Random quote: "Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils ... "
~ Louis Hector Berlioz
Disclaimer: don't own 'em..... yet -evil grin-; still writin' fanfiction
Special thanks to zitikka and HorrorFan13 for reviewing last chapter! You guys rock!!
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"Dudette, you awake yet?"
The girl cracked open her good eye and looked at the persistent turtle. "I am now." she grumbled.
"Good, because I brought you something." He held out a slice of plain, cheese pizza. "Not as good as peanut butter and whipped cream, but still pretty god."
"Thanks." the girl said, taking a bite. She chewed and quickly ate another bite, then another, and another.
"I take it you like it." Mikey said, smiling.
"Mmmmm...." was the girl's only reply.
The duo chowed their way through the entire box of cheese pizza. Mikey flipped the T.V. on to some sports station and watched it until Leo came out of his room.
"Mikey, you know that we train before we eat." he said.
"But the dudette! She needed some pizza!" Mikey protested.
Leonardo rolled his eyes. "Just come on." he said finally, walking towards the room they called the "Dojo." Mikey got up and followed and soon she was alone.
Don had said that she could get up... The girl got to her feet, relieved that her fever had broken last night. The swelling in her eye had gone down, though it was still puffy and she couldn't really open it.
She entered the room known as the "training room" and spotted a battered-looking punching bag. She walked over to it and gave it an experimental punch. It was solid enough. She took a deep breath and gave it a swift kick. When nothing happened, she punched it again, this time harder and with more purpose. Punch, kick, kick, punch, kick, kick.
"Why" punch "am" kick "I" punch punch "such" kick punch "a" kick kick punch "Freak?!" The last word awarded the punching bag numerous blows as she took her anger out on it. She punched and kicked at it, working up a heavy sweat in no time. There was a fire in her eyes and a kind of wild light radiated from her soul.
"Why" kick "can't" punch "I" punch kick "do anything" punch kick kick punch "Right? Why am I such an IDIOT?!" She screamed the last word and unleashed her fury upon the bag, kicking and punching it until her legs and knuckles had bruises. Well... more bruises anyway.
"Keep that up and Donnie's gonna think ya got in a fight again." said a voice from the doorway.
The girl stopped hitting the punching bag and looked up. "What?"
BAM! The bag hit her square in the face and chest, knocking her over. She tumbled a couple of feet before groaning and standing up, glaring murderously at the offending object.
"First lesson, kid. Never take your eyes off an opponent."
"Thanks." she said sarcastically, switching her glare to Raphael.
He didn't even flinch. "Come on, kid. Donnie says ya gotta rest."
The girl sighed and followed the turtle back to the couch. She sat down next to Mikey and the happy turtle turned toward her.
"Hey dudette, I was, you know, getting a little worried!" he said jokingly.
"You don't have to worry about me." she said, almost wistfully. "I'll be out of your shells by tomorrow."
"Whoa! Slow down, dudette! You can't just leave!" Mikey said.
The girl's eyes, or eye really, flashed. "And why not?"
"Because you are in no condition to be on your own, at least not t the moment. It's a wonder they haven't broken anything by now." Don said from her other side.
"I do not wish to trouble you any farther. The girl said.
It's no trouble at all, really. We don't get any visitors down here, and Mikey enjoys the company." Leo said.
"Beside, how will you get anything to eat?" Mikey asked.
The girl looked down in shame. "I have my ways." she said quietly.
"What, you mean like stealing?" Mikey asked and the girl's silence was all the answer he needed.
"My child," Splinter said, guiding her chin with a paw so that she was looking him in the eye. "There is no honor in thievery."
The girl nodded, borderlining on crying. "It's all I can do to survive." she whispered, unable to drop her eyes.
"Stay with us and we will help you." the old rat said calmly and soothingly.
The girl finally nodded. "Alright." she said. "I'll stay."
"Woo-hoo!!" Mikey shouted, startling the girl. She automatically swept her foot out, catching Mikey's leg, and swept his feet out from under him. He fell, surprised, onto the couch.
The girl covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
Mikey got up, dazed but laughing. "That was totally sweet, dudette! Did you see that guys? She was all..." Mikey babbled on for a minute before Raph slapped him in the back of the head.
"Where's your off switch?" he grumbled.
"You... You're not mad?" the girl asked in confusion. She had been ready for a fight, not laughter.
"Why would I be? It's not like you hurt me." Mikey said.
"But I hit you!" the girl exclaimed.
"No harm, no foul, dudette."
The girl shook her head in amazement. "That was new." she mused. She laid down on the couch and closed her eyes, worn out by all that had happened. She was out cold in two minutes.
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"Hey, April? It's Leo. We just thought you'd like to know, we found the girl. She's pretty beat up, but it's not life-threatening."
"O.K. Thank you, Leo, and be sure to thank your brothers for me. I was out of my mind with worry." April said. "When can I come down and see her?"
"Let's not rush things right now. Don says she's pretty shaken up, even if she does try to hide it. I don't know how she'll react."
Alright, Leo. If you need anything, you know where to find me."
Leonardo hung up and turned his attention to the girl. She had been asleep for an hour now, shouting things out sometimes in Japanese, then becoming still again. It was very puzzling, but Don had said to just let her sleep.
Her eyes fluttered open ten minutes after the phone call with April. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and looked at Leo. "Who was that?" she murmured sleepily.
"Just a friend, don't worry about it. Do you think that maybe you could answer some questions for us?" Leo asked kindly.
The girl nodded."Yeah. Mikey," she called, "you can stop hiding now. And Don, I know you're listening in the kitchen. Raph's in the training room, though, punching his punching bag. And Master Splinter's meditating." she said, listening carefully.
"How do you know all this?" Don asked, coming suspiciously from the direction of the kitchen.
"I can hear, see, smell, taste, and feel things better than most." she explained. "I can hear Raphael's blows absorbed by the padding in the bag, I can smell Mikey in the hallway, and I could hear you, Don, breathing real quiet in the kitchen."
"And Master Splinter? How do you know he is meditating?" Leo asked.
"There's a sense of calm radiating from the meditation room and I can smell the incense of candles burning." the girl said. "Now, you said you had some questions for me?"
"Yeah. How do we know ya ain't here to spy?" Raph had entered the room.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what I say. How do we know ya ain't here to spy?" he said, crossing the room to stand in front of the couch.
"That's what it is. Oh no, I've been found out!" the girl said sarcastically.
"Raph, what makes you think that she's a spy?" Leo asked, confused by his brother's reaction.
"Just think it's suspicious is all. She happens to be in a fight with the Purple Dragons, and then we happen to show up and save her butt. What? She can hear Donnie breathing in the kitchen but not those noisy thugs trying to sneak up on her?"
"I never said I tried to avoid a fight." the girl said with a snort. "I just don't go looking for one."
"I still think it's suspicious. Besides, how do we know you're telling the truth about how you became like you are? For all we know, you could be workin' for the Shredder!"
The temperature in the room dropped as the girl stood up quickly. "Are you calling me a liar?" she asked quietly and deadly.
"Frankly, yeah." Raph said, hands straying to his sais.
With a cry of pure rage, the girl leaped at Raphael and attempted to tackle him. Raphael side-stepped, calmly pinned both arms behind her, and dropped her feet out from under her. She fell in a heap and Mikey crouched in front of her.
"Hey, little dudette, what was all that?"
"Nobody calls me a liar!" she snarled, attempting to get up. Mikey offered her a hand and she accepted the boost.
"I'm sure that's not what Raph meant." Leo said.
"No, that is exactly what he meant. I'm no liar, my story is true." the girl said. She took a deep breath, calming herself and clearing her head. "Never mind, just... forget about what happened." She looked up, easing herself back onto the couch. "Who is Shredder?"
"He's a bad dude. He tries to kill us on a weekly basis!" Mikey said dramatically. "He-"
" Michelangelo! Let us not burden our guest with too much information." Splinter walked into the room, drawn by all the noise.
"Sorry Sensei." Mikey said. His eyes lit up as he thought of something. "Dudes! We totally forgot we were gonna help Casey and April at the store today!"
"Aw shell." Leo said, glancing at an old clock on the wall. "We have ten minutes to get there."
"Wait, you're going to see April? And Casey?" the girl questioned.
"Yeah, they're like, our best human buds." Mikey said.
"I've met them before. Are they alright? I didn't bring them trouble, did I?"
"'Course not, dudette. April was worried when you disappeared, yeah, but you didn't like, bring the Foot down on them."
The girl decided to not ask what the "Foot" was. "I'll let you guys get to them then."
"Don't run away, O.K. Dudette? Stay here for your bud Mikey. We are buds, right?"
The girl grinned. "Yeah. We're buds." she said. "And I won't leave. I said I was staying here and I meant it."
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HURRAY!! The girl stays!! -sigh- I only got two review last chapter :( Thanks to my two reviewers though, you guys made my day!!
THREE reviews before I post the next chapter, pretty please. Thank you!!
-12kirby12