I screamed at the top of my lungs for what felt like a full minute. It was loud and long enough to make the turtle creature wince and cover his ears. "Would you stop shrieking?! You're burning a hole through my eardrums!" He hollered back at me. But I don't think he was expecting what happened next. The second I stopped yelling, my feet took on a life of their own. They spun me right around and made a mad dash in the opposite direction. "Hey, wha-….!" The turtle's eyes rolled dramatically. "Fine! The hard way it is!"

That was the last thing I heard him say. I was running faster than even I knew I could. I was going so fast in fact that I failed to notice- or stop for- a group of gang members. They were loitering on the street around the bend which I just turned. They were big though, so I crashed into one of their chest's like a brick wall. "Hey!" An angry voice called out. I stumbled back a few steps and blinked to see a bunch of big, burly men all staring back at me. Oh my god! A cold shiver raced up my spine. Out of the frying pan and into the fire…. I don't know if these guys, these… brutes are actually better than the turtle monster.

There were three guys in total; one super skinny, one tall, and one big and broad. They were all grimy and scuzzy with what appeared to be purple dragon tattoos on their forearms. They looked gross and they smelt gross; needless to say, they were my first introduction to the uh 'ahem' gang life of the city. Judging by the way looking and smiling at me, they were happy about this unexpected introduction too.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" The tall one, whom I assumed to be the leader- if you could call him that- of the small gang. "You lost, sweetheart?" Oh no! My mind kept screaming over and over again as this loser took a step towards me. I've gotta get away! "Awe, look at her shake. She's scared," the lanky guy laughed. "I'd be scared too if Hoogie here was hitting on me," the big one chortled. Hoogie? Really? That's the best "gang" name you could come up with? Oh who cares? My attention was on escaping these dumb yet dangerous clowns as soon as possible.

"Shut up!" Hoogie shouted over his shoulder before turning back to me. "Don't be afraid, babe; we aren't gonna hurt ya." "Much," Lanky added. This made the others laugh… for some reason. "She's so little; like a delicate flower." I guess this was meant as a tease but I didn't notice. I kept thinking of a way to run out of there. On my one side was a wall and the three guys had me cornered to it. "I wanna pick her!" Lanky's arm shot up. "No, me!" Big guy fired back. "Idiots! You don't "pick" girls," Hoogie then leered back at me with the sickest, most stomach-churning grin; his yellow teeth only emphasized his creepiness. "You fuck them." In that moment, I thought I might vomit all over the pavement. I knew what he was doing to me with those eyes; those disgusting pale eyes. I'd never experienced such lust directed at me before; it wasn't flattering. It was terrifying.

Without a word, I suddenly tried to dash in between Hoogie and Lanky, hoping that I would be too fast for them to catch. Unfortunately they were more agile than they looked. Big guy grabbed hold of my wrist, yanking me backwards before I knew what was happening. "Looks like we got a runner." "Good," Hoogie cracked his knuckles. "I like it when they play rough," he reached over to take my chin in his dirty hand, bringing it towards him. "Don't you worry, princess. We'll have you nice and tame in no time."

Before I even had time to react, I felt myself being grabbed again; this time by a much bigger hand. I was forcefully yanked out of big guy's grasp and dragged away from their little circle. When I finally blinked to my side, I saw none other than the turtle mutant from earlier. He was holding my wrist in one three-fingered hand and a dagger in the other. Wait, a dagger? I thought back to the weapon in my pocket. It looked identical! Was this… was it his? Is this what he's after?

The gang members immediately reacted to his arrival; not with shock to my disbelief but anger. "You?!" Hoogie stuck his forefinger in Mr. Turtle's direction. "What are you doing here?!" He demanded in an ironically accusing voice. What's even more to my shock is that Mr. Turtle actually smirked. He's smiling?! At a time like this? "Heh, and here I thought tonight's patrol would be boring. You're the first action I've seen all week, so make it good." "Oh yeah?!" They all pulled out these ridiculous-looking knives, aiming them his way. "Bring it!"

Oh my god, I came to realize that they were gonna fight. I've got to get out of here! Mr. Turtle looked at me as I started viciously twisting and turning in his grip, trying to get away. "Ugh," he let out an annoyed sigh like he had momentarily forgotten about me in the thrill of a fight prospect. Within seconds, I found myself swooped up into his arms princess-style. In the blink of an eye, he literally carried me up to the top of closest building and set me down on the roof; I didn't even have time to cry out in shock. Then he turned to leave. "Stay here," he commanded in a strict tone. "I'm not done with you yet." Ending on that, he hopped back down to engage in a fist fight with the street thugs.

Not done with me….? Well I'm most definitely done with him! Screw this! Tired of being grabbed and moved like a doll, I got up and brushed the dust off my clothes. Then I pulled out the dagger. Yes, this is what he's after; he wants his thingy back. Logic dictates that once I give it back to him, he'll have no reason to come after me again. All this can be over if I give it back… Without hesitation, I ran over to the edge of the building, very cautiously peering down. Boy, he brought me a long way up; how was I supposed to get down?! Maybe I could just hang onto the dagger; he'll come up for it eventually. But there's no guarantee that he'll bring me back down, even if I use it as leverage. Case in point, he's a ton stronger than me and could take it by force if he wanted. Plus I don't think I was in his good books right now.

Making a quick decision, I took in a deep, deep breath and called down at him. "Mr. Turtle!" The red-masked mutant paused momentarily after punching big guy in the face to glance up. When I had his attention, I threw the dagger down. He caught it, springing an expression of joy across his face. "Alright! Now we're talking!" He then resumed his sprawl with the thugs. Ok, I went back to the security of the middle of the roof. Now that that's done, I've got to find a way down from here. My eyes rapidly scanned for any sign of a fire-escape or stairs; even those scary thin metal ones you see on old building. Anything would do at this point; I didn't have a working phone yet to call for help and it was already so late at night. I had to find my own way down. I just had to!

Raphael's P.O.V.-

I gave my celebratory fist-bumps in the air. It's not like the Purple Dragons were a real challenge but it was better than nothing. I left them all face-planted on the pavement; maybe a little overboard but who cares? A fight's a fight, and I had my sai back! After giving it a once-over, I set it back in its holder and turned up to the top of the building. My hands planted firmly on my sides. "And now it's her turn."

I hopped up to the roof with relative ease; much easier when you're not trying to carry a frightened girl in your arms anyways. But to my surprise and mild horror, she was nowhere to be seen. Panic suddenly coiled around my chest. What if she fell or something? What if something happened to her?! Leo would never let me here the end of it! And I didn't want her to get hurt…. That wasn't part of my plan. I just wanted to yell at her a little; nothing too severe. Now all I could think about was finding the moron before someone else did… or before she got hurt. The very notion made me search faster.

My heart skipped a beat at the unexpected shrill coming from the side of the building. I looked over to see her dangling on a broken fire-escape ladder roughly four feet downwards. "You idiot!" Fear immediately filled every inch of me as I reached down to take hold of her wrist. I didn't realize how tight I was grabbing her, probably because all I could think about in that moment was getting her safe.

Baby's P.O.V.-

"You idiot!" Mr. Turtle shouted at the top of his lungs. I then felt a sharp squeeze on my wrist, making me wince a little. I didn't have to move or do anything; he just plucked me up effortlessly and plopped me down back on the rooftop. Well, I huffed still trembling a little. I'm back on the roof….. My wrist still ached from how tight he squeezed it.

Mr. Turtle, as I dubbed him until further notice, took a few deep breaths before shooting me the most unimpressed, enraged glare. "What were you thinking?! How stupid do you have to be to climb a broken rusty ladder?!" "I….. I didn't know it was broken…" That was… a dumb thing to say. I mean it's true but still, that's the first thing I say to him? Even I wasn't impressed. Mr. Turtle frowned and crossed his arms. "Why didn't you just wait for me?" "How was I supposed to know that you'd come back for me? You have your dagger back," I waved my hand. "It's not a dagger, it's a sai," he growled. Dagger, sai; what's the difference to someone like me?

I got up to my feet and looked at him straight on. He was buff, at least from what I could tell, and relatively handsome… if you're into turtles. But his most distinct feature was his temper; I could read his personality just by his stance. He had a hot temper which probably went off frequently. Well, we were total opposites in that regard. I'm the type of girl who meditates and takes two-hour baths. Like he saw with the thugs back there, I don't fight; I run. And look at me, why shouldn't I? I'm a pretty good runner when I want to be. Either way, I knew his and my personalities would clash- clash all the way. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not but judging that I was up on a roof now thanks to him, I'd say not.

Mr. Turtle watched as I let out a small, surrendering sigh. Well, no way I'm gonna make him take me down; best to appeal to his humane side. Heh, turtle- humane; little joke there. I looked at him with the most pleading eyes I could muster. "Please, Mr. Turtle….." "Mr. Turtle?" He growled again. "Ok, fine," I let out an exasperated sigh. "What is your name?" "Like I'd tell you." Then what do you expect me to call you? Have you really thought out the logistics of your argument? "Well, since you won't tell me, will Mr. Turtle work for the time being?" "No." No? Seriously, no? How old was he- five? I had to admit, this guy was getting under my skin.

"Then how 'bout Red?" "Red?" His eyebrow lifted, not in annoyance but curiosity. "Your mask," I pointed up to wear it would be on my head. "It's red." He mowed over it for a minute before giving a single nod. "Alright, Red's fine." Ok, good! Progress. "Red it is then. So Red, uh… would you mind bringing me back down?" "What else did you think I was up here for?" Oh, I don't know; to insult me, my fun of me, maybe even hurt me. Who knows. Red must have taken my silence as a que since he gave a small grunt and came over to me. He scooped me up in his arms like a bride again and went to the ledge of the roof. Then he gave me a look. "Hold on."

Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his neck. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he was blushing a little; he certainly wouldn't look me in the eye after that. He hopped down in a matter of seconds, me clinging to him afraid the whole way. When we reached the street, Red waited until I retracted my arms before practically dropping me onto the concrete. Pain suddenly surged through my butt and legs; my eyes shot wide open in surprise. Red smirked and folded his arms over his shell; I think he does that a lot. He actually enjoys seeing me in pain? What a jerk! Well, now that I'm down safe and sound, I can leave and never speak to him again- good plan.

Wincing, I got up and turned to face him. "Well, thank you Red. Thank you for saving me from those jerks earlier and getting me down safely." Even though you're the one who put me up there. Much to my surprise, he flinched as I turned to leave. "Wait, you're going?" He sounded as surprised as he looked. "Uh, yes?" Why was he asking me this? I inwardly rolled my eyes so hard at the sudden firmness in his face, like he thought of something sour.

"You better not tell anyone about me." I think he was trying to sound threatening but it came off as more douche-baggy than anything. "I won't," I responded quickly. "I mean it!" "I won't! I promise." His muscles relaxed and while he didn't verbally say that he believed me, his body language did. "Good, cause if you do, I'll find you." Does he realize how stockerish that sounds? And what would he do once he "found" me? Gab one of his sai through me? For some reason, I just didn't find his warning all that intimidating. Sure, I was a little afraid of him but nothing serious. Without warning, I spun around really to leave.

"I promise I won't tell anyone." Red watched as I started to walk away. But before I left, I sent him one last grin over my shoulder. "See ya, Red." Hopefully not but I wanted to end on a good note, just in case I ever did see him again. Better to have someone like him as a friend than an enemy, though I doubted that we'd ever be friends. I took off down the street, not looking back once. I didn't need to- I'd remember him for a long time to come without burning his image inside my mind. You don't forget someone like Red…. Something, I had to mentally correct myself; Red wasn't human. He wasn't….. Huh, I gave my head a little shake. Weird, I almost forgot that he was a turtle near the end, as bizarre as that sounds. And yes, it did sound bizarre, even to me.

Raphael's P.O.V.-

This is stupid, my mind kept repeating. I initially was just gonna go straight back to the lair but… I found myself trailing behind her. Don't ask me why? I had no idea. I knew it was idiotic to shadow a human girl, not to mention embarrassing; someone might get the wrong idea if they saw. Still… My eyes kept scrolling back to her on their own accord. Maybe I just wanted to make sure she got home alright. It wasn't the safest area after all.

She obviously wasn't used to being followed since she didn't look back once; it's like she was unaware that I was there concealed in the shadows. What a moron, I smirked to myself. No wonder she ran into the Purple Dragon; she's totally unaware of her surroundings! Feeling more like an escort- albeit a secret one- than a stocker, I followed her for a couple of blocks until she stopped in front of this sub shop. Wait, I know this area. Yeah! This is where Murakami-san's noodle shop is. I blinked in surprise to find that the building she approached was right beside his restaurant.

My heart suddenly froze when she checked over her shoulder for a second. Crap! Did she see me? Probably not since she turned back to the door, opening it with a key. Huh, so this is where she lives? About time someone leased out that place. She must be living with someone; likely a parent or guardian. I observed her go inside, shut the door, and lock it behind her. Well at least she takes her safety into account some of the time, I rolled my eyes.

I didn't realize how engrossed I was until my T-phone interrupted my train of thought. I almost flinched at the unexpected ringing. Pulling it out, I saw Leo's face and number on the screen. Great, just what I need. "Yeah?" I answered, not taking my eyes off the girl who was currently taking off her jacket and getting a drink of water. "Hey Raph. How's patrol going?" "Boring." "You didn't see any Kraang, Foot Clan, or Purple Dragons?" "Nope; saw nothing. It's been a pretty dull night." "Alright, same here; we haven't seen anything either. We're gonna head back to the lair now." "Kay, I'm on my way." I then hung up and put my phone away. I didn't move until she was upstairs and what I guested to be her room's light was on. She shut the window, locked it, and then shut the curtain. That was my que to go which I did, trying to ignore the burning sensation still radiating throughout my cheeks.