DISCLAIMER: do not own the turtles, only the story plot line.
WARNING: maybe a bit out-of-character for the turtles, but once again, this is how I imagine them to be. Also, there may be some blood, torture, angst, etc...but hey, it's my story!
Have fun reading it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Italics: flashback to when the turtles were 5.
Oh, and I am not really sure where they are. There are bound to be mountains in New York. So in the flashback and in the whole story, they'll be there.
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At that point, Casey interrupted. "Hold on there! You mean to tell me that you were a hunter?"
Bruck chuckled. "Yep. But I regret it ever since. May 'ave been the stupidest thing I ever did do!" He said, before looking sad and his eyes getting a faraway look. Then, he quickly reached into a small sack he carried on his back and drew out a small container. He opened it and took a deep gulp from it.
Leo frowned. "I told you to quit that! It wasn't your fault!!!!" Leo added, before snatching the bottle away from Bruck. "It does you no good to drink!"
Bruck sighed as he eyed the bottle in Leo's hands. He shrugged. "It's an old 'abit. Sometimes, it's better to let an old dog lie."
Leo glared at him. "Don't tell me that idiocy! You and I know perfectly well that you aren't that old!"
Bruck sighed again. "Sometimes...memories come back. No matter what you want, they'll come back. It's better to try to forget..."
Leo crossed his arms. "You mean run from it. Look. What's happened, happened. There's nothing you could do about it! Floyd would've understood—"
At that point, Bruck jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Don't ya dare talk about Floyd! You ain't even know 'im! So don't ya dare—"
At that point, Leo stood up. "I think I know him better that you ever did. Not in person, but in other ways. So don't you tell me how I speak of him, because both you and I know what he would've thought. Now sit down, finish the story, and I will not be having any of this drinking nonsense. Sit."
They glared at each other for a few seconds before Bruck finally sat down, looking defeated. "You're right." He sighed. "You're right."
Leo nodded once before sitting down again.
Raph, along with everyone else, meanwhile had been curiously following along. One look from each of them, they realized that none of them knew what Leo and Bruck were arguing about. Not even Splinter.
"All right..." Raph started. "What was that all about? And who is this Floyd? And—"
At the mention of Floyd, Bruck's eyes flashed angrily again, but this time he made no move. Leo however, snapped his head to glare at Raph. "Raph!" Leo growled. "Drop it."
"But—"
"Now."
Raph shut up. Leo was using the tone of voice that he rarely if ever used. And if he did use it, then that meant that Raph had just come close to crossing the invisible line. And he'd better shut up, or else.
Raph sighed as Bruck began his story again. This Floyd guy seemed to mean something to both Bruck and Leo. But what and why? Raph bit back a groan. He sometimes wished that Leo wasn't so good at keeping secrets. Hell. Leo knew more about him, Raph, then he did himself! And whenever Leo was told a secret, Leo could keep it for decades without even a slight hint that he knew. Raph sighed.
&&&&&(Back to the story/flashback)
Leo sighed. No, groaned would be more exact.
His brothers were gone. Again.
He had told them not to wander. He had told them not to stray. He had told them to STAY PUT. But did they listen? Ooh No.
Of course, Leo still had a hard-time believing that they'd stray. After all, when he left them, they had been totally tuckered out.
But there was still a faint smell in the air. Chicken. Leo bit back another groan. Of course. Food.
Raph and Mikey would do anything for it. But Donny? Well, with enough persuasion, yes.
'Next time' Leo promised himself, 'Next time, I'll chain them down. I'll tie them down so hard that they won't be able to move an inch!'
With that, Leo took off to find his brothers.
&&&&&
Donny sighed. He didn't like this at all. Sure he was hungry, but THIS WAS A HUMAN CAMP. He wasn't THAT desperate!
"Let's go already!" Donny stated, looking around worriedly. There was something seriously wrong...
"But Don! The chicken's not ready yet!" Mikey answered, looking at the chicken.
Donny stomped his feet like a little kid. "I don't care! Grab the goddamn chicken and let's get outta here!"
Raph rolled his eyes. "Chill Don! I mean what could happen?"
At that moment, a bullet whizzed past them.
If looks could kill, then Raph would have been dead about a hundred times by now, and still counting. That's how angrily Don was glaring at Raph. Raph cowerded back a little. "THAT is what could happen!!!!!" Don growled, before yelling. "RUN!!!!"
Neither Raph nor Mikey said a word, only silently took off after Don towards the woods.
&&&&&
"You IDIOT!!!!!!!" Jamie hissed at Jake as they watched the three turtles make a break towards the woods.
Bruck shrugged. "No matter. We'll just have to round them up."
The other two looked at Bruck. "How?"
Bruck grinned. "Fang." He whistled a high pitched whistle, and two seconds later, a bark was heard and a white blur was seen bounding over from the left. Bruck whistled another high pitched whistle, but this time the pitch was longer and lower than the first. The dog immediately turned hard to the right and began bound over towards the three fleeing turtles.
"Oh shell!" Raph yelled as he saw the dog rushing at them. Raph quickly drew his Sais. They were a bit smaller than what he had usually, and a lot more dull. Splinter refused to allow them to go out with real, sharp blades. The dog snarled, before pouncing at Raph. Raph quickly backed, but tripped on a root.
Raph hit the ground hard, and his Sais slipped out of his hands, landing next to him. Raph was about to pick them up, when the dog jumped at him again. Raph yelled and quickly rolled towards the right, sadly, away from his Sais.
Don and Mikey, meanwhile had already reached the edge of the woods when they realized that Raph wasn't with them. Looking back, Don panicked. He drew his Bo staff, which was shorter than his usual one, but turned and looked at Mikey. "Get Leo!" He yelled, before rushing off to help Raph.
Mikey hesitated but took off towards the woods.
Jamie saw this. "Oh no you don't..." He raised his gun and took aim.
Mikey jumped away just in time to avoid the shot. But the shots kept coming, forcing him to back away until he hit Donny.
"Oof! Hey Don!" Mikey said, cheerfully.
Donny stared. "Mikey??? I thought that you went to get Leo!!!"
"I tried, but someone kept shooting at me."
Raph, who by now was on his feet and had his Sais back, looked worried. "You're not hurt?"
Mikey shook his head.
"Heh. So you CAN talk. I thought Jamie was having another one of his jokes." A rough voice sounded behind them.
All three turtles whirled around to find two tall men, standing behind them, each with a gun in hand. Guns that were pointing towards them.
Donny gulped. "On the count of three, we run." He whispered to his brothers, who nodded.
"One, two, th—"
Don never got further than that, because a bag was thrown over them. They kicked and squirmed, but the bag and Bruck held them tight.
Bruck calmly walked over to a small cage, reserved for smaller animals like dogs or so, and dumped the bag in it.
Quickly, he shut the cage door. Raph growled and basically tore the bag open, before attacking the bars. Mikey and Donny crawled out of the bag and started to help Raph.
Jamie laughed. "Woohoo! Las Vegas here I come!"
Jake nodded. "Man! This is gonna be the greatest catch of the century! I mean, turtles that can walk and talk!!!! Man! How much are ya willing to bet on the price they'll be willin' to pay?? I bet a hundred thousand!"
Jamie laughed. "I bet a million!"
Bruck didn't smile, he just sat down onto a vacant cage. "I bet none."
Jamie and Jake looked over at him, surprised. "Watchya talkin' about Bruck?? Whatdya mean 'none'???"
Bruck didn't smile at all. "Just what I said. None." He hinted towards the three turtles, still trying to break out. "These are small. Young. There's gotta be an elder or somethin'. A parent or an elder brother or somethin'."
Jamie looked thoughtful. "You're right." He said at last, before looking wicked. "Let's get him!"
Bruck rolled his eyes. "Idiot. When the parent or brother realizes they ain't there, it'll come lookin' for 'em. All we gotta do is wait."
The three turtles looked at each other. "Oh no! Leo!" Don whispered.
&&&&&
Leo had to thank all the makers who had presented with him with the gift of tracking. It was a gut feeling, but it was always right. He just knew where they were automatically. He didn't even need to think.
Splinter still didn't really understand how Leo was able to do it. Leo had always shrugged and said that it was just a feeling. A strong, gut feeling, but a feeling nonetheless. And boy was he glad for it!
It took him only about five minutes to get to the edge of the clearing. (It took the others more than 10)
Leo froze. He looked carefully down into the clearing from behind a tree. Leo sighed. "The IDIOTS." He muttered to himself. They went down to a camp. A HUMAN camp at that.
Forget Splinter going to kill them, hell, when he found them, he was going to BUTCHER them!
But suddenly, a flash of light caught his gaze. There were three humans sitting around something. Discussing something.
But that wasn't what was important. What they were sitting next to was. It was a cage, and inside it was...
Leo groaned. He was going to murder them.
&&&&&&
Bruck, Jamie, and Jake were still discussing their plan on how to capture the other one, when they heard a low, dangerous hiss. (Yes, turtles ARE able to hiss. I've actually kept four and they hissed.)
Fang immediately jumped to her feet and began barking. All three humans turned to look what was hissing.
There, not so far from them, stood another turtle.
"Whoa!" Jake gasped. "Look at the size of that one! That's gotta be the big bro or somethin'!"
Bruck nodded. "Not what I thought, but good enough." All three of them stood, and began reaching for their guns.
The turtle, however, let out an even louder hiss, as if warning them to stay put. It took a step towards them, but Fang jumped at it.
The turtle, however, whirled around and kicked the dog away, so that it landed a few feet from them.
Jamie and Jake stepped backwards. Bruck however, growled. "How dare you hurt my dog!!!!"
The turtle however, ignored him. Instead, it jumped at Bruck. Bruck was too stunned by the speed and agility of this creature, that he didn't move out of the way. He crash landed into a bunch of empty crates.
Leo, however, didn't stopped. He immediately ran at the next guy, Jamie and kicked the gun out of his hand, before using one of his Katanas to push him back. He quickly used the other Katana to disarm Jake.
Jamie growled. "Why you...!!!!!!" He reached for his gun, but Leo jumped onto his hand. There was a nasty crack heard and an anguished cry from Jamie.
Leo quickly hopped away, and attacked Jake, who had staggered to his feet. Jamie swore. Grabbing a small shotgun he carried on his side, he used his free arm to begin shooting at the turtle, yelling, "You goddamn monster!!!! I'll have your hide for this!!!"
Mikey, Donny, and Raph, who were watching worriedly, looked disgusted. "Okay..." Raph said. "That's just plain gross."
Leo landed near them. "Don't you dare comment on this!!! By the time I'm through with you..."
All three of them gulped and went silent as they watched Leo jump away to attack the hunters again.
Jamie growled. "Stay still!!!!" He yelled, pulling the trigger over and over again. But Leo kept evading the bullets.
Suddenly, Jake charged at Leo, Leo jumped up to evade Jake and flipped over him. But Jamie took that chance to shoot at Leo. The bullet scratched Leo's leg.
Sure, it was just a scratch, but it was bleeding and hurt like hell. But Leo just bit his lip. 'Time to stop this.' He thought, getting up, and taking a run towards the cage that held his brothers. He raised his Katanas, getting ready to slice the bars. But Bruck jumped in front, holding a gun.
Leo's eyes widened, and he jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid the bullet, but it still grazed his right shoulder.
Leo bit his lip, before jumping at Bruck. This time, the dog that Leo had kicked away earlier, pounced onto him, knocking him away.
But Leo just kicked the dog away and jumped up. He was bleeding now, bleeding heavily.
Bruck saw this, but he also saw something else. An internal fire. It reminded him of someone...
"Get the cage with the turtles into the truck! We ain't gonna get this one alive!" Bruck yelled towards Jake, never taking his eyes off of the turtle.
Jamie growled. "I'll take care of him!" he growled, raising his shotgun.
Bruck shook his head. "I'll deal with 'im. Your gun's outta ammo."
Jamie cursed, but went to help Jake lift the cage into the truck.
Leo watched the two men leave. But when he saw them grabbing the cage, he hissed. He started to move towards the two men, when he heard a click.
Leo looked back at the man. He had a gun raised and pointing at him.
"Uh, uh. Ya ain't goin' nowhere." Bruck said, softly so that only the turtle heard him. He knew it would understand.
"Ya know, I should probably shoot ya just for 'urtin' my dog like that." Bruck continued, nodding towards Fang, who had staggered to her feet and was watching intently.
"But I'm gonna let ya off with a warnin' now." Bruck said, slowly dropping his gun. He didn't know why, but he couldn't shoot this one. "Don't ya dare follow us. Forget that you're bros ever existed, 'kay? Ya don't need 'em anyways."
Leo let his eyes squint, but he made no move. He watched the man drop his gun before turning and walking off. The dog barked once before trotting after the man. The man got into the truck and the truck came to life. Then, it began to drive off slowly.
Leo stood in the ruins of the camp. Then, once, he was sure he was out of shooting range, sprang after it.
&&&&&(in the truck)
"Bruck, watchya do with the turtle? I ain't hear no gunshot!"
Jake asked, looking at Bruck. Bruck seemed pale...
Bruck shrugged. "Gave 'im a warnin' and told 'im to scram."
Jamie scoffed. "Like that did any good! Look outta your window."
Both Bruck and Jake looked out of the window and stared. The turtle was following them.
Bruck frowned. The turtle definitely reminded him of someone.
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Yay! Another chappie done! Just one or two more flashbacks and then on with the present! Yay!!!!
Oh, forewarning: The next chappie will be bloody and sad.
R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
