Fuck! Mr. Buffy the Kid Slayer was as tough as he looked. Even tougher than Raph who was saying something. I was fighting the big guy in a shoe store. He had the ring and metal hand in his grasp. I leaped forward aiming for the ring; however, I blacked out only to be met with a fist colliding against my cheek. I crashed into a shelf of shoes. My body was covered in boxes and pairs of shoes. I gritted my teeth. I fucking hate that guy and the stupid ring! My third attempt at grabbing that stupid jewelry. I didn't expect the one tiny ring to have a major effect on me. It's not an ordinary ring; it's a mystic artifact.
The huge man had the nerve to laugh at my disheveled body. "What's the matter, Pretty Boy, your tiny hands can't hold a punch?"
I clicked my tongue after spitting out the blood. "At least I'm prettier than you. You have a face only a mother can hate. I bet she can't stand looking at you", I taunted, earning a sneer from my opponent.
Out of anger, he tossed the hand aside. He punched his fist against the palm of his hand preparing to come at me. I smirked. Good. Makes my job easier. "I can't wait to break your face!"
I gave him a toothy grin. "Ven aquí, idiota. (Come over here, dumbass.)" That got him angrier. He rushed over like a raging bull seeing red. I jumped on the shelf as he body-slammed it. I jumped over his head letting the shelf fall on my opponent; he was immediately knocked out. "Man, that was easy. Should've done that sooner", I mused as I walked over to the ring and metal hand. It was surprising how the ring remained in place. I reached for the ring, but as soon as I saw my reflection on the gem's surface, my vision began to fade. I quickly looked away, having my vision returned.
Fuck! I barely touch the little shit and my vision gets distorted. There's gotta be a way to get the ring without looking or touching. My eyes caught on the numerous shoe boxes scattered from the fallen shelf. I was drawn to a long box that belonged to a pair of ankle boots. It gave me an idea...
I grabbed the box tossing the boots aside. I stole a glance at the jewel. I sensed the ominous darkness surrounding it. It differed from the darkness I sensed from the shadows. Some shadows had ominous energies, yet none of them could reach the level the ring was giving off. It's more... sinister.
Wicked.
Demonic.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes; I quickly swiped the metal hand without looking. I immediately shut the box with the matching lid. I sneaked a peek. No weariness or plague with haziness. Hey, it worked.
"Oh, hell ya! Gotta love loopholes!" I said, twirling the box on my finger. I casually walked out of the shoe store with the box in hand. I scanned through the floors searching for Leo and his opponent. I heard a ruckus coming from the bottom floor. Lee's having a party downstairs. Are his brothers with him? With all the noise we're causing they should've intervened by now. I'm done with my fight; I should give my little turtle boo a hand.
Before I could leave, the big Foot guy lunged at me, and we fell off the glass ledge. He got a strong grip on my neck. My back collided with glass and metal. My guess: I landed on an expensive car on display. I grimaced and groaned in pain having the extra weight crushing my body. I managed to get my eyes open despite the piercing ache in my head. Static and snow clouded my vision. Fucking bastard ruined my eye cams!
My large opponent raised his fist in the air preparing for a beatdown. I flicked my wrist; a knife appeared between my fingers. I plunged my weapon into his arm. The big guy screamed in anguish as I was freed enough to lift my leg and kick el hijo de puta on his chin. I flipped over despite the ache in my back. He growled as he harshly plucked the knife out of his arm. "Cheap tricks, little man", he sneered.
I smirked. "You would know cheap since your outfit came from a thrift store. Ever thought of a makeover? I have a friend who's looking for a new project. Keen on being his next muse?"
Like before, he charged with gusto. I barely dodged feeling the rush of air brushed off my hair. I dodged his attacks. Punch after punch. I had to multitask between looking at the large man and searching for the artifact. My scanners picked up the item floating on water in the fountain. Good. The box was still shut after its fall. I looked back in time to see a giant fist hurling toward me. I shielded my face by crossing my arms. The force behind his punch pushed my body back a few feet. Hate to say it, but his strength was phenomenal. No wonder Raph was a better choice to fight with Mr. Meathead; they literally could go toe to toe. I lifted my sleeve a bit seeing the damage. The punch left a deep dent in my arm.
Alright. Big Guy wanted to play rough, let's play rough. I summoned the shadows to engulf my arms. Despite my metal prosthetics, I felt the coldness coming off the shadows. The display took my opponent by surprise. "Well... aren't you full of surprises, Goth Boy", he smiled. "I wonder if your new arms can keep up or are they just for show.
I put up my arms with a shake of my shoulders and a matching grin. "There's only one way to find out."
We charged each other. We threw punches. Well, he threw the most punches; I threw punches and kicks. But no matter how many times I strike, my opponent never backs down. He's by far the hardest person to defeat. I threw a punch, yet he caught it with his fist. In return, he thrust his fist, and I grabbed his fist too. We had a stare-down as we struggled to outstrengthen the other. None of us were willing to back down.
"You know", he said, "Up close you looked familiar. Have we met before?"
I scrunched my face. "Dude, that's gross. You're like twenty years older than me." Was this how Leon feels when he gets flirted by older men?
"I wasn't flirting with you!"
"Couldn't fool me." He leaned in close enough for me to smell his putrid breath. "Especially the way you're looking at me with those cold, judging eyes. 'Acting like you're above everyone on your frickin' throne."
What's he talking about? Cold, judging eyes? The only one who fits the description is-
Pain bloomed on my nose. I pulled back holding my nose. I retracted my hand wincing at both the pain and blood on my hand. I looked up in time to see a fist flying. I quickly sidestepped before it hit my face. I retaliated by kicking him in the back sending him crashing into a vending kiosk.
Leon! You doing ok? I hope your fight's better than mine.
To answer my answer, the slider came crashing down onto the fountain damaging it. "Leo!" I ran over to my friend only to be surrounded by a group of ninjas. Shit. Just my luck. Leo said these were made of paper, right? All the easier to slice them into pieces. My gauntlet activated with my claws stretched outward.
"Well, just our night." The skinny guy smirked as he held the shoe box containing the artifact in one hand and held Leo's neck in the other. The slider was unconscious and bruised; he tried to put up a helluva fight. "And here I thought our night would be ruined by this turtle and a Goth with dark powers."
"I'm emo, pendejo! Do you see black eyeliner? Black nail polish? Black lipstick? No! Why can't anyone see the fucking difference?"
"No matter. I have the box and you're surrounded. There's nothing you can do about it", the skinny guy dared a victorious smirk which made me sneer, but then I blinked. A familiar surge of energy blossomed.
I couldn't stop the lopsided grin growing. "You sure about that, chief?"
He looked dumbfounded until he shirked off the glowing turtle. Leo glared at him. The slider's marks and eyes glowed as his injuries healed. The look of disbelief was evident on the zombie-like man; he didn't expect that. That's my turtle.
The skinny dude folded a piece of paper into a miniature figurine. He thrust it in the air. The one little paper man became a small group of life-sized ninjas. "Seize them!" he ordered his minions. I was about to go attack the first ninja, but unfortunately, Big Guy blocked my line of sight.
The muscular man growled at me with his fist raised high. I dodged before his fist made contact while throwing a few knives his way. Two of them stuck onto his arm. I landed a few feet away. I felt my back touch something, but I knew who was behind me.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Leo asked.
"Why your brothers aren't here yet?" I sarcastically replied. "I mean it's not like it's not the world's softest fight. I'm sure the next city over can hear us."
"No. I mean sure, we're not exactly quiet. I was thinkin' of changing dance partners. I see you're having a time takin' down Bubba."
I frowned at his implication. "Like you're one to talk. Your opponent is so thin, he looks like he can fall over with just a blow of air. But yeah, I could use a change of tune."
'When you're ready...'
Baby, I'm always ready.
In unison, we turned around and ran to our new targets. Leo summoned his swords while my arms extended again. I sliced through the ninjas like butter. Their forms returned to paper. Oh yeah! I should've gone with Skinny Ass instead of Big Dum Dum. These things are pathetic! I was inching closer to my opponent. The skinny guy kept his distance with the box close to his chest. He's not the combat type, yet his projectile was getting annoying. As soon as he held another paper, I threw my arm forward and grabbed the box. I grinned, victoriously. "HA! In your face, feo! You lost!" I mocked and I have every right. The ring remained in the box; I wasn't affected; and the bad guys lost.
Best night ever!
... I spoke too soon...
I felt the force of something colliding into me causing me to lose my grip on the grip. The metal gauntlet slipped out of its captivity. I growled seeing the skinny villain grabbing the fallen item. I looked behind me seeing it was Mikey who fell on me. "Mikey! You have terrible timing! You made me lose my grip!"
"Sorry! I was helping Leo!" The box turtle apologized. Donnie came over and assisted us.
"Sorry for the delay", the soft shell said. "We lost the signal a few times and Raph was too... distracted..." By distraction, he must mean Alex being Alex. Out of all the distractions, it was the wrong time to distract the TURTLE WITH THICK MUSCLES!
"And you pendejos didn't bother coming over to help because...?"
"Alex told us you and Leo needed some alone time", Mikey answered. I wanted to be sarcastic, but the skinny guy was inching away. I ran over only to be surrounded by more ninjas.
"These are more annoying than cockroaches", I gritted. The skinny guy was running away summoning another load of ninjas to Raph and Leo grabbing his comrade.
"They're making a break for it!" Alex yelled from Raph's shoulders. I stomped my foot. Two wolves emerged out of my shadow.
"Fetch!" I ordered them. They ran over the army of ninjas and over to the two culprits. My wolves wrestled the escaping bad guys while we defeated the ninjas.
In the end, the two wolves came back with the ring in its mouth. It dropped the ring onto Leo's palm. He was perplexed inspecting the ring with closer observation. What's strange was how I wasn't sensing the evil essence like before.
Leo tossed the ring over to Donnie. "Hey, Dee, can you use your goggles to see how strong this ring is?" The soft shell raised a drawn eyebrow at the request, but complied, nonetheless.
"We did good, Mad Dogs!" Raph praised us. "We kept the Foot Guys from stealing the ring and saved the day!"
"Lee and I handled it, you assholes came too late and almost made us lose the Foot Guys", I scolded.
"Don't push it, Merrill. I was warming up to you."
"Then do your fucking job better!"
Mikey quickly intervened by stepping between us. "Guys. Guys. We all deserve credit. We worked as a team and that's what counts."
I rolled my eyes. Don't know what world he fell out of, but it ain't the Twilight Zone. I huffed. I was too exhausted to continue this nonsense. Instead, I gave a soft "whatever."
"Anything from the ring, Donatello?" Alex asked.
The genius turtle removed his goggles. "Other than it's a ruby gem, it's just a simple ring."
I was shocked as well as Leo. "WHAT?!" we exclaimed.
"No way", I objected, "Check that shit again! There's no way that little thing showed nothing."
Leo stepped up. "Me and Merrill – but mostly Merrill – was affected by it. You're telling me you're not getting ANYTHING?"
Donnie looked our way. "I scanned it and like yours truly, it's never wrong."
"It's a first for everything", I murmured.
"Let Raph get this straight", the alligator snapping turtle began, "We fought and grabbed the ring only for it to be a... ring?"
"Precisely", Donnie agreed.
What the FUCK!
This didn't make any sense.
If the ring wasn't a mystic artifact, then... was the metal arm mystical?