Make way because chapter 2 has just arrived! I wanna say thanks again for helping me out, Sunny Lighter, and thanks to all who have reviewed. I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. After all, I like to keep a story interesting.
Disclaimer: Unless I change my name to Kevin, or Peter... or Nickelodeon somehow hires me, please don't point any fingers my way. I don't own these amazing characters... except the Indigo Dragonairs. Those I do own.
Chapter 2- Alleyway Trouble
?'s pov...
Come oooooonnnnnn... Come on!
"Get back here, pipsqueak!"
Oh man... they're catching up! I need to go faster!
"Just wait until I get my hands on 'im!"
That made me run even faster. I pushed random people out of my way. Sorry peeps but I need to move! Their footsteps grew louder as the minutes wore on. Couldn't these dudes accept my sorry and let it go?! Man, I wish these dudes hadn't broken my skateboard. If I had my board, then they'd be eating my dust right now.
"He's slowing down! Grab 'im!"
Darn it, they're right! I am getting tired. But hey, wouldn't you be too after running like crazy for nearly 15 minutes? Legs, please don't fail me now!
My eyes darted everywhere as I tried to look for the best place to lose these guys. Wait a second... an alleyway's coming up! If there's a fire escape there, I can totally ditch these dudes!
With that resolve in mind, I put everything I had left into a final sprint. Thankfully, I sped up and turned the corner. Yes! I still might be able to make it back before lunch ended! Missing breakfast is one thing, but missing pizza? Heck no! That's not an option.
My positive thoughts went down the drain when a wall caused me to skid to a stop. Oh no... a dead end?! Why world?! Why?! Panicking a little, I let my eyes scan around the alley, looking for any possible escape routes.
Um, lets see...
Wall, ground, wall # 2, a dumpster, some wasted trash cans, wall #3, and... ooo! Was that a day old slice of pepperoni and anchovy pizza lying around? Score!
"Well, what do you know? Pipsqueak's made our job easier."
The color in my face drained... and slowly, I turned around.
Seven jocks blocked my only way to freedom. All of them were moving in like scary hungry wolves ready for the kill... and I was the completely and utterly defenseless poor deer.
Hold on! My nunchucks!
I was too busy running for my life that I completely forgot about them. Maybe if I could distract them long enough for me to get my chucks out, I could get out of here without a beating. I smiled a little. Whoa, I should pay attention to D's tutoring more often.
"Alright, runt. You wasted your nasty crap all over me, drenched my homework in chocolate milk, and made me drop my new i-phone in a bowl of soup! With all that's happened, I'd normally give someone like you the biggest beating of the year! ...But, if you give us whatever money you have now, maybe we can forget each other's existence?" said the leader of the group, a huge dude with greasy brown hair and terrifying muscles, a smug little smirk on his lips.
My eyes widened. Whoa, seriously? If I gave away my lunch money, I'd be off the hook? Wait...No way. According to the victims of bullying, never trust a huge jock always surrounded by even nastier jocks. Besides, there was this vicious glint in the dude's eyes.
My eyes narrowed. "Sorry, dude. I don't have any money, and even if I did... there's no way in shell I'd ever give it to you."
LeaderJock laughed. "Shell? Again with the stupid turtle talk. I guess you're a lot smarter than you look, though. Did you honestly believe for a second that I was going to let you off just like that?"
While he talked, I took this time to quietly slip my hand into my bag and grab my nunchucks. I made sure to keep my eyes glued to LeaderJock and his friends, so that way nobody would get suspicious. If I were to get caught now, it'd be game over, man.
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" I frowned. Seriously, how was I supposed to know I'd crash into a few college students after grinding some rails on my board? They shouldn't have stood there out in the open like that! Man, college kids were- what's a word D would use? Oh yeah. They were unpredictable. I'm glad I was only a freshman in high school. Growing up seemed scary.
"You think 'sorry' is gonna fix the damage you've done? Ha! Like hell it would!" LJ snarled viciously, after cracking his knuckles one last time. "Now... COME HERE YA LITTLE FREAK!"
He lunged at me like a total savage, but I didn't move from my spot. I gripped my nunchucks tighter. The dude wanted a fight, so he was gonna get one!
Come at me bro...
It happened in less than a second. The red and black striped handle of my chuck smacked right in LJ's face with so much force, it was like a replay of Sakura slapping Naruto! But only, my nunchuck was Sakura's hand, and LJ' face was Naruto's face.
A pained cry left the jock as he backed away with his hands covering his face. I gulped a little. I hope I didn't hurt the dude too badly. His jock friends surrounded him by the next second, asking if he were okay.
Suddenly, the guy's head snapped up and he started to shout in one of the other dude's face. "Dumbass! Does it look like I'm okay?!" After that, his face snapped in my direction, and I squeaked.
The dude had a funny bump starting to form around his left eye, which I think would become like a black eye or something later, and his nose looked off with blood starting to drip from it. Oh man, I was going to have nightmares for days!
"THAT'S IT, TURTLE FREAK! ITS JUST ME, YOU, AND MY PALS HERE! FORGET THE BEATING! I'MA SEND YA TO THE HOSPITAL WITH A BROKEN BODY WHEN I'M FINISHED WITH YA! MY BUDS CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL THEY WANT AFTERWARDS!"
I was scared. Here I was with not hungry wolves, but crazy angry bulls who saw me as their red target! My nunchucks were already in bad condition. I don't think they could last long against these guys. And I wasn't the best fighter either. Where was Raph when you needed him?
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
Raph? I squinted my eyes a little, hoping I could see whoever it was who spoke. I knew it wasn't any of the jocks. They sounded too old. This voice sounded younger like me, but a little older. He sounded mature, and protective. And I don't know why, but I liked his voice. It made me feel safe.
Sadly, I couldn't see him and I don't think the jocks could either. My eyes widened at a thought. What if he was invisible! Like The Invisible Man! That would be so cool!
"Stop wimping out and show your face already, freak! I don't have all day!" LJ barked.
There was a short pause, and then...
"Well, if you insist."
A blue-colored converse stepped out of the shadows of the alley, and then another one followed. When whoever it was earlier stepped into the light, I had a clear view.
It was a teen around my age. He had black shaggy hair(but not too shaggy), these awesome deep blue eyes, normal-colored skin, wore a blue Space Heroes shirt (they still sold those?) with an unzipped white vest over it, and a pair of blue jeans. He looked at me, and our eyes met for a split second, before he turned back to the jocks with a disapproving stare.
The jocks stared for a few seconds, and then they burst into loud fits of laughter. The teen- I'll just call him Blue for now, because besides the vest, its all he's wearing- didn't look happy.
LJ coughed after laughing too hard. He took a few breaths. "Oh, look boys! A kid thinks he can play Mr. Superhero! Where's your spandex, Superman? In the Laundry Mat?"
Blue shook his head with a small sigh. "You know, you should never underestimate your opponent."
"O-opponent?" By now, they were all choking in laughter. It was creepy, really. And how could LJ still laugh and talk normal? Didn't the dude have like a broken nose?
After they finally stopped laughing, LJ walked closer to Blue. I wanted to run out of here, but the rest of the dudes had me surrounded. LJ stopped, standing tall and mighty. He looked really intimidating, but Blue didn't look scared at all. Instead, his eyes narrowed when they landed on the jock.
LJ looked at him for a minute, before his fist suddenly struck out and grabbed Blue by the front of his shirt. LJ lifted him off the ground, and brought him to his face.
"Now listen here, ya wannabe, and listen good." the college student growled, and I winced in sympathy for Blue. He probably got a face full of bad breath. The jock's teeth weren't really white when we first met. "This little punk here needs a serious beating after the stunt he pulled earlier, and I'm willing to give him just that. And then, your little ass decides to come outta nowhere and play hero?! But that's okay. I can send two freshman to the hospital for the price of one! How do you feel about that, freak?"
Blue's eyes hardened even more. "How do I feel? I feel like you picked the wrong guy to piss off."
And without any warning, Blue's left foot connected with LJ's um... wow, the dude's going to be feeling that one for sure.
(Leo's pov...)
Even with my mother's words, I honestly wasn't expecting much.
Loud honking cars from the midday traffic? Yeah. Rude pedestrians shoving past each other in a hurry? Sure, why not? Witnessing a kid in a orange hoodie about to get the beating of a lifetime? ...Not so much. I'm sure no one would if they were in my shoes during the time.
But... why hadn't anyone shown up to help out? Did they not hear the commotion from the alley? Or were they indifferent to it all? I watched from the shadows of the alley, as seven guys surrounded the kid in a half circle, blocking out any means of escape. My eyes narrowed, and a frown etched it's way on my face. I couldn't just stand by and watch the poor teen get pummeled.
So, when the nastiest jock- who I assumed was the leader- took a threatening step towards Orange (I decided to call the kid that because of his hoodie and vans), I felt it was necessary to intervene before things escalated quickly.
After I revealed myself, (which led to 3 minutes of underestimating and nonstop laughter, much to my annoyance), the creeps finally calmed down. When the leader stopped, he marched over to me until he stood there, his height towering over my own.
He stared me down with a nasty glare, and in response, I glared back. His size was massive, I'll admit that, but I've taken on punching dummies more bigger and intimidating than him. I glanced the at his left hand. It was twitching, which meant he wanted to grab my shirt. A minute later, I was not disappointed. He lifted me off the ground with barely any effort, and brought my face to his. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Orange wince.
"Now listen here, ya wannabe, and listen good" the jock growled, his breath practically slipping into my nose. Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww! Grrroooooooossss! His breath smelt like a horrible combination of pork, garlic, vanilla, maple syrup, and oysters! My eyes almost watered from the terrible smell! I wanted to gag, but I kept a poker face on. There was no need to make the situation worse, "This little punk here needs a serious beating after the stunt he pulled earlier, and I'm willing to give him just that. And then, your little ass decides to come outta nowhere and play hero?! But that's okay. I can send two freshman to the hospital for the price of one! How do you feel about that, freak?"
I rose an eye brow in an unimpressed manner. "How do I feel?" One sentence summarized how I felt about the whole situation. "I feel like you picked the wrong guy to piss off."
I didn't want to do this, but the best way to take your opponent on was with the element of surprise. So, yeah, when I decided to quickly swing my foot and smash it against the guy's... 'area,' he screamed so high, I'm sure a few pedestrians heard him from outside the alley. Tossing me into the air, he dropped to the ground with his hands between the legs. My reflexes quickly kicked in while in midair, and I landed safely on my feet.
Silence bled in the air as everyone's shocked stares headed my way. Even Orange was a little dumbfounded with his mouth open. The jocks' eyes switched from me... to the rocking mess on the ground... and then back to me... and then to him... and it continued like this for a while. This started to make me slightly uncomfortable. I never really did like too much attention. Finally, the leader sort of gathered his wits, and turned to his 'buddies'.
"Wh-what the fuck, you dumbasses?! Stop standing there like st-statues and give the freak a fuckin' beating! Hurry up or I'll give you an even bigger one later!"
That seemed to do the trick, because all of a sudden, everyone snapped out of their stupor. All of the jocks had similar angry and dangerous expressions on their faces as they slowly advanced towards me, Orange seemed to be all but forgotten at this point. With narrowed eyes, I stood my ground. I never really wanted a fight in the first place, but then again, Orange didn't deserve a harsh beating. Besides a little exercise didn't sound too bad at the moment.
"Ohohoho, you've got guts, kid. But you shouldn't have tangled with us." A guy with messy brown hair nasally said. He was missing a few teeth.
"Yeah! Do you know who we are?" An Asian guy gruffly asked, cracking his neck a little.
I rolled my eyes. I've seen this scenario in an episode of Space Heroes, and I already knew what was going to happen. I say no, they tell me, say some other nonsense, and then we fight. That simple. "No. Nor do I care."
"Tough, man. We're the Indigo Dragonairs! Junior branch of the Purple Dragons!" The blonde with the purple highlights from before, said rather proudly. I rose an eyebrow. Pokemon wannabes? These were my opponents? Seriously? Although, I have heard of The Purple Dragons, but I have yet to meet them. According to The News, they were a couple of street thugs. I didn't understand how the Police couldn't catch them. Sure, the authorities said they were dangerous, but observing their silhouettes... they didn't really look like an actual threat (okay, so maybe the big one did). I bet if I had my own team, we'd get rid of them and any other crime ten times faster and better than the police could ever hope to do.
I snorted. What a weird thought. I don't even have a team.
Unfortunately, one of the 'Dragonairs' mistaken my snort as laughter. He gritted his teeth angrily.
"You think that's funny? Wait til you wake up in a hospital bed, covered in black and blue bruises! We'll see who's laughing then!" With a loud cry, he flew forward, fist poised to strike. I naturally caught the fist, grunting as I did so. This guy had a good amount of upper body strength. The Dragonair widened his eyes for a second, before he narrowed them and swung his other fist for my face. I ducked, letting go of his fist, and quickly lowered myself to the ground. Swinging my leg, I swept it under the creep's legs.
The jock fell to the ground with a startled yelp, and I took the time to act. Before he could get back up, I reached over and tightly pinched a spot in his armpit. A pained shout erupted from inside his throat. I stood to my feet, brushing my jeans off, and after a few seconds, a low moan caught my attention.
The creep lied limp on the ground, trying to clutch his numbed arm without causing any more pain. Pressure points. They were useful when needed.
A frown made it's way on my face. That shout was awfully loud. If I didn't end this soon, unwanted attention would occur and people would probably get the wrong idea.
With that resolution in mind, I glared at the remaining jocks. Their eyes were glued on their fallen comrade. When they met my gaze, some of them didn't look nearly as confident as before.
"Come on, wimps! Are you really gonna let a fuckin' freshman show you up!?" Says the guy who is still on the ground. The rest of the guys looked at me, and one of them, the blonde with highlights, charged towards me with a baseball bat, yelling.
My feet moved and I charged back. When I was close enough, the Dragonair lifted his bat and made a swing for my head. Moving my body to the right, I dodged the weapon, and raced behind him. He turned around but I had already jumped. Swinging my foot, I performed a hard roundhouse kick to his head. Originally, I was aiming for the back, but my foot connected with his face instead. Either way, when I landed on the ground, the big guy collapsed. When I caught my balance, I gave the downed jock's buddies a poisonous glare.
"Unless you want to end up in a similar way to your friends, you'll leave and never come back. Am I clear?" By the time I finished, most of the jocks were already rushing pass me and out of the alleyway. Only one remained, but he looked torn between joining the rest and helping his leader. Speaking of the leader, he was not happy.
"HEY! BRING YOUR ASSES BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE MEN! SOME SPACE NERD CAN'T SCARE US AWAY!"
"Really? Then how come this 'Space Heroes' nerd kicked your butt and scared away your gang?" I said, advancing. The leader growled at me furiously.
"Ya think you're real tough, don't'cha kid? Well, just you wait, freak. This ain't over! When I'm all better, I'm coming after your ass!" he then turned his harsh glare on Orange. "And you're after 'im!"
Orange flinched.
"Rico! Help me up!" the last Dragonair hastily rushed to his aid, all the while staring at me like I was a hungry predator. When Rico helped the leader up, the bigger jock's arm draped around his shoulders, while the smaller jock supported his weight. With one last glare, both Dragonairs left the alley. Their 2 fallen members lied forgotten on the ground. I watched them walk until they turned the corner and disappeared from my sight.
Heaving a sigh, I shook my head. Great. New state and I already have enemies. I needed a marathon of Space Heroes and a long meditation when I returned home.
A few soft footsteps caused me to look over my shoulder.
Orange slowly approached me, a look of unease on his face. I fully turned around, and made sure to address him with a softer look than before.
"Are you-?" I didn't get the chance to finish, however, because out of nowhere, I found myself in a tight hug.
"THANK YOU!"
"WAA!"
"Dude, you totally saved my shell back there! I thought I was a goner with those huge bullies, but then you came out of the shadows like Raven and went Bruce Lee on their butts! It was so AWESOME!"
Wha? I glanced down with surprise... only to find that the kid's face had lightened up like an excited anime girl. Okay? I didn't know what to think, so I gave an awkward smile back.
"Uh... I guess it was."
"Guess?!" Orange looked at me like I was crazy. Shouldn't that be me in his place, given how his attitude took a complete 180? "No way! Your skills were legendary!" a look of realization struck his face, and a smile broke across his lips. "Oh, that's right! I didn't introduce myself! I'm Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey. What about you, dude?"
"Oh, um.." this was going a little differently than what I had imagined, "..I'm Leonardo."
"Leonardo...? Cool, you're the 4th person I know with a Renaissance name!" Just as I thought his smile couldn't get any brighter, it disappeared after a few seconds. "Uh... thanks again for the save, dude. Sorry you got yourself wrapped into this just for me. You'll probably leave me now that they're gone, right? No dudes harassing me, so what's the point in sticking around? Its okay if you do." he avoided eye contact, dipping his head low as he let his arms fall from the hug. Turning, he started to walk off. "Later dude. It was nice meeting you."
I watched him go with a frown. Poor guy. He sounded so happy just to meet me, but at the same time, he seemed afraid. Afraid I'd hate him for getting myself into this situation all because I decided to help him out. Did he even have any friends? I thought for a moment... Oh, what the heck? It wouldn't hurt to make a friend as long as I stayed here in New York.
"Wait."
Orange- no- Mikey stopped. But he didn't turn around. I started to walk down the alley until I was right behind him. Reaching forward, I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn't say anything. Taking a little breath, I started.
"Now, why would I leave you? You seem like a nice person. And I wouldn't... mind if we were friends." I finished with a small smile. Mikey gasped, and he spun around.
"You really mean that?"
"Of course I doOOO!"
Mikey's arms wrapped themselves around my body tighter than before, my arms pressed against my sides. You know, for someone his size, he sure does give a mean bear hug.
"Thank you, bro! You're amazing!"
"Anytime... Mikey." I grunted out. Despite the uncomfortable hug, I smiled a little.
Maybe New York wouldn't be so bad.
So Leo found and befriended Mikey, and thus, the start of a beautiful brotherhood was born. And ...yeah, looking back on it now... The Indigo Dragonairs do scream out Pokemon, don't they? That was totally unintentional, but *shrugs* oh well. What's done is done. I'll see if I can post the next chapter next Wednesday. Until then... seeya later!