(Author's notes: To clear things up, this fanfic is in the Rise of the TMNT universe. My goal with writing this story is to make it as much like the show as I can, writing it like individual episodes that have a larger storyline. Each Episode will have between one and five chapters, and some of them will be just absolute nonsense, although this one is to set the mood of the fanfic in whole as well as to get me used to the style of writing. I also plan on incorporating some of characters from the other universes and not use original characters unless I have to. I hope everyone enjoys.)
Mock Turtle Season
Episode One: Money, Money, Money Part 1
Raphael felt the tendrils of the Krang slithering across his skin. Like fast growing vines, it entwined around him, sticking to him, holding fast. His muscles bunched as the tendrils went under his mask, finding the best way to invade his mind. It crawled up his nostrils, through his ear canals and around his eyes, searching for the best way to penetrate his mind.
It filled him. It changed him. He became one with the Krang. He thought like the Krang. He obeyed the Krang without question, without choice. He was the Krang. Or the Krang was him.
The Krang told him to hate humans, so he did. The Krang told him to hate his brothers, so he did. The Krang told him to hurt his brothers, and he did.
Raphael woke up with a start, sweat pouring down his body and quickly cooling his body. His sheets were soaked and his throat was tight and throbbed as if he were holding back screams.
Did anyone hear him? Had he woken up his brothers? He listened for a few minutes, listening for the sounds of footsteps, but all was silence. He checked the time—three-fifteen—and determined it was too early to get up. It wasn't his first nightmare, and it would be a cold day in Meat Sweats's oven before he would let that get in his way of sleep.
He dropped his head back onto his pillow when he heard screaming. Once again, he sat bolt up, throwing back his blanket and leaving his subway car that was his bedroom. He was at the front of the abandoned subway and he marched down the line, listening for who had screamed. He passed Leo's and Donnie's car, not hearing a peep. Same with Mikey's. He was pressing his head to Splinter's car to see if it was Pop—perhaps watching another horror movie—when the scream came again.
It was coming from the last car, what had been a guest room for April to crash once in a while but was given to the young man from the future who had dropped into their life not that long ago. When Raph opened the door, he saw Casey rolling back and forth in bed, moaning and sobbing. Every once in a while, he would give a little scream and wave his arms around as if fighting something.
Raphael knew from experience to not wake up Casey from his night terrors. Donnie had explained the difference between nightmares and night terrors and all the logistics between them, but mostly, to not wake up Casey when he was like this. It broke Raph up inside to not be able to do anything for the young man.
Opening the door all the way, Raph sat on the floor so he could look Casey in the eye in case he woke up. But mostly, he stayed to prevent the guy from hurting himself as he thrashed around. The night terrors never lasted long, and soon, Casey would return to his peaceful night's sleep.
"It's okay, buddy," Raph said in a soothing tone. "You can get through this. You're safe, Casey. You're with family."
Donnie had told him that Casey couldn't hear anything when he was in this state, but Raph thought it helped. Perhaps on an unconscious level, Casey could understand that Raph was nearby. Raph knew exactly what it was like to be beholden to nightmares. And he had an idea that both their nightmares were very similar.
After three more minutes of thrashing, Casey calmed down, eventually lying still on his side, sighing heavily as the ghosts of his past let him rest.
Raph waited a few more minutes to be sure that Casey was really asleep before standing up. He tasseled the human's hair, remembering all the times he had sat up whenever one of his brothers had a nightmare, waiting until they went back to sleep before returning to his own bed. Even though the human had only lived with the turtles for a few weeks, it already felt as if they had gained another brother. Casey had so many of the turtles's habits that is was uncanny how much he fit in.
As Raph stepped out of the subway car and slowly closed the door, he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, a shadow that disappeared into Leo's car. He smiled at the thought of his younger brother picking up some of his own habits. He was also aware that the silence in their part of the sewers was different. His ninja senses told him that nobody was sleeping in the subway cars anymore, that they were perhaps listening with concern from their beds to Casey's struggle with his personal demons.
Raph walked back to his room, hearing the subtle sounds of his brothers and father settling back in their beds: Splinter fluffing his pillow, Mikey pulling the covers over his head, and Donnie adjusting his heat lamp and weighted blanket. He passed by Leo's room, stopping to look inside as the door was still open. He nodded to the shadow just inside the door and moved to his own room, listing as Leo's door slowly closed.
"Is Splinter back yet?" Mikey asked, sticking his head into Donnie's work space.
Donnie, who was wielding like mad, turned off his blow torch and yanked off his goggles. "Did you say Splinter's back?"
"No, I was just asking you," Mikey said, disappointed.
Leo stuck his head in over Mikey's. "Did you say that Splinter is back?"
"No, I was asking Donnie," Mikey said.
"Ugh, I can't take it," Donatello said, throwing his arms over his head. "Allowance Day is so stressful."
"Allowance Day? Is Splinter back?" Raph asked, poking his head in over Leo's.
His three brothers groaned.
"Allowance? What's an allowance?" Casey asked. Unlike the others, he didn't poke his head inside the room. He walked in and leaned against the wall.
Mikey's eyes lit up. "It's the best thing ever. It's a magical time each week when Splinter gives us money to buy things. I'm going to try that new gourmet pizza restaurant."
"I need to get me some more shell wax," Leo said. He turned around, showing his shell. "Do you see this? Lackluster. It's such a waste if my shell doesn't dazzle."
"Or maybe I'll buy that new video game that I've been wanting," Mikey added.
"Oh, yeah. Bear Town is coming out with a limited edition plush. I just got to have it," Raph said. "And I've got a coupon."
"Oh, I need to replace the wheels on my skateboard. They're totally shredded," Mikey said remembering.
"I just hope Dad gets here soon," Donnie said, a mechanical claw extending from his shell, holding a tablet. "I must get my hands on the Sound Blaster 3000! The last one is on Ebay, and if I don't bid soon, DavUSmoov38 will get it." Donnie hunched over the tablet hungrily.
"Uh…isn't that a karaoke machine?" Mikey asked, peering over his brother's shoulder.
"How dare you?" Donnie accused, rounding on Mikey. "It isn't just a karaoke machine. It's an all-inclusive dance, singing and light show, producing the right ambiance for me to get my groove on. This machine is…my spirit animal."
Everyone stared at him.
"Why do you guys need more stuff?" Casey asked. "This place is perfect. It has everything you need. You guys are so lucky."
"We live in the sewers," Raph said. "I don't think anyone would ever call us lucky."
"But you have shelter," Casey argued. "It's quiet and safe. This place is amazing."
They were all reminded in what kind of world Casey grew up in.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mikey said, smiling. "This place is great."
"We are pretty lucky, aren't we?" Raph added.
"Well…it's really hard to improve perfection," Leo said, posing.
"But…what about stuff?" Donnie whined, his shoulders sagging.
"Boys, I'm home," a voice called out.
In a flash, all four turtles pushed Casey out of the way, heading to the entrance to their lair.
"Yay, Dad's back," Mikey shouted, his arms open wide for a hug. "Did you bring us our allowance?"
"If you could just send mine to my account, that would be great, Dad," Donnie said with hands on his hips. "I've got a bidding war to win; take that DavUSmoov38."
All four turtles danced and jumped around the rat, making a big ruckus without realizing that their guardian remained silent.
"Boys, boys, calm down," Splinter said, gesturing for them to settle down. "I have some bad news."
"Dad, is that all you got?" Leo asked, noticing the rat held only a few wilted, wrinkled bills.
"Those had better be thousand dollar bills," Donnie said.
"Please tell me that the bad news was that somebody robbed the bank," Mikey pleaded.
"Oh, it is far worse than that," Splinter said. "Boys, I'm afraid we are…broke."
The turtles squealed and screamed in shock, failing around the lair.
"But how will I shake my booty without my all-inclusive machine?" Donnie shouted.
"But…my coupon," Raph sniffled.
Everyone paused.
Leo asked. "How are we broke, Pop? We've always had money."
"Well…it seems that the royalties from my movies and merchandise are drying up," Splinter said, scratching his cheek.
"Wait. You mean that's where all that money came from?" Leo asked. "You had earned it."
"Yes. Where did you think my money came from?" Splinter asked.
"From those little machines on the sides of buildings. You put your card in, press a few buttons, and it makes money for you," Leo said, miming the actions.
"You mean an ATM?" Donnie asked, not quite believing what came out of his brother's mouth.
"Yeah, one of those. Let's just ask one of those for more money," Leo said, smiling.
His brothers face palmed.
"My sons, we must rally together and be strong during this darkest of times," Splinter said sagely.
"Really?" Casey grumbled, shaking his head at the drama.
"We will have to live on a budget," Splinter continued.
Mikey gulped. "A budget?" It sounded so frightening.
"Yes, which means no more frivolities. No more unnecessary snacks. No name brand foods. No take out," Splinter said sternly.
The four turtles were close to tears.
"Can we still buy Kraft Mac n' Cheese?" Mikey asked.
"No!" Splinter shouted, slapping his son with his tail. "We will have to buy the bargain bin Mac n' Cheeze."
"Nooooooooo!" Mikey shouted to the heavens, tears pouring down his face.
"Uh, Papa, what does this mean about our allowance?" Donnie inquired, raising a finger. "Surely we are allowed a little pocket money."
Splinter grunted. "Yes, I suppose so. Here you are." He went to each of his sons and dropped a brand new, shiny quarter in their green palms.
"Twenty-five cents? That's all?" Raph asked, holding the coin to his eye.
Splinter smiled. "It needs to last you all month, so try not to spend it all in one place."
"It'll be a miracle if we can spend it at all," Leo said. "You can't buy anything for a quarter."
"If we put all our quarter together, we could buy half a candy bar," Mikey complained.
"Be grateful!" Splinter shouted, shaking his fists. "Why, in my day, I could buy an ice-cream sundae for a quarter and have enough left over to buy a pack of gum."
"Could it also buy you a life?" Donnie said blithely.
"I guess the economy is bad for even us mutants," Raph said. "But Pops. If we're broke, how are we going to live?"
"Hmmmm," Splinter muttered, rubbing his chin. "Purple!"
Donnie lifted his head.
"Pack a bag. We're heading to Atlantic City. You can count cards, right?" Splinter asked.
Donnie saluted. "Affirmative, father figure."
"Whoa, whoa," Casey shouted, stepping in the middle of the family. He wasn't certain about half of the things the turtles and Splinter said, but the moment that Jersey was entered into the equation, it went too far. "Is this really the time to split up?"
"You're right, Hockey Face," Splinter said. "Red, I'll need you on the roulette wheel. Orange, you take the slot machines. And Blue, you will be ready to distract security if we have to bust out of there."
"No!" Casey shouted before calming down. "New York is still in chaos after the Krang were defeated. The news is constantly reporting a rise in breaking-and-enterings, lootings, and car thefts. The city needs us to go out and bust some heads." To emphasize his point, he punched his fist.
"Do you realize just how big New York City is?" Donatello asked. "We're four turtles, a rat and some guy from an alternate future timeline. Even if we worked twenty-four seven, we won't make a dent in the crime rate."
"Yeah, and besides, we're more built for boss level baddies," Leo said. "Mystic turtles to take care of mystic problems. Let's leave the small fries to the police. They're more equipped at handling that kind of problem."
"Besides, how are we expected to patrol the city and fight crime if we're in peril of dying of malnutrition because we're eating bargain bin Mac n' Cheeze?" Mikey protested.
"It's not like we can get a job or anything," Raph said with a shrug.
"But I can," Casey said, his mouth running a few seconds faster than his brain. What was he thinking? He didn't know anything about getting a job. All he knew was how to smash skulls and how to fight the Krang. What kind of job could an seventeen-year-old guy from the future get in New York?
"What are you saying? Are you saying that you're going to support us financially?" Splinter asked, his face filled with wonder.
"Uh…yeah, I guess so," Casey said, hoping he could back up his mouth. "It can't be that hard. We just need money for food and a few other things, right?"
"And perhaps a little spending money?" Mikey asked, his face sparkling with hope.
"Maybe," Casey said with a shrug. "I'll do my best."
"Don't forget my Netflix," Splinter said. "And my Hulu+. And Disney+. Oh, and I also need my Amazon Prime subscription. And Paramount+. And Peacock, Vudu, Apple+, HBO Max, Crunchyroll, and—"
"I'm not paying for your TV habit," Casey yelled, forgetting he was talking to someone he should treat with respect. He cleared his throat. "I'll do what I can"
"We can't let Casey take care of us like this," Raph said, the responsible side of him coming out. "Pops, are you sure that we're completely out of money. Maybe there's just an error at the bank."
"That could be a possibility," Splinter agreed. "I wouldn't know. I have a guy who does my finances. What is his name again? Steve? Jared? Fishguts O'Leary? No, that's a loan shark."
"Shouldn't you have his name saved in a…what's the old person equivalent of a phone?" Donnie asked.
"I'm not that old. We had cell phones back then," Splinter shouted. "Let me go check." Off he waddled to his room, muttering names as he tried to remember his past.
Casey looked to the turtles. "Well, I guess I'll go topside and look for a job. Maybe April can give me a few pointers."
He looked so optimistic that the turtles didn't have the heart to tell him about April's jinx in the employment scene. They all gave him big thumb-ups and words of encouragement.
Raph wasn't one to wait around for someone else to solve his problems. He was all about fixing things on his own, even if it meant he had no idea what he was doing. "Alright, Mad Dogs. We can't let Casey and Pops do everything. We are going to make some money."
"How?" his brothers replied as one with mixed feelings.
"Uh…what about…selling our stuff?" Raph said with uncertainty.
"My dear sweet, sweet, naïve brother," Donnie said with a tinge of anger, wrapping and arm around Raph's shoulders. "The point of having money is to buy stuff. It would be a moot point to sell our stuff."
"I'm not talking about selling our good stuff," Raph contradicted. "We're just going to sell our crap."
"I don't think—" Mikey started to say but was interrupted by Leo putting a finger over his mouth.
"No, let him speak," Leo said. "I think he's onto something."
"Well, I was thinkin' we could go through our stuff and find the things we don't use no more," Raph said. "And we can take it to a pawn shop or something."
Leo looked thoughtful before saying, "No, I was wrong. Raph's totally lost it."
"Oh, come on. Pops has been taking care of us for years, and when he needs a little help, the least we can do is sell some of our stuff," Raph said angrily. "Mikey, what about all those Japanese comics you collected in your preteen years? Some of those have got to be worth something, right? And Leo, we've got thousands of DVDs and video games, some we haven't used in years. And Donnie, surely some of your inventions are worth a few bucks."
Donnie mulled things over. "Hmmm, as much as I like you calling me Shirley, I've got to say HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!" Donnie shouted. "There's a fine line between genius and insanity, and you my friend, will never cross it…to the genius side. That sounded a lot better in my head."
"Do you really think it's a good idea to unleash Donnie's inventions on the poor, unknowing citizens of New York?" Leo added.
Raph threw his hands up in the air. "All I'm asking you to do is to look. Come on, guys. It shouldn't be that hard."
The three brothers mumbled their agreement before turning around and heading away from their leader, grumbling their discontent.
Donnie had to have the last word. "Oh, yeah, nothing wrong will happen by capitalizing on one's experimental creations. This is on your head, Raphael."
April raced to the student center with a tray of hot coffee, hoping that getting the drinks to her supervisor and staff before it cooled would be enough to save her job. Earlier that week, she had accidentally deleted a butt-load of student files, and for that, she had been banished to working weekends when most students stayed off campus and the only things to do were boring paperwork and the occasional problem that was usually remaking student IDs. The biggest reason she volunteered to do the coffee run was to get out of the office and get some exercise.
That and avoid participating in the campus tours that the school gave to high school students every Saturday in promotion to getting their attendance numbers up. There was nothing April despised more than showing a bunch of immature teens around campus.
It wasn't her ideal job, but at least it made her some money. What she really wished was to be back on the school newspaper, but after the Krang, she had been banned. Apparently breaking into a campus science lab, stealing valuable property—the fact that the "valuable" property was an environmental hazard was looked over—lied to faculty members and attempted to publish a story that would make the college look very bad was apparently frowned upon. April was lucky she hadn't been kicked out of school.
But when one door slams in your face, another opens. In the wake of the Krang's invasion, many students dropped out of school for mental health reasons—imagine that—leaving a ton of empty job positions on campus that were desperate to take any warm body. April was first in line to get a cushy job at the student center. Too bad she didn't realize the long-time coveted job of working at the front office was going to be dead boring. But she wasn't going to quit nor was she going to phone it in. She was going to do her best and stay at a job longer than the live-span of a fly. Her resume already looked like the classifieds as is.
Racing up the stairs, April glanced upward through the large, glass windows that was the whole outer wall of the student center, seeing Glenda taking the high school tour group. Yes! She had dodged that bullet. And that almost meant she could go home early.
As she walked into the office with her still hot coffee, she caught sight of a tall figure dressed in an oversized hoodie and jeans suggesting that the thick fabrics were hiding a bulky figure. April sighed. She hated it when one of the turtles decided to drop in on her unannounced. It usually meant something catastrophic and ended with the words, "You're fired."
"Alright, what's going on?" April said, clapping a hand on the turtle's shoulder. "Don't tell me that a mutant is attacking my school."
The figure turned around, showing a face that was confused and definitely not a mutant turtle. And the most surprising of all, she was female.
"What the…?" April asked, then quickly changed her tune. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine. Who is totally not a mutant. I didn't say anything about mutants. Not at all."
The young woman reached into her hood and pulled off a nice set of headphones, knocking off her hipster-style, red frame glasses. "What was that?" she asked in a voice softer than what April would have put for such a large woman. She must have been close to six feet tall, which was practically a giant next to April.
"Uh…What can I do for you?" April said, glad that the young woman hadn't heard what she said before.
The young woman push her hood back, revealing her brunette hair in the messiest bun and a round face with angry, red zits sprouting in a cluster on her left cheek. As if aware of her appearance and was embarrassed, she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm here for the tour of the campus. I'm sorry, but I'm a bit late." She fidgeted with her hair, making it messier.
"You're in high school?" April asked in disbelief. She had pegged the girl as a student in college, maybe a few years older than April. But if she was in high school, that would mean that April was older by a year.
"Yeah, I'm sixteen," the girl said, her tone suggesting that she often was mistaken for someone older.
Remembering the hot coffee in her hands, April moved to behind the desk. "I'm sorry, but the last tour group just left. There won't be another until next Saturday."
"Crap. I just moved to New York, and the bus schedule was confusing," the girl explained, sticking her hands into her hoodie. "Well, thanks. I guess I could just wander around, right?"
"It's a confusing campus. You could get lost. I'll get you a map. Hang on," April said, heading into the back. She handed out coffee to her supervisor and the professors that were using the space to have a meeting. She grabbed a folded campus map and headed to the front.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw her supervisor's supervisor—or was it her supervisor's supervisor's supervisor?—standing in the office, talking to the tall girl. April approached slowly, not wanting to interrupt the conversation, keeping the map where anyone could see it to show she was helping.
Once her presence was noticeable, the supervisor turned. "Ah, just in time. What's your name?"
"Uh…April O'Neil," April said to the older gentleman. She was trying to remember what his job title was. Vice-President of something, she thought.
"April," the VP said, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder. "She'll be taking you around campus and show you everything."
"What?" April said, keeping her voice even. "But…the group already left."
"Here at East Laird University, we go above and beyond to help everyone we can, including giving personal tours if it required," the VP said, his tone saying that April didn't have a choice if she wanted to keep her job.
"Oh, yeah," April said, uplifting her voice. "I'd be glad to."
"Good. And don't forget to take some food vouchers to our food court." With that, the VP left, waving at the two girls.
Once he was gone, the tall girl said, "You don't have to. I don't want to be a bother."
"It's no problem," April said, waving away the concern. "It means we can go at our own pace and skip all the boring stuff. Let's go to the food court first, that way we don't have to mingle with the other group."
That caused the tall girl to give a little smile. She shrugged on a cute mini-backpack with a cartoon cat pattern and a large, hard case that was almost as tall as April.
"Do you want to stash that thing in the back room?" April asked, curious why the girl was lugging it around.
"No, I'm good."
"Okay, then let's go. They have the best chocolate cake downstairs, so prepare to have your mind blown."
Raph sifted through his whole room, looking for anything that might be of value to a pawn shop. Most of his stuff was pretty worthless, either bought from thrift stores or so old that nobody would want it. Perhaps his weights would go for something, and packed up those that he had duplicates of. He didn't need two sets of twenty pounders.
Then his eyes went to his video games, over a decade's worth of collecting. He liked playing, but he wasn't as fixated as his brothers. Most of his collection was for the older game systems. He was about to overlook the games when he remembered that retro gamers paid a lot for certain cartridges. Without second thoughts, he put the whole lot of them into a box. If he could get some money out of any of them, then it would be worth it.
"Oh, how about getting rid of these goofy things?"
Raph whirled around. Leo had pulled one of Raph's many plush toys from the luggage rack that circled each of the subway cars.
"Hey, put Mrs. Huggie Luv down," Raph ordered.
Leo snorted, holding the stuffed bear by its ear and swung it gently back and forth. "Mrs. Huggie Luv? Couldn't you think of something more stupid?"
Mikey stuck his head in. "I thought that one was named Cuddle Farts?"
The two brothers snorted and laughed, giving each other fist bumps.
"Good one, bro," Leo said.
"Come on, you guys," Raph growled, snatching the bear and gently replacing it in the gap between a stuffed lion and a sock monkey. "Nobody is going to want to buy them. They're not worth anything."
"That's not really fair," Leo said. "We have to sell our awesome stuff, and meanwhile you give up squat because it's all junk."
"Junk?! Don't you dare talk about Professor Bearinstein like that," Raph shouted, his voice cracking. "Let's get serious. We need to make some money. What have you found?"
"I cleaned out a lot of comics I don't want. Oh, I'm getting rid of all my CDs," Mikey said, presenting boxes on top of boxes of his things. "I got them all digitized anyway, so no loss there."
"Although, nobody buys CDs anymore," Leo said with a frown. "Maybe we can get thirty bucks from all that."
"These are classics," Mikey said, snapping his fingers. "This is practically gold."
"What about you Leo?" Raph asked, crossing his arms. "Did you go through the DVDs?"
"Yeah, yeah. Although, I thought of the best money-making plan ever," Leo said. "Okay, what if I went to Times Square and charged people to take their picture with me. We'd make a fortune."
"That's not a good idea," Raph said.
"You did it and made some money," Leo argued.
"That's because I was adorable and charismatic," Raph bragged.
"You were dressed as a hippo," Leo said, throwing his hands in the air. "Imagine the dough we'd be rolling in when people get a load of this." He indicated his entire body. "I've got muscles, charm, and good looks. I'm the whole package. Plus, I can glow."
"He does have a good point Raph," Mikey said. "Even I want to get my picture taken with him."
"See?"
"Be serious, guys," Raph said. "Either we do this or we starve. Do you want that?"
Leo and Mikey looked down. "No."
"What about you, Donnie? What have you got to help out the situation?" Raph asked, seeing the scientific brother tiptoeing away.
Donnie sagged and turned around. "Well, after going through my inventory, I did find several drones and other electronics that I salvaged and can fix up. I could easily sell them all on Ebay after repairs." He frowned. "Stupid Ebay."
"Great. Why don't you post all of Mikey's comics? We can get a better price there anyway," Raph said. "Mikey and I will take his CDs and to that music store next to April's apartment. Leo, take the DVDs and games and…"
"I know. I'll take care of it," Leo said, waving off his brother's unnecessary orders. "What about you, Raph? What are you getting selling?"
"Plenty," Raph said, putting his hands on hips.
Leo and Mikey looked around his large shell to the small box.
"Uh-huh," Leo said with narrowed eyes.
"What about those beanie baby things?" Donnie asked, pointing up to Raph's stuffed toys. "Some of them can go for hundreds or even thousands of dollars."
Raph's eyes popped.
Leo and Mikey smiled.
"Really? Well then, Donnie. Perhaps it would be beneficial to put Raph's stuffed toy collection on Ebay as well," Leo said, grabbing an armful of plushies and shoving them in a box.
"Wait! Is that really necessary?" Raph asked, looking nervous.
"Oh, let him keep a couple," Mikey said with a big grin. "I think it's cute that big bro has a soft spot for his cuddly toys."
Raph's eyes darted back and forth, ignoring the sweat soaking into his bandana. "No, it's okay. Donnie, go ahead and find out if they're worth anything. I'm sure they're worthless. I mean, if you really want to waste your time doing the research."
"Great!" Leo said, pulling the rest of the stuffed toys off the shelves. He picked up a fluffy puppy toy. "Are you sure you don't want to keep one? Even Snuggly-wuggly Pants here?"
"Shut up," Raph said, slapping his hand away. "And that one's called Steve, as if you didn't know." He stomped away, ignoring the laughter that followed.
Casey walked away from April's apartment, having knocked on her door and found nobody at home. He had sent her a text message but hadn't heard a reply, which meant she must be busy. He would just have to talk to her later.
His first thought was to return to the sewers and see if there was something more he could do for the turtles, but he wasn't the type to wait on others. He had promised to get a job, and he was going to do just that.
He just wasn't sure how he was going to do that.
He hoped that taking a walk would help him get some ideas so he headed towards a street where he knew there were a lot of businesses. Perhaps if he just asked a few of the owners, they would give him a job. How hard could it be?
After the Krang invaded, Casey had only been on the surface a few times, and most of the time either in the Turtle Tank or out at night. He was surprised just how many people were out on the sidewalk. It was always a surprise when he saw a group of people more than a couple of dozen. He was not used to there being so many people gathered in one space. Although he was filled with joy that so many lives were saved, it made his chest feel restricted and his breath increase to be in a crowd.
He walked down the street, picking up his pace and thinking that the crowd would disperse a little if he just kept going, but after a block, there were a lot more people. He was jostled and touched more than he felt comfortable with, and eventually had to press himself up against a building just to give himself room to breathe.
His eyes darted back and forth, looking for a place where he could relax, get away from so much noise and faces. He knew how to keep calm in a battle, but this was something different. He felt ready to fight or flee, but there was nothing to fight or flee from.
Reaching behind him, he felt the metal frame of a door and pushed his way inside, huffing and puffing. He bent down, resting his hands on his knees as he calmed himself down.
"Are you okay there, sunny?"
An elderly man with large, bottle-cap lenses stared down at him. Since when was Casey on the floor?
"Do you need me to call an ambulance?"
"No," Casey said, waving the elderly man away. Had he fainted? What was going on with him? "I just needed…to get away from the crowd."
"Oh, I hear ya," the old man said. "The lunch rush can get a little intimidating. Don't take it personally. They're all hungry and have low blood sugar, but it should get better in about twenty minutes. Let me get you a drink."
Casey sat up slowly, his head spinning. He gratefully accepted a styrofoam cup of water and sipped it, his senses returning to normal.
"Feel free to chill as you kids say," the old man said, chuckling. "Nobody comes in at this time of day, anyway."
Casey looked around, wondering where he had stumbled into. It looked to be a hardware store with tools, nails, and other building and fixing supplies neatly organized in boxes and drawers or hung on the wall up to the ceiling.
The old man hobbled to his stool behind the register where a six inch TV was playing the news.
Casey carefully stood, feeling stable now that he wasn't completely surrounded. "Hey, I don't suppose you…need someone to work for you. I'm kind of looking for a job."
The old man looked sad. "I'm afraid I can't afford to hire a full-time employee. I barely make enough money competing against the big box stores. But…if you're really needing some money, I have a few jobs I need done for today. I'll pay you in cash."
"That would be great," Casey said, smiling. Perhaps he didn't need April's help after all.
That's when something on the TV caught his attention. It was the familiar scenes that the news repeated almost on loop ever since the Krang had been defeated.
"Could you turn that up?" Casey asked, pointing to the TV.
"…won't officially declare what did or did not happen in New York, but the governor of New York has assured every citizen that he is making a full investigation into the matter," the newscaster said as the old man turned up the volume. "As an update into the incident, the governor has hired General Langenstein to come into New York City as a military consultant. While the General has turned down an invitation to be interviewed, he did make a statement, saying that his presence in New York is not an indication that the military is taking over but that he is to here to help figure out who or what attacked American soil and prevent more attacks from occurring."
To the side of the news caster appeared the picture of a man dressed in a formal military uniform. His shoulder and breast were decorated with the stripes indicating his long time service in the military. He looked to be in his fifties with mostly gray hair. His face was stern and squarish as if it were carved out of flint with plenty of cracks where worry and anger had carved into flesh.
Casey felt the same pressure from before, but this time he didn't feel like passing out. He felt a foreboding dread chill his blood.