First off, I don't own the TMNT characters. Second, hello. This is my first time, just decided to pop this up just for fun. A long story, as well as a work in progress. It will seem pretty confusing at first, but hopefully it'll get better as the story goes along. Mostly in first person with Raphael's thoughts. Summary: It's the confrontations between Raphael and the evil turtle Ash, a.k.a. The Pentagram Killer. Ultimately, by a long chain of events Ash becomes something even more powerful and deadly, and only Raphael can stop him. Hope the story isn't too bad for ya. Hope you enjoy.
THE FIRST POWER
It had all started a week ago, a week that for lack of a better word had been hell on earth. My last chance was with Venus, but of course my turtle luck was working true to form.
Venus: "What are you trying to tell me, that Ash has become this...this...?"
Raphael: "Force. Ash has somehow transformed himself into a kind of force, something we've never dealt with before."
Venus: "Raphael, you are not making any sense. Obviously you've been through a lot. You need to lie down. You're seeing things."
Raphael: "What! How can you of all people say that? How can you believe without doubt all this bullshit dealing with your magic and mirrors and dragons and stuff, but you can't believe in this?"
Venus: "What would you have me believe, huh? I saw Ash die, by your hand none the less. Then there's the videotape that you supposedly..."
Raphael: "Supposedly!! What the f..."
Venus: (Yelling) "Supposedly saw not only Ash, but a message directed solely to you written in blood!! And yet no one else but you can see it."
Raphael: "Venus, I know how it sounds like but listen. Ash wasn't just some crazy fuck killing people, he was a devil worshipper, okay. When he died, he somehow achieved something called the first power...something..."
Venus: "Enough, just enough. Just stop it!"
Raphael: "You gotta believe me, you just gotta. Just answer why you wouldn't believe this supernatural stuff? Why can't you for all your talks of magic and auras and stuff see this?"
Venus: "I don't feel anything. I can't feel anything or see anything evil or supernatural going on. Do not get me wrong, I do believe in the supernatural. But I have also learned that I can not just blindly believe in anything without at least a gut feeling or a glimmer of proof. And there is none of that. I truly am sorry Raphael, but I agree on your brothers on this one. I believe that you have gone through much grief and pain and it has affected you. Maybe with my help you could..."
Raphael: "If you don't believe me, then there's no way in hell that you can help me?"
Raphael stormed out, slamming the door to Venus's room. Venus winced and gave a despaired sigh as she heard the walloping slam, echoing throughout the lair. As Venus stared at the door, contemplating whether to chase after Raphael but thus choosing it best not to, she gave a quick prayer on Raph's behalf, hoping that he would be okay. Raphael strolled out of the lair for about fifty feet until he came upon a clean and seemingly comfortable area on the floor. As he knelt, giving his knees a much needed pop of the joints, he crossed his arms around his knees and bent his head over his arms. He gave a defeated sigh and thought long and hard about his situation:
"God, what do I do now? Nobody will believe me, not even my best friend Mikey, nor my master Splinter. Not even Venus. She had been my last hope, someone who I had thought would believe me. Before all this, when we first knew her, I think she would have believed me in an instant. That's what was great about her, in her innocence and her own special sort of ignorance about reality. That you can't always believe, for there is always someone there to either betray you or lead you astray. Just my luck that she had to grow up. Go figure.
Luck, that's a funny word these days. I mean think about it. As if being a ninja turtle stuck in the sewers with only one girl to possibly call your own (and thus falling in love with just to have it be broken as she chooses my own brother Leo, a choice that at the same time I totally understand but utterly hate) and a whole world ready to hate, despise, kill, or experiment on you wasn't enough, now I have this to deal with. To deal with a crazy serial killer/turtle who tried to kill all of us before.
Ash. A name I've loathed for what seems like the longest time. Here's the story from the beginning, as least the somewhat short version of it. And I do mean somewhat. Ash was a turtle who had come upon us one day while venturing in the sewers. Of course the others were ecstatic to see another of our kind. I should have been too, but I'm a hard type of guy, er, turtle to trust anyone so easily. I couldn't help but wonder where this turtle had come from and how he came to be. His story was simply this. He had gotten jumbled with the oozed the same as the rest of us. But how, he said he couldn't remember. Told us he was discovered by a human and had been raised on his behalf.
As his boo-hoo story went on, he finished his story by saying that the human had passed away due to a heart attack, and before he died he told the turtle to go underground so not to be detected. Thus, he came upon us. The others believed it pretty easily, except me of course. The others had decided to put him up at our lair. And as the days became weeks, and the weeks became months, Ash grew on everybody. Enough so that he was allowed to go on missions with us. I argued over it of course, but dirty looks were the only response I got. No one liked the way I treated Ash. Mikey and Venus thought I was being totally unfair, while Leo thought I was being my pigheaded and stubborn self. We even got into physical fights over it (of course, a fight between me and Leo is about as shocking as a congressman at a whorehouse).
I think the reason I never trusted Ash was because of my instinct. It's been said that out of all of us, I was the one more in touch with it. And my survival instinct was telling me that he was bad news. As all of this was going on, three things that occurred often helped confer this for me: Sometimes on missions, it seemed that something wrong would happen. A noise was made, a door was stuck, our vehicle wouldn't start, etc.
On television, there was a rapid report of missing persons or mutilated bodies being found. There was a new figure called the Pentagram Killer who left his pentagram markings on the victims' bodies. Never any fingerprints or anything on the crime. Ash always behaved strangely for my tastes. He left or was mysteriously gone during the days and/or nights. And sometimes as I looked at him, he stared at me as if he thought I knew something was up. Funny thing, if he did think that then he seemed in a weird way kind of...proud of me. He'd show a smirk or give me a nod. Of course as I look back, I realize that was just the start of his mind games. But I'll get to that later.
One night we were tailing the Foot. Seemed that the Foot and Dragonlord and his goons were getting ready to come together. Become a force of one. That night we were gonna try to end it. But to our surprise, Ash turned on us. And we soon knew the real truth about the turtle (who had ironically been given a black bandanna). Seemed Dragonlord and Dr. Quease, with the help of some scientists with the Shredder, had created a turtle. One that, unlike before were mindless and simple clones, that thought on his own. It seemed that the plan was infiltrate a turtle into our lair. Why? Well, not only did the son of a bitch ruin some of our missions, but now he knew the location of our lair as I'm sure Dragonlord and Shredder now knew. As we fought long and hard, barely escaping with our lives, our father Splinter was being taken from our home. This was the second time this has happened. And we all promised that we would get him back, and it would not happen a third time.
In other words, this was going to end. Thus the City at War began. Day after day of fighting and barely escaping. Injuries throughout. But it climaxed at Dragonlord's hideout. Here's what happened in a nutshell:
Leo took out the Shredder once and for all and rescued Splinter. Don took care of Dr. Quease, as well as the bomb ready to kill us all. Mikey and Venus was able to get Dragonlord back into the glass and destroyed it. Now the dragon was trapped. Forever. As for me, besides taking care of what seemed like dozens upon dozens of troops, I covered everybody's back. Taking care of the riff raff as the others had their 'private battles' as I called them.
Speaking of 'private battles', I found one in Ash. He was better that I thought, much better. In fact in our first battle with him, he was able to hold his own against all of us. Now I had the pleasure of taking him on myself. I thought I had. The fight was a monster. Every time he seemed to beat me almost to an inch of my life, I came back for more and gave him his just deserts. It was then that I noticed his true behavior coming out. He was enjoying and relishing this. Still I thought I had killed him by sending him over a platform to the ground below.
Admittedly, it was from mere luck since the ground beneathe him wasn't as sturdy. As he stepped, a piece of the platform gave out. Not all the way, but just enough for him to be stuck. More than long enough for me to make my move. Shortly after, we all escaped as the building blew up. We all thought that was the end of it. But for me it was only the beginning. And one more thing about Ash back then. A weird thing that I had just noticed not too long ago. He never took off his bandanna when he first got it, not even for an instant. I always thought it was weird. But as I pushed him over the platform, his bandanna had fallen off. And I had seen something on the left side of his head. What, I didn't figure it out at that moment. Later on I figured at what that was.
It was the shape of a pentagram.
After the Shredder and Dragonlord were defeated, it was all peace and quiet from then on. At least for everybody but me. I guess I always got bored so easily. Mikey had his writing, Don had his gadgets, Leo and Venus got each other, and as for me. Well, all I've ever know was fighting. Either I worked out or looked for trouble.
Then one night I was watching television as another report on The Pentagram killer came on. It was a young girl, 18 years old. Pentagram on her stomach. I've been hearing about this killer for sometime, and each time it gave me a cold, gut feeling. The same feeling I had with Ash. Of course at that time, I hadn't put two and two together. So, to keep me busy I decided to start a little investigating of my own. I talked with our friend April, a top reported at Channel 6 and asked if I could get all the information that I could get my hands on. She agreed and asked me 'why', and my reply was simply 'why not?' She smiled and gave me the information. From that day on I was glued to it.
Of course, I myself can say that I'm not the ideal turtle for the job. Not really known for my brain work. Usually I just fight in order to get my answers. But like I've said before, I do have strong instincts. Eighteen killings. I detailed the killings on a map. It seemed random enough. No particular places or similar victims. He/she murdered men, women, old, young, even so far as children. The only similar thing was the pentagram mark that he/she left behind. As the days got on, I repeatedly doubted myself. If the police couldn't find the guy, then how could I.
As I studied the map, my instincts started kicking in. I might not know much about a killer, there is one thing I DO know. There's a reason for everything. I picked up a pencil and started doodling on the map. I started thinking, what if the killings had a higher purpose. Why these locations, being so far about and yet so near at the same time. I started doodling a star, lines connecting from one killing to the next. It didn't work, for it didn't match. Damn. Of course, the cops would have thought of that.
One night my instinct kicked into overdrive. It's like those moments where you can't remember the right word to use in a conversation, only for it to pop into your head days later. It was the same thing here. I remembered something that was on Ash, before he fell. Splinter had said at one time that meditation can clear your head. I wasn't always best at that, more of Leo's territory. But I gave it a shot. I focused myself and thought about that night, and more specifically that image on Ash's head. It was like a video camera that you try to focus and zoom in. As the image cleared up, I was, to put it mildly, surprised.
A pentagram. I woke up from meditation with sweat pouring over me. Was I just dreaming that up? Was that really the image? And if it was, Ash had to be dead. Right? But it weirdly felt....right. As I thought more and more about Ash, I remembered those nights he had gone out. I read over the dates the killings had taken place, and had decided to meditate further back and into more detail. See if the dates matched. It was tough, took a shitload of time, and was a long, long shot. But hell, what else did I have to do.
As each meditation period passed, it seemed that the times Ash left and the killings took place matched. To make it 100% sure, I had to know where HE would kill next. I studied each location, and knew that since he was a turtle he'd have to stay in a remote and desolate place. Somewhere to hide, but close enough to kill and not be seen by anybody. Plus, he couldn't stay in the sewers. He couldn't be sure whether we'd be walking through there or not to see him. It'd be a risk. I guess if he wanted his revenge on us, it was the furthest thing from his mind at that moment. Places like abandoned warehouses, things like that. Strangely, there was such a spot in each place.
As I started pinpointing them on a new map (from ruining the old one), I started noticing a pattern. I doodled a star onto it again and it fit this time. I'd be goddamned. It was the places he was LIVING IN, not the places he killed. It was all a game, only it was a game only he could win. I guess he thought whoever figured it out would be worthy of him. Guess who got lucky in that regard? The next place on the list was a small, deserted shopping mall. Closed down a month ago due to the big business up the way. I didn't let anybody know because it's not like they would believe me. I barely believed me. So that night I headed on that way. That was when the real fun began.
I came upon the shopping mall that night at about 2:20 A.M. I scouted the place in order to see if there was anybody around. The shopping mall didn't look like much. It had been pretty much boarded up ever since it closed down. By the looks of it, it seemed like everything was clear. But just like the old saying, looks can be deceiving. I slowly stalked towards the mall in order to climb up onto the roof. As I climbed up, I tried to be as quiet as a corpse. Just in case. On the roof I noticed a spot where I could climb down. After I checked to see that the close was clear, I suddenly got a chill that ran up and down my shell. I was a little afraid that I was right. I climbed down from the roof into the shopping mall. Like I said before, the place didn't look like much. Just rows and rows of abandoned shelves, with clusters of boxes. Some were empty, while others were just filled with garbage. As I looked from left to right, I stared as pieces of paper flew through the air. Weird how something as simple as the noise of a piece of paper flying about could instill tension in your heart. How every noise, even something as normal or small as these papers, could put you on edge. Making your nerves, muscles, and sweat working on overload.
As I edged and tip-toed around the mall, I wondered where someone could hide in this place. As I scanned the area, I became startled by a rat screeching next to me. Being in a pissy mood, I growled loudly at it. Funny I should do that considering my father himself was a rat. As my eyes followed the rat, my instincts started kicking in again. I crept after the rat for a minute or two before I saw it disappear under a pile of rubble. The rubble consisted of a couple of empty, broken shelves with an assortment of other garbage piled onto it. As I crept a little more, I saw yet another rat squeeze from under the rubble. Hmmm, I wonder. As I lifted and threw the pile from one side to the other, I slowly discovered a hole coming from the floor. Confused as to how it got there or where it led to, I was about to climb on down until I overheard a rustle coming from the hole. I quickly decided to hide. Hell, better for him to come out in the open than for me to climb down there. I hid behind an empty shelf as I peaked over to see who or what it was. The unknown man/creature climbed out wearing a heavy, brown coat with a fedora.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it. Just like the type of outfit one of us would wear. Of course, anybody not wanting to be seen could also be wearing that type of outfit. I had to figure out quickly what my next course of action would be. Should I just tackle the fucker right here and now, or should I follow him and see where he went. I decided to follow him. Besides, all of this could just be in my head, and this guy could just be some homeless person living in a shopping mall. I figured that I would just sneak in the shadows and see where he goes.
As I followed him, I repeatedly tried to look at his face, his hands, anything to see if he was Ash. Hell, wouldn't be the first time that an enemy of ours would 'miraculously' return from the dead. That happens often in our business. Much too often for my taste. But every time I would try to catch a look at him, he would look away, an object would block my view, something would happen. It kind of pissed me off, while at the same time made me wonder whether he was doing this on purpose. If that was the case, then he knew that I was on his tail.
Suddenly, the unknown figure stopped at an apartment complex. He looked up and slowly entered the building. I decided to keep up with my pursuit, not wanting to leave my sights on him. I still didn't know whether he saw me or not. If not, he was going to learn soon enough. As I slowly entered the building, I came upon the stairs of the complex. I leaned my head up towards the stairs, and I could see the cloaked figure climbing up until he came to the fourth floor. Then he disappeared and I followed.
As I got to about the second floor, I heard a heart-quenching scream. My eyes opened as wide as saucers as I climbed as I bolted as fast as lightning toward the source of the scream. As I came toward the fourth floor, the screams continued. I frantically ran from one door to the other, searching for the source of the scream. I finally came to a door labeled 420, and pressed the side of my head against the door. While the screams had subsided, I could still here a lot of rustling of furniture (a lamp breaking, a chair being overturned, etc.) and a couple of moans and groans. I backed up and leapt at the door shoulder first.
Bad mistake, because it hurt like a bitch. I tried with the other shoulder. Same result. I mentally said 'fuck it' and leapt feet first towards the door. The effect that I was looking for was achieved. As the door blasted open and I quickly ran in, I was taken aback by the sight in front of me. The woman living in the apartment was held on the floor with her shirt torn open, bellybutton and bra showing. Ash, the turtle thought dead, was kneeling beside her with a knife close to her stomach. Startled by my presence, it gave me enough time to tackle him. As I had him on the floor, I yelled at the lady to run away and call the police. Thankfully, she was coherent enough to listen to me. She ran out yelling and screaming to whoever would listen to her, knocking on doors left and right.
Our struggle continued into the next room, the bedroom. As I gave him a swift kick in the head, it was enough to stop our struggle for the time being. As we both got up, I was able to get a good look at Ash. He had gotten himself another black bandanna. His body was pretty burned up in some places, with various older cuts and bruises covering the rest of his body.
Raphael: Hey Ash, you bastard. Long time no see. Tell me something you sicko, how did you survive that fall and explosion anyway?
Ash: Raphael, you son of a bitch. She was chosen and you let her get away. You're going to pay for that.
Ash then stopped and stared at me. All of a sudden, fits of giggles stated erupting from him. Then the giggles turned into all out laughter. Least to say, I was a little confused.
Raphael: What the hell are you laughing about?
Ash: Wait, wait, wait. Hold on now, just wait a second. Just let me answer your first question, on how I survived. When you pushed me over, it was quite simple after that. Turn your body the right way, land shell first, and flew out of a window with a damn fireball on my ass. And believe me, that did not sit well with me. Not at all!! Now to answer your second question, why I am laughing. I'm just dying out of curiousity. How exactly did you find me anyway? I mean, how in the HELL did you know I was alive, yet alone be at this exact place.
Raphael: Simple. Remembered the symbol on the side of your face. Followed my instincts. Figured if it was you, you'd then need an isolated place to stay. Drew a couple pictures on a couple maps, played dot to dot into a pentagram drawing, with the bottom line of me being here right now. And right now I'm ready to kick your ass into the ground, for good this time.
Ash (starts applauding): Admirable. I'm impressed with you. I never thought anybody would figure that out, but here you are. (Slowly smiling) There's a kind of, what's the word I'm looking for, beauty to it. Isn't there? The last person I've seriously fought with, the one who never trusted me from the start, would of course be the one to follow me here. Wonderful, just wonderful. I just loooove it.
Raphael: Are you fucking nuts or what?
Ash: I don't know, am I? Maybe I am. Hell, I'm just doing what I need to. What I want to. Maybe you should ask yourself that same question. Are YOU fucking nuts?
Raphael: What are you talking about? I'm not the one murdering people and cutting fucking symbols into their bodies. I mean why...
Ash: Shush. In due time, Raphy boy, in due time. (Ash stares at him, as if studying Raphael for a moment. Slowly a smile crept upon his face.) This is going to be a load of fun, I'm telling you. As we all know, a great villain needs a great hero. Ready to step up to the plate, oh hotheaded one.
Raphael: What are you talking about?
Ash: It's called a game. As in, the game of life. You and me. Evil vs. Good. Who will win? Can you just feel the adrenalin in this room? I always wanted a worthy rival, and weirdly enough I'm glad it's you.
Raphael: What makes you think you're leaving here? (Suddenly sirens of police and ambulances were overheard)
Ash: Whoops, time's up. See ya later alligator. (Ash opens a nearby window, just about ready to depart.)
Raphael: Oh no you don't you... (At that moment, Ash grabs a handful of blinding dust from a bag in his belt and blows into Raphael's eyes. As Raph cries out, Ash quickly kicks him at his inner right thigh. Raph quickly kneels down. Before he leaves, Ash whispers one last thing to Raphael.)
Ash: And the game begins. I know both you and me are gonna have some fun times together. I can just feel it. (And with a hearty laugh and a wink he leaves, with his last words of the night being...)
Ash: I'll see ya soon hero.
Raphael growls, rubbing his eyes as he stumbles towards the window. After giving his eyes one more good rub, he searched the area for Ash. Of course, there was no sign of him. He was gone. As he heard the noise of policemen and such coming closer towards the apartment, he hurriedly climbed out of the window and raced down to the ground below. He ran full speed towards the nearest manhole and pulled it up, finally dropping down into the sewers and walking towards his home.)
Son of a bitch. He really was alive. I have to tell the others as quickly as possible, as well as call April. I've gotta tell her what I've found out. I figure I'll give her what I got so she can show it to the police. I'm sure the others will be beyond pissed since I went by myself. I'm still mad at myself for letting Ash get to that woman. Fortunately she was alright, but still... I couldn't think of that now. I had to get home.
As I journeyed home, Ash's words kept popping into my head. 'You and me are going to have some fun times together.' That was pretty much explanatory. He was going to commit more murders, and now he wants me to chase him. Guess I really made a personal enemy tonight. I was still puzzled by that one question he asked, 'Maybe you ought to ask yourself the same question. Are you fucking crazy?' No way was I like that creep. Much later on, I would realize exactly what he meant by that. As I entered the sewer den, I made a major ruckus so that everybody was up and ready. No way this could wait until morning.
Now I just had to figure out how exactly to put the situation into words.