Chapter 2: Encounter

It's been a solid two days since Liza last saw that turtle mutant when he helped her out in the alleyway that night with some perverted muggers, Liza was left with several thoughts that were mixed with just full of curiosity and questions in regards to him, though she also kept her mouth shut about him like he wanted as well.

Despite him having wings, he wasn't much of a flier by what she saw. Most likely wanting to stay out of sight and being in the air was not the greatest idea.

Liza was becoming frustrated since she couldn't really return the help he provided, she let out a small annoyed growl. "Excuse me…?" A voice immediately echoed into her ears, snapping her out of her thoughts and jolting around frighteningly.

"Can you move please? Just wanna grab that." A young lady said that stood behind Liza, Liza now realised she was in a grocery store, shopping for some snacks considering she ran out at home.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Liza remarked hesitantly and moved out of the way and made her way down the aisle. "Screw it…" she growled to herself and increased her walking speed, going past several people and aisle's only to find a specific one.

She grabbed some sprays and a taser for self defense along with a few other items, putting her snack list aside. "I'm gunna find that idiot." Liza growled, grabbing one last item and making her way to pay for them.

She was frustrated with how negative that mutant was towards her, though, she could tell something else was wrong with him,Something, sad. "Jeez, you hunting something lady?" The register man said when Liza placed all the items on the counter, Liza hesitated, "Tracking… actually."

All the tools here were honestly meant to help her for self defense and tracking that turtle down, she was far too curious to know more about him and his color set seemed extremely familiar to her, and she just wanted to return the help he provided whether he wanted it or not.

After several hours, she made her way back to the alley where it all happened, it was empty with just the bustling sounds of New York at work again late at night.

She climbed her way back up to the rooftop, kneeling down where he last was, glancing at the now subtle dry blood from when he was slightly hurt. She became slightly upset when there was absolutely no blood trail, so much for having it be easy.

All her years in schooling, she was honestly by far a very good tracker when it came to people or creatures. She was a straight A student aside from when it came to medical, she used to not be able to tolerate blood, though she grew out of that fear long ago.

Liza jumped frighteningly, almost falling over when her phone began to ring loudly with how silent and focused she was. She immediately grabbed her phone to see who it was and answered it, "Jean? Why are you calling so late?" Liza questioned.

Jean was an old friend of Liza's, someone she actually looked up to and considered family, considered as a sister even though they really weren't. "I gotta go to work in four hours, late night shift." Jean stated, "Just wanted to let you know I'll be stopping by in the morning." She added.

"Won't you be tired in the morning if you'll end up working all night?" Liza said as she glanced in the direction that the mutant left, making her way towards that direction as she talked. "I get off after a few hours, it's a short shift, plus, I already had a very long and nice nap." Jean remarked semi-sarcastically.

"Ok, well, I gotta go, I'll see you in the morning then." Liza remarked hesitantly, this concerned Jean. "Liza, what's wrong? When do you ever gotta go?" Jean said concernedly.

"Nothing, it's just my parents." Liza lied, Jean sighed, "So be it." Liza hung up quickly and put her phone back in her pocket as she leaned over the edge of the roof slightly, looking down and around.

There was nothing, no blood, not even a feather from his wings. "This guy is impossible to track…" Liza growled, an advanced city also wasn't the greatest place for tracking, it was hard to find people here, very hard.

New York was by far one of the best places for outlaws and criminals to hide out at, there were so many tunnels, sewers, abandoned buildings, and many more places. Liza wasn't going to give up so easily though, she made her way back down and tried nearby alley's, still with no luck.

Liza glanced over in a general direction when she started to slightly hear a voice in an abandoned building from the alley she stood in, "Don't go teleporting away now, boy." A voice came from the building as she made her way closer to it, curious.

Liza came to a halt as she hid behind a wall, very slightly peering around the corner and immediately widening her eyes. She recognized that turtle mutant instantly, though, he wasn't alone and by the looks of it, it was another mutant of some sort.

Liza noticed that the turtle was grasping his side tightly, he took a subtle step back from the other mutant as they were facing each other. It was clear to her that it was a fight as the other mutant had knives in hand, one covered in blood.

Both the mutants froze instantly with a sudden awareness, this spooked Liza. "I smell a human girl." The unknown mutant growled, somewhat pleasantly. Liza immediately covered her mouth and stopped peering around the corner, though she could hear that unknown mutant chuckling menacingly.

"By the looks of it, you know who it is." He laughed, glancing around for her. Liza knew he couldn't pinpoint her exact location, 'I knew I should've showered this morning!' Liza cried in her head.

"Come on out girl!" The mutant shouted menacingly, he was smirking as he licked the blood from the blade of the one knife. Liza stayed put, she didn't know what to do, she wanted to leave but at the same time she didn't as it was clear that she saw the turtle injured and most likely caused from this other mutant.

The unknown mutant only chuckled lightly, "Guess I'll force her out, or you can tell me." Liza peered around the corner again, curious once more on what he meant, now she can tell. This mutant looked alot like a crocodile or alligator of some sort, they never really had the greatest sense of smell, let alone for tracking or following a specific scent in one spot.

The croc mutant immediately leaped towards the turtle at incredible speed, blades pointed at him though only to miss as the turtle dodged and almost collapsed when he did because of his injury, though he recovered easily.

The croc turned around quickly and attempted it once again, though this time, the turtle didn't dodge it, he dodged it barely, grabbing the blades of the knives with his bare hands uninjured or cut. The croc actually looked surprised from this, and he wasn't the only one, Liza was also amazed as she was watching the whole thing.

The turtle mutant immediately kicked the croc right in the stomach with a lot of force, sending him flying and literally crashing into the wall of the abandoned building and letting loose of his knives.

He dropped the knives to the ground and instantly collapsed onto one knee, grasping his side. Liza knew he was badly hurt, stabbed right through his plastron on his left side and by how much blood there was that still continued, this fight must've been going on for awhile in here, he's lost a lot of blood and she could tell despite how semi-dark it was.

Liza decided it was time to go and leave, she wasn't going to be of any use and if she stayed, it would make things worse especially if this croc mutant could smell her.

Liza moved from peering around the corner and was about to turn around and leave the way she came in, only to almost scream frighteningly when that turtle mutant was literally right in front of her and crouched down on his one knee.

He immediately covered her mouth with his free hand, shushing her. He had very little blue lightning sparks forming around his body that faded away quickly, now that she took it back, she heard the croc mention something about teleporting.

"I swear, it's like you're stalkin me." He growled lowly at her, removing his hand from her mouth. Liza was about to say something only to stop when they both heard the croc roar loudly and crash his way out from the wall, he was glancing around for the turtle, only to be even more pissed off apparently.

"You can't run forever boy! You may be able to erase your scent and others with that teleporting, but you can't hide and run forever!" He shouted angrily.

Liza had a concerned look on her face as she glanced down at his injury, though she directed her look back up at him when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Liza tightly closed her eyes with how bright the lightning was forming around him, though it was also forming around her, most likely because he was touching her. In the blink of an eye, they were somewhere entirely else, Liza opened her eyes and immediately recognised the area they were now in.

"I told you to... go home.." He growled weakly, removing his hand from her shoulder and only collapsing down onto his knees. It was bad, he was panting and only getting weaker and weaker, Liza placed a hand on his that was grasping his injury, he was also trembling a bit because of this occurring frailty.

"I was pursuing you, not stalking, there's a difference. And how can I just, go home, after what you did for me, a complete stranger…" Liza began. "Please… let me return the help you gave me. You'll die if this doesn't get treated properly asap…" Liza added.

She glanced over at a building, typically a very large tower. "See that tower, 31'st floor, room 322, can you teleport into it? It's my apartment." Liza stated as she pointed at the tower, he didn't even seem to glance at it.

Liza knew he was having a hard time staying conscious as he seemed to be drifting, "Absolutely… not." He growled, he wasn't happy with her at all and he clearly didn't want to risk himself in her own home.

Liza hated to admit it, but she was honestly pretty desperate to help and save him, if he really did have Hemoptysis then it wasn't good at all as he coughed up more blood, this stab was bad enough.

Liza placed her hand gently on his shoulder, "Please… let me help just this once." He was hesitating, finally glancing over at the building and then giving a subtly small sigh.

He was annoyed but at the same time he wasn't, her persistence is what annoyed him, though the general fact it was in order to help him only made him not want to keep saying no to her. It was clear to Liza he was pushing her away, though she was making it hard for him, his appearance didn't bother at all, it was his actions and choices that mattered to her.

She knew he would also be safer inside than here, and she sure as hell wasn't going to just leave him to bleed out to death, she could tell he was alone, no one to help or assist him so he became distant with people, let alone anyone and including the ones who must've wanted to help him aside from her if there was anyone.

"Stubborn…" He remarked weakly then immediately teleported them into her apartment, she was honestly very amazed at this ability of his, though she wasn't going to question it just yet.

Liza immediately grabbed him when he was about to collapse over, he had reached his limit to staying awake and she didn't know how long he's had this injury and how much blood he's lost exactly but she knew it was a lot with him drifting.

His wings were large and they really did take up a lot of room, though he kept them folded substantially close so it wasn't entirely noticeable. Liza lifted and helped him up over to the couch, despite him being slightly larger and taller, he surprisingly wasn't that heavy. "JJ, turn on the lights." Liza said, the lights in the apartment immediately turned on due to a voice operated computer system throughout the apartment rooms, something she could only afford because of her parents.

Liza immediately pulled out her phone and called Jean as she removed his eye gear so he would be less uncomfortable, along with his strange spear weapon on his back, resting it against the back of the couch and making her way to a closet grabbing some cloth.

Liza honestly didn't know how to treat this kind of injury, especially since it was literally through his supposably shield that protected his organs, lungs and everything else. "Liza? I leave in an hour, what's wrong?" Jean answered finally, Liza immediately put pressure on his injury to slow down the bleeding, he was unconscious at this point.

"Jean I need you to come over, right now." Liza said desperately, Jean could clearly hear this in her voice. "Why, what-" Jean began, "Please, just come, I need your help." Liza interrupted her, Jean only sighed in agreement and hung up.

Jean worked as a clinical veterinarian, operated on animals and fixed them such as cats and dogs. She knew about animals far better than Liza did, and considering this mutant was a turtle, she would know what to do in order to save him.

"Hang in there ok…" Liza said worriedly knowing he most likely couldn't even hear her when unconscious. She couldn't help but to gently touch the scales under his eyes, she knew turtles didn't have scales like these, let alone giant wings and sharp canine teeth. There was something else more with him, and his colors, though she came to a small conclusion on what but just couldn't believe it fully yet.

Jean came in five minutes later after hanging up, Liza immediately jolted around when she heard Jean come in worriedly. "What, why-!?" Jean began and immediately froze and stopped when she saw the mutant, "Please don't freak out!" Liza cried with a very concerned and worried expression on her face.

Jean was completely speechless and frozen, eyes widened in surprise. "He's harmless, he won't hurt... you…" Liza began but slowly stopped when she noticed something else with Jean's expression, "Jean?" she added questionably.

Jean slowly approached her, if anything, she seemed more intrigued than she was frightened. "What is he?" Jean questioned as she lowered her bag to the ground, "Mutant… Turtle… maybe something else, I don't know… But can you help him? He's hurt." Liza questioned worriedly whilst also answering her question.

Jean stared at Liza for a few seconds, "I'm guessing you have a reason on why you want me to help a strange and unknown creature?" "Mutant." Liza corrected her, "He helped me and I want to return it, please Jean, you're the only person I could think of that could and wouldn't tell anyone about him." Liza added.

Jean only sighed, she couldn't say no to her childhood friend, she lifted Liza's hand that was holding onto some cloth and putting pressure on his injury to slow down the bleeding to see how bad it was. "Good thing you were doing this, surprised he hasn't bled out." Jean remarked, "You mean…?" Liza began to question.

"Yep, he's lost a lot of blood. Something like this would kill a normal turtle, then again… he ain't normal." Jean said, standing up and heading into the kitchen, opening up cabinets and drawer doors. Though what concerned Liza is when she pulled out a butter knife, "Is that necessary?" Liza questioned, "If you want me to save him, yes, I never said it wasn't going to be pleasant and easy." Jean stated seriously, "How do I put it… think of his plastron as like armor plating that humans used back in medieval times for protection from getting fatally stabbed or cut. How do you fix that armor when it gets broken?" Jean said and questioned as she turned on the stove.

"Melting with extreme heat…" Liza remarked concernedly, "Exactly, that's how armor is forged even in today's advancements with many tools and objects, heat is still a major lifeform to make things and survive, even silverware. I only have forty minutes left, so let's get this done fast." Jean stated, tossing her a bottle of cleaning alcohol.

"Wouldn't this hurt him…" Liza hesitantly asked as she caught the bottle mid-air and stared at it worriedly, "Everything we're going to do in order to save him is going to hurt him like hell, any injury like his, even on a human will hurt like hell with any kind of treatment unless fully unconscious. And by the looks of it, he still feels that pain currently." Jean remarked as she was heating up the tip of the knife over the stove.

Jean was right, Liza glanced at him worriedly, his eyes were tightly closed and he was clenching his teeth, painfully, he wasn't fully unconscious and most likely because he was fighting it. He still was trembling and also sweating a bit, along with slightly breathing heavily as if out of breath.

Liza honestly wondered if using the teleportation weakened him, she couldn't tell, especially in his bad condition. Liza removed the now covered in blood cloth and opened the bottle, grabbing a clean cloth that she had grabbed for an extra one in case.

Liza poured some of the alcohol on the cloth and then actually poured a bit of it on the injury itself before placing the cloth and applying pressure once more, she was honestly amazed, he hardly reacted to the pain of the alcohol at all. This clearly told her he could clearly endure a lot of pain apparently, high pain tolerance.

"There!" Jean remarked, flipping the knife in hand where the tip was very heated. "Only way to stop that bleeding is closing the wound…" Jean began as she walked over beside Liza, "This will hurt like hell, hold him." She added.

Liza hesitated a bit, she didn't like having to treat injured people, ever since she was a little girl, she absolutely hated seeing people in pain as she considered it suffering and it always made her feel pitiful and sad for that person.

Jean immediately began to close the injury, placing the knife on the wound that still continued to bleed, though, not as badly. Both she and Liza were astonished, he also hardly reacted to the heat of the knife on his wound, if anything he only flinched upward slightly and stiffened painfully, giving a small painful whimper, he didn't even cry or wail from it.

Liza hardly even had to hold him down, and she knew that blade was very hot as she noticed little smoke coming from it when it touched. "I've never seen someone endure such a thing… he's definitely not normal." Jean stated as she finished and put a clean cloth over the now closed stab wound.

Jean grabbed Liza's hand and forced a few items into the palm of her hand, "Here." "What are these?" Liza questioned, "Bandages, change them daily and antibiotic covering, also apply daily. I'll warn you now, considering he isn't a normal turtle, if a turtle's plastron or shell gets damaged, whether it be a stab, cut or fracture, even though it's the same thing. It can take 30 months to heal…" Jean began, "What!?" Liza shouted shockingly at how long that was, "I wasn't finished… considering he's a mutant you say, and by the looks of it, he most likely heals at the rate a human does, so make sure he rests for at least a week or two. That stab is still pretty fatal and definitely don't want it reopening." Jean added.

"Week or two… oh lord…" Liza sighed worriedly, "Thought you said he's harmless?" Jean questioned confusingly, "That's not it… he sort of took off and fled like twice on me…" Liza remarked hesitantly, unsure if he would again when he woke up.

"Well, if he wants to kill himself then that's his choice and on him, you're the one that wanted to help him, so it's up to you to convince him to stay and he's your responsibility." Jean began, "He's not a pet." Liza growled lowly, "No, but if you want me to keep him a secret, then promise me you'll keep in check about him. Would love to know more about him, especially if you want my help again in the future." Jean stated seriously.

Liza didn't seem to have a choice so she agreed, "I have to go to work, I'll still be visiting in the morning." Jean said as she stood up, grabbing her bag and waving Liza off as she left out the door.

Liza had a worried expression on her face as she glanced at the mutant, she didn't even know where to begin in convincing him to stay and rest, he's already been trying to push her away and it seemed like the only thing that worked was her persistence, she still didn't even know his name as he clearly was also being distant with her, Liza subtly gave a small sad sigh, "Damn.."