Meeting
NYC Sewers
Tunnel 5F
Walking back through the sewers, the orange-masked turtle turned to his older brother. "Leo, why did you have to be so mean to him? Maybe he could've been a new friend!"
A sigh from the leader, the blue mask. "Mikey, I told you. Humans are nothing but trouble to us. The less we associate, the better."
Michelangelo stopped next to his brother. "But April and Casey aren't trouble. They're good friends! And we met them by accident!"
"And they might be too much as it is! Think of all the trouble they've caused us!" Leonardo threw his hands up in the air. The slash on his shell was shown, a reminder of the price they've paid. "We don't need anyone else! We have ourselves and that's enough!"
Michelangelo turned grim, his voice losing its cheerful demeanor. "No, Leo, we need friends. We need to learn to trust other people." And he stormed off.
Good, who needs him? He's the reason we get in so trouble as it is. He hardly trains, and he can barely hold up in a fight. Leonardo thought to himself, as he walked down another section of the sewer, looking for a good spot to brush up on his pipewalking.
Turtles' Lair
Donatello was hard at work. He adjusted his facemask, and narrowed his eyes. "Almost…there…" He mumbled to himself, as he pressed the button on the laser. A loud slamming was heard, causing the purple-masked turtle to jump and shoot the laser into the wall, leaving a lovely hole. He groaned. "Mikey! Don't slam doors!"
No response.
That was odd. Michelangelo always had some sort of comeback. This concerned the turtle, and he took off his mask, put down his tools, and hurried over to his brother's room. The door was locked.
Knocking, and in a quiet voice, "Mikey, are you ok?"
Michelangelo opened the door, his eyes to the ground. He fiddled with his hands a little nervously. "D-Donnie. Leo said we aren't allowed to make friends….We met a guy dressed in Foot Ninja clothes, but I don't think he was Foot. Leo threatened to kill him if he ever tried to find us again though…He could have been nice! We could have had a new friend! I mean, it's just us down here…."
Donatello shook his head. Leonardo had been doing this a lot lately. He may be trying to help this family, but he was really pulling them apart. "Mikey, Leo's got a lot on his mind right now. He's worried about all of us, and he's trying to be really careful. You forget, he lost part of his shell in the last battle."
Michelangelo didn't look up. "Yeah…"
"Maybe he'll come back."
"No, he won't," the orange turtle responded in sad tone. "Leo scared him really good. I just don't see why he has to watch us all the time. We're not little kids! We can handle ourselves! Is wanting to make new friends so wrong?"
Donatello sighed. Michelangelo was getting lonely. It was understandable, outside of Casey and April, they really only knew each other. And it could be tough. It was. On all of them. "You have to understand, we can't just show ourselves to anyone who walks by. Not all of them are nice, and if we aren't careful, we could end up in some scientist's research lab." Bishop's face popped into his head. "Leo's just trying to prevent that." It was becoming more so though. Leonardo's views were changing. It was getting bad…
"I know he's trying, but I still want to make new friends. I mean, it's lonely here. And well, I don't know. I just want to meet people."
Donatello nodded. He felt the same way. Someone else who knew something about technology would be nice… "I know, Mikey."
Michelangelo yawned. "I'm going to go to bed now. I'll worry about this tomorrow." He walked back inside.
Donatello heard the gentle footsteps of his master walking over. "Donatello, how are things?"
Donatello sighed, and started heading back towards his lab, the rat following. "I don't know, Sensei. Mikey found someone today while he was out with Leo, and I guess Leo threatened him. Mikey's upset, because he thought that this would be a good chance to make friends."
Splinter nodded, taking it in. "Leonardo is having a very difficult time with the current events. I've tried to talk to him, but his mind is confused. I feel that he just needs time."
Donatello moved back into the lab, and put back on his safety goggles. "I hope so Sensei. For all of our sakes."
"Speaking of all of you, where is Raphael? I haven't seen him all day."
122 Eastman Ave.
Room 136
"An' then!" Raphael groaned as he sprawled himself across his friend Casey's couch, a beer in hand, "An' then he takes Mikey and goes off into the sewers to train! To train! I mean, come on! We train all the freakin' day!"
Casey Jones nodded back to his friend, also beer in hand. They didn't usually drink, but Casey had received some from his grandfather, and figured why not. "I know what chou mean! Man, Raph, someding's wrong with Leo!"
Raphael nodded, nearly spilling his drink. "Tell me abou' it!" His fist punched a nearby wall, leaving a lovely two-fingered hole in it. "I can't stand Leo! He goes aroun' thinin' he's da best of da best! It pisses me off!"
Casey gagged a little, he hadn't going drinking in a long time, and this liquor was getting to him. "I agree. April keeps sayin' I gotta clean up my act! My act is plenty clean!"
Raphael seemed to get fired up. "MINE TOO!" He smacked Casey in the face with the bottle, knocking the guy over. "Leo's always sayin' I get too angry or something. Well, Fuck him! A little anger never hurt nobody!" He took a long swig, not aware that he had hit Casey. "And Masta Splinta is always favorin' that good for nothin' Leo over me! Why doesn't he like me like he likes that prick Leo? What's wrong with me?! It ain't fair!" He punched the wall again, different spot, and tears formed in his eyes.
Casey tried to comfort Raphael, but missed and fell over. "Keo is just a freakin' pain! All he does is steal your steam! You're everything as good as Keo is!" Then, he slapped his hand to his mouth, and ran to the bathroom, where the wonderful sounds of puking were heard.
122 Eastman Ave
Room 137
Din walked into the room, and didn't bother to turn on the light. The weight of the world was heavy on him, and his eyes needed to close. Glancing at the watch, he could sleep for maybe an hour before he had to head to work. Had to make the morning rush.
He saw his McBurger Queen shirt next to his bed, on a chair with all of his other clothes thrown into a heap. His nametag read Dalty. Such was his other life. Cashier at a fast food joint. Assassin by night, cashier by day. It helped put some extra cash, as assassinations didn't come up as often as he hoped. But he didn't particularly like where he was.
Dalty Detrion. His birth name. His parents were high when they named him, he was sure of it. Not that he really knew, nor did he care to know. This was who he was, an assassin. It didn't matter who his parents were. He was Din, not Dalty. No matter what the nametag said.
After carefully hanging up his swords, he threw himself onto the bed. His eyes closed. Sleep, all I want is-BANG!
His eyes flew open. There was huge indent in his wall. In the shape of a fist. Casey Jones…he was keeping him awake…again. Grumbling, he got up, and opened his door to visit his neighbor, tell him to keep it down and they'll worry about the damages tomorrow. BANG! Another dent. Wonderful.
Room 136
Raphael was rocking back and forth on the couch, his sais poking holes into the fabric. "An all Leo does is sulk! Why…why am I always wrong? Why…?" His voice broke a little. "Masta Splinta says to follow your heart, so why is my heart always wrong?"
Casey opened his mouth to respond when a knocking was heard. Then, he had to run to the bathroom again. "Hey, Raph! Get that!"
Grumbling, Raphael walked to the door, and opened it. (Apparently, he forgot his ninja training when he was hammered).
"Heyyyy…" He grumbled, leaning against the wall.
Din glanced over at the reptile staring back at him. He blinked twice. His neighbor, Casey Jones, was definitely a little 'out-there' but to find a giant turtle in his room answering doors….
"Err…."
"Come in!" The turtle said, swaying as he walked over to the couch again. He picked up a bottle of beer, and held out to Din. "Have a drink!" The bottle was forced into the assassin's hand.
"I don't really-"
"Sure you doooo…." The turtle mumbled, rocking back and forth on the couch, making some sort of motion. Din stood there awkwardly, the smell of vomit and alcohol overpowering. Was that Casey, in the bathroom?
The turtle had a red bandana over his eyes, a belt that held two sais with red tape on the hits. His tan shell was tight on his body, but he didn't seem hampered by this in the least. His bulging biceps intimated the assassin, but he was also drunk. Sober, a challenge. Drunk, no problem.
"Raph! Raph!" Casey suddenly dashed out of the bathroom. "I forgot! April's on her way! I gotta clean dis place up!" He tripped on the couch, and fell forward, only to spring back up and start to clean.
Din backed out of the door, and tried to close it. Better to leave than to stay…
"Hey! Wait!" Came the voice of the turtle, his words sliding together.
Din tried to get to his door, and he almost had it closed before green fingers got in the way.
"Can I hang out in here?" The turtle asked. "I can't go home until I'm more sober."
Then the door whipped open, and the turtle stepped inside. "Thanks." He mumbled walking in and sitting right on Din's McBurgerQueen uniform.
Din fought back the urge to smack his forehead. He only had about thirty minutes before work. No sleep for him.
"Nice place ya have here." The turtle mumbled, swaying back and forth, his sais poking into the clothes. Din prayed that there would be no holes.
"Look, I really can't let you-"
"Oh, sorry. I didn't even introduce myself. Raphael." A green hand extended.
"Din…" Din replied, shaking the hand, finding it warm, instead of cold and slimey like he expected. Curiosity hit the assassin. "What are you?"
"I'm a mutant turtle," he said simply. "I've been training…or something like dat. But, you see, my bro Leo and I, we just don't get along. He-"
"There's more of you?" Din interrupted.
The tu-Raphael nodded. "Yeah, it's me and my three bros. And our father, Splinter."
"He a turtle too?"
"No," Raphael continued matter-of-factly, "he's our rat sensei. Taught us the ways of the ninja."
Din nearly fell over. If he wasn't staring at one, he would have thought he was on drugs. No way…just no way…
"And your brothers…"
"Yeah, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey. Donnie and Mikey are cool, but Leo is always ripping on me. Not the other guys, just me. But, I'm the only one who isn't afraid to stand up to him, that's why he hates me. The others do what he says, but not me, I'm Raphael, I'm not one of Leo's soldiers." Raphael's emotions seemed to be on a whirlwind.
And that's why drinking is bad, Din thought.
"But, it's not even that. I wish Leo would just let someone else help him out. He's not the only one who can lead. He's not alone."
Family drama, Din was reminded of, and for a second he was thankful he had no family. "Do you live around here?"
"Yeah, in da sewers beneath here. Casey's one of my pals, so I come to visit him a lot. The sewers get smelly after a while."
Din's mind raced. Could what he had run into in the sewers be one of Raphael's brothers? He thought he saw a green hand on the sword, could it be?
"Does one of your brothers carry a large sword?"
Raphael blinked. "Yeah, Leo does. But, he's been in a really pissy mood lately, you don't wanna cross him now. Unless, of course," a smirk, "you're me."
Din blinked. He did not want to get involved any more with four mutated turtles with sharp weapons. If they were anything like Raphael, they were bad news. And, the turtle was stinking up his uniform for work.
"Well, I have to leave, so if you wouldn't mind."
The turtle looked sad by this, but nodded. Obviously, the beer was still in his system. "Right, right. Now, remember, not a word or you'll be seein' the not-so-pleasant side of Raphael, and you do NOT want to see that." He shrugged, then jumped out of the window, onto the fire escape. A stumble, and then he was gone. Hopefully, for good.