(Important fact: I love Hisoka from HunterxHunter- he is a villain done right in my opinion. He is the LAST external character I will introduce in the story, PROMISE! Everyone else has either been referenced in person or by word of mouth. But Hisoka's very, very important for both Casey and Baby's arch. Last one, promise!)
No One's P.O.V.-
Earlier that evening:
April grumbled to herself as she waited at the park. It was still light out, about six o'clock or so. Casey was supposed to meet her at six for their first tutoring session; he was unfashionably late. Groaning softly, the redhead pulled out her phone to check the time. A new message was waiting for her. [Baby: coming over 2 hang out at the lair with us?] April sighed and shook her head. [Me: I wish; I have 2 tutor (babysit) Mr. Helmet Head 2night] [Baby: gross lol. well have fun] [Me: thanks, have fun with the guys]
"Hey, Red." April glanced over to see Casey leaning against one the swing set's poles. He flashed her a cocky, confident, conceded smirk. "How ya doin', babe?" "About time you got here! Come on, let's get started; I don't want to be out late." "Gees, no need to be in such a hurry. We got all night," he casually plunked himself on a swing, motioning to the seat next to him. With a roll of the eyes, April joined him on the swing set. She pulled out a textbook and opened to the chapter they were currently studying in class.
"Ok," her brushed some stray hairs off her face before turning up to him. "Where should we start?" "You tell me," Casey started to swing. "You're the teach, teach." "That's not the way this works… I think? I don't know where you're at with the material." "Why don't you just start reading to me and I'll tell you when I don't get somethin'?" "You want me to read to you? Seriously?" April's eyebrow rose unimpressed. "Why not? I could listen to you all night," Casey said like this was the most obvious thing. But it wasn't obvious; it definitely caught April's immediate attention. "Really? You're not just saying that so I'll do all the work, are you?" "Why would I lie to you? We just met; not the best way to start a friendship, or something more," he added with a cute wink. April's cheeks flushed a little as she quickly turned back to the textbook. "A-alright, I guess we'll start with chapter one….."
To the redhead's surprise, the next hour was quite enjoyable; surprisingly pleasant. She read out loud, stopping every so often to quiz Casey about the material. He was actually listening to her, able to answer whatever questions she asked. After chapter one was done, April checked the time and shut the book. Casey stopped swinging to look at her curiously. "What? We're done already?" He sounded confused. "Well, yeah? We've covered this week's material, and it's already past seven…." "That's not fair." "What's not fair?" "You got to ask me a bunch of questions, but I didn't get to ask you anything." "That's cause I'm your tutor?" April's eyebrow raised again. She wasn't expecting Casey to grin at her the way he did; a playful, kind grin. The same flirty expression Donatello gave her whenever he thought she wasn't looking.
"Let's play a game," Casey began to swing again. "A game? What game?" "Twenty questions." "Casey…." Her eyes tiredly rolled. "It's fun! I'll go first. How old are you?" "Oh! I'm sixteen; I'll be seventeen in January." "Cool, you're younger than me; I just turned seventeen this summer. Ok, your turn." April wasn't sure how she felt in that moment. A part of her still wanted to go home but her curiosity was steadily growing… Inwardly sighing, she gave in. Another half an hour or so couldn't hurt. She looked at Casey with a clever grin.
"Alright, Jones. How'd you lose that tooth?" She pointed to her own which was missing in his mouth. "Hockey accident. I got hit in the mouth with a puck when I was twelve. Boy, was my dad mad! But I love it; all great hockey players have missing teeth. It's just part of the sport. Now my turn! What do you want to be when you grow up?" "You mean when we graduate school? Well…. I always wanted to be a reporter; I might go to school for journalism." "That's cool; I can stop the crime and you can report it." "You want to stop crime?" This surprised April. Wasn't he more suited to a professional athlete or something? "Heck yeah! This city's riddled with crime and I wanna do somethin' about it." "You mean like… be a cop?" "No; I work outside the law. I'm a vigilante." "Why?" This was more confusing than surprising now. "Because cops can't stop the real crime; those scumbags hiding in the shadows."
April knew this all too well. The law force was virtually useless in stopping the Kraang and Foot Clan. But she was surprised Casey also shared this view. Where did it come from? She was more curious than ever now but wanted to be tactful about it. "Ok, my turn." "Go for it, Red!" "What are you most afraid of?" "Well that's personal," Casey smirked. "Want me to ask you something else?" "No, I'll tell you but only if you tell me what you're afraid of first." The Kraang taking my father again, April immediately thought. It was then that she realized she couldn't be totally honest with Casey, no matter if he was truthful with her or not. She went with her second-biggest fear. "Bats; I'm afraid of bats." "Really? Huh." This made April blink over at him; she was expecting him to at least tease her a little but no. He just let it go.
"W-what about you?" April didn't let any silence slip into the conversation. "Promise not to laugh?" "Why would I laugh? I'm afraid of bats." "I'm terrified of cards." "Cards… like playing cards?" Casey nodded. "Cards and clowns." "Uh ok? Why?" The clown thing made a little bit of sense; who wasn't afraid of clowns? Being afraid of a deck of cards however…. The young vigilante took his time answering, which April allowed. Eventually he drew in a deep breath.
"When I was little, maybe six or seven, I saw someone get attacked with playing cards." "Really?! How is that even possible? There're little pieces of paper." April gasped stunned. "It happened in the city. I was outside our building playing street hockey; my dad was upstairs watching tv. Suddenly from around the corner, there was this guy screaming; it sounded like he was being stabbed or something. I stopped playing and saw him step backwards into view. Within seconds, he fell back onto his back revealing all these cards stuck in him. They were literally in his skin, sitting in him like knives. I was shocked and scared…." Casey paused for a brief moment, as if to summon the courage to finish the story. April didn't say anything
"And then…. from behind the same corner came out this clown; this friken' clown! But he wasn't like an old, hobo-ish, grinchy clown; he was really slim and had this bright red hair. I knew… he was the one who stuffed the guy full of cards cause he was still holding some in his hand. He looked over at me… and that…. that was the scariest moment of my life. I really thought I was going to die; something I'd never thought about before." "Casey…." "He just smiled at me; this twisted sick smile…. And then he took off, never to be seen again."
A quick pause fell over the two. "W-what happened to the guy? Did he…." "No, he lived, but barely. My dad found us and called an ambulance. I told the police that a clown attacked him but…. they never caught him. And I don't know if he's still out there; I've never heard or seen anything since." "Me either…." April's eyes drifted off into nowhere. "It could be… that he wasn't a bad guy." "What do you mean? He almost killed someone with cards." "The guy was a gang lord heavy in the drug industry," Casey explained. "He could have just been a vigilante for all I know. But he's the reason I'd use something like a hockey stick when I go out to fight crime." "Why?" His eyes moved so to look at her. "He showed me that ordinary things, like cards or hockey sticks, make the most terrifying weapons. If someone is strong and crafty enough to make them weapons…. There's something fascinating and terrifying about that mindset." "Yeah," April nodded thoughtfully. "I guess there is…."
Another brief lull. Without warning, Casey stopped swinging and got up to stretch his arms up in the air. "Ah, but don't worry about it, Red. It happened a long time ago. Come on, I'll walk you home." April felt a little weird after that whole story, but Casey didn't seem to mind at all. He immediately started joking and smirking again. But April wasn't ready to go home just yet; she was a little hungry. I'll go to Murakami-san on the way home, she decided as they left the park. "Alright, Red. Just lead the way." "Actually, I'm gonna make a stop on the way home." "Oh, ok then. Have fun, babe." "You too, Jones; get home safe," she couldn't help but smile; a nature smile.
Casey was about to head out before pausing to glance back at her over his shoulder. "Oh, by the way. I wanted to ask about your friend; uh, the one with the cute name." "Baby?" "Yeah, her. What's up with her eyes?" "Huh? What do you mean?" She blinked confused. "You can't see it? They're practically glowing." "What? No, they're not; they look completely normal." "I don't know," Casey's hands shoved into his hoodie's pockets. "There's somethin'….. shiny about them." "You're crazy, Jones. There's nothing wrong with Baby's eyes." "The only reason I ask is because the only other person I've seen with glowing eyes is… the clown." "Really? The clown's eyes glowed?" "Yeah; like really brightly." April just observed him for a second and when she realized that he was speaking in earnest, she gave a small grin. "Like I said, you're crazy Jones. It's impossible for eyes to glow; everyone knows that." "Maybe…."
"Have a good night, Jones," they gave each other a wave as April started to walk away. "I'll see you a school tomorrow!" Casey called back. With one last smile, the redhead made her way towards Murakami's. The timing was both good and bad; the Purple Dragon were already there and hassling Murakami-san. Frowning, April didn't hesitate to yank out her phone and text all the turtles about the situation. Then she turned to make her way home, knowing that she'd only get in the way if she stuck around. On the way though, she was stopped by something small and white on the ground. Curious, April reached down to pick it up; her eyes grew when she saw that it was a playing card. A card! That…. was a weird coincidence. She couldn't help but check around for any sign of movement or clowns. It was nothing but a dark, empty street both up and down. A cool breeze rolled through it, gently swaying April's red hair out in front of her. A really, really weird coincidence….