CHAPTER 3- Tears and Fears
April speeds through the sewers. She takes out her cell and dials Donnie.
"Why, hello April! Are you still coming…"
"Donnie! This is an emergency! I'm on my way to you now. Please, get everyone ready to help!"
"April! Are you all right? What's wrong?"
"I'm fine! Be there in a sec to explain!" She hangs up.
"April?" Donnie looks at his phone. He straps on his bo and runs out of his lab. "Fellas! April needs us!"
Moments later...
"Guys! Guys!" April rushes into the lair yelling.
All four turtles meet her at the turnstiles.
"April, what's wrong?" Donatello asks.
April rests her hands on her knees and catches her breath. She looks up at them. "I need you… to help me… find someone."
"Who?" Leonardo asks.
"She's a friend from school. Well, not really a friend, a pain in the butt, but she's lost somewhere in the sewers and we have to find her before she gets hurt."
"Wait a minute." Raphael says. "What do we do if we find her? She's gonna freak if she sees us."
"Believe me, you won't be much of a surprise."
The turtle brothers give her a strange look. She turns and runs out into the sewers. They follow her.
"Where is the last place you saw her, April?" Leo asks.
"On the east side. I tried to follow her but she got away. She has to be somewhere in between here and there." April says.
"Ok, we'll split up. What does she look like?" Leo asks.
"Well, she's tall, long brown hair, brown eyes… a tail."
The turtles stop in their tracks.
"What the what?" Mikey says.
April turns to them and shrugs. "Yeah, it's Lisa, you know, the mean girl from school… she's now a mutant lizard."
Eight, wide eyes stare at her.
"Huh." Donnie says wistfully. "I may be a scientist, but I believe in Karma too."
"Donnie, April, head down the east pipes, Raph, you take 5th Avenue. Mikey and I will search through the west system. Keep your phones handy." Leo orders.
They all split into teams and explore the endless maze of the New York sewers for Lisa.
…
"Lisa! Lisa!" April yells as she and Donatello run though the underground tunnels that directly lead to the Kingsley brownstone. Donatello catches up to April once she slows to a rhythmic stroll. They've been running and calling out for ten minutes straight. Twenty minutes more and they'll end up at the grate that April saw Lisa escape into.
"April?" Donatello catches his breath.
"Yeah, Donnie?" April says.
"What? How?" Donnie doesn't know where to begin.
"It happened on the roof of our school. There was a broken mutagen container up there. We were looking for our science teacher's pet lizard. Lisa found it, and the mutagen found her."
"Oh… so that's when Lisa ran away to hide in the sewer?"
"Not before trying to get help from her success-driven parents." April stops and looks away. "It was terrible. They just… abandoned her… told her to leave and never come back. How could they?"
Donatello frowns. He doesn't have an answer for that. He sees the worry on April's face in the dim light of the sewer. After how Lisa had treated his April at school, he's glad that the redhead hasn't given up on her. "Come on, April, we'll find your friend and help her the best way we can."
April doesn't correct him. Lisa is far from being her friend. She takes his hand, to his delight, and they continue to walk briskly through the caverns below.
…
"Lizard Girl? Green Lightening? Scale-a-tron?" Mikey asks and he and Leo shine their flashlights down the pipe-laden trail.
"No, Mikey." Leo says.
"Well, what about Iguana Mama? Leapin' Lisa? Teenage Mutant Cheerleading Lizard?""
"Mikey, stop!" Leo warns.
"… What about The Tongue? Lizards have long, sticky tongues, right?"
"Mikey!" Leo turns to his annoying brother. "You can't just give someone a new name! Her name is Lisa and I don't think she'd appreciate being called Scale-a-tron."
"Awe, I like that name the best." Mikey pouts.
"I'm starting to understand why Raph likes to hit you so much." Leo sighs.
They both walk along silently a few minutes more.
"Leo, what are we going to do once we find her?"
"I'm guessing we speak with Splinter first. I'm sure he won't turn her away, so I guess she'll be staying with us until she can be cured."
"Oh…" Mikey wonders. "Leo, you think she's uber icky, or cute?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Well, I like cereal in the morning."
Leo has to stop and look at him. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"You see, if this new lizard Lisa is an ug-mug, and she's staying with us, how am I going to enjoy my Sugar Blizzard Choco-Rocks if her creepy face is sitting across from me?"
Leo rolls his eye at him. "Uh, I'll just have her sit across from me. OK?"
"Thanks bro, I'm glad we got that figured out."
They walk in the quiet dripping of the sewer for a moment and Mikey hums as if coming to a conclusion in his mind. "And if she happens to be cute, she can still sit across from you. I have a girlfriend after all and I don't need any distractions so early in the morning." Mikey jogs away happily.
Leo slaps his palm over his face.
…
"This is stupid." Raphael has covered the least ground in trying to find Lisa. He shoots his flashlight around carelessly. Heck, if the chick wanted to run away maybe she doesn't want to be found. He walks by a small broken pipe. "Yo, Lisa, you in there?" His voice echoes. How long does he have to be out here until they give up and are given the OK to go back home? He's about to miss his favorite show! He growls and kicks at a fallen pipe. He continues to search down the seemingly endless path for a while, becoming very bored. He looks a few feet up and sees the ever dimming sunlight coming through a grate. The shadows of people walking by steal the light once in a while. Then, it finally begins to rain.
Raphael sighs. If it starts to rain any harder, he'll have to head back. It is no fun trying to walk in two feet of rushing rain water. He looks up at the grate once more, a bit confused. Although he can see the rain falling, none of it seems to be hitting him. He shines his flashlight right under the grate and his eyes go wide; the rain seems to fall onto a statue of some kind. He walks closer and climbs up onto some fallen debris. He points his light at the spot. It looks like part of the brick wall is jutting out into the shape of a person sitting, hiding their face amidst their arms and knees. Raphael wonders why someone would carve something like this and leave it here.
Upon further inspection, the statue looks like it has a tail and, oh, my gosh! Is it breathing? "What the…" He mumbles.
Suddenly the brick carving gasps and looks over at him with big, brown eyes.
"Holy Toledo!" Raphael falls back on his shell.
"Ah!" She screams. "D-don't come near me!"
Raphael groans and gets back on his feet. He finds his flashlight and focuses under the grate. He sees her, a living, breathing girl made of brick. He watches as she tries to hop down and get away from him. Once her hands leave the brick and she lands hard on the sewer ground, her skin changes to a rich emerald green. She keeps backing away. "Leave me alone!"
"Hey… hey wait! Are you Lisa?" Raphael calls to her.
The girl stops. "How do you know me? Who are you?"
"Our friend April asked us to help find ya."
"April?"
"Yeah, you know, Lame O'Neil?" Raph smirks.
Lisa tries to get a good look at him, but it's just to dark down here.
"Now, come on so we can get back before this rain gets worse." He says.
"No! I'm not going anywhere with you!" Mona scurries and fits herself into an old pipe.
"Awe, geez." Raphael walks over to her and squats down to where she is. He hears her breathing and crying softly. All he can see is her tail poking out of the pipe.
"What are you? What is going on? Why did this have to happen to me?" She continues to weep.
He stays there a moment, letting her get a few more tears out. He is super uncomfortable. How much do girls need to cry until they can toughen up and move on? He looks down and sees the water start to stream around his feet. They have to go.
"Listen, Lisa, I know that this has probably been the crappiest day of your life, so it got to get better from here, right? If you wanna cry, that's fine, but we kinda gotta go now before this place gets flooded. I'll take you to a safe place and me and my bros and April will figure things out. Aight?"
She stops crying but has not moved yet. This is getting old. This soft talk is for the birds. He has to be a bit more aggressive. "Uh, can we get this show on the road already? Unless you wanna be flushed out to sea, I suggest you crawl outta that hole and follow me!" He growls at her.
He stands up, turns on his heels and starts to walk back the way he came.
Lisa waits until he's a few feet away. She then backs out of the pipe and follows him. "Wait!" She calls out. "Who are you? Where are you taking me?" She catches up to him and sees that he has a rather large shell on his back, like some huge turtle.
Raphael's little vial of patience is quickly boiling away. He stops and shines his light on her. "Look, chick!"
And as his little flashlight lands on the lost and lonely lizard girl, his heart skips a few beats. She is absolutely gorgeous; her big, helpless eyes, her slender shoulders, her long, although a bit wet, ponytail. And she is a lovely shade of green. Most of the humans he's seen have mutated into horrid forms. In Raphael's opinion, Lisa hit the mutagenic jackpot!
What the heck is Raphael thinking?!
Nothing, nothing at all. He clears his throat. "Look, no more stoppin'. You can ask all the questions ya want once we're back at the Lair. Until then, just pipe down and keep up. Got it?"
Lisa gasps; those blazing green eyes behind a striking red mask, the stern expression, those big, strong arms. He's… he's… "OK." She says and quietly follows him.
Raphael nods and walks back at a steady pace. He pulls out his T-phone and calls April.
"Yo, April."
"What's up? Did you find Lisa?"
"Yeah, I got her right here. We're headin' back now."
"Great! Thanks so much! We'll meet you there!"
"Yup." And he hangs up. He glances back at Lisa, making sure she doesn't get too far behind. "My name's Raphael, by the way. Just call me Raph."
"Raphael… like the artist?"
"Yeah."
"Are you… some kind of turtle?"
"No, Ima actual turtle." He's losing more patience.
"Were you a human once… like me?"
"Naw, always a turtle... thank goodness." He mumbles.
Lisa barely hears him end the conversation short. She wraps her hands around herself. The sewers are so cold. Smelly and cold. She hopes that wherever Raph is taking her, it's nicer than this.
…
Not much of an upgrade, but complaining won't do any good now, Lisa thinks to herself as she slowly clicks through the turnstiles.
She's startled when she sees two more turtles standing in what looks like a sunken common area. One is wearing a blue bandana, and the other is wearing orange. They turn and see Raphael enter, and look past him and see the timid lizard girl.
"Hey!" The orange one says happily. He then whispers loudly to the blue one. "Guess we got a cute one."
The blue one reaches behind his goofy pal and yanks hard on his bandana.
"Gah!" he yelps.
The blue one walks up to Raphael and the new girl. "Hello, you must be Lisa. Don't worry, you're safe here."
"Where's here? And where's April?" Lisa asks.
"Right here!" April runs through the turnstiles, followed by another, taller turtle wearing purple. "Lisa, I'm glad you're OK." April places a comforting hand on Lisa's shoulder
But Lisa steps away from her, giving nervous looks to the four, shelled beings among them. "I'm not OK, April. I'm…" Lisa lowers her head and begins to cry.
April guides her to the worn couch. The girls sit. The orange one offers Lisa a blanket and April wraps it around the shivering girl.
The blue one speaks. "I'm going to get Sensei." He gives April 'the look' and leaves.
April nods. She talks calmly. "Listen, Lisa. You may not feel like it right now, but things are going to be fine. These guys are my friends and this place is their home. They saved me many times from all sorts of danger. I trust them, and I know you will too… I also trust Master Splinter."
Lisa sniffles. "Who is… Master Splinter?" She gasps when the orange turtle offers her a box of tissue. She takes one reluctantly.
"Master Splinter is our dad!" Orange turtle says. "He raised us and taught us how to be awesome ninja warriors."
Lisa looks at him through blurry eyes. This turtle is the smallest of the four, but not by much. His eyes are bright blue, his skin is freckled and his smile is huge.
"You're a ninja?" Lisa asks.
"Shell, yeah!" He says proudly.
"But before we get into all of that," April continues. "I have to tell you that Master Splinter is a mutant as well… he's a rat."
Lisa physically stiffens at the idea. She doesn't respond, just gives a slight nod… what the heck has she gotten herself into?
Finally, the blue-banded turtle comes back, followed by their 'father'.
Lisa keeps her eyes on him. Though he is not as gross as she imagined, his presence is still intimidating.
Splinter stands in front of her; his hands folded behind his back. "Hello, Lisa. My name is Hamato, Yoshi. You may call me Splinter."
Lisa's mouth opens, but no words come out. Reptiles, she is comfortable with, rodents, she is not. She takes a big gulp and a shiver runs up her spine. Suddenly her skin becomes the same blue hue as the worn couch she's sitting on and everyone is in awe.
"Whoa, what a cool trick!" The orange one says.
Raphael thinks, just like in the sewer, when she looked like the brick.
"Wow! Through her mutation, she's acquired the ability to camouflage, like a chameleon!" The purple on says, a little too happily for Lisa's taste.
Lisa looks down at her skin and frowns. She has turned blue. She looks up at Splinter. "I'm sorry, I'm just…
Splinter doesn't take offense. "It is quite alright, child. I've gotten worse reactions from others meeting me for the first time." He smiles and kneels comfortably before her. The four turtles come close to him and they kneel as well.
"My son has given me enough information about you and your unfortunate circumstance that has brought you here. And for however long you need, you are welcome to stay here, and whatever need you may have, although we live humbly, do not hesitate to ask. Believe me, I understand how hard this must be for you."
Lisa pouts. "Excuse me, sir…"
"Just Splinter is fine." The kind rat says.
"Splinter… but how could you understand? Raphael said that he had always been a turtle. You've never been human, have you?"
Splinter looks down and sighs. "Let me tell you a story…" And Splinter recalls to Lisa their origin story, of how they came to be.
As Splinter tells their tale, Lisa calms down and her green color slowly returns.
Splinter finishes by naming his sons. "Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."
"All the awesome ones end in 'O'!" Michelangelo jeers.
Leonardo and Donatello snicker. Raphael growls and sneers at his baby brother. He would have clobbered him, but didn't want to terrify their new guest.
Lisa speaks. "So, you named them after famous Italian artists?"
"Hei." Splinter says. "I have a fondness for that type of art."
Lisa looks up at him. Though his face may be strange, his eyes are very kind. She looks at each turtle. She looks at April, who has an assuring smile on her face. Things are different now, she is different, and might be for a very long time, if not forever. "I have a request."
"Yes?" Splinter asks.
"I'd like to be called Mona… you can call me Mona." She says.
Splinter smiles. "Mona, it is." Splinter stands to leave. "I am sure my sons and daughter can accommodate you. I will be in the dojo meditating if needed.
"Thank you, Splinter." Mona sees the turtles bow to him, and so does April. Why did he call April his daughter?
"So, you wanna go by Mona Lisa now? How fitting with the Artistic Renaissance theme." April says.
"Yeah, it's why I picked it. Mona Lisa… just plain Mona is fine. I'm not Lisa anymore." She says.
"I may be able to help you with that." Donatello speaks up. "Once you're feeling up to it, I can give you the tour to my laboratory. I've been studying the mutagen for a while. Once I have enough samples, I should be able to make another dose of retro mutagen. It worked once on Dr. O'Neil. It should be able to make you human again."
"How long would that take?" Mona asks.
"It depends. We're going to have to find a lot more canisters."
"Oh." Mona deflates.
"But don't worry!" Mikey says cheerily. "Until then, you get to hang out with us, the greatest ninja's in the world! We eat pizza, play games, fight crime, well, you won't have to fight crime, not unless you want to learn, and if you do, I can come up with a cool name for you!"
"Um, thanks, Michelangelo."
"Just Mikey is fine!" He blinks his bright blue eyes. "Say, do you wanna stay up and finish watching the Monster Marathon with us?"
"No thanks. I think I just want to lie down."
"Awe, come on! It's not like you gotta go to school in the morning!" Raph says.
Mona frowns. "Huh, I guess you're right, Raph. No more school… or tests, or classes. No school dance, no more musicals…" She stands up. "…Or going to the mall with my friends, no more manicures, or getting my driver's permit, or graduation, or college for me! I guess I can just stay up and watch all the horrible monster movies forever til I keel over! Sounds like a wonderful LIFE for a hideous monster like me!" She screams.
She looks up at their stunned faces. Her stomach sinks when she sees Mikey's hurt expression. "I'm sorry, I just… April, can you take me to my room?" She looks away, clearly humiliated. If I think I'm a monster, what must they think I think of them?
"Sure." April glances at her friends, almost sorry that she brought Mona here, then leads her to the guestroom.
The turtles stand quiet once the girls leave.
"Yikes, what a crab." Raphael mumbles.
"We can't be too hard on her. She's lost everything today, and you were a bit too insensitive to remember that." Leo says.
"Hmph." Raph says. "Well, she better get over it soon. I ain't walkin' on egg shells in my own home cause Little Miss Waterworks wants everyone to feel miserable."
"That's hardly fair, Raph." Donnie says. "Not only did she get mutated, but when she turned to her parents for help, they rejected her. They practically kicked her out to fend for herself."
"Really?" Mikey asks him.
Donnie nods. "April was there, saw and heard the whole thing… We're all Mona has right now."
Raphael blinks. "Well… that sucks."
"Yes, it does, so if Mona needs to scream or yell, or cry to 'get over it', we are going to let her." Leo says.
Mikey looks down the hall where Mona and April disappeared. "I wonder what kind of cereal she likes."
…
"And you can have either the hammock or the bed. I tend to go back and forth when I stay down here." April hands Mona the bookbag she took from her house.
Mona sits on the bed and opens the bookbag, finding that April had packed her toothbrush, toothpaste, a few washcloths, a towel, her favorite pink nail polish, a nail file, shampoo, and the pink, fleece hoodie that had hung on the back of her bathroom door. "Why did you do this?"
April shrugs. "I just brought a few things that I would have wanted the first time I had to leave home to come here. It can get a bit damp and chilly down here. And don't get me wrong, the guys are clean enough, but it just feels good to have your own things."
Mona sets the bag aside, puts on the soft, pink hoodie and zips it up. She hides her hands in the pockets. She looks around the small, brick-walled bedroom. Besides the twin bed and the hammock, the only other furniture in there is a small nightstand with a lamp, a braided area rug and a three-drawer dresser next to the door. This is Mona's new life, and it is depressing. "Why did Splinter call you daughter?"
April falls into the hammock, letting it swing back and forth. "He let me stay here when my father was kidnapped by the Kraang. He took care of me and trained me to fight. I'm not as good at the others but I'm getting there. These guys are my family, and I suppose that makes Splinter my surrogate father."
"So, you're a ninja?" Mona asks.
"Yes, a kunoichi in training."
Mona huffs a small laugh. "You could have kicked my butt at school."
"Yeah." April smiles. "But a true ninja needs to practice self-control."
"Huh… what am I going to do, April?" Mona asks sadly.
April jumps out of the hammock onto her feet. "Just take one day at a time. You were only alone for a little while, and now you are surrounded by people who can help you get through this in many different ways." April walks to the door. "There is a bathroom right next door, and the kitchen is open 24/7."
April heads out the door.
"W-Wait! Aren't you staying down here with me? At least, you know, until I feel more comfortable?"
April smiles. "Sure, Mona. I'll be back in a bit."
Mona nods and April closes the door.
Mona starts going through her bookbag to see what else April confiscated for her, wondering why April is being so kind to her.
…
April jogs back into the common area, finding the turtles now sitting and talking quietly with each other. She takes a seat in between Donnie and Raph. "OK, so first off, I want to apologize for bringing the worst person in my school into your lives.
"The worst? Naw, you already did that when we met Casey." Donnie jabs.
"Who's talking about me! If it's bad, I didn't do it!" The lanky teen hops over the turnstiles and joins his terrapin brethren in the living area, fitting himself snuggly between Donnie and April.
"Do you mind?" Donnie moves away from him.
"Hey, Case!" Raph greets.
"Yo! So, what's up? Y'all having a little powwow?"
"You could say that." April says.
"Red, I sent you like a dozen texts. Why'd you ditch the rest of school and leave me alone with Irma?"
"Casey, how can I put this…" April begins.
"I'll put it!" Raphael cuts in. "Y'know Lisa, your 'buddy' from school? She's now a mutant lizard and is crashin' with us til Donnie can change her back into a snobby human again."
Casey's jaw drops as the information finishes processing. He turns to look at April who gives him a nod of affirmation. His first thoughts, "Is she cute or fugly?"
"Cute." Mikey shouts and Raph mumbles in unison. Mikey looks at Raph and Raph stares at a far-off wall.
"This is awesome! Serves her right after the way she talked to us. Where is she?" Casey asks.
"She's resting now, and she's had a really tough day so now would not be the best time to gloat over her, Jones." April says.
"Whoa, since when did Lisa Kingsley become your BFF?" Casey asks.
"She is not my BFF. And her name is Mona now…"
"Why'd she change her name?" Casey asks her.
April shrugs. "Everything else has changed in her life."
…
The next morning, a miserable Mona watches April as she goes off to school. Mona closes the bedroom door and crawls back into bed.
"Yesterday wasn't a nightmare. I really am a…" She snaps her eyes shut, refusing that anymore tears fall. That's all she's been doing the past eight hours, sleeping and crying. She refused company, refused food. She feels like she's trapped in someone else's life, on some distant world where talking turtles and rats are commonplace. She feels that everything she's ever hoped and dreamed of has been ripped away from her. "It's not fair."
She pulls the covers from her head and places her feet on the floor. All she has to do is get up and start her day, her new journey. She looks down at her unfamiliar feet and can't find the strength to stand.
All she can think about is how her father walked away from her and how her mother chose to forget her.
"Maybe tomorrow." Mona wraps herself in the warmth of her covers in the dark of the room and decides that this is where she'll hide for a while.
…
…
A/N: So, Mona Lisa is NOT smiling right now! Oh well, more drama to come. She's going to have to suck it up! She has a Lair to destroy! LOL! You know, with her winning personality… anyway, what do you think so far? Any comments are candy to me!