me: Hello readers! This chapter is loosely revolved around the episode 'Never say Xever', with significant differences. Hope you enjoy!
May 29th… New York City Streets… 9:03pm…
Dark, quiet (strangely), was the street in which April walked through was this way, though she did wonder why that was the case. Normally, New York would still be buzzing with life and activity, even at this hour. But at this point, it made traversing through it that much easier, especially since she knew she was being followed. She stopped where she was (in front of a cinema) for a moment and turned around to address her followers,
"You guys wanna speed it up a little?" she raised her voice so her ninja friends could hear her and was almost surprised when Donnie suddenly appeared behind the cinema's ticket booth,
"Are you saying turtles are slow?" he said and Mikey appeared from behind a bin,
"That's a hurtful stereotype." Mikey said, to which Raph appeared next to Donnie behind the same booth,
"Gee, April. I thought you would be better than that." Raph said and then Leo appeared from behind part of the cinema's entry frame,
"Trust us, April. We are better off keeping a low profile. We find people treat us better when they don't know we exist." Leo said and April realised she forgot they were ninjas and not the stereotype turtle. They were anything but slow, and they could be anywhere, like the ninjas that they were trained to be. You know, when they weren't loud and bickering like modern day brothers.
"Sorry, guys. I'm just so excited to get you out of your home for a change." She said but Raph felt the need to question this motive,
"What are you talking about? We go out all the time." He asked to which April replied with a deadpan expression,
"Yeah but, tonight you're going to be doing something besides hitting thugs and other enemies." This made Raph look down in mock disappointment. "Don't worry, you're going to love this noodle place I found." She said further but Donnie was a bit sceptical,
"And you're sure we'll be welcome?" Donnie said nervously. And why not? A mutant ninja turtle basically waltzes into a restaurant of sorts where there will be people? All eyes (freaked out ones) would be on them and then flee in terror.
"Oh yeah. Mr Murakami doesn't care what you look like. In fact, he won't even know what you'll look like. He's blind." April explained and Mikey chose the wrong time to exclaim how awesome it was that a chef was blind. He got a slap to the back of the head courtesy of Raph for it.
9:06pm… Murakami's…
The five had just reached outside of Murakami's noodle restaurant when from the windows, they saw six shadows of human figures inside. From what they saw, it was four versus two.
"GOONGALA!"
Correction: four (probably Purple Dragons) vs Casey Jones and someone else.
"Casey?" April said, finding it a huge coincidence that her vigilante human friend was in the same noddle restaurant she was hoping to introduce her mutant friends to.
"That would explain why he wasn't in the warehouse earlier." Donnie said.
"He probably couldn't resist a good brain bashing." Raph said,
"But, who's he with? Is he fighting without us? Dudes, he is totally cheating on us!" Mikey said which led everyone outside to face-palm.
"Mikey, he isn't cheating on us…" Leo explained, then as the sounds of fighting continued to occur, the five outside leaned against the restaurant's door frame, "So much for not hitting thugs today." Leo then said,
"Oh well!" Raph said as he grinned at the thought of hitting people tonight.
Inside the restaurant…
"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey shouted as they all burst inside the restaurant, surprising all inside. From where they stood, they could see all the occupants in the room: four Purple Dragons (easy), a chubby man with Japanese features and wearing black glasses (Murakami) and a chef's attire was hiding behind one side of a counter, and as for the other two inside, the male vigilante was definitely Casey but the other one was female and also wearing a hockey mask. But those features and those clothes… there was no mistake. It was Angel behind that mask and fighting unarmed. Back to business,
"Alright, 'dragons', party's over. You don't want to get hurt." Leo said but Raph seemed to disagree slightly,
"But, we're more than happy to inflict hurt!" Raph said as he grinned at the thought. At the sight of the four turtles however, the four Purple Dragons, looked a little pale,
"Oh shit! It's those freaks again!" one of them said. None of the Purple Dragons were happy about this. They were struggling to cope with against Casey and Angel, and now they got to deal with fighting against the four turtles as well. They knew it, they were screwed.
"Dudes, what does it mean when they remember us?" Mikey asked and Raph answered with a grin,
"It just means they're not stupid enough to forget the last beating we gave them!" Raph said.
"Well guys…" Casey said before smacking a Purple dragon the head with his hockey stick, "Feel free to join in and relax!"
"Thanks for the offer! A bit of brain bashing soothes my soul!" Raph said as the melee ensued. One of the Purple Dragons charged at Leo from atop the counter and wielding an industrial mallet, he jumped from the counter and swung the mallet down at Leo. Leo however was much too quick for him, he sidestepped with ease and the mallet slammed into the floor, a split second later, Mikey leaped from where he stood a landed a strong kick to the thug's face and followed up with a mid-air spin kick to his head which sent the thug spinning into a wall. He wasn't done yet, as he came at Mikey with the mallet, Mikey responded by ducking out the way and let Raph take over. The thug swung the mallet at Raph uselessly and Raph dodged easily. He then struck the Purple Dragon with the back of his fist to the thug's face and the thug staggered until his back hit the wall. Meanwhile, Casey and Donnie were busy using their weapons to continuously hit a Purple Dragon in mid-air to each other. They were literally juggling a thug. During the chaos, April carefully crawled over to the hiding Mr Murakami.
"Mr Murakami, are you okay?" she asked and he responded with a slight and nervous nod. "Let's get you out of this."
As this was happening, Mikey had just kicked one thug in the face which gave Angel enough room to throw a pan lid at the thug like a Frisbee. The lid hit the thug in the ribs and he lost his footing and landed on the ground on his other side. Donnie meanwhile was carefully backing up as the thug he had just helped Casey juggle, was using the industrial mallet against him. As he nearly went up against the wall, Donnie did one last dodge from the mallet swing before kicked the thug in the ribs at an awkward angle that sent the thug flying up across the counter, before the thug hit the ground, he was caught by Raph who then threw him over the cooker, and was again caught by Leo who then caught the thug and made sure he was standing before punching him hard across the face, which launched him over the other counter. Three down. One left. And Leo had the honours. The lone Purple Dragon nervously picked up a cleaver, but made no move as Leo approached him. When Leo was within distance, he swung the cleaver at him, but Leo responded by smacking the cleaver out his hand before punching him uppercut style, which launched him up and over the counter and landed where the entrance/exit was. Leo leaned over and debated on whether or not to end the fight, Raph and Casey certainly did. By the entrance, the thug could see they were hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched. He didn't want to fight anymore, and Leo saw this.
"You lose. Now get out of here." Leo ordered and much to Raph and Casey's disappointment, the Purple Dragon listened as he stood up and as the other three Purple Dragons stood up and limped out of the restaurant, he too left, but not before declaring,
"This ain't over, greeny!" he said before running out.
"-_-"
"…"
"Greeny? Really? That's the best he could come up with?" Donnie said but Raph just largely ignored him and went over to Leo,
"You just let them go?" he said to Leo,
"Man, it was fun while it lasted." Casey complained.
"They weren't exactly a threat. They had enough." Leo explained but Casey complained,
"What? They attacked a blind man!" he said and Raph supported the claim,
"Yeah! There is no 'enough'! Now all the Purple Dragons will think that we're wimps who don't have the guts to finish the job." Raph said as he scowled at Leo, though from the other side of the restaurant, Donnie, Mikey and Angel silently agreed with Leo. Donnie then remembered that Angel was here,
"So, Angel? Did Casey rope you into this vigilante gig?" Donnie asked and before she answered, Angel took off the hockey mask,
"Sort of. I just thought it was better beating up Purple Dragons rather than being one." She answered and then at that moment, April had re-entered the restaurant with a largely unharmed Mr Murakami. During the chaos, she led Mr Murakami out of the restaurant and waited until the chaos inside had died down.
"Wow! That was great you guys!" April said as she led Mr Murakami to one of the counter's stools and he sat on it. Donnie, beamed at April as she complimented them,
"Thanks, April! Did you see that one thing where I kicked the guy and launched him over the counter? Didn't that look cool? Hehe… I thought I looked cool." Donnie said as he grinned from ear to ear with excitement,
"The coolest!" April said. Though she lied, and Donnie knew it. Disappointment replaced his growing ego.
"You didn't see it, did ya?" Donnie said.
"No, I did not." April replied, after which Mr Murakami spoke up,
"My friends. I am indebted to you. Please, allow me to make you all a meal, free of charge." Mr Murakami offered. A free meal for each of them? That was a definite yes.
"I think we can allow that." Raph said with a hint of sarcasm. April had initially planned to pay for the meals anyway but now that it was free, she now didn't have to worry about emptying her wallet.
"What is your favourite dish?" Mr Murakami asked,
"PIZZA!" the four turtles said at the same time.
9:12pm…
The four mutant turtles, the two human vigilantes and April all sat on separate stools at the counters and watched in amazement as Mr Murakami, a blind chef, easily handled all seven of their orders like it was an everyday thing for him. He cooked, chopped, sliced, seasoned and cooked some more.
"Murakami-san, that was awesome!" Donnie complimented and Mikey reinforced this claim,
"You're like a ninja, but for food!" Mikey said and it was true. Mr Murakami DID look like a ninja doing what he was doing. Soon however, the seven orders were done. April got a bowl of chicken noodle ramen, Casey got a Japanese okonomiyaki (a Japanese pancake), Angel got some sushi while the turtles all got…
"Pizza gyoza!" Mr Murakami announced as he handed each of the turtles the dish which each had 9 dumplings, which gave April a face of both grimace and confusion,
"Pizza gyoza?" although her confusion in repeated the name of the dish was out loud, it didn't stop Murakami from being hopeful about this new dish. The four turtles looked on at the dish and after a few seconds of internal debate, they thought that since they asked for it, they may as well try it. They picked up a single pizza gyoza from each of their plates with their chopsticks and placed them in their mouths.
Next description of their faces when they did this? Their faces lit up light Christmas trees, smiles all around as the flavours of the single dumpling elevated their taste buds to new heights of deliciousness.
"It's like a got a one-way ticket to Flavour Ville!" Donnie commented,
"Dude, pizza does go with everything!" Mikey said,
"This is really good!" Leo commented,
"Delicious!" Raph said,
The turtle's comments filled Murakami with joy. He was initially fine with his restaurant being quiet most of the time, however he was more than happy to know that his newest dish had the potential to really bring in more customers. The three humans also dup in to their own food as the turtles ate and also commented on how nice the food was. As Leo finished eating another dumpling, he turned to Murakami,
"Murakami-san, do the Purple Dragons come here a lot?" he asked and then upon answering him, Murakami suddenly looked worried, and let out a sigh.
"Yes. They demand money, or my shop as a new hangout. But I refuse both. My business is suffering because of them." Mr Murakami explained and Casey supported this,
"It's not just you, dude. A lot of local businesses are suffering because of them." Casey said,
"I was lucky when you seven showed up when you did. I don't think I would have walked out of my restaurant alive otherwise. Though I don't know how long my luck will last." Murakami said as he looked less than hopeful. He was saved tonight but how long will that last?
"Well they probably wouldn't be back if someone hadn't wimped out." Raph said as he referred to Leo. Leo then closed his eyes for a moment, but it was only that one moment that gave Mikey enough time to steal the rest of Leo dumplings form his plate and eat them. Leo shot Mikey a glare but Mikey just laughed him off.
9:25pm… Purple Dragon Base…
When giving information to someone, be sure that the same someone isn't trying to weasel out information you don't want them to have, and also be sure to say the right things as well. Someone should've told this one Purple Dragon that when he talked to Xever, Bradford and Hun about his and three other thug's experiences at Murakami's. Definitely DO NOT say you'll give them information for a price. Apparently, that is demanding too much. When this one Purple Dragon said,
"We saw those turtles again. And I'll tell you where… for a price- "the moment he said for a price, Hun grabbed him by his face with a single hand and picked him up off the ground, though he made sure not to cover his mouth.
"No-one asks for a price here. If we want information, we get it." Hun said in a cold tone as the Purple Dragon started to struggle to get out. "Now tell us. Where did you see the turtle freaks?" Hun applied pressure to the thug's head and in response, the pain caused the thug to scream a little which attracted the attention of the dozen or so Purple Dragons inside the base, including the ones who were also at Murakami's. "I will keep adding pressure to your face if you keep screaming." Hun said and then applied a little more pressure to emphasis his point, which didn't just make the thug scream in pain, it also drew blood from his nose and parts of his head. The blood covered Hun's hand and dripped to the ground. Eventually, the Purple Dragon stopped screaming and ranted the information.
"The noodle restaurant! Murakami's! In the East Village!" the thug quickly ranted out, which gave Hun a smirk that was borderline sadistic.
"Good. Now you get to rest…" Hun lessened the pressure and giving the thug a sigh of relief, "… in peace." Instant pressure was applied and the thug didn't even get the chance to scream since the pain was instantaneous and *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *SQUISH*. Hun released the thug. The other Purple Dragons looked on as their now horribly disfigured comrade was dropped and landed on the floor like a sack of potatoes, dead. His face covered in blood, and his crushed skull made him almost unrecognisable. The other three Purple Dragon who were also at Murakami's all paled when they saw this happen to their comrade, while the other thugs in the base simply shrugged it off. Xever and Bradford looked stoic with the former sporting a grin after. Hun simply turned to the other thugs,
"Now can someone get rid of this piece of garbage?" he said, to which two thugs approached the now dead thug and dragged him away by the limp arms and out of sight.
"So, regarding this new information…" Bradford started nonchalantly, "… how are you going to make sure that the turtles don't escape with this plan that I think you are thinking now?" Bradford asked.
"Easy. We use leverage to make sure they don't escape empty handed. If it goes wrong, we drop the leverage. Literally. Of course, just making sure they fail is only part of the plan." Xever said sadistically and with that, Hun, Xever and Bradford left the building. Though the three Purple Dragons who were at Murakami's were left with pale faces and began to wonder if signing up with Hun and the Purple Dragons was a good decision or a really terrible life choice.
10:14pm… The Lair…
"MIKEY! YOU ARE SO GONNA IT!" Raph yelled as he stormed out of the bathroom with what looked like white toothpaste on the back of his thighs and the bottom of his shell. From across the Lair on the couch, Mikey bounced up from where he sat (from reading a comic) with a cheeky grin on his face,
"Well, that's my cue to skadoo!" Mikey said to no-one in particular. Wondering what Raph was shouting about, Donnie stopped in whatever in was he was working on (walls of scrap steel for his workplace/ lab) and looked over at an angry Raph racing across the Lair after a screaming Mikey, and Leo did the same as he exited his room from above to look down at the commotion below. Splinter however just let this play out and let his sons work things out as he simply resumed his meditation from within his room (he began thinking about asking Donnie to make his room soundproof in order to make meditation easier). After a few laps of screaming and racing around the Lair, Raph was all the while closing the gap between him and Mikey, and was intending to even the score. It was then that Leo decided that he should intervene. Raph was just about to pounce on Mikey when all of the sudden he stopped as he was now face to face with Leo, arms crossed and his face on leader mode. Raph looked beyond annoyed.
"Leo! Out of my way!" Raph demanded but Leo didn't budge,
"Not until you tell you tell me what's going on." Leo ordered and Mikey just giggled as he knew Raph was going to answer,
"Mikey placed toothpaste on the toilet seat. And because both were white, I didn't notice until I felt it!" at this, Mikey bellowed out a loud laugh and from across the Lair, Donnie stifled a chuckle and covered his mouth that formed an obvious smile.
"Aaand… how do you it was Mikey?" Leo asked to which Raph loudly answered,
"BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS MIKEY! And besides, he was the one to use the bathroom before me." Raph explained as he tried to shove his way past Leo but was stopped in his tracks by said brother.
"Alright! Alright! Enough!" Leo practically ordered, but even though was literally doing this in Raph's ear, Raph was having none of it,
"WHICH IS WHY I'M GONNA CLEAN THE TOILET WITH YOUR FACE!" Raph yelled out at Mikey and tried to put more force into shoving Leo back but Leo shoved back,
"Enough Raph!" but this just angered Raph,
"Don't take sides with him, Leo!" Raph shouted but Leo was prepared for this,
"I'm not, Raph. You still need to clean yourself up. You've still got toothpaste all over your legs and your shell." Embarrassment flooded Raph when Leo said this. He knew he had his thighs covered in toothpaste but forgot about it when he was chasing Mikey about. It dawned on him now that he was racing around the Lair with white toothpaste covering his thighs. Raph went beet red with embarrassment and lessened his pushing strength against Leo until he stopped completely. He reluctantly turned around to the bathroom and began to walk to it, with Mikey quietly giggling in the background, making Raph feel slightly undignified and his face turned into a massive scowl as he entered the bathroom.
7 minutes later…
Raph had just cleaned himself off the toothpaste and did what he had initially intended to do in the bathroom before. Though using the toothpaste for its intended purpose made Raph want to throw Mikey across the Lair even more. He exited the bathroom and was instantly face to face with Leo again. Raph frowned,
"What do you want, Fearless?" Raph said with a frown, knowing that Leo wasn't waiting to use the bathroom next, though Leo remained almost stoic,
"Just letting you know that Mikey has turned in for the night. I suggest that you do the same as well." Leo said in his leader mode which just served to annoy Raph even further,
"I just said earlier to take sides with him!" Raph said as he raised his voice again but Leo remained calm and composed,
"I'm not, Raph. But you will need a good night's rest for tomorrows sparring session with Mikey." The mention of sparring with Mikey seemed to lighten Raph's mood. Even though there would be rules and restrictions, Raph would still get the opportunity to kick Mikey's butt and even the score. The thought made Raph grin.
"Fine. But all your doing is making me fired up until then." Raph said as he moved past Leo and headed to him room to sleep on his thoughts, with a smirk on his face that bordered on anticipation and satisfaction.
8:46am… May 30th… The Lair…
Donnie had a habit of not getting much sleep thanks to himself working on his projects, this latest one was no exception. It was because of this that he momentarily forgot how Mikey pranked Raph last night and why he was instantly reminded of it when Mikey walked out of his match with Raph with a comically large bump on his head. Leo liked to make sure that himself and his brothers were on equal footing with each other, so when one would score one up on the other (mainly through pranks), Leo would be sure the victim of the prank (mainly Raph) will get the chance to even the score. Which is why he didn't protest Raph giving Mikey one heck of punch to the head during their sparring match. Next up was Leo vs Donnie, and even though Donnie improving ever so slightly, he was still no match for Leo. So, when Donnie was knocked over onto the floor on his shell, with Leo standing victorious, Raph snickered and then said,
"Okay Leo, I think he's had enough. I think you gotta let him go!" Raph said with sarcasm as he refenced last night at Murakami's, and Leo knew this and turned to Raph who stood next to a sitting Mikey 9the bump on his head gone).
"I get it. You're making fun of me for not pummelling a beaten opponent." Leo said to which Raph replied almost nonchalantly,
"Yes, I am. You showed weakness last night. Those criminals only understand one language." Raph said but Mikey didn't get what Raph was saying,
"Chinese?" at this, Raph squatted down at Mikey and locked eyes with him,
"No! Violence!" Raph corrected, this made Donnie and Leo grimace as they knew what Raph was talking about and Splinter frowned at this one-dimensional way of thinking, "We can't go soft on these criminals!" Raph growled out but at this, Splinter intervened,
"To show mercy and compassion isn't soft, Raphael. It is a sign of true strength." Splinter said. Leo was paying attention to his words, not just because he knew about it but also because that his Sensei approved of mercy and was supporting Leo's decision from last night. Raph however wasn't learning as Leo was,
"But Sensei, they're criminals. This is war!" Raph said but as always, Splinter has words of wisdom to say,
"A daimyo of the 16th century once said, 'In times of peace, never forget the possibility of war. In times of war, never forget compassion'." Master Splinter said. Leo and Donnie were taking in his words, Raph however…
"I'm guessing that guy must've lost a lot of wars." Raph said and then to prove him wrong, Splinter dashed from where he was in the blink of an eye and was directly on front of Raph with his cane pointed at his face. Raph didn't even get the chance to react but Splinter didn't follow through with an attack,
"You see? Mercy." Splinter said and then moved the cane away from Raph's face and then lightly hit Raph's shoulder with it.
"OW! Okay, compassion is great. But the Purple Dragons don't know the meaning of the word." Raph said but Splinter once again corrected his way of thinking,
"Everybody knows compassion when it is shown to them. A lack of compassion will eventually make the victim of it, turn away and fight them, or help the ones they thought to be enemies." Raph didn't really understand what Splinter was saying, Mikey tried his best to pay attention (which was not his strong suit) while Leo and Donnie were very much attentive. At this time though, morning practise was over and the turtles dispersed after they all bowed to Master Splinter.
7:33pm… Murakami's…
Always know when something is wrong with a building if it should be closed but the doors are open with no-one inside. Such as the case with Murakami's. And rightly so. Earlier on, April visited the restaurant to taste some Pizza Gyoza that her mutant friends said was delicious. But when she arrived, the door was busted open and Murakami was gone. She looked around for a bit and saw a note pinned to the wall with a knife. The note was to the turtles. It was nearly twenty minutes later when the four ninja turtles arrived at Murakami's.
"April, what's wrong?" Leo asked as he and his brothers both looked concerned and ready for anything.
"It's Murakami." April said with concern and then led the four inside the restaurant to where the note was.
"Someone took him and left this." She pointed to the note that was still on the wall, with the knife holding it up. But…
"Sweet! Free knife!" Mikey said as if they won a prize but Donnie corrected him,
"The note, dummy."
Donnie took the note from the wall, tearing it slightly as the knife sliced into it.
"No more hiding. We have your friend. If you want him alive, meet us on the roof of the Fortune Cookie Factory." Donnie said as he read the note out loud which caused his brothers to take on faces of concern. Except for Raph who just looked like he wanted to pummel anyone who was his opponent,
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry over there and save Murakami!" Raph said but Leo protested against this approach,
"Not so fast. Think, Raphael." Leo said to which Donnie jokingly said,
"There's two words that don't usually go together!"
"This is obviously a trap." Leo said but Raph wanted to rush in,
"Well, what choice do we have?" Raph asked and Leo had a plan in mind,
"Guys, there are many ways this can go. Now listen, this is what we're gonna do…" Leo said and his brothers plus April turned their attentions to him to listen to the plan of action.
7:55pm… Fortune Cookie Factory… Ground level…
The turtles and April had just rounded the corner to the factory when they spotted Murakami tied up with a rope and left dangling off the side of the building's roof, with a Foot Ninja guarding him alongside one of the Purple Dragons that tried to assault Murakami previously.
"The Foot? What are they doing here?" Donnie asked.
"The Purple Dragon's must be in league with the Foot." Leo said,
"But why? The Foot are more dangerous and more organised than the Purple Dragons." It was upon saying his own words that Donnie realised what this meant, "Wait… that's probably it…"
"Regardless of why or how, it doesn't change the plan much. April, you know what to do." Leo said to April and she nodded in agreement.
"Right. Wait for you guys to bring Murakami here and then I get him to safety." April said as she understood her part of the plan,
"Okay, and everyone know what to do next?" at this, Leo's brothers nodded in understanding. Though Leo had his doubts if Mikey really knew what to do, "Mikey?"
"Yes." Was Mikey's response to Leo regarding about knowing the plan but Leo remained sceptical,
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Tell me what it is?" Leo said and at this, Mikey began to think hard over what the plan was. But his thoughts were always on pizza, cute cats, future pranks, games, comics, comic book characters until eventually…
"…uurrm… maybe we should go over it one more time?" Mikey asked rather sheepishly.
8:29pm… Fortune Cookie Factory… Roof…
When someone walks into a trap unprepared, they are just asking to get hurt or worse. When someone walks into a trap with a plan in mind, the person who springs the trap will most likely not succeed. In this case, Leo, Raph and Donnie appeared on the roof of the factory. Directly in the sight of the Foot Ninja and the three Purple Dragons who were also present. However, Mikey was nowhere to be seen, and their enemies either didn't notice or didn't care.
"We're here! Now let the noodle man go." Leo demanded and in response, the Foot ninja that was guarding Murakami, turned to face his prisoner. But it wasn't with the intention of bringing Murakami to safety, instead he threw a shuriken at the rope that was holding Murakami up. The shuriken sliced through the rope with ease. With nothing holding him up now, Murakami yelped in fear and surprise as he began a very long drop to the ground.
"NO!" the three turtles shouted and uselessly ran and reached for Murakami as it seemed that their rescue plan was about to end with Murakami dead, but a flash of green and orange, and the sound of chains a split second later and Murakami stopped falling. Mikey had done as he was instructed and hid in the shadows of the building's fire escape, right next to where Murakami was tied up and dangling. The original idea was for Leo, Donnie and Raph to distract all the enemies on the roof while Mikey quietly levered Murakami onto the fire escape, cut him free of the ropes and get him to April down below where she would get him to safety. But when Murakami was cut loose and began falling, Mikey had a split second to react, and react he did. He jumped from the fire escape and straight towards Murakami and at the same time, he hooked his kusarigama chain to one of the railings of the fire escape, he caught Murakami by the ropes that tied him and with Murakami in one hand while his other gripped the kusarigama chain, Mikey stopped Murakami's fall and saved him from falling to his death. Leo, Raph and Donnie breathed happy sighs of relief as they saw Mikey using more of the chain to lower himself and Murakami gently to the ground.
"Nice save, Mikey!" Leo complimented and then he and Raph and Donnie turned their attention back to the three Purple Dragons and the Foot Ninja.
"Don't look down, Murakami-san." Mikey said as he lowered himself and Murakami to the ground and then instantly realised that he just what he said to a blind man, "… I mean… listen down? I guess?" Murakami gently smiled at this and then, the sounds of the other three turtles fighting their enemies reached their ears.
As the three turtles on the roof stared down their enemies, the Foot Ninja raised his hand into the air. Leo knew what this was. It was a signal, and as soon as the Foot Ninja used it, ten more Foot ninja jumped out of the darkness of the alley below and onto the roof, with their weapons drawn. Leo, Raph and Donnie also drew out their weapons and the three ninja turtles charged to meet the eleven Foot ninjas and three Purple Dragons in battle.
Raph met against three Foot ninja and two of the Purple Dragons, he jumped against a wall and then bounced off it as one ninja tried and failed to slash him with his katana, Raph attacked another ninja that was coming at him by launching his knee into the ninja's face and knocked him out. He then had to duck and roll away as one of the Purple Dragons swung a pipe at his head, and he stood he launched a strong double side kick to the first ninja, and knocked him onto his back, the Purple Dragon came at Raph again with the pipe, and Raph blocked the pipe swing with his sai and superior strength and countered by hitting the thug in the face twice with the hilts of his twin sai. He then jumped up onto the ledge of a large advertisement board where Leo currently was as he was fighting two ninjas on both of his sides. Raph reached and grabbed one ninja from behind and threw him off the advertisement board and Leo was then easily able to overpower the other Foot ninja by disarming him of his twin knifes and launching a jump round kick to the ninja's jaw and knocked him off the board. Raph then had to duck and roll back and Leo quickly swung his twin katana as a Foot Ninja threw eight kunai at them simultaneously. Their manoeuvres worked as Raph evaded the knifes and Leo deflected the others.
Donnie meanwhile faced off against two ninjas, but he wasn't worried, taking his previous lesson in fighting Dr Falco, he didn't think as attacked the two ninjas, one ninja attacked Donnie with a pair of sickles, but Donnie raised his steel staff upwards and blocked the two weapons and countered by hitting the ninja in the abdomen with a front kick and then smacking him on the head with a swing of his steel staff which knocked him to the edge of the roof. He then turned his attention to the other ninja who had just begun his attack on Donnie, but he responded by doing a quick spin of his staff before whacking the ninja in the ribs with another swing of his steel staff, the ninja was knocked onto the ground, the pain in his ribs stopping him from getting up.
Whilst all this was going on, Mikey had just finished lowering Murakami safely. Murakami was on his feet and Mikey unhooked his chain and stood next to Murakami. He used the hook from his kusarigama chain to cut the ropes which resulted in Murakami being free.
"Are you alright, Mr Murakami?" Mikey asked,
"I am fine, thank you." Murakami answered and with that, Mikey led the blind chef across the street to where April stood at the opposite corner.
"Okay April, you know what to do." Mikey said to April and she nodded in agreement but before she left,
"Yeah, I know. I've also given Casey and Angel a ring. They should be at the restaurant now." April said, and Mikey was happy to hear this,
"Cool! Extra bodyguards! Good thinking, girl!" Mikey commented, earning a smile from April and with that, she began to lead Murakami away from the action and towards the safety of his restaurant.
Back on the roof…
When the chaos on the roof started, it was three ninja turtles versus fourteen enemies. When Mikey got Murakami to safety, the number of enemies standing included three Foot ninjas and two Purple Dragons.
*BASH*
Correction: one Purple Dragon left as Raph just rendered one of them unconscious with a very strong punch to the face. It was at this point that it would be understandable if the one remaining Purple Dragon would be nervous. And he was. He wielded a single meat cleaver, but after seeing the remaining three Foot Ninjas struggle against the three ninja turtles, getting clobbered was looking to be a more likely scenario. He charged at Leo nonetheless, which was a big mistake as he and his two brothers pushed back the Foot Ninja and as soon as the thug was within distance, his attack was nulled as Leo simply hit him over the head with the hilt of his katana. He had the opportunity mortally wound the thug with the blade but didn't use it and when said thug was knocked onto his back, Leo pointed the blade of his katana at the downed Purple Dragon. The thug looked at it and wondered if this was going to be his last night alive. But Leo took the opposite and pointed the katana away from the Purple Dragon, confusing him. If it were Hun pointing that blade at him, he was sure he was going to be either skewered or decapitated on the spot, but no. Leo turned his attention to the three remaining Foot Ninjas just as Raph and Donnie were doing. Though he was late as Donnie had just finished disarming his one opponent of his kusarigama chain and knocked him out with a swift of his steel staff to the ninja's head, whilst Raph had just bashed the other two ninjas with strong blows to their midsections and their heads. Raph had just proved that he can make sure that his opponents can't get up for a while.
"Well… that went well." Leo said but Raph felt the need to point out the difference in what happened to what Leo had in mind,
"Yeah good. Except for the part where they tried to kill Mr Murakami when we got here." Raph said, understandably angry that Leo didn't think they would do that. He knew he was going to get a lecture from Splinter when he told him that part. He was lucky that Mikey acted the way he did. Leo was silent for a few seconds but spoke again,
"Okay… yeah that didn't go as I'd thought… but all's well that ends well." Leo said and although Raph silently agreed, Donnie voiced it,
"True. Now we need to check up on Murakami." Donnie said.
"Aaww, dudes…" suddenly, Mikey's voice rang out on the roof as he then appeared on the roof in hopes of joining his brothers but his brothers had already taken down their foes, "You guys partied without me?" Mikey said as he pouted,
"Well… you were taking too long and we had guests to smash and crash up!" Raph replied as he grinned at Mikey who kept pouting,
"Never mind that, Mikey. What about Murakami? Is he safe?" Leo asked and at this, Mikey stopped pouting and smiled his brilliant smile,
"Dude, it was me helping him! Of course, he's safe! He should be back at the restaurant with April by now." It was then that Mikey was reminded of something important, "Dudes, I just thought of something."
"That's a scary thought." Donnie suddenly said out loud, earning a snicker from Raph and a repressed smile from Leo, but Mikey ignored them,
"To the bro's go the spoils!" Mikey said which made his brothers stare at him blankly until,
"Oh, you mean 'To the victor goes the spoils', Mikey." Donnie corrected,
"Whatever." Mikey shrugged him off,
"Anyway, we should check up on Murakami. Who knows, the 'spoils' may be some of that pizza gyoza." Leo said and at the mention of that delicious pizza gyoza, all four of the ninja turtles drooled and dazed at the thought chowing on more of that exquisite food.
As they left, the one remaining Purple Dragon, though beaten and bruised, stared after them and went to his two downed comrades. They would have to discuss their next move carefully now.
8:40pm… Murakami's…
When the turtles arrived at Murakami's, they saw April, Casey and Angel waiting for them, while Murakami had just approached them with a large brown paper bag, with a grateful smile on his face,
"Allow me to express my gratitude. Pizza Gyoza!" Murakami said as he handed the bag out, and Donnie took hold of it,
"Awesome! Thanks, Murakami-san!" Donnie said but then Murakami's next words caught everyone in the room off guard,
"You're welcome, turtle-san." The turtles, April, Casey and Angel looked dumbfounded at Murakami and after a few seconds of some of their mouths hanging agape,
"Wait… how… did you…?" was about all Donnie could manage and Murakami answered, still smiling,
"I do have my other senses. Touch. Smell. Hearing." The turtles all looked at each other in amazement and bewilderment,
"You don't think we're weird and scary?" Leo asked,
"You saved my life! Who am I to complain?" Murakami answered which earned him a hug from a smiling Mikey and Murakami also smiled at the gesture.
9:01pm… New York City Rooftops…
Before they left Murakami's, Donnie handed April the bag of pizza gyoza and asked her to take back to the Lair. They had gotten to the rooftops to start their patrol when…
*TMNT theme phone rings*
It was Raph's T-phone and it was coming from Casey.
"Casey, what's up?" Raph asked,
"Well, feel free to either believe this or don't."
Earlier… at Murakami's…
April had just left Murakami's holding the of pizza gyoza, leaving Casey and Angel alone with Murakami. The two had agreed with April that they should stay behind and be Murakami's bodyguards for the night, until he officially closed the restaurant for the night. Just moments after April left the restaurant, Angel spotted three familiar figures approaching from outside the window. It was the same three Purple dragons that tried to harass Murakami some time before, though now they were looking a bit bruised from their encounter with the turtles.
"Casey! Mask on! It's the Purple Dragons again!" Angel announced, which gave Murakami enough reason to hide in the kitchen pantry behind the restaurant. Casey placed his mask on and armed himself with his hockey stick and a baseball bat. Angel had studded gloves on, which she also readied for. The Purple Dragons entered and upon entering, Casey and Angel attacked, the attack didn't surprise the Purple Dragons much as they kind of expected it, but…
"WAIT! WAIT! STOP! WE'RE NOT HERE TO FIGHT!" one of the Purple Dragons quickly yelped out, causing the two young vigilante's to halt their attack, but still kept their guard up.
"Well, that's different." Casey commented as he pointed his hockey stick at the thugs, who were holding their hands up as if to say, 'We surrender'.
"Talk then! Or you're getting a beatdown!" Angel announced,
"We got info your turtle friends can use!" the Purple Dragon said which caused Casey and Angel to look at each other in confusion. "It's true!" one of the other Purple Dragon's said.
Present time… on the rooftops…
The turtles were being followed by the Foot. The aim was to determine were the lair was so the Foot could launch an all-out assault on their home. Murakami was a hostage just to lure them out, whether he lived or died was irrelevant to the Foot. The aim to follow their every move after they left the Fortune Cookie Factory. They got this info from of the same Purple Dragons they beat down earlier.
"You do you think, Leo? Can we trust this information?" Donnie asked,
"I don't know. But if we are being followed, then we take precautions. We take the opposite route from home and then ambush them from the shadows." Leo ordered and everyone nodded their heads in understanding.
9:07pm… The Sewers…
Taking no chances of if they were being followed or not, the turtles jumped from the building roof they were on and entered the sewers from the nearest manhole cover. From then on, they waited in the many shadows that the sewer tunnels provided. They didn't have to wait long as the sound of the manhole cover opening had reached their ears along with the sight of several Foot Ninja, Bradford and someone they don't know entering the sewers. The other man that they saw had Mexican features, punkish clothing, a small black afro hairstyle and a distinct Purple Dragon tattoo on his right arm. Bradford and Xever grimaced upon landing in the sewers and commented,
"This place is disgusting! But at least it's somewhat bearable." Bradford commented and with that he, Xever and the other Foot Ninja proceeded onward, slowly as they had no know idea where the turtles had gone off to.
From the back of the group, one Foot Ninja was suddenly grabbed and pulled into one of the tunnels without so much as a peep. No-one noticed.
The group proceeded, not noticing the ninja's disappearance. Two Foot Ninja had just walked next to opposing tunnels when from one tunnel, Mikey grabbed and pulled one of them into it and before the other ninja could react, he too was pulled into the opposing tunnel by Donnie. Two more taken out, and the others didn't notice.
Just Bradford, the Purple Dragon and three Foot Ninjas remained as they entered a large sewer junction with a very deep waste disposal section in the middle. Other than that, the junction led to nowhere. From above, Leo lassoed one of the ninjas with some rope and yanked him up to the ceiling. Two ninjas left.
This time, Bradford felt something wasn't right, he looked behind him and noticed that several of his ninjas were gone and silently let Xever know of this. Bradford motioned for him and Xever to turn and separate from the other two Foot ninjas to try and cover more ground. This backfired as the two ninjas were silently taken down into the shadows by Raph and Donnie. Now alone, Xever pulled out a flare stick and clicked it. The flare stick glowed red and illuminated the dark sewer junction and it only revealed all of the Foot Ninja that were with them, strung up on the ceiling and knocked out. But no turtle ninjas in sight.
"Show your faces!" Xever said as he raised his voice in a defiant tone. It was probably the only request from the Foot that the turtles would listen to as they stepped out of the shadows with their weapons drawn and ready to fight. Leo and Raph stepped from the shadows where the Foot had entered from while Mikey and Donnie stepped out from within the junction.
"They knew we were following them?" Bradford said with confusion in his tone.
"There's no way!" Xever then said,
"Heh, we live with a Grandmaster of Ninjitsu, you guys aren't nearly as quiet as he is!" Leo said and it wasn't a total lie but he wasn't going to reveal that they had been tipped off. Bradford took a glance at Xever then gave the order,
"Take 'em down!" he ordered and Bradford charged at Leo and Raph while Xever discarded the flare stick and ran at Donnie and Mikey.
Bradford engaged Leo and Raph in combat with his katana drawn. He swung at Raph, who responded by leaping back a bit, Leo then attacked Bradford from behind by jumping into the air and swinging his twin katana down at his head, while Raph attacked from the front at the same time. Bradford countered this manoeuvre by grabbing Raph's wrists as he came in for the attack and swung him around like a rag-doll and into Leo. The turtles were flung away but landed safely on their feet.
Meanwhile, Donnie was having trouble keeping up with what he thought would be a useless thug. Xever was proving to be anything but useless in a fight. Xever launched a series of kicks at Donnie's head whilst in a handstand, though blocked each kick with his steel staff. He then bounced up and over Donnie's head and landed behind him in a handstand and then grabbed Donnie's head with his legs and then threw him into Mikey who tried to run in to assist. The two turtles landed on the ground, while Xever flipped back onto his feet.
On the other side of the junction, Raph had just been kicked onto his back a few feet away from where he stood. Bradford approached the downed turtle and as he did so, Leo attacked from behind again by jumping into the air and swinging his twin katana down at Bradford. But Bradford heard the sound the katana made as it swung and raised his own katana up to block Leo's attack and then countered by back-kicking Leo's midsection. Leo was launched across and landed on his plastron and Raph rushed to his side. From the other side, Leo and Raph could see that their two brothers weren't doing much better and then Leo stood up and snapped his fingers, he then motioned for each pair to switch opponents. Leo and Raph then charged at Bradford and faked an attack, which made Bradford attack incorrectly and the two turtles slipped past him.
Likewise, Donnie and Mikey also faked an attack on Xever, who responded incorrectly with a counter attack that wasn't going to work, and Doonie and Mikey also slipped past him. The two brothers ran towards their other two brothers with Bradford and Xever behind them, and as soon as they came together, they separated instantly, but the switch was made. On one side of the sewer junction was Donnie and Mikey vs Bradford while on the other side was Leo and Raph vs Xever.
Bradford attacked Mikey first with front kick. Mikey dashed to one side and dodged however, and Bradford instead hit the wall that was behind Mikey. Mikey then countered by attacking Bradford a split second as he was putting his foot down. He attacked the other leg with one of his nunchucks and Bradford fell onto one knee and then Donnie followed up by hitting Bradford in the face with his steel staff. The result was Bradford being knocked onto his back.
Meanwhile, Xever was doing numerous backflips away from Leo and Raph as they swung their weapons at him furiously, but also without accidently hitting each other. Xever was doing bacflips so much that he lost his concentration for a second, as he didn't notice Raph rushing towards him and didn't notice until Raph used a leg sweep as Xever was bouncing with flips, the sweep connected with Xevers arms and before he could hit the ground, Leo followed up with a flying side kick straight into Xever's chest and sent him flying to where Bradford was currently getting up. The two enemies were too slow in getting up which gave Leo enough time to carry out the final part of his plan,
"Donnie, NOW!" Leo shouted, from across the junction, Donnie had quickly made his way over to a valve and when he turned it, he activated a rush of sewer water that came down from the tunnel they all entered through and it just so happened that Bradford and Xever were directly in the path of the rushing sewage. They could only have a second to realise what was happening before the rushing sewer water crashed into them and pushed them from where they were and into the deep hole that was a sewage disposal.
The four turtles looked on as their enemies for the night were washed down a very deep hole,
"Well, that didn't seem merciful, now did it, Leo?" Raph said as he grinned at the sight below, with Mikey smiling alongside him,
"There's a time and place for everything, Raph. But yeah, mercy wasn't going to cut it this time around!" Leo said and all four brothers let out slight chuckles,
"High three!" Mikey shouted and all four turtles gave each other a high three.
9:29pm… The Lair…
It was smiles all around the Lair as the four turtles returned home from their latest victory. Plus, the cherry on top for a success like tonight was the still warm pizza gyoza that April brought to the Lair a while ago. In no time at all, the four mutant turtles dived into the dumplings followed shortly by Splinter. Though April thought to let them eat as a family and not get involved. That is until Donnie offered her a dumpling,
"Come on, April, give it a try. Sometimes when two things don't go together actually make a great couple!" Donnie momentarily blushed and caught himself before correcting himself, "I-I mean food!" April silently giggled at this, but also agreed to Donnie's offer,
"Sure, Donnie." April then took the dumpling that Donnie offered to her with a pair of chopsticks. She puts it inside her mouth and chewed. Her taste bids lit up and thanked her for the delicious treat, "Woah! These are amazing!" April said, earning a bright smile from Donnie, the distinct gap in Donnie's teeth showing, which April momentarily thought was adorable, until she snatched Donnie's plate of pizza gyoza and began stuffing her face with the treats. Donnie's face fell a little as he wanted to eat more of the dumplings.
"You boys showed your strength today." Master Splinter said as he finished eating another pizza gyoza. He silently admitted it was one of the tastiest treats he's ever had.
"We sure did, Sensei. We kicked major butt!" Raph commented as he missed the meaning behind Splinter's words.
"Not what I meant, Raphael. Your strength was mercy. That was why thee Purple Dragons helped you." Splinter said which Leo felt the need to give Raph a 'I told you so' smile,
"So… say it!" Leo asked of Raph and he reluctantly admitted to Leo,
"Okay, okay… you were right." Raph said and Leo couldn't help but feel a little smug at this small victory over Raph,
"Ah see? That wasn't so- "
"Your wimpy-ness may not be totally useless!" Raph said with a sly/cheeky smile and Leo thought a little payback was in order for that retort,
"Oh, I'll show you wimpy…" Leo readied himself to pounce, "NO MERCY!" Leo pounced on Raph and the two began a friendly/brotherly wrestle, at the same time making their pizza gyoza fly off their plates. Mikey paled at the sight the tasty pizza gyoza getting ruined and reacted quickly by dashing to the falling treats and catching them on his plate before they hit the ground,
"SAFE!" Mikey announced as he held the plate full of pizza gyoza above his head as if it were a great achievement.
It was then at this point that Casey had entered the Lair through the elevator, when he entered he was greeted with the sight of Mikey holding a plate of food above his head, Donnie trying to stop April from stuffing her full of food and Leo trying to get out of a headlock from Raph, and Master Splinter sitting ever so calmly like nothing was out of the ordinary. The sight made him sweat-drop, but then remembered the next bit of news they might like to hear,
"Hey dudes. Listen, I've got news you might want to hear." When Casey this, he got their attention (sort of). April looked at him with her cheeks puffed out, Donnie attention was divided by Casey and April, Mikey then just held the plate of food normally and not above his head as he turned to Casey, Leo could only see the bottom part of Casey from the waist down as Raph held him in a headlock. Raph looked at Casey as he held his lock firmly and not letting Leo stand up straight,
"Yeah? Well what is it, Casey?" Raph asked as he grinned at Leo who struggled to get out of his grip,
"Okay so, you know that those Purple Dragons gave you that tip off?" Casey asked and all but Leo nodded in agreement who instead let out an "Uh huh."
"Well, you guys might be getting more tip off and information from now on." At this, Leo was finally able to stand up straight as Raph loosened his grip,
"How?" he asked,
"Turns out, that those three Purple Dragons are really scared of Hun now. They want to be as far away from him as possible." Casey explained and their faces demanded further explanation. Well, all but Mikey, who was more focused on his plate of food. April tried to look serious, but she still had her mouth full of food and as such, just looked silly. "Earlier, Hun killed one of his thugs in cold blood, just because he asked for a price for information on you guys." Casey said and then continued, "They now want to snitch on him and the Purple Dragons and the Foot if they can, and give info to you guys." Casey finished.
After a few moments, Splinter was the first to speak, "This has just confirmed that mercy can go a long way." Splinter said.
"So, what do you guys think?" Casey asked and after a few moments, Leo gave his answer,
"We'll think about it. I don't like the idea of using thugs." Leo said but was surprised when Splinter spoke up about this,
"Leonardo, it is understandable if you do not wish to take up their offer. But if they do indeed wish to become spies for you, then you have the opportunity to name your own terms and conditions. It is how you say, 'The ball is now in your court'." Master Splinter said and Leo began thinking about his words. After which everybody continued with munching on delicious treats.
10:00pm… Foot HQ….
The Shredder was patient from any angle. If he assigned his men to do a job, then he would wait for however long until news of their mission came to him. But it was also easy to break that patience with a failed mission as Stockman found out. Now however, a lone Foot soldier kneeled before him with news that Bradford and Xever had failed in their mission and their whereabouts were currently unknown. The Shredder dismissed the ninja and when he left, the Shredder was left sitting at his Japanese style table in the room, alone. If one would look at him, he would look like he was sitting alone, contemplating his next move. However, his occasional twitching and raised eyebrow(s), would make someone think he was listening to someone. But nobody else was there.
"Stockman has failed to wreck this city, and it is likely that whatever he does against our enemies will end in failure. Hun is too busy keeping the Purple Dragons in line. And Bradford and Xever are nowhere to be seen, probably hiding until they arrive back with can be considered good news. Karai and my other capable units are all in Japan. Yes, this is a problem that must be dealt with. Myself." The Shredder said to himself as he got up and walked to stop in front the glass casing containing his armour.
me: hey there! So as you can probably guess, the next chapter will feature the turtles vs the Shredder for the first time! Also see if they will get spies of their own. Until next time!