The energies of the universe flowed and eddied around her. Step by step, Juliet slowed her breathing and controlled her heartbeat until a casual observer would have thought her dead. Everything became simultaneously clear and calm until ...
Oh no! I forgot to do it again , she thought with irritation. For ages, she had meant to set up a camera. She wanted to see if the energies she saw and felt so clearly could be captured on a video screen. Her irritation immediately brought her out of the deep meditative mood, and she squeaked several angry curses under her breath as she gave up for the evening.
The mutated rat girl sat up in her nest and rubbed her muzzle as she pulled the ragged blanket tight around her body. The nightmare about the destruction of her beloved temple, and especially her beloved Master, Kwai Chang, was haunting her yet again. It really blindsided her this time. After so many years, she thought her demons of the past were under full control, or at least buried by time. It was a great personal blow to admit to herself that she was wrong about the latter, and partly wrong about the former.
Accepting that the mood was lost, and she would likely not recover it anytime soon, Juliet arose and looked round her lair. Was this the problem ? Perhaps trying to imitate so much of her old home in the Shaolin temple had been a bad idea.
What a boring evening , Juliet yawned. I'll just pop up and look in on dear Murakami and do some chores for him and grab a snack before I patrol, the rat girl decided.
"Dudes, this is sooo bor-ing," Mikey complained for the hundredth time.
"I'll liven things up for you if you don't shut up!" Raph grumbled.
Leo and Donnie exchanged a look but stayed silent.
As if on cue, a loud shriek was heard somewhere in the distance, several loud shrieks.
"Looks like there's some action for ya, Mikey," Donnie quipped.
"Yeah, you were saying?" Raph shot back at Mikey as the four brothers ran toward the sounds of distress. They did not have far to go, for around the next corner was a small gang of thugs surrounding a slight-looking girl. The gang had knives. The girl was unarmed. She cowered away from her tormentors and pressed herself so hard against the wall that she might disappear into it at any moment.
"Hey! Jerkface! Why don't you pick on someone your own size," an outraged Michelangelo spat as he and his brothers advanced on the thugs.
"Who you callin' JerkFace?" the toughest-looking thug whirled to confront the new arrivals.
"Excuse me. I meant Jerk Faces," Michelangelo continued.
With a growl, the tough-looking leader whirled on Michelangelo, and then the last thing anyone expected happened. The terrified and cowering girl gave a loud cry and sprang up, and over, and behind. She landed on the leader's shoulders and planted a foot firmly in his temple. He went down like a sack of cement. The one closest to him was next, and she took him out with one hard punch to the jaw.
After the shock wore off, and the third thug drew back his knife, the boys happily joined in, with Raph declaring, "Not gonna let her have all the fun!"
In no time, the gang of tough guys lay unconscious at the boy's feet.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Michelangelo cried as the girl fled.
"Thank you very much for the assistance, Gentlemen," she called back over her shoulder before disappearing down a nearby alley.
'Hey. Come back, Shaolin Girl! We're not gonna hurt ya.
Mikey started to go after her, but Leo held him back.
"Let her go," he said softly.
"Shaolin Girl?" Donnie questioned with a grin. "Not one of your better names, Mikey."
"But did you guys see how she moved?" Mikey went on as they disarmed the little gang. "She is a Shaolin.
All his brothers burst out laughing.
"Mikey, you're watching too much TV again," Leo chortled.
"Shaolin, yeah right," Raph scoffed.
"Well, whoever she was, she's a great fighter," Donatello praised as he tried to smother his laughter.
"She is Shaolin!" Mikey insisted. 'And she went down that manhole up there."
Raph was almost choking on his laughter. "A Shaolin monk who lives in the sewers! That's rich even for you, Mikey."
"Why!" Mikey demanded. "We're ninja, and we live in the sewers. Why couldn't a Shaolin monk be living down there, too?"
The other three burst out laughing again before Leo tried to restore some semblance of control. "Okay, never mind your Shaolin girl, Mikey. We have work to do."
"But what if she's hurt down there?" Mikey protested.
"Did she look hurt to you as she was running away? C'mon, Mikey. Let it go."
"Sure, Mikey ... The granddaughter of Kwai Chang Caine walks out of the past," Raphael guffawed.
"Well, into the alley, anyway," Leo chimed in.
"I hate to say it, but he may have a point," Donatello put in, resulting in more laughter from Leonardo and Raphael.
Before they left, Mikey went to the mouth of the alley and peered down it. No signs of blood in the direction the girl disappeared, but Mikey could not help but worry.
"Goodnight, Shaolin Girl," he whispered.
"Mikey!" All his brothers cried.
"Yeah, I'm coming."
And for the rest of that night, Mikey was unusually lost in thought.
A/N:
Welcome back to mine and Raven Summersong's little corner of the TMNT universe. We both hope you enjoy this installment. As always, constructive feedback is always welcome.
Happy reading.