Chapter Seventeen
"This has got to be the greatest day of my life!"
Raphael rolled his eyes as his youngest brother bounced around in his chair. "Geez, Mikey. Calm down before you explode!"
Michelangelo continued to move around as he spoke. " I can't help it! I still can't believe I'm doing a comic book signing at an actual comic book convention!" He clenched his fists and shook them wildly in the air.
Leonardo, who was sitting on Raphael's left side, tapped on the table with a felt tip marker, and winced as Michelangelo let out a high pitched squeal. " I think you're scaring everyone away."
"Are you sure you even sold any?" Donatello said as he leaned backwards to look at Michelangelo. "We've been here for two hours now and we haven't had anyone come up to the table."
" You've only done ten issues, Mike. Maybe nobody really knows about you yet." Leonardo said as he felt a hand grab the marker away. He watched as Raphael began to draw an obscene picture of a naked woman on a piece of paper. " Raph!" Leonardo quickly grabbed the paper away as Raphael grumbled at him.
" You gotta ruin all of my fun, don't ya?" Raphael threw the marker down on the table, then looked up and noticed a young boy who was standing a few feet from the front of the table. "Are ya lost, kid?"
The harshness in Raphael's tone made the blonde boy take a few steps back Leonardo rolled his eyes and pushed Raphael away from the table as he leaned over it.
" Hey there. What's your name?"
The boy shifted his weight. " Greg."
"Well, Greg," Leonardo offered him a smile. " What can we do for you?"
Greg then pulled back the comic that was held tightly to his chest and pushed it toward the Turtles so they could see the rooftop picture on the cover. " Is that really you guys?"
The Turtles looked at one another as Donatello spoke for them.
" Yes, it is."
They then watched Greg's face light up as he turned around to face the people behind him.
"HEY! IT"S REALLY THEM!"
The Turtles then braced themselves as a huge swarm of kids and teenagers flocked around the table throwing comics down at them. As the screams and the flashing cameras escalated, Michelangelo popped the lid off of his own marker and smiled at his brothers.
"And you guys didn't think anyone was buying them."
Six hours later, after the last person happily left with a signed comic, Leonardo pulled his Jeep out of the convention center parking lot and crossed through Manhattan toward the bridge that led into Queens.
" Man, that was soooo cool!" Michelangelo gushed for the hundredth time. " My public loves me!"
" I can still see spots from all of those camera flashes." Donatello said as he looked around at the roof of the Jeep and blinked at the red and green dots that only he could see.
Leonardo smiled to himself as Michelangelo continued to talk about all of their adoring fans. He was truly happy for his youngest brother, and as he thought back to when Michelangelo had asked him for help, Leonardo knew he had made the right decision. After letting out a long sigh, Leonardo's thoughts suddenly shifted back to where they had been all day. Raphael, who sat in the passenger seat, sensed Leonardo's distance.
"You okay, bro?" He asked as he stared out of his window. " You've been actin' funny today."
Leonardo quickly glanced at Raphael, then looked back out the windshield. " I know. I've just been thinking about things."
"Like what?" Raphael said as he turned his head.
" I'm just worried about Splinter's flight to Japan tomorrow." Leonardo said blankly, and Raphael knew it was an obvious lie.
" Oh, whatever, Leo. Splinter has gone to Japan several times, and you've never acted weird about it before." Raphael crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "You're thinkin' about Linda, aren't you?"
Leonardo glanced back at Raphael, then let out a small laugh. " Okay, you got me." Raphael then watched as Leonardo's composure changed and he could feel the tension radiating off of Leonardo's body. "I just don't understand what she is doing to me! She comes over with Angie every day, and does whatever she can to make me miserable. She picks fights with me just so she can scream at me." Leonardo's words then faded to a soft whisper. " I know how bad I screwed up, but, she doesn't need to keep throwing it in my face."
Raphael nodded. " I get ya, Leo. You know, I never thought that Linda could be that cruel. It don't look good on her." He then noticed Leonardo staring into the rear view mirror. "What is it?"
"That black van behind us," Leonardo narrowed his eyes. " They've been following us for five blocks now."
Michelangelo looked at Raphael, who had suddenly turned around in his seat and growled. He gulped, then turned to see what Raphael was looking at, and immediately knew who it was. "Holy shit! It's them! It's those German dudes! How did they know where to find us?"
Donatello then turned around. " Forget finding us. How do they even know it is us?"
Leonardo heard Raphael growl again as his brother glanced into his side mirror, then Leonardo moved his eyes from the rear view mirror back down to the street, and he could feel his heart beat begin to race. " Are you guys buckled up?"
Raphael gave Leonardo an uneasy look. "Why? What are ya-"
He was cut off as Leonardo slammed on the gas pedal and jerked the steering wheel, causing the Jeep to make a sharp right turn. He then made another one to the left, and the Jeep went sideways on two tires. Raphael grabbed on to the dashboard and held back the curse words that sat on his tongue while Donatello dug his fingers into the headrest of Leonardo's seat. Leonardo made another sharp turn, which cause Michelangelo to fall into Donatello's lap.
"Mikey!" Donatello pushed him back up. " Put your seatbelt on! Don't you know that's the first thing your supposed to do when you get in a vehicle?"
"I always turn my radio on first!" Michelangelo joked, but stopped laughing as Donatello threw him a dirty look.
"Leo! What the hell are ya doin'!" Raphael's fingernails scraped across the dashboard as the Jeep took another turn and dodged several cars and buses.
"I'm trying to get us out of this traffic!" Leonardo took one more turn, then saw the bridge up ahead of them. Donatello leaned forward, noticing Leonardo was traveling at seventy miles an hour, then raised his eyes to the river. A large ferry was pulling closer to the bridge and Donatello swallowed hard as he watched the traffic arm of the toll booth going down.
" Uh, Leo?" Donatello raised his hand and pointed. " There's a ferry on the water."
"So?" Michelangelo said, obviously unaware of Donatello's point.
" So, it means they'll be raising the bridge up!" Donatello concluded, and Michelangelo felt as if his was going to faint.
"I know." Leonardo mumbled, then pushed down even farther down on the gas pedal. He went around the stopped traffic, scraping the left side of the Jeep against the guardrail. The three passenger turtles then jumped in surprise as the Jeep busted through the lowered traffic arm.
"Okay, I don't wanna hear nobody call me a psycho ever again!" Raphael shouted to his brothers in the back seat. He then gasped as the bridge jerked around under them and the Jeep began to ascend uphill. " We ain't gonna be able to make that jump, Leo!"
"Just trust me!" Leonardo shouted. He looked back into the mirror just in time to see the black van run over the crushed remnants of the white traffic arm and rush up the bridge behind them. Leonardo moved his eyes back forward, then said a silent prayer as they reached the growing break in the bridge. "Hang on guys!"
Michelangelo let out a high pitched scream and covered his eyes as the Jeep launched into the air and sailed across to the opposite side. He didn't let go of his breath until he felt the Jeep slam back down on solid ground. Michelangelo lowered his hands, then threw them up into the air.
" I'm getting too old for this stuff!" He then turned and watched as the black van also jumped and land behind them.
" So now what are ya goin' do?" Raphael asked as Leonardo steered the Jeep away from the highway and down onto an out-of-the-way two lane road. Leonardo then suddenly ripped off his seatbelt and turned to Raphael.
" Take the wheel."
"What? Are you nuts!"
"Just do it!" Leonardo then climbed into the backseat and knelt backwards between Donatello and Michelangelo. Raphael jumped into the driver's seat, grabbed the steering wheel and veered the Jeep back onto the road. Donatello and Michelangelo watched as Leonardo leaned over the seat and lifted up the floorboard of the Jeep, revealing an assortment of ninja weaponry.
" What the heck?" Michelangelo's eyes grew wide. " What are you doing with all of that stuff?"
Leonardo reached into the compartment and pulled out a small black box. "Splinter always told us to be prepared." He said as he opened the box and pulled out three silver three-pronged shuriken. After he replaced the box and closed the compartment, Leonardo pressed down on the black center of the stars, and three more points flew out, followed by a few electric sparks. Donatello stared at the throwing stars curiously, then realized the were the ones he had assembled years ago.
"Huh. I always wondered what happened to those."
" Sorry that I never told you I took them." Leonardo said with a smile. He then climbed over the back seat and knelt down. " Raph! Open the back hatch!"
Raphael leaned over and hit the button on the floor. The back door of the Jeep flung open sending in the late night cold February air. Leonardo held on tightly to the back seat as he moved his right foot onto the back bumper. He then hurled the shuriken at the van, two hitting the front grill and the other one embedded into the van's windshield. Donatello and Michelangelo then pulled Leonardo back into the Jeep as the stars sparked. Seconds later, the front of the van flew into the air as the stars exploded. Leonardo felt pieces of glass dig into his pant legs, but ignored the pain as he watched the van flipped over and roll several times before it finally stopped in the middle of the road.
Raphael slammed on the brakes, causing the Jeep to skid to a stop. He leaped out of the door and ran around to help Leonardo out of the back. Donatello and Michelangelo exited the Jeep and joined their brothers. The four of them stood very still and watched the flames jump around the van's engine, and they waited for any signs of life to emerge.
Raphael, who then finally lost his patience, ran to the back doors of the van. He wrapped his fingers over the handle and began to pull when the door opened and knocked Raphael backwards. Before he could regain his footing, a mutant dog, dressed all in black, landed on Raphael's chest and grabbed the turtle by the throat.
"Ich werde Sie, Sie übl mutiert scum töten!" The mutant screamed as he tighten his grip on Raphael's throat. "Ich hoffe, dass Sie Ihren Frieden mit Gott gemacht haben!"
"Fuck you too asshole!" Raphael screamed back, not knowing or even caring what the dog had said to him. He then gasped for air and clawed at the mutant's hands. Raphael's head began to spin from the lack of oxygen and his eyes were slowly rolling back when the dog's hands were pulled away. Raphael pushed himself up just in time to see Leonardo knock the mutant out with a bone crushing punch to the face. Leonardo let the dog fall to the ground then walked over to help Raphael to his feet.
"Took ya long enough." Raphael joked, then noticed Donatello and Michelangelo were already in the midst of fighting three more mutants and two humans. Raphael looked at Leonardo and let a smile crawl across his face.
" Man, did I miss this!"
Leonardo smiled back, then they joined their brothers.
Angie paced nervously in front of the fireplace and glanced back up at the grandfather clock. The time read ten thirty, and her level of distress suddenly increased.
"Why are they not home yet?" Angie wondered out loud. She looked over at Vanessa and Mandy, who were sitting on the couch, and Linda, who was cross-legged on the floor in front of the love seat. " I'm getting really worried, you guys." She moved from the crackling warmth of the fire and plopped down onto the love seat.
"They're probably still at that convention." Mandy suggested as she looked through Vanessa's baby books. "Those things can get really wild and last forever!"
"How do you know that?" Angie felt a shooting pain in her temples and she lifted her fingers to them.
"My brothers are comic-acholics. I've been to, like, millions of them."
Angie sighed as she rubbed at her head as she closed her eyes. In the blackness behind her eyes, she suddenly saw a fiery explosion and loud shouting in German. She let out a moan as she tried to pry her eyes open, but found she was stick in her vision. It was only when she heard the front door slam shut was Angie able to open her eyes.
"Oh my God! What happened to you guys?" Angie watched as Vanessa slowly stood up and waddled over to the doorframe where the Turtles stood. Angie gasped at their dirty and ripped clothing, then at the many bleeding cuts on their arms and faces. She jumped up and ran to Donatello, who was helping a limping Michelangelo to the couch.
"Are you okay?" Angie took Donatello's face into her hands, then wrapped her arms around him. " I was so worried!"
"We're alright." Donatello hugged her back, feeling suddenly very grateful to see her.
" We kind of ran into some trouble on the way home."
"No kidding!" Vanessa said sarcastically as she moved Raphael down beside Michelangelo and looked at the marks around his neck. " What the hell happened to your neck? It's looks like someone tried to choke you!"
"No kiddin'," Raphael mocked Vanessa, then laughed as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Man, why is it every time I fight someone, I screw up my ankle!" Michelangelo whined as Mandy pulled his leg up into her lap.
Leonardo remained in the doorway, holding onto the gash in his upper arm. He had already made eye contact with Linda, and saw the look of compassion that he hadn't seen in a while. But as quickly as it came, it faded from her eyes, and she gave him another cold stare.
"Man, if it wasn't for Leo's Nascar moves and quick thinking, we would have been dead!" Michelangelo's words went into Leonardo's head as he realized his brother had been telling the girls what had happened.
"Yeah, Leo." Raphael turned his head around and smiled. " You did good out there. Just like old times!"
Leonardo laughed slightly. " Yeah. Just like old times." He shared another glance with Linda, then moved through the foyer to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. He opened up the medicine cabinet and pulled out the bottle of peroxide and a box of gauze. As he shut the cabinet, he looked into the mirror and jumped as he saw Linda standing behind him.
" What now? Did you find something else to bitch at me about?" Leonardo laced his words with sarcasm as he opened the box of gauze and tended to his wounds. Linda crossed her arms and leaned up against the bathroom door frame.
" No. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be accompanying Splinter to Japan tomorrow." She smiled wickedly as she heard the bottle of peroxide fall out of Leonardo's hands. He quickly picked it back up and resumed cleaning his gashes.
" That's good to know. At least I'll finally get some peace around here."
Linda then moved into the bathroom and could feel Leonardo's body tense. " Oh, so you won't miss me? Not even a little bit?"
Leonardo said nothing as he finished wrapping his arm. He replaced everything into the cabinet, then walked out of the bathroom, turning the light out on Linda as he left. Linda let out a angry growl then stormed after Leonardo.
" This time around not I'm coming back, which is what I should have done before, especially after seeing what a heartless bastard you had become." Linda came to a halt as Leonardo stopped dead in his tracks. " But if I do happen to visit, I'll remember to bring back a geisha and a bottle of saki for you!"
Leonardo felt the sting of Linda's words deep within his heart, but his growing anger took over.
" What the FUCK do you want from me!" Leonardo screamed as he turned to face Linda. " I know I screwed up, okay! I know what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry! I've said it hundreds of times! I don't know what else to do!"
Linda then watched as tears started to flood Leonardo's eyes and he buried his face into his hands. Linda then noticed that everyone had gathered in the doorway of the living room and watched helplessly as Leonardo cried. Linda turned her eyes away, suddenly feeling her own eyes fill up with water. All of the anger she had been holding on to, all of the rage and thoughts of causing Leonardo the same pain she had felt began to fade away, and she felt an ache in her heart. She didn't want to get revenge anymore. She was tired of fooling herself into thinking she could move on. She wanted him. She just wanted to hold Leonardo in her arms and never let go.
" Leonardo, I'm-" She slowly approached him and was about to touch his heaving shoulder when he turned back around.
" Just don't." He began to back away from her and headed for the stairs. " Just leave me alone."
Linda watched Leonardo run up the stairs, then dropped her teary eyes back down to the crowd in the doorway. The silence of the house dug deep into Linda's head, and she wished that the ground would open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Linda then found her gaze caught in Raphael's eyes, and she could see the return of that fiery anger that had frightened her years ago. Linda slowly backed down from Raphael's glare then ran back into the guestroom she had been sharing with Angie. She slammed the door behind her, and once inside the sanctity of the room, her tears finally broke through and she collapsed onto the bed in a sobbing mess.