(I initially wanted to post this on Resurrection Sunday, but I didn't finish it in time…oops…Oh well. Happy belated Resurrection Sunday, anyways, ya'll!)
And happy Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans!
Huge thank you to Candy Mix-Up for the review, as well as everyone who's favorited and/or followed the story so far!
Two quick things: this story, along with the other upcoming stories in my "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Cat" series, are Christian alternatives to the original source material (think of TerminalMontage's Kirbo animations and Beckah Shae's versions of songs)
This won't be a complete "copy-and-paste of the original story with an OC shoved in". I plan to change up a few things, as well as find a satisfying conclusion to a few plot points that the show either rushed or completely forgot about (Timothy/Pulverizer, Mrs. O'Neil, Honeycutt, etc.), and some original content and missing scenes sprinkled throughout.
Chapter 3: Turtle Temper
"Anything?" Leo asked.
"Nothing yet," Donnie reported, looking through a telescope at the building across from them.
Jade flicked her ears a couple of times, the feline standing next to her blue-banded brother. She tried to listen for anything resembling an approaching vehicle or the whirring of a robotic body. But instead, all she could hear was the occasional car horn or police siren in the distance.
And the sound of Mikey laughing lightly behind her. A moment later, her ears perked up when that laugh turned into a yelp. She was ready to turn around, but Leo beat her to it. "Guys," he hissed out. "When ninjas are on surveillance, they are supposed to be silent!"
"Sorry, Leo," Mikey said. "I'll scream quieter."
Jade resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Behind her, she heard Raph growl and Mikey laugh again. Then barely a second later, Mikey yelped again, and it was followed by a crash. Jade whipped around in time to see Raph putting Mikey in a headlock.
"Say it," the hothead said threatening.
"Raph!" Leo snapped, making both turtles turn to him. "Be quiet!"
"Not 'til Mikey says it," Raph said.
"Oh boy," Jade muttered under her breath, unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes this time.
Mikey tried to struggle out of his older brother's grasp, but found that he couldn't. He groaned. "Raphael is all-wise and powerful."
Raph released Mikey from his headlock, then immediately grabbed his head with both hands, preventing him from trying to escape again. "And?" Raph pressed.
"And he's better than me in every possible way," Mikey continued.
Raph let go of Mikey's head, only to then slam his fist on his brother's shell, sending him to the ground plastron-first, with Raph on top of him. "And?"
"And I'm a lowly worm beneath his feet who isn't fit to live on the same planet as him because he's so amazing and I'm a dirt clod," Mikey quickly added on.
Instead of letting Mikey up, Raph licked his finger and held it directly above Mikey's head, making the younger turtle stare up at it in horror. Jade blinked at them, briefly wondering if she should say something. "And?"
"And in the history of the universe, there's never been—"
"Okay, enough," Leo cut Mikey off, his patience wearing thin.
Mikey sighed in relief, and Raph stood up. "We're wasting our time," the latter said. "The Kraang aren't gonna show up."
"Have a little patience, will you?" Leo said.
"Trust me, guys," Donnie reassured them, a confident smirk appearing on his face. "They're gonna break into that lab tonight. I have reliable intel."
"Intel?" Raph repeated in amusement. "You mean, April told you."
The smirk slipped from Donnie's face, and was quickly replaced with a wide-eyed look when Mikey appeared behind him and asked in a sing-songy voice, "You mean your girlfriend?"
Donnie narrowed his eyes. "She's not my girlfriend, Mikey!" he snapped, his brothers and sister exchanging amused glances. "She's a girl, who's a friend, whose dad got kidnapped by the same aliens who are gonna break into that lab. And we're gonna stop 'em!"
"Or we'll sit out on a cold roof all night for no reason," Raph said in a dry tone.
"Eh, who knows?" Jade said with a shrug. "Maybe something exciting will happen tonight."
"What the heck's going on up here?"
All five of them turned to the source of the unfamiliar voice. There was a middle-aged man standing in the doorway that led to the building's stairwell. They all blinked at him, frozen on the spot.
A human had seen them.
Raph elbowed Jade, making her turn towards him. "You just had to say something," he growled out.
Jade narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't get a chance to retaliate as the man asked, "What are ya, playing dress up?"
"No, sir," Leo tried to quickly explain. "We were just—"
Leo didn't get to finish whatever he was going to say, because the man looked past him, and his face shifted from confused to infuriated. "Which one of you slimy green ham shanks busted my satellite dish?!" he angrily demanded.
"Ham shanks?!" Raph echoed in disbelief and offense. Jade turned to where the man was looking, and noticed the broken satellite dish for the first time. She flattened her ears to her head. Raph and Mikey must've broken it during their scuffle.
"I don't even know what that means," Donnie admitted, scratching his head a little.
"Me neither," Raph said. "But I don't like it." He started to reach for his Sais, but was stopped by Leo grabbing his wrist.
"Let's go," his older brother said. They started to follow his lead, but…
"That's right, ya spineless cream puff," the man taunted. Raph froze in his tracks, one eye twitching. "Listen to your mommy!"
Raph growled loudly before drawing his Sais and whipping around, pointing them at the man. "Hey!" he barked. "Watch it, buddy!"
"Raph, don't," Jade pleaded.
"Oh, no," the man said in mock fear. "I didn't know you had salad tongs."
"Salad tongs?!" Raph practically yelled out. He looked ready to rush towards the man, but was stopped by Jade jumping in front of him and placing both hands on his shoulders.
"Raph, please," she squeaked out, giving him a pleading look. There was still fury in his green eyes, but he didn't try to push past her. Once she was sure he wouldn't charge again, Jade removed her hands and turned around, a timid yet polite smile on her face. "Sir, I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding," she said calmly. "We're sorry about the satellite dish." Then, her face perked up as an idea struck her, and she stepped forward a little bit. "Oh! My brother Donnie is really good at fixing stuff," she motioned towards the purple-clad turtle, who looked surprised at being put on the spot. "If you have any tools, we'd be happy to fix it for—"
"Forget about it!" the man snapped, one arm slicing through the air, which surprised Jade and made her step back. "Like I'm gonna have you fix my dish! You'll probably just break it even more, ya furry freakshow!"
Jade blinked at his words. "Furry…freak—"
"What did you just call her?!" Raph yelled this time, pushing past his sister and charging at the man. His siblings all jumped in and grabbed at him, trying to yank him back to them. "I'm not gonna take this from some greasy, pit-stained slob with a comb-over!"
"You callin' me ugly?" the man retorted. "Seen a mirror lately, circus freak?"
"Raph, don't!" Leo order, though his hotheaded brother continued to struggle.
"You want a piece of me?" the man challenged.
"When I'm done," Raph threatened, trying to pull away from his siblings, "a piece of you is all that's gonna be left!"
A vivid pink laser was suddenly shot mere inches past his face, making Raph jump back in surprise. They all turned to the source, finding five Kraang standing several feet away with their blasters drawn.
"Kraangdroids!" Leo cried out.
"Whoa!" the man exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Way to blow our position, Raph," Leo grumbled out as the five siblings drew their weapons.
The five Kraang charged up their blasters, rapidly firing pink lasers at them. "Scram!" Leo yelled, and the five mutants bolted in different directions before each heading to one of the Kraangdroids.
The man ran back to the stairwell, but paused in the doorway. "Whoa…" he said out loud, watching the mutants fight the droids. "They're some kinda…" he paused to pull out his cell phone and, unbeknownst to the five, started recording them, "…kung fu frogs and ferret."
Jade flung a shuriken at the Kraangdroid in front of her, hitting the barrel of its blaster and causing the weapon to explode when the Kraang tried to fire at her again. The Kraang stumbled back, and that was all Jade needed to quickly backflip and slice her Tessen against its head, tearing some of the face skin off and sending pink sparks flying. She didn't give it a chance to retaliate, and delivered a spinning kick to the droid's chest, which made it collapse in a heap.
It didn't take long for all five of them to send the droids packing. And the man apparently took that as his cue to speak up again. "Keep going, kung fu frogs and ferret!" they all turned to him, seeing him with his phone in hand and a big grin on his face. "This is pure gold!"
"We're not frogs or ferrets, you idiot!" Raph snapped.
"Yeah, and it's not kung fu!" Donnie added on. "It's an ancient Japanese battle art!"
"Guys," Leo suddenly said nervously. "He got us on video."
Jade's eyes widened, her ears flattening to her head once more. "Uh oh…" she whispered under her breath.
Raph, on the other hand, growled loudly. "Not for long, he doesn't," he said in a menacing tone. He ran forward and lunged at the man…who shut the door at the last second, causing the hotheaded terrapin to slam face-first into it and slide to the ground with a groan.
"I'm gonna make a fortune off of this!" they all heard the man laugh from the stairwell as Jade helped Raph to his feet, with him shaking his head and growling in fury again.
In any other situation, they would've immediately gone after the man. But the sound of rapidly-approaching sirens stopped them.
"Fire truck's en route," Donnie reported. "Thirty seconds!"
"Let's move," Leo ordered.
"Wait!" Raph exclaimed. "We have to find that guy and break his phone! And his face!"
In lieu of a verbal response, Jade placed a hand on Raph's shoulder, as Leo, Donnie and Mikey were already on their way. The red-banded turtle glanced at his sister, then the retreating forms of his brothers, then back at the door. He looked like he wanted to scream, or at least hit something.
But instead, he exclaimed in frustration and ran after the others, with Jade right behind him.
OoOoOoO
"Not only did Raphael alert the Kraang," Splinter's voice was strict as he paced in front of his children. "But you got caught. On video."
"Sensei, he was the angriest, nastiest guy you ever met," Raph argued.
Mikey leaned over to smirk at his brother. "Except for you." Said brother responded with a punch to the head. "Ow!"
Raph turned back to his father. "You should've heard the insults this guy was throwing at us. They were so…" he paused to find the right word, and just blurted out, "…insulting!"
"Oh, I did not realize he said mean things," Splinter responded mockingly. "Of course, you had no choice but to jeopardize your mission!"
"Burn," Mikey said, still smirking, much to Raph's annoyance.
"You are ninjas," Splinter reminded the five, continuing to pace in front of them. "You work in the shadows. In secret. This becomes difficult if there is proof of your existence in high-definition."
"Look, we know where this guy lives," Raph said. "All we need to do is find him and shake him until the tape pops out."
"Oh, there's no tape," Donnie pointed out. "Video phones use flash memory and—" he cut himself off as his immediate older brother sent him a nasty glare and growled under his breath.
"Anger is self-destructive," Splinter said, drawing the five's attention back to him.
"I always thought it was…others-destructive," Raph admitted.
"Raphael!" The red-banded turtled snapped his head up, his eyes widening at his father's tone. "Stand up."
Raph did as he was told, suddenly looking very sheepish. Mikey, meanwhile, continued to smirk at his older brother. "Somebody's in trouble," he said in a sing-songy voice.
Sitting in between Mikey and Donnie, Jade couldn't help flattening her ears slightly. A pang of sympathy shot through her as she looked at Raph, feeling an unwanted memory threatening to surface at the scene before her…
OoOoOoO
As instructed, Raph stood in the middle of the dojo. His brothers and sister surrounded him in a square-like formation, each of them holding a Yumi bow and arrows with suction cups in place of arrowheads.
"Evade the arrows," Splinter simply ordered.
"No problem," Raph said in a confident tone.
"Hajime!" Splinter cried out. Mikey, Leo, Jade and Donnie all fired their arrows at Raph one-by-one, who dodged each of them effortlessly. Splinter caught the last arrow, holding it between two fingers. "Yame!" The five teens relaxed. "Again! Except this time, Jade, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo…insult Raphael."
"Wait…" Donnie said hesitantly. "Insult…him?" he gestured to Raph as he spoke.
"Yes," Splinter said.
"And he can't fight back?" Donnie pressed, making Raph blink in surprise.
"No," Splinter said.
Donnie chuckled, glancing over at his siblings. "I'm feelin' good about this plan."
"Hajime!" Splinter ordered.
The four started circling Raph, with Mikey laughing. "You move like a bloated buffalo!" the youngest taunted, firing his arrow.
Raph dodged, narrowing his eyes. "I do not!"
"And you're always whining," Leo said, then added in a mocking tone, "Poor me! Nobody understands me!" he fired his arrow as well.
"Well you don't understand—" Raph's argument was cut off as Leo's arrow hit his carapace, making him whip around with an enraged look.
"Aww, you're so cute when you're mad, Raphie," Jade cooed with a sunny grin, firing her arrow.
"I'm not m—" Raph's shout was cut off by the arrow sticking to his shell. He whipped around with a furious glare. "And I'm not cute!" The feline only giggled in response.
"And…" Donnie paused to think. "Oh! And you don't keep your back straight when doing omote kote gyaku!" He fired his arrow, landing close to Leo and Jade's. "And you're ugly!" Another arrowed hit. Donnie laughed almost maniacally, which only infuriated the red-banded turtle ever further.
"And gassy!" Mikey added, firing another arrow.
Raph grunted as the arrow joined the others on his shell. "Stop it!" he yelled, shutting his eyes tight and clenching his fists.
"Aww, you talk so tough," Leo taunted. "But inside, you're just a scared little baby."
"Who needs his bottle?" Donnie asked before firing another arrow.
"And his diaper changed?" Mikey added, firing again as well.
"And big sissy to sing him to sleep?" Jade continued as she fired her own arrow, that same grin still on her face.
"What's the matter, Raph?" Leo asked, pulling the bowstring back. "Gonna cry?"
Raph grunted as more and more arrows struck him, a few hitting his head this time. "I. Am. Not. Gonna cry!" he snapped between arrows, until one hit him in the forehead and he fell to the ground.
Mikey sighed happily. "I wish this moment could last forever."
"You know what?" Raph exclaimed angrily, standing back up and throwing his Sais to the ground. "Forget this! This is stupid!"
Mikey groaned loudly. "It didn't."
Raph turned and walked over to Splinter, the various arrows stuck to his shell making him look like a porcupine. All four of his siblings had their eyes on him, as he stopped in front of the rat.
"Ninniku Seishin is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility," Splinter said calmly. "You cannot be a true ninja until you master it." The two arrows on either side of Raph's head slipped off, making Mikey laugh behind him. Raph curled his hand into a fist, ready to snap, before Splinter spoke up again. "Understood?"
Raph immediately uncurled his fist and turned back to his father. "Hai, Sensei," he responded.
Splinter hummed softly, stroking his beard in thought for a moment. Then, he turned to the eldest of his five children. "Jade."
The feline's ears perked up, all eyes suddenly on her. "H-Hai, Sensei?" she asked sheepishly.
"Perhaps it would be beneficial if you spoke with Raphael concerning his temper," Splinter said. "After all, you have some experience in that field."
Jade tried not to flinch when he said that, the unwanted memories threatening to surface again. Her brothers, meanwhile, exchanged surprised yet knowing looks between them.
It didn't take long for Leo, Donnie and Mikey to leave, while Splinter retreated into his own room, leaving only the feline and the red-banded turtle in the dojo. Jade got behind Raph and started working to remove the numerous arrows from his shell.
"Jade?" she looked up at her brother just as she pulled an arrow off. "How did you do it?"
Jade quietly gulped, then pulled another off, dropping each one to the floor. "W-What do you mean?" she asked.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me!" Raph snapped, making Jade tense up as he whipped around to face her. "You used to have outbursts all the time when we were kids! And then you just…" he paused, his annoyance melting away into confusion. "You just stopped." He shook his head. "How did you do it?"
Jade still looked tense for a moment, then relaxed a bit and lowered his gaze to the ground. "Anger…" she started to say, glancing down at her right hand. "It can hurt those you love."
And for a moment, it felt like she was thirteen again, staring down at her hand with her claws unsheathed—
Jade shook her head and looked back up, meeting Raph's eyes. "I-I don't want that to happen," she quickly said. Raph blinked at her in confusion, but before he had a chance to say anything, she added on, "Y'know, the Bible says that anger—"
"Jade." Raph's voice cut her off again. "I know. I know what it says, but I am not in the mood for a lecture right now."
Jade flattened her ears to her head, lowering her gaze to the floor again. She tried to think of what to say, but couldn't come up with anything before Raph groaned and exclaimed again, "C'mon, what did you do?"
"I told you, I stopped because I don't wanna hurt you guys!" Jade snapped back, her voice betraying her stress.
"But my anger helps me keep you guys from getting hurt!" Raph argued back.
"No, it doesn't!" Jade raised her voice, her stress giving way to anger.
"Yes, it does!" Raph said.
"No, it doesn't!" Jade was practically yelling at him now, the two of them almost nose-to-nose with each other.
"Oh, please," Raph scoffed in fury. "What do you know?!"
"Well, I know that you're a failure when it comes to your stupid temper!" Jade yelled. Raph's eyes widened, but the feline didn't seem to notice as she shook her head and just turned to storm out of the dojo, still seething.
Watching from his door cracked open a bit, Splinter sighed quietly to himself.
Jade groaned as she walked down the steps. But just as she made it to the bottom, she felt a three-fingered hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Raph standing behind her. She couldn't resist rolling her eyes, preparing for another angry challenge from her brother.
She was not, however, prepared to hear him ask, "You don't mean that, do you?"
Jade blinked at him, her expression shifting to one of confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked. Only then did her eyes widen as the realization hit her. Oh no…
"Jade," Raph said, sounding much calmer than before. "You…" he turned to look at Leo and Mikey, who were both watching TV with their backs turned to them, and Donnie was nowhere to be seen. He turned back to his sister and asked just loud enough for her to hear, "You don't actually think I'm a failure, do you?"
Jade's eyes widened even further, and her ears flattened to her head again. "No!" she exclaimed, hurriedly shaking her head. "No, of course not! I…" she stopped and lowered her gaze to the floor once again, this time out of shame.
You did it again, didn't you? Something in the back of her mind taunted her.
She lowered her head, all of her previous annoyance drowned out by guilt. "I'm sorry, Raph," she said quietly. "I…I'm sorry."
Raph sighed again and placed a hand on her shoulder, though she was too ashamed to look up. But before either of them could say anything else…
"Guys! Guys!"
Four pairs of eyes locked onto the source of the shout, which turned out to be Donnie rushing out of his lab with his laptop in his hands and a big grin on his face. "April just messaged me! The Kraang are gonna head back to the same lab soon. We apparently interrupted them during their 'supply run'. We can stop the Kraang and get that video back!"
"Alright!" Leo exclaimed, standing up. "Let's move." He ran to the entrance with Mikey, while Donnie hurried to put his laptop away.
Raph turned back to Jade. "We'll talk about this later," he said, then rushed after Leo. Jade blinked at him, then hurried as well, leaping over the turnstiles after him with Donnie hot on her heels.
OoOoOoO
"That's right," the same man from earlier said into his phone as he exited the apartment building, walking down the street. "I swear on my mother's grave that these guys are frogs and a ferret, and they all know kung fu! You can't tell me that's not worth something!"
Before he could say anything else, all four turtles and the cat landed around him, having jumped from a nearby rooftop. "AH!" the man yelled in surprise, looking around at them. "I'll call you back," he said, hanging up the call and backing away from the five mutants. "Lay one finger on me, frogs and ferret, and I'm callin' the cops!"
"We're not gonna hurt you," Raph said through gritted teeth, obviously trying to contain himself.
"Then what do you want, freak?" the man sneered.
"We got off on the wrong foot last night," Raph said. "Some things were said, and well…we would just like that video back." All five of them smiled (some more forced than others) at the man, who looked indifferent. Leo elbow Raph. "Please?"
"What are you gonna give me for it?" the man asked.
"Give you for it?" Raph echoed.
"Well, I figure I've got you over a barrel," the man explained with a smug smile. "So you've got to make it worth my while."
Raph sent the man a dangerous smirk. "I'll make it worth your while," he said calmly. Then, his expression abruptly shifted to one of fury. "I WON'T TAKE YOUR HEAD AND SMASH IT AGAINST THE—"
Leo placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, halting his shouting. "Okay, okay," he quickly said. "Thank you, Raphael. I will take over." Raph merely crossed his arms and turned away, still steamed, while Leo turned back to the man with a smile. "So, what are you looking for?"
"Uh…" the man thought for a moment, then answered, "A cool mil ought to cover it."
"Mmhmm. Mmhmm." Leo nodded a few times, while his brothers and sister shared confused looks between them. "A cool mil of what?"
"A million dollars," the man responded.
"We don't have a million dollars," Leo said, looking dumbstruck.
"We do have some Canadian quarters that fell through the grate," Mikey offered as he pushed past his oldest brother with a grin.
"I could make serious money off this thing," the man said, holding up the phone with the video proudly displayed on the screen. "And if you don't wanna pay, I'll hold on to it until someone else does."
"That's it!" Raph lunged forward and grabbed the man by his arm, flipping him onto the ground.
"Raph!" Jade exclaimed.
"Hand over the video," Raph threatened, one hand holding the man down, while the other curled into a fist. "Or so help me, I'll kick your hairy butt all the way to New Jersey!"
Before Jade or anyone else could say or do anything, a bright light suddenly shown ahead. "Guys! The Kraang!" Leo exclaimed, as he, Jade, Donnie and Mikey all looked up in surprise, realizing that the light was coming from a rapidly-approaching van. "Raph!" Leo exclaimed, gaining the hothead's attention.
A panicked expression appeared on Jade's face. She was about to rush over to her younger brother, but Leo beat her to the punch. "Look out!" he yelled, barreling forward and grabbing both Raph and the man, making it to the other side of the street just seconds before the van would've hit them.
Jade let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as Leo and Raph got to their feet. A beeping sound drew everyone's attention to the second vehicle—a moving van—that also had a Kraang behind the wheel, just as it started heading their way. "Let's not let this one get away," Leo said.
Raph turned and picked up a barrel right next to him. He chucked it at the approaching vehicle with a grunt, hitting it in the windshield and causing the Kraang to swerve and slam into a nearby wall. "Well," Raph said, crossing his arms with a smirk. "That was easy."
And the several Kraang in the back of the van apparently took that as their cue to jump out and start firing their blasters at the mutants.
"Ooh-kay," Raph said a bit awkwardly. Donnie yelped as all five ran towards the Kraang and drew their weapons.
Jade fanned out her Tessen and sliced the blaster of the Kraang closest to her in half, and wasted no time in delivering a sweeping kick to its feet, causing the droid to tumble to the ground. Just as it did so, another pink laser shot just inches past her face. Jade let out a startled squeak before turning to the source, another Kraang, and narrowed her eyes as she flung her Tessen at it. The weapon spiraled and hit the droid in the head, making it stumble for a moment. Jade rushed towards it, jumping in the air and catching the Tessen as it boomeranged back to her, and slammed the soles of her boots in the droid's face, bringing it down with ease.
"Oh no you don't!"
"Raph, what are you doing?!"
Jade snapped her head in the direction of her brothers' voices, seeing that that man had somehow ended up in the back of the van, and Raph was now storming up to him. "Get back here!" Leo yelled over his shoulder, using his katanas to block the chainsaw-like part of a Kraang's blaster. The leader pushed the droid away, only for another to kick him from behind. "Raph!" Leo called out as the Kraang started kicking him.
Jade eyes widened as she ran over to Leo, barely hearing Raph's furious, "We've got unfinished business!" Jade grabbed one of the droids kicking Leo, forcefully turning it so it was facing her, and made sure to knee it in the gut where the alien brain-thing was hard. Jade was certain she heard a pained shriek come from the droid's abdomen as it collapsed.
Just as she did so, Mikey appeared and kicked the other droid. And Raph's voice reached her ears again as she helped Leo to his feet. "You give me that phone right now!"
Jade turned around just as a familiar beeping reached her ears, just in time to see the van backing up before speeding off. "Raph's in the van!" Leo yelled, and the four of them followed the vehicle as fast as they could.
Donnie proved to be faster, getting the closest to the opened back, where Raph still was with the man and a few downed Kraangdroids. "Raph!" Donnie exclaimed, drawing his immediate older brother's attention and holding up his Bō staff for Raph to grab. "Get out of there!"
But instead of accepting his genius brother's offer, Raph turned back to the man, grabbing him by the arm. "Listen, you idiot!" he yelled loud enough for Jade to hear. "Frogs are not lizards, and we're not frogs or ferrets!"
One of the Kraangdroids stood up and grabbed Raph. The red-banded turtle tried to throw him off, but was instead tossed out the back of the van. He hit the asphalt and tumbled, slamming into his siblings and knocking all four of them down. The van disappeared from sight.
The terrapins and feline pulled themselves back up. "Nice going, Raph," Leo scolded.
"What did I do?!" Raph demanded.
"What did you do?!" Leo's voice was a mix of anger and bewilderment. "You left the four of us in the middle of the fight to yell at somebody!" He gestured at Jade, Mikey and Donnie with his arms to emphasize. "We could've stopped them, but thanks to your temper, the guy with the tape—"
"Again," Donnie interrupted. "Technically, it's a flash—"
"Not now!" Leo hissed, then turned back to Raph. "Is in the hands of the Kraang!" Donnie looked dejected for a moment, then gasped softly as something grabbed his attention. "How are we supposed to find them?"
Donnie walked over to what had caught his eye, with Jade and Mikey looking over his shoulder. The trio realize that it's a puddle of oil. Or rather, several puddles of oil, leaving behind a trail in the street. "Look!" Donnie called, looking over his shoulder at his eldest brother. "The truck's leaking!"
"Alright!" Leo said, his previous frustration being replaced with an eager grin. "We can follow the trail to their hideout."
"And then we'll bash some bots!" Raph agreed, smirking as he slammed his fist into his palm. Leo turned to him, his grin vanishing as he narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"We are going to bash some bots," Leo corrected as he crossed his arms over his chest, gesturing to his sister and two youngest brothers. "You are going home."
"What, are you kidding?!" Raph practically yelled. He turned to his other three siblings. "Come on, guys. Are we gonna let Leo power-trip like this?"
Donnie shared a look with Mikey, then turned back to Raph. "I think Leo's right," he admitted.
Raph looked gobsmacked. Then, he turned to his sister. "Jade," she blinked in surprise as he addressed her. "You saw what happened back there! I didn't hurt you or anyone else in my anger!"
"But it still led to bad things happening!" Jade argued back, her pitch of her voice rising slightly. She shook her head. "That's what I was trying to tell you, Raph! It's not your anger. It's what you do with it!"
Raph looked surprised for a moment. "You gotta control your temper," Leo said. "Until then, we just can't trust you."
Without another word, Leo turned and walked down the street, following the oil trail. Donnie threw one last glance at Raph before trailing behind his blue-banded brother. "Sorry, Raph," Mikey said as he followed them as well.
Jade glanced at Raph, then Leo's retreating form, then back at Raph again, looking conflicted. "Jade!" Leo called, making her flinch and her ears perk up. Her gaze fell to the ground for a moment before landing back on Raph, who looked like he was waiting for her to say something. But instead, she sighed quietly and turned to follow the rest of her brothers.
As she walked away, the sound of Raph's frustrated grunt accompanied by clanging metal reached her ears. She stopped and turned to see Raph with his shell facing her, hunched over in his anger, with his Sais thrown to the ground. Jade flattened her ears, a guilty ache forming in her stomach.
"Well, I know that you're a failure when it comes to your stupid temper!"
Her own words echoed painfully in her head, only serving to amplify the feeling in her gut. She bit her lip and turned back to the others, crossing her arms and refusing to look up from the ground as she trailed after the others.
OoOoOoO
"We're here," Donnie said softly. It hadn't taken long for the four of them to follow the trail to a building with double garage doors. They peaked around the corner.
"Are we really gonna do this without Raph?" Mikey asked.
"We can handle it," Leo said.
"I don't know," Mikey said. "It just feels like something's missing."
Leo raised a hand and smack Mikey on the back of his head, much to Jade's surprise.
"Ow!" the freckled turtle exclaimed, then turned to Leo with a smile. "Thanks."
"Happy to help," Leo responded, while Jade gave them both a bemused look. "Let's go."
The turtles and feline climbed to the roof of the building, where Donnie effortlessly picked the lock of a door up there and led them inside. The four hurried down the stairwell before making it to what Jade guessed was a dark basement of some kind. The entire place was filled old wooden crates and spiderwebs. Jade gulped nervously at that last one.
"Spiders…" Mikey said quietly, and Jade made the mistake of turning around to see him looking at a large arachnid on one of the many webs. She (somehow) resisted the urge to bolt of the room and hurried after Leo, scratching her arm as she did so.
Leo turned to Jade. "Are the Kraang here?" he asked.
Jade sniffed the air for a couple of seconds. "Yeah," she said. Leo nodded once, and continued forward.
A few minutes of searching passed, before Jade suddenly heard Mikey exclaim, "Ow! You don't have to keep doing that."
Jade paused and turned around, seeing Mikey facing Donnie with a hand on his head. "There was a spider on ya," Donnie said, grinning.
"Well there's a spider on you, too," Mikey said.
"No there isn't," Donnie said, but still looked over his shoulder to make sure.
"Come here, you punk!" Mikey lunged at Donnie, knocking them both to the ground, where Mikey proceeded to smack his older brother on the head. Jade blinked in bewilderment at what she was watching.
"Knock it off!" Donnie snapped. "Ow!" Jade sighed softly and lowered her head a bit, pinching her glabella.
Leo walked up next to Jade. "Hey!" he whisper-shouted, prompting Mikey to stop as all three of them turned to their leader, who brought a finger to his mouth. "Shh!"
Leo turned and continued walking, with the others right behind him. Mikey did one last move to make Donnie flinch, and the genius just sighed as he trailed after his brothers and sister.
It wasn't long before they heard a familiar robotic voice. "The image that is the image on the phone is pleasing to the eye of Kraang."
"This is true," the same voice responded. "Kraang is looking what is known in earth terms as 'handsome' in this phone."
"Well, you guys drive a hard bargain," the man said. The four hid themselves behind some large wooden crates and peek around to see the man tied to a rolling chair, with five Kraangdroids around him. They were standing near a large machine, filled with mutagen. "Tell you what. I'll drop it down to five-hundred-thousand, and you can keep the phone."
When they didn't respond, and the droid holding the phone turned away from him, the man tried again. "Okay, four-hundred-thousand."
"This is our fight with the creatures called the Turtles and Cat," one of the droids said.
"The usefulness of this will be proven usefully with the more watching of this," another droid added.
"Also, this is being a good image of Kraang," the one holding the phone said.
While they were distracted, Mikey took the opportunity to swing his kusarigama chain at the chair. It wrapped around the cylinder, and Mikey started pulling the man towards them as another droid said, "We should be showing the image of Kraang to Kraang."
The man turned to where he was being pulled, his eyes landing on the cat and three turtles. "We're gonna get you out of here," Leo said softly.
"What about my phone?!" the man demanded.
"Shh!" Jade hissed, placing a finger to her lips as Leo's eyes widened and Donnie shook his head.
"Don't shush me!" the man snapped. "I ain't leavin' here without my phone!"
His yelling alerted the Kraangdroids. "Stop the one that needs to be stopped!" one of them exclaimed, as two of them stepped forward and aimed their laser guns, charging them up. "Stop!"
The four stared with wide eyes. "Remind me why we have to rescue this guy?" Donnie asked.
The droids started firing at them, and the four charged forward with their weapons drawn. Jade gripped her unsheathed Tessen as she jumped around to avoid the lasers, and fanned the weapon out as she flipped over the Kraangdroid firing at her. She whipped around the moment her feet hit the floor and sliced through the droid's neck, decapitating it and causing it to collapse. The Kraang inside popped out and scurried away, and Jade quickly moved onto the next one.
She wasn't sure exactly how long they had all been fighting, before the sound of glass shattering reached her ears, making Jade jump in surprise. The sound was accompanied by a splat, and immediately followed by a scream piercing the air. Everyone immediately stopped fighting, and that's when Jade realized the man was nowhere to be seen.
"Kraang," one of the droids addressed his companion. "Go look at the place where the thing that makes the noise is, and tell us what thing makes that noise in that place."
Said droid complied, walking into a shadowed area between two parts of the machine. And barely a second later, the droid was sudden thrown back towards them. The brain creature inside pulled itself out and hurried away, squealing in terror.
A guttural roar sounded from the shadows.
"I don't like the sound of that…" Mikey said. Jade, standing next to him, flattened her ears and took a step back.
Only a couple of seconds passed before something suddenly jumped over a part of the machine, landing right in front of them. The creature was gigantic and rotund, having a black pelt and red markings with orange outlines. It had several eyes—six of which were on its face, each one red with a black sclera, while the rest were between its legs. Four long, spider-like limbs were on the top of its head, each having a claw-like end that looked like they were filled with mutagen. Its three-fingered hands and two-toed feet also had mutagen-like claws. And it had a large mouth, which it opened up to roar at them, displaying sharp teeth.
Jade froze on the spot, her pupils shrinking down to slits. "I don't like the look of it, either!" Mikey exclaimed.
"What did you do to me?!" the man's voice poured from the spider's mouth. "I'm hideous!"
Leo turned to his sister, who was still frozen. "Uh, Jade?" he said.
That seemed to snap her out of her stupor. Because she screamed and jumped onto Leo, who stumbled in surprise and barely managed to keep both of them from being knocked over. "SPIDER!" she screamed in terror. She clung tightly to Leo, her fur spiking up. "SPIDER!"
Leo sputtered, readjusting himself and Jade slightly so neither of them would fall over. "Don't worry," he said to her. "The five of us can handle him."
"Okay, this might be a bad time to point this out," Donnie spoke up. "But you sent one of the five of us home."
"And right now," Jade's voice thinned, her eyes still wide and staring at the mutant spider in horror. "I wish it was me."
"This is your fault!" the spider accused, pointing at the four. "I'm gonna rip your heads off!"
Leo worked to pull Jade off of him. "C'mon, sis, work with me," he grunted. The kunoichi seemed hesitant, but complied and jumped off of her brother. Her entire frame was tense, practically trembling as she gripped her Tessen tightly. "Alright, guys," Leo said, turning back to the spider. "Prepare to dish out the mighty wrath of justice!"
"Seriously," Donnie deadpanned. "Just yell 'get him'."
"Get—" Leo was cut off by the spider hitting him with one of his elongated limbs, sending him crashing into a few nearby crates. A couple were knocked over, while the others broke apart and splintered.
The spider turned back to the other three with a devious smirk. Jade's trembling worsened, feeling the temptation to bolt out of the room return. Donnie and Mikey both attacked the spider, only to have their attacks blocked and be knocked back. Leo ran up to him from behind, causing the spider to whip around. Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, Jade gripped her Tessen even tighter and ran towards the spider, slicing her Tessen just as Leo leapt over him. The spider let out a pained noised as Jade squeaked and ran as fast as she could back to Donnie and Mikey, and he let out a louder one when Leo struck him with his katanas.
The blue-banded turtle landed with his brothers and sister. "Is that all you got?" Mikey taunted. In lieu of a verbal response, the spider puffed up his cheeks, and spat a large yellow glob at them. The four quickly moved away before it could hit any of them, and they watched at is started melting through the floor in front of them, with yellow steam rising in the air.
"The answer I was looking for was…yes…" Mikey said sheepishly.
The spider scowled at them, and opened his mouth to repeatedly spit acid at them, which they hurried to avoid. The four took off, but the spider was faster, using his elongated limbs to jump over and land in front of them. He whipped around and spat acid at them again, forcing them to run to the sides. The spider spat at them over and over again. Donnie and Leo both attacked him again, and when he tried to bit the latter, Mikey grabbed a nearby metal barrel and threw it in the spider's mouth.
Mikey threw a second barrel at the spider, hitting him square between the eyes, but he looked more annoyed than hurt. The spider spat out the first barrel and tried to attack them with the claws of his elongated limbs, only for the four to run again. When they finally stopped, they quickly noticed the yellow steam rising around them, and looked down as the floor began to whine under their weight. The floor suddenly collapsed underneath them, causing them to scream as they fell the floor below them, landing with pained grunts.
"We're no match for Spider Bytez," Mikey said as they all pulled themselves into either sitting positions or on their hands and knees.
"Spider Bytez?" Leo echoed, the other three drawing their attention to the orange-banded turtle before they all stood up.
"Well, he's a spider," Mikey explained. "And he bites. So, I thought—"
"We get it!" Leo snapped.
Spider Bytez jumped through the hole and landed with a heavy thud that shook the floor. The four turned to him with wide eyes, and Jade's fur spiked up again. The spider pulled himself up, standing on his elongated limbs while his body hung upside down. And whatever it was, something about it made Jade scream again and throw her Tessen at him. It spiraled through the air and planted itself in the middle of his back.
Spider Bytez let out a pained roar and flipped himself over, landing back on his feet, the Tessen still stuck to his back. Jade laughed nervously. "Somebody wanna get that for me?"
The spider roared again, and Jade and Mikey screamed in unison. All four of them tried to run one way, but Spider Bytez was quicker and blocked their path. They tried the other way, only to get the same results.
"This bug is fast," Leo commented, as Jade hugged Mikey's arm tightly.
"Yeah, spiders aren't actually bugs," Donnie corrected him. "They—Ow!" he was cut off as Spider Bytez grabbed him with one of his limbs and picked him up, throwing him into a nearby wooden container, though not hard enough to break it.
Jade hurried over to help Donnie up. "Playtime's over, frogs and ferret!" Spider Bytez declared. Jade turned to him with wide eyes, while her brothers all narrowed their eyes to glare at the spider.
Spider Bytez spat another yellow glob at them, causing Leo and Mikey to run and jump back to where Jade and Donnie were. The spider started to walk towards them when—
"Wow."
Spider Bytez stopped and turned to the voice above him. The four followed his gaze, seeing Raph standing at the edge of the hole, his Sais in hand. "I didn't think this guy could get any uglier."
"Raph!" Donnie and Mikey said happily in unison, while Leo and Jade both smiled at him. The red-clad turtle jumped through the hole, landing on the floor with ease.
"Well, I think you've been punished long enough," Leo said. "Come and join us."
"Please," Jade squeaked out.
Spider Bytez smirked, placing his over his hips. "Hey, it's the kung fu frog with the salad tongs," he said smugly, raising his hands and waving his fingers mockingly.
"Hey, it's the stupid loudmouth who's about to get his butt kicked," Raph responded dryly, spinning his Sais and aiming them at the spider.
Spider Bytez spat a glob of acid at Raph, forcing him to dodge it. The spider then turned his attention to the other four. Jade yelped and jumped onto Mikey this time, only for him to lose his balance and both of them to topple over with surprised grunts as Spider Bytez cartwheeled around them, spitting acid in a circle. Neither could get up before the floor collapsed beneath them again.
The four screamed as they fell for the second time, and landed on the floor beneath them. Jade started to sit up with a pained groan as she heard Donnie nervously say, "Uh, let's not fall through this floor, okay?"
Jade opened her eyes and looked down, and said eyes widened when she saw mutagen beneath the glass she was sitting on. She inhaled sharply and scrambled to her feet. Next to her, Mikey started to stand up with a groan, and Jade felt her face heat up when she remembered what happened up there. "Sorry, Mike," she said in embarrassment.
"It's cool, dudette," he groaned as he made it to his feet.
Jade turned her attention back to the hole above them, just in time to hear Spider Bytez's voice. "Watch me turn your friends into frog fries and a ferret patty! I'll serve 'em up with your salad tongs!"
The feline barely had time to think 'What?' before she saw Spider Bytez descending from the floor above, using a thick yellow thread to rapidly lower himself. Jade couldn't help the squeak of fear as she clung tightly to Donnie's arm this time.
Raph jumped through the whole, using the thread to land on Spider Bytez before cutting it with his Sai. The spider landed on the glass in a heap with Raph right on top of him. The hothead jumped off and turned to face Spider Bytez before he pulled himself up, roaring loudly at the turtle in front of him.
"Aww," Spider Bytez said mockingly as Raph got into a fighting stance. "Froggy thinks he can stop me." He smirked. "Ribbit, ribbit. What's that, tadpole? Are you too scared to leap off your lily pad, and get the warts knocked off ya?"
But instead of yelling or charging forward in his usual rage, Jade watched in amazement as Raph breathed in and out calmly. And from here, his voice reached her ears. "Like a river…over stones…"
And unbeknownst to the feline, a proud grin appeared on her face.
Raph charged forward to fight Spider Bytez. As the spider was knocked back and let out a pained whine, Raph placed one Sai in his belt and ran forward, jumping over him and using his free hand to rip the Tessen out of his back as soon as he landed behind him. Spider Bytez roared in pain again, and Raph jumped over him again, snapping the Tessen shut and gripping it firmly.
Spider Bytez tried to attack Raph with his elongated limbs, only for the latter to grab ahold of the pointed end with the Sai and Tessen in an x-shape. Spider Bytez spat acid at him, and Raph quickly moved so that it hit the limb instead. The spider yanked his limb back with a grunt, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the acid on the pointed end.
"That's some kung fu, frog," he said as he turned to the red-clad turtle.
Raph didn't flinch. And as his siblings landed next to him, a smirk came to his face. "We're not kung fu frogs or ferrets," he said, pointing his Sai at Spider Bytez. "We're ninja turtles." He turned to Jade, and held up her Tessen to her. "And a kunoichi cat."
Jade blinked in surprise, then beamed at Raph as she took the weapon from him. And for a moment, he couldn't help returning the smile.
The five scattered to fight the spider. Jade and Leo both used their weapons to block his attacks, Mikey used his nunchucks to slide down one of the elongated limbs with a yell and kick Spider Bytez hard enough to send him rolling, and Raph and Donnie both jump up as he leapt into the air, hitting him and sending him to the floor with another whine.
They all lined up as Spider Bytez started to sit back up. Raph looked down, seeing that the phone had somehow made it down here as well, and didn't hesitate to raise his foot and smash the device into several pieces.
"Oh!" Spider Bytez yelled. "My phone!" He stood back up, and the five quickly surrounded him. And despite still shaking, Jade fanned her Tessen out, ready to fight. Spider Bytez looked between them. "You guys are gonna regret this," he growled, then jumped and used his elongated limbs to climb up the cylindric tank of mutagen behind him, going back up to the floor above him.
The Hamato siblings ran after him, and made it to the rooftop in time to see Spider Bytez hopping away from them and onto other buildings in the distance.
"I know a nice black widow that'd be great for him," Donnie said. Jade looked at him with wide eyes as he walked past her, silently praying that he was joking and that there was actually a spider back at the lair.
"Good work, Raph," Leo's voice made her turn to the blue and red-banded turtles. "I just wanna say—"
"You don't have to apologize," Raph said.
"I wasn't going to," Leo responded.
"Oh," Raph said. "Good."
Jade smiled again as she moved past Leo and wrapped her arms around Raph's shoulders, hugging the surprised turtle. "I'm proud of you, otouto," she said.
Though he didn't return the hug, Raph smiled as well. "Thanks, aneki."
"Yeah, Raph," Mikey said as Jade released the hug. "Not bad for a bloated buffalo." He laughed and walked away.
A furious look flashed across Raph's face. But a smirk quickly replaced it, and Raph removed himself from Jade to tackle the youngest, putting him in a headlock.
"Okay!" Mikey said quickly, flapping his arms. "Raph is all-wise and powerful!"
"And?" Raph pressed, as Leo, Donnie and Jade watched in amusement.
"And he's better than me in every possible way!" Mikey yelled.
Raph seemed to be in a good mood, as he let go of Mikey. As Leo laughed next to her, Jade saw Donnie turn to look in a certain direction of the city. He turned back to his siblings. "April's probably waiting to hear back from us," he said, gaining Leo, Raph and Mikey's attention as well. He sheathed his Bo Staff and turned back in the direction he was previously facing.
Before he could jump to the next rooftop, Jade stepped forward. "You want me to come with?" she asked.
Donnie looked over his shoulder at her and thought for a moment, then nodded once. He turned back and leapt to the next rooftop, and Jade quickly said to the others, "See you back at the lair," before jumping after him.
The moment her feet touched the rooftop, however, she paused as a regretful look appeared on her face. She turned to look back, only to see Leo leading Raph and Mikey off the previous rooftop, all three of them disappearing from sight. A part of Jade wanted to run after them, but quickly realized she'd be slowing Donnie down, and hurried after her genius brother.
OoOoOoO
Donnie tapped on April's window as soon as he and Jade landed on the balcony. Within seconds, April opened the window with a smile. She had a flat white box in one hand—not a pizza box, though Jade could smell something pleasant coming from it. "Hey, guys," she greeted. Jade smiled back, and Donnie grinned as his cheeks turned pink. "How'd it go?"
The smile and grin disappeared from the feline and terrapin's faces, and they glanced at each other for a moment. "Uh…not great…" Donnie admitted. The smile fell from April's face as well. "Long story, but something came up, and…the Kraang got away. We didn't get any info on your dad." He lowered his head as he spoke, unable to meet her eyes. "Sorry, April."
April looked downcast for a moment, but gave Donnie a sad smile and placed her free hand on his shoulder, much to his surprise. "Hey, it's okay," she said. "I'm sure you tried your best."
Donnie stared at her hand in surprise, then laughed sheepishly, much to Jade's amusement. "Oh!" April said, making the duo turn back to her as she removed her hand from Donnie and readjusted the box. "You guys want a donut?" she asked, opening the lid. The pleasant smell was stronger now. Inside were several golden-brown ring-like things with some kind of brown coating on them.
"Donut?" Donnie echoed as he and Jade looked at them curiously. Both of them grabbed one. Jade sniffed hers, and took a small bite of it. The moment the taste hit her tongue, her brown eyes just seemed to sparkle.
"Whoa!" Donnie exclaimed after swallowing his own bite. "These are good!" He took another bite, making April smile at him. "Hey, what's the stuff on top called?" he asked through his mouthful, pointing to the brown stuff.
"Oh, that's chocolate," she said.
"Chocolate," Jade said softly, finishing off her donut and licking her fingers.
April smiled at her as well, then a look of realization crossed her features. "Are the others here?" she asked as she looked past the two of them, trying to see if the others were nearby.
"No, they went back to the lair," Jade said, while Donnie shoved the last of his donut in his mouth.
Donnie swallowed and brushed the back of his hand against his mouth. "We should head back, too," he said. "Splinter's probably waiting for us."
"Splinter?" April echoed, titling her head slightly at the new name.
"Our father and Sensei," Jade explained. April looked slightly confused, prompting Jade to add on, "Sensei means 'teacher'."
"Oh," April said in understanding. Her brow furrowed in thought for a moment, and as Donnie and Jade started to turn to leave, she exclaimed, "Wait!" They turned back to her. "Actually, I was wondering…Would it be alright if I met him?"
Donnie and Jade both looked surprised, glancing at each other again, and turned back to her. "You sure?" Donnie asked, and April nodded. He turned back to his sister. "I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, Splinter probably won't be happy with us bringing a human back to the lair."
"Yeah, but…she's April," Jade responded. She wasn't sure what else to say.
Donnie hummed in thought, glancing away. He understood what she was trying to say. April hadn't ratted them out to anyone, not even her aunt…And if something ever came up, she'd need a safe place to hide…
….Like the lair!
And Donnie could keep her safe! He'd get to be her knight in shining armor, just like in those stories they loved as children!
And even if something didn't come up, she could still come down to the lair to hang out!
With pink cheeks and a dorky grin, Donnie excitedly exclaimed, "You're right!" Jade flinched slightly at the volume of his voice, and Donnie looked sheepish for a moment before clearing his throat. "I-I mean, yeah," he said, calmer now. He turned back to April, who looked surprised, still grinning. "Yeah, I'm sure Master Splinter will be happy to meet you!"
OoOoOoO
Splinter narrowed his eyes at the ginger-haired teen standing in between Jade and Donnie, who both looked sheepish, while April stared back at him in wonder. All four of them were standing at the lair's entrance. "So," he said calmly. "You must be April."
"Y-Yes, sir," she responded, blue eyes still wide.
Splinter hummed slightly, then said, "Jade. Donatello." Said teens immediately straightened up. "Please explain why you brought someone to the lair without permission." His voice harshened during the last half of his sentence, making both of his children flinch.
From the pit, Leo, Raph and Mikey watched them. A half-empty pizza box was on the floor with them, and Space Heroes was playing on their TV. All three of them also flinched.
"Sensei, it's no big deal," Donnie said, raising his hands up in defense. "April here is really good at keeping secrets." The human girl nodded. Splinter didn't look convinced, though, so Donnie quickly added on, "A-And we thought that…maybe this could be a safe place for her?" He gave his father a nervous grin.
Splinter hummed again, closing his eyes and stroking his beard in thought. He reopened his eyes and turned back to April again. He silently observed her for a few long seconds, during which she nervously glanced away for a moment. Then, Splinter sighed. "Very well," he said, a small smile appearing on his face. "As long as you keep our existence a secret, April, you are welcome here."
April beamed up at the rat, and Jade and Donnie grinned at each other.
Sometime later, Splinter had retreated to his room, while the teens all continued hanging out in the pit. Leo was still enjoying Space Heroes, which Raph occasionally mocked whenever he looked up from his magazine, Donnie was tying away on his laptop, Mikey munched on another slice of pizza, and April and Jade sat together.
"It's just a pain to maintain," Jade whispered to April. Her hair was down, with her mask tied around her neck like a bandana, and she was holding the reddish-brown strands between her fingers.
"Oh, tell me about it," April quietly giggled, reaching for a slice of pizza.
While April bit into her slice (blissfully unaware of Donnie trying to sneak of picture of her on his laptop), a realization hit Jade, and that same regretful look from before appeared on her face. She glanced over at Raph, who still had his nose in his magazine.
Jade bit her bottom lip, then stood up and walked over to Raph. The red-banded turtle turned to her as she crouched down and whispered, "Hey, Raph…can we…talk in the kitchen?" she whispered timidly, so quiet that Raph almost missed it. He blinked, but nodded and closed his magazine, taking it with him as they both headed to the kitchen.
Once they were in, Jade nervously looked down, unable to meet his gaze. "Raph, I…" she started to say. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier." She raised her head to look at him this time, her words speeding up with her nervousness. "I don't think you're a failure. I-I didn't mean it, I…" she trailed off for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next, and could only lower her gaze again as she quietly said, "I'm sorry…"
Raph was silent for a moment, and Jade felt too ashamed to look up. "Sis," he said. "It's okay." She looked up, her brown eyes meeting his green ones. He sent her a small smile. "I forgive you."
Jade flattened her ears and removed her gaze again. Raph sighed quietly. "Come on," he said, gesturing towards the blue curtains. "I wanna keep making fun of Leo's stupid show."
Jade placed a hand to her mouth to prevent laughter from spilling out, and followed Raph out of the kitchen.
OoOoOoO
Jade shuddered as she laid in her bed hours later, unable to shake the itch she felt practically all over her body, no matter how much she scratched. She knew she was being paranoid, but it kept feeling like she was just waiting for spiders to crawl all over her in the darkness. She grimaced at the thought. The fight with Spider Bytez did not help her arachnophobia at all.
Jade glanced over at the clock on her fight stand. It was just after midnight. Sighing to herself, Jade pulled the blankets off and stood up, clad in her pink nightgown and a pair of white fuzzy socks.
Jade quietly opened her bedroom door, located at the end of the hallway with her brothers' rooms on either side. She looked around, then slipped out and quietly shut the door, silently making her way through the hallway.
Since she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, she might as well make the most of it. After getting a bottle of water from the kitchen, Jade headed to the pit and looked through the crate of old VHS tapes next to the TV. Jade set her water down for a moment and, grateful she could see well in the dark, finally found the tape she was looking for. The feline grabbed the tape and turned on the TV, sliding the tape in the VHS player and making sure to lower the volume. She grabbed her water bottle and—
Wait…Did she rewind the tape the last time she watched this?
Her answer came when the movie's end credits started playing on the TV.
Jade sighed again, and hit the rewind button.
A few minutes of waiting and watching the movie rapidly play backwards later, the sound of the toilet flushing suddenly reached Jade's ears, making her turn her head to where the bathroom was. A few seconds later, Raph stepped into the common area, stopping to give Jade a surprised look.
Neither spoke for a moment, then Raph quietly asked, "Can't sleep?" Jade shook her head. Raph walked over and stepped into the pit. Thanks to the light of the TV, Jade could see that he was missing his mask and gear, as he and their brothers usually did while sleeping. "I'm joining you," he said, leaving no room for argument.
Jade resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The timing was perfect, though, as the tape was finally rewound to the beginning, and the feline hit play. She grabbed her water as Raph sat on the couch, while Jade made herself comfortable in the beanbag chair next to him. The hothead quickly realized what she was watching as the opening credits played. "Dinner at Stephanie's?" he asked dryly, shooting her a teasing look. "Really?"
Showing her age, Jade stuck her tongue out at Raph, making him snort as Jade turned her attention back to the movie. Despite the low volume of the TV, the movie's beautiful opening song filled the common room.
But as the movie continued to play, the familiar claws of guilt hooked themselves into Jade's stomach, and she found herself unable to pay attention to the movie for several minutes as her mind wandered. Eventually, she couldn't take the aches of guilt anymore, and turned to Raph. He was staring at the TV, though looked quite bored.
"Uh…" Jade said softly. "Hey, Raph?" As soon as he turned his head to look at her, Jade lowered her gaze to the ground. "I…I'm sorry about everything that happened today…I—"
"Jade," Raph cut the feline off, though she couldn't bring herself to look up. "I already told you, it's fine." Jade didn't respond, and Raph frowned slightly, but turned his attention back to the movie.
Eventually, Jade grew drowsy, while Raph dozed off and jerked back awake at some point. The hothead yawned and stood up from the beanbag. "I'm turnin' in," he grumbled out, and headed for his room.
"Night," Jade said.
The feline stayed for a few more minutes before stopping the movie and removing the tape, placing it back in the crate. She turned the TV off and returned to her own room, softly closing the door behind her. She placed the barely-touched water bottle on her nightstand and laid on her blankets, staring at the ceiling.
Why did you call him a failure? It wasn't a physical voice she could hear. Rather, it was a thought that mercilessly taunted her.
'I didn't mean to!' Jade mentally argued back.
But you still did it.
'I said I was sorry!'
And what about that thing you said earlier? Saying you wished you stayed at home while the others fought Spider Bytez? What, you wanted to relax while your brothers suffered?
'No! No, I don't!'
Some big sister you are.
Jade groaned quietly and turned to the side, curling up slightly. For a few minutes, the only sound that filled the air was the whirring of the fan in the corner.
"Naze…watashi wa…"
So quiet, barely audible to her own ears, she sang.
"Genkida to omoimasu ka?
Aisuru hōhō o manabu
Koto ga dekimasu ka?"
The song Jade sings at the end is essentially a paraphrased Japanese version of "Love Like You". I was originally going to include the actual English lyrics, but since Fanfiction has a "no lyrics unless they're public domain" rule, I had to improvise (there's an official Japanese version of the song, but I don't want to take any risks)
…Is that allowed?
The lyrics are supposed to translate to: "Why do you think I'm good? Can I learn how to love?" (I used WordHippo as a translator…and for some reason, for the second, the translation made it "Can you" instead of "Can I")
Either way, there's a chance that the lyrics are confusing to read and/or cringy to actual Japanese speakers…if it is, sorry…
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Please leave a review letting me know what you think! God bless you and have a wonderful day/night/whenever you read this!
And if you have any prayer requests, feel free to leave them in a review (or a DM, if you're more comfortable with that)!