Another chapter, as promised and scheduled!
Remember, from here to Chapter 9, it's all stuff in the past, leading up to the event in the first chapter.
I hope you enjoy!
Beta read by Janajyo.
Disclaimer: If they ever have a lottery prize of winning ownership of the TMNT, I might just become a gambler. But 'til then, I still don't own 'em.
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New York City. November 25, 2006 AD. 7:48 PM.Swish.
Like background music to the news program, Leonardo's swords cut through the air in the dojo. You could compare them to the sound a refrigerator made; you hardly noticed it, but were subconsciously aware of it.
With nothing else better to do, Raphael sat on the couch, watching the news with Donny while Michelangelo read some comic books on the floor by Splinter's armchair. The younger turtle was pouting, overruled in control of the almighty and powerful remote.
Having just sat down, Don waited for his part of the news program to come on. That's how Raph knew when they were going to do their science piece of the day.
It was also his cue to leave.
With a sigh, he decided to drag it out a little bit. Raph didn't know what was worse: listening to some of the odd words that a few of these scientists said or having to train on a Saturday, which was surely what Leo would make him do once he got up.
Decisions, decisions.
Swish.
At the moment, the newscaster, an attractive blonde woman with blue eyes, was doing a piece on some new mansion they were building for some celebrity. The 'house', when finished sometime next year, would have fourteen bedrooms, excluding the master bedroom, and nine full bathrooms. There would also be several entertainment and living rooms furnished with state of the art technology, accommodating the super-star's larger than life existence and already enormous ego.
That last part hadn't been in the news bit. But Raph thought it fit.
Somewhat peeved, he got up. "Don't these friggin' celebrities have anything better to do with their money?"
Don too looked disgusted, but, unlike Raph, he tried to see the good side of things. "If I recall, that guy does have several charities."
Raph snorted. "Who wants to bet that they're only gettin' that much between them?" He asked, referring to the price tag of the mansion.
Swish.
Still focused on the kata he was performing, Leo spoke to them from the dojo. "I'll bet it's less."
Shrugging, Raph got up and walked to the kitchen, leaving Donny to his science bit. Upon reaching the said destination, he noticed Master Splinter sitting at the table, sipping on some herbal tea and reading an old, worn leather-bound book. Apparently having left the room, Mikey was making a colossal sandwich that would probably have more effect on his death than any Big Mac could dream.
But also like the effect any Big Mac had on so many of its soon to be consumers, it looked mouth-watering and delicious.
"Yo, Mike," Raph called, walking over to him, "cut me off a piece?"
Seemingly debating the question, Mike folded his arms. "Hmm… only if you give me the rights to the remote!"
Raph shook his head. "No way." He smirked. "What? You're pullin' a Jacob and Esau on me?"
"Dude, isn't Leo the oldest?"
"Whatever." Sighing, Raph grabbed a plate. "All right." He agreed, though he had no intentions of keeping this arrangement.
From the look on Michelangelo's face, the turtle knew that his brother understood this. Nevertheless, he cut him off a quarter of the sandwich.
Splinter's mug hit the table softly, but drew their attention. Their father had put his book down as well, and looked at them with his hands folded. "When you are done, my sons, I believe it would be wise to journey to Ms. O'Neil's shop."
Taking in a big whiff of his snack, Mikey raised his head. "What for?"
Having had silently made his way into the kitchen, Raph barely noticed Leo had entered until he spoke. "She's getting that replacement cabinet for her antique china in today, remember? We promised we'd help her move it months ago."
Suddenly embarrassed, Mikey chuckled uncomfortably. "Oh yeah, how could I forget?"
"Yeah," Raph quipped, "since you're the guy who knocked the first one over."
Leo didn't add anything, though he was grinning in the corner, an expression only he could make seem serious. "We'll go after Donny's finished watching the news, Sensei."
Splinter nodded his approval. "Very well, Leonardo. I trust you will return home immediately after doing so?" He asked, though he was looking at his younger two sons. "I would rather not have to wait up, worried you are injured, only to find that the four of you were making a pizza run."
"Hey," Raph defended himself; "we weren't the only ones who were hungry, Master Splinter. Heck, we probably would have made it home in time if Leonardo here hadn't insisted we get pepperoni."
Though he'd been expecting it, Leo surprised Raph by not responding to him. "We'll come right back, Sensei. I promise."
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As they made their way to April's apartment, they debated whether or not they'd have time to make an ice cream run.
Mikey did a flip onto a dumpster. "Man, am I craving some mint chocolate chip!"
Though it was tempting, Leo decided to put an end to the discussion. "As much as I'd like a milkshake guys, we promised Master Splinter we'd be home on time tonight."
Raph elbowed him. "C'mon, bro. Live a little, will ya?"
Sighing, Leo made his way to the backdoor of April's apartment. "Well… maybe." He finally gave in. "But only if we finish early."
His brothers just grinned before walking into the store, Leo following them.
He desperately hated how so often he could be talked into things. He was supposed to be the leader; that job came with responsibility. Sometimes, Leo felt he wasn't living up to his role as well as he should be in minor things like these.
Even if he somehow did well enough in a real crisis, those little things added up.
In her shop, April was examining her new cabinet. Turning, she smiled. "Hi, guys. What do you think?" She asked, referring to her new item.
Don walked up to it and ran his hand over the wood. "Nice. Oak, right?"
"Right. The cherry stain is beautiful, isn't it?"
It was a nice piece. The deep, cherry hue seemed to gleam to a greater degree than its glass panels. Leo couldn't help but notice that none of the china had yet to be put within, though.
April saw his look and raised one eyebrow. "I am not about to risk Mikey breaking another one of my more expensive sets of dishes."
Mikey clasped his hands together, begging forgiveness. "C'mon, April! It was an accident! Anyone could've slipped on that big of a jelly mess."
Ever the voice of logic, Don had to put in, "Yeah, but Mikey, most people usually don't eat the jelly donut that made the mess, when they're moving such a big piece of furniture."
"Still," Mikey said, pointing his finger at Donatello; "it could've happened."
Moving to one end of the cabinet, Raph frowned. "Hey, can we just do this already, or are we gonna sit around here all day and have a tea party?"
Leo went to the opposite side, calling back to his brothers. "Yeah, at the rate you two are going, nobody will be getting ice cream tonight."
They got right to work.
After many 'Maybe it'd look better over here's and 'But the lighting's better over there's, they finally got the cabinet into a good place; at the back of a wall, in between two lovely, green plants. April thought it made the cabinet look more exotic, though she wasn't sure where it had been made.
"Thanks again for helping me, guys. Are you sure you don't want to stay for a movie?" April asked them.
"No," Leo shook his head, smiling; "we promised Master Splinter we'd come right home."
April held a hand up to her mouth, concealing her broad smile. "Still in trouble for the pizza, huh?"
Leo grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…"
Raph was also grinning, folding his arms over his chest. "I told ya we didn't need that damn pepperoni."
Slinging one arm over his brother's shoulder, Mikey also grinned. "Hey! Everyone gots to have some pepperoni, right bro?"
"Right." He immediately changed the subject. "But now we really need to go."
Waving, April smiled. "Okay, bye guys. Stay out of trouble!"
Opening the door, Don waved back. "See ya, April!"
They all muttered their good-byes before leaving. The minute they were out, Mikey yelled, "Ice cream!"
All three of his brothers took off in the direction of the nearest Baskin Robbins.
With a deep sigh, Leo followed, giving into his brothers once again.
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Two blocks from getting his ice cream and five seconds from hitting Mikey in the head out of annoyance, if only to shut him up, Raph had to do a double take, slowly coming back to the alley he'd just passed.
Floating in the air, just below eye level, was a… Raph couldn't put a name on it. The thing twisted and turned like an earthworm, defying gravity. It looked almost electric, shining like a lightning bolt, yet smaller. And instead of being yellow or white, as any person viewed electricity, it was a deep shade of red.
Donatello, apparently having followed him, looked at it with the eyes of the scientist in him. Mikey, having also turned back, looked over the purple-clad turtle's shoulder to see it.
"Dude, did someone get carried away with the special effects for the next Star Trek movie?" His younger brother asked.
Shaking his head, Donny got a little closer to it. "I don't think so, Mikey." He circled the floating manifestation. "Odd. It seems electric, but there's nothing here to conduct it." He looked all around the alleyway before turning back to the puzzle before him. "Nothing at all."
Tearing his eyes away from the spectacle at hand, Raph noticed that Leo too had come into the alley, probably about to give them a lecture about getting home, or something. But for now, he also seemed interested in this… thing.
Leo looked at it like it was a threat. For all they knew, it could very well be one. But the way he did it was almost eerie, not to mention irritating. Then he spoke. "It's getting bigger."
Not having quite suspected those words, Raph turned back. Sure enough, it had grown some. Don blinked in surprise. He'd been watching it for so long that he hadn't quite noticed its gradual increase in size.
Now with more viewing room, Mikey unconsciously put a hand to his nunchucks. "I'm getting a real bad vibe off this thing, guys."
Raph couldn't exactly recall a time when he'd ever gotten such a feeling off something that wasn't alive.
Evidently, Don followed the same line of thought. "I don't think it's alive, Mikey." He put one hand to his chin. "Then again, that's just a theory."
That did a lot to soothe Mike's worries.
"Can we just go now? Please?" Mikey practically begged.
Stepping a little closer, Leo shook his head. "Not yet, Mikey. We can't go until we figure out if this thing poses a threat to anyone or not."
Mikey looked uncomfortable at this statement. Raph snickered. "What's the matter, bro? The Battle Nexus Champion's scared of a stupid little light?"
Folded his arms over his chest, Mikey quickly stuck his tongue out at him. "I haven't bolted yet, have I? You'd be halfway to China now if that thing was only a firefly."
Half-tempted to go and pound on him that very moment, the only thing that held Raph back was the realization of how close they were all to it. He hadn't noticed before, but this thing radiated a dull light, not even brighter than a nightlight. Yet it coated him and his brothers in a dull red.
Almost like blood.
Donny drew his bo staff. "Well, there's one way to see if this thing is even electric or not." Gingerly, placing his hand as far away from the worm-like thing, he touched it with his staff.
Immediately, the red peeled off of it, instead turning into a light blue. The new shade of light also touched them.
Then it expanded. Now it wasn't just touching them, it was enveloping them.
That was when everything he knew of the world around him, the sights, the sounds, the feeling of New York; that was when it all practically ceased to exist.
But only for a second. In the next, his ears popped loudly, followed by the sound of the air around him being cut to ribbons, coming closer and closer. It reminded him of Leo practicing with his katanas, only louder.
Swish.
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(laughs) All seems well now. Maybe not to you, but the true horror has yet to begin. Of course, you probably have already figured this out. I mean, if this was as scary as it got, I'd have a pretty lame horror story, wouldn't I?
The next few chapters should prove to be much longer. Actually, I can guarantee this. How? Maybe I'll tell you later. I don't want everyone pressuring me in the reviews.
Speaking of which, please do that! It'll make me a happy camper!
