CHAPTER 21

"Were you seen?" Matt asked the second Michiko, Jason and Les entered the cabin.

Both boys shook their heads. "No."

Michiko looked away and said nothing. Matt frowned at her.

"Your room mate. Does she know anything?" he asked. Michiko shook her head, and busied herself with unpacking the few belongings she brought. Matt crossed the room and stood beside her, eyes narrowed. "Michiko? You didn't do anything stupid did you?"

Her dark eyes met his. "Is that what you think of me?" she replied hotly. "You think I would risk money and freedom? You disappoint me." She moved away from him, and placed bread and crackers on a plastic plate. "You do know grandfather is on the lookout, right? I don't think going back is a good idea."

Matt reached out and stilled her busy hands. "So the old man lived?" He chuckled darkly. "I have to practice my aim." Michiko glared and he continued. "But this certainly puts a wrench in my plans to go back and get those other two things. I expected him to be in the hospital...or six feet under." He ran a hand through his fiery red, wavy hair. "I guess we better make another visit pronto. Before things get messy."

Michiko stomped her foot dramatically. "Are you kidding? It would be totally insane."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Do you want the money or not? Or do you want to go back living with your grandparents." He loomed over her, staring down with steely eyes. "Or I could arrange a little distraction while the boys and I escape with our prize."

Michiko shuddered as icy fear spilled through her. She remained quiet and looked away.

Matt smirked. "That's what I thought. You go tonight then."

"What about you?" Michiko shot back weakly.

"Someone has to be here."

Michiko sighed and scooped up the plate, knowing that arguing was a lost cause. "I better go feed them."

Matt shrugged as he sat on the couch. "They had some water. You can go for days without food as long as you have water, right? I just need them alive."

Michiko didn't reply. Instead, she went up stairs and into the spare room. Jason and Les were in the room, cackling like hyenas as they jerked the rope, making the cage swing back and forth. Sobs and weak pleas drifted from above. Michiko crossed the floor and ripped the rope out of Les's hands.

"Give me that! What do you think you are doing?" she scolded as she lowered the cage. She looked inside as the frightened turtles trembled uncontrollably, pinning themselves in the far corner of the cage.

"Just having a little fun," Les told her, rolling his eyes. "Just wanted to stir them up a bit." He bent down next to them. Wide eyes were fixed on his every move. "They are just dumb animals." He leaned in to poke a finger into the cage. The brown eyed turtle shook violently until it arched it's neck and gagged, vomiting through the cage and onto Les's pants. The teen pulled back so quickly, he stumbled, and fell backwards onto his bottom, cursing.

"It puked on me!" he yelled, kicking the cage half way across the room.

"LES! You jerk!" Michiko chased after the cage and set it up right. She glared over her shoulder. "Get out of her! The both of you! They are scared to death!"

Jason shrugged and strode for the door and Les followed, looking down at his soiled pant leg in disgust, muttering under his breath. Michiko watched until they were gone, closing the door behind them.

"I'm sorry," she told the turtles as she brought the plate of food closer. She chuckled to herself. "What am I saying? It's not like you understand me."

She opened the door and placed the bread and crackers in front of them. The turtles watched her until she moved away before one of them slowly, carefully reached an arm out for the bread, pulling it towards him as he went back to the corner. He shared his food with the second turtle. She watched in amazement as they sat on their bottoms, using their hands to feed themselves.

Just like toddlers? But, how?

Suddenly, the blue eyed turtle turned to her and sheepishly peeped, "Pot-ty."

Michiko froze. Potty? He just said...oh!

Immediately, she reached in, scooping up the young turtle. She dashed out of the room to the neighbouring door, holding him over the flush. She turned her head, giving him 'privacy' and to her surprise she heard a soft tinkling sound.

"Well, what do you know? Potty trained turtles? What's next? Giant lizards that can do back flips?"

Once the turtle was done, she returned him to the room to join his brother. She lay on her stomach in front of the cage.

They are … amazing! The blue eyed turtle hugged and snuggled the other, as if searching for comfort. The dark eyed turtle uttered a sound that sounded like shhh, as if he was trying to reassure him.

Michiko came to a realization.

"They are just babies. I can't let Matt harm them. They are innocent and defenceless." She flipped onto her back and sat up. Her sudden movement caught the turtle's attention and immediately they were on guard as they backed away from her. Michiko felt sorry for them.

"I will make it up to you, I swear," she whispered to them. She was about to reach out and attempt to touch the golden shells as the door flung open. Matt filled the door way, glaring at her.

"This isn't a petting zoo," he grumbled. "Get them secured and get down stairs. We got planning to do."

"Fine," Michiko muttered. "I'll be right down." She waited until Matt left before she placed the turtles back in the air.

"It looks like you guys will have company soon," she sighed as she secured her end of the rope. She knew refusing Matt was out of the question. He was too powerful and knew too many others that could make things a lot worse for her. She went down stairs to listen to Matt's plans.

oOoOo

"Don't come back empty handed." Matt's voice snapped like a whip.

Michiko grimaced as they piled into Jason's truck.

"Let's get this over with," she sighed as Jason pulled on to the dirt road and headed back to the city.

She lingered in the truck, stalling as they parked in the corner of a darkened lot, just a block away from her grandparents. Slowly she pulled her long hair back into a pony tail and then into a bun. Then put it back into a pony tail again.

"You know the sooner we get in there, the better, right?" Jason told her, shaking his head impatiently.

"Fine. Let's go." She knew she couldn't avoid the inevitable. She slid out of the passenger seat, armed with rope and a flashlight. Jason joined her and they quietly advanced towards the home.

"It looks like everyone is in bed," Jason observed as they crouched in the shrubbery that lined one side of the property.

"Don't let looks fool you." She glanced around, watching for anything suspicious. "You said you found the turtles in the basement, right?"

Jason nodded as Michiko stepped forward.

Get in and get out, she thought to herself. I defiantly don't want to run into anyone here. Not tonight. Then as an afterthought, she turned to him. "Maybe you should wait out here."

Jason looked at her suspiciously. "But one of them is vicious. My arm, remember?" He held up his arm showing the bite marks as a reminder.

"You probably deserved it, you jerk. These turtles are…different. They already hate you. I stand a better chance if I go alone."

Jason gave her an unsure glare.

"Besides. If I get into trouble, you can get out of here."

Jason looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally he nodded and replied, "Okay. I will be behind the garage. Hurry up."

Michiko carefully made her way towards the house, making her way towards the basement window for the spare room. Slowly she pried it opened and slipped into the room, landing on the bed. She paused, and turned on her flashlight, sweeping it across the floor, only to find it vacant.

Damn.

Sounds drifted from beyond the closed door. Her heart began to race at the thought of being caught. She heard grunts, and movement, as if there was a scuffle. Afraid that Jason had carelessly followed her after all and found himself in trouble, she went to the door and opened it, just enough to allow her to peek in to the room beyond. She gasped as she spotted the Rat and her grandfather locked in a sword fight. The Rat swung the sword with skill she couldn't fathom ever possessing. She watched until both parties, stopped, seemingly to take a break. The way they interacted proved that the creature posed no threat to her grandfather.

"Take a break, Splinter-san," Sato advised between long deep breaths. "How is your leg holding out?"

"I...am...good," the Rat replied, leaning his weight to the right.

"I do not feel now is a good time to resume your training." There was a worried expression on her grandfather's face. "You still need time to heal."

"I...need to be strong...to find the turtles."

Michiko's eyes widened and she felt her stomach clench.

He's teaching him ninjitsu? She shook her head. And they are searching for those turtles? This is not good.

Suddenly, the Rat seemed to be on alert, glancing over its shoulder.

Damn! I got to get out of here. This is way over my head.

Quickly, she turned and lifted herself back up through the window and made her way to Jason.

"We got to get out of here. Now!" she told him, tugging on his arm. "This is bigger than we thought."

"Did you get the turtles?"

Michiko shook her head.

"Does it look like I do? They were not in the room. I should have known they would have been moved. Grandfather may be a jerk, but he is not dumb. That's why we got to call this whole thing off." She tried to escape back to the truck.

"Just a second. I have one more thing to do."

"What's that?" Michiko asked as she spun around. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched Jason toss a match to the ground on top of a red jug and quickly ran past her. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed, chasing after him. Behind her, jug instantly combusted into flames.

"Just leaving a little warning," he informed her, as the flames cast eerie shadows on his face.

Michiko shivered, watching helplessly as the flames licked up the side of the garage.

"That was not necessary," she cried out, heart pounding.

He nodded. "Oh the message wasn't for your grandparents. It was for you."

Michiko glared at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's a little message from Matt. That if you even think about quitting, there is nothing we won't do. You and your family will never be safe."

Michiko felt like he punched her in the gut. "You are all crazy!" she hissed.

The pair dashed off to the truck before they were spotted. Michiko fell into a disturbed silence as they drove away. She wondered to herself how things could have turned so badly in the matter of a few days.

For the first time since she left her grandparents home, she felt she made the wrong decision by running away.

oOoOo

Michiko made sure she was the first one in the cabin before Jason had a chance to announce their failure. The moment she stepped over the threshold, Matt turned away from the television and looked at her expectantly. After Jason wondered in empty handed, Matt's eyes glazed over with suspicion and anger.

"So. How did you make out?" His voice was as smooth as a snake's hiss.

"She abandoned the mission!" Jason automatically blurted, pointing at Michiko.

"Mr. Pyro here set fire to the garage!" She glared at Jason, wishing he would shut up.

"Told you they would mess it up," Les snarled, leisurely picking away at a bag of potato chips.

Matt walked over to Jason, grabbing him by the shirt, lifting him a few inches off the ground. "What happened? I thought we were clear that failure was not an option."

Jason gulped. "Well...you see...Michiko went into the house and..." Matt dropped the teen back to the ground. Jason lost his balance and fell against the wall, coughing as he straightened his shirt.

"Jason you ass-" Michiko started to growl. Matt turned to her, demanding answers.

"We couldn't find them. They were not where Les and Jason found the other two," she told him. "And Grandfather was there with..." Her voice thinned as she looked away.

"With who?" Matt inquired, suspiciously. He gnashed his teeth together and looked like he was about to explode.

"Uh, Grandmother." She took a deep breath, composing herself. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and glared at him. "I am not going back there. You are going to have to be satisfied with the turtles you already have. I was lucky to sneak in once. You ordered the fire. Don't you think that was a bit much?"

"Let's see if your Grandfather understands the message Jason left for me," Matt sneered. "You don't mess with us." He narrowed his eyes. "And neither do you. Do you understand? You are in or you're out. Permanently out." He punched his left palm with his right fist.

"So what now?" she asked throwing her hands up in despair. "Grandfather is doubly on the alert now and we don't know where the other turtles are." Thankfully, she added to herself. In a way it was a blessing.

Matt walked away muttering to himself, scratching his head.

"For now, we lay low," he informed them. "I found someone very interested to make a deal with us. I will make a phone call to see when he wants to arrange a pick up. If he is interested enough, we will arrange to get those other two and the rat as well. No matter what it takes." He looked at Michiko, sending daggers her way. "Understand?"

Michiko nodded numbly. "You...you found someone to buy them already? That was quick."

Matt smiled. "Yes, it was. I make sure a job gets done," he shot back. "And I just landed a permanent position in the Purple Dragons. Finally, I will have the respect I deserve."

"What about us, Matt?" Les spoke up. "Are we in as well?"

Matt nodded. "We all are in." He went to the fridge and pulled out a cold beer, one for each of them. "The cops will live in fear. We will run the city."

"So, who is the buyer?" Jason asked, lifting the beer bottle to his lips.

Matt pulled out his cell phone, punching numbers and replied, "They call him Hun."