Chapter 1: I : Wednesday Evening
Summary:
In which you ever-so-wisely enter the NYC sewers to potentially witness a crime.
Notes:
This story begins after S2E9, 'The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones.'
So yes, they met Casey first. I'm not unique.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Okay, in your defense, this wasn’t the least well-thought-out plan you’d had in your seventeen years on this Earth, but it ranked solidly high up there.
Standing on the sidewalk, right in front of the spot on the street where your new… friend? Peer? Obligatory-class-project compatriot? Where April O’Neil’s phone on the Find My Friends app indicated she was hanging out, at 9:46 pm, on a cloudless Wednesday night.
And where neither April, nor her funky turtle-shaped-phone, stood in front of you.
Now, you might be a little too paranoid for your own good, and absolutely never inclined to hop down a manhole oozing with the scent of sewage, but dammit, you’d already gone through a full seven hours of school, paired with (most of) your evening shift at Antonio’s, and you were sleep-deprived as all hell.
Most of all though, you lived in New York City, and you were a girl’s girl.
—
Climbing off the end of the ladder, duffel bag slung across a shoulder, the smell invades your frontal lobe with full force. While the tunnels ahead were mercifully flood-free, the puddles at your feet certainly encouraged the second-guessing thoughts, encouraging you to leap right back onto the ladder and boot your ass out of here.
But no. Something told you that making sure your fellow classmate wasn’t dying – or otherwise in some sort of trouble - was necessary.
At first, you figured maybe she just dropped her phone in a grate or something. But when she didn’t show up to pick up the inane three-something pizzas she always nabbed every other day (are she and her friends secretly party animals, and she’s just the food runner?) you felt like something had to be up.
Your mind kept coming up with increasingly complex scenarios as you walked through the sewer system to where April’s phone was alerting you. She… lost something in a grate and came down to find it – she fell through a manhole and can’t move! Or… she got in trouble with one of the gangs and they dragged her down here–
Voices up ahead dragged you out of your preoccupation – notably because not a single one of those voices were April’s more melodic tone.
It sounded like a conversation; someone with a deeper voice and someone with a lighter voice, both seemingly masculine (although you were far enough away, the echoing through the tunnels could be messing with you for all you know…)
You would’ve stopped longer to pick out the words, but the scuffling skrreet of your sneakers brought the noises to a halt. The tunnels became hauntingly quiet, and you suddenly recalled that while you hadn’t heard about any activity in the sewers, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any – and tonight, every aspect of the scene screamed horror movie . You could hear yourself breathing.
Regardless, whoever was here heard your footsteps already, so sneaking out without an issue was gonna be a struggle. You back against a wall, now clutching your keys in one hand and the pepper spray in the other. You hold your breath for just a moment.
That moment stopped you again, because you could still hear breathing. Getting more faint, but still notable. They’re… leaving?
You peek out only to see rusted and decayed subways tracks, stretching out in front of you before rounding a corner. No sign of anybody. Picking up your phone (after putting the pepper spray back in your bag) to check on April showed her location having moved forward, in the direction of the tracks. The reception was shitty though, so it kept blinking in and out. Or maybe her phone was damaged?
But if April’s phone is beat up, what did that imply about April herself?
The location cutting out entirely is what starts you back up, following the tracks. At least the smell has gotten a little more bearable… or is it actually just getting cleaner?
Your worry for April has only grown with the new developments throughout the night, urging you forward despite everything saying you ought to turn now. Because hell if you’re letting a fellow girl deal with whatever crap this could be on her lonesome.
Confidence slightly reinstilled by that thought, you press onwards.
—
The ambient light was only getting brighter by the minute, giving you the faint visual of a light at the end of a tunnel, which you might’ve found funny had you been watching this on one of those stupid B-movie horror channels at 4 am. But nope, very real, and absolutely happening.
You could hear the talking again… paired with a feminine voice you distinctly remembered as April’s voice, from Monday morning in Latin 2.
Mr. Richmond was talking about the long term project, something about translating multiple short works with a common theme and presenting them on a tri-fold. Nothing too fancy, probably an easy A if you just made it look pretty. He pointed at you and the two kids to your left with his index and middle fingers, pairing you off in trios. Looking to your right, you were met with two girls; a lanky ginger girl and a dark-haired girl with thick glasses. You looked between them and the board.
The redhead stuck out her hand immediately, as if sensing your apprehension. “Hi! I’m April, and this is Irma.”
You shook her hand politely, giving your own name. “I haven’t seen you around except at Antonio’s, are you in any of my other classes?”
Irma makes a sound, both a huff and a laugh. “We’re sophomores. And you’re a junior.”
“Yeah.”
A beat. “Should I… get your numbers then? He did say 50% of this was gonna be out-of-class.” Just as you said this, the bell rang. You promptly pulled out your phone and flipped your bag over one shoulder.
April only blinks in response. “I… guess?” Reaching for her own bag and pulling out her phone, you suppress a smile at her phone case. An olive-green turtle shell, definitely custom-made. Very cute. She turns it away, quickly typing her password in, before passing her phone over to let you input your number and name. You catch up, and quickly extend your own phone over to let her do the same.
She hands you your phone back as you do hers, and the blank profile picture with the name ‘April O’Neil’ glares back at you. You look back at Irma, but April’s voice draws you back. “I’ll make a groupchat with Irma on the way to 3rd period. I’ll… talk to you later, I guess?”
You nodded. “See you.”
This was it, then. Moment of truth. You inched your way forward again, careful to set your weight slowly to avoid making any creaking or shuffling sounds. But even though you were certain you didn’t make any noise this time, again the voices all cut off. Peeking your head around the corner, no one in sight. Then again, your blind spot was pretty large. You shoved your way out, deliberately making noise to alert them - keys and pepper spray in hand once more.
But this time, April called out to you. Her head poked into your line of sight as she stepped forward.
“Is… someone there?”
Okay, April’s not in immediate danger, or she wouldn’t have done that. Also this girl could never survive a horror movie.
You sigh out loud, and her head whips towards you. You walk out of the tunnel, passing the ancient turnstiles (how did metal rust so quickly underground??), and standing on the ledge where people once waited to pass.
April’s… completely alone down here. Here being some odd… hangout spot? There’s a TV and a lowered section made into a massive couch, multiple open, probably several-day-old pizza boxes, a punching bag shaped vaguely like a person… an old arcade game setup, and an admittedly pretty skylight overlooking a weird wooden structure suspended from the ceiling. There’s plenty of ambient light, but the TV’s still on, and light is emanating from other rooms. How did they get electricity down here?
You spend a few more seconds looking around before looking back at April. She looks… sheepish?
Your mind screams at you to diffuse the awkward silence.
“So…”
She frowns a little bit. “How’d you even… get down here?”
You make a face as you pull out your phone. “Ok, so, I’m waiting for my mom to get home, right? And I’m checking on Find My Friends to see where she’s at, and she’s still like a half hour out. Then I see your phone lighting up saying you’re stood in the middle of the street like a block from where I’m at, cause, I dunno- you forgot to turn off that setting on your phone?”
You’re rambling now, but oh well.
“I’m like, okay, sure, and I’m walking down there and you’re not there. Then the dot starts moving again and I’m going ‘ oh my god is this girl getting kidnapped right now and i’m watching it happen?? ’ so I just… I dunno, figured I’d check down here? But, uh. Guess that’s, uh, not happening, right?”
April’s eyebrows are flying off her head. “You… wanted to check in? On me?”
“That’s… about the gist of it.”
She sputters. “Why?”
You scrunch up your nose. “We live in the big N. Y. C. and you’re asking me that? Crazy things happen here all the time. Gotta look out for my fellow girls, you know?”
“Well, not that I don’t appreciate it, but… I’m… safe! So you can… go back home now!” Her eyes are begging you to turn right back around and move along.
You’re… not all that convinced by her attempt to assuage you. Time to start talking. You’re plenty good at that. “Okaaaaaaaaaaay…. But now I’m too curious. Is this, like, some secret party spot? And you got the couch and TV and everything! How the hell’d you get cable down here too? And-!”
April cuts you off, waving your voice down. “No, nonono- nothing like that! It’s, um. Just me. I like being alone down here. By myself. It’s… calming! Yeah, it’s mostly just a place to get away from all the people, if you know what I mean?”
You almost snort. “April, I heard other dudes on my way here.” Her eyes widen, and she looks like she’s about to freak. “Look, I’m not here to judge – you do you, sophomore year can really beat your ass, I’m just making sure… I dunno, something creepy or illegal isn’t going down? Everyone knows if something really bad was going down, the cops aren’t doing shit. But it really doesn’t have to be any of my business, as long as you all are okay. You, Irma, whoever else is down here.”
The both of you breathe out, her as though a huge weight is lifting off her chest. “I… We’re fine, down here. Thank you, really. I mean that. But the less people down here, the better for us, you know? Sorry I got weird on you.”
“No worries. And lemme know if you need anything from Antonio’s again. I’m pretty much always there, if you haven’t noticed already,” you assure her.
You turn to leave out the way you came, but a whisper-shout brings you up short.
"She works at Antonio’s? Dude–”
The voice muffles out, but the look on April’s face already tells you something’s busted. You, however, are thoroughly confused.
“Where the hell did that– have your buddies been in here this whole time? How the– where’d you even–?” You’re looking around, for a sign of… anything. The pale white eyes from the shadows in the distance grab your attention and you make eye contact… you think.
April rushes up to you. “Look, I really think–”
A new voice, not either of the two you heard on the way. “April, she saw us. There’s no point.”
You blink. “I did?”
Four people slowly creep out. You look back and forth between April and the encroaching figures, but she just pinches her forehead and breathes out.
They step out into the light, eyes meeting yours. You stare back.
“Oh.”
Notes:
I might post chapter 2 if someone reads this I guess
Chapter 2: II : First Contact
Summary:
In which you learn why April O'Neil has missed so much school recently.
Notes:
i said i was gonna post this soon and then it took over two weeks what happened
oh well at least i edited this
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Yeah, you’re starting to see why April was ready to start shoving you down the tracks like you were a damn subway.
Four green guys. Turtles… or tortoises…? You barely remember the difference. Shells on their backs, heads adorned with colorful bandanas. Are those some goddamn swords?
The one in blue raises his eyebrows… or at least where they would be under his mask. Or if he had hair. Something close to that. “Oh?”
You look over at April, who still looks like she’s about to shit herself. “… you’ve been meeting with a… turtle gang? Are these guys, I dunno… cosplayers or something?”
The red turtle guy steps forward and flicks a large finger at you (he has three of them?) “We’re not a gang. We’re ninjas. We don’t commit stupid crimes like those Purple Dragon thugs, and we don’t do kung-fu!”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about kung-fu, man–”
The purple one sighs loudly. “Look, these aren’t costumes. We are mutant turtles .” His voice tinges into sarcastic mirth. “Y’know, Just your friendly everyday freaks of nature–”
He continues, but you see April pointedly look at the floor.
“–And you really were not supposed to see us. Someone just forgot that the entire idea of stealth revolves around us not talking! ” His voice pitches up in clearly directed irritation as they all look towards the last turtle, in orange.
“Whoops,” is all he says in his defense.
Despite that, Purple keeps talking. “So now you know we exist too, and-”
This time, you cut him off. “Waitwaitwait, you’re not gonna like… kill me now, right? Or do you have a memory gun?” You pause. That sounds stupid. “Or like, something sci-fi or whatever?” Even better.
Red snorts. And then cackles. “Nope, just gonna eat your brain. Sorry, standard protocol.”
“Very funny, but seriously– is it that big of a liability? People talk crazy here all the time. No one within a mile of here would believe a word out of my mouth if I started yapping about talking turtle people– which I wouldn’t just go and do, by the way! I like when people think I’m sane. And crazy shit actually happens, too, so it wouldn’t be too out of pocket anyway!” You retort.
“You mean like the alien ship in the sky from like three months ago? Cause–”
What.
“THAT WAS REAL???” you screech over top of Orange. April covers her ears. “My bad. That was real, though?”
“What, the flying cars and people being abducted didn’t make that clear?” Red nudges Purple, who shoves him back.
“No??? I went outside on my balcony, saw a giant metal 50s-horror-movie -looking UFO in the sky, assumed I was hallucinating, walked back into my apartment and went back to sleep. Nobody ever said anything so I just thought I had a weird dream and there was something seismic going on.”
“Then what crazy… stuff, were you referring to?” Purple asks. What is this, a PBS children’s show? It’s just a word, dude. ‘Shit.’
“Like that time a month ago at the deli where I watched a guy try to use two pigeons as currency.” Your voice breaks between laughs as you explain, picturing the man. “He unzipped his jacket and just pulled them out of the inside, and kept trying to hand them over while one of them was taking a crap on the register. And where was he keeping them? That jacket was as shrunk as a bodysuit! Where was he keeping those damn pigeons?? Hammerspace??”
Purple lights up at the idea of… hammerspace , but Red yanks the tails of his bandana, and he (mercifully? Unfortunately? You’re not quite sure) doesn’t get the opportunity to voice his train of thought.
You have to redirect this. “Look, I’m sorry, this is probably just a huge inconvenience for you, but I know how to keep my mouth shut– if you need me to, I’m okay with just walking right back out of here and never speaking of this again. For real.”
The turtles look… surprised? Confused? Relieved? Maybe all three of those, at your pledge to silence.
“We appreciate that.” A voice rolls from behind the turtles and April, somehow soft and strong at the same time. The turtles noticeably straighten.
Blue even whips his head around to look at the new figure, “Master Splinter, you don’t need her to see y–” but you see a long hand raise up to pause him, and the turtle clicks his mouth shut. He continues to move forward, and…
…
Okay, it’s a rat man.
The rat man Splinter, wearing a long mauve kimono, steps towards you all, stroking his weird rat-beard-thing and eyeing you with a curious expression. “Leonardo, allow me a moment.”
Cane in hand, he breaches past the turtles and crosses the roughly-three-meter space you’ve respectfully left between yourself and the others, stepping before you.
You’ve just now come to the conclusion that if these people live down here, you’re technically breaking and entering. And now an adult is involved. Oh boy.
“... Hello.” Christ you could not possibly get more awkward. “I swear it, I can just leave, it’s no big deal, sir-”
He doesn’t even interrupt you; you just cut yourself off to avoid looking more like an idiot. “My family appreciates your non-intrusiveness, truly, but you must understand that even minimal association with us puts you at risk, from enemies I do not believe anyone your age is equipped to face.” His face darkens at that, before relaxing back to his expression of stoic authority. “Nevertheless, if you intend to take your leave, I would ask that you do so now. I will have my sons escort you home. Please do not discuss this night with anyone, even April on the surface. Thank you.”
You just nod.
Unfortunately, a voice from behind you derails that plan immediately.
—
The turtles were absolutely having a night. April came down to bring them news: rumors about what sounded exactly like a mutagen canister lying around in the chemistry lab, but it seems yet another stranger had followed them down. Sure, Casey ended up being cool (not according to Donnie, but that’s irrelevant), Splinter was still unnerved about the homeless guy they brought down during the… Squirrelanoid incident, but this would just make that worse; they’d have to be even more vigilant.
The new girl was just about to leave too, until that voice– conveniently inserted themselves into the mess.
“JONES?!?” You shriek. Casey blanches, leaps backward- falling comedically on his rear, upon hearing your voice. He even starts to slowly scrabble backwards, but you advance.
Stomping up to him, finger outstretched, you unleash your rage. “You absolute asshat! I know you’ve been avoiding me! You’ve been down here this whole time!”
April jumps between you both. “Hey, hey, woah–! What’s going on here?”
“Yeah, Jones– never took you for one to ghost.” Raph adds snarkily.
You sputter at that. “Oh hell no– I wouldn’t take this loser out for anything, not especially after what he pulled!”
Everyone blinks at you, so you continue.
“This bastard owes me $50 and has for THREE MONTHS! I’ve been trying to chase him down ‘cause I gave up tutoring him ‘cause he never showed up, and I told him, ‘hey, you pay in advance for each session’ and he agreed, and then NOTHING from him. I spent all those hours waiting for your ass to show up at the park and I’m not giving up on this bullshit! YOU. OWE. ME!”
All four turtles, plus Splinter and April, glance over to Casey, before Raph, Mikey, and Donnie burst into laughter.
“Are you joking? You couldn’t even bother to show?” Leo challenges, over the noise.
Jumping back to his feet, Casey gulps out, “Look, we had a tournament and I got all busted up– I couldn’t have studied, I was concussed!”
You snort. “But not concussed enough to hang out down here? Or not concussed enough to just go get another tutor?” You incline your head towards April, and Casey sweats a little more. “Yeah, I know about that; I asked Ms. Kim and she said I’d been taken off your list– now I’m with the middle schoolers. At least they’re good at some basic algebra…” Donnie starts laughing again at that.
Splinter, seemingly exasperated by this entire encounter, retreats back through the dojo to his room.
—
You sigh. “Okay, it’s almost 11. I do have to sleep, contrary to popular belief. I’m just gonna go…”
“Alright, we’ll take you to the manhole.” Blue doesn’t leave any room for argument, but apparently, Red makes some.
“C’mon, Sensei was just saying that! She probably doesn’t want us chasing her home!”
“Well, we should still offer-!”
Purple pushes past the two, making it clear to you this is not an uncommon occurrence, and, although hesitating at first, extends a large, green, three-fingered hand towards you. “Actually, if you don’t mind- which building do you live in? I can find the nearest manhole for you.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Once you start talking, Blue and Red finally cut off their bickering. “I can just head to Antonio’s. I don’t want my mom to see me jumping out of a manhole. She’ll get all weird at me, she’ll yap to her coworkers, and then you might have another problem on your hands. This way I can act like I got held up at work, or something like that.”
Orange shoves Purple’s face out of the way, lighting up like a cartoon character. “We can tooooootally take you to Antonio’s, dude!” He clasps your wrist and pulls you, excitedly but not too firmly, towards the turnstiles and the tunnel. “We know the way there like the back of our shells!” You stumble dumbly after him, prompting April, Casey, and the other three turtles to follow.
Okay.
Orange finally slows down, allowing the others to catch up. Blue trods up to your side, noticeably more… shy? Now that the group is far from the rat man Splinter, who must be like their father. Either way, his approach garners your attention, and you turn your head towards him as you walk side-by-side. He looks back, briefly making eye contact with you before blinking rapidly, choosing to look anywhere but at you, for a while.
The awkward silence must’ve eventually gotten to him, though, because he finally strikes up a conversation with you. “So… you work at Antonio’s?”
Red snarks behind you. “ Real smooth, Leo. ”
“Your name’s Leo?”
Again from behind you, the voice of Purple rings out, very sheepish. “Sorry, we didn’t introduce ourselves…!”
But you just wave him off. “No worries, I didn’t give y’all my name, either. I’m (Y/n).”
Leo repeats your name. “(Y/n)...”
“Well, I’m Donatello, but nobody except Master Splinter calls me that, so you can just call me Donnie–”
Orange, now ahead of you, turns, talking to you while walking backwards, and casually crossing his arms behind his head. “And I’m-!”
“Mikey!”
“What?”
“You cut me off!”
“Whoops… but anyway, I’m Michelangelo, and like Donnie said, I just go by Mikey! My cranky brother back there is Raphael, or just Raph.”
“Hey, I am not cranky!”
And of course fucking Jones decides to instigate. “True. He's just mad.”
“HEY!”
The yelling, despite the echoing through the tunnels, begins to fade into obscurity. April matches your pace, and you lean towards her. “Are they… normally like this?”
April sighs. “Yeah, but usually it’s just Dee and Casey tusseling…”
“Lemme guess– Jones says something stupid and he gets mad?”
“Ehh… sometimes, yeah.” She tiredly looks forward, and you leave it at that.
“Sorry about all this, tonight. I really just thought something really bad was happening. You all probably had plans…”
But April just shrugs. “Not really, and you don’t have to feel bad– you didn’t know. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would’ve ever noticed we’re down here, anymore. Casey and I, I mean– Obviously no one knows about the turtles… But, we’ve missed so much school, and Irma doesn’t even know. I once spent a few weeks down here when… something kinda bad happened and I couldn’t live alone. I just told everyone there was a family emergency, but… I mean, I’m living alone in my dad’s apartment since he’s… out for work , right now, and Casey’s family thinks he’s still on the hockey team even though he quit to keep up with us, so… it’s rough, keeping all this undercover. We didn’t mean to seem like we were overreacting or anything like that…”
“I get it– well, maybe I’ve never dealt with this degree of secrecy– but I get it. And really, I can keep my mouth shut. I mean that.” You pause. “Tell you what, if you have to miss a bunch of school again, have you or Casey text me… I can get schoolwork down here after my shifts end. I’ll tell folks you’re at work and Casey’s at practice. Plus, I’m tight with a lot of the sophomore teachers– they’ll recognize me.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do all that…”
“No, really. I don’t mind. It won’t take me long. Roosevelt’s not a big school, and I can get there before the warning bell. I’ll even do it for Jones.”
April rewards you with a small smile. “I… Thank you. Thank you so much. You’ve been so calm about all this… I don’t know what to say.”
Your group reaches the ladder you took on your way down, starlight (more likely just the obscene light pollution, actually) shining through the outer ring left by the manhole cover. You turn and wave slightly, shoulder weighed down by your bag. “Alright. Nice meeting you. I’m gonna go pass out in my bed. See ya.” You make to climb up, but something stops you halfway. “And if y’all find me at Antonio’s, I’ll get you the employee discount. Just ‘cause I’m nice like that. April, I’ll text you tomorrow about our project-!”
Just like that, you’re pushing the manhole cover open and hoisting yourself out of the grate. It’s maybe 11ish– checking your phone reveals it to be 11:08 pm– and no one’s really checking the alley branching from the main street anyway, so the coast is clear. A stray cat hisses at something, probably the grating of the manhole cover slipping back into place, before darting away into the shadows.
You brush yourself off, the smell unfortunately lingering, but breathing the night air helps dissipate the discomfort to an extent. You turn to leave, but a line of people block your path, casting shadows onto you. They’re all tall, skinny, gangly-looking, but the weapons in their hands suggest a degree of strength far beyond the average man. Wait. Those are weapons.
Eyes darting between their shadowed faces and the weapons they carry– long, curved blades, a hook and chain, is that a fucking morningstar? – you recall what Splinter was saying about ‘enemies putting you at risk.’ You slowly back up, unconsciously taking up a defensive, crouched stance, but the line of men advances, perfectly synchronous. A new figure drops from the balcony a story or so above, and lands before the men. This person’s shorter, but the glint of metal across their body hints that they aren't any less dangerous. They step out of the cast shadow, confidently striding up to you.
It’s… a girl, roughly your own age. She’s wearing a dark mask, heavy makeup, and a menacing stare. She takes off her mask, and that stare becomes a wicked grin. Her voice is jaded, yet honeyed. “Hmm. You’re not O’Neil.”
April… She’s looking for April? She clearly didn’t have friendly plans for her, but you’re the one in danger right now. Pretend you don’t know her. “Who?”
“It’s a late night. You really shouldn’t be wandering all alone. It’s not safe.”
Maybe if you play this off casually, she’ll give up on you. “...sssssure? I’m sorry, do I know you from somewhere? I’m bad with faces…”
“No… you don’t know me.” She’s still smiling at you. Damnit.
“Cool… well, nice to meet you?” You try to push past her, but her forearm batters into your back. Stumbling forward, two of the men catch you and hold tight to your wrists, legs hooking around yours. In just a delightful turn of events, you’re now suspended an inch or so off the ground, and your thrashing meets unwavering resistance. Their hands are so… cold.
“Nice to meet you, too.” She meets you face-to-face, brown eyes sparkling. You only perceive a moment of the blow to the underside of your jaw, and then you’re out cold.
Notes:
i'm making karai a little evil here whoops
Chapter 3: III: Isolation
Summary:
In which Karai has a plan for you, but the turtles do too.
Notes:
whoops, travelling back for school kicked my ass
also also please leave more comments they feed me
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
You eventually come to, in a dark room.
Okay, it’s not dark dark. Pale light streams through the translucent shōji doors, giving the room a deep, yet vibrant purple tinge. The tatami floor isn’t uncomfortable, per se, but being tied up on the ground doesn’t really leave room to enjoy the decor.
Thick, crudely tied rope binds your wrists and ankles together behind your back, and a metal chain wrapped around your upper arms doesn’t leave wiggle room. You’re chest down, with your head craned up to keep from being suffocated by the floor – now that you notice it, the chains are really digging into your front due to gravity. Ouch.
Shifting and the clicking of confident, controlled footsteps behind you jolt your brain properly awake. It’s the girl from before, sharp red and black makeup decorating her frown. The doors to your right slide open, but even after straining your neck a bit, you can’t quite turn your head to see who enters– the footsteps sound heavy, scraping the tatami.
But the girl is at the forefront of your attention, wresting you by the shoulders so you have the room to properly speak, though you elect not to– given she looks like she wants to monologue at you or some bullshit.
“Good morning.” Her voice is still saccharine. “My friends and I, we were hoping you would be a sweet little birdie and let us know what you were doing in that manhole.”
Uhhhh… shit, come up with something quick–
“I dropped my keys in the grate and I went down to find them.”
The girl blinks. “… Seriously?”
“Yeah, dropped them on my way home from work. Was I, like, not allowed down there? Am I in trouble?” Now, obviously you knew she wasn’t with the city law enforcement– but it might help you out here to be stupid. Not too stupid, though. “Or something?”
Her frown shifts from just a down-turn to scrunched-up anger– fortunately not directed at you– at the other person, still standing by the shōji doors. She drops you, roughly, and storms up to them. You still can’t see, but you hear her hissing. “Did you seriously alert for this? We’ve definitely lost our tail on them now–”
A rough male voice responds, also in that same whisper-hiss. “The girl was down there for over an hour– what were we supposed to think?”
“You reported that it was O’Neil! Does she look like her to you?”
“It was dark out-!”
The girl huffs loudly, and the man shuts his mouth. “ Well, now we have to deal with her and report to Shredder. I’ll let you handle the latter, since you’re so incapable.” Her voice turns sickly sweet. “Let’s hope he’s in a better mood today.”
An inhuman, low growling sound rumbles through the room, but it seems the girl doesn’t let up– the noise stops, and you can almost feel the reluctant acquiescence. Then, the man… thing? He pushes across the room, shoving aside the other shōji panels, and although the details are faint, you’re certain this man could not possibly be human. He had to be nine, maybe ten feet tall! The opaque sheen of bone across his elongated face glints for a moment before the shōji shut again, and you’re left alone with the girl. But your mind finally supplies you with the word to describe him. Werewolf.
If a beast like that is deferring to her… who is she?
You hear scraping from behind you now, and it’s her, with a wooden chair. She yanks you to your feet (although putting it that way is generous– she’s supporting a good deal of your weight because your ankles are still tied and you’re incredibly unbalanced), before shoving you into the chair. It’s still not comfortable, but it’s a welcome change from being on the floor, struggling to speak. You suspect that’s why she stuck you there… although somewhere, a part of you wants to believe she did it out of the “goodness of her heart” or whatever.
You decide now would be the opportune moment to push for information. Start off innocent. Make them think that you think they’re not criminals. “Um… are you like, F.B.I, or something? Am I being interrogated?”
She blinks, before erupting in laughter. “Ohh, you’re adorable.”
You fake an awkward laugh. “Ha, haha, ha?”
But she just levels you with a bored stare. “I know you don’t really believe that, do you?” When you don’t say anything, she scrunches up her face. “And here I was, hoping I could keep you around for a little while…”
You blanch and she cackles at you. “I mean, I can’t just let you walk out of here. What were you expecting? But you’re also absolutely no help to me whatsoever. You’re not April, not the turtles, and not Hamato Yoshi.” She’s looking for the turtle boys too? Is she… actually the dangerous one Splinter was talking about? Or that Shredder boss guy– is he a crime lord? “You’re no help to me… for right now.”
Uh oh.
“You see, me and my boss have a… personal gripe with someone who lives around here. His disciples are some goody-two-shoes kinds, so I can just let you lead them right to me. Sounds fun, right? I get to finally take down the man who ruined my life, and you… well, anyone you tell about this will think you’re crazy, so I guess nothing too bad happens to you, if you’re smart.”
She grabs your chin and holds your face to her gaze. “So here’s how this is gonna work. Tonight, we’re gonna have a nice date on the rooftops, and you’re gonna keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you, if you want to make it back to the ground in one piece. They won’t show until nighttime, so you can enjoy yourself here, for today.”
You’re sweating like crazy, but she hasn’t let go of your face, so you just nod the best you can. That seems to be enough for her, because she releases you and storms out of the room.
Exhaling a long breath, you look ahead and watch the orange bleed into the room from the early rising sun.
Your mom is gonna be pissed.
—
Casey Jones prided himself on his accountability.
Sure, maybe it was a more recent development (given his tendency to get mixed in with… teenage scraps, hence why he gravitated to hockey), but ever since he made friends with April and the turtles, something in his head was telling him he ought to start owning up to his past mistakes.
Here felt like a good place to start, with the girl he kinda-sorta ripped off.
Now that April had a companion for picking up the turtles’ pizza on the regular, Casey found himself paying attention to the amount of money April was spending on the guys. He pitched in with his own allowance, naturally, but it definitely made him more aware of how much things like food cost nowadays. The turtles needed it, and there was only so much money they could fish out of dumpsters or nab off the ground to keep getting fresh pizzas.
So three months ago, he might’ve waved off $50, but now… he genuinely felt guilty. After all, you had prepped and waited multiple times, and the money would’ve come from his parents anyways, not him– he had just been lousy. He didn’t know your situation– that kind of money might be needed by you or your family.
Today, he was going to show that he could turn over a new leaf.
Cash in hand, he strolled into Ms. Kim’s room, hoping that he could catch you before the first bell. You were sometimes helping her out with her computer in the morning– Ms. Kim, bless her, was not well acquainted with technology. He peeked through the window, but the warning bell rang, causing him to jump back a little. When he looked again, he saw Ms. Kim on the phone.
“... she had left by morning? Ma’am, did you see your daughter come home last night? … No, she wasn’t scheduled for last night… …maybe at work? … I see. I’ll call the office and have the alert put out– she’s probably here somewhere. If faculty sees her, we’ll send her home right away, ma’am.”
Hanging up the phone, she had a grim expression on her face. Casey decided now was the time to get to class, but luck was seemingly not on his side, because Ms. Kim spotted him dashing past the open classroom door. “Jones?”
He awkwardly shuffled back, standing just in the doorframe. “... Yeah?”
“If you see (Y/n), send her to the office for me. And tell her to call her parents and let them know she’s okay.”
“... Okay.”
And with that, he rushed off to English, wishing more than usual that the day would speed by.
—
With their nightly excursions becoming more and more frequent since their fateful 15th birthday, the turtles found themselves sleeping more and more during the day, sometimes even into the evening whenever April and Casey would drop by, much to their amusement. (In the short time since they met Casey, there’s already been multiple occasions involving Sharpie art on the face and an angry, half-asleep Raph. Leo was not a fan of the noise.)
But what was unusual about this particular afternoon was that both a.) The two humans (kraang-human included) of the group were both several hours early, and b.) Casey was more frantic than he was excited.
So when an unexpected shout in the lair, followed by a boom in Donnie’s lab (which itself was followed by a nasty odor wafting out), was met with groans of displeasure, the turtles were already having a night.
Moving out of their respective rooms– although actually, it was only Mikey and Raph in their rooms, Donnie in his lab and Leo sticking his head out of the dojo– the brothers find Casey and April, concerned expressions on their faces.
Raph rolls his eyes. “What is it now, man?”
“Guys, when I was at school today–”
Donnie snorts. “You mean you actually went today?”
“DUDE, THIS IS IMPORTANT!” Casey was loud, but he didn’t properly yell much. That shut everyone up quick. “That girl you met last night, (Y/n), she wasn’t at school, and, and, one of the teachers was on the phone with her family, and they said she never made it home last night. I think something bad happened– either the Foot or the Kraang-!”
Leo cuts in. “Hold on, are you sure this has to do with those guys?" Everyone turns to look at him, the words surprising, coming out of his mouth. He backpedals a bit. "It's not that I don't want to help someone in need, just-! We have no idea what's going on with her, and we can’t risk anyone else seeing us. We got lucky with (Y/n) but that probably wouldn’t be the case for anyone else.” Casey gives him a weird look, and he continues. “We don’t know– she might’ve just not gone home. We could be putting her even more at risk by deliberately trying to find her again.”
Raph stares at him incredulously, before blinking away. “And I thought you were Mr. Hero,” he mutters.
The others turn to look at him, and someone (April) coughs. Raph scrunches his face up. “What? Knowing our luck, it probably is our fault she ended up missing.” He takes a breath. “Look, it’s just like with Mr. Murakami– they’re probably expecting us to show up and save her so they can lure us out and find out where we're hiding, and stuff. But we should just go and do it anyway- it's our responsibility if it is our fault the Foot nabbed her.”
April looks relieved. “Exactly– we’re responsible, we should deal with it!”
“And assuming it’s the Foot again– which it very likely is– we already have the upper hand because we know they’re luring us out! It won’t be too much like last time with the Purple Dragons. We could act covertly, and no one would get hurt!” Donnie contemplates.
Mikey pipes up. “Waitaminute, where would she even be, though? It’s not like we have a tracking device on her or anything.”
Everyone looks down, before Donnie and April light up and make eye contact.
“April, do you know if she has–”
“Wait, I could use my phone to check–!”
Quickly fumbling her phone out of her pocket, April keys into the Find My Friends App. Typing in the first letters of (Y/n) (April had yet to give you a personalized contact photo with all of her filters and stickers), a location immediately pinged red. The group crowded around the display.
“Seriously?” Raph huffs.
Your phone was alerting to the old Chris Bradford Dojo.
“Ughhh… I don’t wanna deal with Rahzar again…” Mikey whines.
Leo looks up. “It might not be Rahzar, but at least we know we’re dealing with the Foot Clan. Let’s move out after sunset. April, Casey, you with us for this one?”
April nods resolutely, while Casey just grins.
“I’ll let Splinter know. The rest of you get ready.”
Donnie whispers over to Raph. “There’s Mister Leader for you.” He gets a shove to the shell in return.
—
You open your eyes this time to a soft pink about the room.
Sunset. You had been in this room for a whole day.
After spending the first hour or so in the early morning light, surrounded by walls of deadly weapons, you figured your time was best spent sleeping and recovering your energy. While the girl brought you food around midday or so – some pad thai from a Thai place you didn’t recognize the branding of – you weren’t faring too well. Your jaw was definitely bruised from last night and the multitude of chain/rope cuffs were uncomfortably rubbing against your wrists, forearms, and ankles. The sound of feet shuffling and door panels sliding from other rooms also kept you from getting your proper R.E.M. sleep, and you were absolutely feeling the consequences by the end of the day.
Thursday. It was Thursday. Oh hell, what were you gonna tell everyone? “Sorry, an emo assassin girl nabbed me and kept me in her weird basement for a day! Can I make-up these assignments this weekend, pretty please?” Yeah, that’ll end up well.
If I’m even alive by the end of all this. That thought sobered you real damn quick. The girl said she had no reason to hurt you with your cooperation tonight, but that didn’t mean you were just gonna walk away. If anything, they’d start fighting, and leave you tied up on the roof for the pigeons to shit on. Fuck me.
The doors slid open. Again. This time, you knew it was her– her footsteps were light compared to the heavy shuffling and metallic clanging that had been keeping you up all day (what in the hell were they doing?)
“Are we leaving now?” Your voice leaves you before you even stop to think. Shitshitshitfuckshitfuckingshit. You found yourself suddenly praying to any higher beings above, that for once in your life, you did not unintentionally sound condescending or pissed off.
Lady Luck must’ve been smiling on you today– or maybe she just decided your last twelve hours had been shitty enough already, cause she didn’t retaliate. Instead, she just grins. “Smart cookie, aren’t you, (Y/n)?”
Um.
“We’re gonna get you all nice and cozy up there. You remember the plan, don’t you?” Her voice drops. “You make a sound while we’re up there, you’re done. Understand?”
You just nod, your head spinning from the oncoming adrenaline.
“Then let’s get moving, shall we? I’m not all that patient, especially when I have a score to settle.”
“What did he even do– ruining your life?” You really need to get better at shutting the fuck up under pressure.
She stares daggers into your eyes, and the intensity in her gaze is…
“I’m taking Hamato Yoshi down because he killed my mother.”
Notes:
i need money
Creedfire01 on Chapter 2 Mon 04 Aug 2025 11:44PM UTC
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Shrykos_011 on Chapter 2 Sun 10 Aug 2025 09:37PM UTC
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