He ran.
His breaths coming in controlled inhales and exhales as he matched it with his steps. Using a technique he had been taught by a special woman, he sang a military cadence under his breath. He wasn't going full out, but was trying to pace the vehicle below as it made it's way through the city. He had only a very limited about of time, and he was going to make the best of it.
Leo went airborne and rolled himself horizontally to pass through a space between rooftop and billboard, and touched his foot down, straightening his body as he ran on. Tonight, he would at least get a general direction he needed.
With Michi's help, Leo managed to get out from the ever seeing eye of Karai. And it was conveniently timed with the meal delivery now taking place far below on the street. No matter how much he flipped, dived and rolled, his blue eyes never left that damn delivery vehicle.
He was being pushed past his normal activity ratio as he ran on. But once more, he reached deep inside of himself for the strength to ignore his protesting body at the long race happening. One that pushed him even more when the vehicle finally managed to maneuver onto one of the main thoroughfares, and picked up more speed. His lip twisted into a determined snarl, and ran faster.
Vicky's army cadence sure did sound funny when it was accelerated. Maybe one day he would tell her about it.
Somehow, he managed what he was after with his herculean efforts. Side by side they traveled, only the height difference separated them. One cruising on the roads, the other on the rooftops. And the cadence wasn't working anymore. He was beginning to falter.
He closed his eyes, trying to find something to aid his determination. And once more, it was Vicky who gave it to him. And he smiled at the memory before playing the music in his mind.
Leo was a sentimental individual, and so was Vicky. It was just different things that moved and/or motivated them. Vicky, had a tendency to use music. And he marveled at the things she could create with her love of music. Case in point, the fond memory he was using now.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked curiously, watching Vicky, with headsets on, negotiate pictures onto some kind of program. He stepped forward, closer to her computer, and looked over her shoulder. He wasn't entirely sure if she heard him, because he could clearly hear the instrumental music pouring out of it. Until she paused it and carefully lined up a picture on the odd little bar on the screen.
"Making a video." She calmly replied, looking now for another image, presumably to place it down next.
"I see." He tilted his head a little, now actually paying attention and his eyes widened a bit as he understood exactly what she was making it about. "You..are making one about us?"
"Well, not about me and you." She flushed a little, but kept working. "Though I did make a few of those too. I made this one to honor all four of you."
Suddenly, he was very intrigued and honored at the same time. "May I see it?'
She blushed a bit more. "It's...not finished yet."
"I know, but I would really like to see."
She looked over her shoulder at him, gave him a smile and rewinded her creation, then took off the headset and handed it to him. Leo adjusted them to fit his head and nodded to her. Vicky then pushed play.
Even as the first images of Raph and Mikey crashing through the roof emerged, the first notes of the song already had him expecting a roller coaster of a ride.
He wasn't disappointed.
The beat picked up and Vicky seemed to match the beat in intensity with the, he could now see, video images. He watched, noting the occasional blank area that she hadn't filled in yet, and the story became clear to him almost immediately. Leo knew about the movies, all variations of them, but this was the first time he was able to see her take images from one of them and tell her own story. The title was simple, 'TMNT 2 soundtrack Turtle power' but the tale that was unfolding was surprisingly complex. The beginning showed them and their differences. And the tension those differences had, and sometimes still do, caused. And he watched as the music took on a more inspiring tone as they reconciled, came together and took on Kraang.
He felt something akin to awe as he removed the headset and handed it back to her. "You, did that? Why?"
She just shrugged. "I really like this song from the soundtrack and wanted to do something with it. And I thought of this. No matter how much you guys bicker and argue, you are always a team when one is needed. To me, this song reflects that. I just...Leo it's one of those things I can't explain. I had to do it."
"Then by all means." He smiled gently at her. "Let me leave you be so you can finish." He paused. "May I watch?"
"Of course." She gave him another smile, the turned back to her work.
Once she was done the video was posted on her youtube, which he noticed in amusement had quite a few subscribers, and the outcome was even better than he expected. Simply because he could now see the entire story.
She had been so proud of that video, even if the video quality itself wasn't the best. Leo suspected that it was because she might have gotten those shots she needed in, how should he say this, roundabout ways. Still, she watched and rewatched her own creation for hours. Her foot tapping along to the music. It was somewhere in that marathon when she admitted that song was her favorite in that particular movie, and Buck Buck was her favorite in the first one.
Unfortunately, Buck Buck wasn't quick enough in pace for what he needed. He needed moving inspiration, and he found it.
Still he ran on. Holding on tightly to the song in his head as he began to slowly lower himself with each passing jump and flip. Nw using highwires and flagpoles along with street lights to keep moving forward. He was in a full concentration, an odd mixture of the song and his area awareness merging perfectly to keep him moving forward. Just a bit more. If he could at least figure out in which direction the vehicle would move, finding Vicky would be a lot easier if he could rule out the other three main directions. It wasn't much, but it was at least a start.
They were now leaving the tribeca area, heading north. So, Vicky wasn't being held in the wealthy neighborhood Karai took up residence in. Leo frowned a bit, but pressed on. He rolled forward over the next gap, landed on another flagpole that flung him high and forward. He landed on a precarious ledge that held up a few awnings before leaping once more to a lamppost. Still he pressed on, being very careful to not be seen, but also making sure he could still see the van.
Finally, he had to stop. He skidded to a halt on a low rooftop and watched as the van entered the Lincoln tunnel, and out of his sight. He had a vague direction at least, since the tunnel connected later to the bridge that ran out of the city in a northwest direction.
He slowed his breathing down, finally letting the song fade from his mind as he raised his eyes from the tunnel to the bridge beyond. Out that way, somewhere, was Vicky. He was still determined to find her, but he had to break off the chase. For now. Instead, he turned north east, and to his next target for Karai.
.
.
The loud bang told me someone didn't like the door. The stomping told me that the door hater was coming my way. Didn't really care as I laid on my cot, hands under my head and looked at the ceiling. My brow did raise in curiosity though as I heard my cell door actually being opened.
Turned my head just as Karai stomped in, her eyes furious. "You filthy whore!"
"Oh yay." I muttered as I sat up. "Another insult I've heard a million times." I got to my feet just as she stopped right in front of me. Since she was practically looking up my nose at this point, it was pretty easy for me to see the anger on her face. "Someone dumped pissy juice in your tea?" I asked mildly as I crossed my arms. A habit I picked up from Leo. "Or are you always this rosy?"
Karai snarled at me, spat something out in Japanese which I unfortunately didn't understand, and punched me right in the damn nose.
Now, I've put up with a lot of shit this past month and a half. And I mean a lot. I behaved, because I was suspecting that my ability to keep on breathing depended on it.
That didn't mean I was going to be her damn punching bag with out a fight. After bringing my hand up to my nose, and found it bleeding, my eyes snapped to hers. Narrowing dangerously. "Don't ever do that again." I growled at her.
She ignored me, and tried to punch me again. Now, I know she is a more skilled martial artist than I am, but right now we were on even footing as tavern brawlers. That was a cheap shot, and I was good at those. Before that punch could connect, I tackled her and we both hit the floor. It was a damn free for all after that. She was too angry to focus on her skills, and I was having too much satisfaction trying to gauge her eyes out to use mine. What ended up happening was we rolled around the floor, kicking, punching, just all out going at it. I was currently trying to rip a chunk off her face with my nails while she tried to remove some of my hair with her fist when the fight ended in a tie, because the bouncers stepped in.
Rocksteady pulled me off of Karai while Bebop stood in front of me to block me from her. "Can't let ya beat up the Mistress." Rocksteady said as he held both of my arms now behind my back.
I just snarled at all of them.
I did happily notice the long, deep and bleeding scratch marks on her face though.
"You filthy creature!" She snapped. For a second I thought she was talking to the mutants, until she glared at me. "You have ruined him!"
Say what now? "The only thing I ruined was my appetite when I looked at you."
"Insolent wench!" She almost screeched. "You have ruined and corrupted him!"
I gave her a long, flat look. Obviously not quite understanding what she was getting at.
"Leonardo should be in my bed and not insulting me by mentioning you!"
My eyes widened as those words sunk in. Felt a lot of emotions just then. Anger at her for trying, angry at myself because I couldn't stop any of this, but, most of all, my heart melted with love and enormous amount of affection for Leo.
"He turned you down, didn't he?' I asked quietly, not flinching from her angry glare. "You tried to get him to have sex with you," I began to smile "and he dumped you on your ass, didn't he?'
"Wretched woman!" Her voice went up a couple of octaves.
I began to laugh. Just couldn't hold it in. Not even when she suddenly held a knife to my throat. "Oh, poor Karai." I finally got myself under control. "If you ever thought you could ever get him to do something he doesn't want to do, you are a damn fool. You don't even begin to understand him."
"He does my bidding now, does he not?" She sneered. Ahhhh. Now things were becoming a bit clearer to me now.
"Only because he wants to follow you, for his own reasons." I replied simply. "You used me as leveradge against him, didn't you?" I shook my head. "Kara, you are living a fairy tail. He will never be pressured into any kind of relationship with you."
"He will if I remove you!" I felt the knife press against my throat.
"And the moment you do, he won't have any reason to listen to you any more, and he'll leave you. Again. You andI both know that."
It hung there a long moment between us. Brown eyes sharing only the color and hatred brewing between us. She suddenly spun and stormed back out, snapping at her co-horts as she left. Soon enough I was alone once more, and I was trembling enormously as I leaned against the wall for support.