Chapter 4: Deals and Appeals
For your convenience: a little backstory on Dr. Filch and his deal with the Shredder. Also, I had a hard time keeping a straight face at the phrase "those loathsome turtles."
Ps- "Garrett University" was made up for the sake of this story, if you were wondering, which I'm sure none of you were.
Phineas Filch grew up in a small backwoods town where he spent most of his days hiding in the local library. He had first stumbled in one sunny July afternoon when the neighborhood bullies were chasing him down, shouting profanities and threats that he was, thankfully, too far away to hear. The boy had long, skinny legs that carried him surprisingly fast, especially when there were menacing, rough-and-tumble thugs chasing him down.
As a runty kid with glasses and a knack for schoolwork, he was naturally a notorious target. Even his reputation for being able to sprint faster than most of his classmates did not deter the bullies. If anything, this made him a decent challenge. Whoever managed to catch, or in most cases, successfully sneak up on Phineas Filch not only got to have a good whack at him, they could brag to the class that they'd caught the tiny nerd with a natural talent to easily access his "flight" response.
After weeks of being chased down, Phineas, fed up with the bullies hunting him down like some sort of helpless animal, decided he would need a sufficient hiding spot. But where, in this tiny backwoods mountain town, could he possibly hide from the perpetrators?
And that's when it hit him: he had never seen the neighborhood tormenters open a book before. Ever.
With that thought, he ran a ridiculous, hidden route every day after school to the local library so as not to be bothered.
The library was perfect. It was cool; it was quiet; it was surprisingly secluded. Phineas was free to finish his homework, read, and walk about as he pleased without worrying about who was going to pummel him next.
Sticking his nose in all those books for all those years helped him develop enough smarts to attend a nice college away from that one-horse town.
-o-
"Where are you taking me?!" Dr. Filch screamed as two Foot ninja dragged him down a dim hallway. After the incident at the warehouse, the Head Ninja ordered his subordinates to grab Dr. Filch and throw him into the van he'd driven down there. As it burned to the ground, they drove away before capturing the attention of any authorities. "Put. Me. DOWN!" He demanded.
"You are in no position to be taking orders, so stop your squabbling!" The Head Ninja snapped. "We are taking you to the boss. He will decide your fate from here. I would you suggest you show the utmost respect, lest you want your punishment to be even more painful."
"Punishment?!" Filch's eyes went wide. "I didn't do anything! I brought you your mutant, I showed you the formula, and I demand you—"
A sharp katana placed at his neck shut Dr. Filch up quickly. Even more nerve-racking was that the other two didn't even stop walking, and Head Ninja kept pace with them to keep his weapon there while they continued to drag him down the hallway. "I don't think you heard me correctly." He declared in a tranquil, but even more frightening tone. "Shut your mouth. Do not speak unless spoken to, and do not order us around. I suggest you don't mouth off like this to our master. Now don't make me repeat myself again, or there will be consequences." He sheathed his katana just before they reached their destination and the other two literally flung Dr. Filch at the feet of the Shredder.
The man scrambled, struggling to get on his feet. Immediately, the Shredder stopped him. "Don't get up." He commanded. "Failures kneel."
Though Filch, out of sheer terror, stayed on his knees, he managed to respond with: "Fail? I did not fail you. I brought the mutant, as promised."
"Oh you did, did you? And where exactly is it? Did you make this mutant invisible, as well?"
"Perhaps," the Doctor responded through gritted teeth, "you should ask the reckless brat you put in charge about what happened to my mutant."
Before anyone in the room could even blink, the Shredder had Dr. Filch by the collar, and yanked him close. "Never insult my Foot soldiers. Even the least-skilled of them could break every last bone in your pathetic body before you could begin to process the pain." He threw him back to the floor. However, he did make a point to turn to one of his soldiers and question him, as well. "Well? What happened?" He asked sharply.
The Head Ninja bowed his head before he spoke. "The Doctor did bring us a mutant, if an unconscious one. However, he also brought one of those loathsome turtles along with him."
The Shredder's face contorted into ugly anger. He turned quickly back to Filch. "What?! You fool! Your job was to keep the project hidden, especially from those turtles! And yet, you even managed to screw that up!"
"But…but…I was sure there was nobody following me! There's no possible way he could have—"
"They're ninjas, you bumbling idiot!" The Shredder spat. "I should have known you would mess up. I've never met a scientist that could do a job without screwing up in every possible way. It looks like our deal is done. Get him out of my sight."
"I have the formula!" Dr. Filch screamed in hopes that he could appease an angry Shredder. "Just let me do it again, I can create another mutant! Don't go back on our deal, please!" His tone had been reduced to begging. He no longer cared what happened to his other creation, as long as he was given just one more chance…
The Shredder paused for a moment. Another option occurred to him. Perhaps he would show this man some mercy… in the worst possible way. He nodded down at Filch. "Very well." He replied, his reaction astounding everyone in the room. "You may create another mutant. If your formula works, as you say it does, then you will have your son back and we will both get what we want."
Filch held back tears. He swallowed to release the knot in his throat and nodded.
-o-
The girl's name was Sylvia Fox and she spent most of her time working in a small café near her school, Garrett University. It had a decent nursing program, and it was close to home (not to mention the school had actually accepted her, unlike the prestigious Ivy League schools she'd been hoping to attend), so Sylvia decided she'd finish off her schooling there. Though the workload could be stressful, and she was often sick due to a weakened immune system, Sylvia pushed through day by day, knowing that if she could just pass her damn classes, she might actually snag a real job and be able to live on her own.
The boy's name was Phineas Filch, and he spent most of his time sitting in that small café where Sylvia worked, either studying or trying—in vain, of course—to capture the attention of the cute barista he had a humongous crush on. Unfortunately, the boy was also shy beyond all reason and girls, especially very pretty girls, made him curl up even farther into his theoretic shell.
Today. Today for sure. He would walk in the café, absolutely certain that every day was the day he would ask out the attractive coffee girl, who was also skilled at making a fantastic cup of caramel macchiato. Most days, though, he sat in the corner, engrossed in his textbooks and studying before, finally, Phineas would realize he had someplace to be, and would stumble awkwardly out of the café, too fearful of rejection to even go near the girl.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure.
Sylvia took notice of the boy only because he came in faithfully every day at lunchtime, and when his classes were over. Unaware of his other motivations for hanging around, she admired his work ethic, and after watching him study nonstop for hours, would vow to focus more on her own studies.
One day, they actually spoke.
"Peppermint mocha, please." Said Phineas.
"Oh? That's different from your usual order." Sylvia noted, smiling a bit at their regular.
"Yeah."
Say something else. Phineas thought furiously at himself. Say. Something. Else!
But the words wouldn't come. Something about the girl—the way her shoulder-length blonde hair flipped up perfectly at the ends, the way her huge green eyes gave her a fierce, piercing stare, the way one eyebrow always seemed slightly raised inquisitively—kept the already timid nerd-boy from forming any sort of speech. He kept his mouth clamped firmly shut.
However, on this particular day, Phineas did gather up the smallest bit of courage, even if it took him hours to do so. Besides ordering a different drink, he stayed longer than usual, even skipping a physics club meeting to wait until everyone had left the coffee shop—everyone except the barista in charge of closing the shop.
When Sylvia noticed Phineas still sitting at his table, firmly concentrating on odd charts and graphs laid out in front of him, she apologized and told him she needed to close down the café for the night.
Phineas seemed shocked that she made words to him. However, he responded politely by nodding and gathering his school supplies.
She led him to the door, but before they left, the boy turned around and opened his mouth to say something to her. He was close, so close, but his thoughts scattered and his vocal chords threatened to fail him. A bewildered Sylvia stared back, her confused expression causing the boy to turn red. Phineas thought of chemistry, of algebraic equations and physics formulas to calm himself down. Quantum mechanics was far less intimidating than attractive girls could ever be.
"You're, S-Sylvia, right?" he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Mhm."
"I just… It's just that I see you work here and, um…I know we haven't spoken a whole lot, but I think you're cute and I, um, I like your smile and I just would really like to take you out on a date, uh…you know, if you want to, and so, um…would you…like to go out for coffee sometime or something?"
Upon hearing the phrase "go out for coffee," Sylvia looked around the café. Phineas blushed again, but she shot him a good-natured smile and shrugged it off. "Sure."
Sylvia closed down the café, and the two spent the evening enjoying a long overdue chat with each other.
-o-
For most of his career, Filch worked for a private government unit in a branch known only to the public as "TGRI." He was quite well known for being a bright, innovative thinker and well-respected within the company. However, after the death of his son, he disappeared for a bit. Somehow, though, he came back months later with the funds and means to start his own researching facility, and became even more well-known. The media urged him to share his research, and there were conspiracy theories abound.
None of them, however, ever truly pegged what was really going on within Filch's research facility.
His beloved wife, Sylvia died shortly after giving birth to their son, Ezra. He was a winter baby, small and frail and prone to sickness (much like his mother). Arriving prematurely, he weighed very little, and Filch held him close when he was finally allowed, cradling his son and promising to keep him safe from all the world's dangers.
He could not, however, promise the same to Sylvia, who caught a terrible case of viral pneumonia that led to her death. Phineas mourned her, but pulled through in order to take care of his son.
Just like his father, Ezra grew up to be bright and curious, with a particular interest in the sciences. Even during his teenage years, which came complete with all the awkward body issues and powerful mood swings the boy could handle, the two got along fairly well, and made a well-known father-son team. Together, their discoveries could change the world.
Then, disaster struck.
-o-
The Shredder had locked Dr. Filch in a laboratory with what he needed to remake the formula. Night had long since passed, and even though Filch had no idea what time it was, he knew he had gone an entire night without sleep and that he was tired. He spent many a lonely, sleepless night in laboratories, so this was really nothing new.
So he pushed through. For his science partner. For Ezra.
As the Head Ninja, whom Filch heard the Shredder briefly refer to as, "Taro" dragged him down the hallway, he hissed through his teeth, "Be happy our master was feeling merciful today. Any other time and he would have cut out for eyes for your incompetence."
Filch couldn't stand the brat, but he was also unwillingly terrified, and too cowardly to respond back. Though angry, he was still aware the boy could dole out hefty damage if provoked, and Dr. Filch wished to keep all of his limbs intact. Besides, the boy's opinion meant nothing to him, and he could squawk as much as he pleased. As long as Filch got what he wanted out of the bargain, he would move somewhere far away, cutting all ties with the Shredder and abandoning New York forever.
Taro watched as the doctor created more ooze. The poor fool had no idea what was in store for him, and that the Shredder was showing his own form of cruel, twisted "mercy." Still, he couldn't wrap his head around Filch's loyalty to a dead son. Attachments seemed so pointless to him. But if Filch was willing to do what he said he would do, it meant they could finally have an opportunity to destroy the turtles, spelling out victory for the Foot Clan. And, yet, his curiosity was getting the best of him.
"Why do you work so hard for someone who isn't even alive?"
"Because," Filch stopped working only for a brief moment, "Your master promised me that if I could create superhuman mutants for you that my son could, theoretically, be brought back to life."
"Do you believe him? Our master isn't lying, of course, he could easily bring your son back from the dead, but as a man of science I would have pegged you to be more… skeptical." Taro replied.
Dr. Filch swallowed the lump in his throat before responding. "Of course I'm skeptical. But I've seen science do amazing things. I brought you a mutant lizard girl for goodness sake! And besides…" the doctor shook his head, "This deal between your master and I is the only thing that gives me hope, now. Without my wife or my son, there's nothing else this world has to offer me."
Taro scoffed at the man's words.
-o-
Phineas Filch once received an odd phone call at three in the morning. After forcing his eyes open, he answered it groggily on the last ring.
And the second the phone call was over, he rushed to put on his clothes and drove like a madman out to the hospital.
Ezra was a good boy, incredibly bright and mature for his age. Phineas adored him, and cherished the amazing relationship he had with his son. Even during Ezra's teenage years, the father-son duo got along famously. It also helped that they were both quiet men who didn't like confrontation.
On the verge of hyperventilating, a desperate Phineas Filch burst into the emergency room, demanding to know where they'd taken Ezra. Before a group of exhausted nurses could even tell him to calm down, one of the doctors came walking out, his head held solemnly down.
"I'm afraid," he declared calmly while wiping his brow, "your son didn't make it."
At exactly 3:48 am in Grover County Hospital's emergency room, Phineas Filch lost it.
-o-
Ezra Filch died while driving on his way home from a party under the influence. It was out of character for the boy to make such a stupid decision. So stupid, in fact, that Filch refused to believe his son could make such a poor misjudgment, and blamed his death on his friends, his girlfriend, and everybody at the party. He seethed at the funeral, unable to subtly contain his raging bitterness.
His will to live ceased to exist. Phineas quit his job and practically went into hiding. He cried; he drank; he wailed to the heavens, asking why it had to be his son and not some filthy vagrant nobody would miss. He threw things at walls; he trashed his house; he stopped keeping any sort of proper eating and sleeping schedules.
It was in this time period that the Shredder got wind of Dr. Filch quitting working for TGRI due to the tragedy that struck. He saw an amazing opportunity. Death was nothing, if not a mere obstacle for the Shredder, who personally convinced Phineas Filch that his son could be brought back to this earth alive and well, on the condition that Filch could create an ooze to mutate humans into powerful animal hybrids. He gave Dr. Filch the resources to start his own laboratory, and waited for the man to perfect his formula, so that he could create a whole new clan—a new clan to destroy the ninja turtles.
"So what do you say?" the Shredder had asked after he proposed the deal. Not that it mattered; if Filch had refused, the Shredder would have either had him killed on the spot, or threatened him into making a new formula.
Luckily for Phineas Filch, he agreed, and made a deal with the Shredder that would change the life of a clever and courageous, but very unsuspecting college student named Mona Lisa Gerardini.