AUTHOR: Special thanks to Reinbeicher and Dierdre for beta-ing this chapter.
With some help from the rat, the manhole slowly opened and M.J. climbed up. Not even the freezing chill from his wet clothes dampened his relief of beeing on the surface once more, as the rat let go of his back and hobbled to the nearest bench. M.J. stretched a bit then looked around to see where they were.
And froze to the core.
...No...no, no, no, no, no, no...not here...of all the fucking places...anywhere but here.
They were in the middle of a cemetery.
But not just any cemetery. The cemetery. Where they were burried. In fact, he could see the all too familiar gate that lead to that special part of the cemetery. He could see some of their headstones.
...M.J...
Maybe it was just trick of the eyes, since it was night, but...
...M.J...
...he could swore he saw...shadows moving among the headstones...but...
...you fucking bastard...
...that couldn't be, it was just...they were all dead...
...where the fuck were you...
...but...that didn't stop them...
...why aren't you burried here with us...
...from coming after him...
"M.J"
"M.J"
"Mr. M.J.?"
The rat's voice snapped M.J.'s attention from the headstones and on to him, where he sat on a bench couple of feets away, "Y-yeah?" M.J. made a poor attempt to hide his...uneasiness, as his face was more whiter then usuall and almost glowed because of the sweat.
"Is...something wrong, Mr. M.J.?"
My first instinct was to lie to him, but...I dunno. I had already told him enough sob stories, whats one more? He'll probably forget all about it by the end of this week.
"Nothing, just...I haven't been here for a while..." M.J. trailed off, while the rat's expression remained unchanged, probably waiting to hear more. "...its just that...over there is where...we...are burried."
An understanding flickered on the rat's face, "Ah, I see, Mr. M.J.. I aplogize for bringing you here, but this is the only safe place on the surface that was close enough for my sons to reach me," being reminded of those green guys almost made M.J. flinch as he quickly glanced around, somewhat expecting them to appear out of nowhere.
"Uh, y-yeah, whatever. Look, don't think I helped ya out 'cause the kindness of my heart, a'ight? I only did 'cause your boys knew I was with you an' if anything happened to you they'd come after me guns blazing, so..." the amused smile that appeared on the rat's face stated he didn't belive that excuse for a second.
Godamnit, I knew I shouldn't have said it gangsta style.
"A-anyway, I gotta go. Think your, uh...sons will get here before someone else comes?"
"Why do you not ask them?" asked the rat and gestured somewhere on M.J.'s right. Turning, he saw the last thing he wanted to see.
"GAH!" Almost jumping out of skin, M.J. instead took a big jump backwards as he saw the three turtles standing on a spot they hadn't been on less then ten seconds ago. They held no weapons, though all three were tensed up, ready to act at the slightest provoke. No one moved, the turtles looked like missplaced statues, untill the one standing at the front slightly moved his head in the rat's direction.
"Master Splinter, are you alright?" M.J. recognised the voice as the jerk who yelled into that cellphone thingy.
Which reminds me, my ear is still ringing...
"Yes, Leonardo, I am alright," replied the old rat. Almost a full minute passed in totall silence after that, M.J. eyeing the turtles with a well concealed nervousness, while the other three kept their unerving gaze on him. When the rat realised no one was going to break the ice, he cleared his throat, "sons, I would like you to meet Mr. M.J.. Mr. M.J., allow me to introduce you to Leonardo," the rat waited two or three seconds for Leonardo to nod his head or something, but the grim looking leader remained motionless, "...Donatello," the one wearing the purple bandana slightly nodded, almost imposible to see in the dark, "and Michelangelo," orange bandana made a half-hearted wave, which made M.J. blink, "and I belive you have already met my somewhat impulsive son."
That made all three turtles look at their...father...with surprise on their faces, "what do you mean, sensei?"
Oh hell, the rat wouldn't! The last thing I need right now is to be on the receiving end of a group beating!
"Oh gee, look at the time! Its been great meetin' ya all and all that, that special tour in the sewers is a memory thats gonna stay, but Law & Order is gonna start soon, so, if I'll never see any of ya again, it'll be too soon. Bye!" With a quick turn, M.J. all but ran away from the weirdos. But he had only taken three or four steps when-
"YOU!.!.! I'M GONNA GET YOU DIS TIME!.!."
M.J. instandly recognised that voice and nearly soiled his underwear. Turning around in dread, he saw an all too familiar green nutcase coming from behind the three turtles, marching directly towards him. Well, hobbling was more like it, and when the red bandana passed by a lightpost, M.J. saw his right arm was in a sling. The sight was almost comical, if it weren't for the death glare aimed at M.J.
"Wha? Raph? The shell you doing here? I thought you went with Cas-OW!" Donatello elbowed Michelangelo hard for some reason, his head slighty nodded towards M.J., "...oh."
Raphael ignored them both, but as he was about to hobble passed Leonardo, the turtle stepped in his way, "Raph, what are you doing? You are in no condition to-"
"Back off, Leo! Dis one's personel," but Leo didn't step away. In fact, he looked like he was about to argue some more when a voice shouted in the distance.
"Yo Raph! Wait up, bro!" It came from the same direction that the pissed turtle came from.
Oh God, please don't tell me there's another one!
Appearandly, He was listening, for it was not a turtle that came running towards them, but that didn't stop M.J. from swearing to himself when he saw who it was.
No fucking way, thats him!.!
"Hey Cas-OW!" Another elbow shot, "Uh, I mean, Mr. Vigilante, what are you doing here?"
The Vigilante didn't answer right away, for he was too busy bending over, hands on his knees as he gasped for air after running. For some reason, the rat rested a paw on his head, silendly shaking it.
After taking couple of more long deep breaths, the Vigilante raised himself up and looked at Michelangelo, the mask bringing attention to his bright blue eyes, "Eh, why ye callin' me dat? Forgot my name or sumthin'?" Michelangelo replied by pointing a finger towards M.J., "...oh..."
Is it me, or does his voice sound oddly familiar?
"You an' me!.!. Right 'ere, right now!" Yelled Raphael as he pushed Leo asside and started hobbling towards M.J.. But Leo wasin't dismissed so easily and blocked Raphael's path again.
"Raph!.! Just what do your doing?.!. Master Splinter is here and is alright! We should leave before-"
"I ain't gonna beat that punk up 'cause of Splinter, Leo!.! I'm gonna beat that punk up for what he did to me!.!"
"Did to you? What do you..." Leo trailed off for a second, untill he made the connection. He turned around and looked at M.J. for couple of seconds, taking in his appearance, then back at Raph and jabbed a thumb towards M.J., "He's the one that you told us about?.?.?" Judging by the disbelief in his voice, he found it extremely hard to belive it. So did the other two turtles.
Okay, half expected to get beaten into a pulp when the truth came out. Wonder if I should feel releaved or insulted?
"Grrr, he fought dirty!" growled Raph, obviosly wanting to get his hands on M.J.
Maybe it was because of the cold. Or the thought of how many germs were swimming around in his wet clothes. Or maybe it was because another sharp wave of pain came from his eyes.
Or maybe it was all of the above. Whatever it was, M.J.'s patience just snapped, since the turtle was acting if he had done some terribly crime against him.
"An' what the fuck do you expect!.?.!. I was getting my ass kicked by something that wasin't even human!.!" M.J. yelled back, making him feel slightly better. The three turtles appeared slightly surprised at his outburst, while Raph only got more angrier.
"You just get yer butt over 'ere an' I'll show ya da meanin' of gettin' yer ass kicked!.!"
"Bring it on, Kermit!.!" M.J. dared, taking steps towards Raph, his fear of the hot head no longer existed. Maybe the turtle saw that and got even more angrier of no longer being scary, or maybe it was his new nickname. Whatever it was, the turtle looked like he was about to foam at the mouth as he tried to charge at M.J. Tried, because Leonardo saw it coming and managed to hold him long enough for the Vigilante to restrain him from behind as Raph yelled curses.
"Yo, Raph, ya need to chill or yer gonna end up gettin' more hurt!"
"Let go of me, Casey! Dis is between him an' me!"
"You are in NO condition to fight, and-"
"Bite me, Leo!"
Soon, the Vigilante and the turtles were all yelling, most of the time at Raph, the rest at each other where they yelled that it was their turn to yell.
"Silence!"
Everybody fell silend at the rat's command, whose eyes were on M.J. The Vigilante and the turtles looked at him as well, where disbelieft was writen across his face, as he gazed on the Vigilante.
"...Casey?" He finally mumbled just loud enough for them to hear. The Vigilante flinched as all eyes turned on him.
"U-umm, w-who? I uh, d-don't know anyone named Casey Jones,"
"...bonehead," said Raph, as the rest of the turtles and the rat burried their heads in their hands/paws.
"...your wearing the same clothes, Casey." M.J. replied dryly, resisting the urge to kick the guy behind the hookey mask.
"Huh?" The Vigilante looked down at his clothes and, true to M.J.'s word, was wearing the same clothes he had been in when he visited M.J. just hours ago, "Uh, w-well ah...dis 'ere is da latest style and ah, well..." finally, his shoulders slumpted in defeat and slowly removed his mask, revealing Casey Jones wearing a nervous smile, "Umm, h-hey M.J.. How, ah, hows it goin'?"
"Y-you know him?" Leo asked incredibly, while M.J. was quite...expresionless. Only blinked couple of times as the information slowly sank in.
"...Casey...fucking...Jones..." M.J. slowly said, as if his brain refused to accept what had just happened. Casey himself looked to be a bit embarresed himself, but before he or anyone else could say anything, M.J. brought a hand to his temple as a headech was slowly coming, "...screw this, I'm going to bed."
And with that, M.J. turned his back on four mutated turtles, a four feet tall talking rat and a loudmouthed nutcase who just got a whole lot weirder, even though it was supposed to have been statisticly imposible.
Okay, I'm just gonna go home, take a shower, burn these clothes and then go to bed. And hopefully, when I wake up, I'll have forgotten everything that has happened today. Oh yeah, looking really forward to that.
"Mr. M.J.!" The rat called after him, and even though he loved nothing more then just give them the finger, some unknown force made him stop severel steps away from them, though he did not turn around.
"What?" He made sure he sounded like someone not in a talkative mood.
"Mr. M.J., I feel compelled to inform you that those ninjas you saw, belong to a lethal enemy, the Shredder. He is a dangerous foe, and is not short on hencmen or resources it would seem. By now, he has no doubt been informed of what transpired below us. I do not know what he will do, but should he belive you to be one of our allies, he will stop at nothing to have his vengeance on you."
"...tell him to take a number."
Without looking back, M.J. walked away.
"Wha-hey! Are we just gonna let him walk away! Just look what he did to me!" Yelled Raph, who got even more angrier at the lack of interest from the others in chasing the gangster, "Screw dis, I'll do it myself den."
"You will do no such thing," Splinter said sternly, halting Raph before he even moved.
"But...Master Splinter! He-"
"Has enough demons chasing him as it is. And at the moment, we have more serios matter at hand, namely where we should stay, since we can not risk returning to our home with all the Foot Ninjas in the sewers."
"Well...I have an idea!" Said Michalengalo most enthusiaticly.
For almost fifteen minutes the room had stayed in a tense silence, the only thing breaking it were the sparks coming from the torches on the walls. No one had dared to move or fidget from their kneeling positions, but finally, their master spoke, though they all quickly wished he had not.
"Allow me to...understand this better," he slowly said in a dangerously calm voice, "after taking unacceptably long time in locating the turtles, and not their home, they managed to thwart your attacks, untill when finally the fight was slowly going to yours, another one, a human punk, entered the fray and killed three of you with a gun?.!" Their master yelled the last words as his fist hit the desk in front of him, right next to M.J.'s shotgun. To the underlings' credits, they only flinched just a little.
"I belive I know who is responsible for this, master," spoke the kneeled figure at the front.
"Do enlighten me, Hun."
"The one who your ninjas descriped, fits the same one that has been killing my Purple Dragons for the past months now. We do not yet know his name, but his description has been passed to all my troops, along with a substantial reward for anyone who gets him. It is only a matter of time before we will find him," Hun's master was silend for a few seconds, though his angry frown remained.
"...do you know why he has been so...problematic?"
"I belive so. He seems to be the last of one of a gang we took care off last year, and seems to have started a crusade of his own. But he is alone, and his weapons are coming from somewhere. It is only a matter of time before he makes a mistake."
"Are you telling me that a gangster killed three of my ninjas?" He asked again in that dangerously calm voice. Some of his underlings flinched again.
"...yes, master."
"He wouldn't happen to be the same one that killed that incompetend lieutentant of yours, just minutes away before you were suppose to arrive and do it yourself, thus making you loose face among your own troops?" He asked, sly amusement in his voice and expression. Hun's head sprang up, eyes wide.
"How did you-" Hun wisely closed his mouth and bowed his head once more, one of his hands formed a tight fist, "...yes, master."
"And now, thanks to your incompetence, your problem has costed me," again, Hun wisely choose to keep his mouth shut, and the room resumed in a thick silence, as their master picked up and examined the shotgun.
"...send this to our mole in the police departmend and have him examine this. We may yet learn the attacker's identidy."
"It will be done, master."
"I was not finished!" No response, "...then, when we know who it is, I want you to bring him to me."
Again, Hun raised his head with a surprised expression, but this time he choosed to speak against his master, "But master! This one has taken many of my troops and hindered profit! It is only right that we-"
"I could care less about your people! The ones he killed could not stop him, and thus were weak and he was doing you a favor by removing them!" Hun's master looked at him daringly to object again, but the giant lowered his head silendly.
He handed the weapon to a servant as he stood up, "This one has dared to attack me, and that will be his undoing. No one makes a mockery of Oroku Saki and lives to tell of it!"