It was a combination of inertia and sheer determination that kept Rocksteady walking through the downpour. He had broken into a corner market about a week back, and stolen a bunch of food. But he had since eaten it all, and he was starving again. Pasquini's! They had the best pizza in town - with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms... He'd have three pies. Maybe four.
At last, he made it to the pizzeria. He put his hands on the metal security grate and smiled a bit. Finally, he thought. He rubbed his hands against his rather filthy pant legs, trying to get some of the excess water off, then grabbed the grate and pulled hard. A mutant rhino, even a starved and exhausted one, has a lot of reserve strength, and the grate snapped open. Rocksteady's smile widened, and he prepared to smash the front door open with his fists.
"Stop!" he heard someone yelling.
Rocksteady whirled around. Through the pouring rain, he made out one of the turtles heading towards him, and his eyes lit up. Hey, here was his chance! He could kill this one, and then the other ones would come, and once he killed them...oh. Then nothing. The Shredder was dead, and he didn't have any idea where the doctor was. But still. It was all these freaks' fault that his life was ruined. He'd kill him anyway.
Slowly, Rocksteady balled his fists, then took a deep breath. His breath caught somewhere in his throat, and he exploded in a coughing fit. He bent down until the coughing subsided, then wiped his mouth and stood back up. The turtle hadn't budged - he stood several feet down the sidewalk, knives drawn, prepared to fight. Rocksteady began lumbering towards him, hands outstretched. The turtle easily dodged the clumsy attack, and with a well-timed kick to the back of the knee, he sent Rocksteady sprawling. Rocksteady managed to get his hands in front of him to take most of the weight of the fall, but he still bonked his snout on the sidewalk.
Great, thought Rocksteady absently. Now my horn's gonna ache all day tomorrow.
He suddenly came to his senses when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, you okay?" Rocksteady considered - he must have been sitting there on his hands and knees for at least a minute. The rain almost felt soothing now. He looked up at the turtle, who looked back down at him, concerned, although he still had one knife out. He thought, I can't kill this freak. Not now. Not ever. It was over.
"Um..." Rocksteady didn't really know what to say, and he certainly didn't know how to say it. "Um...which one is you?"
The turtle took a step back. "What?"
Rocksteady tried to think of another way to put it, but couldn't, so he simply repeated, "Which one is you?"
"Raphael." He began twirling the knife around in his hands, which Rocksteady found fascinating, for some reason.
"Um..." Moving slowly, Rocksteady pushed up a bit and got up on one knee. "You know 'bout da Shredder, huh?"
"Yeah - he died."
"Yeah. So, um, I guess that's it."
"What's it?" He continued spinning his knife, and Rocksteady continued staring at it.
"It's over. I guess you win." Rocksteady hung his head down, and gave an small involuntary shudder. "Jus'...jus' make it quick, K?"
"Make what quick?"
"When...y'know, when ya...kill me."
"Kill...dude, I ain't gonna kill you." Raphael thought, Splinter's always said we have to be prepared for anything, but what the heck are we supposed to do when they give up? When they expect us to kill them? He tried to think. Hm, the Shredder. If the Shredder was Rocksteady's mentor, like Splinter is to me, then... Raphael tried to imagine Splinter dying on them, and he gave an involuntary shudder. Yeah, I can see why he's all messed up. Well, I don't know what to do with him, but I bet Splinter will. How will I get Splinter involved? Can I take Rocksteady down to the lair? Is it safe? Heck, in the state he's in, any of the five of us could take him out if we had to. That settled it. Raphael put his sai away, and grabbed his walkie-talkie. "Raphael here. Listen - meet me back at the lair pronto. Got a surprise for you all." He turned it off before putting it away - he didn't feel like explaining his situation just yet. He reached down, and put his hand under Rocksteady's arm. "C'mon."
Rocksteady looked up through the rain at Raphael. "What?"
"I'm gonna take you to see Splinter. He'll know what to do."
"But..." Rocksteady let his head droop.
"No 'buts', dude. Let's go." He helped Rocksteady to his feet, and had him lean against his body slightly. Slowly, they made their way towards the alley.
Donatello came back into the main living area of the lair, by the light of the fire. The quick shower had refreshed him, and he smiled as he grabbed his regular post-patrol cup of water. "How are we doing on wood?"
Leonardo had been chopping up some old pallets with a small hatchet, but he stopped to survey the stack critically. "OK for now, I guess, but we're starting to get a bit low. Better keep eyes peeled for more."
"Got it," said Donatello, as Michelangelo came back in from the kitchen area. "You catch that, Mike?"
"Yep. Tea water's on."
Splinter turned from the fire and smiled at Michelangelo. "Thank you, my son. Did Raphael give any indication when he would return?"
"Well, not exactly," said Donatello, sitting down next to Splinter at the fire. "But he told us to meet him back here 'pronto'. He probably wouldn't say that if he was planning on keeping us waiting."
"Excellent reasoning, Donatello."
"As always." Everyone turned towards the door at the sound of Raphael's voice. He was dripping wet (as they all had been upon coming back tonight), and grinning from ear to ear. "Dudes, you're not gonna believe this." He stepped in and a bit to the side, allowing Rocksteady to appear behind him.
Only Leonardo made a move for his weapons, and even he pulled short. There was a short pause where nobody moved or spoke, but Master Splinter finally broke the silence. "Raphael, to the shower, please. Leonardo, a towel for our guest. Donatello, if you'll serve the tea? Michelangelo, please prepare some food." Instantly, there was a flurry of activity, as Leonardo and Raphael walked deeper into the lair, and Donatello and Michelangelo disappearing into the kitchen. Rocksteady blankly watched them leave, then turned his head towards the fire and Splinter.
Splinter smiled slightly and indicated a spot next to him. "By all means, come warm yourself." Rocksteady looked confused for a second, but then lumbered over to the fire. He dropped himself extremely heavily onto the ground near Splinter with a mild grunt. He sat staring into the fire, completely silent, except for the rain dripping from him onto the floor. Splinter looked him over critically. He was obviously in poor shape. His clothes were both soaking and filthy. His eyes were nearly glassy, and despite his huge size, Splinter thought he detected a sunken look to him.
Leonardo returned to the room, walked over, and handed a pink towel to Rocksteady. Rocksteady looked up at Leonardo, then at the towel, not understanding. "If you wish to dry yourself...?" said Splinter. Rocksteady slowly took the towel from Leonardo, then looked back up at Leonardo blankly. "Thank you, Leonardo," said Splinter, getting to his feet. He walked back a few steps from the fire and talked quietly to Leonardo at some length.
"You sure, sensei?" asked Leonardo.
"Yes, my son." Splinter reached into his kimono pocket, peeled a few bills from a stack, then handed them to Leonardo. Leonardo held them up to his forehead, then headed out of the lair, pausing just long enough to grab his jacket.
Splinter sat back down at the fire, and observed Rocksteady continuing to stare into the fire, the towel unused in his lap. "You may dry yourself if you wish," he suggested. Rocksteady again looked down at the towel, then began slowly drying his head. Splinter went on, in a quiet voice, "Food and drink are forthcoming, and should not be much longer. Until then, I do have two friendly ears to offer, if you wish to talk."
Rocksteady glanced up at Splinter, who saw the mistrust in his eyes. "You da one what killed the Shredder, huh?" he said quietly.
Splinter wasn't ready for the accusation, but he wisely waited to formulate an appropriate response. "He was hanging from the roof, and I was holding him up. He attempted to throw a knife at me, and I lost my grip avoiding the throw." Splinter sighed. "I wished to see his group dismantled. I wished to see his grasp on the city loosened, but I did not wish him dead."
They turned as Michelangelo came in with a largish bowl. "Food's gonna be a bit, so I bought pretzels," he explained. He handed the bowl towards Rocksteady, whose eyes lit up as he dropped the towel to his lap. He grabbed the bowl with one hand and, pulling it closer, plunged his other hand in. Emerging with a fistful of pretzels, he shoved them in his mouth.
"Dude, you're gonna make yourself sick!" Michelangelo pulled the bowl back towards him.
Splinter put his hand on Rocksteady's knee, as Rocksteady downed his mouthful. "He is right, Rocksteady. Your stomach will not be able to take too much food in its weakened state."
Rocksteady would've argued - in fact, he briefly considered grabbing the bowl back and polishing off the pretzels. But he remembered what happened a few nights back when he ate an entire bag of Funyuns. Resigned, he slumped down and released his hand from the bowl. Michelangelo handed the bowl to Splinter.
"Thank you, my son," said Splinter. Michelangelo half-bowed and headed back into the kitchen. Splinter picked up two pretzels and handed them to Rocksteady. "What have you been doing since the Foot was scattered?"
Rocksteady ate the two pretzels before answering. "Me 'n' Bebop knew this warehouse da Foot didn't use no more, so we been stayin' there." Rocksteady didn't realize how much he missed having someone, anyone, to talk to, and he began talking more amiably. "Bebop, he took a bunch o' stuff from Foot HQ, pawned it, bought us some stuff - food, mainly."
"What did you do then?"
"Tried to find us another gang to join. Couldn't find hardly any. Couple we found were scared of us - said we was too easy to spot, and we'd get 'em in trouble real quick."
"Hm." Splinter handed him two more pretzels and thought. "And then the money ran out?"
"Mm-hm," said Rocksteady, his mouth full of pretzel. After swallowing, he said, "Bebop - well, I din't know this, but he didn't sell all the guns we took from da Foot. I thought he sold 'em all, but he kept one. He went to knock over somethin' to get more money."
"Yes, we read what happened in the paper last week. He was shot while attempting to rob a store, correct?"
"Yeah. So I been by myself since then."
Splinter thought this over as Donatello came in with a tray. On the tray were six mismatched teacups and a teapot. He set the tray down in front of Splinter, and sat down on the other side of him from Rocksteady. "Thank you, my son," said Splinter, as he poured a cup for Rocksteady, and handed it to him with both hands.
"What's this stuff?" Rocksteady asked suspiciously. He took the cup anyway.
"This is oolong tea." Splinter poured a cup for Donatello, and one for himself. Rocksteady sampled the liquid, then made a face.
"This stuff's nasty!"
"Yes," said Master Splinter unexpectedly. "You probably would think so, if you have not had it before. However, I would urge you to drink it. It will calm your stomach, and warm you up in addition."
Rocksteady eyed his cup. then sipped again. Hm, it wasn't so bad that time.
Donatello accepted his cup from Splinter. "Hey, Rocksteady, could I ask you a question?" Rocksteady shrugged, which Donatello took as a yes. "First time we saw you and...the other guy?"
"Bebop."
"Yeah. The first time we saw you two was a few months ago, over by the docks. So where'd you guys come from?"
"Aw, we messed wit' you before dat. Which of you's got da stick?"
"The stick? Oh, the bo stick? That's me - Donatello."
Rocksteady grinned lopsidedly. "I was the first guy ya took on back at th' old warehouse, couple months before that. We led ya in, turned on th' lights, then I stood up an'..."
"Wait, wait, wait." Donatello shook his head, confused. "At the old warehouse? Like six months ago?" Seeing Rocksteady nod, he went on. "But there weren't any mutants there. They were all human."
"We weren't freakified then." He accepted two more pretzels from Splinter.
"You weren't mutants then? So how'd that happen?"
"Shredder done said he was lookin' f'r volunteers to take you guys on..."
Donatello put his teacup down. "You volunteered to undergo mutation?!"
"Hey, I din't know what was gonna happen!" Rocksteady countered, his voice rising. "Ya think I wanted to look like this?!"
Splinter spoke before Donatello had a chance to, in a voice a lot louder than his normal one. "Assuredly, you were misled by the Shredder." In his normal voice, he said, "What did the Shredder tell you would happen?"
Rocksteady, mollified but still a bit peeved, said, "It weren't him. It was Jutaro, his right-hand guy. Said he was lookin' f'r volunteers to take you guys on. We thought it'd be some sorta trainin' or somethin'."
"So the Foot mutated you?" asked Donatello.
"Yeah, so what?""Nothing - it kinda surprises me that they knew how. It's...well, the Foot was good at a lot of things, but I didn't know they had any scientific knowhow."
Michelangelo reappeared, carrying a large steaming bowl. "No promises on this one - I sorta made it up as I went along." He handed it off to Rocksteady, but threw a slightly worried look at Splinter. Rocksteady took the bowl and peered inside. He recognized pasta and tomato sauce...and that was about it. He glanced over at Splinter, who gave him a slight shake of the head. Rocksteady was pretty sure he knew what that meant - don't eat so fast. Well, he'd try, but he was pretty hungry. He grabbed the fork that was sticking out of the bowl and began eating. While eagerly munching down, he noticed some sort of vegetable - maybe peas or corn - and some sort of meat in the sauce, but couldn't identify them. But he decided he didn't care - it was food, and it was really good.
After watching Rocksteady take his third bite, Michelangelo smiled. "I take it that the food's acceptable?" Rocksteady nodded, his mouth full, and Michelangelo gave him a thumbs up. "Excellent. Left the kitchen a mess, though. Excuse me?" He headed back just as Raphael came back in, putting on his sweatshirt.
Raphael nodded towards the kitchen. "You need me to clean up?"
"Nah, you already cleaned it once. I got it."
"Cool. Thanks." He watched Michelangelo head back into the kitchen, then turned to face the others. Rocksteady was steadily working his way through his makeshift dinner, while Splinter and Donatello seemed content to sip tea and stare into the fire. He felt he should say something, but before he could think of anything, Leonardo came back through the main entrance.
"Got 'em," said Leonardo simply, holding up a Kmart bag. He hung up his jacket, then handed the bag, along with some change, to Splinter. Splinter waited until Rocksteady had finished his last few bites of his dinner before addressing him.
"We have gotten you something to wear while we clean your clothes. If you wish, we can show you to the shower now."
"Huh?" Rocksteady put his bowl down - perhaps a bit harder than he should have - then ripped open the bag. Inside were a blue sweatshirt and a pair of black sweatpants. He looked up at Splinter, then turned to Leonardo. "What the hell?"
"Um, I got double-extra large on both - that's the biggest they had," Leonardo explained.
"Wait a sec!" Rocksteady stood up, almost kicking his bowl into the fire as he did so. "Why y'all bein' so nice t' me?"
The turtles looked to Splinter, who slowly answered for them. "You appear to need our help, Rocksteady."
"You guys - you don't get it, do ya?" Rocksteady said. He turned and nodded at Donatello. "When I told you to say yer prayers, I weren't kiddin'. I was gonna splatter ya!" He turned back to the others. "And when we mixed it up down by da docks, I weren't kiddin' there, neither! I'da shot ya dead if I coulda!"
There was another uneasy pause, which was finally broken by Leonardo. "But you didn't."
"But I was gonna!" sputtered Rocksteady.
"This no longer matters, Rocksteady," said Splinter, in his most soothing tone. "You must accept the fact that all of that was in a previous existence."
"A prev...what're ya talkin' 'bout?"
"It may not be clear to you now, but it is my firm belief that tonight has been the night of your rebirth. From this point forward, it will be as if your life has begun anew, and you are starting with a clean slate." Splinter smiled, somewhat embarassedly. "This is all talk for another day. First, we must take care of your more immediate needs. Raphael, would you kindly show Rocksteady where to take his bowl?"
Rocksteady looked at Splinter, like he wasn't sure what had just happened. But looking over at Raphael, who nodded in the direction of the kitchen, he decided to just forget it. He picked up his bowl and followed Raphael into the kitchen.
Immediately, Splinter quietly addressed his other three charges. "My sons, Rocksteady is cold, hungry, and directionless. He is going to need as much patience and understanding as it is possible to give. Please do not let him aggrievate you in any way. We must remain kind and helpful at all times." At this point, he put his hand on Michelangelo's shoulder. "For this reason, I believe it best to have Michelangelo deal with him the most, as he has the most positive and upbeat temperment of you four." Looking straight at Michelangelo, he said, "Do not let him upset you, whatever he says."
Michelangelo grinned. "No problem, sensei."
Leonardo started to speak, then stopped. "Hm."
"What is it, my son?"
"Well, I was about to argue that I had an even temperment, too, but I guess that would've proved your point, right?"
Splinter bowed slightly towards Leonardo. "You grow wise, my son." Raphael led Rocksteady back into the main living area, and Splinter smiled slightly. "Now, Michelangelo, will you show our guest to the shower?"
"Sure thing. C'mon, Rocky."
Rocksteady pulled short. "What'd ya call me?" he demanded.
There was a short pause. Michelangelo thought, geez, did I screw up my assignment already? "Um, 'Rocky'. Just shortened your name, kinda. I won't call you that if you don't want me to."
Rocksteady reached down and grabbed the K-Mart bag, trying to organize his thoughts. He finally sighed. "It's...someone else calls me dat. Don't worry 'bout it."
"So...should I call you 'Rocksteady'?" asked Michelangelo hesitantly.
"Nah, Rocky's fine."
"All right, then, Rocky." He led the way down the corridor, with Rocksteady shuffling behind, his head bent down to avoid bonking it on the top of the tunnel.
Donatello watched them leave, then turned and smiled. "Crisis averted."
"For now," said Raphael. "How do we know he's not gonna explode on us?"
Splinter sat back down in front of the fire. "The easy answer, Raphael, is also the correct one. We do not. However, in addition to being an opportunity for Rocksteady, I see this as an opportunity for you four as well."
"How so?" asked Leonardo.
"For the last several years, I have been slowly teaching you various methods with which you might interact with humans. This then will be a test of your social skills."
Raphael considered. "Well, that's fine, as far as that goes. But what happens if we fail the test, and Rocksteady loses it?"
Splinter smiled slightly. "Then, my son, it ceases to be a test of your social skills, and becomes a test of your fighting skills."