Chapter 3
"Meet Casey Jones"
Alex walked around the back allies of New York City a couple days after the incident with the Mousers. Her leg no longer hurt, but the still in the process of healing. She still had it in a wrapping, but not as thin as the one Donatello put it in the day it happened. No, it wasn't that bad anymore.
She had been thinking about something that wouldn't allow her to sleep back at her aunt's apartment. It wasn't anything bad, she just couldn't get it off her mind. She was hoping she could walk it off, but she was getting nowhere with that thought. She just kept getting further away from the apartment.
She was thinking about what splinter had said. She loved to do martial arts. It was one of the things she loved most in the world. She really did want to start doing it again. She knew her brothers would want her too, but for some reason she was hesitant to start again. She couldn't figure out why, but there was just something.
"Keep away you lizard thing! Keep away!" she heard a woman yell. A red haired woman in her thirties ran out of an alley and down the street in the directing Alex was in. She was clenching her purse like someone was going to steel it.
"Ma'am!" Alex yelled. The woman looked up to see Alex. "What happened?" she asked.
"There was this giant lizard thing," she said hysterically. Then, without warning, she ran off down the street.
A giant lizard, thought Alex. I don't know any giant lizard, but I do know giant turtles. With that, Alex ran into the alley. Nobody was there, but she wasn't going to give up. The turtles she knew wouldn't rob someone, but what did she really know? Maybe they weren't who they really thought they were.
She didn't want to believe that, though. So, she went chasing after which ever turtle it was that was getting accused. He wasn't in the one she had seen the woman run out of, but she continued on as she heard noises that sounded like fighting. She followed the sound despite her head telling her not to.
She ran around the corner and looked over two see two gang members on the ground trying to crawl away unnoticed. They were doing a great job at it too. There was a man in his early twenties, about the same age as April. He was wearing a red shirt, blue jeans and a golf bag on his back. He had a hockey stick in his hands and other things as weapons. On his face was a white hockey mask while his black long hair hung over in and to the sides.
There was in fact a turtle in front of the guy with the hockey mask. She could immediately tell who the darkest green turtle was. It was Raphael. The red mask confirmed it.
"But since your ears don't seem to be working," the man swung at Raph, but Raph moved out of the way. "I'm gonna have to get my point across a whole nether way."
The two males started to circle each other. "Listen," Raph said. "I'm trying to tell you something, here, but you're really working on my last nerve."
"Is that right?" the man asked. He swung a couple more times at Raph.
"I think you're trying to do the right thing," Raph said. "But you're going about it all wrong. You got to get control over yourself. "
"Look freak boy! If you're protecting these Purple Dragon scum than you're in my way and you're going down too." He charged again, but Raph dodged.
"Hickey season's over," Raph muttered as he jumped up and kicked the hockey stick out of the guys' hands.
"Yeah? Well baseball season is in session and so are you so freaky freaking weirdo!" He pulled out two baseball bats and spun them around like a trick. "Batter up!"
"Fine," Raph replied. He grabbed his weapons as well and yelled, "Play ball!"
Both the guys charged at the same time. They met half way. Ralf had one of the bats stopped by one of the spikes of his sai.
"Hey, you got to listen to me! You're angry, I understand that, believe me! But what if you grab the wrong guy? What if you go too far? Get yourself in real trouble," Raph yelled.
The man swung and Raph didn't get the chance to dodge. He was thrown back and hit the brick wall. He slowly and painfully slid down and rested in a sitting position.
"Raph!" Alex yelled. She didn't mean to yell out and give her position away, but she reacted without thinking. Raph looked over and got a shocked look on his face. He hadn't expected to see Alex any time soon, or at all. He didn't want her to get in the middle of it. He didn't want her hurt.
"I got my reasons for doing what I do," he said. He hadn't heard Alex so he continued to attack. "And they got nothing to do with you." He lunged down, but Raph cause the attach with his weapons.
"Fine, all you want to do if fight, " he said. He broke the hold and leapt up from the ground. He kicked the man and he went flying back. "Let's fight!"
The man didn't get up as Raph walked over to him. He swung one of the bats. Raph went flying back into some garbage cans and another brick wall. He seemed to get angrier and angrier. He growled at the man. He was losing his temper fast.
He quickly got up as the man grabbed the golf club from the bag on his back. Before the man had the chance to do anything Raph kicked him, making him fall backwards and hit a wall. He sat there for a moment with his eyes closed. Alex thought he was out cold for a moment, but knew better. Not everything was as it seemed.
Alex took a couple steps out from around the corner of the alley and closer to where Raph and the guy were. She made sure to stay at a safe distance so she wouldn't get in the way, but if help was needed on Raph's part then she was there. However, she could see that Raph needed the fight. He looked like he had to vent somehow.
Raph reached down and pulled the hockey mask off of the guy. The guy didn't seem to like that. She gave Raph a glare that if looks could kill, he'd be more than six feet under.
Raph seemed a little taken aback by his own actions. He looked at the mask in his hand and the guy before him. "What am I doing?" he asked himself. "We're on the same side. We shouldn't be fighting." He reached down and pulled the guy up by his arm and pulled him up. The guy had grabbed his golf club and held it in his hands, waiting for either a chance to strike or to defend himself. "We just need to get a hold of ourselves. Chill."
Raph gave the guy his mast back. It made Alex smile to see Raph's nice, sweet side. She knew he couldn't be all moody and stubborn. He could be as nice as any of his brothers if he wanted to be or if he didn't lose his temper.
"You know," the guy said. "You're right. You've showed me the error of my ways." Something about his tone didn't sound right. Alex didn't like it. She didn't trust the guy on bit. "Not!" he yelled as he swung the club and hit Raph, sending him backwards into more garbage cans and Alex. "For!" The guy just laughed. "I can't believe you fell for that."
Raph was heavy. Alex couldn't help but moan when the 200 pound turtle came crashing on top of her. "Go get him!" she whispered angrily at Raph.
The guy started to run and Raph growled as he stood up to run after him. Alex ran after the two. This was interesting and she wanted to make sure nothing really bad happened to Raph. She knew he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. She liked the turtles. She wanted them to because closer friends and maybe like family, since her real one was all broken up.
She caught up to Raph a couple minutes later. "Raph," she started. "Are you okay?"
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Go home!" he ordered.
"No," she stated. "I'm not leaving you."
He looked over to her for a brief moment. He didn't believe what he was hearing. She actually said that. She gave him a sweet, warm smile. Humans usually weren't this nice. April was, but everyone else screamed when they saw them. April even did that. However, Alex hadn't. She just went along with them, trusting them completely. Now she was helping him. She was making sure he was okay.
"Fine," he said finally. "Just make sure you're out of the way so you don't get hurt."
"Gotcha!" she said, triumphantly.
They both came to a stop at the opening at an alley. "I know that big dope is around here somewhere." They slowly walked further into the alley looking for the angry guy who was in the middle of a battle with Raph.
"He couldn't have just vanished. It's not possible," Alex said.
A blinding light came from the other side of the alley, not too far away. Squealing tires could be heard and the light started to race towards the two figures across from it. Alex had enough time to dodge, but Raph didn't. The man drove by on him motorcycle and hit Raph's feet out from under him with his hockey stick. He landed next to Alex on the ground.
The man stopped at the end of the alley with his bike still fully running. "I got more where that came from, freak boy!" he yelled. "You want a rematch? Check me out, Friday night, Central Park. Adios loser!" With that he took his attention to his driving again and drove off.
Raph quickly got up off the ground and yelled at the guy, "Come back here you-" The guy drove off without paying any mind to the two back in the alley. "Ah nut," Raph muttered.
It was quiet for a moment before anything else was said between the two in the alley. Raph just stood there looking at the entrance of the alley where the man had driven off. Alex just stood there watching Raph to see what his next move was. She didn't know if he was going to go after him or go back home, but either way, she was going to go with him. Like she said before, she wasn't going to leave him.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked Raph. She placed a comforting and concerned hand on his arm for support.
"I'm fine," he said. "What about you, did he get you?"
"No," Alex said simply. "I'm fine, but a little confused. What the heck was that about? Why did that lady say you tried to steal her purse? Who was that guy and why were you fighting?"
"Come on," he said as he started to walk away. "I'll tell ya on the way back to the lair."
And so he did. He started from the beginning where he and Mikey were sparing. He had lost him composure and went all out on Mikey, almost really hurting him or worse. He said he had needed time alone to think. So, he went topside to clear him mind. That was when he ran into the Purple Dragons and that other guy. The mystery man had been fighting the Dragons who were trying to steal the lady's purse.
The guy started to go too far and chased the Dragons. Raph had given the purse back, but the lady freaked out. It wasn't anything new, but it was still sad to think she would scream and yell at him like that for giving back her purse. People these days had something wrong with them. He was only trying to be polite.
That was where Alex came in. She didn't need any more explaining from Raph there. She knew what happened after that. She was slightly overwhelmed by what happened. She was still slightly shocked from the events a couple days before. It was a whole new world for her and she knew if she wanted to stay friends with the turtles that she would have to get used to it. She did want to stay friends with them, which meant, get used to it fast. So, she was going to try.
"So, that leaves the question," Alex began. Raph looked over to her as they both entered the lair. "Are you going Friday?"
"Welcome home, Raph!" Mikey greeted like the events that had happened earlier hadn't. "Look! It Alex!" Mikey said. Raph and Alex both walked closer and they both got a better look at them. "Man, you two look like you got the shell kicked out of you."
"You have no idea," Alex muttered audibly.
"Yeah, it's a long story, but first I, uh, I- I wanted to apologize. Mikey I'm sorry I got so out of control earlier. Guy I'm really sorry," he said. "You too Alex. I didn't mean to fall on you," he said so only she could hear.
She couldn't help but chuckle at little. It was slightly humorous. "No problem," she replied back.
"Hey," Mikey said. "Don't sweat it, bro." He playfully punched him in the arm.
"All right," Leonardo said hesitantly. "Who are you and what have you done with our brother, Raphael?"
"Let's just say I had a chance to think about the way I've been acting. I'll fill you in over dinner," Raph said.
"Dinner?" Mikey asked excitedly. "Now you're talking mu language."
"What language is that, Mikey? Nitwit?" Raph jokes.
Alex, Leonardo, Don and Master Splinter all started to walk away from the two joking brothers. All with smiles on their faces.
"Ha ha, listen to the funny mutant," Mikey said as he slapped Raph on the back of his shell.
Dinner was eventful with the turtles. They all talked and joked around with each other. Every once in a while someone would throw something at someone, causing the other people to do so as well. Everyone but Alex and Splinter. They were the two who would duck out of the way and yell at them. Not that Alex didn't find it funny, she just didn't want cheese in her hair.
Master Splinter took his leave after he finished his dinner, saying goodnight to each of his sons and even to Alex. He said it was good to see her again and that she should have a nice night and safe trip home. He left and went to his room after that.
"So," Donny said. "What were you doing out so late at night, Alex. It's not safe as you saw."
Alex looked at her empty plate in front of her. "I had something on my mind and I just wanted to get out of the apartment. I needed air. Plus, I can take care of myself."
"We know," Mikey said. "We're just looking out for you. You're our buddy now."
Alex smirked at her friends. "I have a question," she stated. "What are you doing about Friday?"
"We have a couple days to get ready," Raph said. "I'm going to get this guy's head on straight one way or another."
"I want in," she stated straight forward. "You can use all the help you can get. I want to help."
"No way," Leo said. "You can get hurt. We can't risk it."
"I've taken care of myself before," she said. "This is no different. I've been doing this my whole life. I can do this."
"No," Raph said. "You'll get in the way."
"I have to agree," Donny said. "We can't risk having you there and getting hurt. It could also risk others getting hurt with you getting in the way."
"I can take care of myself," she repeated.
"Sorry Dudette," Mikey said. "What would April think?"
"You're not going," Leo said. "That's final."
Alex stood up angrily from the table. She hated it when people didn't listen to her. She had been fighting her whole life. She could take care of herself. She was strong and smart. She knew what she could do. She knew her limits. This was nothing. She'd never put herself into a situation where she was ready to be in. She wouldn't put others in danger. She would never let anyone else suffer.
She turned and walked away from her friends. She knew they were just thinking about her own safety. They didn't want her hurt and she liked that, but they wouldn't listen. She could take care of herself. She'd show them. She'd show them all.
o-0-o
Those couple days before Friday were spent like she usually did during the day. She was at school doing all her woke and getting good grades. She actually liked school. She loved to learn and hang out with her friends. It wasn't the same as it used to be with her brother gone, but she still had fun with her friends that were there.
After school, however, was a different story. She'd always do her homework at school so she had all the time in the world for whatever she wanted to do. Usually she'd use that time to work at Stocktronics working with April. She enjoyed working with April, but now April spent her time looking for a new job and Alex just sat there doing nothing in particular.
Now, she trained herself. She wanted to prove to the others that she could fight. That she could take care of herself. She wasn't some weak, normal teenager. She had been able to fight since she was three or four. Fighting was second nature to her. She and her brothers lived to do ninjutsu. It was one of the things they had loved to do. She decided she wasn't going to let that go.
Friday came all to slow, but when it finally was there Alex was as excited as she could be. She was also nervous, but that would be normal. She knew she would be fine, but there was just something that was telling her to be on guard. She kept that in mind.
It was late the Friday night. Alex was walking around looking for the hockey masked guy or the turtles. She was having no luck. Central Park was a big place. They could have been anywhere. It was 843 acres of land.
It seemed like she had been wondering around forever. How hard could it be to find four mutant turtles and a buff guy in a hockey mask? Really, it shouldn't have been that hard. There should have been a lot of fighting going on which would mean noise. Why wasn't there any noise other than late night traffic?
"What do you think you're doing?" yelled a male's voice from a clearing behind some trees and bushes to Alex's left.
The voice sounded very familiar to Alex. She knew it very well. It was one of those voices that you knew and heard every day. It was someone she's never be able to forget even if she wanted to. She did want to, though.
She got pulled in by the sudden voices. She walked over and crouched down in the bushes peering into the clearing where the voice had come from. She had to find out what was going on. The turtles could wait. They didn't even want her there in the first place.
"How could you be so stupid?" they yelled.
The male looked exactly like she remembered him to. His short strawberry blonde hair was cut short and spiked up with hair gel. His blue eyes seemed like they were filled with anger. He was still tall and his strange physic was still there. He was wherein a black shirt with black pants. In his back gloved hands was a black mask.
Alex couldn't help herself any longer. She quickly stood up and ran out from her hiding place and into the grassy clearing. The two people that were there were as shocked by this as she was. She mentally slapped herself for her stupid, rash actions.
"Marcus," Alex said breathlessly. She still didn't believe her eyes.
"Alex," the guy muttered. His blue eyes were filled with shock and pain. He turned his attention quickly to the guy in the ninja outfit next to him. "Get out of my sight. Don't let it happen again."
The ninja bowed to his apparent higher superior. He then ran off in the opposite direction that Alex had come from. He was fast, but not as fast as Alex was.
Alex looked back at Marcus. He looked angry, but with a hint of sadness behind his eyes. Without warning he charged at Alex. He pulled out a single sword from a sheath on his back, like how Leo wore his. His sword was silver, but at the handle was completely covered in back cloth. There was a single hanging charm at the end with a little red simple of a three towed foot, like the simple Alex and April had seen back at Stocktronics.
She was able to dodge after the shock of his attack wore off. Why was he attacking her? She had done nothing wrong. She just wanted to get to the bottom of everything. It was killing her. She was a curious girl.
Attack after attack came and Alex kept dodging each one. At one point, Marcus had gotten a hit in. He hit her injured leg with the butt of his sword, causing Alex to fall to the ground in pain. She didn't think it was still that tender. It was incredibly painful, but she tried to jump back a moment after falling. Apparently he would try to kill her if she didn't. This didn't seem like the person she knew. He hit her in the head with the butt of his sword making her fall back down. It would bruise.
Marcus bent down and looked at Alex intently. "Go home," he ordered. "Don't come back, Alex. Forget all about this." He stood up and put his sword back in its holder. He slipped his mask on and ran off into the distance.
"Marcus!" Alex yelled, trying to stand up. The hit to her head had been harder than she had thought it was. She had to grab onto a nearby tree so she wouldn't fall over. "Marcus!" Tears started to fall down her face as she stared at the dark underline of trees where Marcus had run off into. Alex let out one last cry and scream as she lost all hope of seeing the person again. "Brother!"