-9-
Covers Blown
"I have to admit Rocksteady, this was a great idea." Richard mumbled, his mouth half full of hamburger.
"Gee, tanks." the mutant replied, grinning as he finished off the last bite of his second chili dog.
They had managed to reach the food vendor's cart just in time; he had been getting ready to close for the evening when the five humans and one mutant had shown up to become his last customers of the day. Now the group sat on the grass in an open park clearing, chowing down on delicious authentic New York hotdogs and hamburgers.
"Boy you can really pack it away." commented Tara to the mutant, as she finished the last bite of her own burger.
Rocksteady chuckled lightly. "Heh. Dis aint nuttin'." he said, biting his 3rd chili dog in half with a single chomp.
"He's really not kidding either." Angie added, swallowing a mouthful of her own meal before continuing. "I've got to cook my portions twice as large whenever he and his friend are staying for dinner. They're bottomless pits, the both of them." She said, a bit of affection showing through in her voice. She reached out and patted Rocksteady on the knee, smiling at him.
Rocksteady smiled back and swallowed his current bite of hotdog. "Yep, I'm always hungry." he said. He was still on a bit of a "high" from the thrill of being able to pay for not only his three hotdogs but Angie's dinner as well. And since they'd eaten at a vendor instead of a restaurant he still had a lot of money left over. Maybe he'd suggest finding some dessert after this.
Patrick looked at the mutant like a scientist studying a specimen. "Obviously you're mutated human/animal hybrid physiology gives you an enhanced metabolism and increased appetite. Bet you need a lot of calories per day to keep that body of yours running."
Tara looked at Patrick and made a face. "Do you have to turn every observation into an encyclopedia entry, Puddy?" she asked in annoyance.
Rocksteady smiled and nodded. "Yeah, da boss is always complainin dat we eat too much. 'Specially lately. Says we're almost bankruptin him with all the food he has to buy to keep us fed."
Pam gave the mutant a curious, questioning look. "Wait, your boss buys your food for you?" she asked. "Awfully generous of him"
Rocksteady's heart rate quickened and he felt a trickle of sweat run down the back of his neck. He'd slipped up! He was a bouncer, he wouldn't be getting all his food from work. The mutant laughed and rubbed the back of his head, trying to sound casual. "Nah, nuttin like dat. I mean...he gives us a free dinnah at work, while we're on duty. And we usually eat too much is all." He explained.
Pam nodded. "Oh, I see. That makes sense." she said. Rocksteady discreetly let out a sigh of relief and nodded. That was close.
Richard craned his head up to see over Rocksteady's broad shoulders. He seemed to have caught site of something interesting. "Heads up guys." he said, a serious note in his voice. "Looks like we've got someone heading our way, and I can't tell if he's friendly or not."
Pam leaned to the side and peered down the hill. "Looks pretty big too. And a little strange" she said, nervousness showing in her voice.
Tara smiled. "Probably just some homeless guy looking for handouts. Usually harmless. But if he's not..." she looked at Rocksteady. "I'm sure Rocksteady could make him think twice about bothering us." she finished, smiling bit flirtatiously.
Rocksteady nodded and gave a thumbs up. "No problem." he said as he turned to see exactly who was approaching them. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw who it was.
Angie had turned around to look as well. "Hey isn't that...?" she began.
"Yeah, dat's Bebop" Rocksteady finished, not really sure what to think.
"That's your friend right?" Tara asked. "He's a mutant too?"
"Yeah, but he should be back at my place with Tyler" Angie explained. She turned and looked at Rocksteady curiously. "Did you tell him where we would be going?" she asked.
Rocksteady shook his head. "I didn' even know where we was going till we met up earlier." he said.
"Well he found you somehow" Richard said as he began to climb to his feet. "Guess you better see what he needs."
"Yeah..." Rocksteady said as he got up, followed by the others. For some reason, an unexplained feeling of dread was starting to grow in the pit of the mutant's stomach. Why would Bebop have tracked him down all this way? Was there some emergency? Rocksteady was distinctly aware that Patrick was staring holes through him again with his piercing hawk like eyes. What was that guy's problem? Shaking off the uneasy feeling, he turned to focus on his friend.
Bebop reached the group and then doubled over, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "I...finally...found you..." he gasped out between breaths. He stood up straight, still panting pretty heavily and looked at Rocksteady with annoyance. "I've been tryin…to get ahold of ya…for toity minutes!" he exclaimed with annoyance.
Pam looked at the new arrival with curiosity. "So this is your best friend you've been mentioning all night?" she asked, looking him over.
"Yep, dis is Bebop." Rocksteady explained to the group, over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye the mutant noticed Patrick's gaze narrow with focused scrutiny, but he didn't have the time to worry what was up with that weirdo. Rocksteady turned and approached his friend, feeling confused. " 'Course you couldn't reach me. I turned my communicator off." He explained to Bebop, pulling the small purple device out of his back pocket. "I told ya I would prolly do that, remember?" He asked.
Bebop nodded as his breathing finally began steadying. "Yeah, figured dat was it." He said as he pulled out his own communicator. The screen showed a green radar display with a glowing yellow dot right in the center. "Took me forevah to get the locator gizmo workin right on dis ting so I could come find ya." Bebop explained, flipping a switch to shut off the device.
Tara giggled and clapped her hands with delight. "You two have your own walkie-talkies? That's kinda cute." She said.
Rocksteady ignored the comment and looked at his friend with worry. "So what's da big emergency?" he asked, feeling anxiety begin to build in the pit of his stomach. It would have to be a pretty big deal for Bebop to come chasing after him like this
Angie put voice to Rocksteady's worry as she spoke up. "Did something happen to Tyler? Is he alright? You said you were going to stay with him." She said, her voice becoming higher and more anxious with each word.
Bebop raised his hands in a "calm down" gesture and shook his head, smiling. "No no, nuttin like dat! Tyler's fine, he's back at your place. Left him playin some video games." He pointed his thumb at Rocksteady. "I just came ta pick up dis lug here." He said.
Angie sighed with relief and shook her head. "Well that's good to here." She said.
Richard smiled and punched Rocksteady lightly on the arm. "Didn't know it was past your curfew already big guy." He said jokingly.
"It's not." Rocksteady said a bit curtly. He had been having such a good time with Angie and her friends and now they were being interrupted. He felt like a little kid being told it was time to come inside when he wasn't done playing yet. He looked at Bebop with un-masked annoyance. "So are you going to keep me waitin in suspense, or what? Spill it." He said testily.
Bebop looked back at him, his earlier demeanor completely changing. "It's da boss. He's callin us in for a mission. Wants us to go to some computoir factory place over by Wabash street." He explained. "We got to get back to the Technodrome now, we're already late because I had to come find you first." He finished.
Angie looked at Rocksteady with a confused expression. "What is he talking about Rocksteady?" she asked.
Rocksteady felt himself go cold all over. Being called back on duty by Shredder was bad enough, but had Bebop just lost his mind!? Had he completely forgotten their cover story!? The mutant glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the group and Angie, who were all staring at him and Bebop with confused and suspicious looks, especially Patrick. He felt Angie's questioning eyes boring into him and sweat begin to break out on his back and neck. He tugged at the collar of his shirt and tried to laugh casually, but it came out sounding extremely awkward. "Hey buddy, don't you mean we need to be getting to the club?" he asked, his voice cracking a bit. He gave his friend a quick panicked glare, pleading with him to catch on.
Bebop's body jerked, as if someone had just given him an electric shock. His mouth stretched into a nervous smile. "Uh, y…yeah pal, that's what I really meant. I..I was just jokin wit ya dere for a minute." He stuttered out nervously. He raised one hand and shifted up his shades, scratched under one eye as he shot Rocksteady a shameful apologetic glance. He let his glasses fall back down on his nose and quickly composed himself back into his usual confident demeanor. "Yeah, da boss wants us at da bar for an extra shift. Da udder two guys had to call in sick tonight." He explained, sounding entirely believable this time.
Rocksteady saw Angie visibly relax and breathed a sigh of relief for himself. Disaster averted. Patrick was still looking at him all funny, but the rest of the group seemed fine now.
Angie sighed and put her hands in her pockets. "I guess you'll be going straight to the bar from here right?" she asked, and Rockteady and Bebop both nodded. She turned to the rest of the group. "Guess I better head home to check in on Tyler" she said.
Richard smiled and patted Rocksteady on the shoulder. "Sorry to see you leave early, but I guess it can't be helped. Got to go when the boss calls if you want to keep your job, Am I right?" he said.
"Uh…yeah, dat's right." Rocksteady said. After a second of thought he offered his hand towards Richard. "It was nice meetin yous guys. Tanks for acceptin me." He said sincerely.
Richard took Rocksteady's hand and shook it firmly. "Back at you, big guy. You're welcome any time"
"That's right." Pam added
Tara smiled and winked. "As far as the Angie situation is concerned, you've got my vote so far" she added.
Rocksteady blushed slightly and glanced at Angie and then back to Tara. "Um…tanks." He said.
Bebop glanced at his wrist watch nervously and then back at his friend. "Come on pal, we're losing light." He stated
"I know, I know" Rocksteady replied with annoyance before turning to Angie. He smiled at her shyly. "Um…tanks for invitin me. See ya day after tomorrow." He said.
"Yep, see you then." Angie replied. "Tyler told me he already has the movie picked out for you guys to watch."
Rocksteady smiled and gave a thumbs up. He walked towards Bebop, preparing to leave.
And then everything went to hell.
"H…hey stop!" he heard Patrick say forcefully behind him. It sounded to Rocksteady like the guy was mad, but he couldn't be bothered with that now. They were already late for their mission, and getting later by the second. Rocksteady didn't stop. "I said STOP, both of you!" Patrick yelled again, with more conviction than before. Rocksteady shook his head and dismissed the request. What was that guy's problem anyway? He kept going and reached Bebop just as he heard Pam and Angie scream in surprise.
"Dude, what the hey!" Richard shouted, and Rocksteady heard the man stumble back several steps.
"Puddy where the heck did you get that, have you lost your mind, what are you doing?!" shouted Tara, sounding more angry than scared.
Bebop was facing the group and Rocksteady got a good look as his friend's facial expressions went from stark shock to anger and fear, in the span of a few seconds. Bebop reached up and grabbed his shades with both hands, pulling them up onto his head and squinting forward in the dimming light, his eyes filled with anxiety. Rocksteady felt his heart rate quicken in fear as he slowly turned around to see what had spooked Bebop so much and caused the others to react with such surprise and anger.
Rocksteady completed his turn and stared, uncomprehending. Patrick was now standing at the head of the group, staring at him and Bebop with blazing eyes; eyes filled with anger and hatred and even triumph. Clasped in his fist was a large powerful looking handgun and it was now pointed straight at Rocksteady's face. The rhino was staring down its soulless barrel, like an empty black eye. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't force anything out. He was in too much shock. What was going on? Behind him, Bebop recovered his composure enough to speak. "Dude, what's your deal?" he asked, fear palpable in his voice. Even for all their super-human strength and ability, neither Rocksteady or Bebop were bullet proof.
"Yeah, you better start explaining yourself right now!" Richard declared. He eyed Patrick like he was calculating when would be the best moment to tackle the man
Patrick stared ahead at them, his expression unchanging. "The real reason I came tonight was so I could be sure. Angie told me a lot about you Rocksteady; but I had to meet you for myself first, just in case I was wrong." He smiled sarcastically. "For a while there I thought I –had- made a mistake. Even though you were a mutant Rhino you didn't act like what I expected. You were polite and nice and calm and appeared in every way to be close to normal. And the different clothes worked to your advantage. I thought in the end you must just be some other mutant. But…" The smile dropped off his face and he motioned the gun towards Bebop. "Your friend there gave it all away. Even before he said "Mission" and "Technodrome". As soon as I saw him I knew for sure that I was right all along." He finished, tightening his grip on the gun and gritting his teeth.
Angie looked back and forth between Patrick and the mutants, completely confused. "Patrick, you're not making any sense. What are you talking about?" she asked, almost pleading.
Patrick looked at Angie briefly and then back to the mutants, his expression stony. "They've been lying to you Angie. They're not bouncers in some club downtown; they don't have any kind of legitimate job." He said. With his left hand he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out two pieces of paper. He tossed the pages down on the grass in front of the group, where everyone could see. "They're not anyone normal or trustworthy. They're both criminals. They work for the Shredder and Krang" he finished.
In that moment it felt to Rocksteady like his heart had stopped completely. Laying on the ground at their feet, for everyone to see, were printouts of his and Bebop's old wanted posters, created by the police about a year after they'd mutated. Patrick had found them somewhere. Rocksteady looked up from the posters to the faces of Angie and the group, feeling himself near panic. His brain didn't seem to be functioning correctly anymore; he couldn't think of a single thing to do or say. It was all over! Everything!
Bebop smiled casually and let his shades fall back over his face, hiding his nervous gaze. "Nice fakes, buddy, but you'll have ta do bettah dan dat." He said confidently.
For a brief moment Rocksteady's spirits lifted. Maybe Bebop could get them out of this after all. But his hopes were dashed only a moment later. Patrick smiled back at them, but the expression held no warmth whatsoever. "How would I have even faked something like this if I'd never met you before?" he asked, glancing around at the other humans to make sure they were all paying attention. "And I've got plenty more proof on top of this that I can show if that's what it takes." He threatened. "You want to see newspaper articles? I've got em. Clips from Channel 6 news? All saved on my camcorder." He glared at the mutants and shook his head. "You can't talk your way out of this one, so don't even try."
Bebop shut his mouth and glared back at Patrick. Rocksteady glanced over the faces of his new friends, seeing distrust and anger and even fear in the faces that only a few moments ago had been so warm and welcoming to him. "Come on guys…this..this is…" he stuttered out.
Bebop put a hand on Rocksteady's shoulder. "Don't bother pal, it's over." He said gravely. The mutant turned back to Patrick and shrugged. "Alright you got us. So what if we do woik for Shreddah?" He said defiantly.
A gasp went up through the humans, and Rocksteady saw their expressions radically change, going from simple mistrust to outright horror and anger. But Angie was the worst of all; the expression on her face was one of incredible betrayal and hurt. Seeing her look at him with those eyes was like a knife in Rocksteady's chest; for a moment it felt like he couldn't breathe and he wondered if he might pass out.
Richard looked at them with disgust and anger. "I can't believe you work for someone like Shredder." He stated.
"Oh believe it." Patrick said. "They do all his dirty work. Stealing, kidnapping, destruction of property, the carrying out of evil plots, they're jacks of all trades." He finished sarcastically.
Tara stepped forward, anger boiling in her eyes. "How could you do anything for a mad man like that?" she asked, starring straight at Rocksteady. "You don't seem like a bad guy, so what's the deal?"
"The deal is that you haven't seen the real them yet, Tara." Patrick said. "These two are ruthless violent thugs, nothing more."
"No! Dat aint right!" Rocksteady began, his voice cracking. "We just…we just…" He looked from Tara to Bebop with panic in his eyes. He opened his mouth again to continue but his mind felt like a complete blank.
Bebop looked at his friend with sympathy and then turned back to Tara, answering for him. "Da boss feeds us and gives us a place to live." He explained simply. "We don't have anywhere else to go. We was homeless before."
Patrick narrowed his eyes at the mutant. "And you think that makes it ok to be a criminal?" he asked angrily. "You were down on your luck so you thought it would be just fine to work for a dangerous terrorist and his alien dictator partner? You think it's ok to steal and break stuff and hurt people just because of that!?"
Bebop grimaced angrily. "HEY! We don't hoit people!" he shot back, his voice rising.
Rocksteady nodded, and felt a little bit of hope return. "Yeah, dat's right!" he stated, almost smiling. "We've nevah shot or beat up any normal person dah whole time we've been working for da boss. You can check da records." He said feeling a bit victorious for a moment.
Bebop nodded in agreement. "Whenevah we break into a joint, if dey have any guards or police, we usually just tie em up and stick em in a closet." He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe dey get a bit roughed up, but dat's it. We aint moiderers." He finished.
Patrick glared at them, anger flaring in his eyes, hotter than before. "Yeah, the network censors won't allow it, isn't that right?" he asked sarcastically. Suddenly the man took three steps forward and shoved the barrel of the gun right up against Rocksteady's chest. "How stupid are you two really!? I should shoot you right now!" he shouted. Rocksteady winced as Patrick jammed the gun into his chest and tried to take a step back. Patrick gave the mutant a glare that could turn blood to ice. "Don't move Rocksteady, unless you want a bullet in your lung. Just stay right there." He growled through gritted teeth. Rocksteady stared back at him in stark terror and tried his best to freeze. Patrick looked from the terrified Rhino over to Bebop, pure disgust playing out on his face. "What, do you guys want a medal or something? So you don't go out of your way to harm civilians or cops? What about the Turtles? Aren't you always trying to kill them? And what about their friends, the people at Channel 6 news, and others? How many times have you helped Shredder put them in elaborate death traps, to get to the Turtles or just to get them out of the way?" He asked.
Bebop's face fell and he looked a bit embarrassed, like a kid caught in a lie. "Um, yeah I guess we do try ta kill dose toitles a lot." He admitted. "But dat's our job. We're just followin orders"
"Yeah" Rocksteady said, nodding in agreement. "It's just our job!"
Rocksteady saw rage and hate boil in Patrick's eyes just before the man swung his arm and slammed his gun into the left side of the Rhino's snout. Patrick wasn't strong enough to knock the mutant over or even make him stagger, but Rocksteady still felt blazing pain shoot up the side of his face, alternating with tingling numbness. His hand went instantly to his snout and he took a step back, feeling shocked. A thin trickle of blood began to drip from Rocksteady's left nostril. Bebop looked ready to rush forward and rip Patrick's head off, and the rest of the group looked almost as stunned. Patrick glared at the mutant and raised the gun again. "You think that just because "it's your job", that it somehow absolves you of responsibility for your actions?" he asked, the new calm in his voice even scarier than the previous anger. "How…stupid…ARE…YOU…?" he enunciated, grimacing with each word.
Bebop looked about ready to blow his stack, gun or no gun. The warthog clenched his fists in anger and glared towards Patrick like he was getting ready to charge. "I don't know what dat word you used means, but you can't keep talkin to us like dis, and you can't hit my buddy and get away wit it!" he shouted.
Patrick shifted the gun and pointed it at Bebop instead. "Just try me." He threatened. Bebop glowered at the gun and took a step back. Patrick stepped back as well, to better cover both of the mutants. He looked at both of them like an impatient school teacher with a particular slow child. "It means, just because someone orders you to do something wrong, it doesn't make it ok to do it. Wrong is wrong, no matter if it's your "job" as you put it."
Bebop snorted and threw up his hands in exasperation. "Hey man, what's your deal? You pull a gun on us and complain about how we live our lives, like you tink you're our mother or somethin. I don't even knows you, and Rocksteady just met you tonight. Why do you hate us so much? " he asked.
Tara looked at Patrick with extreme worry in her eyes. "Yeah Puddy what's going on? You're scaring me. What's gotten into you?"
Patrick snorted derisively and motioned the gun at Rocksteady. "The fact that he lied to all of us, that he and his friend have been lying to Angie all this time, isn't reason enough to be mad?" he asked defensively.
Richard looked at Patrick sternly. "That may be the case, but don't you think pulling a gun is a little extreme?" he asked. "We know you Puddy. There's more to this than what you've already said, isn't there?"
Patrick looked at his friends and then back at the mutants, an expression of disgust twisting across his face. "These two just make me sick. Acting like nothing is their fault. Acting like everything's ok because they had hard lives before, and they don't go out of their way to hurt people." He took a step back towards the mutants, tightening his grip on the gun. "Let me ask you two something. You say that you don't hurt normal people, but what about all the dangerous schemes Shredder has pulled in the past? How many people do you think were hurt or killed that time you guys unleashed a giant ice monster on the city!? Or how many people would have been killed that time Shredder brainwashed everyone with pirate radio and ordered them to sail into a black hole?" His voice rose higher and his eyes flashed with rage as he continued. "How many people do you think you've hurt or killed over the years that you didn't even know about, people hurt by the collateral damage of all your battles? You say you never harm anyone normal, well WHAT ABOUT MY BROTHER!?" He finished, screaming out the last words.
A stunned silence fell across the group as the words sank in. Everyone was staring at Patrick now with a mix of shock, disbelief, and horror on their faces. Tara suddenly gasped and raised her hands to her mouth, looking between Patrick and the mutants with donning understanding on her face. Pam shook her head and Rocksteady saw tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Oh my gosh, no…" she stuttered.
But worst of all was the look on Angie's face. Rocksteady watched her expression transition from shock and horror to a final understanding and a sudden cold anger, aimed directly at him. He felt confusion and fear stab into his heart. "Wh…what is he talkin about!? What did we do?" he asked, afraid to know the answer, but needing to anyway. He glanced and Bebop, who raised his glasses to meet Rocksteady's eyes; the mutant saw no comprehension in his friend's gaze, just the same anxiety and confusion he felt in his own heart. He looked over the faces of the humans around him, seeing nothing but growing distrust and cold anger in their expressions, and felt the dread building inside him. He finally stopped on Patrick, meeting his eyes, not flinching away for the first time, and he waited for the man to reveal the truth.
Patrick gave a small sardonic smile and shook his head. "Yeah, I guess you probably wouldn't remember. For me it was the day I almost lost my brother, but for you it was probably just Tuesday." He reached into his coat again and pulled out a folded newspaper clipping. He shook the paper open and held it up for the mutants to see. "Does this headline ring any bells?" he asked.
Rocksteady squinted in the dying light and read the headline. "Foot Clan Bank Robbery Foiled by Turtles" it said, in large bold letters. The mutant racked his brain for a moment and then the light bulb went on in his head. "Oh yeah, I remember dat." He said. It had been about six months ago. Shredder and Krang had tasked them with breaking into a safety deposit box inside a branch of the New York City Bank, to steal some ultra rare gemstone they needed for some reason or another. The mission had gone wrong very quickly; the mutants had been unable to remember WHICH box they were supposed to rob and before they could finish checking them all, the turtles had shown up and driven them off. But…Rocksteady scratched his head in puzzlement. "I don't remember us hurting nobody dat day, honest!" he finally stated sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.
Bebop nodded along. "Yeah, we just tied up da guards, and then later had our fight with da toitles." He clarified.
Patrick's expression hardened again, and Rocksteady saw Richard, Tara and Angie's eyes all widened in surprise. Pam looked at Rocksteady with an expression of half disbelief. "So…you two really were there?" she asked
"Yup, dat was us." Rocksteady confirmed. He looked from face to face, holding his breath as he waited for the other shoe to drop.
"I can't believe it…" Richard said, shaking his head with sad disgust.
Bebop scowled at the group and then glared at Patrick. "What!?" he asked with annoyance. "Are you gonna tell us what you tink we did or not?"
The anger flashed up in Patrick's eyes again. "This is exactly what I've been talking about. All you two can see is what is right in front of you; your own actions and the immediate consequences. You don't give a single thought to the larger effects of your behavior, the consequences that you don't always see."
Bebop scowled back at the man. "What are you babbling about? What larger effects!?" he asked indignantly.
The side of Patrick's mouth twitched down in a grimace of hate and his eyes burned with rage. For a moment Rocksteady thought the man was about to shoot them, and panic knifed through his system. But after a moment Patrick visibly got himself under control, and the mutant breathed a sigh of relief. "Bebop, don't provoke him!" Rocksteady pleaded, throwing the other mutant a look of panic.
Bebop sniffed and crossed his arms. "Don't be a wimp Rocksteady. Dis guy don't scare me none."
Patrick gritted his teeth angrily but continued on more calmly. "I'll tell you exactly what I mean." He began. Rocksteady braced himself. "You say you didn't deliberately hurt anyone, and that is true, going by the newspaper article and the channel 6 coverage. But I'm sure you two remember all the destruction you caused during your fight with the Turtles, right?" He asked.
Rocksteady nodded and smiled, despite himself. "Yeah, we really trashed dat place." He said with a touch of pride.
Patrick glared angrily, peeved by the mutant's obvious boasting. "Well then maybe you remember that during the fight your stray laser blasts blew away several support columns in the north-east corner of the bank's lobby. Because those columns were destroyed, a portion of the bank's second story collapsed down into the lobby below." Patrick fixed the mutant's with his cold enraged stare. "Seven bank employees were badly injured in the collapse. Including my brother, who was buried under rubble for nearly four hours before being rescued. He suffered severe injury to his nerves and spinal cord in the fall." Patrick held eye contact with Rocksteady, unwavering, and for the first time Rocksteady saw not only anger and rage in the man's gaze but also sorrow and heartache. There were tears in the corner of Patrick's eyes! "Because of you two mutants, my brother may never walk again. So don't you dare tell me you "don't hurt people"" Patrick finished, sounding completely exhausted. The fire and anger had gone out of him, leaving behind only exhaustion and sadness. His final statement hung in the air with a sense of finality.
Rocksteady staggered and nearly fell on his knees. His legs had suddenly turned to jelly and it felt like he had just been slugged in the stomach with a sledgehammer. All the air was gone from his lungs, he could barely breath. He desperately looked over the faces of the humans, hoping to see some indication that what Patrick had said was a lie. But all he saw was confirmation. "N…No. Dat's not true…" he stuttered weakly.
Patrick glared back at him, a new spark of passion erupting in his eyes. "You think I'm lying about this? Do I have to show you the hospital bills too?" he asked furiously.
Tara nodded her head. "It's true Rocksteady. His brother was there. Patrick was out of school for a few weeks having to take care of things; took him forever to catch up with his work afterwards. He's not lying."
Angie looked at Rocksteady, and the mutant was shocked to see tears in the corner of her eyes. "I…can't believe it really was you two who did that…" she said, and her face conveyed such sadness, anger, and acute disappointment that it stabbed Rocksteady straight to the center of his being.
The truth hit Rocksteady like a speeding semi-truck, right to the face. He felt light headed and woozy, and wondered if it was possible for someone to have a heart attack just from pure shock. Bebop noticed his friend's unsteady balance and stepped forward, grabbing his shoulder to steady him. "Are you ok pal?" he asked with concern.
Rocksteady's head was swimming, his thoughts running a million miles per hour, going into overdrive. It felt like his entire world was shattering. They'd really almost killed someone other than the Turtles? And if it had happened once like that, how many other times had there been? Rocksteady thought of all the countless battles he and Bebop had had with the Turtles over the years. How many other times? How many other people? Rocksteady looked up and fixed his gaze on Patrick, finally understanding all the hate and pain he saw in the other man's eyes, all of it directed at him and Bebop.
Everything Patrick had said about them was right. They never thought about what would happen if one of Shredder and Krang's many plans actually succeeded; they just followed their orders and tried not to mess up. Of course they knew people would probably be hurt by Shredder's actions, but it was never a big deal; they were just "people" in the abstract, a statistic, nothing more. No one they actually knew or cared about, no one they would really have to see. But this was different. The consequences were right here in front of him, staring him in the face and holding a gun. They had done this. They had hurt one of Angie's friends. It was their actions that were the cause of the disappointment and anger Rocksteady now saw in the eyes of the girl he had come to care about. It was his worst nightmares come true.
"I…I…" Rocksteady started, not even knowing what he could possibly say. He swallowed and paused for a moment, trying to get his feelings straight. He's brain still felt foggy and unresponsive. "I'm…I'm…I'm sorry!" He finally blurted out. "We was just doin our job. Dat's all we've ever been doin." He said meekly.
Bebop growled and looked at his friend disapprovingly. "Don't apologize to him Rocksteady. He's just some crazy joik with a gun." The mutant looked at Patrick and gave him a dismissive shrug. "Your brudder gettin hurt sucks man, but accidents happen. We can't control every little ting dat gets blowed up during a battle. If you're mad at us, you should be mad at dem Toitles too. Can't have a fight witout two sides."
Patrick laughed sarcastically. "That response doesn't surprise me in the least." Patrick looked over his shoulder at the rest of the group, motioning towards the mutants with his gun. "You understand their true colors now, don't you? Common thugs, working for an uncommon madman. Stealing, fighting, destroying, and no thought for anyone else. They'll always have some excuse for their actions. They're job, they're life, fate, whatever. It's never their fault." He lowered the gun, pointing it at the ground for the first time, and looked at them with satisfaction. "That is who Bebop and Rocksteady really are." He stated, like a lawyer wrapping up his case.
Bebop gritted his teeth in anger. "Are you done lecturin us yet? If you're gonna shoot us den hurry it up already." He stated.
Patrick shook his head. "I'm not going to shoot you. I just needed a way to force you to show your true nature." He looked back at his friends. "I had to expose the truth for the sake and the safety of my friends." He fixed the mutants with his stony death glare. "But I am going to call the Turtles' emergency hotline and report your planned robbery of the computer factory. If you've got any sense in your heads, you'll just stay away from that place tonight." He raised the gun again and pointed it at the mutants. "Now both of you get out of here, before I change my mind about the shooting thing."
"Don't have to tell us twice." Bebop said. He put a hand on Rocksteady's shoulder and began to pull him away. "Come on Rocksteady, let's blow dis place."
"Wait!" Rocksteady's heart skipped a beat as Angie spoke. The girl approached the two mutants, the expression on her face almost unreadable.
"Angie…" Rocksteady said as he looked at her. For a moment a tiny glimmer of hope was reborn in his heart. Maybe things weren't as hopeless as they seemed. "Angie I…" he began.
Angie raised her right hand and slapped Rocksteady across the face, right on the same spot where Patrick had hit him before. Physically it didn't hurt as much as before, but to Rocksteady it was as if Angie had just shattered his heart with one single blow. He staggered back into Bebop, feeling completely devastated. Angie stared back at him, her eyes filled with righteous anger and hurt. "You lied to me…about everything!" she said. "I trusted you, was even starting to care about you…and then this!? Do you have any idea how much danger you put Tyler in, just by being around him!? And who knows what shady influence you've had on him by now!" She gritted her teeth and balled her hands up into fists. "Ugh! I can't believe I didn't figure it out for myself." She exclaimed forcefully, startling everyone, even Bebop and Patrick. She took a step towards the mutants, looking like she was ready to kill them, despite being half their size. "Just tell me "Why?". Why did you lie to me?" she asked.
Even Bebop seemed cowed by Angie's outburst this time. "Well…Tyler said…" he began, rubbing the back of his head.
Angie shot Bebop a death glare. "Don't you dare blame this on Tyler! He's a twelve year old boy. That makes him an idiot sometimes. You're both grown men, why don't you act like it!"
Rocksteady looked at Angie, his eyes conveying the pain and heartbreak he was currently struggling with inside. "We just…we tought dat if you knew da truth about us, you wouldn't let us be friends with Tyler no more." He said finally.
Bebop nodded and raised his glasses. He looked at Angie with the first sincere expression of regret he'd had that night. "Yeah. We just didn' want to lose dat." He said humbly.
For a moment Angie's expression changed, and Rocksteady thought maybe they'd gotten through to her. But after an instant her eyes hardened and the cold anger returned to her face. "Well what's past is past. It's too late now." She looked them in the eyes. "I don't ever want to see you near me or my brother again. Don't even come into our neighborhood. If you do, I'll call the police."
Rocksteady's eyes grew wide with panic. "But…but…!" he stuttered, pleading with her to change her mind. "Angie, I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please…don't…" he cried. Looking across the faces of the humans in front of him, Rocksteady saw no sympathy at all.
Angie stared back at him with hard angry eyes. "Rocksteady, just saying your sorry isn't good enough. You're not a child."
"But...!" Rocksteady stuttered, his voice choking slightly.
"Goodbye…" She replied coldly, her words ringing with finality.
Rocksteady felt like his world was falling apart. Everything was destroyed. In one fell swoop he had lost not only the girl he liked and his new friends, but his friendship with Tyler as well. And..sorry wasn't good enough? Then what would be good enough!? He felt utterly lost and confused. As tears begin to form in his eyes, the Rhino turned away from the group and began to walk swiftly down the hill towards the edge of the clearing. "Hey, wait up pal!" Bebop called, but Rocksteady barely heard him. He just kept walking away, feeling overwhelming sorrow and heartache wash over him. He felt the uncontrollable urge to turn around, to give himself one last glance at the girl he cared about and the friends who had almost accepted him. But he knew if he did that he wouldn't be able to turn away again, so he willed himself with all his strength to keep going. He heard heavy footfall as his friend caught up to him, he felt Bebop's warm comforting hand fall on his shoulder as they walked, and soon the tears were silently cascading down his face. After a moment he couldn't take it anymore, and he started to run.
The group watched silently as the Rocksteady and Bebop retreated down the hill, breaking into a run just as they reached the trees at the edge of the clearing. As soon as the two mutants were out of sight, Patrick collapsed to his knees and let out a huge nervous sigh. The gun he'd been holding clattered to the grass next to him. "Man, I thought I was gonna die!" He exclaimed, all of his former bravado spent. Tara approached Patrick from behind and gave him a hard smack on the back of the head. "OW! What's the big idea?" he asked indignantly, rubbing his head as he looked up at her.
"What kind of idiot are you, pulling a gun like that!?" Tara yelled, crossing her arms in anger.
Patrick smiled and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I wasn't really going to shoot anyone, don't worry. The gun is loaded with blanks. I was just trying to scare those two."
Tara gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "That makes it even worse! Either of those guys could have torn your head off with their bare hands if they'd really wanted to. What were you thinking!?"
Richard approached with Pam, and set his serious eyes on Patrick. "Tara's right. Knowing that those two were violent criminals, you put us all in a lot of danger pulling a stunt like that." He reprimanded.
"You should have at least warned us!" Pam exclaimed, holding onto Richard's arm. "I about had a heart attack."
Tara rolled her eyes. "Imagine what would have happened if Kim and Hiro had still been with us."
Patrick had the decency to look a little ashamed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you guys too. But like I said I wasn't even sure myself that that Rocksteady was really the same Rocksteady who worked for the Shredder. I didn't want to worry anyone needlessly if I turned out to be wrong."
Richard shook his head. "How many other mutant rhinos do you think there are in the city?" he asked sarcastically.
Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "Touché. But you never know." He looked back down the hill where the mutants had disappeared. "And I wasn't too worried about them getting violent. What they said was true; the two of them have rarely attacked civilians or injured the police and security guards they go up against. It really is just the Turtles and the Channel 6 crew most of the time. That doesn't change the fact that they're still criminals working for a terrorist madman of course." He looked towards Angie, who was still standing at the head of the group. "Or the fact that they were lying to Angie and all of us." He finished solemnly.
Pam looked at her best friend's back. "Angie, are you all right?" She asked, her voice filled with concern.
Angie stood staring down the slope of the hill towards the line of trees, completely deaf to the voices of her friends. Her mind was a turmoil of doubt and conflicting emotion. She knew she'd done the right thing for both herself and her brother. Those two mutants were criminals; working for a psychotic megalomaniac, associating with them would only put her and Tyler at risk of all kinds of danger. She made the right choice. Yet at the back of her mind she couldn't help feeling like she just did something very terrible and cruel. At the end Rocksteady'd looked at her as if she had ripped out his heart and stomped on it, and in a way that's exactly what she'd done. Had those been tears in his eyes right before he turned away for the last time? Her guilty conscious couldn't help but come back to what Rocksteady and Bebop had told her several times over the last three months. Tyler had been the first friend they'd EVER had besides each other. In one moment she'd just taken away something extremely important and irreplaceable to the two mutants. Was that really alright? Angie raised a hand and massaged her forehead, trying to get her feelings straight. No, she couldn't think that way. If they'd lied to her about their jobs and their real nature, they could have lied to her about anything, even that little fact. She knew only the tiniest bits and pieces about them, and who knew if any of it was true. No, she wouldn't let herself feel guilty about this, she had made the right choice to protect her family, and that was it.
"Angie. Hey, Angie!" The girl startled as she heard Pam calling her name from right behind her, and felt the other girl's hand come to rest gently on her shoulder. "Are you ok. You're kind of spacing out." Her best friend asked kindly.
Angie shook her head. "I'm ok. Just…a little shell-shocked is all." She replied.
"Yeah, no kidding!" Richard added, arriving at Pam's side. "I never would have guessed the truth on my own. Rocksteady seemed so normal, despite looking kind of scary."
"I'm a bit surprised he has it in him. He didn't seem to have a criminal type personality." Pam added.
"Except for the immaturity and trying to justify his actions and shifting blame around, of course." Patrick chimed in with annoyance.
Tara walked up and put her hand on Angie's other shoulder. "I'm really sorry Angie. I know you were starting to care about him; hearing the truth must have been a huge shock." She looked at her friend in the eyes, her expression serious. "Just remember that it was not your fault. He's the one who lied. You don't have to beat yourself up about this."
Angie let out a small sarcastic laugh. "I wish I could believe that. But I suspected for a while that Tyler and the mutants were hiding something from me, but I didn't do anything to find out what." She shook her head in annoyance. "Tyler's not really the best liar. But I didn't expect this." She crossed her arms angrily. "That kid is going to be grounded for the rest of his life when I get through with him."
Patrick stretched his legs out and then hopped to his feet. "Well this has been a pretty interesting night so far. Anything else on the agenda?" he asked lightly, trying to break the tension somewhat.
Richard looked from his girlfriend to the exhausted looking Angier. "I think maybe we should all call it a night." He suggested diplomatically.
"Here here!" Tara exclaimed. "After all this excitement I am ready to go home and sleep the sleep of the dead. You're giving me a ride, right Puddy?" she asked.
Patrick nodded. "Yep, just got to make that phone call to the Turtles' emergency hotline and then we'll be ready." He said.
"I've got to get home too and check on Tyler." Angie said.
Pam looked at her friend with worry. "Do you want us to walk you home." She asked.
Angie shook her head and flashed Pam a tired smile. "That's all right. I'll be ok."
Pam looked a bit disappointed, but nodded in ascent. "Alright. We'll see you later. Take it easy and get some rest all right." She said.
"I'll call you tomorrow." Tara said as she and Patrick began to turn to go. "And don't be too hard on Tyler alright Angie?" she asked. "He's just a kid."
"I'll keep that in mind." Angie replied, smiling.
Richard and Patrick both nodded goodbye to Angie and the group broke up, all of them heading home.
Twenty minutes after leaving her friends, Angie stepped off the elevator onto the third floor of her apartment building, still completely lost in thought. Thus, she didn't take notice of the large group of people gathered in the hallway until she nearly ran into Mr. Robins' back. The near collision startled her out of her tumultuous thoughts and she looked around the hall in surprise. "Hey, what's going on here?" she asked loudly.
Mr. Robins turned around and caught site of Angie, his old eyes growing wide with surprise and relief. "Angie, oh thank God you're safe. We were worried sick." He exclaimed.
"Why were you worried, what's happening?" she asked, her heart rate quickening with nervousness. She took a step to the side and peered around Mr. Robins trying to see through the crowd of neighbors, who all seemed to be congregated around her door. Her door… "Oh my…" Angie exclaimed, her hands rising to her face in shock.
The door to Angie's apartment was smashed open and she could see more destruction in mayhem leading down the entrance hallway. "Tyler!" she yelled out, her heart overwhelmed with panic and fear. She tried to rush forward but Mr. Robins grabbed her arm and held her back,
"You shouldn't go in there." He said, trying to sooth Angie. "The police are already on their way, it would be best to wait for them."
Angie turned to the old man. "Do you know what happened?" She asked, her voice cracking with fear. Tears of panic were already forming in her eyes.
Mr. Robins nodded solemnly. "Mrs. Grumman says she heard a loud sound outside in the hall. When she went out to investigate, she saw a group of men in strange purple jump suits forcing their way into your apartment. One of them even threw some spiky disc thing at her as she ran back into her apartment; it's still stuck in her door." The old man scratched his chin and looked up towards the ceiling, trying to recall more details. "I think she said they looked like those ninjas that are always on the Channel 6 news. They're called…the Hand? The Nose? Some body part like that anyway. I wonder why they would be breaking into your place." He finished, looking perplexed.
Angie's heart nearly stopped at that moment. She knew exactly who her neighbor had just described. The Foot! Even without being very news savvy Angie knew who the Foot were, and who they worked for. The Shredder! A wave of panic over took her at that moment and Angie turned and bolted for her apartment door. She knew why they had been there!
"Angie stop, it's too dangerous, you should wait for the police!" Mr. Robins called out, but Angie ignored the warning. She shoved her way quickly past her other neighbors, ignoring their surprised shouts and attempts to speak to her and ran into her apartment. She charged down the hallway and headed straight for Tyler's room. She found the door thrown open, the room trashed and littered with comic books and games, but otherwise completely empty.
Panic iced through her heart again as Angie turned from the deserted room and charged back through the apartment, calling Tyler's name. She looked in every room, inside every closet and under every bed and piece of furniture but there was no sign of her brother anywhere, just the remnants of a violent struggle everywhere she looked. Her brother was gone. And Angie knew who was responsible! She ran for the telephone on the table in the living room; she nearly knocked the whole thing over as she fumbled for the cordless receiver and shakily punched in the numbers that she had only very recently memorized.
A few months ago Patrick's parents had decided to gift their only son with a brand new fancy smancy state of the art car phone for his 26th birthday. Most of his friends, and even Patrick himself, had thought it was a rather silly and unnecessary luxury to have. "Why would I ever need to call someone on the phone in my car?" Patrick had asked, and Angie had agreed at the time, but now she found herself desperately glad that he had the thing now. She listened to the phone ring, once, twice, three times, growing more and more panicked, when she heard the other end pick up and Patrick's surprised voice say "Hello"
"Patrick!" Angie nearly screamed into the phone.
"Angie!?" Patrick replied in surprise.
"Angie? She's on the line?" Angie heard Tara ask faintly in the background.
"Yeah, it's her." Patrick said, somewhat muffled. "What is it Angie? Did something else happen?" he asked, more clearly.
Angie blurted everything out in one long breath of panic. "I just got home to my apartment and the door was smashed wide open, everything is trashed and Tyler is missing!" she exclaimed.
"WHAT!?" Patrick exclaimed on the other end. "Did you call the police, do you know who did it?"
"The neighbors already called them; they'll be here in a few minutes. But I need you to come pick me up right away!" Angie exclaimed.
"What, why?" Patrick asked, sounding confused. "You need to talk to the police and let them handle it."
"Patrick, I know who did this!" Angie exclaimed, her voice full of anger. "One of my neighbors said that she saw purple ninjas breaking in. Purple ninjas like on TV! It was the Foot, Patrick. This has something to do with Rocksteady and Bebop!"
Angie heard Patrick swear angrily in the background. A moment later Tara repeated the same word as Patrick explained everything to her. "I don't understand why you want me to come get you though." Patrick said, back on the line. "What can we do?"
"You can take me to that computer factory the mutants mentioned." She said with determination.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" asked Patrick. "I already left the tip on the Turtles' hotline number; they and the police should be able to foil whatever Shredder is planning. You should just leave it to them; it won't do any good to put yourself in danger!"
Angie squeezed the phone angrily. "You have no business advising me about danger after that stunt you pulled tonight." She exclaimed. "If you don't give me a ride, I'll just get a taxi instead. But I'm going no matter what!"
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Finally Patrick replied, his voice quieter and more humble than before. "Alright, I understand. We'll be outside your apartment in ten minutes." He said.
"Alright, see you then." Angie said shortly as she slammed the phone into its cradle. She turned back towards the open door to the apartment, where most of her neighbors still milled about, gossiping and waiting for the police. Her anger quickly fell away, replaced with a horrible crushing anxiety and fear. "Tyler…please be ok…" Angie prayed under her breath, and tears rolling down the side of her face, as she got up and headed for the exit, to wait for the police.