Radical Transformation
"So anyway, there was this man who went into a bar every day, and he always ordered the same thing: Three pints 'a beer. And after a week, the bar guy asked him 'why do you keep drinking three beers?' And the man –"
Matt was walking over to Leo, Raph and Mikey, with his 'girlfriend', telling her a joke. She obviously didn't mind because she was grinning, waiting for the joke to come to its point. But Matt stopped to say 'hi' to the three brothers, and to introduce his friend. Then he continued, slightly to the side of the group.
"Heather?" Mikey said, repeating the girl's name to his brothers as Matt continued talking. "He's doing alright then."
Leo smiled. "Good, he won't take you leaving too badly then if he has some else to talk to and joke with."
Mikey's shoulder dropped slightly as he listened to the joke. "No, I guess not . . . Well, I guess that's good . . . for him."
"Hey," Leo said, smiling and putting his arm around his brother's shoulders. "You'll still be the joker of our group when we go back, right?"
Mikey smiled. "Right!"
"And you'll be . . " Leo said, looking at Raph, who looked back with a raised eyebrow, waiting to hear what Leo was about to insult him with. "You'll still be the . . . the . . ."
"The hothead," Mikey finished, grinning, arm around Leo's shoulders too.
"I was trying to keep it nice, but I guess that's the nicest thing, Raph," Leo said, tilting his head with that smile for the cheeky effect.
//
Don had now moved to the drinks table, gulping down three cups whiles a few people stared, and Prida had seen Tyson on his own and started talking to him. A few seconds after Don had nearly drowned himself, he brought a drink over for Prida, and she drank it thirstily.
"Hey Tyson, where's your date?" Donny asked, wondering why Tyson was alone.
"After seeing the way your brother, Mikey danced, she had begged me to let her dance with him," Tyson grinned. He then looked through the crowd and pointed. "They're over there."
Prida and Don looked and saw the wild Mikey grooving away with Tyson's pretty girlfriend, who was having a blast. Mikey had a way with everyone; he could make ANYONE laugh, even in the worst of times.
Prida laughed as she watched Mikey. "C'mon," she said to Don. "Let's see what your other brothers are up to. Probably 've eaten all the food, including the table."
Don chuckled and they made their way over to where Leo and Raph were talking to Matt and a girl who had not yet been introduced to Donny, but Prida had known her after her little dance with Matt. She was pretty, with light brown hair, crimped and to her shoulders. She wore a white, sequined dress.
"Hey guys," Matt said, first to see Don and Prida walked over to them. "This is Heather, Don."
Don smiled politely and Matt carried on with whatever he was talking about. Tyson joined them a few seconds after.
"Hey Donny," Leo said. "Enjoy your dancing?" He grinned.
"Yeah, I did," Donny said, smiling, watching Leo's grin turn into a smile, and Raph seeming to be moving away from Prida, who was oblivious that he was looking at her like a bomb that would go off if you moved too fast or if you showed too much facial expression.
Donny leaned over to Prida's ear. "I think you've tortured three of us enough already, what about the forth?" He grinned as Prida's smile slowly grew. Her eyes darted to where Raph was, behind Matt, pretending to watch the other people dance.
"Okay, torture four coming up," she said, and moved around their little group to where Raph was standing, but before she got there, her hand was grabbed and she looked up at Mikey.
"Hey, c'mon, the party's missing ya!" He exclaimed, and before she could say anything, he pulled her into the mass of dancing people. She grinned, thinking how lucky Raph was then. But she'd get him next time. Grinning, she joined Mikey and Tyson girlfriend in a little wild dancing.
//
Phew, man that was too close, Raph thought, watching Mikey drag Prida through the crowd. His nervous heartbeats started to settle down. He caught Prida's eye through the crowd, and he didn't like that glint in her eye or that grin. Restroom, restroom, where's the restroom?! Maybe I'll stay in there 'til Mikey exhausts her. He stopped and snorted to himself. He, Raphael, was fretting about dancing. Well, he had reason to, he couldn't dance. Never had. Leo and Donny were fine, they knew they couldn't dance, and Raph and Mikey had known that they couldn't dance. But his brothers didn't now anything about his own dancing skills. They were terrible; at least he thought so.
"Hey, wanna dance?"
"No!" Raph yelled, and turned around. Ci Ci was there again, grinning at him – though the grin faltered a bit when he shouted at her. She rolled her eyes and moved away.
"Hey I though you were –" Leo said, coming up behind his brother with Donny. He looked out to where Prida was with Mikey. "Okaaaay."
"Lucky," Donny muttered, smiling.
"Dunno what ya on about," Raph said, pretending he hadn't a clue that Prida had almost forced him to dance with her, and was stopped by Mikey.
"Um mh," Leo said, with his all-knowing smile.
//
"Okay, seriously I feel like I could die of too much dancing!" Prida shouted at Mikey, who looked as though he could carry on for another few hours. Tyson's girlfriend looked how Prida felt. She was red in the face and fanning herself every so often while they were dancing. Then suddenly, someone grabbed her hand again, but this was not Mikey, nor was it any friend. It was the all-annoying Tooks come back to pester her again.
He pulled her away from Mikey and Tyson's girl, who both had their eyes shut from laughing at some stunt Mikey had just done.
Prida wrenched her hand from Tooks' grasp and gave him a really irritable glare.
"Look Tooks! I don't wanna dance with you, so just go away! Take a hint!" She felt really angry now. The first time when she had been in her dreamy stupor over his good looks was not going to happen this time, she was too fed-up with him.
But, being Tooks, he didn't take hints, and he didn't take 'nos'. He grabbed her again and swung her around, with a face set with determination that he was going to have this dance with her. The song that had just boomed on couldn't have been a better one, and Prida had to smile inside about it.
-You think you've got you way
But baby there's catch
Don't need your foul play
Now you have met your match
You think you've got control
But that won't last that long
You thought you wore the crown
Honey you were wrong-
She managed to twist from his strong grip and duck under his attempt to grab her back. She moved back quickly and stared at him with eyes that even he could tell hated him at this minute. He was rooted to his spot as they stared at each other a few meters apart. Then he set his face and walked over to her and gently took her hands. She allowed him to put his hand around her waist and start to move about, dancing. He kept his eyes locked onto hers, and she stared into his face with her own expression square jawed. Then, when she felt she had moved close enough to Mikey and Tyson's girl, she broke away from Tooks as he was twirling her out.
-You had me taken in
But now I found you out
And I won't go through that again
You've always had to win
You'll have to go without
You don't know where to stop-
He gripped her arm and held her there as she turned her head to glare at him, without words. He froze for a second, staring into her purple eyes and then pulled her in to himself again, twirling her and ending it with her bending her spine back and him bending over her, noses almost touching again.
-(No, no, no) Go, go, go, go, go I'll get over you
You drive me crazy up the wall, think you're Mr. Know-it-all
Go, go, go, go, go I'll get over you
You drive me crazy up the wall, goodbye Mr. Know-it-all
Okay, she was getting sick of this again. She felt she was vulnerable here, and he seemed to keep her in this position longer than she would have liked. She wriggled free and fell to the floor, angry with him for even daring to annoy her again. But a quick shadow passed over her and she looked up to see her savior, again standing between her and Tooks. She almost laughed because she seemed like the typical damsel in distress, and Raph was perfect for the hero model. Instead she smiled and stood up, watching the tense hero and the angry Villain, in fact, as he stood there, his back to her, she had the feeling Raph had been an actual hero against a much worse opponent. That was just silly, who could be worse than Tooks? She wiped the frown that had creased her smooth forehead and strained to hear the conversation between Raph and Tooks. Even though she could tell they were shouting, she couldn't hear them, but she could see Tooks' mouth moving. Then she looked to the right of Tooks and saw his snotty friends join him, glaring at Raph. Mikey had now seen and joined in, shouting at Tooks. It was weird to watch, but it wasn't as if Mikey was very angry, just trying to make Tooks reach a point. Tooks yawned wide and rudely, and, acting as if Mikey and Raph weren't there, waved a hand to his friends to move, and then disappeared, filing out of the space they had created in the mass of dancing people.
"Sorry dudette! I never saw you were gone!" Mikey shouted as he walked over to Prida.
She smiled. "No worries, I coulda handled him."
"What? From the floor?" Raph said, to her right. He joined them after checking to see if Tooks wasn't still hanging around like a fly that won't go away no matter how many times you hit it.
Prida's eyes wandered down to his hands, and a smile crept onto her face. She looked at his face at the same time she took his hands in hers. Mikey grinned.
"Oh no," Raph said, backing up, hands still locked in Prida's. "I am NOT dancing."
"Oh, but I've already danced with Leo, Don and Mikey –"
"Exactly why you don't need to dance with me – we're identical so we're the same –"
"Raph you're such a sore loser!" Mikey said, and ran back to Tyson's girlfriend who was joined by Tyson when Mikey was dealing with Tooks.
Prida looked back at Raph, grinning. He looked at her, almost fearful. It was quite funny.
"No – no, no, no, no!" Raph said, as she held his hands high and twirled under them, smiling sweetly. She froze for a split second listening to the mood of the song, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck, as he stood there with his bottom lip pulled down in an almost horrifying expression.
"Not getting away again," she teased, in an evil voice. She really wished someone would film this so she could look back and see just how good at embarrassing people she was. It seemed that Raph was an easier target for this sort of thing, probably because dancing was a weak spot. It made her want to laugh out loud, but she couldn't do that in Raph's face, that would be just TOO mean.
//
"Guys! Guys!" Mikey shouted, running through the dancing people to Leo and Donny, and Matt and Heather. "Look – look – look!" He pointed through the people with such a big grin on his face it was catchy, and the other four had a confused grin on their faces before they saw what Mikey was pointing at.
"Yeah, go Prida!" Donny cheered, grinning.
Through the crowds it seemed only Prida was moving or enjoying herself, while their brother stood, as red as his shirt, looking as though he wished the ground would swallow him up.
Leo was laughing now, and Matt and his date were grinning, while Matt was trying to explain to Heather why it was so funny.
"Leo, this is your chance to show him HOW to Dance!" Donny said, giving a sly, sidelong glance at his brother.
"Forget Leo! I'll show him!" Mikey said, and jogged away.
"Why couldn't we have brought April's camera?" Leo asked rhetorically, shaking his head.
"You know I'd be operating it, and you'd be caught on camera as well," Donny grinned, nudging Leo with his elbow.
//
"C'mon! It'll be JUST this dance! Then you can go back to eating potato chips and carrot sticks!" Prida begged.
"No – Prida – I don't – I can't dance," Raph tried to explain.
"What happened to the heroic guy I knew?" Prida said, letting go of his hands and opened them, palms upwards. "He could kick butt, he could fight back, but he can't dance?"
"Don't gimme alla that!" He said, shooting his index finger at her, trying not to smile at her determination to get him to dance.
Mikey bounded up to them both. "Hey Raph, want a pro to show ya how its done?" He grinned.
"I don't need anyone to show me how it's done! I just need t-" Raph said, starting to turn away with intentions of returning to the food table, reputation unscathed.
Prida felt very much like Tooks did when he didn't want to let her go without a dance between them. She grabbed Raph's hands again and turned him around, with a look on her face that begged him to dance with her.
"Please…?" She said.
The look on her face was very hard to turn away from, and Raph knew he'd say it before he could stop himself.
"Alright!" He shouted.
Her face split into a grin, and Raph kicked himself mentally. That Prida-look was very powerful.
Raph shook his head at himself, but a smile was creeping on his face as Prida took his hands again and started to swing them a little, to get Raph moving. With a long blink he started to copy Prida's way of dancing.
//
"Who's da best?" Mikey grinned, walking back to his brothers who were watching their other brother on the dance floor.
"Prida?" Donny suggested.
"No. Me!"
"You didn't get Raph dancing, Prida did," Leo pointed out.
"Yeah but my being there must have had some power over her to be able to conjure that much invisible force over Raph and get him to dance."
Leo and Donny slowly looked at Mikey with frowns. Mikey shrugged, turned and watched the dance.
Tyson joined them with a cup in his hand. "Hey, where's the fourth?" He asked, noticing one of them missing, and it wasn't the one who he thought would have been.
"Dancing." All three grinned, and Tyson's eyes wandered to where they were looking.
//
"Hey, you're getting' into it," Prida grinned as they both raised their linked hands and twirled under.
"I wish I was getting' out of it," Raph said, grinning.
"Oh, hey – I've heard this song from a movie," Prida said suddenly, referring to the new song that was now playing. It was a song with a tune that put a smile on your face, and put you in a happy mood.
-Do you remember that day? (That sunny day)
When you first came my way
I said no one could take your place
And if you get hurt (and if you get hurt)
By the little things I say
I can put that smile back on your face-
"From what movie?" Raph asked, twirling her around her own orbit.
"'An Extremely Goofy Movie'", she grinned. "It was a good movie!" She added seeing the weird look he was giving her. "Don't tell me you don't watch cartoons now and then?"
Raph said nothing, but continued to 'dance'. Actually, Prida was surprised he wasn't tripping over his own feet. And he was pretty good at the speedy dances.
//
"Hasn't Raph supposed to have tripped over by now?" Leo asked, sounding a tad disappointed.
Donny, who was stood next to him boogying to the music as well, looked at Leo with a grin.
"Actually, I think Raph dances pretty good for a beginner," he said. The music really seemed to be making him smile. He felt like nothing could upset his last night as a human.
Leo looked at his brother in purple and couldn't help but grin also. He started to bob his head to the music, and then started to clap his hands to the beat. In a few seconds he and Donny were both moving about, dancing by themselves, on their spot, grinning.
//
Raph was surprised he was actually dancing, and was not embarrassed by it. In fact . . . was he enjoying it? The music seemed to have given him his grin and content mood, but Prida's laughing made him grin most of all. He was happy he could get someone to laugh.
Prida, who had broken the link of her hands with his, was just doing random movements, swinging her arms, and shuffling her feet this way and that. She felt she had gained a gold medal when she heard Raph laugh because of her crazy dancing.
-And it's alright
And it's coming on
We gotta get it right back to where we started from-
"You can be as crazy as Mikey if you're given the chance, " Raph lightly insulted.
Though she didn't take it as an insult. "Thanks!" She said, grabbed his hand and started twirling. Her dress flared out. Then she said out of the blue, "You guys said you've never been to a Disco or anything, but you dance like you've been to tons!"
"I'll take it as a compliment," Raph grinned. "We're just real quick learners. I would say you picked up a few dance moves from Mikey though," Raph laughed as he watched Prida's dancing.
"Yeah, I can learn fast if I wanna –"
"Hey, is that . . . Leo?" Raph said, staring over Prida's shoulder. She turned around to see one of the other three brothers walking, more like being pulled, away from the table by Roxanne.
Prida grinned. "Yep, that's Leo with Roxanne." She saw out the corner of her eye that Mikey and Donny were smirking at the poor guy. But then Donny's grin was wiped when someone came up to him and after a few seconds discussion was taken by the hand and coaxed away from the food table as well. It was Amba Jasins. They both laughed.
//
Mikey was clapping away to the music, watching all three brothers. He saw someone coming towards him from his right side and he looked into the smiling face of TJ.
"Hey TJ, where ya been?" Mikey asked, suddenly thinking that TJ had disappeared for a while.
"I, er, well – I asked someone to dance," the shy guy said. "And she's . . . cool."
"Well done TJ!" Matt said, turning around from his conversation into theirs. Their shy friend grinned and looked at his feet, going red. He had obviously been with her all this time. That was another good thing Mikey realized; TJ would be so less confident of himself when they left – man, he was making it sound like him and his brothers were role models or something.
"Mikey?" Someone said.
Mike turned around to find Bonnie standing beside him. He smiled and nodded. She was obviously unsure which one he was.
"That's me," he said friendlily.
"Feeling left out?" She asked, kindly, but there was a little mischievous something in her eyes. "Wanna, erm, dance?"
Mikey grinned sweetly. "Sure."
Matt and TJ watched him walk off with Bonnie, and they turned back to their little circle.
"Whoa, all four of them up there now," Matt said. TJ chuckled.
"I still don't know which one's which," Heather said, squinting at the four separate brothers.
Matt smiled, and, again, went though his friends' names and their color. Heather would get it eventually.
A few minutes later when Prida thought her torture should come to an end, she allowed Raph to dash off for the drinks table, with his face still red, avoiding his brothers' grins as he passed them. She went back to the food table where she found Matt, Heather and TJ in a little group.
"Hey TJ!" She said when she reached them. She hadn't seen him for a while. "Where did you go to?"
"Got himself a date," Matt said, grinning. TJ looked down at his feet again, smiling. But Matt then went on to teasing Prida about her 'date' and her dance.
A minute later Prida was frit to death by Leo, who had come back to the food table and had walked up behind her. She put a hand on her chest and gave him the wide-eyes look.
"Oops, sorry," he grinned. The hair that had been tucked under his bandanna had come loose, and it now hid most of his bandanna. It sort of gave him a rogue look. He pushed up his bandanna and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. "Man, it's hot in here." He spotted a pair of fire exit doors there were into the shadowed walls of the Hall. He walked over to them and gripped the handle.
Roxanne who had just come back from the drinks table, said, "You can't open those doors, they're jammed pretty good –"
With a moan of metal on wood, Leo pushed the handle down and the doors opened. A cool draught immediately wafted through.
Roxanne stared. "Well, at least, none of the teachers or anyone could open them . . ."
Leo turned around, dusting his hands. He stopped when he saw everyone's raised eyebrows. He shrugged and gave a nervous chuckle.
"I guess it was loosened from all the attempts to open it," he said.
"Who's showing himself out now?" Raph said lowly behind Leo, with a drink in his hand.
"How was I supposed to know that one was jammed?" Leo snapped. He turned away from Raph and stared out the doors. They lead to a small, enclosed garden with a small pond.
Everyone seemed to move closer to the door for the cool breeze. Donny and Amba joined them, then a few seconds after, red in the face, came Mikey and Bonnie, both grinning.
"Cool air – cool air!" Mikey gasped, and rushed outside. But as soon as he had jumped outside a familiar song struck up, and Donny grinned.
"Hey Mikey!" He shouted, and raised his index finger, signaling Mikey to listen. It was Tranquiller.
Mikey rushed back in, saying, "Cool song – cool song!"
Everyone else started to grin and chuckle as the two goofs started their own dance version on the song.
"Yeah! Sock it to me baby!" Mikey said as he and Don danced time. Then came the bit they both loved.
"Ninjitsu!" They shouted, on the 'Tranquiller' bit.
"Ninjitsu?!" Matt laughed. Prida remembered that name. Leo shook his head.
But as soon as the Tranquiller song had started, it was finished quickly, and the song that followed it sounded just as familiar as the previous one. It was only the starting music, but the guys could never mistake this for another song.
"YEAH! C'mon guys!" Mikey yelled, grabbing Donny and Raph as he rushed to the dance floor. "Leo!"
Leo laughed, forgetting about everything except remembering how they danced to this song and how it had started. He hadn't thought about that night for a while.
-Yo! It's the green machine
Gunna rock the town without being seen
Have you ever seen a turtle get down?
Slammin' and jammin' to the new swing sound
Yeah, everybody let's move
Vinilla is here with the new jack groove
Gunna rock, and roll the place
With the power of the Ninja Turtle bass-
It was almost exactly like that time at the other disco, Leo realized. They were in the same positions as they were before, with Leo and Donny to the side, Mikey to the front and Raph to the back. Man, did he miss this dance! It felt so good to be doing this again. Leo looked and saw the dancing people had created a circled perimeter around them, watching and dancing at the same time. Leo could feel his heart grinning as well. He saw his friends grinning and cheering. Matt and Heather were trying to copy the dance; TJ was dancing on his spot with Tyson and his girlfriend. Bonnie and Amba were laughing . . .
And Prida was stood, staring as if she had seen a ghost, with her mouth open, and her eyes on the four brothers. For a long second she closed her eyes, and a high-speed flashback played in her mind. She had gone back to that night when Vinilla Ice actually had played this song, and when all those people in black pajamas had flooded in, and then those two weird looking beast things had been beaten by . . . those four turtles . . . all four had been wearing bandannas around their heads . . . blue, purple, red and orange . . . She didn't remember that until now, and she didn't remember a lot of things about that night, but she had remembered the newspaper and the news report about it on TV; the news report done by . . . April O'Neil – and what were the names she had read aloud from a letter by a scientist dude? Oh my God . . . Mikey's voice echoed in her head: 'Turtle Power!'. Turtle – Turtle! Man, all the times he had said 'Turtle' was uncountable, and yet she hadn't thought anything about it. What she was thinking right now was crazy – impossible. But all clues fit . . . Prida's flashback ended, and she started to back up out the fire exit door. She needed some fresh air, but she couldn't take her eyes off her four dancing friends.
-Ninja, Ninja Rap! Ninja, Ninja Rap! Ninja, Ninja Rap!
Go, go, go, go!
Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go! Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!
Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go! Go Ninja Go Ninja Go!
Go, go, go, go! -
"Man! Did they make that up?!" Matt asked Tyson and TJ. They both shrugged and continued to jig.
-Lyrics fill in the gaps
Drop that bass and get the Ninja Rap!
Feel it, ya know what I mean
Give it up, for those heroes in green
Just flowin', smooth with the power
Kickin' it up hour after hour
'Cause in this life there's only one winner
Ya better aim straight so you can hit the center-
"And where did the lyrics come from?!" Tyson laughed.
"Who cares, it's a great song!" TJ shouted.
Mikey felt like his brothers' dance leader at the minute. After all, he could dance better than his brothers. He was aware of the massive grin on his face and that everyone was watching them, just like before. This had to be the best night ever! And he was glad that, since it was his last one with his friends, it was spent like this. Hehe, at least when I go they'll know who's the King of Dance! He looked at the clock on the wall and his grin slowly turned to a smile. They had only a half hour left of the night, and already their song had nearly finished. Actually, by the time Mikey had finished his thoughts, Ninja Rap had just finished, and another song came on, a much slower song. Mikey grinned as his brothers just did their own dance now. He slapped Donny a high five, and they both danced their way over to their group of friends. Leo and Raph behind.
"Hey! Excellent dancing m' man!" Matt said, holding his hand up for a high five as well. Mikey slapped it, grinning.
"That was cool!" TJ exclaimed, trying out the first couple of steps that he had memorized from the dance. He stumbled on his own feet though, and grinned sheepishly.
"Man's it way to hot in here," Donny exhaled. "I'm gunna go grab a drink, want one?" He asked Leo, Raph and Mike. Leo nodded and the other two shook their heads. "Okay." Donny trotted off to the table.
Raph looked around, and then spotted someone outside. "I gotta get some fresh air," he muttered, and walked over to the double doors. As he moved away, Leo and Mikey were patted on the back by people they didn't even know, who loved their dance. They grinned back.
Raph walked out of the Hall and into the cool air. A small breeze lifted his bandanna tails and they flapped softly against his shoulder. He saw Prida by the small pond, leaning on a tree. This looked like some kind of nature reserve instead of a school garden.
It must have been Prida's posture that gave Raph the thought that she looked . . confused? Well, she certainly didn't look merry anymore anyway, even if he couldn't see her face.
"Hey," he said, and she turned around. "Whatcha doing out here? Aren't you meant to be the dance queen?" He grinned, but her weak attempt at a grin made his fall. "What's up?"
Prida looked back down at the water. "Nothing, Raphael." She said softly.
He walked towards her, watching the water with his hands in his pockets.
"Well ya don't seem too – huh? What did you call me?" He took his eyes from the water and looked at her.
"That's your full name, isn't it?" she asked, her voice strangely quiet.
Second's silence, then, "Yeah . . . it is." He hoped she had just guessed that Raph would be short for Raphael. Of course she would, it's not like she heard any of his brothers calling him it, and she wouldn't have gotten it from anywhere else . . . Ut oh. It was his turn for a flashback. He remembered when he had seen that newspaper cut out of him and his brothers in their original form, and he remembered how she had told him she was there with her sister. And then they had just done that dance, with that song . . . And then their names had been on the news – and April had said it! Whoa, that would be hard to explain.
Prida stood up straight and looked him in the eye. "You . . . don't live in LA . . . do you?" Her head was tilted slightly with her eyebrows furrowed, trying to read any answers from his expression.
He narrowed his eyes, frowning. "Of course we do," he said quietly. But she seemed to know that meant her guess was correct.
She turned back to the pond, frowning, thinking. "The song, the weapon, the names . . . it all fits." She muttered to herself.
Raph couldn't make it out, but he didn't like the way she was muttering.
Mikey suddenly bounded up behind Raph. "Hey, sup dude and dudette?" He asked happily. But his smile faded when he saw the expressions on Raph and Prida. "What's wrong?"
"Michelangelo," Prida muttered his name, clear enough for them to hear.
"Hey, how did you -?" Mikey asked, frowning.
"What you lot doing out here when there's only about twenty minutes left of the night?" Leo and Donny came out, smiling. Donny was still holding a polystyrene cup.
"You've been refreshed, now get in there and dance," Donny said, downing the rest of his drink.
"Leonardo and Donatello," Prida muttered again.
"Huh?" They both frowned.
"I knew it," she continued to talk to herself. "It all fits; Mikey's obsession with turtles; your Ninjitsu skills; those weapons; your colored bandannas; the four of you . . . plus everything else . . ."
Leo, Don, Raph and Mikey looked at each other, frowning but their eyes wide. Don had dropped the cup without realizing.
"Er, Prida . . . ?" Leo said, gingerly.
She looked at them. "You're not meant . . . to be human are you? You guys . . . are . . . were . . . turtles . . . weren't you? You're the guys who were at that disco – I saw you, I saw that dance, I saw the way you fought those guys in the black pajamas . . . the same way you fought those punks in the alley that time . . ." She was studying them now, and they were looking at her with some kind of surprised awe. "You . . . are the turtle guys . . . aren't you?"
" . . . Wh . . ." Leo tried to say. Then he slumped his shoulders and said, " You're right; we are . . . But we never expected anyone to figure it out . . ." He looked for Prida's reaction.
Prida hadn't expected him to admit so quickly, and by the looks that his brothers gave him, neither had they. She only stood there, taking in the information.
"So . . . why . . . how . . . ?" Prida breathed. This was totally weird. Her friend, who she had known for weeks, had now just told her one of their biggest kept secrets – and what was odd, was that she knew it was true, even if it did sound impossible.
"How are we human?" Leo helped her out. She nodded soundlessly, her eyes locked on Leo. He sighed and bit his lip, finding himself in a situation he had been dreading. "Well, we're not completely sure how we came to be like this . . ."
"You . . . were actually . . . turtles . . ." Prida whispered, trying to swallow the fact.
"Mutant turtles," Mikey said quietly, stood next to Donny.
"Wh – when did you change . . . ?" She asked, her eyes slightly wider than normal.
"Three days before we came to Vinilla High," Donny answered.
Prida looked at him, and then her eyes flicked back to Leo. "Were you meant to turn . . . human?"
"No, it was an accident," Leo said, with a glance at Mikey. The music from the Hall had softened, but it had been forced to the back of everyone's minds as background music; Prida didn't even hear it.
"An accident . . . ?" She whispered. "How?"
Leo thought about an answer, chewing his bottom lip again. "We think there was some accidental magic behind it . . . and with the right selection of words, poof, we're like this."
Prida gave a small chuckle. "You must have been crazy to have wanted to come to school," she said quietly.
Leo smiled. "We didn't choose to come here, we would have stayed away from all people and laid low until we could have sorted out what happened . . . but, there was an accident. We were hit by a truck and knocked unconscious. We woke up in hospital, where nobody knew who we were or where we came from – so we made up a lie: That we were in New York visiting our Aunt April – ya see, we knew April before we became like this. So, Some cop got involved with our case and forced us to 'carry out our education' here, since we had told him we'd be staying for a few months – we hadn't intended on staying this long at first, but we knew if we didn't attend, that cop would be on our case, and the less we see of them the better . . ."
Prida remembered that time when the two cops had come to school, looking for four identical kids. The guys had seemed very shifty, and wary of them. She thought of something.
"But, you're leaving school today. You told me you were going back to LA," she said.
"No, we're not," Donny said.
"Why are you leaving then? You just said that if you didn't come here then that cop'll be on your backs."
"It's kinda difficult to explain," Leo said, rubbing the back of his head and then running his hand through his hair. "We think we were changed to humans by magic that belonged to some man, but it was all an accident. This man has been looking for us, wanting to change us back . . . and . . . certain sources told us that it would be very soon, later tonight, we think . . ."
There was a silence, that lasted a few seconds but felt longer, in which Prida stared at the floor, deep in thought, and the guys had all lowered their heads, watching her. Finally Mikey spoke up.
"You still see us as your friends . . . right?" He asked softly. "Not as freaks . . . but as kids, like you . . ."
Prida looked into his face, and she could tell he feared that now their secret was out to her, she would regard them as weirdos, and see them differently. She wondered what their life must have been like before they were like this. She bet it wasn't all disco dancing like back at that past disco. They probably didn't have any friends apart from April O'Neil.
She smiled kindly. "Of course not, Mikey . . . I still love you guys, and I understand why you never told me."
They all seemed to sigh in great relief, and smiled.
"But . . ." she said, her smile fading. "Will I . . . never be able to see you guys again, once you're changed back?"
They all bit their lips, and Leo stepped forward, half expecting her to step back, but she didn't.
"We don't know how our situation will end," he said. "And, if it goes well, since you know about us, we would let you visit us, like April does . . . The only problem we thought of was . . . well, Tooks seems to keep a good eye on you, and if he ever saw you heading down towards us . . . " He left that bit unsaid, though everyone knew what it was going to be.
Prida felt a sudden surge of anger when Tooks' name was said. "Yeah, I guess that's a problem." She bowed her head.
"Unless the almighty Prida can be quick enough to lose any unwanted pests," Mikey said with a smile.
She smiled as well. "You bet I can."
"I guess my promise won't be broken after all," Donny said to her.
"Hey you guys out there!" Someone called behind them. Matt was at the doors. "You having a picnic? Get back in here!"
Leo and the other chuckled as Matt's face disappeared from the fire exit. They started to go back in, their hearts beats less frantic than a minute ago.
But Prida stopped Raph and Mikey. "When will I see you guys again?"
They both looked at each other, then Mikey said, "Drop by at April's, she'd bring you to us any time."
Prida grinned thankfully, and the three headed on in. Since the disco had almost finished, slow songs were being played to end the night, and quite a few people had moved out to the side.
Amba walked up to Prida, wringing her hands. "Now that Friday's disappearing quickly, I'm getting nervous about the exams next week," she said.
"Oh man, totally forgot about those," Prida replied, her mind on her turtle friends.
"They can't expect us to revise straight away, this disco wipes half of the school out," Amba laughed, as Mikey joined their conversation.
"Yeah, and I have to baby-sit for my sister's friend so I'm gunna be too wiped to even look out for them," Prida said, wincing when she mentioned baby-sitting. She turned to Mikey. "Actually, it's only two blocks from your aunt's house. So if you hear screaming, it's just me losing it." Mikey laughed.
From when Leo had walked outside and said there was only twenty minutes left, the time had sure sped up, and it seemed only five minutes he said it that the whole Hall was clapping as the last song ended and people were streaming out of the school and into waiting cars.
"See you guys!" TJ called with a wave, as a car pulled up beside him on the road and climbed in.
Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey, Prida, Roxanne, Tyson and his girlfriend, Matt, Heather, Amba and Bonnie, in their group, waved after his car as it pulled away, disappearing around the dark corner. It was pitch black outside, and the only lights were from the street lamps and the dying disco lights; and from car headlights as the pulled up, picked up and drove away.
"Hey Bonnie, that's my mom," Amba said, and the two started to walk backwards to a car, waving to the others. "Bye! See ya next week!" They climbed into the car and were gone a few seconds later.
Soon Tyson and his girlfriend were picked up by an adult friend of Tyson's, with 'see yas' and 'later!' They went the same time Heather was picked up.
The guys watched as their friends disappeared. Friends that they would never speak to again. It was sad to see them leave, not knowing their friends wouldn't be in school next week.
"Well, there's my ride," Matt said as a small van rounded the dark corner. "See you guys later!"
"Matt – " Mikey said suddenly and paused for a second. "Good luck with the exams next week . . ."
Matt looked at him for a split second, as though trying to recognize that strange tone in Mike's voice.
"Thanks," he said, walking away. "But like Leo said, I couldn't possibly get less than an 'A' grade thanks to Donny." He turned around, grinning and left in the van.
Roxanne left next, thanking Leo for the dance. They all watched her get into a car, and wave from the window as it pulled out.
Now Leo turned to Prida. "You'll tell everyone that we went back to LA won't you? When they ask where we are? I guess they might not forgive us for not telling them ourselves . . ."
Prida smiled. "I'll tell them that it was an unexpected trip back, too soon."
Another of the many cars pulled up and Prida's sister could be seen at the wheel. She waved to the guys, who waved back.
Prida looked at the car, and then back at her friends, who she realized were only waiting with her.
"See you soon," she whispered, and bit her bottom lip. She turned away and walked to the car, she got in with a last glance at her friends and the car pulled away, with Mai giving a final friendly wave.
Their heads followed the car, and when it disappeared, they looked back to the empty street before them.
"I guess we start walking," Donny said, waking everyone from their thoughts. They nodded, and the little group of four headed home.
"Let's just hope . . . everything goes smoothly with this guy," Leo said. They all agreed with a small nod of their head. But walking home from the disco, they encountered no other people, no thugs, and no familiar guys in black pajamas . . .
Okay, so I lied when I said this chapter would be shorter, but I did tell the truth about it being the last chapter of that wretched dance, *rolls eyes* Man, I didn't like that, but 'someone' did, and they forced me to write it, I swear! Lol. Okay, so the next chapters will have action, and since it's past the dance, the end of the story looks a lot closer. I reposted chapter 35 for the song credits if anyone was wondering who the hell sung them.
Songs: 'Get Over You' by Sophie Ellis Bextor; 'Right Back Where we Started From' by Cleopatra (An Extremely Goofy Movie); 'Ninja Raph' by Vanilla Ice (who doesn't know that?!)