Chapter 5

A Snake in the City

The next night, after their training, Michelangelo once again grabbed his skateboard and headed out into the sewers for another run through the tunnels, as well as check on the human girl Shari, to make sure that she was still okay, but he didn't tell anyone that.

Reaching the place where he had first heard her scream, he continued a few blocks further south, to where she had said that she lived. Parking his skateboard by wedging it between a few pipes, he climbed up the ladder, lifted the lid and looked around. It was another dark alley, and luckily it was also empty, allowing him to exit without any problem.

Since it was still fairly early in the night, he had to be careful not to be spotted by the people living in the apartments by the fire escape as he made his way up to the rooftop. Carefully looking over the edge, he saw no one on the roof. Feeling a bit disappointed that she wasn't there, Michelangelo still decided to stay a while longer, in case she would show up a litter later.

He stayed hidden in the shadows, looking at the sky while he waited. It was partially cloudy, but there were a few patches of sky free from clouds where he could see the stars. He wasn't quite sure of how long he sat there, but after a while, the door to the roof opened, snapping him out of his thoughts. Keeping absolutely still, he watched from the shadows, and he saw Shari walk out of the door and walked over to the edge of the roof.

He continued to watch her from the shadows, not sure what to do next, but as he did, he caught scent of her perfume, a faint but sweet fragrance of vanilla and roses. He hadn't thought about it at the time, but she wore the same perfume when he first met her. She seemed to be fine, but he still had to talk to her, it would just be creepy to keep spying on her, so gathering his courage, Michelangelo stepped out of the shadows.

"Hi there!" he said happily, making her spin around in surprise.

"Oh, it's you. I didn't think you would come." she said.

"Well, I did kinda say that I would, and it would've been rude not to keep that. Sorry if I scared you, but if you're like me, you have to stay hidden."

"It's okay, I should have expected that, but I'm so glad that you came."

"Yeah, well, I um… wanted to make sure that you were okay, after what happened last night, you know."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you, Mikey, was it?"

"Mikey, yeah. That's my nickname, but you can call me that, it's okay."

"So, how did you become that way?"

"Long story short, as a baby turtle I was covered in a strange ooze that mutated me, and here I am."

"Wow. And you live in the sewers?"

"It's not as bad as you think, cool during the summer and warm during the winter, no crowds."

"Really? I would never have imagined. But, what do you do? Do you just run around down there, going up now and then, or what?"

"More or less, we have a place hidden down there, going on patrols topside to take down crooks."

"We? There are more than just you?"

"Of course, got three brothers, one adoptive sister and an adoptive father, all of us mutants. What about you? Got any family here, or are you alone?"

"My mother lives a few miles to the north. My father left when he learned that Mom was pregnant with me, so I've never met him."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you didn't know. And apparently he was a real jerk, so maybe it's for the best."

"… Do you like pizza?" Michelangelo asked, trying to change the subject.

"Pizza? Yeah, yeah I do." Shari answered with a soft smile.

Meanwhile, back in the lair, Raphael and Monalisa sat in the couch watching a movie, though Monalisa wasn't really interested in the movie, she was more focused on her plan to bring Kate and Michelangelo together, waiting for the Mutopians to arrive.

"You alright, babe?" Raphael asked after noticing that she was miles away.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Mind's just wandering a bit."

"Any special reason?"

"Well, I am excited for when Tyroth and Sephie get here, more so this time since they are bringing one of the Knights with them for the first time."

"Yeah, that came as a surprise, if you ask me. But they never said who it was, did they?"

"I never asked, so it could be anyone. Well, anyone except Amber I would think. She has already been here when she was still human."

"I remember, that was one eventful night for her, not to mention what she had to endure at the hands of the Foot when they kidnapped her and her parents, but she's grown a lot stronger since then, taking notes from her brother."

Suddenly, the couple heard the entrance open and close shortly after.

"Hello? Anyone home?" they heard Sephie call out with her happy tone.

"Seems like they're here, wonder who they brought with them." said Raphael as he got up and helped his mate up as well. They then made their way over to the entrance to greet their guests. And they were not the only ones. Having heard Sephie, the last two turtles as well as master Splinter, also stopped what they were doing and walked to the entrance.

"Hiya, guys!" Tyroth said when he saw the residents.

"Welcome, I hope that your trip was without difficulties." Splinter greeted the three mutants.

"It was just fine." said Sephie. "I trust that you all remember Kate."

"Of course. Welcome to our humble home, miss Kate."

"Thanks. So this is where you live, huh? It sure looks like a smaller Mutopia, much smaller."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you want to come? Not that I'm complaining, I'm just curious." said Donatello.

"It wasn't really my choice, but I desperately needed a vacation from that bug, Percy, so this came like a surprise."

"Shortly after Mona and I spoke the first time yesterday, Percy went one step to far with his teasing jokes." said Sephie. "That's when we decided that we'd bring her with us so she could get some time to relax."

"Why does he tease you so much anyway, Kate?" asked Monalisa

"Hell if I know, but sure can't be because he's tired of life, if it were, then he'd let me kill him for stunts like this. But enough about that, where am I sleeping?"

"I'll show you to your room." said Leonardo. "It's not much, but I think it will do nicely."

"Thanks."

As Leonardo lead Kate to the extra guest room, Tyroth turned to Splinter.

"I apologize for her language, it's just how she is."

"I understand, Tyroth. I suppose that I just have to endure it for your stay."

"We promise that we'll try to get her to be on her best behaviour." said Sephie.

"I know you will, child, thank you."

"We'll give you a hand." said Donatello. "Now let's get you all settled and we can have some fun before the next training session, Mikey should be back before that as well."

"He isn't here? I thought it was rather quiet here. Where is he?" said Sephie.

"Out skating in the sewers. Been gone for quite the while actually, and it's been a nice change of pace." said Raphael.

Once the Mutopians had settled in, the young mutants gathered in the TV-area to catch up a bit over a couple of sodas.

"… so, I'll be training with you guys, huh?" said Kate.

"That's the idea, but since you don't have the same style of fighting as we do, like Tyroth, you'll be allowed to watch from the sideline while the rest of us do the moves master Splinter tell us." said Leonardo. "During the sparing sessions, however, you're more than welcome to join in, it would be an experience for all of us."

"Better be careful then, guys, she's been working on her whip skills and is very good at it." said Tyroth.

"You should have seen when she took down a thug last week. Snatched his bat right out of his hand with her whip and hit him over the head with his own weapon, still stuck in the whip." said Sephie.

"I wonder who of us that you'll face, Kate." said Monalisa. "I'm not sure how I'll combat your whip with my fans."

"If it's any comfort, I don't have a bloody idea either." said the viper. "But I'm not gonna let any of you take me down without working for it."

"We'll see how that goes, 'cause I'm going easy on anyone, guest or not." said Raph.

At that time, Michelangelo and Shari had been talking for quite the while, getting to know each other better, even though Michelangelo originally had only planed to check up on her. But there was something special about her, something he couldn't put his finger on, something almost alluring.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now, before the guys start worrying about me. Can't leave those dudes alone for too long, you know." said Michelangelo as he stood up.

"I understand. It's getting late for me as well, so I think I'll head straight for bed. Can I see you again tomorrow night?"

"Sure, why not. I'll see you at the same time, unless I'm late."

"Then it's a date. I-I mean… uhm… I'll see you then." Shari said, blushing.

"Yeah… sure." said Michelangelo, also blushing.

After looking at each other in silence for a few seconds, the turtle made his way down to the alley the same way he took up, and swiftly entered the sewers. Picking up his skateboard, he returned to the lair, but not without doing a few tricks on the way to clear his head.

Once he was back home, he entered the lair and hurried over to the TV-area, where he saw his brothers, adoptive sister and friends hanging out.

"Heya guys! Who's up some Smash?" he shouted, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Kate.

"Wait! You're here?! I thought Jack was coming over, or maybe Percy."

"Don't ruin my first day here by talking about that fucking idiot, I've already had more than enough of him." Kate half-growled, but her expression quickly softened a bit. "But, if you still want to play that game, then you're on!" she then said with a wink.

Mikey and Shari seems to get along well, I wonder how this will play out for them. What do you think, people?

And now Kate makes her debut in New York, thing's will get lively, that's for sure. And how will Mikey handle this? Check in next time. :)

And don't forget to check out my Ghost Master fic, new chapter coming up in the days to come, and it's a big one. Happy Halloween! :D