I do not own TMNT.
Donatello yawned and stretched. His internal clock told him that nightfall was still a good hour away, so he stayed lying on his shell with the still sleeping April tucked up against his plastron.
Ah, April. Breathing in her sweet scent, he thanked his lucky stars yet again for the fact that she was there with him. She was as beautiful as the day he'd first seen her, if not more so. Donnie remembered it well: the brothers had been out foraging near a pizza den, or restaurant, as Donnie now knew they were called, when out of the building she'd walked. From that moment on she'd captivated him, controlled nearly all of his thoughts. He couldn't help but watch her. And while watching her, he couldn't help but notice how sad she was living with those other humans. Donnie had witnessed multiple heated arguments between her and the adult humans, the ones he'd thought where her parents.
Seeing her so sad made him want to act, and Mikey's idea had been the perfect solution for everyone. April was surrounded by a new family that loved and cared for her, and Donnie was able to interact with her whenever he pleased. Since she'd been living with them, the chocolate eyed mutant had been in heaven.
Donnie had known April would love living with them. She'd just needed some time to adjust to them.
Contentedly surrounded by his family, Donnie nuzzled his beak into April's hair and let himself drift off again.
Raphael awoke hungry. The lantern had been switched on, so he could see April and Donnie attempting to teach Mikey how to read his comic books and Leo sitting by the ladder that had been installed so April could get out of the Lair without having to stand on one of the turtle's shells. For a bit he sat, waiting for the signal to leave for the night's foraging, but as time went on, his stomach growled louder and Leo showed no sign of giving the signal, he decided to act.
"When do we leave?" he asked as he approached Leo.
"Half an hour, maybe more," replied Leo. "The reading lesson is not going well."
Raph snorted in impatience and frustration at the delay. "But I'm hungry!"
"It won't be that long, have patience," the older mutant said.
"I've got a better idea," said Raph. He crouched, then launched himself at the wall. A quick scramble and he was at the top.
"Raphael!" barked Leo. "Where are you going?"
"To eat," he growled. And with that, the emerald eyed turtle vanished. Leo sighed and settled down again, knowing there was no stopping his foul-tempered brother.
"Is Raph okay?" asked April. She, not being able to grasp the turtle's unique language, did not understand what had just happened. Donnie patted her shoulder.
"Yeah, he's just hungry, you know how he gets. He's just gonna go foraging solo tonight."
"Oh. Should we head out then?" asked April.
"No! Must teach me to read shiny comic picture bundles!" said Mikey. The prospect of being able to understand his beloved stories without assistance was a tantalizing lure that kept the usually over energetic mutant turtle in place.
For how much longer, thou, was yet to be seen.
Raph slid the manhole cover back in place and stood up. The slight breeze that danced across his skin and shell was a welcome balm to the frustration he'd been feeling. Even his hunger abated.
Raph lucked out, finding most of a lasagna in the first dumpster he searched. A half eaten bag of popcorn and something that may have been a sandwich were also consumed.
The turtle took the opportunity to rest in the shadows of the dumpster. It was nice to be away from the others. He loved them, but they seriously got on his nerves sometimes. But unfortunately, Raph was unable to sit in peace for long. Footsteps and panting grabbed his attention as a human female raced into the alleyway he was in. Raph flinched and pressed himself as far into the shadows as he could manage. Hot on her heels were three males: a large man with a bushy beard and two much scrawnier specimens.
The alleyway was a dead-end alley. The woman realized this with a groan of despair. "Hand it over, and we might let you go," the largest said, gesturing to the oversized leather bag the woman was sporting. Raphael could never understand human females and their need to carry those things around. What all could they possibly have to carry in there?
The woman whimpered. "Please, don't do this." The men leered and closed in.
Raphael felt a growl beginning to bubble up in his chest. He was tempted to lunge forward and rip those thugs apart, but memories of what had happened the other time he'd intervened in a mugging kept him from doing so. It had been almost a year ago; Raph was out by himself, and he'd come across a large, dirty man robbing a woman in an alleyway similar to this one. The woman had been crying for help, but other than Raph no one could hear. Raph had attacked the man, mauling up his arm and face pretty good with his teeth. He'd fled from the alley, screaming in pain and terror.
Raph had turned to check on the woman, make sure she was uninjured. But there was no gratitude to be granted that night. He could still clearly see the horror and naked fear twisting her features as she gazed upon him.
"MONSTER!" She'd screamed in a voice that was somehow even louder than her previous cries for help had been. "SOMEONE GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" The mutant turtle had booked it then and not looked back.
Raph had never told anyone about it.
And now he was reluctant to involve himself in the affairs of the humans again. Why should I care? He thought. It's not my fault she's in this mess.
"Please," the woman pleaded once more, but one of the scrawnier men backhanded her brutally. She fell back against the brick with a sob, and in that moment, an image passed through Raph's head: one where it was April being attacked. The mental image elicited such a feeling of protective rage that Raph would've been wholly startled if it hadn't already consumed him so entirely. He snarled. Enough. These bastards were going down. But just as he was coiling his muscles to attack, a voice spoke up.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit a lady?" Raph froze, still poised to strike. A figure stepped into the alleyway. He wore black clothes with a hood over his head. An assortment of sporting gear was slung across his back. "I guess I'll have to teach you then."
"Who the hell are you?" growled one of the men. "Get lost."
"Don't think so," said the dark figure. "Now, I'm gonna give you losers one chance to leave without trouble. You should take it."
The men sneered. They advanced upon the figure, cracking their knuckles in anticipation of the beating they were eager to give. Raph narrowed his eyes. The human had guts, but surely he was in over his head here.
The human dropped a black circular object on the ground. From behind his back came one of the hockey sticks. The figure swung the stick and it hit the black object, the puck, Raph realized, which went sailing through the air and slamming into the temple of the biggest man. He crashed to the ground in heap, out cold.
All of it had happened almost too quickly for Raph to follow.
The other two men stared in gap mouthed shock. The figure let out a chuckle and stepped closer. "So who's next?" he asked. The moonlight from above washed down on him, illuminating the pale white of his face beneath the hood. Raphael felt his blood run cold.
A skeleton.
One of the men snapped out of his daze. Letting loose an enraged roar, he charged the skeleton, who stepped to the side while swinging his hockey stick to neatly trip him. To the ground he went. Bringing up his stick, the skeleton hit him in the head, hard. He turned to the third man.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's, uh, talk about this bro," he babbled as he brought up his hands.
"Too late. I gave you your chance to leave. Now you gotta stay and learn your lesson," said the skeleton coldly. The third man whimpered.
The skeleton lunged. The man screamed, eyes slamming closed. A millimeter from the thugs' face, the stick stopped. The man continued to tremble for several long seconds before cracking open an eye. The skeleton chuckled, then flipped the stick around in his hands and slamming the butt of the weapon into the area between the muggers' legs.
Raph was using this time to try to calm his heart. Relax, nimrod, he thought to himself. The guy doesn't even look that much like the Pain Bringers. Sure, he took down three criminals, but that doesn't mean you couldn't tear him in half.
"You should go now, ma'am," said the skeleton boy. Raph had forgotten she was even there. The woman scrambled to her feet and bolted from the alleyway, giving the hockey stick wielding vigilante as much berth as was possible. "You're welcome," he called after her. His work done, the boy left the alley. Raphael was right behind him. Crouched on all fours, belly to the ground, he stalked after the skeleton human, keeping to the shadows like a good predator.
The boy walked with no particular purpose, just ambling along down the dark and deserted streets of the less than posh neighborhood he was in. Raph watched him the whole time with narrowed eyes. A lone human ought to be cautious when traveling through a slice of the city such as this; there were bound to be more of those muggers lurking about. But the hockey stick wielding boy sauntered around as if he owned the place.
What was with this human? Was he a threat to Raph's family or not?
The figure eventually paused, leaning up against a wall. Twirling his hockey stick in his hands he looked up at the moon peeking from behind the clouds. "Where the hell are you April?"
Raph stiffened. April? Their April?
"I'm gonna find you one of these days, April O'Neil," said the skeleton human. "I'm gonna find you." Raph growled. Enough. The protective feeling he'd experienced in that alley was back. It was time to find out what the deal with this human was, and there was only one way to do that.