So I understand some people are under the impression that I hate Raf. THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!! I have nothing against the turtle, in fact, I rather like him. It's his behavior that I have an issue with. And I know it seems like I'm beating up on him, but take heart. Just keep reading. I'm well aware of his plot, and I intend to go somewhere with it. I'm just sort of setting it up for the sequel.
To all Mikey fans: here's the chapter where he gets his moment! I also tried to give a little insight into Donny's head as well.
Thanks to all who are reviewing! I'm pretty happy I haven't been flamed yet! Y'alls are awesome!
Disclaimer: Still don't own them (sigh). And anything you recognize from the TMNT movie I don't own either.
The pay phone that served as Mikey's business line was ringing.
"I'll get it!" Mikey yelled, jumping up from his seat at the table. He leapt backwards, did a backflip, and landed in front of the phone. He flipped it off the receiver, caught it in his hands, then said happily, "Cowabunga Carl's party services, cowa-bunga, dude!"
"Mikey!" screamed the voice on the other end of the line so loud it hurt his ears. "Help me! Heeeeelp meeeeee!"
"A.J.?" he asked, putting the phone back to his ear. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, babe. What's going on? Are you okay?"
"I'm being kidnaAAAAAHHH!"
She screamed again, and the line went dead.
"A.J.?" he said, scared to believe what he had just heard. "Hello?"
The dial tone answered him, and he hung up. His brother's voice sounded very far away as realization began to sink in.
"Mikey?" said Donny. He had heard the conversation, but it all had sounded like a load of loud, panicked gibberish to him. "What was that all about?"
After he'd placed the phone back into its cradle, Mikey turned around to face his brother, looking as though he'd either seen a ghost or he was about to be violently ill. His normally bright, childish blue eyes were wide with horror, and he looked oddly pale under his green skin.
"We gotta go," he said.
At that moment, before Donny could question his brother's remark, Leo and Raf burst through the door.
"We gotta find 'em!" Raf yelled, ignoring the stairs entirely as Leo flew down them. "And we gotta find 'em now!"
"Find who?" asked Donny, frowning. "What's going on?"
"A.J.'s been kidnapped!" Leo gasped out, leaning on the table to catch his breath.
"I know," said Mikey, and his brothers stared at him. "I just got off the phone with her."
Leo jumped forward, grabbing him by the shoulders.
"You were on the phone with her? What did she say? Did she tell you anything?" he asked urgently.
Seeing the genuine fear and worry in his brother's eyes scared Mikey, and he answered quickly "N-no, not really. She was just screaming for help, and then the line went dead."
Raf looked as though he'd been stabbed through the heart.
"So she could be dead already."
"Don't say that!" Leo barked.
"Guys, relax," said Donny, moving in. He didn't know what Leo and Raf had been doing out by themselves, but he was pretty darn sure it wasn't trick-or-treating. He could tell that a fight was well on its way to breaking out, and he lived up to his reputation as keeper of the peace. "Her kidnappers probably just realized she was on her cell phone and they took it away from her so the call couldn't be traced. Probably thought she was calling the police. The chances of her still being alive are very high. If anything, the worst is that she's unconscious."
In reality, he was just as afraid as his brothers that A.J. was dead. He was only saying these things to prevent his brothers from becoming more agitated than they already were. Logically, of course, they made sense, but they had a crisis on their hands, and tempers were running high. It was bad enough already; it didn't need to get any worse.
"We gotta go out there and find her. We ain't got any other choice," said Raf.
"But we don't even know where they've taken her," Leo said. "There's nothing we can do until we figure out where their hideout is. Donny…"
"You're gonna stand there and let the love of your life die while quotin' a rulebook to me that you ain't even been followin' yourself? That ain't good boyfriendship, Leo. I tell ya, if she were my girlfriend, I'd still be out there lookin' for her instead of sittin' in here and wastin' time!"
"See?" Leo shot back. "This impatient attitude is exactly why you aren't our leader! I want to find her as much as you do, but running around blindly in a huge city isn't going to get us anywhere. You can't find something if you don't know where to look!"
"But if we don't do somethin' now…"
"It's not all about the action, Raf! Sometimes you've got to use your brain!"
Leo jabbed a finger into his temple to emphasize his point. He and Raf faced off for the second time that night, teeth bared, eyes blazing. They may have managed to avoid killing each other, but that didn't mean they were going to agree on the best course of action to save the woman they loved.
Suddenly, someone snapped.
"STOP IT!" Mikey screamed, slamming his fists down on the table. The room went deadly quiet. Leo and Raf stared at him, their eyes wide in surprise, completely startled by his outburst. Their anger was forgotten instantly.
"None of this is going to help A.J.!" Mikey continued. "She's out there somewhere, and you guys are wasting time on your stupid fighting! Forget the grudges, and for once in your lives, think about someone other than yourselves!"
"Michaelangelo!" said Master Splinter sharply, stepping into the kitchen from his rooms. He must have been drawn out by his sons' squabbling. He looked around at everyone's pale faces. "What is the matter?"
"We were out, me and Leo," Raf began, but he was so distressed that he didn't know how to get it out right. "We were doin'…somethin'…somethin' happened, and I…we…"
He grunted as he punched the wall.
Splinter could see his boys were clearly upset, and from what he'd heard, it had something to do with their little human friend, A.J.
"Kneel, my sons," he said, and the two of them dropped to their knees in front of him.
"We did somethin' really stupid, Master Splinter," said Raf, his voice heavy. He took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "I know why you chose him now. I know that there's a reason why he's the better son, and I'm not."
He hung his head; he couldn't look his father or his brother in the eyes. Feeling the guilt was bad enough, but fessing up was even worse. He understood everything now: what Leo had that he didn't have. Patience. Self-control. And an ability to not let yourself be controlled by your emotions. With what might have been his last breath, his brother had asked him, the one who might have taken that breath, to look after her. A.J., who would never have forgiven him his crime. He didn't beg Raf to spare his life, nor did he curse him out. He had simply asked that she be cared for, when he was no longer around to do so, proving A.J. right once again, that he thought of others before himself.
Leo opened his mouth to argue, but Splinter spoke first.
"Raphael," said the old rat gently. The boys were not the only ones who could see the pain and regret in his son's eyes. "You always bear the troubles of others on your shoulders. It is an admirable quality, especially when you are a protector of those others, but you must realize that while, at times you are not my favorite student, it does not mean that you are my least favorite son."
"But Master," Leo interrupted.
"Leonardo, please," said Splinter, holding up his hand. "Silence." Turning back to Raf, he continued. "You are strong, passionate, and loyal to a fault. These are the merits of a great leader as well, but only when combined with compassion, discipline, and humility."
"But Master Splinter."
This time it was Raf who interrupted. He appreciated the compliments, but someone's life was as stake. Someone he loved.
"We messed up big tonight. I mean, real big."
He looked over at Leo, and nodded. He couldn't get it out himself.
"They got her," he said.
"Got whom?" their sensei asked, even though he already knew the answer. Leonardo's eyes were wet, and Raphael's were getting there.
"A.J.," Leo managed to choke out. He hung his head, as though the shame of failure had physical weight. "We were worried that the guys from the Orphan Train would discover that she had survived, and that they would come back for her. Turns out we were right. And Raf and I were so busy fighting each other that we couldn't save her."
"Now she's gone," Raf finished. "And it's all our fault."
There were many times his sons had made him proud, but this was one of those occasions when they surprised even him. Whether they realized it or not, Leonardo and Raphael were more alike than different. They both were extremely proud, and to see them finally admit they were wrong filled the old rat with such a joy that he could not describe, despite the fact that A.J.'s life was in danger. Being humble was a great virtue, not just for a ninja but for everyone, and his boys were learning to be humble.
Still they had a life to save, and they didn't have much time.
"Then you must go to her," he said, taking a deep breath. "You must find who is responsible for this, and end the suffering of the innocent once and for all."
"By your wish, Father," said Raf, and Master Splinter placed his hand on his shoulder.
A few minutes later, the four were standing around the kitchen table, Donny's map of New York City spread out in front of them.
"I've marked where all the bodies were found, including A.J.'s," Donny was saying. "That's what those little red X's are for. And look at this."
"Whoa," said Leo, staring at where Donny was pointing.
"Whoa," Mikey and Raf echoed.
"They form a perfect circle," said Leo.
"Coincidence?" Raf asked.
"Could be," said Donny. "But guess what's right dead center?" He stuck his finger in the middle of the circle of red X's and looked up at his brothers. When they gave him the usual blank looks, he grinned and said, "A warehouse. A warehouse with the drawing of a candle on the side."
Realization dawned on their faces.
"Oh, dude," said Mikey. "You don't think…"
"That's gotta be the place," said Raf. "Right Donny?"
"Well, I couldn't find any record of a purchase of the property, but I bet that's it, because the only thing next to it is a bunch of portable offices."
They all stared at each other.
"So, what do we do?" asked Mikey.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," said Leo, jumping back into the position of Fearless Leader again. "We're gonna take back what's ours. We're gonna rescue A.J. and everyone else victimized by this operation, and put these jokers in their place. We'll show them what happens when they mess with us!"
"Yeah!" Mikey and Donny cheered, grabbing up their weapons. Leo looked around.
"Where's Raf?"
Their red-masked brother was nowhere in the room.
"He was here a second ago," said Donny.
"I'm here," said Raf, coming out of the dojo. In his hand he held two katanas, which he handed to Leo. "You're gonna need these if you're gonna lead us through this."
Leo smiled, and put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"I'm gonna need you, too. All of you." He took the katanas from Raf, and put them into the empty sheaths on his back. "So, what do you say?"
"I'm in," said Donny.
"All for one and one for all, dudes!" Mikey cried gleefully.
They all looked at Raf.
"I say we kick butt!" he yelled, and with another unified cheer, they sped as one from the lair to the surface. From inside his rooms, Master Splinter heard them go, their wild, whooping shouts sounding familiar of their younger days, when fighting crime had been all fun and games. In the silence that followed their boisterous exit, he whispered. "Be safe, my sons. I only pray you're not too late."
While the boys had been fighting with each other, confessing their mistakes, and speeding to her rescue, A.J. was being taken back to the Orphan Train's headquarters. Exactly as Donny had predicted to calm his brothers, her attackers had only discovered that she was on her cell phone, and had taken it away from her. She had received a slap in the face for it, but it had been worth it. Now Mikey and Donny at least knew that something was wrong, so maybe they could find a way to help her in any way they could. And, as she was conscious the whole ride over, she would be able to pinpoint the exact location. If she managed to escape.
Now, she found herself in a cold, dark room, much like the one she had originally been held in. Maybe it was the same one; she didn't know, nor did she care. She had bigger things to worry about, like getting the hell out of there.
It was going to be difficult to do. She was standing with her back against the wall, two men in front of her. She recognized them as two of the four founders of the Orphan Train, and the leader was not among them. There were other differences as well. This time, the door was open, and she was not going to let intimidate her.
"So, how did you survive?" said one of them.
How she would have loved to tell them about the boys, and how they were probably on their way right now, but she didn't say anything. No sense in putting them on their guard. Quickly, she searched for something to say.
"I'm a tough cookie," she said finally. There, that wasn't a lie. She had to be pretty tough to have clung to life as long as she had, long enough for Mikey to discover her motionless body, and then some.
"No one could have survived very long without help," said the other, a weasely man with thinning brown hair and a moustache. "Who found you?"
"Was it the cops?" asked the one who'd first spoken.
"No," she said, and as soon as the word was out of her mouth, she wished it wasn't. Now that she thought about it, that response would have been the most logical one, and better they get pissed off at the police than civilians. But it was too late. She'd said what she'd said, and there was nothing she could do about it now except work with what she had.
"Then who was it?" asked Weasel-man.
She glared at him, too scared to smirk.
"I'm not going to tell you."
"You'll tell us everything once we get done with you," said the first one, to which she replied, "You're dead wrong about that. I'm not afraid of you anymore."
An ugly look came into their eyes.
"Oh you're not? Well, let's see if we can't fix that."
Great, she thought. They were going to do their best to beat the snot out of her. This time, however, she was prepared. Though she was nervous and a little shaky, she couldn't lose her cool. She couldn't let them scare her, but she couldn't get cocky, either.
And hopefully she could remember those self-defense techniques Leo had taught her.
The one who had spoken first swung a punch at her. She ducked, and used her size to her advantage. She was smaller than him, and therefore faster. Keeping low, she slammed into his gut, driving her shoulder into his stomach in hopes that he would double up in pain and fall over, giving her a straight shot to the door. Forget the other man; all she cared about was getting out of there.
If A.J. had been a true ninja like her boyfriend, she would have known that it was unwise to expose the back of her neck the way she had, but she wasn't. She found out, though, as he wrapped his arm around her neck in a backwards headlock and began pulling upwards, choking her. Reacting normally as anyone would have, she abandoned her task of knocking him over, knowing that if he fell, he would take her with him, and possibly break her neck, resorting to attempting to wedge her fingers in between his arm and her throat so she could have a little space to breathe. But all that did was make it worse, and struggling was out of the question. She wasn't big enough to throw him off, and it would just wear her out. Rats. How was she going to get out of this one?
Frantically searching her head for something to use against him, she remembered some kung-fu movie she had been watching with the boys one time. The movie itself had been pretty stupid, with a bad storyline and even worse acting, but from what they had said, the martial arts had, for the most part, been accurate. And now that that movie was in her mind, she remembered one move that had caught her attention, just because it was so cool. Performed correctly, it caused absolutely no harm to the person being attacked, while the attacker could suffer all sorts of unpleasant injuries, sometimes fatal. It was a complicated move, but it was her only hope, because it was the only thing she could think of for getting out of a situation like this. It would get you out of a backwards headlock, but it required flipping your opponent over your head, and she wasn't sure if she could do that. Still, if she wanted to get out of here alive, she would have to try, and if she got a few bruises in the process, so be it.
She let go of his arm and put her hands on his leg, right above his knee. In the delay she took to catch her breath, what little was left of it, he realized where her hands were, and chuckled.
"Oh, really now? Well, we can do that too, if you want, darlin'."
He and his friend laughed cruelly. She knew from his tone that they intended to rape her once they got her on the ground, making fun of how much distress it had caused her the last time. But she was stronger now: not the helpless little girl they had nabbed before. She would never let a man get past her defenses without her permission again.
"Not this time, bat-face," she growled, still unable to bring herself to curse. She closed her eyes, envisioning the actor on the screen from the movie. Her instincts would have to guide her, because nothing else would. She sucked in what little breath she could, her voicebox beginning to hurt. Here goes nothing.
Keeping a tight grip on his leg, she sat down, rather hard because the floor was closer than she had anticipated, and threw his leg over her head. It worked. The rolling of their combined weights made him let go of her neck so he could catch himself, but it didn't do much good, and he crashed into the wall behind her.
It all happened so fast she barely had time to realize that she could now breathe, and that she had a clear path to the open door: to freedom. She heard the other yell, "Holy shit! You little bitch!" but she wasted no time. Gasping, she scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as she could for the single rectangle of light: her only hope of escape. Her spirits rose higher with every step, but then a shadow fell across her, and a nasty, familiar voice hissed. "Well, well, well. What have we here?"
Would not want to be A.J. right now...
Just so you all know, that move that she pulls on the guy actually is a real martial arts move, but I've made it sound a lot harder than it really is. Usually, the physics do all the work for you. It's a useful technique if someone's got you in a headlock, but I wouldn't recommend trying it on someone when you're wrestling, because it's very dangerous and can really hurt someone, especially if you do it right. Also, the movie that's mentioned probably doesn't exist, but if it does, then I'm not aware of it.
Hope everyone's liking A.J.'s character development so far. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a weak female character. I know she starts out that way, but one of the minor plots here is her learning to face her fears, and to be strong in the face of danger. Still, I don't want anyone to get under the false impression that she becomes violent, because that's not really what I'm going for. Just a little something to keep in mind when you read the next chapter.
