm…I'll buy it. But then why did you ask for me earlier?"

The turtle scratched the back of his neck and adjusted his glasses. "Oh, uh…well…"

Before Donatello could complete his answer, or at least give one that wouldn't make her suspicious, another person stepped into the room. This one was an older woman with short dark brown hair, pale skin, and an eye patch over her right eye. She wore an elegant dress uniform and heeled boots. "There you are, Cheyloe. Are you giving some guests the grand tour?"

Cheyloe laughed. "Not exactly, Mom. I was just chatting with Donatello and Mike. Donnie was wanting to congratulate Mayor Hamato and-"

"Donatello?" The woman, Nikita Olizweski, interrupted before glaring at the turtle with her lone blue eye. "I've heard that name…he has a few news articles in the paper and on the Internet. Are you here to beg my daughter for an interview? Then you've come to the wrong place. I had to give your redheaded friend a warning a moment ago."

"N-Not at all, ma'am!" Donnie insisted. "I was…I was just admiring all the artifacts and everything you've collected. She was just telling us about this one right here…it's from Thailand, right?"

"Mother…" Cheyloe stated, looking embarrassed. "It's okay…he's not looking for an interview."

The older Olizweski stared at the journalist; she honestly had a hard time believing that. But she glanced at her daughter and her expression that clearly screamed 'I can handle this' to her. Letting out a quiet sigh of resignation, she nodded to the younger Olizweski and replied, "All right, dear. Just be sure to let me know if he gives you any trouble, okay?"

"Honestly, Mother." Cheyloe griped. "You worry too much."

The older woman seemed to chuckle softly as she left, leaving the brunette alone with her guests. There was an awkward silence amongst the three before she coughed and asked hesitantly, "So…would you guys like some champagne? Have as much as you want…"

The turtle shook his head. "N-No thank you…I should probably get home and get to work on my…pet store article, or my boss will tear into me. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, Miss Olizweski. I'll look for the mayor and go congratulate him first."

Donatello swiftly walked out of the room, now feeling awful for coming in the first place, before Cheyloe could stop him. She dropped her hand to her side in defeat and sighed, before Mike quietly chimed in, "…That went well."


Donatello searched the crowded corridor for April, now ready to leave out of fear of Nikita Olizweski. Maybe she beat him to the punch and talked with the new mayor, or maybe the chief. But now he felt uncomfortable here, and didn't care right now about getting even a smidge of an interview. On his way, he bumped into another turtle, causing him to spill his champagne.

"Watch where you're going!" The turtle in a blue suit growled. "You better not have ruined my suit!"

Donnie's eyes widened. "Leonardo Oroku? What's a sleazy lawyer like you doing at a charity event for kids?"

Leo held up his hands and chuckled when he realized who he was talking to. "Well, well, the up-and-coming journalist himself. Don't judge me; I care about the rug rats too. I'm not such a bad guy like everyone says. What about you? Hoping to score a few words from the Olizweskis?"

The bespectacled turtle snorted with annoyance. "Yeah, if I want to lose my head. I was actually hoping to talk to the mayor and the chief. With Hamato in, I hope he finds out about every single corrupt thing you've done…and your ties to Puzorelli."

The lawyer smirked. "So, you've heard those little rumors about me defending Antoine, too? I'm not surprised…someone as nosy as you would look for anything to skyrocket you to fame…or are you stuck writing about pet stores and baby pageants like usual?"

Donatello growled, his hands clenching into fists. Did this grease ball have to state the obvious, and in such a pompous tone? He hoped the new mayor would put this guy in jail very soon, or that he would be apprehended by Deadly Nightshade. He thought about a quip to retort with when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Donnie? Are you ready to go?" April appeared, then glanced at the other turtle. "Oh great, who let the blood-sucking tick in?"

"Touché, Little Miss Sunshine." Leonardo leered. "Coming to defend your frenemy? I'm caught off-guard."

The redhead scrunched up her nose and pursed her lips, tugging on the bespectacled turtle's arm. "Come on Donnie…let's get out of here before he drains the life out of us."

Donatello followed, albeit hesitantly, trying to block out the lawyer's further verbal jabs behind his back. If it wasn't for April, he probably would've made a fool out of himself and punched the guys straight in the beak. He honestly didn't know who was worse…the street criminals or that sleazy attorney. "He'll get a swift butt-kicking by karma…"


Various video screens flashed surveillance images inside the dark, underground-style room. All of them showed footage of the party guests and all the areas around the estate, some completely silent while others gave mixed voices. An individual sat staring at the images cross-legged in her chair to listen for anything of value. She turned away for a brief second when she heard someone step in.

"I figured you'd come back here to settle down." The second figure concluded. "Look…Cheyloe…I wasn't trying to embarrass you at all…"

"…I know, Mom." Cheyloe huffed softly, turning around to look at Nikita. "I know the risks involved with the reporters and such. They could possibly find out about…all of this. But we're not doing anything BAD." She paused and stared at a glass case, which looked like it held a suit. "Why can't they understand?"

"I wish I had the answer, sweetheart." The older woman replied solemnly. "But I don't understand myself why people are afraid of…different. Even when you keep them safe at night."

The brunette looked back at the screens. She saw one that had Donatello and his friend-reporter April O'Neil-getting ready to leave the residence. "Mom…that journalist…maybe he's not like the others. Maybe he should be given a chance…he probably won't blab our secret."

Nikita stared at the footage of the bespectacled turtle, not taking her eye off. "…Only time will tell, my daughter. Only time will tell…"