CHAPTER 3 : MEET THE FAMILY
Leos p.o.v:
Leo looked up in surprise as Raph came into the lair followed by a human girl.
His younger brother had stormed out a little over an hour ago after he and Leo had another one of their 'disagreements'. Leo had expected him to be out all night, beating up thugs with Casey, like he normally did after one of their fights. But here he was, laughing and joking with a girl Leo had never seen before.
Leo sighed. Since he was the eldest, it would be his responsibility to question Raph as to why he had brought a total stranger to their home without warning. She could be an enemy! But...somehow he doubted it. Leo smiled to himself as he saw the way the girl was already making Raph open up.
The hotheaded turtle had his vices, he was rebellious, violent and reckless, but he was also brave, loyal and would do anything to protect his family. However, Raph had always seemed like half a puzzle to Leo. He needed someone to help balance out his passionate nature. Perhaps this girl was the missing puzzle piece that would bring Raph out of his shell (no pun intended) and show him that he didn't always have to be the 'tough turtle'.
"Hey Leo!" called Raph with a grin, as he led the girl over to the couch where Leo was sitting. "This is Nikki!"
"Hi!" Nikki said sunnily, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you! Is Leo short for something? Y'know like Raph is short for Raphael?"
"Uh, my full name is Leonardo" he blinked. She was being remarkably calm.
"Isn't she great?!" said Raph draping his arm around Nikki's shoulder. "I only told her I had brothers, like, five minutes ago and she's just taking it in stride. She did pretty much the same thing the first time she saw me. No screaming, no freaking out, no nothing! I mean, everyone freaks out the first time. Even April fainted the first time she saw us!"
"What about Casey?" asked Leo, lips twitching
"Casey doesn't count" countered Raph "I love the guy, but he's crazy!"
Suddenly something occurred to Leo. "You said she didn't freak out the first time she saw you. When was the first time she saw you?"
"Oh about forty five minutes ago!" replied Nikki airily.
Leo stiffened. "Uh Raph, can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure" said Raph, following Leo into the kitchen. As soon as Leo was sure Nikki was out of earshot he began his lecture.
"I can't believe you!" He snapped "you brought a strange girl you know nothing about, who you've only known for half an hour into our home..." he took a deep breath "without consulting anyone!" He yelled the last part, furious with his brother for being so reckless. "For all you know she could work for the Shredder!"
"Look Leo," snapped Raph, his accent thickening,as it always did when he got upset "I was on my way to Casey's, when I saw some jerks trying ta mug 'er. I was planning on 'elping 'er an' then bein' on my merry way, but the fact that she was bein' so calm n' stuff made me pause, n' then we got talkin' an' before ya know it," he shrugged "we ended up here."
"Did you stop to think," said Leo coldly "that she might not be surprised because she already knew about you? And she staged a mugging to get your attention?"
"Ah come on, Leo" said Raph, gesturing to Nikki "Does that look like a cold blooded killer to you? Get over yer dang paranoia and be happy I found a human who doesn't just not mind what we look like, she thinks its cool."
Leo looked at Nikki, marveling that his headstrong brother had kept his cool and not stormed off. Nikki must be good for him. And he had to admit that although she radiated hidden strength, it wasn't the malicious kind.
Leo sighed,
"Oh all right, I hope you know what you're doing, but next time please be more carefu-"
A scream interrupted him. The two brothers glanced at each and ran out the door.
Mikey's p.o.v:
Mikey was coming out of the shower when he saw a strange girl, who had green hair, with golden tips/highlights/streaks.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he let out a high pitched, girly scream. "There's a girl on my couch!"
Leo and Raph came running out of the kitchen and Donnie poked his head out of his lab to see what all the commotion was about.
"Calm down Mikey. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this" Donnie said, glaring at Raph and Leo. "Why are you so upset anyway?"
"She's sitting on my comic book!" wailed Mikey.
"Oops!" said the girl standing up quickly. She picked up the crumpled comic gently. "Sorry about that..." she grinned sheepishly, handing him the comic.
"That was a collectors edition" said Mikey sadly, his lower lip quivering. Leo rolled his eyes and Raph decided to introduce Mikey to Nikki.
"Mikey, Donnie, this is Nikki, I saved her from some muggers and we just hit it off."
Don stepped forward, "Hi...Nikki. I'm Donatello. And the crybaby over there," he stabbed his thumb in Mikey's direction "is Michelangelo. It's nice to meet you."
"Ditto" said Nikki. "Wait, so let me see if I've got everyone's name right. Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, correct?"
"Yeah" said Mikey, perking up as he prepared to say what he always said the first time someone learned their names. "all the cool ones end in O."
Raph growled menacingly as Mikey prepared to either run for his life or duck as a sai was hurled at his head. But to his surprise a girly giggle (something he was not used to hearing. April, Angel and Karai were the only girls he knew and none of them were the giggling type) interrupted Raph from killing his younger brother.
"Good one Mike-O" Nikki said after her giggles had subsided, slapping his shell with a grin.
Mikey was ecstatic! Nikki thought his joke was so funny that she had even laughed! (Something people rarely did when they heard his jokes) and she had called him a clever nickname! (He had said the cool ones end in O and she had called him his nickname Mikey but with an O! was that clever or what!) He immediately forgave her for crushing his comic and tried to think up a clever nickname for her.
"Oh lighten up Raph, he was just kidding" Nikki added, seeing the expression on Raph's face. All three of his brothers automatically flinched, ready for Raph to get mad but to their surprise Raph actually seemed to calm down. Of course that changed a moment later when Mikey just had to open his big mouth and say:
"Oh I see, Kay-kays your girlfriend" seeing Raph's face turning red he continued "I guess it makes sense since you match."
"Kay-kay?" asked Nikki.
"Yeah!" said Mikey proud of himself for coming up with a name worthy of Nikki. "You've got two K's in your name. Plus you're a Komic killer which both start with k!"
"Uh, Mikey, comic starts with a C. I would have thought even you would know how to spell that since you read so many of them" said Donnie.
"Well, yeah" said Mikey, insulted that anyone would think he didn't know how to spell comic. "But C-Kay doesn't sound as cool. and it doesn't match her name" Mikey explained reasonably.
"That makes sense" Nikki agreed, crossing her fingers behind her back.
"No it doesn't" said Leo, Raph and Donnie in unison.
"An' anyway whadda ya mean we match?" asked Raph in annoyance.
Mikey sighed. Wasn't it obvious?
"Green, green" he said pointing to Raph's skin and Nikki's hair "red, red" he pointed to Raph's mask, Nikki's shirt and the dark red tips of Nikki's otherwise green and gold hair "you two look like Christmas!"
"Thanks, I guess" said Nikki laughing (Mikey glowed. he had got her to laugh again!)
Glancing around, Nikki said "Hey I just realized this, but you've, like, all got ninja weapons even though most of you obviously aren't planning on fighting any time soon. Do you, like, always carry weapons?" she asked "and, uh,what are they called? I don't really know that much about ninjas. Or their weapons"
"Yeah, we wear them pretty much all the time." replied Leo "Better safe than sorry. Especially when you have a lot of enemies"
"And as for what they're called, I carry a Bo staff, Leo wields two Katana, Raph is an expert with his Sai and Mikey has Nunchucks" explained Donnie
"Ok..." said Nikki thinking "is there a reason your handles match your masks?"
"Uh not really" said Leo as Nikki continued:
"and speaking of masks why do you guys even wear masks? I mean don't get me wrong they look really cool. But its not like you guys stand out any less without them"
"I don't really know" Leo admitted "we've always worn them. Ever since we were little. It's the way of the ninja."
"Ok, cool." said Nikki apparently satisfied for now. "oh hey, random observation: Raph is, like, totally the most aggressive of you guys right?"
"Why do you say that?" asked Leo.
Mikey knew that look. Leo was testing Raph's new girlfriend.
"Well for one thing I've known him for, like, an hour and a half and you only have to spend five minutes with him to tell that he's really aggressive and violent especially if during those five minutes he was beating the hell out of some losers attacking you. Plus his shell has, like, twice as many scars as the rest of you which means he's not just aggressive, he's also reckless and not afraid of anything."
"Except bugs" Mikey snickered into his hand as Raph glared at him, obviously not wanting to look bad in front of Nikki.
"Wow" said Leo I think you should meet Master Splinter. I'm sure he'll be impressed by your observational skills."
"Its nothing," said Nikki, suddenly shy. "When you're an artist you notice all the little details. That's how you make good art... And who's Master Splinter?" she asked as an afterthought.
"he's our father" explained Raph already leading her towards the Dojo where Master Splinter was meditating.
"Psst, hey Leo, betcha she freaks out when she finds out our dads a rat!"whispered Mikey.
"you're on." said Leo, turning to follow Raph and Nikki. "Hey aren't you coming with us?" he asked.
"Nah, I gotta go perform first aid on my poor comic book." said Mikey heading up to his room. he grinned as he heard Nikki say:
"hey man! Did you know you're a rat? I guess the guys were adopted or something huh? Finally! someone who has hair!"
Mikey shook his head. did nothing surprise that girl?
