So if you guessed that the character in the last chapter was Zach, then you are correct! :D
"Carl, when are you gonna get here already?"
On my way now, babe.
"Ugh! That's exactly what you said thirty minutes ago! Know what? Forget it. I'm gonna take the bus."
A disgruntled young woman named Stacy hung up on her boyfriend and shoved her phone into her coat pocket. Her shift had ended about an hour ago, and she was done waiting for her ride. She walked out of the restaurant and proceeded to the nearest bus stop. Once she arrived, she sat on the bench and waited, but unbeknownest to her, a group of thugs were staring at her in the alley behind her with predatory eyes. They casually walked over to the bench and surrounded her.
"Hey, sweet cheeks," one man growled lustfully.
"You busy tonight?" another man snickered.
Stacy felt fear in her heart but did her best to hide it. "Buzz off, creeps," she snapped.
"Hey, come on, don't be that way," one grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her up. "Let's have some fun."
"Let go of me!" Stacy tried to jerk her arm away, but then another man grabbed her other arm.
"Ooh, feisty," he chuckled darkly. "I like that."
Though she resisted and screamed, they dragged her into the alley while laughing cruelly. Two of them pinned her to the brick wall while a third pulled out a pocket knife.
"Go ahead and scream, baby," the fourth guy said. "We like that."
"You're the ones who should be screaming."
A dark figure jumped down from the rooftoop and landed in the alley, a piercing white eye glaring at them and twin sai drawn out.
"Dude, what is this?" "I dunno." "Guy's lookin' for trouble." "Let's jump 'im!"
They all charged at the stranger, but he dodged every kick and punch with ease and grace and struck back with a speed that Stacy had never seen before. Within under a minute, the creeps had been knocked out, lying unconscious on the ground. Her savior glanced back her briefly. "Call the police," he instructed before he took what looked like an egg from out his belt and threw it to the ground. The second the object hit the ground, the stranger disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
The woman continued to stare at the spot he was standing on seconds ago. Who was that guy?
"Just stick close to me, rookie," Sgt. Morris told his partner as they arrived at the convenience store. "And remember: no heroics. By the book."
"Got it," officer Finn said as he stepped out of the patrol car and rushed into the building with Morris at his side. The elder cop pushed the door open and drew his gun out.
"Police!" Morris shouted.
The clerk was standing behind his desk and drinking out of a soda can, seemingly calm, which was pretty strange.
Morris lowered his gun and scratched his head in confusion. "Um, we received a distress call that robbers were invading your store?"
"Yeah," the clerk responded with a thick Indian accent. "But somebody beat you to it." He pointed to the corner where two men in ski masks sat, tied up together and unconscious.
"What the...?" Finn couldn't believe his eyes. "Does this kind of stuff happen often?"
"Sir, who did this?" Morris asked the clerk. The employee simply handed him a note, which the officer took and scanned over. In the center was a green turtle shell symbol, and at the bottom right read the words, "NINJA TURTLE".
April yawned as she went downstairs for breakfast, and sitting in the living room in front of the T.V. was her husband, staring at the screen with wide eyes and resting his chin on his fist.
"Morning, honey," she softly said, but frowned when he didn't turn his eyes away from the program he was watching. She cleared her throat in annoyance.
"Huh?" Casey finally looked at her. "Oh, sorry, honey. Um, you should probably see this."
Confused and curious, April sat next to her husband on the couch. On the screen was a picture of the note that Sgt. Morris received from the clerk. April's blue eyes widened as she recognized the symbol and signature.
"Oh, Raph," she sighed and rubbed her temples.
"I thought for sure that I was going to die," an elderly woman spoke into the microphone. "But then this mutant Turtle wearing a red mask came to my rescue. He called himself the 'Ninja Turtle'."
...
"People say they're daggers," a young man wearing glasses scoffed. "But they're clearly sai, traditional ninja weapons. Why can't they get it right?"
...
"It couldn't have been the Serpent," the chubby owner of a comic store said. "'Cause if it was, there'd be a dead guy on my floor. I'm telling you, this guy is more like Batman!"
"No, I'd say more like the Hulk," a skinnier geek wearing a Captain America shirt joined in.
"The Hulk?" the owner looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow.
"Duh! 'Cause he's green!"
"But the Hulk isn't skilled in ninjustsu."
"Well, neither is Batman!"
"Uh, yeah, he is, actually."
"No way!"
"Yeah way!"
"No way!"
"Yeah way!"
...
"He saved my son's life," a blond woman wiped her tears away with a tissue. "I'm truly grateful to him."
Her six year old boy smiled and waved at the camera. "Thank you, Mr. Turtle!"
...
"I'm just glad that we didn't have to get any more body bags," Sgt. Morris chuckled. "Looks like we'll be filling up the prison instead of the morgue from now on."
...
"I guess the Ninja Turtles heard my message," Zach smiled widely at the camera. "It's good to have you back, guys."
Leo turned the T.V. off in his apartment room and took a sip of his coffee.
"You really think you'll make a difference in this city, Raph?" he quietly said. "By playing the good cop? They'll chew you up and spit you right out."
Malcolm Sefton quietly opened the door to the lab and peeked in. "Excuse me, Donatello?"
Said Turtle was facing his computer and typing. "Yes, Mr. Sefton?"
"I don't mean to interrupt, but have you seen the news?"
"Yes, I have."
"You wouldn't happen to know him, would you? I mean, since this guy is also a mutant Turtle..."
"He's my brother."
Sefton's jaw dropped. "Is that right? You didn't tell me you had brothers!"
"I didn't include it in my resume because it's irrelevant."
"...Oh. Right." Stefton awkwardly cleared his throat. "Well, then, I'll, uh, leave you to your work."
Shadow Jones walked across the school yard, having survived the immensely boring history class and eager to get back home. Unfortunately, Peter Vander and his friends once again decided to torment the teenage girl and followed her. She could sense them behind her and rolled her eyes, sighing exasperatedly. "Go away, Peter!" she huffed.
"Or what?" Peter taunted.
"Or she'll go home crying to her momma," Tim chuckled.
"Shut up," Shadow growled. She could feel her blood boiling.
"Ooh, I'm really scared," Kev mocked. "April Jones might report us to death."
"Yo, Jones," Peter blocked Shadow's path and was about nose to nose with her. He glared at her and cracked his knuckles. "You really did a number on Matty."
"He deserved it," Shadow mumbled as she glared back.
"You know that old saying, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
"Didn't your momma ever teach you not to hit girls...Petey boy?" she smirked at the last part, knowing full well how much he hated that nickname.
Peter snarled at her, "You're no girl. You're a b**ch."
That word again.
All right, that's it.
Shadow couldn't hold back anymore. She pounced on the boy and pinned him to the ground. Raising her fists, she proceeded to beat the living snot out of him. Peter sobbed as she continued to hit him in the face, and he heard a sickening crack the moment she punched him in the nose.
"Oh, snap," Kev whispered to Tim. "She broke his nose."
"Help me!" Peter cried desperately.
"Well, w-what do you want us to do?" Tim nervously asked.
"Hit her!"
"But we can't hit girls, man," Kev gulped.
All of a sudden, a green hand grabbed a hold of Shadow's fist, preventing her from delivering any more punches. She turned her head quickly and was shocked to find Raphael looking down at her disapprovingly.
"That's enough, Shadow," Raph sternly said.
Her phobia taking over once again, Shadow quickly pulled out of his grasp and backed away, whimpering a little.
"Holy sh**!" Peter whispered, his nose bleeding. He crawled away from the mutant and stood next to his pals, ready to wet his pants. Tim and Kev looked just as frightened as he was.
Raph glared at them as he stood up, crossing his arms. "Beat it," he growled. Immediately, the boys took off, and he turned back at Shadow, who was looking at him nervously and getting ready to take off, herself. His expression softened. "Shadow, beating those kids up won't make you any better than them."
Trying to act tough, Shadow swallowed and glared at him. "Yeah, well, what do you know? You didn't even hear what they said to me!"
"I did hear them, actually," Raph softly said. "Every word."
Shadow's green eyes widened and she back up a bit. "Were...were you spying on me or something?"
"No, I wasn't spying on you...well, not really. I just waited until you got off school to meet with you."
"Why?"
Raph smiled warmly at her. "Because I want to get to know you more. We are family, aren't we?"
Shadow shrugged and looked down at the blood on her knuckles, though none of it belonged to her.
Raph followed her gaze and frowned. "And I heard from your parents that you have a temper problem."
"Yeah, so?" Shadow mumbled.
"I can help you with that, if you'll let me."
Shadow looked up at him in surprise. "You...you can?"
"Sure," Raph smirked. "I had the same exact problem when I was your age, so I completely understand what you're going through. It'll take time and patience, but I can teach you how to control your anger."
"I...I don't know," Shadow quietly said and looked away. "I mean, my mom took me to pretty much every therapist and councilor in New York. None of them helped."
"But you never consulted a Master ninja. Splinter taught me how to harness the fire within me. If I can do it, then so can you." He held out his hand to her. "So what do you say?"
Shadow stared at his hand and slowly reached for it, though her own hand was shaking.
Raph could see that she was scared. "It's okay," he gently told her and put his hand away. "You don't have to shake if you..."
"No!" Shadow suddenly grabbed his hand and firmly shook it. "I need to get over this stupid fear of mutants if we're gonna work together."
He smiled widely at her. "Now that's the spirit."
A young man cautiously looked around him before approaching the abandoned factory. An older, bulky man wearing dark sunglasses and black clothing stepped in front of the main entrance, glaring down at the teen. "Password," he growled.
"Dragon, Fox, and Phoenix," the young man said. The guard nodded in approval and opened the door, permitting him to come in. The teenager walked down the halls until he reached a large room, where hundreds of young men and women sat on bleachers. He went up the steps and took a seat.
A bald Japanese man named Tatsu stepped into the middle of the room, stone-faced as he approached the bleachers. "Stand at attention!" he sternly said in a heavy accent. "Master Shredder approaches." Immediately, the young people stood up and watched as an ominous shadow appeared on the concrete floor.
This new Shredder looked very similar to his predecessor. He wore a samurai-based suit of armor with blade-covered metal plaques on his shoulders, forearms and shins, and his helmet had a trident-shaped ornament on top. And like Oroku Saki, he wore a pair of extendable blades on each hand. No skin was visible, though, as he wore black material under his armor, and his face was hidden by metal ninja mask. His eyes were not human, but glowed bright red in the shadow of his helmet.
He looked up at his students. "It has been thirty years since Oroku Saki met his demise at the hands of the Ninja Turtles," his deep voice echoed behind his mask, though it sounded more mechanical than human. "But the spirit of the Shredder still lives on." He pointed to his chest. "Through me. And as his successor, it is my duty to rebuild the Foot Clan and make it powerful again. But I cannot do it alone. That is why I have appointed you, proud men and women of New York, to be my loyal soldiers. But do not take the oath lightly. Once you become a member of the Foot, there is no turning back. There is no room for cowardice. You must be willing to defend your clan to the death, to defy those who dare to stand in our way, even if they are your own families. The penalty for desertion or failure...is death."
All of the faces in the crowd grew pale.
"So are you prepared, my students, to follow me and leave everything behind?"
"YES, MASTER SHREDDER!" the crowd unanimously shouted.
"Are you prepared to defend your father and master?"
"YES, MASTER SHREDDER!"
"Are you prepared to sell your souls to the Foot Clan?"
"YES, MASTER SHREDDER!"
The Shredder hummed approvingly. "And do not worry about our adversary, the Serpent. He is, indeed, a skilled assassin, but he is no match for the power of the Foot." Tatsu walked over to his master and placed a cage with a small snake inside on the floor. He lifted the door and the creature immediately slithered out, heading for the kids on the bleachers. Those sitting on the very bottom steps started to freak out and scream. But then the Shredder stabbed the snake right through the head with his mighty blades. He lifted the impaled serpent, which continued to dangle lifeless from his blades. "He will die by my hand should he challenge me. That is a promise. And I am sure that you are all aware of this Ninja Turtle that has emerged from the shadows once again. And I understand why you are concerned. But I assure you, he will wish that he had remained in the shadows, for he will soon face the wrath of the Shredder."
Oh, no! The Shredder is back! But it's not Oroku Saki? Then who is it?
So I used a character from the 1990 movie, Tatsu, in case you haven't noticed. I just love using various characters from various TMNT universes. :)
Also, there's a reference to the IDW comics. If you're a die-hard IDW fan, then you'll know what it is.