The clouds covered the stars and moon, blanketing the sky in total darkness. In the seediest part of the city, there was a power outage, blacking out an entire section of town. Within the total darkness, dim headlights were all that gave people any sense of direction. A black car with no headlights was completely invisible in the night, and one such car pulled carefully into the lot of a boarded up warehouse. From that car stepped three dark figures, who walked up to the warehouse door and knocked three times, paused, then gave another two quick knocks. After a few seconds, the door slowly opened. The three figures entered the warehouse, where a single light bulb lit up the interior.
The three figure wore purple jackets and each had a tattoo on their arm of a dragon. They stepped into the small crowd that surrounded a makeshift fighting ring, where two guys were fighting. One guy knocked the other out cold, then limped out of the ring.
After several more fights, a large man with rippling muscles and many tattoos and scars stepped onto the ring. Clearly, he was the leader, as the cheering crowd went quiet as he raised his hands.
"Fellow Purple Dragons! Tonight we have seen our new recruits passing their final tests, and we are proud!" The man shouted. The crowd cheered with him. "Now, my brothers and sisters, we have a new matter at hand tonight. Scouts have raided the Jones' home, and found no trace of the family! Their car, which is a black Chrysler with the license plate CAM-1983, was also gone. They're out there, and they know we're looking. Remember, our primary target is the girl. May Rose Jones. If we capture her, we have control over the news. We have control over the police. And most importantly, we have control over the city's vigilantes!" The crowd cheered again. "So now, my brothers and sisters, keep your eyes sharp, and keep your weapons close. We will find the Jones family, one way or another!"
The crowd roared their approval into the dark night.
Later that night, across the city, May and the turtles were watching the news. A blond woman that May recognized as her mother's work rival was talking about gang violence increasing and an on-going gang war.
"Thanks, Kathy." Another woman behind a desk replied to the blond woman. "In related news, there has been a fire in downtown New York. An apartment building is currently ablaze, with firefighters rushing to control the flames." The screen showed a video of the building that was on fire.
May gasped. "Th-that's our building!"
"... Police have not ruled out foul play, and investigations will hopefully begin as soon as possible. The fire is at risk of jumping to nearby buildings, so occupants of apartment buildings on the block are encouraged to evacuate immediately. In other news..."
Raphael looked at May, who was shaking. "They did it... Those bastards... They set our apartment on fire..."
Hoping to calm her down, Raphael put an arm around May's shoulder. She instinctively flinched, still surprised and shaken from the news. Her home was being burned to the ground at that very moment. She had lived in that apartment for as long as she could remember...
And now... it was gone...
Even Leo felt bad... May was watching her home crumble and burn. The poor girl was probably terrified and understandably upset.
May shook Raphael's arm off and headed for his room, where they had set up a sleeping bag and mattress for her to sleep on. She sat on her temporary makeshift bed, hugging herself and shaking. The threat from the Purple Dragons felt all too real, now. May actually felt... scared. What did the Purple Dragons want with her? What would they do to her if they ever caught her? Would they kill her? Torture her? Hold her for ransom and then when her parents inevitable refused, slaughter her violently on a live broadcast?
May heard the door open and close again, but she didn't turn around.
"Hey..." Raphael spoke gently, sitting next to her on the mattress. May didn't respond. Nothing he could say would make her feel better, or calm her fears.
Somehow understanding that, even without her saying it out loud, Raphael didn't say anything. He just sat there with her for a few minutes.
Finally, May spoke, breaking the silence. "What's going to happen now?" She muttered.
"We're going to find the gang that did this. And we're going to burn down their headquarters." Raphael replied.
"Heh." May gave a half smile. "Leo's not going to like that."
Raphael shrugged. "Who ever said anything about telling Leo?"
May stared at him. "What?"
"What do you say? We'll go find these punks on our own and teach them a lesson our way." Raphael smirked, a glint in his eye.
"You know what?" May smiled. "You're right. I think a healthy dose of illegal justice is exactly what the doctor ordered."