CHAPTER SEVEN
FIRST OUTING
It had been several weeks since Vye had settled into her new human form, entering new territory for the small ninja family, as well as herself. Though she continued to remain quiet most of the time, it was evident that she was gradually becoming more vocal and gaining a bit of understanding in social situations. None of this was without the occasional blunder, however. She spent most of her time familiarizing herself with earth culture through any means available to her within the confines of the lair, though this often became muddied by Michelangelo's constant barrage of comics, movies, and video games that definitely tugged the line between fiction and fact. Despite the stumbles here and there, overall she'd become more comfortable in her body and surroundings.
On one particular evening, Casey decided to pay a visit to the group, and had set himself up in the central area with his hockey stick at the ready. He pulled his mask down over his face and with the hockey stick poised, tapped gently at a small golf ball placed just in front of his feet. After feeling the position and aim was just right, he pulled the stick back as he hollered.
"FORE!"
His voice rang through the open space as his swing came down with brute force and whacked the golf ball clean from its resting spot, sending it swiftly into the air. It remained there for about 2 seconds before it was immediately kicked by a leaping Raphael, causing it to bounce harshly against one of the nearby training targets. The turtle landed perched on all fours to lighten the impact before getting to his feet with a proud smirk on his face, soon to be wiped off by Michelangelo's commentary belting from a mere couple of metres away.
"Aaaand Raphael makes a clean shot with twenty points!"
"Twenty?! Are you kiddin' me? That totally hit the center, that's a full fifty!"
"Nu-uh, it hit the outside ring! It's twenty!"
Casey lifted his mask momentarily as the two brothers bickered about the score, resting his hockey stick against his shoulder as he shifted to pick up another golf ball from his bag.
"See, this is why we should be usin' darts, you guys." He said, placing the newly acquired ball down in front of him.
"But where's the fun in that? This way's much more challenging!" Mikey retorted.
"I dunno, tryin' not to get stabbed in the foot sounds pretty challengin' to me."
Raphael folded his arms and grunted, glaring over at Mikey after Casey's comment.
"Well I'm certainly open to that possibility right now." He grumbled, causing Mikey to hold his hands up in defense.
"And this is exactly why we're not using darts!"
Across the room in the entertainment corner, Master Splinter sat on the sofa tending to a cup of tea placed in front of himself as he awaited the beginning of his regular soap opera. On the other end of the couch - now dressed in some of the newly gifted, more fitting clothes from April - sat Vye, who was engrossed in yet another book taken from one of the shelves in the lab. She wasn't sure exactly when or why she was going to need to use information on combustion engines from the book she was reading but the workings of earth technology along with everything else had begun to fascinate her. Even though she struggled to understand a lot of it, the overall presentation was intriguing and made her curious.
The pair had already tuned out the noise from behind them, which resulted in little reaction to Casey's following call as he swung for another golf ball. This time however, the tranquility was broken instantly with a smash, causing both figures on the sofa to flinch, with a small squeak escaping Vye. Their gazes following the origin of the sudden sound led them to see a small cracked indent in one of the now flickering lights overhanging the televisions, sparks spitting out as the culprit golf ball slipped out of the dent and onto the floor. Donatello, who had been preoccupied at his computer the entire time, also leaned back in his chair to look up at the scene behind him.
"Oh come on, guys!" He sighed. "I just fixed that."
"Sorry!" Casey's voice echoed from across the room.
"You can blame Mikey for that one, it was his turn to score."
"Hey! I would've totally hit that if Casey's aim wasn't off!"
"My aim?! You're supposed t'be the ninja here!"
As the trio's argument began to unfold once again, Donatello got up from his desk to walk over to the scene of the incident, carefully picking up the golf ball that had been smacked into his latest repair job. Considering that most people traversing the lair didn't wear shoes it was probably wise to clean up the mess as soon as possible. While he made a start on shifting the small pieces of glass from the floor, he heard Master Splinter let out a light exasperated sigh before taking a long sip of his tea and turning up the volume of the television a couple of notches, the girl beside him having already returned her attention to her book. The next sound he heard was a pair of feet lightly hitting the floor a short distance away, followed by Leonardo's voice.
"...What happened?"
"Just ask The Three Stoodges over there." Don answered, continuing to pick shards up off the ground.
Following the bickering from the aforementioned triad, Leo walked forward a few paces to make sure he could be heard over the noise when he spoke.
"You three really need to be more careful. You could take someone's eye out with those things." He gestured towards his own eye as he lectured.
"Why d'you think I'm wearin' a mask?" Casey called out whilst holding his hockey stick back for another swing.
"You know that's not what I mea-"
His sentence was rudely interrupted by another yell from Casey, whose arms pulled the hockey stick around once more to impact the next golf ball.
"GOONGALA!"
Leo made a swipe for the ball as it shot clear over Raph's reach and made its way towards the back of Master Splinter's head. About to call out to warn his father, he stopped as he noticed the golf ball had already been halted in its tracks, Splinter having caught it in his hand without even looking away from the tv.
"Woah, nice catch, Sensei!" Mikey exclaimed, impressed at the feat.
Casey scratched the back of his head, about to bumble an apology before Master Splinter turned around on the sofa to look at them all.
"Perhaps it would be wise to take a break." He said. "Outside."
There was a slight hint of irritation in his voice, which was to be expected as he was almost buffeted whilst trying to watch a simple soap opera. Sensing this, the boys all shuffled their feet a bit, Raphael and Casey looking particularly guilty. Feeling much less guilty, Michelangelo sprung to his feet, grinning.
"Y'know what that means, boys! I win with eighty points - time to celebrate!"
His celebration was met with a slap upside the back of his head from his hot tempered brother, who growled at having to admit defeat despite being certain the scores had been forged.
"Alright, alright." Casey conceded as he lifted his mask to show his face. "Who's up for an ice-cream run?"
"Sounds good to me. Maybe I can throw one in Mikey's face." Raph taunted.
All Mikey did in response was blow a raspberry in his direction, placing his hands on his hips. Leonardo - and Donatello once he had finished cleaning up the previous mess - grouped up with the three to show their inclusion in the new plan. It was then that Mikey turned to face the sofa, shifting his weight to the side.
"Hey! Why don't we take Vye?"
Hearing her name mentioned, the girl in question looked up from her book and over her shoulder to glance up at the boys.
"Me-?"
"Yeah! I mean, she's never even had ice cream before!" He shook his head in pity, turning to the group again.
"That's because you've been eating it all, you dope." Raph added, giving him another - but much more gentle - slap to the head.
Leo tapped his chin in thought before resting his finger against his cheek, looking down at the girl.
"She has been cooped up in here for a while now…" He mulled. "Maybe it is about time we took her to the surface. What do you think, Donnie?"
Donatello had also been pondering to himself, almost mirroring his brother.
"Well...I suppose if we're mainly going to be in the Battle Shell, it's probably fine. If she wants to anyway."
"Of course she does!" Mikey beamed.
The group looked at Vye expectantly, causing her to recoil slightly from the sudden attention. She hadn't even thought about going to the surface yet and suddenly being bombarded with the opportunity felt really overwhelming, especially with Michelangelo giving his usual over-eager stare. She had to admit though, she was curious about the world above, and this 'iced cream' they had been talking about. It was probably as good a time as any now that the invitation was actually out there. Closing the book on her lap, she nodded nervously.
"Okay, I'll go."
Mikey grabbed her wrist to pull her to her feet, causing the book to drop off her lap onto the floor.
"Alright!" He dramatically announced, pointing with his free hand. "Onward to the Battle Shell - and victory dessert!"
Not giving Vye any time to react, Mikey marched on towards the elevator, dragging her behind him as the rest of the group began to follow. About to step away, Leo was stopped by Master Splinter addressing him.
"Leonardo, if you are to take Miss Vye with you, be sure not to let your brothers get into any mischief." He paused. "Also…"
"Double-thick ice cream shake?" His son smiled, giving a thumbs up. "Way ahead of you, Master Splinter."
The rat nodded in acknowledgement and watched the turtle run off to join Casey and the others. Once the door to the elevator closed he let out a small sigh of relief as he turned back to face the television, lifting the remote to adjust the volume once more as he had finally received the peace he needed to continue his long awaited daytime drama.
The musty smell of the abandoned warehouse filled Vye's nostrils, causing her to wrinkle her nose. It was the only notable observation she could take on where she was given that Michelangelo had decided to cover her eyes once they got to their destination in the elevator, and as the warehouse was on street level she hadn't been allowed to venture up to it until now. Slowly moving her forward, Mikey continued to shield her vision, raising his voice until it bounced off the walls.
"Introducing the coolest, flyest, most shell-tastic vehicle in the city of New Yo- no, wait- THE WORLD- Drumroll please-"
Though met with silence from the others who began to shake their heads, he continued on, removing his hands from the girl's eyes to go stand in front of the large green vehicle situated before them.
"THE BATTLE SHELL!"
After her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting so she could actually make out what was being presented to her, Vye blinked slowly with no other visible reaction on her face.
"Oh. It's a truck."
Mikey's arms drooped, his body slumping slightly at the drastic lack in enthusiasm he was originally hoping for.
"Wha- I mean sure it looks like a truck, but isn't it cool?!"
"Well, with the way you were describing it all the way up here I was just sort of expecting, I don't know...something else...like a spaceship? Or one of those...What are they called…" She paused, looking at her hands as if they would somehow give her the answer before looking back up at the turtle. "...Oh, a tank. That's it, I was picturing a tank."
Mikey gasped, looking offended as he threw his arms across the side of the truck. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Donatello.
"Well, it holds up like one at least." Don added before tugging on his brother's headband. "Now quit messing around and get inside, motormouth."
"Owwww!" Mikey moaned. "Hey, I was trying to make your work look good!"
"I like to think my work speaks for itself." Don continued as he hopped into the back of the truck and aided Leonardo in pulling the smaller alien girl in to join them.
Once inside, Vye did a brief 360 turn as she observed the interior of the vehicle. Despite how it looked on the outside, she was rather surprised by how much more advanced it appeared to be. She'd seen snippets of trucks and other large vehicles in books and tv shows, but this looked more like something out of one of Michelangelo's comics. Noticing her behaviour, Mikey put his hands on his hips once he jumped in, a grin on his face.
"See? It is cool!"
"Give it a rest, Mikey." Raphael said, followed by an extended pause. "But yeah, it is cool."
Vye nodded in agreement as she shuffled to allow the rest of the group to enter, Casey having to stoop under the entrance slightly due to his height. It was starting to feel a little crowded until Donatello made his way up to the front, sitting himself in the driver's seat. After pressing a few of the many many buttons that seemed to be laid across the dashboard, he turned in his seat a bit to look back towards Vye and patted the passenger seat next to him. Taking a moment to register the gesture, she tilted her head slightly before making her way over towards the seat, taking up the invitation.
"Aw, what? I was gonna ride shotgun!" Mikey whined.
Donatello turned his head to look at him.
"Vye hasn't properly seen the outside world yet, it makes the most sense to let her look out the window." He explained. "Wasn't that kind of the point of bringing her?"
Letting out no more than a grumble, his brother dropped down onto one of the back seats, folding his arms and puffing out his cheek, clearly unhappy that he had managed to thwart himself. Paying little mind to the pouting, Don turned back around and returned his focus to the wheel.
"You'll maybe want to let him sit there on the way back." He mentioned in a hushed voice, Vye turning her head to look at him as he did so. "Or you might never hear the end of it."
Vye shifted her gaze up to the ceiling as she pondered. Having been Michelangelo's roommate for the past few weeks, she could certainly see a possibility of that happening. As long as she got to see some part of the surface, it didn't really bother her having to give up her seat at any point so she nodded in silence again. Once the group had begun to settle, the engine revved up, causing Vye to flinch at the sudden noise and lean far back into her seat as she gripped onto the cushion. The sound was a lot louder in real life than it seemed on the tv, even though it made sense for such a large contraption. Soon they found themselves on the move, the Battle Shell easing out of the driveway and out into the open roads of the city.
Most of the journey had been fairly quiet, excluding the occasional quibble between Michelangelo and Raphael with the former teasing over his latest conquest. Although Donatello's driving had improved significantly, this was less evident to Vye whose stomach had begun to turn knots and soon found herself sunk low into her chair, unable to see past the dashboard. Human stomachs were surprisingly sensitive. Occasionally her gaze would watch the pitch black sky from where she was positioned, but it wasn't until lights suddenly began to create an ambient glow that she shifted herself to sit upright. Her eyes widened slightly as she watched the tall illuminated buildings go past, eventually her curiosity overpowering her initial fear and allowing her to press her hands and nose up against the doorside window. They were blurry - along with the many other vehicles surrounding their own - but she caught glimpses of humans walking along the narrow street paths, each wearing their own distinctive clothing and moving in different directions at different paces.
"So many…" She uttered to herself.
"That's New York for 'ya." Casey chuckled, having heard her from where he stood.
It wasn't long after that they arrived at their destination, the Battle Shell tucked away in one of the wider darkened alleys around the corner from the ice cream place so as not to be seen by the general public. Thankfully such a place was much less populated at night time. The turtles loitered around the alley to stretch their legs while Casey went to go buy the awaited desserts, Vye remaining in the safety of her front seat inside the van and continuing to curiously peek out of the windows. It had unfortunately become too cloudy to look at the sky properly and the tall walls of the buildings gave very little view of much else, still she found every new sight and sound intriguing. So much so that she barely noticed any of the conversation going on outside the back of the truck.
"Alright, Raph. I'll give you one more opportunity to win this one!" Mikey grinned. "Whoever gets to the top of that fire escape first gets an extra fifty points! That would put you in the lead."
"Casey already went to get your 'winning order' though, so what do I get? Y'know, aside from the joy of actually beatin' you." Raphael paused, his glare relaxing for a moment before moving into a grin as he cracked his knuckles. "Wait, what am I saying? That's all I need, bring it on!"
His brother chuckled as he made a stance ready to make a leap for the nearest fire escape, only to be held in his position by Leonardo walking in between them with his hands on his hips.
"Come on you two, that's enough for one day."
The competing duo groaned a little in mild disappointment, Michelangelo standing upright once more and Raph folding his arms. Leo took a few steps further before turning to the both of them again.
"...Besides, we all know I'd beat you both." He continued.
"Hey, no way, this is our wager!" Raph snapped, not keen on the idea of getting another opponent to potentially be shown up by. "And what makes you so confident, huh?"
Without further comment, Leonardo flipped himself backwards towards the fire escape, gripping on to it tightly and swiftly shifting his weight to push himself into further extra leaps up the railings until in no time at all he reached the very top, perching on the side to look down at his brothers with a mild smirk. Donatello, who had been quietly watching from the rear bumper of the truck, slowly clapped his hands.
"Impressive."
Raphael growled quietly as he put his hands on his hips, looking much less amused.
"Show off."
Thankfully before the competition could go any further, Casey reappeared in the alley attempting to carry multiple small bowls of ice cream by himself, a signal for Leo to quietly jump back down to ground level.
"Okay, who ordered the caramel chocolate swirl with whipped cream and sprinkles and almonds and- geez, how many toppings is this?" Casey called out.
"Enough toppings for a winner! That's mine!" Mikey hopped over to grab his requested treat, holding it in the air like a trophy for a moment before lowering it to immediately start demolishing it with his spoon.
Raph shook his head in disgust as he watched the display before taking his own bowl as it was handed to him, and soon everyone appeared to be served and digging into the frozen food. All except one small alien, who on overhearing the mention of 'chocolate' and 'cream' - two words she was definitely familiar with - had shifted herself to the back doorway of the van, quietly watching the group as she sat resting on her knees. It took a moment, but on taking one more spoonful into his mouth, Leo noticed this, swallowing before he spoke.
"Uh, Casey? Didn't you get one for Vye?"
The group glanced at Leo before turning their attention to Vye, Donatello flinching as he hadn't even heard the approach despite her only sitting a couple of feet from where he rested. They then all looked to Casey as he spoke.
"Huh? Uh…Well, no." The man scratched the back of his head. "I mean she's an alien, right? How do we even know if she likes ice cream? And what if she's like, allergic to it or somethin'?"
"She's in a human body, Casey. She has human tastes." Don explained. "And considering she's got mostly April's genetic make-up, it's probably safe to say she won't be lactose intolerant. In fact, she already drinks milk back in the lair."
The girl in question was far too distracted staring at the bowl in the turtle's hand to contribute to the conversation. Sensing the gaze, Donatello turned his head back to face her, dipping his spoon into a corner of the bowl before offering it out towards her. As the spoon edged closer to her face, Vye leaned back slightly until it stopped. Taking a moment to observe the offering, she gave it a very light sniff before cautiously biting onto the scoop. With a sharp exhale, she leaned back again, putting her hand up to cover her mouth. It was incredibly cold, but not in a bad way. The sudden cool air filled the girl's mouth and was soon replaced by the sweet aftertaste, causing her cheeks to flush a light pink and her eyes to widen slightly.
"See? She's fine."
"I think she likes it!" Mikey chuckled.
Vye snapped her attention to Michelangelo when he spoke, causing him to freeze as he caught her gaze staring him down. He began to slowly edge away as he watched the girl clamber out of the back of the truck and trot towards him, her eyes tracking the movement of his bowl as he held it high above his head.
"Uh-Uh, no dice! No!" He cried. "This is for winners only - a.k.a ME!"
"Please?" She tilted her head slightly, not taking her eyes off the bowl.
"No!"
Vye puffed out her cheek a little. She knew she'd used the word correctly and yet he still refused. Hearing a small chuckle from behind her, she turned around to direct her attention elsewhere, only to this time have her face met with a rough green palm.
"No way, kid." Raphael voiced, holding the small girls head back far enough to keep her arms from reaching his own ice cream.
As the redhead moaned and gently flailed her arms towards his brother, Leonardo took a step back, expecting to be the next target.
"Casey, maybe you should get Vye her own ice cream."
"Okay okay, I'm on it."
Casey let out an amused laugh as he watched his friend fight off the girl for another moment before leaving the alley to go and retrieve more ice cream. As they waited, Vye continued to hover around the turtles, Michelangelo eventually retreating to the top of the van to keep his ice cream at a safe distance. Feeling there was only one way to momentarily tame the behaviour, Donatello took another small scoop out of his own bowl.
"Vye, come here."
Almost like a dog being beckoned, the girl immediately trotted over and sat herself back on the bumper of the van, waiting patiently as another spoonful of ice cream was delivered to her mouth. The second wave of flavour was almost better than the first, her expression immediately calming and her legs beginning to kick lightly as she covered her mouth once again to muffle a satisfied whimper.
"There." said Don, slightly relieved.
The boys all seemed to relax a little seeing the situation simmered, allowing them to go back to finishing their individual desserts in peace before they began to melt any further.
The calm moment wasn't to last, as a loud boom suddenly echoed through the streets and into the alleys, causing the boys to almost drop their bowls - Vye immediately recoiling. Michelangelo quickly got to his feet, remaining on the roof of the Battle Shell and looking up into the sky as he began to see small trails of smoke from above the building tops.
"What was that?!"
"It sounded like an explosion." Donatello answered, putting his bowl down carefully before hopping off the truck bumper. "And not too far away."
Leonardo frowned as he pondered for a moment. He promised Master Splinter they wouldn't get up to mischief, but...this wasn't mischief. Innocent people could be in danger. Realizing time was of the essence, he made a decision quickly.
"We should check it out."
Piling their bowls together on the ground unusually neatly, the four turtles began to group up, Donatello quickly jumping back into the truck to grab his usual duffle bag while Leonardo ushered Vye further inside, closing over one of the doors. His usual tone of voice became more stern as he spoke, his expression tense.
"Vye, you stay here and wait for Casey to get back, got it?" He instructed. "Don't move from this spot."
Vye, who had already shuffled back to cower behind the front seat, nodded nervously to acknowledge her understanding, only able to utter a mere "mhm" in response. Having grabbed his bag and put it over his shoulder, Donatello reached the rear of the truck again and briefly turned to face her.
"We won't be long." He assured, before hopping onto the ground and shutting over the second door with a gentle clutter.
Within seconds the four terrapins had made their way to the rooftops, clear out of view from the windows peered through by the girl they left behind.
Traversing across the rooftops of the surrounding buildings it took little time for the young ninja to reach the scene of the explosion, settling themselves on the edge of an apartment complex just across from where all the smoke and debris seemed to be originating from. Donatello pulled a pair of high-tech binoculars out of his duffle bag and began to examine the area below.
"What are we looking at, Don?" Leo enquired.
"It's hard to say, it looks like the building that blew was an abandoned one." Answered Don as he lowered his binoculars. "It's possible it was just some old faulty wiring or a gas leak, but…hard to know for sure."
"Don't you guys think it's a bit weird there's virtually no people runnin' around down there?" Raphael added, gesturing towards the clearly empty street below.
Leo held his chin in his hand for a moment, narrowing his eyes as he absorbed the information relayed by his brothers.
"Weird, maybe...But it makes things easier for us." The leader hopped onto the ledge, looking down at the embers below. "Let's go."
After he jumped to make his way down to street level, his brothers promptly followed his lead. They took a moment to hide themselves in the shadows, double-checking the street was completely clear before emerging and walking towards the old building that was purged with flames. Raphael was right, all that could be seen or heard was the crackling of the fires around them. Donatello looked up at the building in question, pointing up at it.
"Definitely abandoned. See how worn that sign is?"
"Where are all the people though? It's kinda creepy." Michelangelo said as he looked up and down the other side of the street.
"Well…It might not actually be that unusual." Donatello turned around to follow his brother's line of view, placing his hands on his hips. "Most of the stores on this street have all shut down, and have been for quite a while. The only people who probably come down here are the residents of those apartment buildings, and at this time of night the majority of them will be inside."
"So...If there is a culprit, it wasn't designed to hurt anyone." Leo surmised.
"Most likely."
Raph, who had been keeping his hands close to the handle of his Sai the whole time, dropped his arms by his sides.
"What's the deal, then?"
"As I said-" Don grunted, attempting to move a collapsed beam from one of the smashed windows with assistance from Leo. "It's probably just an old building fault."
With the beam moved, he covered his mouth and carefully made his way inside, avoiding any of the remaining flames still blazing. Leo followed suit, leaving Mikey and Raph to cautiously look around the debris outside trying to find any clues. After kicking over what felt like a hundred pieces of wood, Mikey caught a glimpse of something by one of his feet.
"Ruh-Roh."
Raphael moved to stand beside him, looking at the same object.
"Well that sure looks like a bomb t'me." He looked over his shoulder to holler towards the building as Mikey anxiously tapped at the supposed explosive with his toes. "Yo, Leo! Don! Come look at this, will 'ya?"
After hearing the call, the pair inside the building promptly made their way to meet with their brothers, Don crouching down to look at the small burnt remains of a device.
"You're right, it's a timer bomb. Not a very powerful one though."
"So someone did blow it up." Leo folded his arms.
Raph placed his hands on his hips, frowning.
"I still say this is weird. Why commit arson on an empty buildin' on a street with nobody on it?"
Picking up the bomb with one hand to examine it, Don got to his feet, scratching his cheek with the other hand.
"Hm…"
"Hey, you don't think it's a trap or something do you?" Mikey brought his hand up to chew on the tips of his fingers anxiously.
"If it were a trap, we probably would have triggered a reaction by now, don't you think?" Don replied, continuing to look at the bomb remains in his grasp.
Leonardo looked over at the burning building, narrowing his eyes as he began to feel an unease.
"They're right though...Something doesn't quite add up."
In the dark of the night the two bedraggled men went by almost unnoticed as they ran down the nearly empty streets. It sounded like the bomb had gone off without a hitch, but now they were running late to their destination.
"Why'd you have to take so long plantin' the thing?! Freddy's not gonna be happy!" One of them snarled. "The car's halfway across town."
"Calm down, we're gonna make it!"
Their feet pounded the ground harshley as they ran. As they passed a particular alleyway, one of them reversed slowly to do a double-take as something of interest came into view. The alley was dark but he could just about make out the silhouette of a truck. A large one.
"Yo! Check this out." He beckoned his partner to look.
"So what? It's a stinkin' truck, let's get goin'!"
The taller of the two walked up to the vehicle and gave it a slight pat, moving his hand along the side as he inspected the size.
"Just think of how much loot we could fit in this baby, though." He peered around the back, seeing the rear doors slightly ajar. "Looks fair game to me."
"Do we really got time for this?"
"Hey, just think of how happy Freddy'll be with us when he sees we took initiative!" He tapped on the door lightly. "Chuck the money in here, and if the cops catch the truck, it'll get traced back to this bozo!"
The other thug crossed his arms as he thought for a moment. His friend was persuasive. A grin formed on his face as he nodded and grabbed the handle to the other rear door, his partner chuckling as they both proceeded to pry both doors open. As they got inside, one of them whistled.
"Woah, this ain't no ordinary truck."
The taller man made his way to the driver's seat with little hesitation, checking the ignition. After confirming the vehicle was all good to go, their partner in crime sauntered over to take his own place in the passenger seat, when he found his path blocked by a small bundle hidden just under the dashboard. He took a step back to get a better look, and grunted at the sight. The small redhead had tucked herself away to the best of her ability, arms tightly wrapped around her knees and the hood of her top pulled snug over her head. Upon being spotted, she flinched and trembled slightly as she tried to shuffle further back.
"Well look what we have here." the thug grinned. "Looks like we got us a bargaining chip, too."
Approving of his friend's thinking, the tall delinquent laughed. The reaction caused the girl's eyes to widen, beginning to pull down on her hood as he started up the engine and began to drive the van out of the alley into the streets, the large wheels screeching as they swerved around the corner. Only catching the tail end of the sound in the distance, Casey walked back into the alley, ice cream bowls in hand.
"Yo, I got Master Splinter's shake too, but all they had left was vanilla and-" His voice trailed off as he noticed the Battle Shell nor his friends were anywhere to be seen. "Uh...Guys?"
Looking around, he called out once more only to be met with silence and his own voice reverbing throughout the now abandoned alleyway.
The flames at the scene of the explosion continued to flicker, being pushed around by the occasional gust of wind. Feeling he was getting no more clues from it, Donatello put the bomb remains in his duffle bag. He thought to himself as he saw the unified confusion in his brothers' expressions. They had the right to be perplexed, nothing of the situation made much sense. Raphael threw his arms in the air, beginning to lose his patience with no bad guys around to punch.
"It's probably just some stupid kids doin' vandalism or somethin'." He gestured down the street with his thumb. "I say we book it."
Donatello shook his head slightly.
"That would make sense if it was fireworks, or even something like a petrol bomb, but...They used a pipe bomb set up with a timer. Even if it is somewhat simplistic, why go through that effort just for some vandalism?"
Leonardo, who had been looking at the ground in thought during this time, suddenly looked up at them.
"...What if it's a distraction?"
Bing! Bing! Bing!
The beeping coming from Donatello's waistband caught them all off guard, the turtle in question reaching in to grab his shell cell and hold it to his face.
"Hello?"
"A distraction from what?" Michelangelo asked Leo, only to be shushed immediately by Don.
"Shhh." He hushed before returning his attention to the call. "Sorry, Casey. What did you say?"
"Where'd you guys run off to?!"
"Oh, there was an explosion down the road so we just came to investigate."
"Okay, but did you have to go and take the truck too? What am I supposed to do?"
"Wait- What are you talking about? We didn't take the Battle Shell."
The other three turtles all exchanged looks on hearing that one line, quickly honing their attention in on their brother's call.
"Well it sure as heck ain't here anymore!"
"What is it, Don?" Leo enquired, beginning to look a bit more tense. His brother covered the receiver to his cell as he replied.
"Uh...The Battle Shell is gone."
"Gone? Whaddya mean GONE?" Raphael raised his voice slightly, watching Leo take the cell from Donatello as he reached around inside his duffle bag frantically.
Trying to keep his tone calm, Leonardo took over the call.
"Casey, what's going on?"
As their friend relayed the limited details a second time, Donatello pulled a small electronic pad out of his bag and began to tap at the screen.
"Hey, guys...Casey's right." He started. "The truck's heading uptown."
Raph let out a short grunt before clenching his fist.
"That little brat stole our ride!"
"Raph, Vye can barely use a microwave, how would she drive an eight-ton-"
He paused, realising what he just said. Catching on, Michelangelo raised his voice in sudden panic.
"Vye's still in the Battle Shell!"
Before the group could react any further, red and blue lights began to pulse off the surrounding walls, sirens blaring in the distance. The authorities had finally begun to close in on the scene. Leonardo narrowed his eyes, speaking into the cell once more and loud enough to be heard over the sudden commotion.
"Either way, we need to move." He ordered. "Casey, we'll call you once we figure out where the truck's going."
"Ah sure, it ain't like I got anythin' better to do!"
Ignoring the sarcastic comment, the turtle slammed the cell closed and tossed it to Donatello, exchanging a nod with each of the others as they all leapt off towards one of the nearby rooftops, the emergency vehicles screaming to a halt in the places they had previously stood.
The rear of the Battle Shell rocked vigorously as the vigilantes power-drove it down the less occupied streets. Vye sat on the floor up against the wall, arms now bound behind her back and her mouth silenced by a large strip of tape that the pair had brought in preparation. She'd long stopped attempting to make noise, though the tightness of her throat still made it difficult to do so regardless.
Once in a while the pair at the front would laugh, causing her to shift her glance over in a feared attempt at listening in on their conversation. Had they even said where they were going? She had no idea. So much uncertainty had begun to overwhelm her mind that she could barely bring herself to put up any more of a struggle as she continued to get swayed from side to side. This paralyzing fear she felt, it was almost identical to the fear she experienced as Dash. Did all humans get this way? April and Casey never appeared to, but then...did that mean that the fear was just, at its core, purely down to her?
The train of thought racing through the girls brain was suddenly halted by a harsh swerving of the truck creating enough force to knock her onto her side, her head hitting the floor with a loud bang followed by a small muffled whine escaping her lips.
"Dude, watch it! I told 'ya I should've been the one to drive!" One of the con men cried.
"It's fine, look." The driver responded, slowing down the pace of the vehicle to a stop. "We're here."
Momentarily distracted by the pain pulsing in the side of her head, Vye failed to hear the confirmation of their arrival, causing her to flinch when a pair of large muddied boots appeared in front of her vision. Her gaze moved up enough to catch a large hand reaching out to her, which then forcefully pulled her head slightly upright as the man attached to it crouched down to be closer to her level.
"Alright, girly. Here's where you come in."
The four ninja turtles traversed swiftly across the rooftops of the buildings around them as they made their way uptown, Raphael hollering at Donatello from a distance as they leapt across the wider gaps.
"I can't believe y'just left it wide open like that! You're supposed to be the smart one!"
Landing on his feet, Donatello turned around at the accusation.
"Hey, come on, don't blame me. Besides, I wouldn't have believed Casey would be capable of losing the entire Battle Shell!"
There was a slight pause as Raphael became level with him, folding his arms.
"...I could believe that."
"...Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking."
Having already made his way to the opposite side of the rooftop, Michelangelo hopped up and down impatiently, waving and pointing his arms to grab the attention of his brothers.
"C'mon guys, we gotta get moving!"
Leonardo finally landed, walking to join Donatello and Raphael where they stood.
"Where is it now?" He asked, prompting Don to pull out his tracker once again and inspect it.
"It looks like it's slowing down...It must be pulling in just past that complex right over there."
Without delay, the group made their way towards the rooftop that had been pointed out to them and positioned themselves just on the edge so they could get a better look without risk of being seen. Donatello was right, the truck had come to a standstill just outside the building across the street, and it also appeared to be unoccupied with the rear doors left wide open. Trying to size up the situation, it wasn't until their combined line of sight caught the signs just above the entrance to the facility that they finally realized what was happening below.
"Good old fashioned bank robbery, huh? Figures." Raphael sneered.
"Looks like it." Leonardo confirmed before turning his head to Donatello. "Don, can you see what's going on in there?"
Donatello, who had already taken the initiative to look through his binoculars, shook his head as he lowered them.
"Unfortunately, no. We'll need to get closer."
About to direct everyone to move, Leo stopped as he noticed one of his brothers had already gone ahead, tiptoeing towards the vehicle they came to retrieve. This was quickly brought to everyone's attention and the three remaining turtles on the roof let out one loud whisper.
"Mikey-!"
After watching their over-eager sibling check the back of the truck to confirm that it was indeed empty - signaled by a cross formation with his arms - the trio sighed and hopped down to street level, promptly grabbing him as they all moved to hide themselves in the shadows just above the signs and windows of the bank. Once they reached position, the orange masked turtle received a small smack on the back of the head from Raphael for his previous foolhardy actions. Mikey winced and looked as if he was about to snap back when he was silenced by a shushing gesture from Leo, who then pointed towards one of the windows to redirect the pair's attention.
They all carefully peered inside, trying their best to remain hidden as they did so. Scanning the room they noticed a small selection of civilians, along with only three culprits...and one of them was holding a familiar figure with amber hair.
"They've got Vye-!" Mikey exclaimed, at his best attempt at remaining quiet.
"Shhh!" Leo hushed once more.
"They must be using her as leverage." Don said, frowning slightly.
Raph's gaze became more of a glare, eyeing up the thugs before shifting his weight until he was upright again, clutching his fist tightly.
"I reckon it's about time we kick some serious shell."
His brothers followed his lead in lifting themselves further back into the shadows, Leonardo placing his hand on the clenched fist in an attempt to lower it as he spoke in further hushed tones.
"There are innocent people in there, we can't just run in. We've got to do this quick, without casualties, and without being seen."
Slightly irritated that his energy was being dampened, Raph tutted before lowering his fist on his own, waiting on their fearless leader as he leaned down to examine the scene once more. He couldn't make out anything being said, but the largely built man holding Vye had pushed her away, seemingly forcing her to sit with a small group of other people that were beginning to get tied up by one of the other goons as he started yelling at someone behind the teller counter. Seeing enough to give him an idea, he rose again, turning his head to his brothers and pointing at them individually as he gave out his instructions.
"Alright." He began. "Don and I will take care of the security cameras. Raph, when I give the signal, that's when you go in and take out the robbers."
"With pleasure." Raphael grinned, cracking his knuckles.
"And Mikey…" Leo looked at his remaining brother. "You do what you do best."
Michelangelo also grinned, though much more mischievously.
"Distraction?"
"Distraction."
The ringleader of the delinquents inside the bank continued to point his gun at the cowering man behind the teller, yelling at him to open the nearby vault. Meanwhile on the floor, Vye sat with the other tied up hostages, lacking the energy to look up. She occasionally glanced back towards the goon behind the group to keep tabs on him, but overall there was seemingly little else to be done. Was there anything she could do? She searched her brain frantically. Should she change her form and escape? No, if she did that then she would be exposed in a number of ways. It had also been a few weeks at least since she last did any sort of shapeshifting and there was no telling exactly how well it would go, it would probably just make things worse. Her shoulders slumped forward and she closed her eyes, trying to tune out the gruff yelling and frightened whimpers around her. It was no use, she couldn't block it out.
Suddenly, Vye lifted her head as she heard something. A clatter. She looked behind her again towards the back of the room, but there was nothing there. Did she imagine it? No one else seemed to react, though that could have been due to the intensity of the situation clouding all their senses. Looking back towards the teller again she saw the man attempting to open a large door with trembling fingers. What were these other humans wanting from there so badly to warrant using such excessive means? She couldn't figure it out, though that was largely to do with her not really knowing where she was, and what a Bank actually functioned for in the first place.
"Hurry it up, man!" The thug growled, moving his gun closer to the tell.
"I-I'm sorry, I-"
The pair were interrupted by a small knock. There was a brief pause before another one was heard, and the thug turned around as he located the source to be from behind, Vye's line of sight also following as she heard the noise. Due to the lighting from indoors contrasting with the outside, all that could be seen out of the doorway was a large block of a silhouette. The robber's allies grouped together with him, aiming their weapons out of the large opening as a beckoning call rang through.
"Special delivery!"
Vye's eyes widened slightly. The raspy voice was familiar.
"We didn't order nothin'! Now beat it-!"
Before the thug could continue his threat, a loud intense horn sounded followed by a burst of blinding light filling up the entire room. The trio of bandits winced and shielded their eyes, along with the hostages who also had to look away. Vye tried her best to squint at the light, just barely making out a dark figure walk to stand in front of it, appearing to crack their knuckles, before having to also retreat her gaze in favour of her burning retinas.
"That's too bad." The horn finally stopped to reveal another familiar, more surly voice from the figure. "Because we got a whole lot of butt-whoopin' with your names on it."
Finally having had the go-ahead from his brothers, Raphael made a swing for the blinded leader, grabbing the flailing gun with his free hand to release it from the thug's grasp. Dodging the visually impaired allies' clumsy attempts at charging towards him, he ducked low to sweep his feet under the trio, bringing them all collapsing to the floor with a thud, catching the remaining weapons as they were dropped.
From behind her Vye made out the sound of feet hitting the floor as Leonardo had joined the scene, using his katana to carefully but swiftly cut the ties around each of the hostages allowing them to be freed. The ties on the redhead's wrists came last, and before she could get a chance to nurse them she felt her weight shift as she was hoisted over someone's shoulder, causing her to let out a surprised yelp, still muffled by the tape over her mouth.
"Alright, I've got her. Let's go." Leo called out.
The lighting in the room gradually began to dim slightly as the large truck outside the doorway reversed and began to turn, allowing Vye to open her eyes just barely. The three robbers were now huddled together on the floor, tied up with the remains of their own tape - along with their weapons. The view didn't last long as the body underneath her moved, Leo making a dash along with Raph for the back of the truck as it began to slowly pull away, Donatello calling out to them from the door.
"Come on!"
Once they safely landed inside, Don closed the two doors firmly behind them, making sure they were secure. The group stumbled as the van made a sharp turn, Raphael grabbing onto one of the nearby chairs for balance.
"Geez, ease up there, Mikey!" He shouted towards the front.
"Hey, I thought I was the distraction, not the get-away driver!"
After a couple more destabilizing bumps, Leo kneeled down to let Vye off his shoulder onto her feet. Spotting the tape still on her mouth, he carefully but quickly peeled it away, allowing her to let out a small relieved gasp of relief before rubbing the new unexpected pain surrounding her lips.
"Are you oka-"
The turtle barely finished his sentence before he was pushed back slightly by the force of arms suddenly wrapping around his torso, the girl burying her face into his chest as her whole body began to tremble.
"Ah geez." Raphael sighed, scratching the back of his head.
Leonardo's arms remained elevated awkwardly for a moment before he lowered them to rest on the girls back. Tears had started trickling down her cheeks as she hiccuped and sobbed, unable to make any other sounds. Vye had read about the human expression of crying, but she had no idea how disgusting and snotty it was. All the same, she couldn't seem to stop the combustion of her pent up fear and anxiety releasing out of her body and held her position gripping onto the fearless leader, who spoke softly as he lightly patted her back.
"It's alright, you're safe now."
Donatello and Raphael watched with mild sympathy, the more gentle of the two moving from the doors to carefully place his hand on the girl's head.
"We're sorry for leaving you the way we did. It probably wasn't the best idea to leave you alone on your first trip to the surface. It must've been scary."
The head beneath his hand shuffled slightly in what seemed like a hesitant nod. This made him feel slightly guilty, after all, he was the one to make the final call on whether or not she should even go with them in the first place. Meanwhile, in the driver's seat, Michelangelo occasionally glanced towards the group at the back of the van, beginning to get more uncomfortable with the muffled weeping he could hear coming from there. Vye hadn't exactly shown much in the way of emotion since she changed into her human body, but it was the first time they'd seen or heard her cry, and he didn't much care for it. He cheerily raised his voice in the hope of lightening the mood.
"Hey! Who wants some tunes?"
"Not now, Mikey-" Donatello began to scold half-heartedly, until he was interrupted by his shell cell ringing from his duffle bag.
He removed his hand from the girl's head, causing her to lift it slightly, and turned away as he answered.
"Hello?"
"Guys it's been like half an hour, what's the deal?!"
"...Oh. Casey." The turtle realized, scratching his cheek. "Sorry, I guess we forgot to call you."
"You 'guess'? What am I, chopped liver?!"
Raphael, hearing the muffled tone of Casey's yelling from where he sat, brought his palm to his forehead. Donatello continued.
"We've got Vye and the Battle Shell, so we'll make our way back to you, just wait there."
He then hung up the call without waiting for a response, knowing it would most likely just be more complaining, before turning back to his brothers, one of which still being embraced by their smaller alien companion. Her sniffling seemed to have dwindled a bit, though she appeared hesitant to let go. Raph leaned forward in his seat, using his elbows to rest his weight on his legs.
"I say we make Case buy a second round of ice cream when we get there. He owes us after losin' a truck this big."
Picking up on one word in particular, Vye lifted her head to look over at the usually more irritable turtle, the skin around her eyes blotchy and reddened.
"Sweet! Second victory dessert!" Mikey cheered from the front of the vehicle, punching the air with one fist.
"Come on, Mikey, even you don't have a sweet tooth that big." Don commented.
"Oh yeah? What about the time I had that whooole birthday cake all to myself, huh?!"
Raphael grimaced, sitting himself up slightly.
"Ugh, I forgot about that year."
"Gross." Leonardo and Donatello added in unison, looking equally disgusted as they recalled the memory.
Mildly distracted by the onset banter, Vye stood back from Leo, moving her hands away to wipe across her face with her sleeves. She was surprised by how wet her features had become, not to mention the excessive dribbling from her nose that was seemingly never ending. Her mouth now also had an incredibly salty taste filling it along with her throat remaining slightly tight, which made her all the more eager towards Raphael's ice cream suggestion.
"Thank you." She croaked, causing the turtles to look at her. "For saving me…"
Leonardo smiled a bit as he gently patted her shoulder.
"Anytime."
"Yeah," Raph smirked slightly, leaning forward again. "Though don't make it a habit of gettin' kidnapped."
Not fully registering the humour behind his words, the girl nodded as she looked at him, wiping under her nose. Noticing her attitude begin to perk up slightly, Michelangelo yammered loudly from the front seat, waving one of his arms about to try and grab her attention.
"Hey Vye! Didya see my distraction? Neat trick with the headlights, huh?"
"...It hurt my eyes."
The turtle's arm drooped for a moment before he lifted it again, picking himself back up.
"Uh, well, it was still pretty creative, right? What about the horn?"
"It hurt my ears too."
His brothers began to snigger to themselves as his arm drooped again, moving it back onto the steering wheel in a pout and feeling disappointed his plan hadn't been nearly as impressive as he thought it was.
Before long the crew had regrouped with a half-apologetic Casey, who only conceded in buying Vye alone two bowls of ice cream - much to Michelangelo's chagrin - as well as a new dessert shake for Master Splinter considering the previous one had long lost its thickness. On the journey home Donatello regained his position in the driver's seat and his pouting brother joined him in the passenger seat, occasionally shooting envious glances at their amber-haired friend as she stared indecisively at the two bowls of ice cream in her hands - despite the multiple warnings she received from the others that they would both eventually melt. It had been a rather nerve-wracking evening, but perhaps the gift of both desserts would just about make up for it.