Okay, people, I know that it had been awhile since I had updated, but you could review a little more. I only got two. For a while there it was only one. What happened to the ones who have me on their alert lists? Where did my faithful reviewers go? Look, Nearly 40 people read it, but only two reviewed. I don't care if you're jumping in now, or if you're an anonymous reader, you can review. It fact, I would prefer it if you did. That way I know if I'm doing good or not, and what you think, even if you hate it. I just want reviews. Please!
Okay, now that my rant is over, here's some important info. I made one little change in my story. Renee's energy color is reversible, meaning that sometimes it is black bordered with pink, like in chapter 4, and sometimes it is pink bordered with black. Just to let you know. Also, when Renee is with people she trusts, or just at home, she walks around in her cat-form. So, if she's at home with Kit, at the lair, or at April's, in the apartment part, she'll be in cat form. If she's where she can be easily seen by others, she'll have her feline features pulled in. it should also be noted that in this chapter, things pick up a bit, and won't really slow down much. This is where the main part of the story begins. The rest was mostly set-up. So here you go!
I own nothing. Nothing you hear me! NOTHING! (sniff) I need chocolate.
Chapter 9: The Fire
The girls went to training every Saturday as for the next few weeks. Renee came faithfully, and through this, was beginning to become more confident and sure of herself. As a result, she came more and more out of her shell (no pun intended). She slowly began to emerge from the persona she had created for herself, and began to show more of the side of her that had come out when she had shot the tires out from the Purple Dragons cars, the side before Japan. All in all, it was a good change for her.
Kit came as often as she could, but with the demands that were put on her by her company, and the couple of courses she was taking, she wasn't able to come down as often as Renee was. Still, she came as often as possible.
Both girls enjoyed the turtles' company, and the company of Splinter, Leatherhead, and of course Casey and April. They tried to help out wherever they could. Kit would bring Donatello old, yet still in good condition parts of various computers and other things that he might could use, and even let him into her labs when she was there alone working late. They recommended April's shop to everyone, and even found her some pretty good stuff to sell. Renee brought Mikey a great deal of comics, and other things like that. Kit gave Leo old things that were being replaced, but were still in good condition from her gyms, and they both gave him a lot of books. Kit would drop hints about where action was going to be for Casey and Raph, plus giving Casey some new gear when his broke or whatever (but not all the time. That could add up) Kit allowed LH access to her research, since he did not feel as comfortable about going out as Donnie did. For Splinter, they both gave him some things from Japan, and just sat and talked with him. Plus they would give them food, and leave money and other things that were needed.
Splinter had objected to this at first, but Kit had said, "I have the money to do this, and the resources. Ya'll have been nice to both Renee and me and this is my way of paying you back. Please accept it as a measure of my gratitude." After that, it was kind of hard for Splinter to refuse.
At any rate, it was a Friday night, and the girls had invited the guys over after they finished their patrol. They had ordered plenty of pizza, and Kit had dismissed all the workers and given the security guard the night off. Now the girls were waiting for the guys to show up.
"Gosh, Kit, can you believe that it's already been a couple of months since I first go here and we met the guys?" Renee asked as she did a little straitening up.
Kit smiled at her "I know, Rae, it's seems like it's been longer. And you're doing so well with all their training and stuff. It's made you more like the Renee I knew when we were kids."
"Yeah, I suppose I had turned a little inward. I was just so scared after Japan." Renee said.
"It was only natural. But I'm glad we met the guys. I kept telling you that you needed to have something to assure yourself that you didn't have to just rely on your powers and could take care of yourself another way." Kit told her.
"Yeah, and I suppose that having someone that I saw needing something that I could help with instead of me needing the help was also a good thing." Kit paused and levitated some books back on a shelf.
"Yup. You've actually been reading your phyc. book haven't you?" Kit teased. Then she stopped and looked at Renee. "You know, it's kinda nice to see you using your powers again. Those sessions with Splinter have really been paying off."
"'Course they have, dudette," a voice came from the balcony, "Splinter's the best of the best!"
Both of the girls turned, and saw the guys coming in the balcony door.
"Hey!" Renee greeted.
"Hey!" Mikey greeted back.
Donny and Leo came in, each offering their own greetings to the girls.
Kit frowned. "Where's Raph?" she asked.
"Right here. Why, ya miss me?" he asked as he came in.
"Course not." She said, "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"So you do care." He said.
"Yeah, about keeping your brothers happy. I mean, what would Mikey do without you to torment, who would Leo yell at, and who would break stuff for Donny to fix. Oh wait, he could probably live without that last one." Kit replied as she walked into the kitchen.
"Why you!" Raph responded.
Everyone else just ignored the interplay between the two. It had been going on for a while now. Raph had developed a grudging respect for Kit during their fights, and Kit had kinda liked his tough guy attitude to an extent. Sometimes it became too much for her, and she told Raph to go jump in the sewer water, or other such thing. At any rate, all could tell they kinda liked each other, and were flirting lightly. Mikey found out the hard way that it wasn't to good to tease Raph about it, and the rest learned from his example.
"So how'd patrol go?" Kit asked as she reemerged from the kitchen. "The pizza'll be here soon." She added when she saw the look on Mikey's face.
"Pretty good." Leo said. "We stopped some muggings, rapes, a couple of break-ins. Most of that was Purple Dragon stuff although there were a couple of non-gang members who were doing some of it. There wasn't much Foot activity going on, but that just makes me nervous. I think Karai's planning something big." He looked seriously at the two girls. "Make sure neither of you are ever alone, or just by yourselves. Lock up tight at night. I'm afraid she may try to come after Renee again."
Renee and Kit nodded.
"I'll make sure that the security system hasn't been compromised an any way before I go to bed each night, maybe hire a couple of extra guards." Kit said "I can pass it of as rumors of sabotage and the like by my competitors, and my investors won't question it any."
Renee looked at her cousin "And when I meditate, I'll try to reach out and find any threats nearby. I'll also try to place my mind in a state where I'll sense any danger."
"That would be good." Leo said, "We'll also stop by and check things out at random times on patrol."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Mikey said, "Now that that's settled, let's start this party! I am ready to Eat!"
The group laughed and some shook their heads.
Sure enough, the pizza arrived soon, as Kit had promised, and they all began digging in. Mikey had surfed the channels that the girls got, and discovered the watch-any-movie-we-show-that-you-want-to-see-for-free-anytime-because-you-get-our-channel channels, and had started up Batman Begins (A/N: I finally saw that! It was great!).
At some point during the movie they finished all the food, and Kit got up and gathered the dishes together to take to the kitchen. It wasn't much considering they had eaten off of paper plates, but there was still a little, like the bowl from the popcorn, and a couple of glasses that weren't disposable.
Her intent was to just walk into the kitchen, throw away the paper stuff, put the rest in the sink, and walk out. However, she got the creepiest feeling that someone was watching her. She went toward the window, and looked out, but saw nothing. She stared harder, and was concentrating, when a voice form behind made her jump.
"See anythin' intrestin'?"
She almost jumped on the counter, he startled her so.
"Whoa, calm down, I didn't mean to scare ya." Raph said.
"Geez, Raph, are you trying to give me a heart attack!" she blurted out.
"Hey, I said I didn't mean to!" he protested
Kit shook her head "Sorry, automatic reaction."
"Huh. So, what were ya doing, lookin' out that window so hard?"
"I felt like I was being watched, and had this strange compulsion to look out the window, even though we're high up."
Raph looked serious. "If we can sneak in at this height, so can the Foot. With all of Leo's talk about the Foot plannin' som'n big, it's no wonder you're a little freaked out."
Kit shrugged, and wrapped her arms around herself. "I know. I'm also just a little paranoid around this time of year."
"Why?" Raph asked.
Kit walked over to the calendar and stopped. "Renee told you that my parents died, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did she tell you how?"
"No."
Kit stayed looking at the calendar. "It happened this week. In fact, it was yesterday. I just try to stay busy, and not think about it too much." She shuddered slightly "My parents didn't just die, they were murdered. Some group who felt like they had been misused by my parents, and they might have, decided that revenge was in order. So they came and ended up murdering my parents. They sabotaged the private plane they were on, and it crashed in the middle of the ocean." Her voice broke a little here. "The leader of the group was insane, and decided that I needed to die too, even though I had nothing to do with the way my parents spent their money. I spent about a month in hiding and under protection until that guy was caught. However, he apparently got out somehow, and the next year, he attacked me on the anniversary of my parents' death. I was lucky that so many people were around when he did it, so that this time, there were many witnesses. He's in jail now, and had been for a while. As far as I'm concerned, he can rot there until eternity, but I can't help getting a little ancy during this time of the year." She was still facing the calendar, but it wasn't hard to hear the tears in her voice. She was crying.
Raph was unsure what to do. He slowly walked up behind her, and put his arms around her. Kit stiffened at first, then turned, and broke down in his arms. Raph just stood there, and held and comforted her the best he could.
It the living room, Renee smiled. It was about time she let it out, and about time those two shared a soft moment, instead of calling each other names.
Later that night, after Kit had Raph had come out of the kitchen, and after the movie was over, the guys were getting ready to leave.
"We have so got to do this again, dudettes." Mikey said.
"I don't know if we can." Kit said
"Why not?" asked Mikey.
"Because I've been renovating this place so I could rent out the apartments. It's ready now. In fact, I've got people coming to look tomorrow. If this place fills up, you might have a harder time coming over, and if the demand is great, I'll end up renting this one out as well, and moving out. After all, I have options to go places, and this is business." Kit explained
"What! Awww." Mikey said.
"Sorry, Mikey." Renee said, "But this was always an option."
"Aww, man. And we have so much fun, too."
That's when Kit smiled at Mikey. "Don't worry, Mike. If we do move to one of the other places I own, I'll trip it out too. That is, if we don't move into one of the already furbished ultra-cool ones."
"Just how many homes you got?" Raph asked.
"You talking about the city, state, country, or world?"
"You have more ultra-cool homes? Sweet!" Mikey exclaimed.
Kit laughed, "Yes, I do. But ya'll better get home before Master Splinter starts worrying."
"And so you two can get some sleep before training?" Donny said with a grin.
"Something like that." Renee said with a smile of her own.
"We'll see you girls tomorrow, then?" asked Leo.
"Count on it." was the reply.
The girls saw the guys out, and then sat off getting ready for bed.
From the next building over, the guys watched the girls close up after them, and were about to leave, when Raph spoke up.
"Hey. When I went in the kitchen after Kit, she seemed to think that someone was watching her. Maybe we should take a look to make sure there isn't anyone around."
Leo nodded "Good idea, Raph. I keep feeling like something big is going to happen."
"Wow, Raph had a good idea!" Mikey said
"And Leo admitted it!" Donny said.
The other two brothers shot them equally venomous looks while Donny and Mikey snickered.
"Come on." Leo said, "Let's do a quick patrol of the building and surrounding areas, then we'll go home.
The others nodded in agreement, and set off to look around. After a few minutes, they all met back at the rooftop.
"Anyone find anything?" Leo asked
"I found a number to a new pizza place." Mikey said. Raph reached over and smacked Mikey on the back of the head. "Ow! What?"
"I didn't find nuthin', Leo." Raph said.
"Me neither." Donny reported.
"I didn't either. Still, I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen soon." Leo said.
"Well, if it is, it don't look like it's goin' down tonight." Raph said "Come on, let's go back to the lair."
"All right." Leo finally agreed. But even as they left, he couldn't help but take one last glance back.
Back inside, the girls had gotten ready for bed.
Renee stretched as she got up form her lotus position in the floor of the study. "I can't sense anything," she said as she reached up and scratched her ear. "How about you?"
Kit shook her head from where she sat at the computer screen. "I've run all the scans about five times. There's no one in the system. I've also added on a few layers of security and other safe guards, including a warning that will be sent to Donnie's computer if anything happens. We should be safe for the night." She closed down her computer and swirled her chair around. "Let's go to bed."
"Sounds good to me. I didn't get in enough cat-naps today." Renee said.
Kit looked at her with a smile "Do you ever get in enough for your satisfaction?"
Renee rolled back her shoulders. "Hey, I'm part cat. What do you expect?"
Kit just shook her head and walked out if the room. Renee followed suit, and helped Kit check all the doors and window. Once sure they were locked, the girls said goodnight to each other and went to bed.
The night passed fairly peacefully for the most part, each of the girls falling into a deep sleep. But around 3:45, Renee suddenly woke up. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a gasp. A bad feeling permeated the air, and she was breathing heavily.
"Kit?" she called out, a little uncertainly. Something bad was going down, and she wanted to make sure Kit was okay. When she received no answer, not that she thought she would, she flipped back the covers and padded out into the hallway. She had to adjust her baggy pajama pants a little, and pull her spaghetti strap shirt down before she could walk properly, but she still went on.
"Kit?" She called out again, this time a little louder as she ran her fingers thorough her hair to get it out of her eyes. She still received no answer, and so went on towards Kit's room. She knocked, but felt a sense of urgency (A/N: No, she did not have to go to the bathroom!) and went on in to Kit's room.
Kit lay on her bed, snuggled in her comforter, looking the picture of peace. At least, she would have if she hadn't had her hair up in a white sleeping cap. As it was, she looked kinda ridiculous.
"Hey," Renee said "Strawberry Shortcake, wake up. Wake Up."
Kit sniffed, and slowly blinked her eyes open. " 'Enee?" she said groggily. She slowly sat up. "What're ya doin' in m' room?"
"Kit, get up. I think something bad's going on." Renee said, hoping that Kit would pick up on the urgency in her voice.
Kit blinked a little more "What makes you say that?"
Suddenly, Renee's eyes widened, and she pushed Kit down on the bed. A whizzing went over their heads less than a second after they ducked. They both sat up, and looked at Kit's headboard. A shuriken was embedded in it.
"Well, there's that." Renee said. They both scrambled down off of Kit's bed, Kit making a grab for a couple of things on her nightstand, and pulling her sleeping cap off. Her hair tumbled down, and she slid on some glasses. In her other hand was a PDA. A few more shuriken embed themselves on the wall behind the girls.
"We've got to get out of here." Renee said.
"I know, I'm trying to access the security protocols." More shuriken flew over their heads. Kit made a frustrated noise. "It's not working. They must have taken out my wireless network. Jamming or something."
"Okay, new plan." Renee said.
"Correction, a revision of the plan. We still need to contact the guys, just manually. Can you make a shield and hold it?" Kit asked
Renee got a wicked grin, looking even more so because of the fang looking cat teeth she sported. "You bet." She concentrated, and soon she was ready. "Let's go." She stood up, in her cat form, held out her hands together, the separated them, letting a glowing pink force field, bordered in black, form and extend. Kit quickly came up behind her, and they both ran forward shuriken hitting Renee's shield. They ran past the ninja standing in the hallway, Renee's shield knocking down any who got in the way and ran into the study. Kit ran to the computer, and Renee used her powers to hurl some objects out the door, trying to keep the attackers at bay.
"Kit, these are Foot ninja!" she called out.
"I know! I'm trying to contact the guys, or the police or – Ahhh!" Kit suddenly screamed as her computer blew up in her face. Renee threw out a force field around the computer to protect Kit. Unfortunately, that meant that she lost her concentration on keeping the Foot at bay.
"They fried my system, They Fried My System!" Kit said.
"We have bigger problems!" Renee yelled.
Suddenly more Foot crashed through the windows on either side of Kit's desk. "I noticed!" she yelled back. "Rae, we have to get out of here!"
Renee turned and saw the Foot pouring in "Oh, CRAP!" she said. "We've got to get help!"
"Renee run." Kit said.
"What?"
"Run!" Kit fled out the door of the study, and started attacking the Foot. Renee quickly followed suit.
"Are you mad!" Renee said.
"Maybe." Kit said, "Maybe. We have to get to the kitchen!"
"Why!"
"Trust me!"
The two girls fought for their lives, combining old training with new, and new training with familiar abilities. Still, it looked like the girls would never make it to the kitchen. The Foot ninja suddenly parted, and Karai came through with the elite ninja right behind her.
Renee smirked "Nice hats."
They made no notice that she had said anything at all.
"Okay, we need a new plan." Kit said
"Your time has come, Renee Finrir." Karai said, "You will come and help me free my father."
Renee's eyes widened. How did Karai fond out her name? It didn't matter. Renee hissed at Karai and the various Foot.
"Not gonna happen." Kit said. Suddenly, Kit used the back of one of the Foot like a springboard and leapt up, triggering the fire alarm in the hallway. The alarms started going off.
At the same time as the alarms started, though, Kit was attacked by the various Foot. Renee heard her scream in sudden pain, and Renee leapt in.
"Get away from her!" she cried, fighting off Foot ninja like they were paper dolls.
The Foot parted, and Renee saw Kit lying on the floor, clutching at a wound on her side. She was bleeding from it all over the floor, and had various other wounds on her. What made Renee stop, however, was the katana that was being held to Kit's neck. It already had blood on it, Kit's obviously since no one else had was bleeding like she was. Kit was barely conscious, and in no position to fight back if she was.
" Is your choice still the same?" Karai asked. When she did not receive a reply, except for heavy breathing on Renee's part, she continued to speak "I will give you time to think on this. Just remember, next time I will not be so merciful to you or your friend." Karai walked away, and the Foot quickly followed suit, except for the elite, that stayed with her. "One more thing, Cat-girl. Here is a present." She threw a little ball into the living room curtains, and they burst into flame. "Consider the consequences of not joining me." she called back as she left as quickly as she came.
Renee hissed once, then looked to Kit. She was still not completely conscious, but she wasn't unconscious either. Renee looked up into the flames that were quickly enveloping the living room, and making their way towards the hall. Renee knew she had powers, but she couldn't keep them going forever, not without them getting out of hand, and doing it for two was even harder.
She took Kit and pulled her into a standing position, slinging one arm over her shoulders. She felt the warmth of Kit's blood on her, and knew there wasn't much time. The fire was encroaching on them rather fast as well.
"Think, Renee, think." She said to herself as she moved the two of them away form the fire. She couldn't teleport them, she didn't have enough control over that. A shield wouldn't hold for long, and even if it did, she didn't think that Kit would last long enough for them to outlast the fire in her shield. She could try her healing powers, but with the lack of control, and the severity of Kit's wounds, Renee didn't think she would be able to heal them well enough, and then she would probably drop unconscious, which would do neither of them any good. Plain and simple, they needed help.
"Why, Kit? Why did you risk everything for that alarm?" Renee asked.
"Had to." Kit mumbled, "Get guys."
"What?" Renee said. She pulled Kit closer to her. Kit's weight got heavier. "Oh, no girl, don't do this, stay with me." Kit didn't respond.
The smoke was getting heavier. Renee reached down, and ripped some material from her pajama top. "Thank goodness for claws." She mumbled. She quickly put it around Kit's mouth and nose. Then she reached down and tore off some more, and made one for herself.
"The fire escape is in the study. I have to get there." Renee said. She pulled Kit through the burning apartment, using her powers to try to block debris and fire. The apartment was burning all around them, though, and Renee found that they were trapped by the fire. She wasn't sure what to do.
She felt a give in the floor, and realized that the fire must have made its way to the lower levels. If they didn't get out of here soon, the floor was going to collapse beneath them. Just as she thought that, the floor cracked, and then gave way, sending both girls plummeting down to the floor beneath them. Renee brought her powers into play, and rolled so that when they landed, it would be softer, and Kit wouldn't hit first. Still, it wasn't a good landing.
Renee quickly got them up, and checked them quickly. She was all right, a little singed, and bruised, but nothing too serious, although her back did hurt. Kit, however looked like her leg had been twisted or broken in the fall, and it didn't look too good. Add that to her other injuries, and Kit was in more trouble.
Renee closed her eyes, and tried to think of a ways out from here. Suddenly she heard something.
"Renee! Kit! Where are you! Renee! Kit!"
Oh, thank God! Renee thought "Mikey! Here! We're over here! The floor collapsed and we're down one level! Kit's hurt bad! She needs help now!"
"Stay put!" She heard Leo call out, "We're coming to get you!"
There was a cracking noise, and some debris fell down. Renee squealed and put up a small field to deflect the debris. "Hurry!"
Soon she saw what looked like a green shape moving, and coming closer to them. "Over here!" she called.
Leo and Raph quickly found them, and Raph moved to pick up Kit.
"Careful, she's hurt pretty badly." Renee said.
"Aww, shell! What happened to you, Kit?" Raph asked as he got a good look at Kit's wounds.
"Later, Raph. Right now we have to get out of here." Leo told him.
"Guys! You might want to move it! The fire's getting worse!" Mikey yelled form somewhere.
"Were coming!" Leo yelled back.
"Yeah, well, come up. The fire's spread below and blocked the exit. Donny said he's gonna move the battle shell into position, and open up the top-I didn't know you could do that Donny- and we'll have to make a jump for it." Mikey appeared in front of them, and quickly led them up to the roof.
The fire was still raging all around them, and growing bigger too. They reached the roof, but felt it start to buckle.
"We've go to jump!" Leo said
Renee whimpered "I, I don't know if I can."
"We have too!" he yelled back, then took her arm and started running towards the edge, effectively dragging her with him.
She screamed as they flew out into empty air, and then started plummeting down. They were headed towards the battle shell, and it was coming up fast. Then, almost before she could register it, they were landing on an air mattress thing that Don had put in. Leo grabbed her, and rolled them out of the way, as Mikey and Raph came down, protecting Kit between them. As soon as they hit, Donny pulled out of the ally way, and on to the street.
"The fire trucks and the police are almost here." He said. "It would be best if they didn't find us. If we drop you off here, across the street, think you can hold on until they arrive?"
Renee looked and the still bleeding, and injured Kit. "We'll have to. Kit needs a hospital, at that'll be the fastest way to get her help."
"Alright then." Leo said. They stopped and helped Renee and Kit out, then quickly drove off. They didn't go far, though before they got out and went to the rooftops to look down on their two friends. The ambulance was just pulling up, and people were jumping out and towards them. Renee, who had enough sense to pull her feline features in, was calling out to them. They immediately took stock of Kit, and worked on her. Renee told the fire marshal that they were the only two in the building, and all they had to worry about was putting the fire out, before she was also taken away by the EMTs.
As soon as the turtles were sure that the girls were taken care of, the disappeared like they had been taught, and went to tell this to their master.
So, whatdya think? I promise, more is in store. This was a pivotal point for Renee, as you'll soon see, and I'm going to try to pick up the pace on the story a little. Anyways, next time, you'll see the aftermath of the fire, and how bad hurt Kit was, along with some angsty Renee.
Renee: I am not angsty!
Author: Well, you will be
Renee: No I won't!
Author: How about depressively, blamingly, inwardly contemplative.
Renee: Uh, sure? No, wait! Um….
Kit: Hello! Has everyone forgotten about me! I'm the one that's hurt here! Ally, You better get on that next chapter! I have too much to do to remain laid up like this!
Renee: Ally?
Kit: Yeah, it was Mikey's idea. He said it was short for RealityBreakGirl.
Renee: Oh, okay, makes sense.
Mikey: All praise me, the maker of cool nicknames!
Author/Ally: Don't I get a say in this?
All three: No.
Ally: Hmpf. See how much I'm loved. (stops and waves towards the reader) Until next time!
Renee: Ya'll come back now, ya hear!
Ally: (shakes head) I'm gonna go find me some of that chocolate.
