Chapter 29: Prisoner of the Rat King
A/N: Yeah, I know this is overdue, but I wanted to concentrate on a different story first. I was pleased to see Tony among the humans who were accosted by the rats. I don't know if he was in the cages because I couldn't tell, but for the sake of this story, I'm going to go off the belief that he was indeed captured by the rats and taken to The Rat King. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far. Your kind words have been great and really fuel me to keep going.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. I only own the plot.
Well, now we can check off that I've been captured by rats and taken as a prisoner of the guy known as The Rat King off of the list of Weird Things That Have Happened to Me. I seriously didn't think anything like that would happen when I went to work. I had left early as I always did and started on my route. Out of nowhere, this giant rat came at me and knocked me off of my bike. I tried to fight, but the rat grabbed me in its jaws and carried me away. I noticed that other humans were being taken as well and wondered what was going on.
The rat took me to the sewers and to a place filled with cages. There was a guy there who looked like someone out of a horror movie. He directed the rats to put us in the cages. I was stuck inside a cage with about ten other humans, including a little girl who was clutching her teddy bear and crying. I really wanted to comfort her, but the guy started speaking.
"Welcome to my home, loyal subjects," he said. "I am The Rat King and your new master. Soon, you will undergo an experiment that will change you and truly bind you to me." Then he started talking to that rat on his shoulder and found out that the experiment wasn't foolproof. Okay, that didn't sound good. I really wasn't sure what was going on, but then I spotted Irma and Casey in a cage at the end of the line. I wanted to call out to them, but something in me told me not to draw attention to myself.
"I wanna go home!" the little girl sobbed. "I'm scared!"
I knelt down to her level. "Don't be scared," I soothed. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of here." I was hoping the Turtles would come and rescue us soon, though I couldn't tell this girl that. "What's your name?"
"Abby," she answered.
"Nice to meet you, Abby," I said. "My name's Tony."
"I wish Mr. Turtle would come and rescue us," Abby said. "He promised he'd come back and see me."
It was then that I realized that Abby was the little girl Leo had had tea with. He'd told me about her, and I thought it was cute that he'd befriended her so quickly. I also hoped Leo and his brothers would come soon because there was no way I was going to be an experiment of The Rat King.
"You know Mr. Turtle?" I asked her.
"Yes, he came and had tea with me," Abby replied. "Do you know him, too?"
"Yeah, he saved me from some Purple Dragons once," I told her. "I'm sure he'll come though. He seems like the type to always keep his promises."
The Turtles did come, though we didn't see them right away. April freed us, and we made our way out of The Rat King's lair. I wanted to go back and help the Turtles, but I knew that my job was to get everyone else to safety. I held Abby's hand and led her up to the surface where she was reunited with her father, who had also been a prisoner in a separate cage.
"Thanks for saving me, Tony," Abby said politely. "I really like you. If you see Mr. Turtle, will you tell him I miss him?"
I nodded. "Of course I will, Abby," I replied. "And I'll make sure to give you a pizza the next time I start working. How's that?"
Abby's eyes lit up. "Oh, I would like that very much," she said happily. "Is that okay with you, Daddy?"
"Yes, that sounds fine to me," Abby's father said. "You're a smart boy, and I'm glad you took care of my little girl while she was in that cage."
"It was the least I could do," I said. "Well, I'd better get back to work. What's your last name?"
"It's Brannigan," Abby's father said.
'Okay, thanks," I said. "I'll be sure to remember that. See you soon." I gave Abby a hug and left to go find my bike. Once again, it was ruined, so I went back to the shop and told Vinnie what had happened.
"My God, Tony, that's awful!" he gasped. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered. "We made it out before anything could happen."
"There's some crazy shit goin' down in this city," Vinnie declared. "Makes me want to pack up and move to Florida."
"It's not that bad, Vinnie," I said. "Besides, if you left, there'd be no one to run the shop."
He sighed. "Yeah, I did promise Gino I'd keep it goin'," he said. "Have you heard from him at all?"
"No, I haven't," I said sadly.
"Such a shame," Vinnie replied. "Well, you'd better get on home, Tony, before something else happens."
As I left the shop, I saw Leo in the alley and went over there. "Did you guys get The Rat King?" I asked him.
"Yeah, Splinter defeated him," he answered. "Were you one of the humans captured by the rats?"
"Yep, and so was Abby, the little girl you had tea with," I told him. "She asked about you, and I told her I'd tell you that she missed you and wanted you to come back. Maybe one day I can give her a pizza and you can come with me to see her again."
Leo's eyes lit up. "I'd really like that," he said. "I've wanted to come back and visit her, but I wasn't sure if her home was fixed yet. I think it would mean a lot to her if I did come over."
"Then I guess we'll have to do it," I said. "Maybe we can do it after my shift is done one of these nights. She seems like a sweet little girl."
"She is," Leo answered. "I just liked hanging out with her and having fun. I don't really get to have any down time, so it was nice to just sit and pretend to have tea with her. I know my brothers will probably still tease me about it though. They haven't let me live it down."
"Well, if they say anything, I'll be sure to stick up for you," I told him.
"Thanks, Tony," Leo said, giving me a hug.
"No problem," I answered.
We headed back to the Lair where Donnie was lecturing Mikey about mutating April's cat. The cat looked weird, but from what Mikey told me later, she defended them against The Rat King, which was pretty neat to hear. It was decided that they would keep the cat, but Splinter maintained that it was Mikey's responsibility to care for her and make sure she didn't get into any trouble. Mikey promised he'd take care of her and put her in the freezer.
"So is everything okay, Sensei?" I asked him.
"Yes, I am fine now," Splinter replied. "I trust Leonardo filled you in on what happened?"
I nodded. "Yeah, he told me. I'm just glad we all got out of that scrape."
"As am I," Splinter told me. "Now, I suppose we must all get some rest. It has been a trying day for all of us."
I went to my room, happy that things had worked out for all of us. I was really happy to meet Abby and couldn't wait to make her dream of seeing Mr. Turtle again a reality. I was glad Leo had found a friend to confide in besides his brothers, and that she was just a sweet little girl. I wanted to be friends with her, too, and I knew that it would be a good thing for her to have a big brother figure to look up to. With that last thought in my head, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
A/N: Yep, I brought in Abby to this story since she was in the episode. Please note that though Abby is in this story, Tony will not appear in Abby's Keeper as that's a separate story and very different from this one. I definitely will be writing a chapter where Abby meets Mr. Turtle again along with Tony, too. I haven't seen "The Manhattan Project" yet, but once I do see it, expect a chapter based on that episode, too. I definitely can't wait to see what happens in that episode. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.
