"Guys? Is anybody here?"
"April!"
Don and Raph went to meet their friend, who had walked in with a bundle of something in her arms.
"Hi, guys." She held out her load. "I brought the clothes like you asked, Don, though I still haven't figured out why you want them."
Don took the proffered garments from her before passing them off to Raph.
"Here."
"Wha- I don't want those, Donny."
Don rolled his eyes. "Raph, just take them."
He grumbled a little and stalked off towards the bathroom. Don turned back to April. "Thanks a lot, April."
"Uh, no problem. Anytime." April tried – and failed – to hide her confusion. "It's all stuff I was planning on throwing out anyway." She looked at him sideways. "Is there a reason you wanted my old clothes?"
Don nodded and started to answer but was interrupted by a flash of orange and green as Mikey sailed by on his skateboard, cackling.
"Haha, watch it Donny! Hey April!" He turned back and forth so that he was zigzagging around them. "Guess what we have? Don got a – AAAHH!"
There was a loud crash and Mikey groaned from his new position on the floor. Leo stood up, rubbing his arm.
"Watch where you're going, Mikey."
April shook her head, amused. Don just shook his head.
Raph's familiar voice rang out. He came stalking towards them, pointing a sai menacingly towards Don. "I swear, bro, you have the worst taste in friends."
April raised her hands in confusion. "Okay, wait. What in the world is going on?"
Raph looked at his brothers. "You didn't tell her yet?"
Don sighed. "I've been trying, but certain turtles keep interrupting me."
April started to say something, but was caught off-guard when a skinny girl with wild hair came bounding out of the bathroom wearing her old clothes.
"Hey Mikey, c'mere a sec, I gotta score to –" Her voice cut off suddenly. "Who the hell are you?" she asked April suspiciously.
April blinked in shock, then crossed her arms. "I could ask you the same question."
Don said hastily, "Frankie, this is April. April, Frankie."
Frankie relaxed her stiff posture. "Oh, so you're April? Ain't you human, though? What're you doin' hangin' with these freaks?" ("Hey!" Mikey said indignantly)
April seemed at a loss.
Raph scowled. "Who you callin' a freak, kid?"
Frankie stuck her tongue out. "You."
April couldn't help it; she had to giggle at that. She had no idea who this girl was, but the turtles seemed comfortable with her there, so there probably wasn't anything to worry about.
Frankie regarded her and let a lopsided grin slide onto her face. "Well, you ain't too bad." She pulled at a thread hanging from the sleeve of the old blouse she was wearing. "This your stuff?" she asked, indicating the clothes.
Nodding, April absent-mindedly smacked Frankie's hand away. "Stop picking at that. You're going to ruin the sleeve."
Frankie stiffened and narrowed her eyes. "Don't touch me."
Taken aback by the sudden hostility, April said nothing.
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Leo reprimanded the stubborn girl. She scowled briefly, then exhaled in a loud whoosh.
"Don, where's my bag? You ain't washin' that too, are you?"
"I put it in the dojo."
"Huh?"
"I'll show her," Raph said, gesturing to the girl before jumping halfway across the room.
Frankie caught her breath for a minute, then muttered, "Damn ninja," and ran after him. The three remaining turtles, and one startled redhead, watched them go. Leo turned back to April.
"I'm sorry about that," he mumbled apologetically.
"Oh, it's fine, Leo. Don't worry," she replied, sounding a little flustered.
Mikey, afraid that they had forgotten him, laughed and sarcastically said "Geeze, Donny, way to go."
Don stiffened indignantly. "What did I do?"
"Duh, you brought her here."
"Mikey," Leo warned.
"Wha-at?" Mikey drawled the word, stretching it into two syllables.
Leo just gave Mikey a Look. Mikey pouted. He got a lot of Leo's Looks. "Fine. Be that way."
Don kneaded his eyes tiredly. "Mikey, just –"
He broke off at the sounds of metal clanging on metal coming from the dojo.
The three turtles looked at each other, then said "Raph" in unison and sprinted for the dojo. April followed, almost saying 'wait for me!', but realizing it would be pointless.
The turtles' worry turned to confusion when they heard a peal of laughter. Rushing into the dojo, weapons at the ready, they were surprised to see Frankie and Raph sparring. Raph was clearly getting the best of her, but Frankie looked like she was having the time of her life. She was laughing as she tried to parry an attack with the knife in her hand. Raph wasn't smiling, exactly, but he, too, appeared to be enjoying himself.
"Think fast, Red!" Frankie shouted. She whipped a blade from her back pocket and flung it towards his head. He dodged it easily and it embedded itself in the wall less than a metre from where Mikey was standing. He shrieked in surprise.
Frankie laughed and waved at them, coming over and yanking the knife from the wall before clicking it shut. "Hey."
She was grinning ear to ear, panting and giggling breathlessly. "That was awesome," she said between gasps, turning to give Raph a high-five. "We gotta do that again sometime, Red. And you gotta show me summa those moves. You're fast."
Mikey puffed his chest out. "I'm way faster than Raph."
"Keep tellin' yourself that, Mikey." Raph smirked.
"You know it's true, Raphie-boy, you just don't want to admit it."
"Whatever," was the muttered reply.
Frankie eyed Mikey thoughtfully. "You wanna go? I dunno how you fight with those stick-things though."
Mikey looked affronted. "Oh no you di'n't!"
"C'mon, then, turtle-boy, show me what ya got!"
"You are so going down!"
April watched as Mikey dodged a series of feints before Frankie managed to clip him with her fist. Frankie laughed again. April watched them, thinking. Her four ninja friends always attracted strange people, and though she was still confused and a little hurt by Frankie's inexplicable hostility earlier, she didn't think that the girl was any kind of threat.
Frankie, for her part, didn't spare April another thought. She was completely focused on her match with Mikey, and loving every second of it. It had been a while since she'd play-fought with anyone. It was usually just practising by herself or fighting for her life and pride. This was something she had missed.
-x-
A/N Wow, two chapters in one night? I know, I'm surprised too. Frankly, (lol, Frankie!) I didn't realize that I had one overly-long chapter until I'd finished typing it up, so it was split into two. Hope you enjoyed. Please review on the way out, my inbox is lonely and I'll have Frankie and Raph beat you up if you don't. 'Kay? Good.
As always, thanks to Mikell, TMNTgirl and TMNT Redneck for your reviews!