Leo winced as he tied a strip of fabric on his wounded side. Being in a place so familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time put him on edge. He tried contacting his brothers, April, Dad or even Casey but all he got was static which made him worried and a bit nervous.
"Dammit. I've been here for a few hours and I still can't get a hold of my family." Leo muttered as he carefully jumped from roof to roof while surveying his surroundings.
He had to wait for nightfall to be able to move freely. Somehow this place reminds him of New York even though the streets were less busy but still had people going about. His stomach growled and he put a hand on his plastron. When was the last time he ate? It was probably when he was breaking Donnie's pizza box stack record. What he wouldn't give for a slice of pizza right now.
He suddenly heard commotion and he looked down from the rooftop he was on and watched as someone came from the main street and was hiding at a dumpster. He tilted his head as he took in the appearance of the stranger. He couldn't get a good look but their hair was a dark brown with red streaks.
He noticed movements from the corner of his eyes and stiffened when some guy grabbed the one who was hiding and it was revealed to be a girl around his age.
He gritted his teeth in anger when the girl was struggling. How can some people be so low as to do things like that! He silently jumped down from his spot to help her but he had to wait for his cue to appear.
"Look at what we got here, boys." The one holding the girl cackled and Leo noticed how the girl was shaking from fear.
"Looks like she's a newbie." One of them laughed as the girl tried to get away and Leo's eyes widened when the guy holding her pressed a knife against her throat.
"We'll let you go if you hand over all of your stuff to us, girlie. And don't try screaming for help either." The first guy threatened.
Leo's eyes narrowed into a glare as something in him snapped when the girl's eyes started to fill up with tears. Now's the time to step in.
"Is that anyway to treat a lady, gentlemen?" He asked in a joking manner.
That made everyone look to where he is but he made sure to stay in the shadows so as not to give them a clear view of what he looked like.
"What does it look like to you, buddy? We're mugging this pretty face." The guy holding the girl said sharply.
"From what I can see. You're hurting señorita here, amigo." Leo said as his Ninpo activated and his markings glowed, he saw how the girl's maroon and chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise and shock.
Kayla's eyes widened in surprise as the three thugs looked bewildered.
"Hey now, guys. How about you let go of the nice girl?" The voice said in a serious tone but the lead thug just scoffed.
"As if. Why don't ya come out of the shadows so we can beat ya?" He said and Kayla swore she heard the owner of the voice snorting but he did so and her eyes widened at what she was seeing.
As the owner of the voice stepped forward, the first thing she noticed was that the legs were green and yet human-like but only had two toes. Up to his legs were yellow markings. Then the owner of the voice fully stepped out of the shadows and she had to stop her jaw from dropping in surprise and shock. It wasn't human but some type of mutant... turtle? It, or rather, he was wearing a blue mask, black wrappings around his arms and legs and what appeared to be red markings on his face.
When he appeared, the boss and his thugs couldn't believe what they were seeing. So much that they just burst out laughing at what they were seeing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The thugs laughed hysterically and Kayla saw how the mutant turtle's eyes twitched in what looked like annoyance.
"You guys are seeing this? Who does this guy think he is? A superhero?" The boss thug, Snake, laughed.
"Who are you, little guy? Turtle Boy? Shell Sword? Or Blue Lizard?" The first thug, Scar, taunted.
"I know what he is. A weirdo in a really bad costume." The second thug, Jack, mocked with a snicker.
"Ha ha ha. You guys are pretty funny. I love some thugs that have a good sense of humor." The mutant laughed casually.
"Tell you what, I'm gonna give you fellas two choices here. The easy way where you let go of the girl, turn yourselves in and you won't get hurt. Or the hard way where I save the damsel in distress and kick your butt with style." He told them and Kayla blinked at that. Did he just call her a damsel in distress?!
'Excuse me? Did he just call me a damsel in distress? What is this, a 1930 movie? Come on!' She thought but she couldn't help but let out a small snort from how cheesy it sounded.
"You trying to play tough, kid? I respect that." Snake said in a mocking tone.
"Now it's my turn to give you a choice. You can walk out of here with no bruises and let me and my boys do what we came here to do. Or we teach you a lesson, and see if your green starts to turn black." He warned her which made the mutant tense up.
Leo tense up at this as he shifted his weight to his uninjured one. Looks like he'll have to fight his way out of this one and rescue the girl.
"I say we teach this fool a lesson he won't forget." Scar said as he took out his weapons.
"I'm with ya, bro." Jack smirks as Leo lets out a bored yawn.
"If I had a slice of pizza for all the criminals who told me that would hurt me, I'd be in paradise." Leo said.
"Last chance, buster. Get out or else." Snake warned him but Leo just sent him a small grin.
"Get out or else, huh? I'm gonna go with or else on this one." Leo said which made Snake narrow his eyes.
"Wrong choice, buster." He said which made Leo's grin just get a little bigger.
"Indeed, wrong choice. For you guys." Leo said jokingly as the two thugs got easily annoyed with him.
"Didn't you learn how to count? There's two of us and only one of you, weirdo." Scar said as Leo moved his hand towards his pack by his belt.
"Yup. But I have everything I need to beat you guys. Now you see me." Leo said as he took out a small gray ball the size of a marble.
He throws against the ground to make it explode in a thick cloud of smoke that obscures him from eyesight. The smoke bomb made a huge mist of smoke appear which made the thugs cough when they accidentally inhaled it.
"Now you don't." Leo said in the smoke.
Kayla knew he was still there and those with untrained eyes won't be able to see him but for some reason, she can see his silhouette. Thanks to the smoke, the turtle had vanished. This made Snake growl in annoyance and tightened his hold on her which made her wince.
"Don't just stand there! Get that guy!" He ordered his thugs who were a bit unnerved.
"Right, boss." Jack nodded.
Leo hid in the shadows while the smoke stayed as the two thugs started to slowly advance while keeping an eye open on where he was but Leo was going to have a bit of fun with them. He used the smoke and his speed to play tricks on the two guys as he moved past them, which made those guys turn around to see what was behind them but at every turn there was nothing and that made them get scared.
"Show yourself, freak." Jack said, trying to be brave but Leo could tell he was scared.
"Okay. I'm here." Leo said as he moved behind the thug.
Jack turns around and throws a punch that Leo avoids quickly and vanishes only to appear behind the other thug.
"Behind you, dude." Leo snickered.
Scar turns around and throws a punch but doesn't hit since Leo vanished yet again and the two thugs were starting to get very nervous.
Kayla almost laughed as she watched what was happening. The mutant turtle was toying with them. The two thugs each saw a turtle figure in the middle. They both rushed to run toward it to punch it. But when they did, they ended up getting punched by one another as they both fell down in pain on the ground while holding their face.
"Ow man! Why did you hit me?!" Scar asked Jack in anger and confusion.
"You hit me!" Jack accused him but they didn't even see the mutant turtle watching them a few feet from them.
"You both hit each other." He snickered.
"Yeah!" The two shouted while glaring at each other before realizing what happened.
"Huh?! Get him!" The two shouted as the two got up to charge towards him.
"Seriously, guys? You're not even a challenge. But whatever." The turtle said with a roll of his eyes before Kayla noticed that he unsheathed a katana.
Leo takes out his only katana since he didn't know what happened to his other one and rushes toward the thugs. He swiftly slides down on his knees but grits his teeth when pain erupts from his injuries but he ignores it and then jumps to kick one of the thugs on his face. The other one tries to punch him from behind but Leo avoided him with a jump so high that Leo went for the lights. When the guy saw the lights, he got blinded by them which allowed Leo to drop on him and knock him out.
"Lights out for you, dude." Leo smirked.
"Take this, you freak!" Jack shouted as he charged towards him.
"Oh you love baseball? I love baseball. Fan of the Yankees?" Leo started to joke and ask.
The thug started to swing his bat at Leo who avoided every swing coming his way smoothly as if he was dancing.
"Oh wait, you love the Mets? Are you serious? The Yankees are way better than the Mets. Also you're really bad at swinging this thing." Leo taunted him and this just made the guy even angrier.
"Shut up, you turtle freak!" He shouted in annoyance.
"Okay, buddy, you know what time it is?" Leo asked him with a smirk.
"Shut up!" He shouted in annoyance.
The thug swung his bat hard at Leo who jumped and kicked him in the face, knocking him down so hard that the guy had a few teeth knocked out.
"It's time to strike you down. And yeah, I used a baseball pun." Leo said with a smirk.
"Okay, big guy, time for you to…" Leo started but trailed off when he noticed that the big guy was gone with the girl.
"Release the girl?" He finished in a questioning tone.
Leo grabbed his sword firmly as he kept his eyes open. He felt like the boss would try to ambush him. While Leo was getting ready for anything that's coming his way, the boss who has the girl and had his hand covering her mouth while he was moving behind Leo.
Kayla started to struggle against Snake who was advancing the mutant. She has to warn him before he gets hurt!
"Shut up, girl, and move it. I'm gonna show that turtle what happens when they mess with my gang." Snake growled quietly as Kayla glared at him.
The boss started to take out a throwing knife he had in his belt. Kayla tried to get his hand off where her mouth was. She struggled free before she was able to get the hand off her mouth and seized the chance to warn the turtle.
"Look out! Behind you!" She shouted.
"Huh?" The turtle turns around in confusion.
Leo turned around to where the voice was coming from. When he did, his eyes widened when he saw the knife coming his way. To dodge it, he retracted his head right into his shell on instincts. After that, his head popped back up. The boss couldn't believe that he had missed to finish him off.
He then had an idea to finish Leo off but he had to distract him enough to do so.
"Nice work, buddy. You fight really well using this… fancy sword of yours. I can't believe that you alone knocked out my guys." Snake complimented him which made Leo raise a nonexistent eyebrow at him in confusion.
For some reason, his gut was telling him something was up like the time with Big Mama.
"Okay? Why are you being nice all of the sudden?" Leo asked him as Snake smiled in what looked like a friendly smile but with the scars on his face, it just made him look menacing.
"Why? Because I want us to be good friends. I could really use your fighting skills in my group." Snake said but Leo just narrowed his molten gold eyes at him.
"Thanks but no thanks. I'm not one to fight for bad people. But if you want us to be good friends, then do me a favor and let the girl go." He said just as his tone went serious.
"Sure thing, man." He said.
Snake let go of Kayla rather roughly before he took out a huge knife to try and stab the turtle, but he used his katana to block the attack. The boss started to attack Leo who was dodging like his life depended on it but then stopped when his wounds started to act up again which made him clutch his side in pain as he gritted his teeth. Not now, he needs to beat this guy before he gets more hurt.
Kayla, who hid after being let go, saw what was going on and started to come up with something to help the mutant turtle.
"Come on, Kayla, think, think!" She muttered worriedly.
Kayla was trying to come up with a plan when she suddenly touched a metal pipe that was near her and that's when she got an idea.
Meanwhile, Leo was trying to fight even with the pain but he couldn't handle it so he used another smoke bomb, allowing him to disappear and hide in the shadows and smoke again.
"Playing hide and seek again? Is it because you have some small boo-boos?" Snake taunted him.
Leo was hiding behind a pillar as he took while breathing slowly through his pain but it was a bit difficult to not aggravate his injuries when he was fighting those two thugs and the boss was proving much of a challenge.
"You didn't think I didn't see that you weren't hurt, were you? Yet I'm still surprised you managed to knock my two pals like it was nothing. I'm really impressed, I really am. So what now, freak? You're gonna try to attack me from behind?" Snake taunted him as Leo narrowed his eyes from his hiding spot.
"Wanna know the difference between my thugs and me?" Snake questioned him.
Leo moves quickly and silently as he is preparing his attack from behind tactic again.
"Unlike them, I have brains. And I learn about my enemies so that makes me stronger than they are!" Snake exclaimed.
Leo tried to attack him from behind but the boss, who had expected him to do that, grabbed him from the neck with one hand and slammed him to the ground while pressing Leo's chest with his feet as Leo had to bite back a loud grunt of pain.
"Dude… you're way too heavy, man. You should... consider a diet. Although I must admit that you are…..really strong. You sort of remind me of someone I know back home." Leo joked in a strained tone.
"Keep talking, freak. Because those words are your last ones." Snake told him and Leo's eyes widened at that.
"So soon? Come on, man… you're killing the mood." Leo said nervously as he tried to get his foot off but his injuries prevented him.
"Bye bye, sucker." Snake smirked and raised his big knife only for a voice to distract him.
"Hey!" A voice shouted from behind him.
"Huh?" Snake turned around and saw Kayla who was standing behind him with a pipe.
When he saw her, he got immediately hit in the head as he let out a loud yell but he swayed to the side as the hit was strong enough to knock him out as Leo pushed him off.
"And you better stay down, you jerk!" Kayla shouted as she panted.
Those lessons from Emily and Unicra did come in handy with using what you see as a weapon. Including a pipe.
"Whoa ho ho! That was totally awesome. You're a pretty tough girl." The mutant said in an impressed tone but yelped when Kayla readied the pipe to swing it at him defensively.
"Stand down, turtle boy or lizard boy… or whatever you are." She said nervously but she was confused about what he even is but she can tell that the mutant was male from the voice and probably her age.
"Okay, okay, calm down. And please let go of the pipe." The mutant said a bit warily as he raised his hands in surrender.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't hit you with it too." Kayla said warily as she kept the pipe raised in defense.
"Because I just saved you from the bad guy. Kind of a good reason, wouldn't you say?" The mutant said as he pointed to the downed thugs.
"That's… a good point. Fine, I'll drop the pipe. But I want answers." Kayla said as she lowered the pipe. For some reason, something about him makes her feel... safe? And the fact that she can trust him?
"Yeah sure." He nodded.
Kayla throws the pipe away and walks to the mutant to help him get up
"What was it that you just did? Some sort of karate stuff?" Kayla asked curiously as she offered her hand to him.
He accepted the help and Kayla pulled him up to his feet.
"It's actually more of a ninjutsu thing. Ahh…" He explained but winced as he put a hand to his side.
"Easy there. You okay?" Kayla put a hand to his shoulder as she looked at his injuries in worry. What could have caused him to get this injured?
"Yeah… just a bit bruised." He joked sourly but he couldn't help but lean slightly to her touch.
Police sirens started to be heard coming their way which made the mutant alert.
"Uh oh. Gotta run. Hold tight." The mutant said as he wrapped an arm around Kayla.
"Hey, wait! Ahh!" Kayla cried in surprise as the mutant kept a grip around her waist and jumped high to avoid them getting spotted by the police.
When the police arrived, they saw the thugs on the ground and they asked for a medic as they started to put a perimeter around the area to prevent whoever attacked them from getting away. The mutant turtle along with Kayla had reached the roof and were safe. He let Kayla get down so they could take a small breather over what happened.
"Whoa… man. I need a breather. How are you feeling?" The mutant turtle panted heavily as he tried not to aggravate his injuries more.
"I'm good. And you?" Kayla said while trying to get her breathing back to normal.
"Yeah, I'm good… more or less." The mutant said with a slight grin.
"Good." Kayla said before doing something unexpected.
She punches the mutant so hard that he falls to the ground and Kayla starts to pace around while grabbing her hand since punching the mutant hurt her a bit.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Leo shouted in surprise and disbelief. Unbelievable! He just saved her life and this girl has the guts to punch him like that?! Donnie would be laughing his head off if he was here.
"That... that was for grabbing me like that without asking for permission." The girl said with an annoyed look which made Leo return the same one.
"So what? You want a guy to ask you for permission to grab you?" Leo remarked in a questioning tone and he can see the girl bristled at that. If she were a cat, her fur would be standing up like an angry one.
"Keep talking, wise guy, and the next punch will knock your teeth out." She warned him and Leo just sighed. Well it was mildly his fault for grabbing her unexpectedly.
"Okay, okay, sorry. Didn't mean to make you angry. I just wanted to save you, and by the way you're welcome." Leo told her sincerely as he got up.
"If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't be here right now." He told her and he can see her raising an eyebrow.
"Well, if it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't be here now would you? I saved your butt, or shell in your case." She said and he can see that a small smile appeared on her face which was cute. Wait, what?!
"Oh, so that's what you want? For me to thank you? What about mine?" Leo teased her as he returned the smile.
"You want me to thank you? Okay, then, thank you." She said with a soft smile which Leo couldn't help but return.
"Thank you." Leo smiled before yelping as his injuries flared up again.
The mutant fell down to the ground due to the pain of his wounds. Kayla immediately went to check on him to see if he was okay. She didn't know why but she panicked as her heart swelled with worry.
"Oh my gosh. You're hurt." Kayla said worriedly as she helped him sit up.
"Yeah… no kidding." He winced and Kayla bit her lip. She gotta help him.
"Look, we can argue later. But right now, you need to go see a doctor or a vet. Ah, no! If we do that you'll end up in a laboratory where you'll be dissected." Kayla said in a panic after she realized this.
"Is there any other place we can go?" The mutant asked her in concern. There is no way he'll stay at a hospital.
"There is one. My apartment." Kayla said as the mutant nodded. They can work with that.
"Okay, then… let's go." He said.
Leo tried to stand up but he didn't have much strength left and vertigo from the fight caused him to see black spots in his peripheral vision and before he fell on the floor again and blacked out, but a pair of arms caught him as he held onto her arms.
"Easy there, I got you. I'm… sorry for punching you like that. I was a real jerk." She said with her tone soft and apologetic which made his heart melt.
"Yeah, I deserved it. Thanks for saving my butt out there. I could've been seriously hurt if it weren't for you." Leo said as he looked at her. He can't keep calling her girl, so introductions are in order.
"Hey, you never told me your name." He said curiously and realization dawned on the girl.
"Oh right, sorry. My name is Kayla. Kayla Blair Rose. Just call me Kayla." The girl, Kayla, introduced herself with a friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Leonardo. You can call me Leon or Leo." Leo introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you too, Leo." Kayla said with a smile and dang he will admit it, that smile is so pretty.
All of the sudden, the two got each other lost in their eyes. Time seemed to stop moving around them as the two observed the other.
For Leo, he has never imagined meeting such a cute and pretty girl before and right now, Kayla looks like an angel. For Kayla, she never knew that a mutant, specifically a turtle mutant like Leo to be rather charming and handsome and right now, the two were lost in each of their thoughts as they continued to look into each other's eyes.
'Wow... For a human girl, she's quite pretty and cute...' Leo thought in awe and had to fight a blush from forming but that didn't stop his heart from doing a 160 from how pretty Kayla is.
'Wow... For a mutant ninja turtle, he's cute and charming...' Kayla thought and her heart started to pound rapidly. She never felt her heart beat like this, not since Sunflare but this time it's much stronger.
After a moment or so, Kayla came back to her senses as she blinked and looked down shyly as Leo looked to the side while rubbing the back of his head.
"Let's… just go to my apartment." Kayla said timidly.
"Right, right." Leo laughed airily as Kayla helped him to the fire escape.