November 15, 2007
The cuts on my throat made me think Shredder's done this before. It was too precise on the first try, even for Shredder. Yes, I stopped the bleeding, no I wasn't in danger, and no, I didn't need stitches. I did have to stay in Shredder's Lair for over a week because I was being watched. Tonight I finally escaped a pack of Foot Ninjas trailing me. And what better way to celebrate it then walk to the Turtle's home. I didn't make it three steps past the Sewer Sweet Sewer sign before Mikey crashed into me, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me high into the air.
"Liza!" He hooted. I chuckled, trying to reach up and hug him, but he'd pinned my arms at my side when he grabbed me. So instead, I gripped for a place in his plastron as he spun me in circles. The most I could do was look at him.
"What's on your neck?" Mikey asked, stopping his fifth circle.
"Band-aids." I answered, wiggling in his arms. Mikey didn't put me down, but he did loosen his grip.
"What happened?" He asked next.
I opened my mouth to answer, but Donnie came walking out of the kitchen, a cup of coffee in his hand. He glanced over at us and continued walking for another split second. He did a double check though, and I waved my arm lamely around Mikey. Donnie squinted, like he was trying to focus on something. He walked over to us, standing tall behind Mikey. He was tall enough to see over Mikey, which I thought was a bit stupid to do if he was trying to look at me. His eyes narrowed on my throat.
"What happened?" He asked, parroting Mikey. I deflate in Mikey's arms, sighing. Donnie brown eyes lit as he seemed to remember something, because he turned around and walked to the base of the stairs.
"Raph! She's here." He shouted up the stairs. I deflated even more, trying to slip between Mikey's arms. Great, he's going to call the whole family.
Two doors opened instead of one, and the older brothers of the four both appeared at the top of the stairs. Leo was putting on his bandana, and Raph looked like he just woke up. But he was clear of mind, because he and Leo raced each other down. There wasn't much of a race, because they both fell over the edge at the same speed and there wasn't a huge distance to jump, but they tried.
"Mikey, put 'er down." Raph demanded, grabbing at one of Mikey's arms to yank it from me.
"Not until she tells me why her neck is bandaged." He answered, stubbornly holding me. Raph stopped his tearing at Mikey's arms and looked up at me. He reached up, tilted my head carefully. His brows furrowed, and he looked up at me. I glanced away, keeping my eyes on a distant wall. Raph looked sad, and hurt. Of course, he would, I made a promise. I wasn't able to keep it, and Raph knew that.
"Mikey, put Liz down," Leo ordered. Mikey's arms loosened and I fell. I caught my balance, looking between the four hulking masses.
"Wha' happened?" Raph asked. I reached up to rub at my throat, feeling the scabs under the band-aids.
"I got punished," I answered honestly. I moved to the couch, slipping through Mikey and Raph with ease. Raph was instantly back at my side, tugging me down on top of him when he got there first. I situated myself as best I could, inevitably ending up between his legs and leaning back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, resting his hands at my navel. Leo sat at the other end of the couch, making room for Don who sat on the arm of the couch. Mikey sat criss-cross on the floor in front of me, looking up at me expectantly.
"Punished?" Raph asked.
"I... arrived two hours late for my training. My punishment was to break me with hours of nonstop training. When I didn't crack, Shredder had me kneel at his feet. And since he couldn't fight me into breaking, he gave me a memory. I told you Raph, he was probably going to give me a scar." I explained, uncomfortable with the knowledge I shared.
"What did he do?" Donnie asked.
"Cut both sides of my throat. From the ear to the jugular." I responded, running my finger along my neck to show what I meant. Raph took a deep breath behind me and held it for a time.
"I wish that plan of ours could happen sooner." He breathed out finally. We remained silent, not knowing how to continue from there. There wasn't anything to do until Leo was good enough to train, and then we trained, and then we fought. That was a long time from now.
The doors behind us opened, and the five of us looked over. We waited for someone to walk through, but there was no one there. And if someone was there, then they moved before we saw them.
"Did April or Casey say they were coming over?" Mikey asked, standing up.
"No." Raph murmurs, rising with me. I looked in the dark, trying to figure out if someone managed to follow me through the sewers. I used a passage I could get lost in if I wasn't careful, so if someone managed to follow, they were either really good or they were here before.
"Do they usually hide when they come in?" I asked.
"No," Leo answered, slowly pulling his katana from its spot.
I walked around the couch, reaching to my hip for the dagger I had. I pulled it slowly, making slow movements to see in the dark. What if they ran when they opened the door? Who was it? Was it a Purple Dragon? Was it a Foot Ninja?
Donnie made an 'oof' noise, and we all turned around to see. It was a Foot Ninja; they must have climbed along the ceiling to get over us. They'd landed on Don's back, but because of the size of his shell, they weren't able to wrap their arms around him. He spun, grabbed the Foot's elbow and swung them high and far across the room. I chased the black body, more prepared to die protecting the turtles than to let the turtles do the same. I waited for them to fall the six-foot drop Don managed, and then I pushed them (her ) against the wall, holding my forearm across her shoulders and dagger to her throat. She pressed herself farther against the wall, turning her head to get away from the dagger.
"Hello lovely," I growled. Raph came up behind me, pressing a hand to my shoulder. He tried to shift me away, but I kept in my spot. She wasn't getting away from me. "Don't worry, I won't kill her in your house. I know how Leo feels about blood."
"Sugar." She gasped in a lilting accent I knew well. Her hands grabbed at my elbows instead of the weapon she had, and she held them with tight fingers. Sugar? No one called me that except...
"Spice?" I asked. I relaxed on the dagger for a second as I realized this was the one friend I had at Shredder's tower before I pressed it back into place. Friend or not, she was one of Shredder's. "You shouldn't be here."
"And they shouldn't be alive." She said, using one of her hands to point behind me. "Is this where you've gone all those times you dropped off the radar?"
Spice was sixteen years old, and her real name is Haley Nguyen. She was Half-Vietnamese and Half-American, joined Foot Ninjas back in September to help her dad, lived in the South before moving here, and she came here with her father and a sister to be closer to her older brothers after her mother died in Texas. She worked hard, was surprisingly friendly, and always took the moral high ground in conversations and fights. And that was the extent of everything I know about her personally.
"Sort of." I murmured to her. I grabbed the top of her mask and pulled it off her head, and the face of the girl I'd been friends with finally revealed itself. She was tawny-colored, with big, pale green eyes, and long black hair that fell far past her shoulders. She shook her head to get her hair out of her face, and despite the moment, I was impressed she could hide it under her mask without any weird bulges.
She looked behind me, towards the four turtles I let live. Her face scrunched in disgust, and I grab her chin with my free hand.
"Hey, either you look at them normally, or I keep your eyes as trinkets." I threatened. Her eyes locked on mine, and I saw spitfire.
"You're canoodling with the enemies!" She yelled. She stopped moving when I pressed the dagger against her now bare skin, and I knew she got the message finally.
"I'm canoodling with my boyfriend. His brothers just happened to be in the picture." I corrected lightly. Mikey chuckled behind me, and I smile for a second. Spice's eyes tightened, and she pressed against my chest, trying to get me off of her.
"Ah ah," I caution, and she paused. "You are now a liability, and well, you see, I'm the motherfucking Black Masked Terror. Don't think I won't kill you."
Her face dropped with her arms. She looked behind me at the turtles, back to me, and then at the turtles again.
"My name is Haley." She told them, almost pleasantly. I pulled back, surprised. She looked at me and, and sighed very loudly. "Well, I don't wanna die. Might as well make friends."
"Smart move," I grumbled, and pulled away slowly. She straightened up and reached up to feel her throat. There was a red line, but I didn't cut anything. Raph pulled me back against him, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. She looked between the two of us, and she suddenly looked confused. That confusion turned to surprise, and then briefly flashed in disbelief.
"Wait, when you said you were canoodling your boyfriend, you actually meant..." She trailed off, her nose scrunching up in disgust. Raph's chest grumbled in a low growl. "Ew, that's just-"
"Don't say it." I snarled, using the voice I only used when talking to the people I taught. Haley instantly straightened up, like in training, and then relaxed when she remembered where she was.
"Oh come on! You're dating," She waved at Raph, trying to find a word. "That!"
"Back off." I growled. Haley stiffened again, clenched her jaw, and then let it go. She looked between the four of them, eyes laced with quiet malice. If she stayed like this, I'm almost positive she won't be making it back to the Shredder's Lair.
"Well, I gave you my name, what's yours?" She asked, back to attempting friendly.
"Leonardo," Leo said clearly, stepping up beside me. He looked at Raph, wondering if he would say his name. When Raph didn't, Leo points to him. "That's Raphael."
"I'm Michelangelo," Mikey said, oddly serious. Donnie looked between the three of them, and said in a low voice, "Donatello."
Haley nodded, patting her legs with her hands. She looked over at me, and then towards the door. She looked back at me.
"I'm gonna take it you're not going to let me tell anyone." She said, and I snorted.
"You're gonna take it that you're something very special if I don't kill you before the night is over. None of them like blood and three of them don't like to kill, but there are a thousand ways to hurt you without ripping skin and you're fair game outside their home." I responded viciously. Haley swallowed thickly, looking at the dagger still in my hand. She turned to Leo because he wasn't showing distrust towards her. He actually wasn't showing any emotions towards her. He was pretty good at that, hiding his emotions.
"I moved to New York City a few months ago and I don't know a lot about you, but I know you're dead, and you were Shredder's enemy." She told him, and Leo raised his eye ridge. He didn't respond, and Haley deflated again, looking over at me. "If you're going to continue to glare at me, at least hide the dagger."
"Why?" I asked in a clipped tone. She twiddled her thumbs nervously for a moment.
"What do I need to do to make sure I don't die?" She asked all of us.
"Die." I commented offhandedly.
"Liza," Leo berated. Haley blinked several times at him in surprise. I looked over at him while shrugging. Raph chuckled, moving his arm from my shoulders. Haley followed his arm as it wrapped around my waist, and then she looked away. That was a better reaction "Must you constantly threaten her?"
"You're kidding me?" I asked, letting out a dry laugh. Leo looked taken aback, staring at me with one of his eye ridges raised now. I looked between him and Haley. "Oh come on. I don't remember a lot before I had amnesia, but I remember you hated my guts because I killed people. But as soon as this chick comes in and tries to attack Don, you feel the need to stop me from killing her?"
"I've learned not everyone is as they seem." He answered back calmly. I gave him a dull look. "I learned it from you!"
"You knew them before the amnesia?" Haley asked quietly, butting into our mini spat. We both looked over at her, and four voices rang out.
"Yes." They weren't mine, I was watching Haley. She grew taller at their answer and she regained that confidence only the southern people had. That was when I put the dagger away. Haley was one who believed in morals. She was intelligent enough to connect to dots and put a puzzle piece together. If I knew them before amnesia and I stayed with them after I joined Shredder, then I didn't kill these boys for a reason.
"Yeah. Don over there cleaned me up when Raph brought me in wounded. And Leo here let me stay until I got better. I got pretty close with them during the healing process. They're good people." I said, explaining it as simply as I could.
"And Master Shredder?" She asked, looking between the four of us. I opened my mouth to respond, but I didn't know how. How do you tell someone the person they followed for months was the bad guy?
"Many innocent lives will be lost before his time is done," I answered, probably quoting some fictional buddha with that phrase. Haley's thin brows knit together, and she nodded. I could see the wheels turn in her head before she respond.
"I won't tell... For now." She said finally.
November 18, 2007
"Oh come on!"
"No!"
"Lemme at 'em at least once?"
"It's too dangerous."
"Why do you think I joined the Foot? It wasn't for a good scholarship."
"Hardy har, stereotypical Asian."
"I have a right to make that joke!"
"Well you can shove your rights right up your-"
The doors to the lair opened and the bantering teens shut up immediately. Liza and Haley walked through the door, shooting each other dirty looks. Leo was in the living room already, stretching out on the couch after training for an hour. Liza walked up to Leo, who jumped up and moved to the other side of the room when she moved to fall on the couch.
"Well hello." He murmured to the unexpected pair.
"Hi Leo." The two women muttered with different levels of enthusiasm. Leo looked at the two, noticing an air between them. It was like when Mikey and Don got into a play fight that ended with one or neither of them getting what they wanted. He shook his head, walking around the couch to the new girl.
"Should I assume you guys had fun?" He asked cautiously.
Liza barked a laugh, looking up at him. "That thing is hardly fun to be around. She keeps asking stupid questions."
"And she refuses to let me have a go with you guys." Haley shot back. Leo raised an eye ridge, looking between the two. They were like children. Leo didn't know Liza was capable of that. But there she was, ignoring Haley like that annoyed child who didn't get a sweet. She even had her arms crossed and nose turned up to the air.
"Have a go?" Leo asked. Liza looked at Haley when she was going to answer, silencing her with a glare. Haley closed her mouth, crossing her arms.
"She wants a fight to the death with you guys," Liza said nonchalantly, making Leo's eyes widen. He looked over at Haley. Haley's mouth opened in indignation, and she narrowed her eyes at Liza. Leo fought back a chuckle once he realized Liza wasn't serious.
"I do not." Haley retorted. Then to Leo, "I want to fight you guys because I think your fighting styles will be different, and I'm curious. Different weight distribution, different moves, that stuff, and since that girl absolutely refuses to tell me how you fight, I figured I'd just have to ask you to fight me."
"Racist Asian," Liza muttered under her breath. Leo fought back a smile by curling his lips into his mouth. Haley glared at the brunette, and then turned her back to her.
"So will you fight me?" Haley asked. Leo tried to school his emotions, he really did, but it was so funny. Liza was acting so childish with Haley, it reminded him of his and Raph's fights way back when they were toddlers. Haley glared at him with her pale green eyes once she noticed what he was doing, and he straightened his face out.
"Sure. Just uh, let me cool down. I just got out of training." He slipped by Haley, who nods at him. "Hey Liza, Raph should be awake in his room."
"Thanks." Liza hollered back, standing up. She and Haley made a large show of not looking at each other, and Leo made sure to make it to the kitchen door before saying his last comment. It wasn't bad, but they were live wires. It wasn't funny, but they might not like it.
"Hey guys," They both look at him. "I think the names Sugar and Spice fits you two fairly well."
They gave him dull looks, completely unamused at his statement. But their reactions amused him.
A/n: Really big thanks to Getara, who gave me the name for Spice.
When I started this story, Spice/Haley didn't exist. I don't quite remember how she was created, I just know I wrote this chapter and she appeared. I had to go back to a previous chapter to write her in so she didn't show up out of nowhere. Because she did, even for me. And then I had this OC I didn't plan for, who ended up being useful (Chapter 20 was her idea) for a plot hole I didn't even know I had until it showed up. Then there was a plan to kill her off since, you know, she wasn't supposed to exist, but she survived into the second book. And she ended up being useful in that one too!
Yeah, I'm sharing all the details of this story now. Anywho, see you next chapter!