Okay, some of you may be mad at me at the end of this one, just a little, but don't worry, thing will get resolved, I promise in the next chapter, the one after that, tops!
Anyways, thanks for everyone who told me who they thought she should be with. I really do need more people to tell me though. Please, keep them coming! Anyways, review please.
Thanks got out to these people for the usual!
Jess Marylin, pokemonjkl, kaaayyytteee, TMNTluckgirl (who once again beta read the first part of this), and zrexheartz.
Chapter 9
The Return of Nano
Exhaustion; that was the one feeling that Alex was feeling. After her, the guys, April and Casey had gotten back from Casey's grandmother's place, Alex had taken up some more intense training. School had also been dumping a lot of stress on the girl. She had two hours at the very least every night and then she'd continue her training, most of the time on her own. The only time she'd get to relax was when she went to bed at about midnight. Then she'd get up at four, work out some more and then get ready for school. There was no breaks in-between.
There was one great part about being back though. Donny had built a Shell Cell for her. Now she could get in contact with the guys and with her friend. Erik had given her his number, and she had also put in Kiley and Emily's numbers. She put in Fred's without thinking; same went with her brother's old numbers. April, Casey and the guys were of course already in it.
It was Friday night. Mikey was testing out the new hover board Donny had build for him with the Utrom technology, Raph was working out with the weight, Donny was getting things set up for his dive into the underwater tunnels and Master Splinter was watching television as Alex and Leo stared. However, during the middle of said spare, she Shell Cell started to ring.
Alex paused and looked at Leo, asking for permission to take a second to answer it. He motioned for her to do so and walked over with her to her bag where it was. She plopped down on the ground and pulled it out while Leo sat down next to her, watching her curiously as she answered.
"Hello?" she asked, picking up the device.
"Lex?" a male voice on the other line asked. "Dat ya?"
She smirked, knowing who it was. "Yeah, it's me. What's up, Erik?" That seemed to spike Leo's interest and Raph's as they heard her say a male's name. Raph was standing just behind where they were sitting. He walked up to them, leaving his weights behind to lean against the pillar beside them. Alex was a little confused as to why they were taking such interest in her conversation, but she didn't care. They were probably just curious as to who her friend was.
"Nattin much," he replied. Alex could tell that there was a little something off about his voice, but she couldn't figure out what exactly that was. "Say, wat ya doin' tonigh?" he asked.
Seeing as Erik already knew about her ninja training, she didn't have to lie about what she was really doing, though she wasn't going to tell him it was with the turtles. "I'm just training with. Why, what's up?"
"Ya evah been ta Coney Island?" he asked.
"Coney Island?" Alex thought out loud. "No, I don't believe I've ever been."
"Ya wanna go tonigh' wid me n' Em n' Ky?" he asked.
"With Em, Ky and I, Erik," she corrected.
"Yeah, yeah, wadevah," he said, blowing her correction off. They both did that all the time. She was his tutor, after all. "Ya in o' wat?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I really need to train."
"Ya gonna woik yaself ta def," Erik stated. "Ain't it ya dat sayin' ya need ta fin' balance in everyt'in' ya do? Ya need ta relax a lidda."
Alex sighed, a smirk playing on her lips. "I suppose you have a point," she admitted. "Clever; using my preaching's against me."
"Practice wat ya teach," he said. "Ya in?"
"Let me ask April," she said. She looked across the lair and saw April walking into the bathroom. "Hey, April?" she called out. April popped her head out of the bathroom and looked over at the girl. "Is it okay if I go out tonight?"
"Where are you going and who are you going with?" she asked.
"Some friends from school invited me to go to Coney Island," she replied.
"Sure," April replied. "Have fun and don't be back too late."
"Will do," she yelled back. Alex placed the phone back to her ear and said, "I'm in."
"Cool," Erik replied. "Meet us dere at eight?"
"Sounds good to me," Alex said. "See you then, Erik." Both parties hung up and Alex placed her phone back in her bag. When she turned around, she noticed Raph and Leo's stares. They were making her feel rather uncomfortable now. "What?" she asked.
"Who was that?" Leo asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"My friend," she replied, picking up her bag.
She rushed off to the room she was sharing with April that was Mikey's and grabbed some things for a shower. She headed to and got ready. When she got out, she was no long wearing her ninja outfit. She was wearing a light green and black blouse and a pair of black jeans. Her wet hair was pulled back into a bun.
"Well, you look nice," Mikey complimented as she walked out of "her" room from dropping off her stuff. She was heading to the living room to grab her bag. Mikey walked with her into the living room. "You got a date?"
"No," she corrected. "I'm just going out with some friends."
"Who are these "friends" exactly?" Leo pressed.
"It's just two of my friends that I grew up with and a friend that I tutor," she replied.
"And this Erik is?" Raph asked.
"He's the friend I tutored," she answered, packing her bag with her wallet and other important things. A smirk played on her lips as she continued on, "And the other two are twin sisters, Emily and Kylie. Any other questions?"
"How'd this guy get your number?" Raph asked.
"He asked so I gave it to him?" Alex said, sounding rather confused at what Raph was asking.
"And you just gave it to him? What if it was me that came up to you and asked for your number," Leo asked.
"I'd give it to you? Plus, I already have your number, Leo and you have mine, so you wouldn't have to asked," she replied, missing what he was really asking completely.
Raph rolled his eyes and said, "That's not what he meant." She shrugged, still not really getting it. "You trust this guy enough to have your number?"
"Yeah," she said. "I've known him for years."
"You knew Fred for years," Mikey put in from the couch.
Alex's face fell, her stomach dropped. "Are you criticizing my judgment?" she asked.
"Just stating a point, sorry Alex," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Don't worry about it, Mikey," she said, patting his shoulder. "And yes, I do trust him. He saved my life once."
She noticed Raph and Leo look at each other for a moment before they both shouted, "What?"
"Yeah," she said. She really didn't want to get into the subject. If they found out Erik was a Purpled Dragon, she'd never live it down. She didn't think that they'd look at her the same way or trust her. "Anyways, I've got to get going."
"Not so fast," Raph said. "We don't know these people, how do we know you're going to be safe?"
"I'm going to be perfectly fine," she said. "You don't need to be so protective." She started walking to the door, but stopping seeing a familiar look on Raph and Leo's faces. Alex turned around and smirked, crossing her arms. "You two are just jealous you can't come out tonight, aren't you?"
"What?" Leo asked. "I'm just worried about your safety, is all. Jealous? No, that's not honorable." However, his green cheeks were stained red. He was embarrassed about being cause, she guessed. It was adorable, in her books.
"Pf," Raph sounded. "Me? Jealous? No way. Why would I be jealous?" His cheeks were slightly red as well.
"Mhm," she hummed. "I'll see you guys later, none-jealous-people." She waved over her shoulder as she started towards the door again.
"Why would I be jealous of Alex?" she heard Raph muttered on.
Alex almost froze as she walked. That had made her gut drop. Her playful smirk slipped off her face as she walked out of the lair. Did Raph really think she wasn't worth getting jealous over? Not even if it was just a friendly thing? That hurt, though she didn't really know why. Why would it hurt for him to not be jealous? He was just her friend, nothing more. Then why did it bother her? She knew Leo was lying and hiding the truth and she was flattered that he was jealous, that made her stomach feel warm and a little strange. That confused her too. Why was she feeling like that?
Uh, she thought. As she approached the park. I'm not going to deal with that.
Erik, Emily and Kylie met Alex at the theme park just like they had said they would. They spent an hour going on rides and playing games until the twins had to leave to go home. They had curfews while Alex and Erik didn't. They stayed a little longer, just the two of them until the park closed.
However, on their way out, Alex and Erik almost ran into Casey and April. In order to not be seen by them though, they literally had to run out of the park with a group of people they didn't know. Erik didn't know what was going on, but he went along with it. He didn't forget about it though and they walked to get something to eat.
"So," Erik said. "Why did we'se have ta run outa dere like dat?"
"I just wanted to get out with the crowd," she said, shrugging with the lie.
"Ya's lyin' and we'se both knows it," he said.
"Okay," she sighed. "You see, my Aunt April and our friend Casey were there and well, Casey has everything against the Purple Dragons. I mean, I really don't like them either, but not as much as Casey. And you're a good guy, Erik and I'm not ashamed to be your friend, but if Casey found out, then some of my other friends would find out and I already got into a big fight with one of them because of keeping some rather big things from them."
"I'se ge' it," Erik said.
"They'd have no problem with you if you weren't with the Dragon's," she added.
"I's okay," Erik said. He said that, but his voice sounded down. "I's got a question ta ask ya," he stated.
"Go ahead," Alex said, urging him on.
He cleared his throat nervously and said, "Is Kylie da'in' anybody?"
Alex laughed and shook her head. "No," she replied. "And I think if you asked her out, she'd say yes."
They both laughed, feeling relieved. However, they both stopped smiling and froze in their spots as they hear someone scream. Loud booming noises could be heard down the street. A large robotic machine appeared in the distance and Alex instantly knew what it was from the little face on the screen. Nano.
"Erik," Alex said, not looking away from her "little brother." Erik heard the urgency in her voice and paid close attention to what she was saying. "You have to run. You understand me? Get out of here!"
"N' leave ya?" Erik retorted. "I's don' t'ink so!"
"Erik, don't argue with me!" she shouted back. "Go!"
He was shocked by her outbreak hesitantly took a couple steps back. "Kay, bu' be careful." With that, he ran off into the distance.
Nano quickly approached where Alex was standing. She had to figure out a way to stop him. Considering all of the damage he did before, she had to stop him. However, she was just one person. And Nano was coming too quickly for her to come up with something. When he got to her and stopped, she had nothing. She was completely defenseless, just as she had been the first time she had been taken from Nano.
"Nano," she said hesitantly as it looked at her. "What are you doing, Sweetheart?"
"Sissy!" Nano yelled. The door on his chest opened and large red wires came out. They wrapped around the girl, lifting her off the ground and pulled her into the little compartment in its chest. "Family," Nano said.
It was then that Alex noticed two other trapped in there. One of them, the male, she knew. It was the same guy that had been there before. It was "father." She believed his name was Harry. The woman, who was wearing a white lab coat, Alex had never seen before. She had no idea where she came from.
"Who are you?" Alex asked the woman.
"I am Dr. Marion Richards," the woman replied. "Who are you? I created this."
"I'm Alex," she introduced. "So you must be the "mommy" figure, huh?"
"I supposed you are correct," Richards replied. "Who are you?"
"Sissy," she answered.
Seeing as nobody else was starting a conversation, Alex turned her attention away from the people in there with her and to the window. She could see that they were breaking into the amusement park, where April and Casey still were. No, Alex thought. They better be okay.
Nano reached down to a ticket book and picked up the treasure chest on top of it. There was a pirate display on top of it. "Make Daddy happy," Nano said, sending the treasure into compartment.
"The jewels!" Harry declared. "My stash! But we hid them in that warehouse downtown, kid. What are they doin' here in this amusement park?"
"The jewels you stole," Alex pushed. "They're not yours."
A large face appeared in front of them. Nano's smiling face looked at them and said, "I put here for families! They all see shiny, pretty. All for families!"
Aw, Alex thought. That's so cute!
"Great kid, I'll just hang onto them," Harry said.
"My butt you will," Alex muttered under her breath.
He glared at the teenager and continued talking to his child, "Now, we had our fun and all, but you see, I gotta go. I wanna leave. Just let me leave, okay?"
"And me as well," Richards said. "Please let me go."
"Leave? Go?" Nano asked. "No! No leave me! No!"
Nano didn't like that one bit! He started to pound on the ticket booth until it was just a pile of wood. When that was gone, he moved onto the Ferris wheel and some of the buildings. As he destroyed all of that, the three individuals that were inside of him were bring jolted around. The cables that were keeping them in place were causing bruising on Alex's forearms where they held her.
I now know what popcorn feels like when it's being popped, she thought.
"No leave me!"
"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere!" Alex yelled, but he didn't hear her over his own yelling and the destruction he was calling. That didn't stop her from trying though. "You can come home with me!"
Suddenly, Nano stopped. Alex looked out of the window to see the turtles standing there. However, they didn't see her inside of it.
"Uh, robot thingy," Leo shouted. "We mean you no harm! We don't want to fight!"
Nice wording, Leo, Alex thought, rolling her eyes.
"Nano, honey, they're telling the truth!" Alex yelled, trying to convince him. "Trust your big sister!"
However, Nano didn't seem convinced. He yelled out, taking more parts from the rides around him and connecting them to what he already had. Nano started to move towards the turtles, and April and Casey who joined them. They all started to back away. They were talking about something. A plan, Alex guessed, but she couldn't hear what they were talking about.
Somehow, Raph was taken and held in the "dino hand" almost getting squished. However, as much as she called out to him, nobody could hear her, except for Harry and Richards. Her attempts were useless. After a while she just stopped altogether. She just watched what was going on before her, hoping the guys could stop Nano and get her back alive.
Mikey, who was on his hover board, lured Nano over to the rollercoast that had somehow become magnified or electrified, something of the sorts, getting Nano caught in it. However, in doing so, Alex, Harry and Richards had also been trapped in it, getting electrocuted as well. Alex screamed out in pain, however, it wasn't heard over Nano's even louder cry.
Alex was bared beneath a lot of parts when Nano fell apart. She weakly crawled out from a small hole and rolled down a large mound of random things. She stopped on the pavement below, groaning in pain.
"Lex!" she heard a voice yelled. She lifted her head to see Erik running over to her. "Lex, ya soir get yaself inta some weird sitiations." He helped her up, her leaning a lot of weight on him for a moment before almost falling. Seeing as she was unstable, he picked he lowered her down carefully and leaned her against a large piece of metal near them. He was checking for any injuries.
"You don't know the half of it," she muttered tiredly.
"Is dere anybody ya wan' me ta call?" Erik asked.
Before Alex could tell him to get her Shell Cell out of her bag, that had somehow managed to stay with her the whole time, she heard a loud shout stopping her. Her eyes opened wide, scared and shocked. This had been what she had been trying to avoid.
"Get away from her!" she heard Casey's voice yell.
Erik jumped and then almost visibly shrunk when he saw Casey. "Dat's da Casey you was takin' 'bout?" he asked nervously.
"Yes," she said. "Erik, yes it is."
The turtles, Casey and April all ran over to where they were, but at a distance seeing a Purple Dragon there. "What's the scum doing to Alex?" Raph asked. "Get away from her!"
His protectiveness was flattering and would've made her blush if she wasn't furious at him. Instead of looking at her best friends, she looked at the boy beside her and, knowing very well that the other's could hear her but not carring, said, "You should go, Erik. Thank you for coming to save me though. It was very brave and sweet of you." She kissed his cheek in gratitude and then muttered in his ear so that only he could hear, "I'll talk to Kylie for you, okay?"
"Ya's soir ya'll be kay wid dem?" he asked while standing up. Seeing her nod her head, he dashed for it, getting away.
"That's the guy you were hanging out with?" Casey yelled, sounding very furious.
"You're hanging around the Purple Dragon?" Raph yelled.
"No," Alex corrected. "Erik may make some bad decisions, but he's not a bad guy."
"Not a bad guy?" Leo asked. "He's a Purpled Dragon!"
"You don't know him!" Ales shouted, standing up on her own, despite Donny trying to help her up. "No," Alex said. "I'm sick and tired of you guys judging everyone before you know them. Have you ever thought about an individual before? Have you ever seen anything through their eyes? Pictured where they come from and see where they are and where they're from from their eyes and not yours? You can't judge a book by its cover!"
Alex was furious. She didn't want to stand there and listen to them. She didn't even give them a chance to say anything at all. She somehow managed to storm past them on her own, make it to the lair and collapse in her room. That night, seeing as she didn't meditate, she was plagued by nightmares. Fred, her brother's, and now added in April, Casey and the Turtles. Nothing went right that night, it seemed. Nothing had been the way she wanted it, at all.
She felt alone again.
12
