Chapter 5: Battle of the Beta Readers
A/N: So here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to get out, but I had other stories I was working on and I had sinus problems, which will probably be happening more frequently as the temperatures constantly rise and fall as often happens here. Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. Your kind words mean the world to me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and Madison Kinney.
"Hey, Leo, are you going to Murakami's now?" Mikey asked his older brother.
"Yeah, I am," Leo answered. "Do you want to go too?"
"Well, yeah, I wanna talk to Madison and let her know that since I'm an expert on fan fiction, I want to be your beta reader."
"I think that would be okay," Leo said. He already had his bag with his notebook inside it slung over his shoulder. He just didn't want Donnie or Raph seeing him with a notebook and start asking him questions or (even worse) snatching the notebook from him and peeking at it as Mikey had done.
"Sweet!" Mikey whooped. He followed his brother toward the turnstiles, smiling. He felt that Madison would be happy to know that he was going to help Leo out, and at least he would be in on the secret.
Raph noticed them leaving and turned from the football game he was watching on TV. "You goin' to see your girlfriend, Leo?" he teased. "And you're takin' Mikey along with you? I don't think that's a good idea, Leo. He might steal your girlfriend from you."
Leo glared at him. "For the last time, Raph, she's not my girlfriend," he answered. "I'm meeting her at Murakami's because she had a hard day at school and wants to talk to me about it. And Mikey's going because he hasn't visited Murakami-san in a while and wants to see him again."
"Whatever you say, Leo," said Raph. "But don't say I didn't warn ya."
Rolling his blue eyes, Leo exited the Lair followed by Mikey. "I can't believe him!" he stormed.
"I wouldn't be too upset, Leo," reassured Mikey. "Raph's just jealous because no girl's ever asked him to meet him somewhere. I know you don't like Maddie that way now, but that's not to say that you won't eventually fall in love with her."
"I don't know if that's possible, Mikey," Leo said.
"I think it is," said Mikey. "If Donnie can love April, you should have the chance to love who you want."
"Sometimes I don't think love is the right thing," answered Leo. "Yeah, Donnie loved her, and I think that may be why he can't let her go."
"He's just the type to not give up hope," pointed out Mikey. "I can't blame him for that. I still feel like April's out there somewhere. Don't you ever get the feeling that she's watching you or something?"
"No, I don't," replied Leo. "April's gone, Mikey. I don't know if she's dead, but she's definitely not coming back."
"How can you say that?"
"Because if she was going to come back, don't you think she would be here by now? She's not the type to just leave us in suspense like this. Don't you think that if she was okay she would have contacted us by now? She always had her T-Phone on her."
"But maybe it was taken away," noted Mikey. "Maybe it was smashed and she's not able to contact us."
"But she could always get to another phone and contact us that way. She knows our numbers."
"True. Unless she has amnesia. Then it would make sense that she hasn't gotten in touch with us if she's forgotten us."
"I don't know, Mikey, but I'm not going to get my hopes up anymore," said Leo bitterly.
Mikey said nothing more until they reached the noodle shop. Madison was sitting at a table and brightened when she saw Leo.
"Hey, Leo, I'm glad you could make it," she said as she gave Leo a hug. "So why is Mikey here?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something," answered Mikey.
"Oh, okay," she said. "What is it?"
"Well, I know you're really good at fan fiction and that you introduced Leo to it," began Mikey. "And I know that Leo was gonna consult you for help because you've written it before so you know what it's all about. Well, I know about fan fiction, too, so I wanna be Leo's beta reader, and I wanted to know if that was okay with you."
Madison seemed shocked at Mikey's words and turned to Leo. "You told him about your stories?" she asked him.
"Actually, he found out when he was hiding from Raph in my room," Leo answered. "He saw my notebook under my mattress and discovered what I was writing."
"He had no right to do that!" Madison cried. "That's your private notebook! Who does he think he is?"
"Hey, dudette, I'm right here," Mikey reminded her. "Look, I was just curious, and I wanted to see what Leo was doing, so I snuck a peek. I think it's pretty cool that the two of you write fan fiction. I write it, too, but I write WWE fan fiction about my British honey, Paige."
"It doesn't matter how you found out," Madison told him. "It was still wrong of you to go snooping through Leo's things."
"I know, and I'm sorry," Mikey apologized. "I already promised him that I'd keep the secret."
"Leo, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Madison asked, jerking her head at the corner.
"Sure," Leo answered and followed her to the corner. "What's up?"
"I really don't think you should have brought him here," Madison said in a low voice. "He's not exactly trustworthy."
"Why would you say that?"
"Leo, you've told me how Mikey doesn't have the ability to keep a secret. Do you really think he's going to keep his mouth shut about this?"
"Yeah, I do," Leo answered. "He writes fan fiction too, and I don't think he wants Don and Raph to know about it, so if he's not going to tell them about how he writes it, I don't think he'll spill the beans about us either."
Madison sighed. "I want to believe you, Leo, but I just don't know if I can trust him."
"He's my brother, Maddie. I'd trust him with my life. And if you can't trust him, then there's going to be a problem for us."
"Well, you know him better than I do," Maddie relented. "I guess we can give it a shot. I'll still help you out, but I have no problem with Mikey helping you out if I can't be there."
Leo's eyes lit up. "Great," he said.
"Are you two done whispering about me?" Mikey asked them.
"How did you know we were talking about you?" Madison asked him.
"I'm a ninja. I have good ears."
"Yes, we're done, and Maddie's agreed to let you be on the team," Leo told him.
"Booyakasha!" Mikey yelled.
Madison giggled. "What does that mean?" she asked.
"I don't know, but it's fun to yell," answered Mikey.
"He made it up when we were little," explained Leo. "It was when we were training to be ninjas and Mikey thought that since all ninjas had a battle cry that he should make one up too, so he invented that one."
"I like it," said Madison. "It's very creative."
"Thanks," said Mikey. "I'm also a genius at naming mutants, too."
"And anything else you come across," Leo reminded him. "Remember that police horse you saw? What did you name him again?"
"I think I named him Henry even though his real name was George," answered Mikey.
"And don't forget all the rats who are in the sewers," laughed Leo.
"Yeah, I've got names for all of them," boasted Mikey.
"How can you keep them all straight if they look alike?" Madison asked him.
"They don't all look the same," replied Mikey. "Some are different colors while some have different markings. Maybe one day I'll show you some of them."
Madison wrinkled her nose. "I don't know about that," she said.
"Well, now that we've made our decision, what else should we talk about?" Leo asked, changing the subject.
"Let me look at what you've written so far for chapter two," Madison suggested.
Leo handed her his notebook and she looked at what he'd written.
"It's not very long," she commented.
"Well, I haven't finished it yet," he answered. "I was writing when I got interrupted by Mikey knocking on my door. I'll be sure to continue it later."
"I see. What you have so far is pretty good though. And I'd really like to look at your work, too, Mikey. Maybe we could all get together and have a sort of fan fiction club."
"You mean like a book club?" Mikey asked her.
"Sort of," she answered.
"That would be sweet. Can we do it, Leo?"
Leo smiled at his little brother and his best friend. "I don't see why not," he answered. "It could be fun. But remember that we can't tell anyone else about this, not even Master Splinter."
"How about if we meet here?" suggested Madison. "That way no one will get suspicious since Mikey often talks to Mr. Murakami."
"Sounds like a plan," said Leo.
"I love it when three young minds get together," said Murakami. "I would be delighted to have the three of you here, and I promise not to tell anyone, not even your brothers."
"Thank you, Murakami-san," said Leo. "That means a lot."
"Would you like to take some pizza gyoza home?"
"Sure," answered Mikey.
Murakami gave some to Leo, Mikey, and Madison. "I hope to see you all again soon," he said.
"You will," promised Madison. "Have a good night, Mr. Murakami."
"You too," Murakami said, waving to them.
The three of them parted ways once they were out of the shop, promising to speak to one another about the next time they would meet.
"Man, that was awesome," said Mikey as he munched some of his pizza gyoza.
"Yeah, it was great, and at least we'll be able to meet more," said Leo.
"I was worried Maddie wasn't gonna accept me into the fold," Mikey said worriedly.
"She was hesitant at first, but I convinced her you were trustworthy and a worthy part of this team," Leo told him.
"I'm glad you did," Mikey said. "Thanks, bro."
"Anytime," Leo said giving his brother a gentle squeeze.
They made it back to the Lair, and Leo gave some of his pizza gyoza to his brothers and Splinter. Then he hurried to his room and made sure to hide his notebook well. He didn't feel like writing tonight, but he was still happy that Mikey was part of the team. Mikey was definitely the baby of the family, but he could still be trusted, and Leo knew that it was best not to leave him out of the loop of things. He was glad Maddie had accepted Mikey onto the team and that she was willing to let Mikey help out. Sometimes it was best for people who had common interests to band together, and Leo felt that Maddie and Mikey would make a perfect team for this. With that last thought, Leo began to meditate before settling down to sleep for the night.
A/N: And that's the end of another chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't have an excerpt of Leo's fan fiction in this chapter, but I promise to have more of it in the next one. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.