A/N: Hey everyone! Here is, of course, the next chap. I hadn't planned on ending it the way it is now, but decided that the next chapter would make more sense if it was together. For those of you that have seen the movie, "The Hangover", you'll know what the next part will be; those that haven't seen the movie, I'll explain next chap, but just know that I wanted to do more in depth look at what will go down.
I'm also going on the apparent universal bandwagon that Leo's feelings for Karai were more than respect (something I thought striking in "Exodus", "Prodigal Son", and "Enter the Dragon") If anyone wondered why Leo's making such a big deal out of getting married, this will hopefully be your answer.
DISCLAIMER: Just cause I haven't done it in a while. TMNT & their characters are properties of Laird, Eastman, and Mirage Studios; the movie The Hangover and the resemblance to plot situation and characters are property of Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures. The character of Cat Mou is copyrighted to WebMistressGina' however, her appearance and racial aspects are properties of the remalon species, which is a part of the web comic, The Extinctioners, which is the property of Shawntae Howard and Vision Comics.
No money is being made from this publication (though dear God, I wish it was!). The use of characters, settings, and plot are purely for entertainment purposes.
Chapter Seven
The Mysterious Mr. Gop
New Yorkers have, occasionally, been known as the toughest citizens in the world. They have been portrayed as knowing exactly what's going on and handling it with the same toughness they handle rush hour traffic. For three local terrapins, they were far from New York, but that toughness still prevailed. They were ninjas, after all, having been taught the art of ninjitsu since the time they could walk.
In all of their encounters with aliens, alien hunters, government officials, street punks, and even evil ninjas, the three turtle creatures, along with their brother, were usually composed and handled any given situation with the same sense they would as natural New Yorkers. There had never been a situation that they couldn't handle, even if it meant their lives were on the line.
The situation they found themselves in was like nothing they had ever experienced before.
If a situation ever arises where three aliens surround your car, do not get out of said car.
If made to leave said car, by say rather forceful means, remain calm and address those that seem to have an issue with you in the most professional and friendly manner possible. Do not antagonize the aliens.
"What the fuck, man!?"
If ever in a situation where, 1. Aliens surround and or crash your car, 2. Said aliens ask you, rather roughly, to step out of the car, and 3. You have a rather angry red banded turtle in the car, the best way to handle the situation is to, again keep all participants calm and do not, under any circumstances, let the red banded turtle continue to speak rudely to said aliens.
If ever you find yourself in the situation that three young adult mutant ninja turtles found themselves in, the best course of action, if you have completely ignored the above, is to – if at all possible – avoid the series of events that unfolded below.
The small alien, with whom the three had encountered earlier in the day when he jumped out of their car's trunk, now stood before, looking outwardly calm, but seething inside. The two burly aliens, who again had been previously met within the day, had been the ones who had so graciously kind as to pull all three turtles from their mashed up car. The alien began to squeek in his strange language, causing confusion for those that didn't understand.
"What…what he say?" Leo asked.
"He wants his bag back," replied the heavier set alien. The small alien threw a small duffel on the ground, one that surprisingly looked like one of Donnie's tech bags. "You've stolen from the wrong guy."
"Wait a minute," Raph said. "We stole from you?"
"Look," Leo began. "We have no memory of last night, so help us help you."
"Well, apparently, you all met at a roulette table last night," the second alien bodyguard replied. Pointing to Leo, he continued with, "You were racking up some big dough; you hit just under one hundred twenty-five thousand Earth dollars."
"One hundred twenty-five G's?" Raph asked, surprised. Turning to look at his older brother, he said, "Good job, man!"
The small alien began 'speaking' again, before turning to the heavier alien to translate. "You all walked out and when the boss picked up his bag," the alien said. "It was empty except for some random bits and pieces of nothing." TO prove his point, the alien stepped on the bag, the sound of breaking pieces clear in the air, causing Donnie to shriek in dismay.
"There were transitors in there!" he shouted.
"Look," Raph sighed, rather annoyed at the whole thing. These guys nearly kill them because of a mistaken bag!? "There was obviously a mix-up, okay? It's no big deal."
"No big deal, huh?" the burly alien asked. "Then how come when we came after you for the money, blue boy here kidnaps the boss and throws him in your trunk?"
Both Don and Raph turned to look at Leo. "I did that?"
"You said he was like a little leprechaun," the other bodyguard replied. "And he was going to bring you a bunch of luck." The smaller alien interrupted, clearly irritated. "Then you rubbed his belly."
Whether it was the eventful day they had or if the stress of everything was piling up, they didn't know, but that emission was enough to actually get all three turtles laughing hysterically. The small alien also started to laugh until he said something to his bodyguard. "He says to go fubar yourselves," the burly one replied, causing the three to stop laughing. "If you want to see your friend again, you'd better give us that money."
"Friend?" Donnie asked.
"You have Mike?" Raph asked, reaching for his sais. The small alien gave them a bit of a grin before nodding to the driver. The back window went down and there, in the backseat, was a figure with a black bag over his head.
"Mikey!" The three brothers exclaimed. They wasted no time is getting their weapons in their hands, however, as fast as they were, the driver was a bit faster. Suddenly the turtles found themselves faced with several weapons pointed at them, a number of them popping out from the car itself, plus the two bodyguards who stood before them.
Leo knew a lost battle when he saw one, though he was just as eager to rescue Mikey as his other brothers were. Holding up a hand, he signaled Raph and Don to lower their weapons. There was no way they would be able to get past these big guns in such close proximity. "Release our brother," the leader hissed.
"You're in no shape to make demands, Earther," growled the burly alien.
"Listen," Don replied, diplomatically. " We're very sorry. This is a simple fix; an easy fix. I obviously picked up the wrong bag. We'll just go to the hotel and get it. Hell, we can write you a check."
The small alien smirked a reply. "No check," said the second alien. "Cash only."
Both Leo and Don had to hold back their temperamental brother as he lurched forward. "First light tomorrow," the burly alien said. "You bring our money by the big rock formation in the Cholla Globee desert."
The alien group returned to their car, a struggling Mikey in the back, and drove off, nearly running the turtles down. This was the absolute worst that had happened so far and for Raph, there was only one thing he could say.
"FUCK!"
The three turtles had quickly rushed back to their hotel and had done a good job of destroying what had already been destroyed. They searched everywhere, every room, every crevice, and there was no signs of a bag other than their luggage. Donnie fought hard to remember why he had brought the bag in the first place and remembered. He had thrown in a couple of circuits with the intention of working on them while gone. He had pretty much figured they would come back to their room, slightly drunk, but happy to have a night out.
He had thought he would wake up rather early, get some coffee, and then get to work. He never imagined that they would spend a whole day not only looking for their brother, but finding out all of the things they had done. He already felt guilty for taking alcohol from a complete stranger, but then to realize that the complete stranger had drugged their drink was the worst. No, actually, the worst was that Donnie should have known better. Wasn't he always going on and on about the different effects certain things had on their bodies and systems? He had been hard pressed to get on Raph about his beer drinking with Casey, having no idea what alcohol would do.
If anything, he hoped drinking was the only thing Raph had done; one never knew with the hot head.
And after all those warnings and hypothensises, he turns around and give everyone drugged booze. He was supposed to be the smart one. If his wife ever found out about this…no, if Master Splinter ever found out, the aged rat would have all of their tails. Memories of misbehavior and spankings caused the brainy turtle to wince. While he didn't get into as much trouble as say Mikey or Raph, he certainly remembered the sting of his father's walking stick on his backside.
Sighing as he walked back towards the living area, Don was met by his older brothers who looked exactly how he felt. "I take it no one has found it?" he asked, receiving shakes from both.
"We are so fucked," Raph muttered, throwing himself in a nearby chair.
"Donnie, how much money do you have?" asked Leo.
"On me?" the turtle countered. "Probably twenty bucks."
"Bank?"
"About fifteen thousand."
That clearly wasn't the answer the eldest was hoping for, though he knew that any other amount his younger brother had been devoted to his new family, as well as the spending on their brother's night out here. Leo had no ideas on the situation, in fact, he just wanted to go to his room and hide under the covers until this whole ordeal was over. He just couldn't believe some of the things they had done; no, he couldn't believe the things he had done. There was a reason he didn't drink and the events of the last night were proof enough of that!
Granted, drinking alcohol that was laced with a narcotic was primarily to blame, but he knew drinking without drugs was bad enough. Leo prided himself on his control and he clearly had no control over the situations that had presented themselves during the day. How was he ever going to explain that he, along with Raph and Don, had managed to lose their youngest brother? How could he look Master Splinter in the eye and tell him that as the oldest, he had allowed not only himself, but his younger brothers, to get into the trouble that they found themselves in that night?
How was he going to tell his father that he had gotten married to some waitress in a strip club, who just happened to have a baby?
"What're we going to do?" he asked, more to himself then the room at large.
Raph let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair. He suddenly sat up and began to dig within the confines of the seat. "What the…?" Pulling out a book, the red banded turtle looked at it before looking at his brothers.
"Well?" asked Leo. "What is it?"
"It's a book, Leo." Donnie replied.
"Donnie…"
Raph turned the book so the front cover was shown to both brothers. It was a common book on how to count cards and the systems in which to do so. "No," Leo said, recognizing the look in his immediate brother's eyes. "Absolutely not."
"You don't even know what I'm thinking."
"I don't care," the elder protested. "I don't even want to know how you have that book or where you got it…"
"I found it in the damn chair!"
"In case you have forgotten, Raph," Leo said. "Card counting is illegal."
"So is breaking and entering and stealing a police car," Don huffed. "But we've done that already. This…this is actually a pretty good idea."
"Are you listening to yourself?" the leader exclaimed. "I'm not going to mention all the dishonorable things we have done of late, but I sure as hell am not going to do these things while I'm well aware of my actions!"
"Alright, that's it," Raph growled, standing from his seat and walking towards his older brother. "I'm so sick of your holier than thou attitude! You go around lording it over us, as though Leonardo can do no wrong; you got a stick the size of North America shoved up your ass, so fucking far, I'm surprised it hasn't split your brain. You know what I think? I think, for the first time in a long time, you actually experienced fun. Yeah, you might not remember it, but you had fun."
"I got married," was the strained reply.
"Yeah," Raph smirked. "You got married to a hot chick who's making a better life for her and her kid by working as a waitress. And that just pisses the fuck outta ya, doesn't it? You don't have to say anything cause I can see it in your eyes, bro. You think she's beneath you, don't you? And you know why? Cause you're still hung up on Karai, even after she's tried killing us and evicting us from our home. And just in case you are blind, she's dating that Chaplin guy! You need to appreciate what you got and stop pining for someone who doesn't want you."
The silence in the room was palpitable and probably the most uncomfortable Donnie had ever been, no matter how many times he had listened to his older brothers fight. Karai was an unspoken rule, especially when bringing up Leo's feelings regarding the matter. The eldest had never come out and said it outright, never confirmed that at one time or another he may have had feelings for their enemy. It was the same as when discussing a time before they had thought April as a sister and nothing more.
It just wasn't mentioned.
But leave it to Raph to mention it, of course. But, in his defense, Donnie had to agree just a little. While he couldn't actively remember meeting Cat Mou, she did seem to be a very nice person when they had seen her and with the way she had acted towards them meant they had all struck up some drunken friendship. And maybe it was because Don was a father, but he couldn't help admire someone who had to raise a child on their own. He had two children of his own and he knew how tough it was raising them with two parents; ultimately, his decision to work online was a benefit as it meant he could spend time with his children. And being a part of royalty had its advantages as well.
He above anyone knew how Leo felt, seeing his younger brothers married or otherwise in relationships. Raph practically lived with Angel, meaning Leo spent more time with their father or by himself. While the eldest always enjoyed solitude, Don wondered if having just Splinter for company was making him more isolated. April and Casey had a young daughter and were working on a second; Raph was at Angel's more than he was at home; Donnie, though he did come back to the lair once in a while, permanently lived with his wife and children in her lands; and Mikey, well he already had plans to move in with Sammi on the Utrom world.
The eldest would probably never come out and say it, but Donnie could see it in his eyes sometimes, when he had to cancel on him because one of the kids was sick or he wanted to spend time with Dell. The brainy turtle had felt it too, when April and Casey began dating and realization that he would probably never have something like that made itself known with a vengeance.
Snapping himself to the present, Don was surprised when Raph held his book in front of the brainy turtle's face. "How long do you think it'll take you to learn how to count cards?"
"Depends on how long I can get," was his response.
Looking at the nearby clock, Raph said, "It's coming close to seven o'clock. I give you an hour; then we hit the casinos. I think if we straight card gamble for a few hours, we'll be able to get the cash, get some sleep, and meet that guy in the morning."
"Well," Donnie mumbled, reaching for the book and flipping through. "We're going to need a plan for this. We can't just go in and start taking money; that'll put up suspicions right away. And who knows if the dealers are aware of 'card counting'? If they aren't, it'll work in our advantage. It they are, that'll be a hurdle. While Leo was wrong earlier in that card counting is illegal – it's not – getting caught does carry significant punishments. And I don't know about you, but my one trip to jail was my last trip to jail."
"Great," Raph said. "You read; me and Leo will think up something."
Though Leo was greatly disturbed at this whole idea, the knowledge that it really was the only thing they could do had some startling clarity. And if what he current youngest brother said was true – that dealers may or may not be aware of Earthen practices – that meant they were already at a disadvantage, as they weren't sure of anything on the planet. When he coupled that with what had transpired in their drunken, drugged out haze, there were a host of problems that might crop up.
"If we're going to do this," he said. "We need to know everything there is about the dealers here. To know that, we'll need someone who's been on the planet for a while." He was remiss in actually thinking what he did, but again, there was really no choice in the matter.
"We're going to need help."
