YEAH! A new OC is about to be introduced everyone! I'm so excited. And this chapter is definitely action packed!

Arinna couldn't help but snicker as she watched Nicole slowly creep into the room. From the looks of it, Nicole was trying to look as casual as possible as she did this, but it was practically impossible with how panicked she looked.

"Good Morning Nicole." Arinna waved.

"… Morning." She gave the place a look around. "So um… where is everybody?" she sniffed, casually leaning against the table.

"Oh Sebastian was a little cranky so he is napping." Arinna announced. "Picasso is with Michelle in her apartment room."
"Mm-hmm." Nicole nodded her head a few times. "And um…. The uh… the other one?" she squeaked out

"…I'm sorry, who are you referring to?" Arinna smirked.
"You know… our new guest." Nicole added.
Arinna raised her eye brow, acting completely oblivious to what Nicole was trying to say. "I'm sorry what?"

"You know who I mean Arinna!" Nicole hissed.

"Oh!" Arinna suddenly waved. "Hello Leatherhead."
"Hello Arinna." Leatherhead said, as he exited the kitchen… right behind Nicole.

"AHHHH!" she screamed spazzing a few seconds before fleeing to her room.

"Hahahahah!" Arinna laughed.
"D-Did I say something wrong?" Leatherhead inquired.

"No she's just… hahaha… allergic to orange juice." She pointed to the juice Leatherhead had in his hands.

"Oh!" looked ashamed in himself Leatherhead quickly placed the orange juice down.

"AHHHHHH!"

The days following Leatherhead's arrival, the house was often filled with Nicole's startled and horrified screams.

"Ms. Nicole-" Leatherhead called to her.

"Hah! Ga-ha-AHH!" she yelped, opening the closet, stepping inside, and closing it behind herself.

"…" Slowly inching to the door, Leatherhead hesitantly reached forward, knocking on it. "Um… Ms. Nicole?"

"I'm afraid Nicole isn't here at the moment." Nicole said from behind the door, her voice sound disturbingly chipper. "Please leave a message and she will get back to you later. Beeeepppppp."

"…Okay?" Leatherhead slowly stepped away from the door and returned to the kitchen. From the couch however, Arinna was trying her best to hide her snickers behind the newspapers she was reading.

"You'll get use to him eventually Nicole.' She called to the closet, trying to keep the laughter out of her tone.

"I'm afraid Nicole isn't here right now." Nicole repeated, her voice sounded gruff compared to the last time. "Please leave a message and she kill you later, you jerk."
Arinna cackled. "Come on Nicole. He is trying to get to know you. At least you could try to get to know him back. Or at least look at his face without screaming. You're a total baby."

"I am not!" Nicole opened the door to glare at her.

"You are too."

"I can look at his face if I want to." She insisted.

"Really?" Arinna challenged. "Go ahead then. Do it." She pointed to her right.

"I- AGHAHHHHHHHHH!" realizing he had re-entered the room, she slammed the door shut.

Rolling her eyes, Arinna looked back at her Newspaper. If anything good came out of this, she was always able to tell what room Nicole and Leatherhead were in together because of the screaming.

She was honestly shocked Agatha hadn't come up here yet to see what in the world all the racket was about.

It was early.

It was painfully early, Nicole had decided. 5 A.M was a time no one should be waking up. In spite of Arinna's belief that Nicole was nocturnal since she stayed up rather late, Nicole was still a person who required 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day. So you can see how frustrating it was to her when she woke up 2 hours after falling asleep.

2 hours, and she couldn't get back to sleep.

Jerking her covers off, Nicole sat up. Feeling an all-encompassing pain surrounding her, she groaned. Her ears were roaring, eyes burning, and something foul lingered in her mouth that she could not place.

She absentmindedly thanked Arinna for offering to let Picasso sleep with her the night before, knowing Nicole would be staying up late to finish her online college classes. Had that little turtle been in here now, Nicole was positive she would have woken him up, and would have had to deal with his siren like cries.

Deciding Coffee would be the best way to go about the day, Nicole trudged out of her room and into the small apartment kitchen she owned. Placing a packet into the machine and putting her mug below, she pressed Brew and waiting anxiously for her coffee to arrive.

Yawning, she scanned her apartment. Stretching her arms back, Nicole arched her back in attempt to pop the knots that had formed during sleep. Feeling them pop she practically purred in satisfaction.

This wasn't the first time she had only gotten a few measly hours of sleep. In fact, having become a medical student, Nicole had realized that she had a mild case on insomnia most nights. She just couldn't sleep sometimes. It was strange.

Maybe all the years of stress building up in her system? Perhaps.

Grabbing her mug of coffee, Nicole turned towards the table. "Geh!" she flinched at the sight of something moving on the couch. "GAH-" covering her mouth before she could let out the scream, she bit her lip. Hold it in!

Oh yeah…. He was still here.

The Alligator. Or as Arinna and Michelle have named him… Leather Head.
Realizing he had only shifted in his sleep and was not yet away, Nicole quickly stumbled back and fled back to her room. It had been 8 days since they found that… that kid.

Arinna assured her she would get use to him with time, but Nicole knew other wise. She would never get use to him being here!

Chugging down her coffee, Nicole moved to her closet to change. It was early, but at least she could take this moment to finish some errands she had been holding off.

Scribbling a note to let everyone know where she went, Nicole placed it on the counter. Tip-toeing past the giant beast Arinna called their house guest, she moved down the hall to her shoes. Throwing them on, she had barely just opened the door when she heard some movement behind her.

"Ms. Nicole?" the voice spoke. She froze. Oh gosh… she woke him up.

"GCK!" she jumped. "…." Hesitantly she turned around. "….Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." she opened her mouth and let out what sounded like some ghostly groan. Leatherhead stared at, very confused.

"Is… something wrong?" he inquired.

"No… Nope. I'm fine. Peachy. Just peachy. Yeah…." She gulped. H-Hey… Leatherhead." She greeted shakily.

"It is very early." Leatherhead said softly, moving a little closer to her so the light from the hall would reveal his face. "Are you going out?" he frowned.

"….Yes." she shifted her gaze nervously. Turning to leave, she flinched when he stammered out.
"W-When will you be back?"

"Later."

"O-Oh. Okay." He nodded meekly. They stood there, staring at each other. It was awkward. Disturbingly awkward. And gross. Seriously, Nicole was starting to sweat and it was gross. She wasn't even joking, there was some serious sweating going on.

Like… profusely sweating.

"So um… Yeah I need to go and um… get ride of my excessive sweating problem." She waved, feeling the sweat drip down her forehead.

"Your… what?" The alligator stammered out.

"Yeah, it's an issue. I really bad issue. It's… contagious too! Yeah, contagious. I would keep your distance for a while just to be safe." She motioned for him to step back a few paces.

Blinking, Leatherhead did as commanded and stepped back. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah. Just gotta… y'know, freeze it over. Dive head first into a freezer or something." She rambled, scrambling to unlock the front door. Stupid sweaty and shaky hands!

Arinna could laugh all she wanted, but this was a serious issue! Lets see her live with the very thing she feared all her life! See how she likes that!

"Well then…Bye-bye." He waved back. She knew if Arinna was here she would have said it was cute… but it really wasn't to Nicole.

She hadn't run out of her apartment that fast since she accidentally set the fire alarm off.

Now officially free from the anxiety attack known as her house, Nicole felt a nice sense of calm wash over her as she moved down the streets of New York. And her yucky sweating had stopped!

That was really weird too. That has never happened to her before. Was that called nervous sweating? She wasn't sure. Thank the bread gods it stopped though.

Now all she had to worry about were the streets of New York. She never felt fear while walking through these streets, even if they were sometimes filled with crime.

She wasn't some weak little damsel in distress that couldn't defend herself. She dared those criminals to come at her. Especially those stupid Purple Dragons. She's beat them up a few times before with no problems.

Honestly those little brats.

Shaking her head a few times Nicole turned the corner to head towards her shop. She could at least make a few things for Vanessa before she got there and help to for the day.

Perhaps she should consider hiring some more people to help out at the shop? She hated leaving Vanessa there alone all the time.

Yeah, she could put an ad in the papers or something. That was probably the best way to get it out there. She should talk to Michelle about it.

8 hours had passed since Nicole left the house. Her watch officially striking 2 P.M Nicole considered heading back home to check on everyone. She had done her errands and stopped by the shop, so she didn't really have anything else to do.

She could even drop off some cake for Agatha. She always enjoyed Nicole's cake.

Placing a few pieces into a box and wrapping it up, Nicole stuffed a few cookie bags in her pocket.

"I'm heading off Vanessa." She called.

"Okay Nicole." Vanessa smiled as she gently patted Alexis' back. "Thank you again for letting Alexis stay here while I work."
"Hey, there isn't a problem at all." Nicole assured her. "The customers love her anyway, even if she is a super creepy baby. She's a great way to draw in other mothers and elderly." Nicole snickered.

"Great to know my daughter is simply advertisement for you." Vanessa frowned.

"I'm kidding." Nicole chuckled. "By the way has she started talking yet?"

"Yes actually." Vanessa grinned brightly. "Alexis sweetheart." She turned to her daughter. "Say, Mama."

Alexis turned to stare at her Mother with wide eyes, not sure what was being asked of her.

"Mama." Vanessa repeated.

Finding Vanessa's face some how amusing, Alexis giggled. "Ma-Ma." She clapped.

"That's my girl!" Vanessa cheered. "Who's such a smart girl. You are." She cooed.

Rolling her eyes, Nicole chuckled. "Oh hey, I was thinking about hiring someone new to help you out here at the shop since I've been gone for so long." She announced.
"Really?" Vanessa's eyes widened. "That would be a great help."
"Yeah. Any suggestions?"

"Someone who can actually make what we are selling would be a big help." Vanessa sighed.

"Yeah, true." Nicole nodded. "I'll look into it." She said as she placed on her coat. "Don't work too hard now. I'll be back in a few hours… probably."

"You probably won't." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it is a Wednesday. We never have customers on these days."
"Yeah, that is the point. I'll be bored." Vanessa huffed.

"You can close early if there really aren't that many people." Nicole chuckled as she opened the door and left. "Bye!"
"Bye!"

Chuckling to herself for a few minutes as she started her way home, Nicole pulled out a notepad and began to scribble down some ideas for an Ad. What kind of person did she want to help out in the store? Someone like Vanessa would be lovely. But there were a lot of different type of workers out there and she didn't want to be too picky. Someone who would definitely take the job seriously would be nice.

And had a little experience in the kitchen. Yeah, that would be nice.

Oh and also-

BAAM

"AH!" Nicole yelped as something rammed into her knees, taking her out. Slamming face first into the ground, Nicole lifted herself up with a growl of anger. "What the shell!?" she screamed over her shoulder at whoever knocked her down. "Watch where you are going-" she trailed off as her gaze fell upon a small 5 year old girl, who was sniffing and hiccupping wildly, rubbing at her small face… that had tears streaming down them. "Ghh." Nicole flinched at the sight.

Oh great… had she mentioned she was terrible with kids, especially when they were crying. "Uh… um… little girl?" she asked tentatively. The small child flinched, looking up at Nicole with wide and panicked eyes. "Are you alright?"

The girl shook her head a few times, looking around as if she was afraid something would jump out and scare her. "Bad men… bad men…" she whimpered.

"Bad-" Nicole narrowed her eyes, giving the area a good look around. "Is a bad man chasing you?" she inquired. "Little girl, where are your parents? Are they close? Did you get lost?"
"No… No, no no! Bad men! Run away!" the girl was starting to get hysteric.

"Little girl, hey, hey." Nicole said, hoping to calm her down. "It is alright. You are alright now. Just, tell me what happened."
"Bad Man… The Shredder… the Evil Shredder…" The girl sobbed into her hands.

"An… evil shredder?" Nicole frowned, sighing. "Okay." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "So there is some sort of evil shredder, but where are your parents?"
"No parent… masked man…. Vader… Vader freed me. Gotta get away."

"…Huh?" Nicole was struggling through this conversation. She had to get this straight. So a man named Darth Vader saved her from a shredder that was wearing a mask? Is that what this little girl was trying to say? "Little girl, I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are talking about." She said honestly. "How about we go to the nearest police station and try to find your parents?" The girl just shook her head, as if the proposal was useless. Nicole sighed and scratched her head. "Hey, come on, please don't cry. What is your name? I'm Nicole." She pointed to herself.

Sniffing a few time, the girl raised her eyes, revealing wide hazel eyes and light brown hair. "E…El.." she hiccupped. "Elizabeth." She whispered.

"Hey there Elizabeth." Nicole smiled. "How about we go and find some authorities, okay? The police?"

Jumping at the very sound of Nicole's suggestion, Elizabeth began to shake her head. "N-No!" she stammered.

"No?" Nicole frowned. "I'm sure they could help you find your parents."

"No!" the girl wailed again. A movement of silence washed over the two, leaving only Elizabeth's gently hiccups and tiny sobs to fill in the spaces. Not sure what to do and realizing she probably wasn't going to understand this little girl anytime soon, Nicole sighed.

"Okay so um…" what else could she possibly do besides call the police? Call the fire department?

If what this girl said was true and there was some weirdo chasing her then she had an obligation to call the police to help. Or at least make sure this little girl got home safely. "Where do you live Elizabeth? I can take you home back to your family, okay?"

Her eyes red and puffy, Elizabeth mumbled something incoherent and shook her head. Yeah, Nicole was gonna get nothing helpful out of this kid, was she?

"Elizabeth you aren't really helping me out here." She sighed honestly. "I don't know how to help you unless you give me something to work with."

"…Help?" Elizabeth frowned. "Why would… would you w-wanna help?" she sniffled.

"…Well why wouldn't I?" Nicole questioned.

"Because…" Elizabeth took a step back. "I'm a bad girl. I'm bad." She whispered quietly.

"… Elizabeth, you have once again lost me." Nicole said. "I really don't understand anything that you are telling me."
"No one understands…. No one." Elizabeth hiccupped, the tears the dripped from her chin began to dry, leaving her face feeling crusty. Clearing her throat, the small girl whipped her hands by using her pants. 'I'm sorry I bumped into ya."

Slowly, with disbelieving confusion, Nicole shrugged. "It's okay. It's New York. That happens all the time." And apparently Nicole and Arinna running into a lot of strange folk was also starting to become something that was normal.

"Elizabeth-" before Nicole could make another sound, the younger child gasped. As if just noticing something behind her, she turned around to look towards the streets.

"They're here…." She whispered. Oh gosh, Nicole just got a terrible flash from the movie Poltergeist.

"Uh…" she gulped. "W-Who is here, exactly?" she questioned.

"… Bad men." The girl whispered. With a shriek, she stumbled back when a man leapt down from the fire escape below, landing a few feet in front of them.

"Bad men!" Elizabeth exclaimed running straight into Nicole's arms. Nicole, who was too lost for words, stumbled back, keeping a strong grip on the girl in her arms.

More and more men began to pile out from behind dumpsters and the roofs. They surrounded the girls, like they were their pray.

"What in the world? Who are you guys?!" she demanded. They didn't answer, and instead, charged at her. "Ahh!" she let out a yell and dove to the right, just as one tried to swipe at her with their blade. A real and very deadly katana blade.

Why would they have Katana blades?! Were they Ninja's or something? Counting on the fact that they were dressed in their pajamas like it was Halloween they might as well be Ninjas!

Feeling herself stumble over her own feet, Nicole hit the wall with a painful thump. Using that as leverage, she caught herself and pushed herself back, keeping Elizabeth in a tight embrace.

These men were trying to kill her.

"Bad men." Nicole began to nod in realization, backing up.

They all moved towards her, their eyes narrowed, ready to strike and kill. Nicole never really thought she was defenseless, heavens no, but in this situation…. She kind of was. Unlike them, Nicole had no weapons so…

She needed a plan.

"Well, as they say, if you can't beat them… RUN AWAY!" Nicole lifted Elizabeth over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and booked it down the road.

The next few minutes flew by in a blur, similar to how the buildings did as she passed them. Nicole never looked back after she ran. She didn't have to, to know that they were right on her heels. Some where even up above on the roofs.

Seriously, was Elizabeth part of some sort of Mafia or something?! Daughter of the President?! Why were all these guys after her?!

"Hold on tight Elizabeth." Nicole called as she leapt over a few trash cans that were in her path. The younger girl squeaked, her grip growing a little tighter.

Nicole's breath sobbing from her chest, she forced herself to run faster. The sound of crunching gravel behind her was her only indication that the men were beginning to catch up to her. In times like this she wished she had done track over going into medicine and cooking.

The pounding in her heart was making her chest burn. She had to loose these guys. She wasn't fast enough to do that though.

That didn't mean she didn't have a few tricks up her sleeve.

"Elizabeth… Hold on, okay?" she gasped out. "We're taking a short cut!"

"Huh?" the girl squeaked when Nicole suddenly took a sharp turn into an upcoming Alley. Sliding through the back street, slamming down into a puddle of water as she went, Nicole took another turn, then another.

Stumbling over a few broken bottles, Nicole grabbed a light post to help her swing into another alley. With her speed, she was certain she would have slipped if she had tried to take that turn on alone.

"Here!" Nicole reached into her back for the cake she had intended to give to Agatha. Sorry Agatha, perhaps another time. "Take this!" she handed it up to Elizabeth.

Scrambling to grab it, Elizabeth held it awkwardly in her hands, looking back and forth from Nicole to the Foot behind them.

"N-Now what?" she stammered.

"We'll be approaching a few gang looking fella's here in approximately 20 seconds. Throw that at them." Nicole commanded.

"What?" the girl gasped.
"Just do it!"

Elizabeth didn't know why she did what Nicole told her to do, but when those 4 weirdly dressed gang member guys came into view, Elizabeth threw the cake with all her might. With pin-point accuracy, she slammed that cake straight into the leader's face.

"HAH!" Nicole cackled. "Take that Purple Dragons!" she cackled.

"NICOLE!" the man roared, stepping out into the street, only to slam into three different foot Ninja's seconds later. "HEY!" Nicole heard the leader growl angry. "Watch were you are going you Pajama freaks!"

Apparently the "Pajama freaks" didn't take that insult too well, because a few of them actually stopped to pick a fight with the Purple Dragons.

"Dumbo's." Nicole snorted, taking a few more turns before she slide behind a dumpster. Crouching to the ground, and keeping as close to the shadows as possible, Nicole covered both her own mouth and Elizabeth's when the remaining men wearing black passed. Glaring at them as the leapt up towards the next street, Nicole slowly lowered her hands.

"…." She glanced at Elizabeth, who stared at her in awe. "….Heh." Letting out a large sigh of relief, Nicole slide to the ground, holding the girl tightly in her arms. Breathing heavily, her chest burning, head spinning, and legs shaking terribly from her whole endeavor, Nicole let out a small, and rather pathetic, cheer of victory. "Yeah, wahoo. Go team… victory… ah…." She gasped for breath.

Elizabeth, who had been so quiet the whole time, slowly looked up to Nicole with wide eyes.

"Let's not… do that again… okay… Elizabeth?" Nicole turned her head to the small girl, grinning widely. "Right?"

Elizabeth blinked a few times, shocked. "…Why…? Why did you do… all of that?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Do what?" Nicole breathed out, slowly catching her breath.

"…Help me?"

Nicole blinked a few times, staring at the girl. Again with that question. "Well, why wouldn't I? Do I need a reason to help a person?" Nicole placed the little girl on the ground in front of her. "Here, give me your hands." She had noticed before that this little one's hands were bruised and scratched, but hadn't had the chance to really get a good look at them before.

Hesitant, Elizabeth held out her hands. Taking them into her own, Nicole pulled out some disinfectant and bandages from her bad. Placing the disinfectant on her small child's hands, Nicole began to wrap them in bandages.

"…You have medicine?" Elizabeth was astonished. "Are you… a Doctor?"

"Doctor in training. I'm going to school for it right now. With the people I live with, it has kind of become a habit for me to be as prepared as possible. You never know when someone might need help." Nicole smiled kindly. "There." She tied the bandages. "Here, I'll get your leg too."
"T…Thank you." Elizabeth said, holding out her leg. Wrapping that as well, Nicole grinned.

"There, all better." She paused to look out from behind the trash can. "I think those weirdoes are gone. We should head to the police-"

Elizabeth reached up to grab a hold of Nicole's sleeve. "No!' she gasped. Jumping, not expecting that reaction, Nicole stared at the girl.
"…What?"

"Police… they can't do anything… They never done anything!" The girl insisted, tightening her grip. "I don't… I don't have a mommy or a daddy…." She stammered softly. "I don't have no last name. Police never help me. They will just put me in a scary new house filled with other kids with no mommy's or daddy's!" the girl began to yell. "Than the Shredder will find me and take me back! He'll make me do bad things again and hurt people! I don't wanna!"

"Hey… Hey, hey." Nicole grabbed her hands. "Okay, okay I get it. No police. Just calm down."
"I can't! I can't! I-" Elizabeth cut herself off when Nicole placed a lollipop in front of the younger girl's face.

"Calm down." Nicole flicked her nose gently with the lollipop. Her Father did this with her when she was upset, so she was certain it would have the same affect on Elizabeth. "No police, I promise. We'll figure something out. You just have to calm down and take a deep breath. Can you do that for me Elizabeth?"

"A big… breath?" Elizabeth sniffled, staring at the lollipop in awe.

"Yeah, like this." Nicole inhaled then exhaled. Staring at Nicole as if she was crazy, Elizabeth slowly repeated the action. Taking a large breath, she held it for a few seconds before letting it out, her shoulder's trembling at the action.

"One more." Nicole patted Elizabeth's head. Not expecting the action, Elizabeth blushed and did it again. She felt… calm and warm.

She couldn't' understand this woman in front of her. Why was she so kind? Why did she feel so safe with Nicole?

"Better?" Nicole chuckled. Elizabeth nodded shyly.

"Good." Jumping to her feet, Nicole scanned the perimeter. "The coast seems to be clear. Let's move." She motioned for Elizabeth to following.

"You know, Arinna is gonna laugh when she meets you." Nicole announced out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Elizabeth frowned. "…Ariana?"

"Arinna." Nicole corrected. "She is my friend. She is gonna laugh when she meets you."
"…Why?" Elizabeth frowned. "Do I look funny?"
"No. But it is just the fact that I found you and you needed help that will make her laugh."

"…I don't understand."

"Arinna always finds… um… strays. And she always brings them home and I always question her about it. This is the first time I've found my own little stray." Nicole explained. Though it was her that brought Michelle into this whole situation, Nicole didn't exactly count that one because she kind of had to knock Michelle out and drag her into it…. So whatever.

"I'm a stray?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Kind of." Nicole chuckled.
"Then… will you bring me home?" the young girl asked softly. Nicole almost stopped walking and had to pause to consider a proper answer.

"Well… I dunno, I guess. You don't want to go to the police right? So I guess the only place left to go is my place. If you are okay with that of course."

"I'm okay with that." Elizabeth nodded. "I don't got no friends or family."

"…Don't say that with such a chipper tone." Nicole sighed, patting her head. "It is just sad."

"Really?" she titled her head.
"Yeah." Nicole said bluntly. "And I mean, you have some friends."

"I don't." Elizabeth frowned.
"That has got to be a lie. You must have some friends. Like um… who was that guy you mentioned before?"

"Guy?"

"Darth Vader or whatever."
"Vader." She smiled.
"Ah see, right there. You said he helped you escape or whatever. He is probably a friend, right?" Nicole pointed to her. Pausing, as if only realizing it herself, she gasped.
"I do have a friend!"

Nicole laughed. "Told you. Think he might be able to help? You could stay with him since you know him." Nicole said.

Frowning, Elizabeth shook her head. "He'll be going back to Japan." She mumbled.

"Japan?" Nicole's eyes doubled in size. "Why is he going there?"
"He lives there." She answered simply.

"…Oh… So then, why was he here?"

"Helping train newbies."

"…Okay we seriously gotta discuss what kind of weird stuff you are involved in so I can wrap my mind around this situation." Nicole shook her head. "My brain is feeling friend. I need some brain food!"

"Food?" Elizabeth instantly patted her belly, looking like she could eat an entire cow.

"Yes! Food." Nicole declared. I'm gonna buy you some food. You look like you haven't eaten in weeks." She said "What would you like?"

Elizabeth wasn't sure how to answer. "A…Anything?" she said, unsure. Nicole let out a laugh.

"Alright than, we'll just walk and see what we find."

"There ya go." Nicole placed the burger in front of the younger girl. Staring at it curiously, Elizabeth lifting it up. Tilting her head, she took a hesitant bite.

"HMM!' her eyes widened. "It is good!" she gasped.

"Haha, right?" Nicole grinned. Munching on her own burger for a bit, Nicole glanced to the clock.

5:30

Had it really already been almost 3 hours? Jeez, how time randomly flew by.

"Hey Elizabeth, will you excuse me for a second?" Nicole inquired.

"Why?" the younger girl asked. "You haven't done nothing wrong."

"Huh? I- wait no. What I meant was… can I make a call?" she pointed to the phones. Staring at them, Elizabeth frowned.

"Why?"
"I need to call my friend Arinna." Nicole explained. "I told her I would be back a while ago but then those guys started chasing us. I want to call to tell her I am okay."

"Oh." Elizabeth nodded her head a few times. "Okay."

Smiling, Nicole left the table and quickly shuffled to the phones. Keeping a close eye on Elizabeth as she dialed the number, she leaned into the wall. Lifting the pay phone to her ear, Nicole glanced around the corner at the Elizabeth, who was stull munching happily on the burger. "Arinna?" she said as soon as someone picked up on the other line.
"Nicole? Hey there. You forgot your phone at home, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Nicole sighed. "Listen, I got a problem. Something happened, and I don't know what to do."

"What? Are you alright?" her friend sounded worried.

"I'm fine, but… I ran into a little girl."

"A little girl?"
"Yeah, at first I thought she was lost… but then she started to say some weird things. About some Shredder guy using her to hurt people or something and Darth Vader saving her."

"…Darth Vader? Shredder? Uh…"

"I should mention this girl is like 5 or something. So I don't know what is real and what isn't. What I do know is that someone is definitely after her. These weirdoes tried to grab her. We got away, but I don't want to leave her alone. I don't know where her parent's are… actually, she says she doesn't have any."
"Oh my gosh." Arinna whispered.

"Yeah, so now you see my problem. What do I do?"
"You could bring her to the Police-"
"I can't."

"Huh?"

"I… I promised her." Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose. "She was freaking out and panicking so I promised her I wouldn't take her to the police. She didn't want to go and was worried they'd put her in a Foster Home and that his weirdo Shredder person would come find her and take her away again." Nicole pressed her forehead to the wall, gently bumping it against it, silently cursing her stupidity, "…Now I'm stuck with her, not knowing what to do."

"Nicole." Arinna sighed.

"I know it was a stupid thing to do but what else could I have done?" Nicole huffed. "You know better than anyone how it is to not want to go to an orphanage Arinna."

The other line was quite. "….Yeah, I do."

"So, what do I do?"
Arinna sighed on the other end. "I'm not sure Nicole. You definitely can't leave her alone if someone is after her. Are you sure she doesn't have any friends or family."
"She says she doesn't have either. Honestly, I'm tempted to bring her back to the apartment."
"That actually might be the best thing to do for now, at least till we can figure out what is going on."
"Yeah but…" Nicole trailed off. "We have other guests in the house."
"…Oh yeah."
"Oh yeah." Nicole mimicked in a condescending tone. "I doubt this little girl would be very… understanding if we suddenly introduced her to a lot of strange mutants."
"Well she is 5, you never know."
"Arinna."
"Right. Right. I can keep the boys and Leatherhead hidden at Michelle's before you both arrive. They can stay there for a couple days."
"Hmm, okay, yeah. That sounds like a plan."

"Great! Oh! What's the girl's name by the way?"

"Elizabeth."

"She sounds precious. I can't wait to meet her. Be careful coming back home though."

"I will. See you later."

"See you later."
"Bye."
"Bye-bye."

YEAH NEW CHAPTERS! So, I'm not sure when I'm gonna be able to update this story again, but I promise it will definitely be within the next week... or two. Either one. 0.0

By the way, the character Elizabeth belongs to Koraru Kinomoto.:D I hope you liked this chapter! I really enjoyed writing it! :D

Yup, so HEY, Nicole needs some more help at the Bakery shop. So if some on you who have already sent in a character to me would like to introduce your character that way, just let me know, okay?

...THE FIRST SIGHTING OF THE FOOT AND VADER! OH MY GOSH. The intensness! (Yes, that is obviously a word)