Me: And soooooo continues the a reminder I own Desoto-
Desoto: -I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish-
Me: -if you steal her. I do not own the characters of TMNT, just the crazy ideas and the plot of this story. Enjoy and please review!
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Chapter 3: Almost Home
Desoto was heating up faster than normal because of her healing abilities as she sat on the red couch next to Donny in April's and Casey's apartment. Leo started to ask her questions as everyone got comfortable to sit and listen.
"So you came here from another dimension?"
"Yup."
Leo wasn't entirely satisfied. "How?"
"There was this runaway lizard demon," Desoto started and waved her hand in the air, "He was dimension hopping and a big time criminal on the loose, so I went to-"
"Wait," Don held up his hand as he spoke, cutting her off. "Dimension hopping?" Curious, he asked, "Your dimension knew of others?"
Desoto blinked slowly, getting bored. "Well, yeah. There this stuff called the Battle Nexus or something. A whole bunch of demons go to fight and practice there. A small few know of it, but one of my buddies told me about it. Said he went there once."
The turtles looked at her dumbfounded that she knew of that very same place they had fought in. Mikey, however wasn't so shocked by that prospect. In fact, he used this as an opportunity to rub his well worn victory in everyone's faces, especially Raph at the moment.
"Hey! Then you must have heard of me; Michelangelo, the Battle Nexus Champion!"
Raph glared at his brother from his spot sitting on the armrest of the couch. "Keep it down Mikey. I'm about to smack you in your face."
The wolf girl blinked at them, her ears pointing forwards to indicate she was listening to them.
"Aw. Poor Raphie's just jealous because I won the Battle N-"
"Guys-"
"SHUT UP!" Raph roared just as Leo put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from lunging at Mikey.
"Guys, keep it down! We're going off topic." Leo's tone of voice changed to an in charge leader type to which Desoto grinned and closed her eyes.
"You dudes are like my buddies back home." Everyone looked at Desoto as she smiled fondly to herself. "Jason was the leader of the group," She explained, "And Nick and I would get into fights all the time. Spink was the technology dude, even though I met him a few hours before I got here. Mah!" Desoto blinked then started laughing, "It's almost like home!"
"Oh, so are we like your bros now?" Mikey asked opening his arms.
Desoto closed an eye, making a face when she was thinking, and looked at Mikey to speak with a snicker in her voice, "In a manner. Foster family or a new pack; I don't know what to call it. I'm used to traveling around a lot, so this isn't a really new thing to me. This dimension is new but, in general it isn't really."
"Really?" Mikey seemed interested. "Like what?" He asked leaning forwards to much that Desoto slapped a hand on his face and pushed him back.
"Oooooowwww.."
"Personal air bubble, dude." Her ears twitched as a grin appeared on her face. "Animals that wouldn't exist in this dimension exist in mine. Dragons, werewolf, crab-cats-"
"Hold up a second," Don tapped her shoulder. "Crab cats?"
"Yeah. Use your imagination. But a mix of two animals are very rare and we call all of the animals there Demons. They can bond with people and stuff like life partners. I've bonded with one of the rare demons." Desoto sounded proud and rather excited to share information about her dimension with the turtles and April and Casey.
"Bond?" Leo asked.
"Oh, you mean like, how cheese and nachos go together?" Mikey put forward as an example. Donny gave him a look. "Whaaat? I'm hungry!" The orange masked turtle turned to April. "April? Do you think we can we get some nachos?"
April thought about it for a moment. "Well, it is past dinner time, Mikey. So no." Even Casey looked a little down and leaned backwards on his chair, so far that he looked like he was trying to fall.
"Awwww man!"
"Mmmm… Nachos…" Desoto hummed to herself before snapping out of her little yum thought and answering Leo, "It's how Mikey put it."
"I got it right! Who's the turtle?!" The turtle hopped up and down and took a bow which was rewarded with a whack to the head from Leo who he was standing closest to.
"Mikey shush, I'm trying to listen here. Please Desoto, continue." Don had that look on his face when he was pondering and about to take apart a toaster."But, what about that large wolf?"
"Yeah, how come he's not around?" Added Raph.
To this Desoto rested her eyes on April. "Umm. Do you have any kind of lotion I can use?"
Aprils seemed surprised at her question, "Sure. Here," She said as she handed over a bottle of sun block.
"Hey. The sun's not out and you're gonna put sun block on your skin? How's the sun gonna give you a tan when it's not even out in the open?" Mikey poked her knee which was replied to with a snicker as Desoto squirted a tiny amount onto her palm and rubbed it onto her forearm right after handing the lotion back to April.
"My demon," she started as she continued to rub it in, "Is like this lotion. It can physically mold into my body. So in a way, I have schizophrenia; another personality in my head besides mine."
"You mean it's inside you right now?" Raph tapped her head and she nodded.
"When I need help or whenever he's coming out, it looks like a big shadow is behind me that solidifies to his physical form. But that's just one of type of bonding. The other is when the demon is constantly with their partner." Desoto waved her left hand in the air like a kid wanting to be called on to answer a question. "Like how I'm sitting right next to you or a cat or dog following you wherever you go. That kind of bond is the most common. Sooo, yeah. The molding stuff though allows the person to inherit traits of the demon, like not eating for a few days…" A gurgling growl seeped into the air then another weaker sound came again. Both Mikey and Desoto looked at each other while his brothers as well as Casey and April looked at the both of them. Desoto scratched the back of her head sheepishly as Mikey let out a "whoohoo!"
"Hungry?" Don asked as he motioned towards her stomach with his right hand.
"I'm starving dude!"
"Mikeeeey.."
"Hnnn.." The wolf girl blinked and nodded as she pressed her finger tips together on her lap. "If ya don't mind.."
---
A few minutes later and April was done ordering food from a Chinese fast food joint and everyone was sitting around in an uncomfortable silence.
"Sooooo.." Mikey began, trying to think of something to break the silence that had entered the room.
"Cheese muffins!" Desoto barked, making everyone jump. She laughed loudly before falling back to silence, "Yeah, okay, I'll stop now."
"Oh, no, no!" Mikey waved his hand at her, "Cheese fries are better than cheese muffins."
"Great, just great." Raph slapped a hand over his face. "Now we have two goofballs."
"You won't think so after I hand you your shell." Desoto commented deadpan as she looked at the red masked turtle without lifting her head. She was replied with his heavy, three fingered hand landing on her head.
"I'd like to see you try, wolfie."
"Fine then!" Desoto was just about to get up when the doorbell rang and April spoke grabbing her wallet and fishing out money as Casey got up and walked over to the door.
The turtles hid instantly, being ninjas and all, but Desoto wasn't as quick. Plus, she didn't even seem like she cared about being seen, she just stayed sitting and draped an arm over the back of the couch to see the front door.
Casey, knowing the guy's need for secrecy ran over to the wolf girl. "Desoto, what do you think you're doin?!"
"Sitting here."
"Hide!"
"No!"
Casey attempted to grab her and make her hide but she had different ideas. The door was already open when Desoto dodged the grab and spun Casey around and jumped on his back. The delivery boy gapped at the grown man and a teen girl with black ears on her head just as April opened the door too soon.
"Uh…" Casey stammered, but was interrupted by a high pitched squeal.
"DADDY!!"
"Uwah?!"
Desoto was the one who squealed loudly, realizing their situation. Her tail was limp, and her ears were still as she wrapped her arms around Casey's neck for a better hold. "What do you think of this costume I made for next year's Halloween, Dad? Pretty nifty huh?"
Casey blinked, catching on. "Er, yeah! I think it looks great, sweetie! I think you need to work on the tail though."
"Yeah, huh? It needs to be anchored better with a belt." Desoto nodded in agreement as she played a daughter to Casey and April.
"Uhh.." The delivery boy blinked a few times startled and a bit embarrassed that he walked in on a family moment. "Here you go miss," he said, handing the food to April which was replied to with money being pushed into his hands.
"Thanks," April then closed the door quickly and turned to face Desoto standing next to the window, pressing her index finger tips together. Her ears faced back as she looked rather dejected and really sorry.
"Sorry…" Catching the looks from both the turtles and the humans, she shrank back, appearing smaller, "Sorry, sorry! My bad, I didn't mean to.."
Mikey lightly punched her in the arm, "That was awesome!"
She blinked, "Wh, really?.."
April decided to throw something in. "Sure! That was some quick thinking there, Desoto." She offered her an encouraging smile.
"Yeah, I didn't know what we were gonna do!" Casey laughed as he pointed at her. "How'd you think of that?"
"Er.." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "First thing that came to mind. Now, if you dudes excuse me… Imma go chew on the food." With that Desoto happily pranced over to April.
Leo, Donny, Raph and Mikey watched her practically inhale her food as she stood at the table but not without hearing her say repeatidly, "This is so good! Tastey and crunchy! Prefect! This gives the good back home a run for their money!"
"April." Said woman broke her resting gaze on Desoto chomp away and turned to Don. "We're heading back home, call if you need anything or if anything pops up."
"Sure guys." The turtles gave a nod to her and left through the window.
Desoto's ears twitched but she gave no signal to show that she had heard. "Er… Miss April?"
April laughed and patted Desoto on the shoulder. "You can just call me April and yes?"
"Ah, nothing'.." Desoto swallowed the food in her mouth before talking again, "Just wanted to know what you go by, it's polite. That's what Fish Cakes told me."
"Fish Cakes' one of your friends?"
"Yup. The big bro of the group." Her tail swished as she licked her fingers and let out a burp and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry!" April just smiled at the burp and yawned while Casey laughed a "Yeah!" and gave her a thumbs up.
"I'm going to bed. Night Desoto."
"Er, April?"
"Hm?"
"Soto or Dessi.. People use my full name when I'm in trouble soo… Heheh."
April laughed. "Okay, Soto. Good night. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." The door to her bedroom closed with a soft click.
Casey also yawned and patted Desoto on the head, only to entice a snickering growl. "I'm not a pet. Do that again and I just might bite." A crunching sound soon followed the statement and Casey quickly withdrew his hand and left the room in a hurry.
"Nighty." Desoto waved after her human friends walking quickly up the stairs to the bedroom after April and neatly stacked up the empty containers of food and after finding the trashcan, dumped the containers into it. "That's better." Looking up with a swish of her tail, she spoke softly almost to herself. "You're awfully quiet."
Skulls only snickered his shadowed mass stalking about the room, not entirely solidified. His snout turned to her. "You never took to liking others so quickly," his growling voice rolled out into the air.
"Heh.." Desoto made her way over to the window, walking past him. "Lets continue this convo quietly."
The mass solidified and sat down as she leaned against the wall with her hands in her pockets. The wind was picking up outside the now closed window, making her ears twitch slightly. She looked over her shoulder to see snow whipping around outside.
There was silence in between them as one sat and one stood. Skulls because he normally never said anything, Desoto since she understood and didn't want to talk. "You wont be going home for a while." He said, licking a claw.
"I know."
Skulls looked at her curiously.
"The buds over there know I leave and travel around a lot and we keep in touch through letters." Her tail curled as she looked up at the sky to try to see the stars which was a futile attempt with the snow flying everywhere. "They know I'll be fine." The red pattern across his fur rippled as he shifted, nodding. "That I wont die-"
"-without them knowing." He finished for her. She nodded, her eyes seeming to glint. "We're that close." She joked, slapping her hands together. "Only problem though is that they'll find my bow and quiver. They'll worry."
"Well, the meat here is your family now. For the time," it chuckled.
"If they don't mind. And they're not meat." She stated sternly. "They're our friends now. You know what that means."
"Yes, yes."
"We got to protect them."
"You're getting to into this. Cheesy. Was that was Nick said? When you got all serious about protecting them from getting stabbed to death by that king crab?" The wolf licked its lips, "It was tastey.."
"Noooooo." Desoto walked over and tapped her index finger once on his nose. "To the people here, we're monsters. They must think that they are too. So! We gotta stick together with them!"
Skulls lifted his head, away from her hands. "The storm is here." His eyes were closed as he changed the subject when he felt it was going nowhere out of habit and cracked open his right eye to look down at her. "I'm still tired from our fight with the lizard and the run in this world." His form shifted as he grinned his red eyes and pearl white teeth stood out like a sore thumb as he reverted back to a shadow and vanished with a chuckle.
Desoto slapped a hand over her face and stepped over to the light switch and turned it off. "What joy." She looked over to the couch, and sat down on it. Her ears twitched as she let out another belch before crossing her arms in front of her and lowering her head, falling asleep for the night.
---
Back with the turtles, as they drove home, they were discussing what to do with their new acquaintance.
"I think she's pretty cute," Mikey said as he winked.
"Yeah, but did you see that shadow stalking over her when she started talking about that demon wolf?" Donny pointed his pen over to Mikey then went back to his note pad, writing down some notes while Leo drove. "I think its intelligent."
Raph smirked slightly as he pointed with his thumb at his brother. "When we talk bout Mikey and he shows up, we don't call him intelligent."
"Hey!"
"Just thought I'd point that out." The red masked turtle shrugged. "Can't wait for tomorrow though."
"Why Raphie?" Mikey's eyes lit up and poked him in the arm teasingly. "Ooooooh, Raphie Boy has a cruuuush."
The orange banded turtle was rewarded with a smack on the head. "Just keep quiet, Mikey." Raph growled. "I'm just lookin' forwards to the spar me'n that wolf girl are gonna have."
"Raphie has a-"
"Raph, rushing blindly into a fight with someone who we just meant spells trouble," Leo interceded before Mikey had a chance to poke more fun at Raph.
"It could provide useful information though Leo," Don said thoughtfully. "Think about it. You can learn a lot of things through someone when they fight. She doesn't seem that open to us yet so a fight could work to getting to know her a bit."
Leo didn't look that convinced, but rather wary. He had spotted the shadow hovering over them as they were talking, and he could sense it look at him and about the room, resting particularly on Donny and Raph who were nearest to her. "Alright Raph, but if she breaks an arm, don't come crying to me."
Raph raised an eye ridge, and shrugged.
It was silent in the truck for a few minutes until it was disrupted with Mikey. "Dudes! We didn't even tell her our names!"
"Calm down, Mikey. She can wait until tomorrow and we just forgot with everything that occurred." Donny offered as he looked at the orange masked turtle oddly.
"B-but what if she doesn't remember me?!"
"Calm down knucklehead before I give you a knuckle sandwich," Raph growled, annoyed with his brother's constant yelling.
"You're just jealous because she didn't talk to you as much, Raphie." Mickey grinned, his blue eyes glinting with mischief.
"Mikey," Donny's calculating and interested tone floated into the air, "She knows your name, remember?"
The young turtle blinked. "OH! Right. Heheh!"