DISCLAIMER: Same old story – don't own them. Would like to, but over the next couple of chapters or three or four, it might be better that E & L have the honors! Right now, it's the calm before the storm….Bwahahaha!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
CHAPTER 25 – HISTORY LESSONS
Rama came up from the dojo feeling a little better after her short work out. Yet what boosted her mood even more was the thought she might have found her perfect outlet with April Fools Day. Not only that, considering how close her favorite holiday was, she was also fully aware that – in this world - her birthday was only in a couple of weeks. Mike had said Don would be back near the middle of April, so that meant he would return around her birthday. Nonetheless, Rama sighed, wondering if she ought to mention it or not. She decided against it, though, "I think I'll wait. I'd rather celebrate my birthday at home with my own family – that is if I can find my way back by then. At least I know that at home it isn't even close to April yet, which would give me a second April Fools to have fun with!" That seemed to perk her up even more.
Rama headed into the kitchen to grab a quick bite to nibble on, soon spying a pear from the fruit bowl as she came near. As she scooped up the fruit and bit into it, Mike walked into the kitchen. He helped himself to an apple from the same fruit bowl before smiling a little at her and then sitting down on one of the barstools. He watched her with interest.
Rama looked at him suspiciously, asking, "What? Why are you staring at me?"
Shaking his head, he replied, "No reason. It's just that in a little while I'm gonna go on into town to relieve Dev at the music studio. We have a deadline to meet, so we're taking turns." He looked over at Rama and cocked his head, "You – wanna go in with me? Don't have to get out of the car or anything; the windows are tinted. Dev'll drive ya back and all." He saw Rama look up at him. Her expression could best be described as a deer caught in headlights. He knew right then that the idea made her nervous. "Honest, no one'll see ya. You ever ride in a car, Rama?" Mike asked and then took another bite of his snack.
Swallowing her bit of pear, the girl replied, "Yeah, a few times. My family takes turns using Uncle Casey's old van to go out to their farm. It's sort of vacation time for us. Also, I rode in one on my way home after Cathy freed me from that lab in Connecticut." As an afterthought, she added, "Although that isn't exactly a good memory, except for the feeling of being free after a month in captivity." Rama shrugged a little as she thought of that long trip home, the fear she had where at any moment David would somehow catch them. Cathy had told her at the time that she had traded vehicles with a friend so that her boss wouldn't know what she was driving so to guarantee their escape.
"Then, it's just as well you put that aside and replace it with a good one! I'm taking the Jag." The turtle commented, waiting for her to take the bait.
"You mean, as in Jaguar?" Rama's interest peaked just a little. "With tinted windows," she thought, "maybe it wouldn't be so terribly bad; if what Mike says is true about how people treat them." As she considered this, she realized it wasn't that often anyone in her family had a chance to ride in something as fancy as a Jaguar.
"Yep, sedan style with the windows nice and dark, except for the windshield. You can sit in the back if you want; it's 'safer' there." Mike explained, grinning. He saw the look of temptation on her face, so he added a bit of incentive, "'Sides, I'm sure you're mighty tired of being cooped up here in this stuffy old house, bet you're itch'n to stretch a little bit. You seemed to like getting out when we went to the beach."
Mike waited, grinning wider as he saw Ramiela's interest pique, and he knew she would soon take the bait.
At first, Rama was a little nervous about leaving the estate. It had become like a haven for her, safe and secure without any threat of attack or needing to hide from prying eyes. Still, it was starting to get boring, doing the same thing everyday. She did have to agree with Mike, though. Getting out that one time to surf at the beach had been fun and she did feel better afterwards. Still, between the few chores that Mike allowed her to do and her katas, she had limited entertainment. Even Leo thought getting out would be good for her. He had even given her his blessing when asked about it.
Now, she was cruising up Highway 1, sitting in the backseat with Mike at the wheel, heading for Monterey where his recording studio was. She had put on the leather coat from her beach trip and a hat at first, still unable to fathom going out into public without some sort of covering. However, before they left the estate, Rama had seen how dark the windows were tinted and so she eventually she removed the hat. Mike rolled the windows down while they drove along the driveway towards the main gate, but once they were off property, he rolled them back up. Soon after that, he turned the Jag north onto Highway 1, cruising up the winding road towards Monterey.
Soon, they were approaching the more populated areas of the neighboring towns, eventually breezing through the eastern end of Carmel. Mike slowed the sedan just a little, to give Rama a casual look at the quaint village area where Gabby's mom lived. He hoped that if she saw how small and insignificant the town was, compared to New York City, Rama might adjust better when Gabby took her to see Cassie. "Yeah, just down Ocean Ave here about four or five blocks, turn right onto Lincoln, and she's the fourth business on the right - The Musical Note." Mike exclaimed and added, "Yep, neat lady; I think you'll like Cassie a lot, Rama."
"Easy for him to say." She mused under her breath. "Still, Gabby's pretty nice, so I guess her mom should be, too." She sighed just a little. All the changes she had to face recently with the freedoms she'd only dreamt about seemed just a bit overwhelming to the girl. Ramiela continued to look out of the passenger window as the car breezed through the town, observing the people as they walked along among the shops and streets. The humans were all shapes and sizes with the age group as varied as New York. The only difference was the lack of skyscrapers. "Interesting town." She murmured.
"Yep, and completely safe for us, too!" Mike chortled with a grin.
"No one's ever bothered you?" Rama asked as she peeled her gaze away from the window to look at Mike's reflection in the rear view mirror. She found that hard to believe with all that she knew about people. Prejudice and fear in humans ran deep and that was what made them such a threat to her family. It was why, whenever she was out on patrol, she would find herself hanging back whenever she saw a cute guy. No matter if she thought he might be worth getting to know, the threat humans posed to her family just wasn't worth the risk.
Mike replied, "Only had a couple of run-ins. The first was when we moved here initially. Don took us all out to the Pacific Edge to celebrate the purchase of the land. It's the nicest restaurant in the area. The 'Edge sits along Highway 1, just a little north of my place; we passed it about five minutes ago. Nice location. Anyway, the manager at the time refused to seat us because of the way we looked and who we were. Now, we're talking about my filthy rich brother being refused service for that and you have a fight on yer hands!" he chuckled a little as he shook his head.
Rama's eyes widened as she adjusted her view to see more of Mike in the mirror, leaning forward just a little, "He fought them?" She was truly surprised, as she had come to believe that these turtles didn't do such things anymore.
"No, he didn't physically fight them but he did do the next best thing, though!" Mike looked at her in his mirror, his eyes twinkling brightly as he waited for her response.
"What's that?" she asked, taking the bait.
"He bought them out, lock stock and barrel. Then he fired the entire crew, every waiter, waitress, cook, busboy, maid, and groundskeeper."
"Why'd he do that? Wouldn't just buying the restaurant be enough?" Rama asked as she sat back against the seat, intrigued even more about this Don Tello.
"Well, as Don put it, by firing everyone, you get rid of those that may harbor resentment. The beauty of his plan though was when he gave the newly fired employees first dibs at getting rehired again – for double their pay!"
Rama was speechless and could only shake her head. Finally, she just had to ask, "So, he did that because…?"
"Hiring them at double their pay meant loyalty, my dear! Don knows how to work people to get people to work for him – and having them love every minute of it, too! He's one smart dude and his wealth and power are proof positive of it!" He shook his head, "Just amaz'n what that guy can get away with."
Rama sat there and thought about what Mike had just told her. Her Uncle Donatello was a formidable ninja when duty called and could be downright lethal when necessary. Yet she knew deep down inside he was a pacifist, caring little for killing or even fighting, his interests in his inventions and his family his only concern. To think that maybe he could be as aggressive in the human world, manipulating situations to meet his needs as this world's Don Tello could do seemed farfetched. Still, she had noted during the past two weeks that, other than their way of life, these turtles were in every way as her family was back home. Obviously, their experiences were different which influenced the choices they made. Just the same, it was still astounding to learn about the kind of power Don wielded.
Remembering that Mike had told her about two run-ins with the human population, Rama asked, "So, what happened the second time?"
"Huh?" Mike asked as he looked at her through his rear view mirror as he drove along the highway. "Oh, yeah, that. Raph got beat up about three years ago by some local thugs."
"Raph got beaten up?" She asked astounded, her voice almost at whisper level.
Mike looked back at her, saying, "Yeah. Seems these guys didn't like the idea that Don was buying up businesses and all. Seemed they remembered something like that happening back in New York years ago. One of them had a son who…" Mike looked back at Rama and decided that less was more as far as family history was concerned, "who was a jerk and caused us some grief; invaded our property, which is how Dev got that scar of his."
Rama nodded, remembering only a few days ago when Devon had showed her his one and only scar, something he had hated until meeting her. Now he understood that some scars meant honor and courage.
Mike licked his lips, hoping that what he was telling Rama wouldn't end up biting him in the tail, "Anyway, Gabby was the one who found out who had beaten her dad up, so we paid him a visit and basically told him to turn himself in – which he did. Of course, he had four ugly turtles in his face at the time. I think he was more than glad to oblige us, too!" He laughed a little, but realized that maybe too much information was – well – too much. He could see Rama get a little stiff as she sat deep against the back seat once again. "You okay there, Rama?" he asked, eyeing her a little, keeping his attention on his driving.
"Yep," was all she said, as she turned to look out the window once again. All she could think about was Raph being beaten up. "Must be out of shape for that to happen!" she mused to herself, "Too long living the easy life. Anyone try to beat up my Uncle Raphael back home and they'd be skewered before they could blink!" She knew in her world that her Uncle Raphael was the clan's executioner. Her dad had once told her that Raphael's anger used to be worse when he was younger, which would have made him an even more formidable opponent. The thought that this Raph had been subdued so easily disturbed her far more than she was willing to say.
Finally, the Jag pulled onto a side street from the main highway. Rama had been so engrossed with learning about Raph's beating that she hadn't noticed the quaintness of Carmel had changed to a more big-city feel with Monterey. Mike steered the sedan into a parking lot that was next to a rather large single-story building. "Here we are, Rama girl!" he announced as he parked the car near the front door of the building. "Wait right here; I'll leave the engine running so the AC will keep things cool for ya!" He opened the door, calling back,"Dev'll be out in a sec." Then he slipped out of the car and closed the door behind him, walking quickly over to the front door of the building.
Rama sat there in her seat after he left, noting a few people milling around outside as they took their smoking break. Her lip curled up bit at the sight. "Don't they know they're giving themselves cancer?" she thought in disgust. Shaking her head, she looked away and settled in to wait for Devon. She rather liked the ride to the studio. Mike's car was very different from what Cathy drove when she rescued Rama from the lab. Still, at the time, it was the sweetest moment where she was finally free after a month of being in a cage. Shuddering from remembering that experience, the girl sighed and decided to do a little meditative exercise to calm her nerves. However, she found herself thinking once again about the weapons session where Devon had bested her. At the time, Rama had been quite overconfident with her abilities, which was obvious to both Leo and Devon. Unfortunately, it was to her disadvantage. She really ought to have known better, too. How many times had her sensei at home warned her, "Don't let your overconfidence be your undoing, Ramiela. You can never enter any match feeling that you will win, nor should you enter it as if it will be your downfall. Both thoughts will only lead to mistakes."
The Leo here had said as much the same thing to her afterwards, chiding her gently. She laughed at herself, though, completely aware of her mistake, "I really was a baka and truly deserved to be taken down a notch."
Not too long after Mike left the car for the studio, Rama could see Devon exit the building as he headed for the Jag. Quickly opening the driver's side and slipping in, he turned back towards her, "So, I've graduated to chauffeur, have I?" he stated as he closed the door.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Rama asked, a little confused.
"You, sitting back there as if you were some hoity toity rich lady!" he grinned.
"Hmm….oh, I see." Rama said as she suddenly realized what he had meant. She quickly teased back, "Well, then, maybe you should sit here and let me drive, since you're the one with money!" Rama was unable to hide the grin on her face.
"Got a license?" he asked as he arched an eye ridge at her in amusement.
Rama rolled her eyes, "Oh, yeah, right here in my pocket! Wanna see?"
Devon rested his arms on the back of the front seat as he turned a little more to face her, his grin widening, "Sure, Ramiela, I'd love to see your license!" He wondered at her comment, knowing well how limited Rama's life was in her world compared to his. If she had a license, it was probably a counterfeit. Still, he couldn't resist asking to see it.
With her smile as big as his, Rama whipped out a shuriken from the pocket of her coat. She held it up expertly for him to see, her grin turning to a smirk as if she had bested him again.
Unfortunately, the response from Devon had not been what she'd expected.
"What in the world are you doing with THAT?!" he exclaimed loudly, quickly snatching the star from out her hand before she could react.
"Hey, I wasn't going anyplace where people are without a little backup. Call it insurance!" Rama shot back, clearly irritated with Devon for grabbing the weapon from her.
"Call it STUPID, Ramiela!" Taking ANY weapon from the dojo is strictly prohibited!" Devon then opened the glove compartment and tossed it in, closing it up and locking it. He looked back at her, "Under no circumstances can we let anyone think we know ninjitsu. It's bad enough we're mutants, okay? But if the population or the police ever found out what we can do there's no telling what kind of repercussions there'd be." He saw the look of surprise on Rama's face. Devon shook his head, explaining, "Gabby had taken a knife from the dojo a few years ago. If it were not for her friendship with Cassie, well, Gabby might not be here. It's rather complicated, but…" Devon wondered if he should say anything, but considering what Rama had just done, he decided to go for broke, "Well, to be honest, Gabby was going to kill someone with it."
Rama's eyes lit up like torches, "Kill someone? Gabby? Seth's wife?" The impression that she had of Devon's sister was that she was not as trained in the arts as the rest of the family. By her sweet behavior alone, she was anything but a killer. True, Leo had told her that she had done incredibly well at holding off the invasion of their home, but – either way - it was still a hard thing for her to picture Gabby killing. Besides, she had children to raise up and, so, it became paramount to learning ninjitsu. "Why, why would she want to kill?" Rama stammered just a bit as she tried to comprehend everything Devon was telling her. From hearing about Raph getting beaten up, to the rules of not taking weapons out of the house, and now this new information about Gabby – it all seemed contradictory to the 'safety' she was assured of.
Devon sighed, "I'm not sure if I should tell you this, okay? So, under pain of death, you have to keep it to yourself. My sis might appreciate you knowing…but I had a friend who turned out to be anything but the person I thought he was. He ended up being a jerk and…"
"Is he the one who attacked your family?" Rama asked, remembering what Leo had told her.
"Yeah, his name is Jason…anyway, Jason, well, he – ah – coerced Gabby, sort of blackmailed her with threats of lawsuit after she nailed him one on the nose, breaking it as a result. Of course, this was after he tried to…well, he tried to take advantage of her. It's very complicated, but basically, after that, he raped her – twice!" Devon's lips curled in anger as he remembered that time; the guilt still somewhat fresh for the way that he, his father, and uncles ignored all the signs of her assault. Fortunately, if it had not had been for Gabby confiding in Gaele and then in Cassie, life as he knew it now with his niece – would not exist.
Rama recoiled, shaking her head numbly, "I hadn't any idea….wow…he did that – to Seth's wife, to - to Gabby? What did Seth do?"
"Well, for one, Seth wasn't married to her at the time. You see, Jason is Mindy's father…Gabby became pregnant from the rape. But, as far as Jason is concerned, he's out of the picture – permanently." Devon replied.
Rama's eyes widened just a bit, "You – dispatched him?" she asked in disbelief, yet as far as she was concerned, it would have been justified. Now she realized why Mindy seemed more human than Gabby or even herself, and why Seth's physical attributes were unaccounted for in the child. Mindy could very well be the example of what Rama's children or, more than likely, her cousin's children, would end up looking like. Still, in all honesty, Rama was quite confident that she would never have a family of her own. Where she had her responsibilities as future Jonin, not to mention the difficulty of finding a husband in the first place, it was a fact she had to accept. Yet, it was quite interesting to know what she could look forward to if such a union were possible for her.
"No," he explained, "we did not kill him. Don had him shipped off to Australia after the attack on our house, which was sort of a rebuttal to our initial interrogation of him after we discovered what he had been doing to Gabs." Devon sighed deeply, "I still think we should have killed him and dumped his body into the Monterey Trench, but we live a precarious life among humans. We're safe from almost all harassments, but we have to keep the laws and stay within the boundaries of the human courts. A clan tribunal can judge only fellow members of our family. Anyone outside of that, we have to handle delicately." He smiled a little and sighed. Then, perking up, "Well, enough of history, let's get going." He cocked his head a bit at Rama and then invited, "But, I insist you sit in the front seat! I don't chauffeur anyone!"
Ramiela shook her head, saying, "Hey, I think I'm doing quite well as it is just being out in daylight, coat and all!"
"Look, Sweets," Devon narrowed his eyes a little, "I guarantee you; no one is going to attack you or take advantage of you! I'll make sure of it!" Then, pointing to the front seat, "Come on; the clock's ticking!"
Sighing resolutely and realizing she wasn't going to win this one, Rama conceded and eased into the front passenger seat as she climbed over the middle armrest, careful to keep her coat around her and slipping her hat on just in case. She looked back over at Devon and smirked, "Happy, now?" she asked him.
"Hmm…" he answered as he assessed her just a little, "The hat's a bit weird, but – you'll do! So, let's get going!"
He started the car and eased out of the parking space, soon roaring through the lot and out onto the streets. Rama stayed quiet as she gazed out the window, thinking about everything Devon had told her and what Mike had shared as well. It seemed even as accepted as they were by humans they still had to be careful around them. She sighed quietly a little as she considered this new bit of information from both fronts.
At one point during the drive home, Devon turned and looked at her, shaking his head slightly, "You - won't say any thing about what I just told you, right?" His eyes flit from watching the road to his passenger, fully aware that if she wanted to, Rama could quite literally end his life by snitching on him.
"Of course not, Devon. I'm not a blabber-mouth okay?" She smiled a little, "My uncle Raphael taught me the value of keeping confidences." She thought of all the things she had told her uncle in private over the years, knowing that he never told on her. The time he had come in and helped her through some punishment, such as weapons cleaning and other things, of which neither of them spoke about. She now used the same courtesy with her younger cousins. If they told her a secret, she would keep it, unless she felt that it was something the parents really needed to know. In that case, she would give her cousins a certain amount of time to come clean before she told the parents herself. Because of her role in the clan, though, Ramiela was never in a position to help any of them with their punishments – unlike the way her Uncle Raphael did with her. It just wouldn't have been right.
Relieved, Devon gushed, "Thanks! That might save me from Gabby skinning me".
After a while, they were back at the house. When Devon parked the Jag in front, he unlocked the glove box and retrieved the shuriken. He looked at Rama, "Now I have to try and get this in without anyone catching me."
Her face brightening, Rama snatched it out of his fingers without warning, "Leave that to me," she stated as she made the throwing star disappear right before Devon's eyes. She then explained, "I got it out. I'll get it back in."
With a serious face, Devon reached out, placed one hand under her chin, and pulled her face up to meet his, admonishing, "And promise me you will never do that again!"
For a brief moment, Rama felt a little heat come to her face with Devon's touch. She forced it back, however, replying, "All right, I promise. Quite honestly, I didn't stop to think about any repercussions. At home, I'm used to carrying weapons with me. I usually have my sai, my katana, and any number of smaller weapons tucked away in my belt." Rama gave him a weak grin. "Yet, I know this isn't home so I shouldn't have done it to begin with."
"Ah, that's the ticket, Ramiela!" Devon agreed quickly, releasing her chin. He sat there for a moment and looked at her. He knew he couldn't really blame her, for she was ignorant about his clan's rules. Still, if Mike, Leo or Don had found out about what she had done, it might not have made that big of a difference to them, not since there hadn't been any human involvement. Sure, Rama didn't see any harm in carrying weapons, since it was her custom to do so. Yet, for them, it was forbidden, due to their precarious place in the human world. He gave another shake of his head before following her in. As he watched her head for the house, he thought that perhaps it might be wise to drop a hint to Leo about giving Ramiela a talk regarding some of the other rules that governed their clan. In that way, Ramiela would less likely make a similar transgression again. The problem with that, however, was just how to approach Leo without giving him reason to wonder why the sudden need for it. Yet as he considered it, Devon could probably tell Leo the whole truth about what had happened, since Ramiela had no knowledge of the rules at the time. He knew the clan would be more lenient than they were with Gabby, since his sister's transgression with singing in public involved an entire karaoke club, complete with cameras! Still, telling Leo seemed wrong to Devon. After all, Rama had vowed to keep silent about what he shared with her concerning Gabby's rape and subsequent plot to kill his friend.
As she walked into the house, Rama sighed to herself. She had really wanted to pull some jokes on April Fools Day. Yet, after Devon's talk, she wasn't sure if they celebrated April Fools in this world now. Consequently, it just didn't seem right to pull such stunts without the clan's sanction. Perhaps if the clan gave her their blessing, it would allow her to be a bit more creative with her pranks. Without it, she would have to scale back quite a bit and that just wouldn't seem right. Either way, Rama decided to at first consult Leo about it before shelving the idea entirely.
……………:
After the evening lesson with Leo was over, Rama approached him, skirting around the subject at hand until she knew for certain, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard you telling Mike that April was only a few days off."
Leo calmly raised one eye ridge at her. At the time he had mentioned that month to Mike, he hadn't been aware of Rama being nearby. He knew at the time that she had headed down into the dojo before Mike and he had even settled into talking about what was bothering his student. In fact, Leo was the one who recognized the problem with the amount of downtime Rama was going through. When he brought the subject up, Leo encouraged Mike to ask her to go out to Monterey with him, if only to break up the monotony for her. "What is it you want to know, Ramiela?" he asked her.
"Well," she began, "I was sort of wondering if you celebrated April Fools Day at all here in this world? You see, with my clan it's kind of a tradition for me to play a few practical jokes on family members."
Leo brightened up, smiling, "Ah, I think I see. You'd like to play a few jokes here as well, too, I assume."
"Yeah, that is of course, if you think that it's all right, Sensei." Rama replied. She decided earlier to keep quite about the rules she had to follow in her home. "Less means more, sometimes – more tricks for me!" she had reasoned happily. The rules were often frustrating for her, but she had to admit that the family was more willing to go along with her pranks because of them. In actuality, there weren't that many to worry about. They were fairly simple, too. There were three that she had to follow. The first rule was that she could only play tricks from early in the morning until twelve noon. The second rule was she could only get each adult once. The third rule was if she ended up getting someone twice, either on purpose or accidentally, or she played a trick after lunch, Rama would be that person's slave for the rest of the day. She very rarely ever broke the third rule, an accomplishment she was quite proud about! However, Rama had made up a fourth rule of her own, which was a rule of honor. It was important to her that she not play a trick on anyone who was instrumental in helping her pull off a prank on another member in her family.
As Leo considered her request, clueless to her rules, he considered the nature of his own family. He knew very well that Mike had taught all the children in the clan to play practical jokes. Gaele taking that now famous photo of Seth in Gabby's closet for one, not to mention Seth's rebuttal days later when he threw his sister into the pool, clothes and all! Leo was also aware of the tension that seemed to be building up in his student. It was obvious that she needed some sort of an outlet before things got out of hand. Perhaps by allowing her to play a few jokes on other members, it might be just what she needed. "Personally, Ramiela, I don't see a problem with it. However, be forewarned that those you trick will want pay back."
"Hey, it is April Fools, Sensei." Rama said casually, shrugging. "It comes with the territory."
"Yes, but they may wait until you don't expect it." Leo cautioned, remembering, again, Gaele's unexpected swim.
"That's okay, because I've had a few jokes played on me in my time, so I can take it." Rama answered honestly enough. She recalled with some amusement how her dad and Uncle Donatello had convinced her she was dreadfully ill with some strange disease. She was five and her Aunt Karena just had the twins. In her little girl way, Rama felt ignored and, so, had pretended to be sick just to get more attention. "They really paid me back big time with that one", she mused to herself.
Leo cautioned her, "I just want to make sure you're aware of that fact, so that there will be no hard feelings when it happens."
Rama nodded eagerly, "I completely understand and accept the consequences, Sensei."
He smiled and soon realized how the prospect of playing jokes seemed to cheer his student up even within the last few minutes. Perhaps that was all she really needed, to do something familiar to her such as playing a few simple harmless jokes on people. At least he had the advantage of knowing she was going to celebrate April Fools Day. Since he was her Sensei, Leo doubted very much that she would include him. Still, if she did, he would at least be on his guard and ready for her. Mike and anyone else Rama decided to pull a stunt on, however, would not be!
Still not believing her good fortune, Rama asked again, "It is okay with you though, right?" Rama was relieved that Leo had not asked her about any rules, not that he would have any reasons to where he was ignorant about them in the first place. With the rules in his world so different from hers, as made apparent from what Mike and Seth shared earlier, Rama saw nothing but endless horizons for her pranks!
Smiling, Leo answered, "Yes. I'm sure no one will mind" He then chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself, "If a few jokes can make Rama this happy, then I doubt anyone would mind. What's the worse that can happen?"
Rama grinned, fully aware that this Leo had no idea how her clan greatly dreaded April 1st. For good reason, they called it Rama Day. Each year, they were on guard from the moment they woke up until noontime as they anticipated the intricate jokes she would victimize them with. Quite honestly, simple pranks were beneath her. It was a well-known fact in the clan that Rama would plot stunts months in advance. For the one day they allowed her to, she would wreck complete havoc in the lair. Therefore, it was with much relief for everyone that, at the very least, it was for only half the day and, best of all, only once a year!
In this world, however, Leo and the rest of the clan were clueless. As Rama began to plan, she knew that, without a doubt, they would never know what hit them – until it was too late!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I'm going to let Ramica do the honors this time! She pretty much tells it the way it is! :0)
RAMICA'S COMMENTS:
Sailor Vegeta: The cheering squad is doing a great job. Rama has been in Gabby's world for I'd say around two to three weeks give or take a few days either way, about two weeks at Mikes and a few days in the New York of Gabby's world. As to your question in what is happening in her own dimension that might have to wait.
Danceingfae: Ninja peace is about the best Rahab is going to get in her family. If Rama gets to play April Fools jokes as it seems she will then that peace may very quickly be shattered.
Pretender Fanatic: Yep, Gabby's family don't know what they are in for. That bit with Cathy I assume was from Therefore I am when Rama was trying to drive her evil soon to be stepmother away. While in my story, Colossal Mistake was an April Fools day story that showed how far Rama will go to pull a prank on her family members. Her best joke ever! Though she might outdo herself in Gabby's world.