Donatello woke up fully energized and ready to get to work, he had drawn up the exterior schematics for the Mouser last night and was going to start taking it apart today. Plus, since April was going to be over later, he wanted to get it done sooner rather than later. After grabbing a quick cup of coffee, and headed back into his lab. He sat facing the Mouser and pulled out some tools he could use to take it apart.
After an hour or so, Donnie had the Mousers' outer layer removed. The skin had proven troublesome to get off, it was layered like scales so finding a weak spot had been difficult, but perseverance had paid off and now all the panels were laid out on the table. The guts of the Mouser were all neat and tidy, the wires were all tucked neatly into specific groves and were covered for protection. Donnie took a small screwdriver and started moving some of the wires around. Something mechanical clicked deep in the tangles of wires.
"What the..?" Donnie said to himself. He poked the Mousers' wires around some more trying to figure out what had just happened. He leaned in closer, brows knitted together in confusion. The Mouser unit launched itself at Donnie's face, he squealed and toppled backwards off his chair. The Mouser turned to look at the stunned turtle now lying on his back and screeched at him, it then turned back to the door that lead out to the living room and bolted.
Donnie didn't move for a moment, his brain was having trouble processing what had just happened. The Mouser shouldn't be doing what it was doing. He flipped himself over and ran out after the little robot. He burst into the living room scanning the room frantically for the Mouser.
"Did you see it?" Donnie yelled at his brothers.
"See what?" Leo asked from the couch.
"The Mouser." Donnie replied as if they should know.
"Why would we? It's been in your room all night." Raph said from the far side of the room.
"Well, it kind of activated itself and ran off." Donnie ended lamely. He was going to get so much grief for this.
"It what?" Leo yelled.
"Dude, you said it wouldn't work." Mikey jumped up on the couch.
"It wasn't supposed to be able to, I checked." Donnie scratched his head. This was the second time he had underestimated Baxter Stockman, there wasn't going to be a third.
"Well, clearly you didn't check hard enough." Raph said, he dropped his comic and launched himself over the living area to a shadowy corner of the lair. The Mouser darted from between his legs and headed for the entrance. But Leo was there to cut it off.
"What's it doing?" Leo asked. The Mouser ran and hid under behind their TV stand, Mikey peeked at it, and when he went to grab it, it snapped at his fingers.
"It's trying to get back to Stockman, it must have some basic programming that kicks in if someone tries to tamper with the unit." Donnie scratched his chin. The Mouser scurried around the room, ducking under chairs and tables, evading the boys' attempts at catching it.
"Would you just catch it already?" Raph yelled at his brother in purple. "You just had to keep it, didn't you?"
"The information we could gain could be priceless." Donnie snapped back.
"Stop squabbling and catch it." Leo yelled at his brothers.
Mikey had the Mouser trapped behind the television set, it was backed up against the wall and snapped at any fingers that got too close. He sucked on his finger that had received a nip, "It's tasted blood!" He yelled through his fist.
"Quit fooling around and grab it." Leo was getting annoyed.
"Grab what?" April asked as she and Holly walked through the entryway.
"April!" Donnie shouted happily, all thoughts of the Mouser disappearing for a moment.
"That stupid robot, it's running around the lair." Raph didn't even turn around, there was work to do.
"How?" Asked Holly.
"It turned on as I was pulling it apart, It's trying to go back to Stockman." Donnie explained.
"Then it's probably recording what it's seeing," There was a pause as everyone looked at Holly. "If I were a crazy mad man I would want to know who stole my stuff." She shrugged at the group.
"We can't risk that information getting back to Stockman, especially now we know he's working with the Purple Dragons and Dog pound." Leo shook his head. "Raph, have at it."
"It's about damn time." Raph drew his Sais and motioned that Mikey should move away from the television, allowing the Mouser to come out. It launched itself out of its hiding spot, Mikey squealed and ducked as the little robot used his shell as a spring board, flying over the sofa and soaring for the exit. Raph threw one of his Sais, it span end over end until it connected with the bot, the force of his throw buried the Sai into the concrete wall where the Mouser was pinned. It struggled and squealed trying to get free but it was useless. Raph smiled smugly.
"You missed." Leo said.
"Donnie wanted it in one price right?" Raph asked.
"But I don't." Leo replied shortly.
"Not a problem." Holly had pulled out her compound bow from its carrying case and had loaded an arrow. She pulled back, took aim, and fired. The arrow whistled slightly as it sailed through the air, and it sank deep into the Mousers head. The robot sparked, whirred, and died pinned against the wall. "I figured I would bring you guys this. It's not like I can use it in the city, and it works much better than the one you have here."
"Oh cool" Mikey sprang up and rushed over to Holly, she gave him her bow and watched him draw it back, getting a feel for the tension. "Can I try shooting it?"
"Sure, it's yours now." She couldn't help but smile at the look on the youngest turtles face. Mikey rushed off to the training room. "Just be careful with it." Holly yelled after him. She and Raph walked over to the Mouser to retrieve their belongings. There was one light left blinking inside the head of the mechanical creature, but it faded slowly until it too winked out. After handing the dead robot to Donnie, they followed the rest of the group into the other room to watch Mikey.
"Wow, that's awesome!" He yelled. He took another shot, and another, celebrating happily after each one.
"Here, let me have a go." Leo stood and Mikey gave him the bow. Leo took aim and pulled the string back, and again, the arrow flew straight and true and smacked into the target with a satisfying thunk. "That's incredible."
"It should be, it was top of the line when I got it." Holly said. "And I take very good care of my possessions."
April and Holly watched as the turtles each took a turn shooting at the targets, April even tried.
"OK, draw back the bow, take a deep breath and release on the exhale." Holly tried to explain to the redhead.
April did as she was told, but when she let go of the arrow, it sailed past the target and into the back wall. April frowned, and tried again. She drew back the bow, took a breath, exhaled, and released, but once again the arrow missed the target and hit the wall.
Donatello stood up and moved over to the frustrated girl. He walked around her scratching his chin. "Do it again." April frowned at him.
"What is he...?" Raph started, but Holly clamped her hand over his mouth and pressed a finger to her lip. This could get close and personal.
April gave him a look but did as he asked. She loaded and arrow and drew back the bow.
"Don't lock out your elbow, use your muscle to hold it steady." Donnie said. April adjusted her grip. Donnie walked behind her, examining her posture. He gently took hold of her shoulders and pulled back, making her stand up straighter. "Also, hold your shoulders back, it'll open up your chest. And hold your other elbow up, but not too high." Donnie put one hand under her right elbow and his other hand held her wrist straight.
April noticed that Donnie was standing very close behind her, if she were to lean back she would bump into him. Her heart rate climbed as he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, his hands were so much bigger than hers. She felt his other hand steadying the arm that held back the arrow. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
"Now, take your time, breath." He practically whispered to her, it sent goosebumps all the way down her spine and on into her toes. After one more deep, cleansing breath, she let go of the string.
April didn't even look at the target, she was too busy noticing that her favorite turtle still had a hold of her wrist. His other hand had moved up her arm and was resting on her shoulder.
"Nice shooting Tex." Holly said with a very smug tone in her voice.
April jumped slightly, she had forgotten the others were there. She looked at the target, she had actually done quite well. Her arrow was in the target, just outside of the red center circle.
"Hey, I hit it!" She jumped up happily and beamed up at Donnie, who smiled back at her with his trademark gap-toothed grin.
"Nice work." He said softly to her. She blushed slightly and tuned away from the group so they wouldn't see her big dopey grin.
Mikey, Holly and Raph all started to walk towards the door that lead back to the living room, they were arguing about who could get the new high score on the pinball machine and had even started making bets as to who could get the most points with a single ball. But just as they reached the door, Master Splinter slid it open from the other side.
"I have been waiting for you, my sons. I see the young ladies are here also." He glanced briefly at each of the six teens in the room. They all had smiles on their faces.
"They were all trying out the bow I brought over." Holly said cheerily.
"Well, since you all seem to be keen on practicing, why don't we have a real training session?" Splinter chuckled to himself.
Mikey and Raph groaned, which earned them each a painful pinch from their sensei. Splinter hooked the two turtles under the jaw and dragged them into the room. The other teens chuckled.
"I guess we'll see you guys later then." April said as she started walking over to Holly when Master Splinter spoke up again.
"Actually, I was thinking it might be time for you to join the others for training."
"Um..." Said Holly.
"Well..." Mimicked April
"Yeah!" Yelled Mikey. Everyone looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "What? I'm the only one who's excited?" He shrugged.
"I don't know, I'm not that great, and I already feel self-conscious when it's just us." Holly rubbed her elbow and spoke to the floor.
"Awe come on, it'll be fun." Leo said.
"Yeah, for you." Holly bit back. But April grabbed her arm and dragged her off to change.
The girls returned to find the turtles already kneeling before Master Splinter. April bowed before entering and moved to sit next to Donnie, who gave her a quick smile out of the corner of his eye. Holly also bowed in respect, but she was much slower to take a seat at the other end of the row. Her face was stony as she looked up at the old rat who looked down at his pupils.
April was thoroughly enjoying her first training session with the rest of the group, she was surprised at how many sit-ups she could do and had even had a silent contest with Donnie to see who could do more. He won naturally, but it was still fun to try and keep up. They had then worked on their forms and had tried some new routines, the only thing she was struggling with was a spinning kick. She kept falling over.
"I just don't get it. How do you stay upright?" She said from the floor.
"You have to lean back on your heel, your momentum will carry you around and pull you back upright," Leo explained to her, he then showed her one more time how to do it. "See?"
"Well obviously I see, but doing it is more difficult." She let him pull her back to her feet.
"Just keep trying and you'll get it." Leo said encouragingly. There was a yelp and a thud from the other side of the room. April turned to see Holly sprawled on the mats, just as she had been a moment ago. She sat up and rubbed her elbow groaning slightly, Mikey and Donnie chuckled.
"Something funny?" Holly glared at them.
"Do you have any idea how many times we fell over learning this stuff?" Donnie said through his gap-tooth smile.
"Yeah, Raph knocked himself out when he hit his head learning how to do flips." Mikey laughed.
Raph smacked him on the back of the head, "I'll knock you out if you're not careful." He crossed his arms and sulked.
"It's OK Raph, at least you weren't dropped on your head as a baby." Holly covered her mouth playfully like she hadn't meant to say anything. Raph and Donnie laughed while Mikey pouted. "I'm just kidding Mikey, I'm sorry." Holly climbed to her feet and started her routine over.
Master Splinter was watching everyone silently from one end of the room. Leonardo had been going around, mostly to the girls, giving them pointers and advice about their technique. Donnie and Mikey had been sparring and Raphael had been punching the training dummy. He had been thinking about letting the girls try learning some of the more advanced routines including weapons. Well, practice with dull weapons anyway. Maybe the turtles would learn a thing or two about their own skill set as well.
Master splinter had been watching the six teenagers before him with a lightness in his heart. He was so proud of his boys, and he couldn't have picked better friends for them himself. He tapped his cane a couple of times to get their attention, and the teenagers all fell into line before him.
"You girls have been doing very well these last sessions, and I feel it's time that you start learning how to use your skills along with the weapons we have." The room remained silent, but there was a ripple of emotion that ran through the room. April was ecstatic, he could practically see the electricity sizzling around her. Holly was dubious, and Donatello and Raphael had matching expressions of worry written all over their faces. "I have also decided, that you boys are going to teach them how to use these weapons. After all, there is no better way to learn, than to teach."
"It would be our honor." Leo said with a little nod.
"Good, you may begin now then." Splinter walked to the sliding door that lead to the living room.
"Don't you want to stay and watch sense?" Leo asked curiously.
"I will check in on you in a while, but right now I am going to make some tea." Splinter walked out leaving the teens looking slightly lost. Well, all except Leonardo who was all too excited to lead the others in practice.
"Alright, well where would you like to start?" Leo asked.
April and Holly looked at each other with different expressions on their faces. April looked delighted, while Holly looked anxious.
"Well, I've always wanted to have a go with the Bo staff." April said with a glance at Donnie. His eyes widened and a small smile played around his lips.
"What do you want to do?" Leo directed at Holly.
"I have absolutely no idea." She said looking a little lost.
"I could show you how to do this." Mikey said swinging his nun chucks around expertly. He swung one around his body doing a figure eight around his torso. It wound and unwound around his arms and body as he changed the direction of the spin. Mikey flashed her a cocky grin until one of the handles clocked him in the side of the head. "Ouch."
"You have been practicing for years, and you still hit yourself in the head. I think I'll pass, thanks." Holly shook her head at him with a smile. Mikey looked a little downcast and she felt bad. "I promise I will try, but I don't want to start with those."
"You could always practice with us." Donnie offered.
"Oh no, I'm not getting in the middle of that." Holly pointed to her two friends, they looked at each other and immediately looked away from each other again. Donnie scratched the back of his head nervously, while April rubbed her arm. Both were blushing.
"Why don't you start with me then? I think you'd do well with a sword anyway." Leo offered.
"Umm, OK. Why not?" Holly shrugged.
"What about me?" Raph scowled at his big brother. "What are me and Mikey supposed to do?"
"You could practice with us, it might be worth us all learning some extra skills." Leo said.
"You want me to learn how to use those?" Raph pointed at the swords on his brothers' back, his face was twisted as if he had just been asked to do something disgusting.
"Yeah, who knows what could happen, and maybe these could save your life." He drew his katana and swung them around in a little demonstration.
Raph rolled his eyes, "Alright, fine. I'll stay." He picked up one of the wooden practice swords muttering to himself. Holly and Leo smirked at each other, they weren't stupid. Raph was just being a drama queen since Holly hadn't jumped on him like April had with Donnie.
Mikey and Holly grabbed the other spare sticks and stood facing Leo, Raph was still muttering to himself but joined the others by his big brother. At least Donnie was having a better day for a change.
Donnie and April were in a remote corner of the room. April had a smaller, lighter version of Donnie's weapon in her hands and was starting to feel a little nervous. He was telling her a little about the history of his chosen weapon, how it had been used by common men in feudal Japan who were not allowed to carry swords of their own, and how they could be passed off as walking sticks if need be.
"Any weapon you use should become an extension of yourself, movements should be fluid and smooth." He twirled the staff from side to side showing her what he meant. "Got it so far?"
"Uh-huh." She nodded at him. He beamed at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.
"We'll start with some basic motions and combine them into forms." He showed her slowly how to spin the Bo staff from side to side in front of her body. April tried to copy his motion but kept clipping her ankles and getting her hands tangled up in themselves.
Donnie stood next to her and kept repeating the motion, hoping that following him would help. April kept doing pretty well except for when she was supposed to unwind her arms on her left side, it just didn't seem to want to click. He propped his Bo staff against the wall for a moment and walked in front of her. He was watching her again like he had earlier when she was trying her hand at archery.
"Am I doing this right?" April asked him after a while, he hadn't said anything, he just kept watching her.
"What? Oh, yes." He snapped back to reality, "Alright, now try doing it backwards?"
April stopped what she was doing and leaned up against the staff, "What are you talking about?"
Donnie smiled at her and snatched up his own staff into his hands, "You we're spinning forwards," He showed her what he meant, "now try doing it backwards." As he changed directions, April noticed that as the end of the staff was spinning in front of the lanky turtle, it appeared to be moving from front to back, even though it was technically going in a circle.
April tried it, and found that going backwards was way easier. She only hit herself once or twice before she could keep going pretty consistently. "Hey, this is awesome."
"Yeah you're doing pretty good. Now start going forwards, and just as your switching sides spin on your toes so your body is facing the other way, then you'll start spinning it backwards." He didn't demonstrate this time, instead, he just gave her a smile.
She raised her eye brows at him, but his grin just spread wider across his face. Apparently he was not going to share what was so amusing just yet. So, instead of prying, April did what he had told her to do. She started spinning the staff forwards, and just as she was about to switch sides, she twisted her body on the balls of her feet. As she did, the staff swung up from behind her and smack her straight in the face. "Ouch," She said rubbing her forehead. Donnie just chuckled. "That's not very funny." She tried to be mad at him, but the twitch in her lips and the blush in her cheeks gave it away that she wasn't really annoyed.
"I have smashed myself in the face so many times you wouldn't believe it. Besides if I would have warned you, you would have tensed up, and you can't be smooth if you're tense." He gave her a sheepish grin. "If it makes you feel better, Master Splinter never warned me either."
"Oh don't worry, I'll get you back for that later." April winked at him as she tried again. Once again as she tried to turn, the end of the staff came rushing towards her face. But this time she was ready and managed to move her head at the last second, the staff clunked against her shoulder instead. "OK, you have to show me, I need some visual aids here."
Donnie chuckled again and demonstrated for her. "Don't worry, it takes some practice but I know you can do it."
April and Donnie kept practicing the switching motion, Donnie would do it with her and tried to explain exactly where her hands needed to be. After a few more attempts and a few more bonks to the head, April finally managed to twist and continue spinning the staff like she was supposed to. "I did it!" she yelled, a huge grin spread across her face and she jumped up and down a couple of times before launching herself at her tall teacher. She gave him a bone-crushing hug before she let him go and beamed up at him.
Donnie smiled back at her, "I knew you could."
"Well, I'm glad they're having so much fun." Raph said grumpily after hearing Aprils ecstatic outburst.
"You're not even trying." Leo said, sounding fed up.
"Yeah Raph, I think this is fun." Mikey poked his tongue out at his brother and continued to practice the little routine his biggest brother had been teaching them.
"It just feels weird." Raph looked at the fake sword in his hands, he had spent so many years learning how to use his Sais, that this just felt wrong to him. It felt so unnatural.
"Come on Raph, if you stick this out I'll make Leo join in when we work with you." Holly winked at the turtle beside her. He perk up slightly knowing that he would be able to boss Leo around later. Plus, he was having more fun than he was going to admit. He really liked learning next to Holly, she was just as bad as he was but kept encouraging him that he was doing just fine.
Master Splinter had been watching the little group practicing. Once he had made some tea, he was glad to return to a room buzzing with activity. He was a little worried that the turtles would want to socialize more than work, but they were behaving, for the most part.
After another hour or so of them working amongst themselves, Splinter decided that it was probably time to let them go have some fun. He called over his six students, who kneeled before him once more. "You have all worked hard today, I am very proud that you were able to focus so well. But now, you are free to go have some fun."
"Alright!" Mikey hopped up and started running for the door.
"After you clean up in here." Splinter yelled at his escaping son.
The turtles and the girls cleaned up the training room quickly, they put away the equipment and cleaned the floors before heading out into the living room to relax for a moment. They all flopped down on the sofas and chairs before Mikey turned on the TV and powered up one of their many games consoles.
"How do you still have so much energy?" Holly asked Mikey who was bouncing slightly waiting for his game to load.
"Because he's a freak of nature." Raph answered before Mikey could.
"No," Mikey glared at his brother, "It's because I always have enough energy to appreciate great art."
"It's just a video game, and an old one at that." Holly replied.
"It's art to me." He turned his attention back to the screen.
"Anyway, what do you guys want to do tonight?" April asked the group.
"I'm starving, I don't know about you guys." Leo said rubbing his stomach. There was a murmur of agreement from the entire room, even Master Splinter agreed, and he was just passing through the room.
"Why don't we order some pizzas?" Mikey yelled from the floor.
"Don't you ever get tired of pizza?" April asked.
All of the turtles answered with a resounding "No."
"Why don't I go and pick up something to eat, and April you could go rent a couple of movies." Holly offered.
"Sure, what movie should I get? And do you guys have popcorn?"
"What's popcorn?" Leo asked.
"I'll take that as a "no" then." April and Holly stood up and each went to grab their wallets.
"Grab a few different movies and we can vote on it when we get back." Holly offered, "Here, take that so you can get a bunch." She handed April forty dollars and stuffed the rest of her cash in her pocket. "While we're gone, maybe you guys could tidy up a bit." Holly directed the comment at Raph, who peered at her over the top of his comic with a look that implied that she was nuts. She waved at them over her shoulder, and she and April left the lair laughing together.
Baxter Stockman was on his way home, today had been disastrous. The Shredder had threatened him countless times to find the turtles, and the Purple Dragon idiots he had been forced to work with were doing little to improve his odds of success. His only hope was the computer chip that was tucked safely in his pocket, the design was incredible, and it belonged to the tall turtle creature. He had plans for the chip, oh yes, and hopefully, it would get him out of his current predicament.
Stockman entered his apartment and walked straight to his computer, an icon was blinking, indicating that his last Mouser unit had transmitted some information. It was supposed to be at the warehouse waiting for him to start working, but that moron Fong had lost it. He knew the turtles had it, but he needed to know where they were. He opened the file to find one single image, it was slightly blurry but he could make out the basic shapes of two of the turtles looking fierce. Behind them was a stone room with very little distinguishable architecture to help him pinpoint where they may be. He leaned back in his chair and sighed, there was nothing that could help him.
There was another figure in the image, one that was not a turtle. It was a human, and a young one at that. Stockman leaned back in and examined the image carefully, there was a young girl in the turtles' lair, which would mean they could use this girl to find the turtles. Stockman printed the image and would take it to the Purple bozos in the morning, they would be much more capable at finding this girl than he would alone. With so many eyes on the street, this redhead would not be able to stay hidden for very long.
"All you got were horror movies?" Holly asked April in disbelief. When she had said "a variety" she had expected a comedy, an action movie, or a chick flick, but all April had come back with were five different horror movies.
"Yeah, who doesn't like to be scared?" April shrugged it off. She had been watching scary movies for years and loved every terrifying second of them.
"I hate horror movies, they're so stupid." Holly folded her arms across her chest. "At least I brought back six different pizzas, not just the same pizza with the toppings arranged differently."
"Oh quit whining, you're starting to sound like Raph."April paused for a second and gave her friend a suspicious look. "You're not scared, are you?"
"I have never seen a horror movie that hasn't just relied on cheap thrills for entertainment." Holly tried to sound calm, but she was freaking out on the inside. She wouldn't admit it, but she was scared. She hated horror movies, she much preferred to laugh than be scared senseless.
"Don't worry, you can cuddle up to Raph, he'll protect you." April grinned at the pouting girl before her, and she received a death stare in return. April shoved Holly playfully, "I didn't know you wouldn't like these, I'm sorry." April stuck her bottom lip out and gave her friend puppy dog eyes.
"You're lucky you're cute or I'd have to kill you." Holly pouted more, but April knew she was off the hook.
"Come on, before the boys eat all the pizza." April grabbed Hollys' wrist and dragged her back into the living room to the boys who were demolishing the food they had brought in just a few minutes ago.
"Hey you pigs, save some for us." April charged around the couch and grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza before it was all gone. Holly followed more slowly and opened up the sausage pizza box only to find it empty.
"Who ate all the sausage?" Holly asked the rowdy group in front of her.
"That would be the turtle equivalent of a garbage disposal, sitting right over there." Raph said over her shoulder pointing at Mikey. "But, I did manage to save you two slices before he could get to them." He held a plate that had two slices of pizza on it out to her.
She smiled at him and took the plate from his hands, "Thank you". Raph grabbed his own slice and the two of them took the two seats at the end of the couch.
"Alright you guys, we have a fine selection of scary movies to choose from tonight." April held out the titles for the group to see. "We have a zombie flick, a slasher flick, a mess with your head flick, another zombie movie, and, my personal favorite, an alien invasion movie."
"Which slasher movie is it?" Mikey asked enthusiastically. Holly groaned slightly which earned her a curious glance from Raph. She just laughed it off like it was nothing.
"Friday the 13th, part nine or something, they've made so many I loose count." April shrugged. "It's the newest one so I would assume no one has seen it."
"Works for me." Leo said.
"Yeah, I don't care either." Raph said. "Just put that one in, it will keep Mikey happy." Everyone looked at him with a shocked look on their faces, even Holly had forgotten about being scared long enough to give him a strange look. "What? I can be nice you know." A disbelieving scoff made its way around the room, but Raph decided to let it go.
"Alright, here you go Mikey." April threw the dvd case at the excitable turtle who jumped up and put the movie in.
Donnie dimmed the lights and settled on the couch next to April. Holly took a deep breath trying to keep calm, the movie hadn't even started yet and she was nervous. She twisted the ends of her shirt round and round her fingers.
Raph noticed her weird behavior, and placed a hand on hers, "Hey, are you alright?" He leaned in so only she would hear the concern in his voice.
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just not a fan of scary movies." She looked a little embarrassed to be admitting this, so Raph decided to be honest with her as well.
"Don't worry, neither am I." He flashed her a grin and winked at her before settling back into his cozy corner of the couch. Holly smiled, she felt a little less foolish and tried to relax as the opening scene started on the screen.
April was settled on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her, on her left was Donatello who was leaning back with his arms behind his head. She was surprised, she hadn't pictured him being a horror fan, but he didn't seem bothered by the movie at all.
On her other side, Leo sat not even paying attention. He had one of Raphs comics and was reading it instead. Every once in a while he would look up to see what was going on, but he seemed more interested in reading. Mikey on the other hand was engrossed in the movie. He was laying on the floor on his plastron and was wiggling his feet in the air, he was chuckling happily as the teenagers in the movie were setting up their camp by the lake. He had a slice of pizza in his hand and was waving it at the TV, telling the oblivious teens that they were in trouble.
April turned back to the movie, the serial killing swamp man had finally made his appearance and was skulking around the woods looking for his first victim. April and Holly both squealed as the poor cheerleader was cornered in the barn, Holly covered their eyes with their hands although it didn't help much since Mikey was doing some commentary.
"Oh, so nasty." He laughed, "Right in the gut."
April chuckled, she looked around at the rest of her friends to see their reactions. Leo looked unconvinced, he was probably asking himself why the stupid girl hadn't gotten back up after she had fallen over. Donnie looked a little grossed out, but not as bad as Raph did. He looked like he was about to puke. Holly had scooted all the way down in her seat and was peeking out at the TV between her fingers. Every few moments she would clamp her fingers shut with a little gasp and shake her head muttering to herself. April turned back to Donnie and put her hand on his arm. "Are you alright?" she whispered to him.
"Huh? Oh yeah." Donnie's eyes went wide as the psycho killer hacked off one of the teens arms. "This is great." He continued sarcastically.
"You're not scared are you?" She poked his shoulder and gave him a cheeky grin.
"Hardly." He looked down at her with a frown on his face. But it soon lifted when he saw that she was just making fun of him. "But I don't think he needs to keep hacking off limbs when she's already dead." He pointed at the screen as, once again, the killer was picking on the helpless screaming girl.
"Oh come on, it's all in good fun." April bumped her shoulder into his.
"I don't think she's having much fun." Again he motioned to the blond girl on the screen.
April giggled into her hand. Clearly, his brain was over-analyzing this whole scenario. "It's supposed to be gross, it's supposed to scare the pants off of you."
"I don't wear pants." Donnie said with a smug grin.
"Shut up." She shoved him again playfully. They smiled at each other for a moment before turning back to the television. April stole another glance at the tall teen turtle by her side, he had a small smile on his face, but he was fidgeting and picking at his fingers. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine." He gave her a smile, but April felt it was forced.
This was torture, the movie had only been going for thirty minutes and she was already ready to run like hell. Holly risked another peek at the screen, but saw the helpless girl get stabbed through the torso again, and immediately closed her eyes. She heard some muttering coming from the other end of the couch, and decided to try and distract herself with some gossip. After scooting back up the couch, Holly saw that April and Donnie were flirting furiously. There was some poking and shoving involved and April was giggling.
Holly elbowed Raph in the ribs to get his attention. He gasped and jumped, since he had not been expecting to be jabbed. It took Holly a second to realize what had happened, and after he gave her a look of pure confusion and mild panic, she had to laugh at him. She help her palms up to him as a silent apology, but she still had a smile on her face. He glared at her, but when she pointed over her shoulder, he just substituted his scowl with more confusion.
Holly couldn't believe he was being so dense. She rolled her eyes at him and pointed more aggressively over her shoulder. He sat up straighter for a moment so he could see around everyone else, April and Donnie were chatting and smiling, and looking very cozy.
"So what?" He whispered, "It's not like he's going to do anything." Raph settled back in his seat and looked at her knowing that he was right.
"Why not?" She looked at him curiously. He just shrugged at her, and she frowned sadly. She turned back to the TV only to be greeted with another gruesome image of a teenage boy getting impaired with a garden hoe. Holly squealed again and buried her face in Raphs shoulder. She could feel him laughing at her by the way his shoulder was shaking under her face. However, when there was a particularly noisy and squelchy sounding killing he jumped again. Holly looked up long enough to poke her tongue out at him and receive another glare, but then she looked back at the TV long enough to see the masked killer slashing at yet another stupid teenage girl. Holly squeaked again and dove for cover again, and Raph tensed up and looked away.
"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be popped something-or-other?" Mikey said from the floor.
"You just ate." Leo said.
"So? I'm a growing boy, and I have a healthy appetite." He grinned back at Leo who was on the couch and then turned his attention back to the screen. Leo shook his head and started to stand up, but Holly jumped up first.
"I'll get it." She said too loudly, and practically sprinted from the room, eager to get away from the gore for just a moment.
"Oh no you don't, I'm not staying if you don't have to." Raph followed her into the kitchen. He turned back to the others just before he left the room, "Not that I don't want to watch the movie, it's awesome."
"Yeah right," Mikey said from the floor. "I saw you, you were scared."
Raph looked around for something to throw at his baby brother, but couldn't find anything that would hurt enough, he decided that he would remember to punch him later, but for now, he would just go into the kitchen and try to relax for a moment. Holly already had one bag of popcorn in their homemade microwave and had another ready and waiting to go.
"Is this thing safe?" She said backing away from the make-shift microwave.
"To be honest, I have no idea. Donatello made it, so I would hope so." Raph shrugged, he leaned against the counter and sighed.
"So, you're just as big of a wuss as I am, huh?" Holly grinned at him.
"I am not a wuss." He folded his arms and smiled mischievously at her, "I wasn't the one who was cowering behind my hands." She pulled a sarcastic face at him since she couldn't come up with a snappy comeback. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He chuckled to himself.
"Alright, yes, I get scared of these stupid movies." The microwave dinged and she took the first bag out and dumped the contents into a couple of bowls. She started the second bag cooking and turned back to Raphael, who was still grinning to himself. She bit her lip. "Don't you get scared?"
He didn't answer, he had never admitted to anyone that he got scared. He had only ever shared his fears with Master Splinter, but he never actually used the word "scared".
"You know what? It doesn't matter, I was just trying to distract myself from all that." She gestured vaguely at in the direction of the living room. "Here, you can carry these." She handed him two of the bowls and gave him a little smile before they walked back into the darkened living room.
Holly held one bowl out to Donnie, she leaned over him on the opposite side of April, "Put your arm around her." she whispered in his ear. As she pulled back he had a confused look on his face, she didn't say anything else, instead she just winked at him.
She walked over to Mikey and put the second bowl down next to him. "Hope you like it."
He picked up a single piece of popcorn, sniffed it, and popped it into his mouth. A glazed look clouded his face for a moment, and then he started shoveling the popcorn into his mouth as fast as he could.
"Slow down or you'll choke." Holly snatched the bowl away from him.
"But it's so good." He was drooling slightly as he reached for the bowl in her hands.
"Would you sit down? He'll be fine." April hissed at her. Holly rolled her eyes but sat back down next to Raph, who was already stuffing his face. She kicked up one leg and reached over to get a hand full of popcorn. Raph pulled the bowl away from her, and when she leaned over to try again, he held the bowl further away. Holly raised an eyebrow at him, and he brought the bowl back so she could reach it. She poked him hard in the arm and threw a piece of popcorn at him, just so he knew she would fight back.
Donatello had the bowl Holly had given him resting on his leg. He also had the idea she had given him rolling through his head, he had been wrestling with it for almost half an hour now. If he didn't make a decision soon, the movie would be over. If he did put his arm around her, it could be a step forwards to something more, but it could also ruin their friendship. However, if he did nothing, she may think that he wasn't interested. He was going over and over the pros and cons when something small hit him in the side of the head. He looked down to see what it was, and found a piece of popcorn in the crook of his arm.
He looked to his right, to see that Holly was waving at him silently. She and Raph had apparently given up on watching the movie and were now egging him on to make his move on April. They were silently mouthing at him to put his arm around her, and when he shook his head in defiance, they threw more popcorn at him.
April felt a couple of pieces of popcorn hit her, she looked over to see where it had come from and saw Holly and Raph doing their best to look innocent. She turned to Donnie who was frowning at the other two teens on the other end of the couch.
"What is going on?" She whispered, sounding mildly irritated.
"It's nothing, they're just being stupid." He shook his head again, looking over the top of Aprils' head. She turned again to see what was going on, and Holly was scratching the back of her neck and Raph was tapping his finger on his knees. April narrowed her eyes at her friends, curious as to what they were up to. But for right now, she didn't care. She was watching an awesome movie with her five favorite people. She sighed happily to herself and rested her head against Donatello's shoulder.
Donnie was stunned, he had been dreaming of a moment like this for so long. This had to be another dream. He looked down at the top of Aprils' head, her bright hair shone in the dull light, and he could smell her shampoo. He looked over April at Holly, who had a huge smile on her face. Behind her, Raph wore a similar expression, but his had a hint of smugness gleaming through his red bandanna. Donnie turned his attention back to April, she had wound here arm around his and had her hand resting on top of his. He smiled to himself and rested his cheek against the top of her head and just enjoyed the sensation of being so close to the girl he dreamt of
The turtle boys had gone to bed hours ago, and April was breathing deeply at the other end of the sofa, but Holly just couldn't sleep. She had been having troubling dreams since April and Mikey had forced her through another two horror movies earlier that night. Leonardo had at least enjoyed the second one they had watched as it was supposedly more believable, but she had spent those two hours trying not to run away. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had seen herself and the others trying to fight off hoards of machete-wielding zombies. It wasn't the zombies themselves that scared her, it was seeing the fear in her friends' eyes and knowing that she couldn't do anything to help them.
April mumbled in her sleep, something about Donatello. At least someone was having pleasant dreams. Holly stood up and wrapped herself in her blanket, she walked over to her bag of clothes and books and pulled out her tablet. If she couldn't sleep she may as well be entertained at the same time. She walked out of the living room and into the little kitchen, there was no need to wake up April just because she couldn't sleep. After finding something to drink, Holly sat on one of the chairs and loaded one of her favorite movies from her library, and settled in for a long night.
Splinter woke up later than he usually would. His boys and the girls had been making quite a racket the previous night, but he didn't really mind. He was just happy that his sons got the opportunity to feel like normal teenagers for a while. He left his room and made his way silently through the living area, a quick glance at the sofa revealed that there was only one sleeping form laying there. As he rounded the pillar to the kitchen, he saw Holly hunched over the table. She was breathing softly resting her head on her arms, beside her a black tablet was propped up on its stand.
Splinter carefully moved around the sleeping girl and started his usual morning routine. After setting his kettle on the stove top, he fished out the coffee grounds and filters from a cabinet. He poured himself some tea and made himself some breakfast and sat in one of the empty chairs on the opposite side of the table from Holly. She twitched and groaned as she started to wake up.
"Good morning, I didn't think our kitchen table was that comfortable." Splinter said, he took a sip of tea and waited for the girl to fully awaken.
"Oh god, is it really morning?" Holly peeked out over her arm with just one eye. She slowly raised her head off of the table and sat up straight, her neck and back were stiff from being hunched over for the last four hours. Her cheek had an imprint of the grain of the wooden table and her hair was sticking out at some wired angles.
Splinter chuckled as she stretched again and wrapped herself back in the blanket. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat back in the chair she had slept in, and after she had taken her first sip she let a smile creep across her face.
"I take it you didn't sleep well last night?" Splinter asked the girl.
"No, not really. I kept, uh, waking up." She finished lamely.
Splinter just nodded, he didn't want to force an explanation out of Holly. If she wanted to talk, she would talk.
"Oh, I hope we weren't too loud last night?" Holly took another sip of coffee.
"It's perfectly fine, it was nice to hear you all having a normal teenage experience." Splinter smiled at her.
"They are normal," Holly said innocently, Splinter raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, as normal as mutated turtles can be." Splinter laughed heartily, it was weird to hear since he didn't laugh much, but the sound made Holly laugh with him.
"What's so funny?" Leonardo walked into the kitchen looking a little groggy himself.
"Wow, you look almost as bad as I do." Holly said.
"I dunno', you look pretty rough." Leo said as he poured himself some coffee.
"Oh, you're such a charmer." She replied, voice dripping in sarcasm.
"So? Why do you look like you got dragged through a bush backwards?" He asked.
"I didn't sleep much." Holly tugged the blankets closer around her shoulders. At least she didn't have to worry about going to school on so little sleep. "Oh, and I don't recommend using the table as a pillow." She motioned to her face, which was still a little pink on one side.
"I was wondering what had happened to your face. Luckily for me, I have a nice soft bed to sleep in." Leo said smugly.
"I do have a nice soft bed. Mine is half way across town." She blinked at him over her mug. He chuckled at her and settled himself in an empty chair. "Alright, we've laughed at me, now it's your turn. Why didn't you sleep?"
"I was just reading, I lost track of time." He shrugged and sat beside her. "Why couldn't you sleep?"
Holly smiled at the oldest of the turtle boys, he stared her down waiting for an answer. She sighed to herself and decided to just give in, she was too tired to argue. "Fine, I couldn't sleep because I kept having pretty bad dreams." She looked embarrassed and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"What about?" Leo asked, apparently unfazed by this revelation.
"Us, all of us. Everyone was dying and I couldn't do anything to stop it." Holly took another deep breath, she was still a little disturbed by her own imagination.
"That is nothing you should be ashamed of, it simply means you care about your friends." Splinter said calmly.
"Maybe so, but It doesn't help me sleep any better." Holly stated simply.
"I suppose that is true." Splinter said after a moments' pause.
Holly smiled into her coffee, it was nice to have people around to talk to about random things. The little group talked for a while about whatever popped into their heads, mostly Splinter and Leo talked while Holly tried to keep her head off the table. After a little while, April stumbled into the kitchen rubbing her eyes and yawning widely.
"Did none of you sleep last night?" Splinter asked as April sat at the table heavily.
"I slept fine, I just wasn't quite ready to wake up." April said through another enormous yawn.
"I'll say. Just so you know, you talk in your sleep." Holly said with a malicious grin.
April stopped rubbing her face and let her hands fall to the table. "What was I saying?"
"I didn't catch all of it, but it was defiantly something to do with Donatello." Holly waggled her eyebrows at her friend. April blushed slightly and just smiled. Holly couldn't help but laugh.
Pretty soon, everyone had stumbled into the little kitchen, and after a couple rounds of coffee and two boxes of cereal, the room was full of vibrant chatter and laughing. Mikey was arguing with Leo about which of the movies they had watched last night was the best. While April, Raph and Donnie were discussing their plans for the rest of the day.
"I hope your plans include training today?" Master Splinter said when there was a lull in their conversation.
"But of course." April said to splinter, she cringed slightly as she turned back to the two turtle boys, she hadn't even thought about training. Donnie and Raph sniggered behind their hands.
The group of teenagers made their way back into the living room, April cleaned up the blanket and pillows she had used the night before and grabbed some clean clothes out of her back pack. As she went to find a quiet place to change, Holly fell back onto the couch, still clutching her blanket tightly. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes.
"If you wanted to sleep, you should have done it last night." Raph said from above her with his arms crossed.
Holly didn't even open her eyes, "If I wanted to sleep, I never would have agreed to watch those stupid movies."
"Did you have some bad dreams?" Raph was mocking her.
"Don't start with me tough guy, you might just get more than you can handle." She peeked up at him through one eye and wagged a finger at him from between the folds of her blanket. He shook his head at her, then he gestured that she should sit up with a nod of his head. She groaned but complied. He took his usual seat at the end of the couch and settled back to watch TV. Holly leaned against him and closed her eyes again, she didn't have the energy to feel embarrassed that she was being so forward.
Splinter walked through the living room on the way to his own room and saw that the teenagers were all slouching on the couch watching television. "Leonardo." He said to his oldest son, "Why don't you lead training today? You are going to have to learn to motivate an exhausted team at some point."
"Hai sensei." Leo replied to his master. "When do you guys want to start?" He asked the room rubbing his hands together.
"You heard him, motivate me." Holly said from Raphs shoulder, she had a grin on her face but kept her eyes closed. Raphael chuckled, he loved that she liked being just as difficult as he did every once in a while.
"Think of it this way; the sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done." Leo tried to convince her.
"Or, the later we start, the longer I get to try sleeping again." Again, Holly didn't open her eyes, and Raph laughed. It wasn't very often he got to watch his brother get annoyed with someone, usually, it was him driving up Leo's blood pressure. She cracked one eye open to see Leo giving her a very disapproving look. "Alright, alright, Keep your bandanna on, I'll go change." Holly stood and wrapped the blankets even tighter around herself, she yawned as she picked up her belongings.
Training was brutal, Holly was barely able to stay upright, let alone try to block the wooden sword Leo had been swinging at her. April fared better against Donnie, and even managed to crack him on the knuckles a couple of times. Leo decided after a couple of hours that, given everyone's mood, they should call it quits for today.
Holly fell face-first into the couch and just lay there perfectly still for a while. April on the other hand was busying herself gathering up her belongings and making sure all the DVDs were in their correct cases.
"What are you doing?" Holly asked, voice muffled by the cushions.
"I have to head home today, and I don't want to have to pay for these again so I'm going to bring them back to the store." She grabbed the cases and stuffed them into her bag.
"I suppose I should at least go get some clean clothes." Holly propped herself up on her elbows. "I am wearing the last clean set I had."
"You guys are leaving us?" Mikey said from the floor
"I have to go home and spend some time with my aunt." April replied.
"I'll come back later, once I shower and take a nap." Holly pushed herself into a seated position, it took more effort than it should have. "It's not like there's anyone for me there, and I'd rather have your company even if there was."
"Really, even after Leo just got done trying to kill you?" Raph said with a smirk.
"Meh, it's ok. No one ever said it would be easy." Holly shrugged. "Besides, if I leave with April, there will be someone to drag me home should my legs give out."
"Yeah right, if you go down you're on your own." April scoffed.
The girls made slow progress getting home, their legs dragged and their backpacks were heavier than they remembered them being. As they walked, they had some good old-fashioned girl talk. They gossiped about the turtles and training, and they laughed at all the strangely dressed people who were out that day. They rounded one corner, about three blocks from Aprils' apartment, and stopped in their tracks. There were two Purple Dragon members leaning against the wall of the convenience store.
The girls looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. "They can't be up to anything good." April said it aloud.
"They can't be planning on robbing that place right now, can they? It's the middle of the day." Holly said with disbelief. She knew that this particular gang was stupid, but they couldn't be that dumb, could they?
"It's not like they're doing anything wrong right now, let's go. You should let the boys know when you see them later though." April and Holly continued on their way, and they kept an eye on the men as they walked by on the opposite side of the road. One of the men pulled out a cell phone and placed a call, and just as the girls rounded the corner to Aprils' street, the men pushed off the wall and crossed the road.
Holly waved to her friend as she continued on to her own apartment, but before April actually went inside, she checked up and down the street. Something was off, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Yeah, she saw the occasional Purple Dragon member out during the day, but the two she had just seen were up to no good, she just knew it.
The two Gang members stood at the end of Aprils road, they had been instructed earlier to keep an eye out for the red-headed girl and find out where she lived, where she went to school, and places she liked going. Stockman had handed out copies of a picture that proved she was in cahoots with the turtles, and had told all the lower-ranking members to spread out around the area and find her. They had called Fong to let him know that had found her already, but that she was with a friend, and he told them to wait until she was alone. If they were lucky, they'd get a promotion for finding her so quickly.