Season 1, Episode 19-20
The atmosphere of the farmhouse was somber, sadness filling every corner. The girls could feel all of it, but none more so than Sunshine. She winced as Raph's anger at his brother not waking up struck her inside like a slap. Some days it just didn't pay to be the empath.
The theory was, prolonged exposure to the ooze resulted in not only four dove babies being warped human, but the presence of the crystal was fused into their bodies, and the two days they were covered in ooze allowed it to sink into their minds, opening them up. The girls never said it out loud, but they had been hoping, praying, that the turtle boys were like them, full of quirks like the crystal or their elemental powers, or even their psychic abilities. But the turtles had only been covered for a few moments; the eggs had been exposed for days, and every day they prayed that there wouldn't be any new developments, that the surprises were over.
"Sunny, you ok?" Jasmine draped an arm over her shoulder, and though she couldn't see her sister's face anymore, the warm concern flowing from her brought a smile to Sunshine's face.
"Yes, just a lot of sadness here. I'm thinking maybe I'll explore the barn a little bit, absorb at least one space where I won't have to rely on the ihanbo/i."
"That's a good idea. Just be careful, there is a lot of sharp scrap metal just lying around." Years ago Sunshine would have bristled at her sister's concern, mistaking it for pity. But she smiled now at the sound advice.
"Thank you. Call for me if something happens," she patted her sister's arm and began making her way out the door, running the ihanbo/i along the ground, avoiding holes and rocks. She felt the heat of the wood stove and knew she had come to the barn.
After first finding the pile of sharp scrap metal, she slid the ihanbo/i into the carrying strap on her back and leapt up, reaching and grabbing the large wooden beam she had hoped would be there. She giggled, swinging herself up into the air, flipping twice, and landing perfectly on her feet, arms spread out. She relished the freedom her ninja skills and senses gave her, allowing her to tentatively touch out with her mind and get a decent bearing on objects in her way. Sound only helped her, echoing in empty spaces and bouncing off large things.
She did her best impression of a tightrope walker before leaping down, landing in a crouch. She pulled out the ihanbo/i again and began walking the perimeter, counting the number of steps along each wall, the walking from one object to another: four steps from the metal heap to the wood stove, ten steps from the stove to the barn door, fifteen steps diagonally from the barn door to the left wall, twelve steps from the barn door to the tack racks on the right wall.
Sunny pocketed her ihanbo/i and leapt up, grabbing the beam again and pulling herself up into a sitting position. She thought about all that had happened in just the past day, and she felt sad. Leonardo had been attacked and beaten dishonorably, the brothers had been outnumbered and their father almost beaten by the Shredder, she and her sisters had been badly injured in the fight, and the only home they had ever known had been blown to pieces by the Foot. For the first time since Autumn had received her vision, Sunshine was afraid. Where would they go now? What would they do? She didn't want to leave New York, not when she knew that city as intimately as her ihanbo/i, every worn spot, every alley. A new city meant months of just memorizing sewers, alleys, and rooftops, of having to relearn her way around like an infant. She hated it six years ago and she still hated it today.
But most importantly, there were other mutants like her who had their lives changed forever by the ooze. Even better, they were all the same age! They could have other people to talk to besides their siblings about teenage stuff, and how hard it was just to be a teenager when you were a mutant, too. And she liked the turtles, at least the three she could hear. Donny was like River, although maybe less likely to "accidentally" push you off a bamboo staff during balance training and then catch you, laughter in your ears. Mikey, Sunny imagined, was probably the prankster of the group, full of quips and quick retorts. A lot like Autumn, for sure. From the stories the girls had heard, Leo was most definitely cut from the same cloth as Jasmine, dedicated to keeping his siblings out of trouble. And Raph...
Raph had Autumn's temper, but there seemed to be... more. He put up a facade, tried to be tough and hotheaded (maybe "tried" wasn't the right word... more like "succeeded"), but the way his voice broke talking to his brother, made her think that maybe he was trying to be the strong one, since Leo couldn't do it for him. And it made her heart break to hear it.
"Sunny, where are you? Leo woke up, come on!" Autumn's voice rang through the barn and disappeared with footsteps. She must have just poked her head in before running back to the farmhouse. Sunny jumped, landing in a crouch and raced out the door, grabbing her ihandbo/i for the steps. She carefully made her way up and felt Autumn grab her hand, pulling her through the door. Sunshine knew better than to protest; her sister still felt responsible for her eyes and dealt with issues even today. Letting her lead was a small way to put her mind at ease.
She felt the assault of relief and happiness on her spirit, and was grateful for all of it. She hadn't been able to feel Leo's spirit before and it worried her, but now there were twelve sets of emotions churning through her mind, and she smiled in relief.
"Master... Splinter, who... who are they?" The weak voice came from her right. Autumn dropped her hand, and she felt her mother and two other sisters stand beside her.
"Yes, my son. This is my good friend Sensei Angel, and these are her daughters. Each of them takes part of the responsibility for your recovery, and for all of us leaving alive." Sunshine flushed and bowed with her sisters.
"We were only too happy to help, Splinter-san," Master Angel's voice replied sweetly. "My daughters have prepared some food for everyone and then we will retire from you, they have still not fully healed from the attacks of today."
"Of course."
Sunshine followed her sisters into the kitchen, picking up a tray heavy with food. Sandwiches, the only thing Autumn could really "cook". Out of all of them, Jasmine was the best cook, but she still wasn't feeling so well from the attack on her back. Having the crystal skin broken hurt and burned for days without River's healing, but still ached and stung if touched. Hopefully a full night's sleep would help.
Sunshine counted the steps in her head but didn't anticipate Donny's ibo/i staff lying in her path. Before he could stop her, she tripped, and the sandwiches went flying. Quickly she flipped onto her feet and leapt into the air, landing on one hand while the other shot out in short jabs, catching each of the twelve sandwiches. She backflipped onto her feet and flushed at the applause.
"Um, sorry for being clumsy," she said softly, setting the platter down gently. She grabbed her ihanbo/i out of precaution, even though she knew how to navigate back to the kitchen. Everyone gasped when she began walking, making her face hotter and her ears flush.
"Wait, you're blind, and you can do ithat/i?" Casey grunted as if in pain after his statement. Sunshine swallowed hard and nodded.
"Don't mind Casey, his mother dropped him on his head," April said sweetly. Sunny smiled in thanks. She and her sisters liked April, she was edgy but sweet, too.
"We will see you in the morning, young ninja." Angel said softly, and Sunshine had never been more grateful to go to bed. She hated anyone staring at her, and she could feel seven pairs of eyes on her back as she left.
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"That was amazing," Leo croaked, accepting the spoonful of soup Master Splinter offered him. "To be blind and able to do that..."
"She has had much practice, my son. She's been blind for well over six years now," Splinter replied, dipping the spoon in the broth and feeding it to his son.
"All five of them are pretty incredible. To look like that but actually be doves? That ooze is some aggressive chemical, I'll tell you that." April tapped her finger on her chin. "I'd love to get my hands on some."
"I've tried," Donny sighed, munching on his ham sandwich, "None have fallen off anymore trucks, and I can't seem to find the company that chemical came from."
"Yeah, well, I'm still not so sure we should trust them," Casey griped, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Then it's probably good that no one asked you!" April spat. "Geez Casey, those girls got really hurt because they helped us out!"
"I'm just sayin', what if this is some fancy plan of the Shredder's to get us to trust them, then they cut our throats when we ain't lookin'?"
"Ugh! You're such a neanderthal!"
"You wanna say that to my face?"
"I just did, genius!"
"Enough!" Splinter growled, rapping his walking stick on the wood floor sharply. The two humans silenced immediately, turning their heads from their face-off stance. "You do our friends wrong to mistrust them, Mr. Jones. We must all get some rest now, for we do not know what tomorrow may bring."
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Eight days had passed, and while Leo recovered quickly, he was still too quiet and reflective. His brothers had tried to get him to train with them, but he just moped into the barn, arm and waist wrapped to help the broken bones River couldn't heal. Today was no different.
Leo sighed, tossing another stick into the wood stove. He didn't notice a small blur above him on the wooden beams, so absorbed in his self-loathing.
"Here again, huh?"
He started and looked up for the voice, seeing the blind ninja above him. "Hey, you shouldn't be up there, you could get hurt!"
Sunshine laughed, a high, tinkling sound like a bell. She jumped down and landed in front of him effortlessly. "I've spent most of eight days in this barn, I probably know it better than you." She dusted off her shoulder of dust. "You've been here, too. Why aren't you with your brothers?"
Leo sighed again, bending to pick up a piece of metal and wincing when his ribs cracked painfully. "Somehow, I don't think you'd understand."
Suddenly he was turned and his chin forced down, forced to look into the unseeing silver eyes. "Try me," she said softly but firmly. He winced at his callousness but nodded and watched her step back. "I just feel so... useless. I messed up in New York. I got beaten, and my brothers, my father, iyour/i family, they all got hurt, because of me."
"That's not the way we see it," she replied. She sat down on the dirt floor, cross legged. "We see it as doing the honorable thing, helping our fellow ninja and mutants when they needed us most. There is no shame in that. What was done to you... it was wrong, no matter how you look at it."
"Yeah, but if I'd have just been more careful-"
"Then the Shredder would have still attacked you all in April's home, and we may not have made it in time to help you. None of this is your fault, Leonardo." She sighed, turning her face away from him. "I really do understand how you feel right now, like everything that's happened is all because of you. Maybe it would be better if you didn't have any family to mourn you." Leo stared at her in shock. He had been thinking that very thought for the past eight days since he had awoken. "But it wouldn't.
"When I was first blinded and my family had to help me relearn everything that was once so simple, walking, jumping, finding my way around our home, I hated myself. I felt like I was a burden to everyone because I was too stupid to take care of myself. I knew I shouldn't have been so close to those chemicals in the sewage, but I had to practice my balancing anyway. I fell in, and the last thing I've ever seen was the water rushing to me.
"It wasn't until months later that I realized something: my sisters would hug me every time they saw me enter a room. My mother spoke to me softly as I slept. I realized that my family was trying to tell me something, that they were just so happy I hadn't died that day, like I wanted to. They were so happy that I was still with them, that they could see me everyday even though I felt like I was less of a person. They made me realize that when you're in a family, how you feel about yourself, all the self-loathing and 'what if?', none of them are thinking that. All they're thinking is, 'This is another happy day I get to see Sunshine.' And that still humbles me even today."
Sunshine smiled, rising to her feet. "Your brothers and your father don't blame you, April and Casey don't blame you, and neither do we. We all blame the Shredder. This is solely ihis/i fault," she paused, tilting her head. "Your brother is coming. I know you don't believe me now, but maybe you'll believe him." She patted his shoulder gently, gave him a winning smile, and leapt to the wooden beam, flipping on top and running to the open window before jumping out into the bright morning, leaving a confused and slightly humbled Leo in her wake.
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"Who's out there?" Jasmine asked aloud, walking to the front window and pulling the curtain aside slightly. She whistled at the overly large woman arguing with Casey in the snow. Her eyes narrowed when the woman grabbed his arm and held it behind his back, smiling into a floating piece of machinery.
"Why that stupid-"
"Whoa, Autumn, we can't go out there, not wearing this stuff anyways," Jasmine pulled her struggling sister back. "I have an idea. Go change into some normal clothes and borrow Sunny's ihanbo/i. Hopefully we can shame this woman into leaving." They silenced for a moment as April went to Casey's aide.
Realization dawned on Autumn's face and she nodded, sprinting up the stairs. A few moments later she skated down the bannister railing, landing in a crouch and wearing a pink T-shirt and blue jeans with brown boots, ihanbo/i in hand. "Ready and waiting, boss."
"Perfect. Now, go be pitiful!" River and Sunshine, who followed her into the room when she took the ihanbo/i, snorted as Autumn began sweeping the floor with the ihanbo/i, knocking it against the door loudly and grasping the doorknob, pulling the door open into the cold morning.
"April? Casey? Where are you?" she whimpered, interrupting their argument with the bulky woman. She kept her eyes forward and unfocused, squeezing out a few tears and a pitiful sniffle.
"I'm right here, um... sweetheart," April grasped her elbow and led her down the stairs, to where Dr. Abigail Finn and Casey looked on, thoroughly confused. "This is my, um, sister, Autumn. Autumn, Dr. Finn was just leaving." Her green eyes narrowed into slits.
"I'm not leaving without that Green Man, and I promise you, I will find it! Whether you want to help me or not!" The woman huffed, then started when Autumn burst into tears.
"April what's going on? You promised there'd be no other people here! I want to go home!" Autumn sobbed into April's shirt.
"Well great, now you've done it, you heartless egghead! The poor girl just lost her vision and her parents two weeks ago, and now you've gone and upset her!" Casey growled, laying a protective hand on Autumn's shoulder.
"I wanna go home!" Autumn continued to wail while April rubbed her back soothingly.
"This is your home now, sweetie," she said softly. "Dr. Finn, get off our property. Now."
"Oh, I'm leaving," Dr. Finn snarled, "But rest assured, I iwill/i find that Green Man, and I'll make a fortune off of it!" She hopped into the passenger side of the giant truck. "Parker! get this hunt started!" All three of the "family" watched her leave before breaking into big grins.
"You're a fabulous little actress, you know that?" April beamed, draping an arm around Autumn's shoulder.
"I know it." Autumn tossed the ihanbo/i back to Sunshine on the porch, who caught it in the air effortlessly. "We saw her giving you guys a hard time and figured a crying little girl might help."
"Yeah, it was really good. Mikey owes you his shell," Casey grinned, "And I'm tempted to give it to him."
They all heard an "eep!" from the side of the farmhouse, and Autumn smirked, jumping onto the roof and sprinting across before leaping down into the path of a very terrified Michelangelo.
"Um... hi?" He grinned sheepishly. She smiled back sweetly and walked past him. he was in the middle of breathing a sigh of relief when she smacked him on the back of the head. Hard.
"Hey!"
"Just be glad that's iall/i you get," she said darkly, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder in a dismissive gesture, climbing the porch step back into the farmhouse.
"Bro, you got dissed!" Mikey jumped five feet in the air before coming back down on his rump. "Donny, give me a heart-attack!"
"Don't tempt me," he sighed. "That was Dr. Abigail Finn. She's a lunatic genius, and she's not gonna give up until your shell is tacked to her wall," Mikey "eep"ed again. "We need to get that tape."
"I'll go with you," River said from the window they stood next to. "Everyone's having fun today except me," she tied her mouth mask on and somersaulted out the window. "Let's get to some hunting of our own, boys."
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Sunshine and Jasmine kept to the shadows, perched on the beam high above the two turtles molding metal, one injured turtle pounding metal while the the kept the flames hot. Jazz's eyes soaked in the two working turtles, still as the ground below them, patient. Sunny cocked her head, listening to the banging and grunting of labor, smelling the scent of burning wood and heated metal, sweat and tears. Both were surprised they hadn't been noticed yet, probably just too-
"Hey Jasmine."
"Hey Sunshine."
"AAGH!" Both girls screamed at the same time, losing their balance and falling. Jasmine landed effortlessly on her feet, and Sunshine would have followed suit if a certain red-banded turtle hadn't sprinted to catch her. It annoyed her a little bit, that he felt like she couldn't take care of herself.
"You two should be more careful," he said gruffly, "What would've happened if I hadn't caught ya, huh?"
"I would have landed on my feet, like I have the last thirty-four times I've jumped from that beam," she growled irritably, squirming until he put her down. Her face was hot, she was probably flushing bright enough to do Rudolph proud. This only irritated her more, an emotion she rarely ever felt.
"Well, don't thank me."
"All right, I won't."
"I just saved your life!"
"No, you just treated me like an invalid! I can manage just fine on my own!"
"Fine, I won't help you again!"
"Fine!
"Fine!"
"You know," Jazz sighed, arms crossed, leaning on a wooden table as she and Leo watched the fight, "She's really never, ever like this. She's always cheerful and optimistic. Your brother must bring out the worst in her."
"It's not just her," Leo sighed. "By the way, I never got to thank you. You protected me and April from Hun and carried me all the way to Casey's van and then inside the house. I'm in your debt." He tried to bow formally but winced when the pain in his ribs flared again.
"Bow when it doesn't kill you," she smiled. "But, you're welcome. Now I'm going to drag my sister from killing your brother and leave you two back to whatever you were doing." She bowed to him and grabbed Sunny's hand, dragging her protesting out the barn door and back to the house.
"Can you believe her? I keep her from breaking her neck and she starts in on me! What the shell?"
Leo smirked, picking up the hammer again. "Some things will always be a mystery, bro. I think girls are at the top of that list."
"No freaking kidding."
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"Why did we follow them to get this stupid tape? They screwed up, not us!"
"Shh, let's just watch. Remember, if they blow itheir/i cover, they blow iour/i cover. We're a blip on the Shredder's radar now."
"Still, seems kind of stupid."
"You think everything seems kind of stupid."
"Am I wrong?"
"Well... no, not really. Now shut up, they're coming!" River clamped a hand over her sister's mouth, smothering Autumn's growls. They watched the two turtles scope out the van for an entrance in, and then groaned together when Mikey tripped off a trap in the cryogenic chamber, trapping him and Donny in a deep freeze.
"Those idiots, they're cold blooded! They have maybe a minute!" River and Autumn jumped down from the tree they'd been hiding in and started pounding at the door. Autumn turned her hands into topaz claws but the metal wouldn't even scratch, she couldn't get a grip to claw it out. River ran around the truck, trying to find a control console but failed.
"Donny, there's no way to get you out!" She yelled, jumping on top of the truck, looking for a hatch of some kind they could break open, but nothing. She and Autumn were desperately trying to pulled the doors off when they heard, "Get back!" They jumped back, and with a loud ithump/i from the inside, the door began turning into ice. Suddenly the door blew open, and two half-frozen turtles jumped out the back, staggering from the cold.
"You idiots!" Autumn seethed, pulling off her coat and wrapping it around Mikey. "What were you thinking?"
"I don't think they were," River added hotly, wrapping her own poncho around Donny. "We need to get you back right now, let Sunny warm you up before your sensei beats you senseless!"
"Th-th-th-thanks," Donny mumbled, teeth chattering. The girls' gazes softened as they hastened them shivering away from the van and back to the farmhouse.
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"Aah!" the two frost-bitten turtles sighed as April poured in another kettle of hot water warmed instantly by Sunshine, who was also pressing red crystal hands against the metal tub to keep the water hot.
"I can't believe you two walked right into a trap!" Casey crowed.
"I can," Splinter muttered, and Angel covered her mouth with her sleeve, smothering her chuckle.
"Is this ok?" Sunny asked softly, letting her hands glow brighter.
"It's great, thanks so much!" Donny smiled.
"Who needs a furnace with you around?" Mikey joked, earning a smack on the back of the head from April. Sunny chuckled and stood up, stretching from sitting for so long before flipping her ihanbo/i into her hand with the toe of her foot.
"Dr. Finn is still out there, looking for the Green Man, err, Men. What are you gonna do about it?" Casey asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"All I know is, it's a good thing the Green Man's not real. If that Dr. Finn ever got her hands on him, sheesh!" Donny shuddered.
"She'd stuff him and tack him to the wall," River sighed, "A Green Man plushie for all the world to gawk at."
"Hey, that's it!" Mikey said excitedly.
"What, that we stuff you into a Ninja Turtle plushie?" Autumn said dryly, earning a whack on the head from Angel. "Ow!"
"No," Mikey drawled, inching away from the violent blonde, "Little Miss Monster Hunter is still out there hunting the Green Man, right?"
"Oh no," River groaned, knowing what was coming next.
"Then we'll give her some! Serious, butt-kicking Green Men!"
"Oh yes," Autumn sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"I have a plan!"
"I seriously doubt that you do, my son," Splinter sighed.
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"You know, Sunny," Jazz's voice came from her right, "You don't usually get that worked up. Actually, you never get that worked up, you're like 'Miss Calmness and Chi'." After warming up the two frozen turtles, she had come out here to practice with her weapon, the ihanbo/i. She pulled out the chain hidden in the hollow staff and began to swing it above her head, flicking her wrist and sending it shooting towards her target, a Coke can, like a whip. The sound of metal striking metal put a satisfied smile on her face. "What happened?" Sunshine knocked down the remaining four cans before replying to her sister.
"I don't know, he's just so... ugh! I can't even describe it, his attitude just gets to me I guess," Sunny sighed, letting the chain wrap around her wrist and dangling it back into the ihanbo/i. "I don't need a knight in shining armor, I don't need someone to rescue me, and I don't need help. I've been blind for six years, I know what my limits are."
"But he doesn't," Jazz's calm voice tried to break through Sunny's frustration. "We all know that you're probably the best fighter because you worked harder after the accident, and you don't rely on your eyes so they can't deceive you. But he doesn't. He probably thinks you're trying to be tough, just 'playing' ninja. Maybe..." Her voice trailed off deliberately, setting the bait. Sunny sighed, sliding her ihanbo/i along her back and into her belt.
"Ok, I bite. Maybe what?"
"Spar with him," Jazz's arm draped itself on Sunshine's shoulders. "Show him that ninja-girl action you're famous for!" Sunshine grinned at the exuberance in Jazz's voice. Maybe she had a point. Maybe a sparring match with Mr. Macho Manly would make her feel better.
"Sounds good to me."
bA/N: I know it's not finished yet for this episode, but I'm at twelve pages, so I needed to cut a break. Enjoy!/b