Sorry it's taking me so long to write these… Self-flagellation for me. I've been really busy though. I've been away, I got proposed to AGAIN, and I ALMOST DIED (no really, I got hit by a car), then I started my GCSE's, took a piano exam, got drunk for the first time ever… So yeah, just a little busy. Big thankies to Kitten630 for nagging/helping me.
Reviews make me smile! Not that I'm hinting or anything.
Disclaimer: Legally speaking, I don't own them. But, well…
Raph: (rattling bars of cage) LET ME OUTTA HERE!!!
The four brothers raced across the rooftops, trying to work out where the girl's scream had come from. They listened carefully, and could make out the sounds of a distant fight.
She managed to hear that from where we were standing? Raph's thoughts bounced around in his head like agitated flies, as with barely a glance at each other, he and his siblings turned towards the alley where the noise was coming from.
Mikey glancedat his brothers.
The turtles landed soundlessly on the roof of a building, watching the fight. The cat-girl was engaged in a fight with a large group of Purple Dragons. Once again, she seemed to be enjoying herself, dodging each of their attacks by a hair's breadth, and throwing taunts at them every time she did so.
"Oooh, so close…nope…nada…EPIC fail...excuse me, are you even AWAKE?"
Raph frowned at her. Surely there's no way she screamed? Suddenly a horrendous shriek ripped through the air. Raph saw a young woman he hadn't noticed before, trapped in the end of the alleyway. A hairy Purple Dragon had grabbed her and pressed her against the wall, tugging at her belt with a laugh. So… was SHE the one that screamed?
Raph snarled and reached for his sais – but before he could get them out, the cat-girl had shot over to the woman, eyes ablaze, razor-sharp teeth bared in fury. She slashed wildly at the man's face, and he dropped to the ground, howling in agony. The rest of the Purple Dragons drew back. The woman stumbled back, shaking. The cat-girl gave her a comforting smile.
"Get out of here, okay? Call the police, but don't mention me." she said. Her tone was surprisingly gentle considering her rage a second ago, her kindly smile contrasting bizarrely with the blood splattered across her face. She paused, and looked down at the man whimpering at her feet, hands pressed to his ruined face. "And call an ambulance for this arsehole."
"Wha…I…who…" the woman spluttered, seemingly in too much shock to form actual words. "Th-thankyou."
The woman tried to hurry past the Purple Dragons, but one of them lunged for her, seizing her arm. The cat-girl darted forwards, but the thugs shifted, creating a living wall between her and the struggling woman. Without hesitating, the girl lunged at one of the men – but this time he was ready, punching her hard and knocking her backwards. He leaned over her, smirking. "You want fries with that, Mittens?"
"Great line, dude." The man jerked his head up sharply. In all the commotion, he hadn't noticed the turtles drop down behind him, weapons drawn. "But didn't anyone teach you it's…" Mikey chuckled and winked at the girl. "Rude to hit a lady?" He punched the man hard, sending him flying backwards.
The girl smirked up at him. "Nice of you to drop in."
Mikey mock-bowed. "Verily, my good maiden." He said, doing his best attempt at a posh English accent.
"That's lady to you."
The Purple Dragons, spurred on by stupidity and illegal substances, charged forwards. The young woman sprinted off, looking relieved at having been forgotten. Raph pulled out his sais.
"Hey chuckle-head, Mittens, save the banter for when we've kicked some shell already."
"Mittens?!" the cat girl squawked at him, leaping to her feet and baring her teeth at the approaching gangsters. "Take that back, Frog Face!"
Raph spun around in amused bafflement as the girl leapt into the fight. "Frog Face? That's the best you could come up with?"
"She has a point, dude." called out Mikey, parrying a thug's blow, "You do kinda look like a frog."
"That means you do too, shell-fer-brains."
"Mittens"darted past Raph, mauling a Purple Dragon below the belt and making even Raph wince, then dodged the man's enraged fellows. She was taunting them deliberately, dancing on the spot, always staying within reach, but dodging their every attack just as it looked like she was about to get her face smashed in. Jeesh, this kid's even more of a live wire than Mikey. Fightin's fun and all, but seriously…
"Hey Barbie!" he bellowed, "Quit playin' hopscotch an' do some damage!"
"Spoilsport!" she yelled back, before leaping onto a Purple Dragon's arm, teeth first. Raph parried and returned a series of punches and kicks, watching her. Despite her obvious fighting ability, she seemed to choose her attacks completely at random, by instinct, like… well, like a wildcat, he supposed. If she was a second slower, an inch out… she'd be Purple Dragon feed. What's her game?
Suddenly, the girl's wild flight broke off. She swayed dizzily, eyes closed, clutching at the wall for support. One of the Purple Dragons, spotting his chance, lunged forwards – but the next moment fell to the ground, one of Raph's shuriken embedded in his back. The girl shook herself and seemed to come to. Glancing from the dead man at her feet to Raph, a strange look somewhere between gratitude and disappointment crossed her face.
Another PD charged at her, but she leapt up out of his way, alighting on the stairwell of a fire escape above them. The man ran straight into the wall ricocheted off. The girl laughed, and looked at the thugs beneath her with a kind of dark delight. The men stretched up for her, somehow lacking the necessary IQ to use their bats for extra reach, and flailed wildly, unable to get at her.
"Coo-ee! Come on, shortarse, you're getting outdone by a girl!" The teenager giggled, then tilted back her head and spat in their eyes – not limply, the way most girls seemed to spit, but well-aimed, vengeful spitting that had the men reeling back in hilarious disgust. Yet despite her nerve, Raph sensed that she was still weaker than she let on.
He made his way over, knocking several Purple Dragon's heads together on the way. The idiots beneath the girl were so distracted by the fact that there was an actual female three feet away from them – and by her spit in their eyes – that they didn't notice his approach until he leapt into them.
The girl smirked down at him, blue eyes sparkling. "I swear these guys get thicker every day."
"Probably." Raph punched a Purple Dragon, who had tried unsuccessfully to sneak up on him. "I think they've only got the one brain between 'em."
One of the men hurled a brick at the girl, who caught it neatly and flung it straight back, catching him square between the eyes. "Bulls-eye! What do I win?"
Raph laughed, and then caught himself. What am I doing? She shouldn't be fighting with us, she's just a kid. He glanced up at her. She'd obtained a slingshot from somewhere, and was now firing stones from her vantage point, taking down a Purple Dragon with each thwap of elastic. Judging by her ecstatic whoops, these were the moments she lived for. A kid with mad fighting skills and a great sense of humour… but still just a kid. What if she gets hurt?
A crowbar swung towards him out of nowhere, heading straight for his face. Raph ducked, and the weapon slammed into his shoulder instead. I'm gonna be feeling that tomorrow. He lunged for the man who'd tried to hit him, breaking his nose with the base of his sai. The man screamed in pain, and Raph noticed the last few Purple Dragons running away like frightened rabbits.
"Aw, leavin' so soon? Things were just getting' fun!" Raph turned on one heel towards the cat girl – and came face to face with thin air.
"Huh? Wat da shell?" Several awkward seconds passed as the four brothers' confusion hung uncomfortably in the air, until Mikey's voice pierced the silence.
"First she's a Catwoman relative, then she has mad fighting skills, and now she's a disappearing magician?! What next, an actress out of the Saw movies?"
Raph chuckled. "No bro, they left that one open for you."
"COOL! Where do I sign up?"
Behind him, Raph heard the familiar sound of Leo and Don shifting a manhole, signalling the end of another night's patrol. He turned with a sigh. Usually he'd object to quitting so early, and start a fight with Leo – but his shoulder was throbbing painfully, and there was wrestling on tonight. "Come on, Jigsaw," he called to Mikey.
"Just a sec, dude. I found a penny!" Mikey stooped down and scooped up a grubby coin. "Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck!" he chanted.
Raph decided not to remind him that last time Mikey had found a penny, he'd put a fork in the toaster and nearly died.
Mikey straightened up, clasping the penny, but a split second later he dropped it with a shriek. From out of the shadows under the stairwell swooped a snarling face – a face masked in blood, with twin sets of razor sharp fangs and two wild yellow eyes.