Strike Hard And Fade Away: Worm/TMNt

[Mat92]

It's a little early but I'm having so much fun that it's getting it's own thread.

---

February 28th, 2011

As she made her way through the eerily silent halls of Winslow High School Taylor tried even harder than normal to hide what she was feeling. There were broadly speaking four acceptable reactions to the aftermath of an endbringer attack and Taylor was feeling precisely none of them.

• Existential dread at the reminder of the inevitability of death and the fact that we lived in a fundamentally uncaring cosmos.
• Sadness for those who fell in the battle against the monster.
• Reverence for those who survived.
• A badly hidden concern that your home might be next.

Instead, what Taylor was feeling was a sad, desperate hope. A hope that in the aftermath of this ongoing horror, the world would be too busy to pay little old her any mind. That for at least a day or two she could put her head down and not face any kind of opposition or… Temptation.

As she bumped into a hard body and fell backwards to the floor it became clear that this was not to be. From the cold and poorly maintained linoleum Taylor looked into the face of the bitches three. The haughty smirk on Sophia's face, the cruel smile on Emma's and the childish glee in Madison's eyes were as recognizable to Taylor as her own face at this point. As Taylor watched Madison grab her bookbag from where it fell and begin rifling through it, Taylor felt her heart sink and her blood boil.

Nearby a group of flies that had been circling a garbage can began to buzz in agitation.

"Look, there's nothing in there." Taylor said as she climbed to her feet. "How about we just walk away alright."

"I don't know about that." Madison chirped as she pulled something out of the bag. "Look at this. An Analysis of the themes of Animal farm in relation to the politics of George Orwell." She began to flip through it and let out a low whistle. "It looks like you worked really hard on this Taylor."

Her voice was friendly but her eyes were cruel and as Madison handed the essay that she'd spent the past week slaving on over to Emma, Taylor had the horrible feeling that she knew what was going to happen.

"Wow, this looks really good Tay. I bet your mom would be so proud of you for this." Emma simpered and made to put the paper in her own bag. "I know how clumsy you are though so I'll tell you what since I'm just feeling so nice today. I'll take this in for you. How's that sound?"

Taylor didn't bother to answer her and made a desperate attempt to lunge at Emma to reclaim her work but it was all for naught. Before she could even get close Sophia grabbed Taylor and shoved her against the locker hard enough to make her give out a choked cry of pain. As she slid to the floor, she could see the three of them walk away through the spots in her eyes. A short distance away the trio paused by a garbage can, the paper was tossed in, juice was poured on it and through her little friends Taylor could feel that her hard work had been ruined once more.

In that moment Taylor felt another piece of herself break under the constant onslaught of the last two years. She'd given up trying to be successful in all of her other classes, she knew that her efforts would be thwarted but English… Her mom had taught Literature at the university, some of her most cherished memories involved the two of them reading a book together and talking about it long into the night. So, for the sake of her memory Taylor had tried her best to succeed in that one class and it had been working. It had been working, sure she wasn't doing phenomenally but she was passing and now the first major assignment of the semester had been ruined.

Why even bother she lamented as she made the long slow march to her World affairs class. It didn't matter, none of it mattered. Nothing she did mattered as she was fighting the urge to give in to her despair a few flies flew up to her and landed on her neck. It almost seemed like they were nuzzling her and despite how obviously ludicrous such a thought was it did provide some comfort.

Unnoticed by Taylor a young bespectacled woman wearing an oversized blue sweater approached the garbage can Emma and her cronies had used and fished out the paper Taylor had given up as destroyed.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear." The woman murmured as she hurried away to her classroom.


The rest of Taylor's day past in a haze of petty cruelty and casual torment until finally she reached her last class of the day. English with Ms. Langstein and as she walked in the door Taylor tried to escape the gaze of her teacher as she hurried to her desk. As she settled in at her desk she did her best to tune out the nattering on of the long haired jock behind her.

"Alright class, hand in your essays please and we can get started."

Ms. Langstein called out and as Taylor took the depressingly short essay from the hockey player sitting behind her and sent it forward without adding anything of her own, she overheard him and his buddy talking about penalty chests or something. At the revelation that he'd be receiving a better grade than her on this assignment she felt yet another wave of despair wash over her. She felt a poke in her shoulder and turned around to glare at the perpetrator and found herself facing something surprising. The jock was looking at her with a confused frown on his face and concern in his eyes.

"Where's your report?" He asked and when Taylor didn't deign to respond he carried on. "It's just you're really good at this English stuff. So, what happened."

Taylor let out a bitter laugh and turned away from him without giving any answer.

"Come on Case, she's just some geek. Who cares?" His buddy said scornfully.

"Everything, alright back there?" Ms. Langstein called as she stared at Taylor and those surrounding her.

"Yes ma'am, everything's fine." The jock responded with a grin on his face. "How you doing?"

"I'd be much better if we could all focus on 1984, so if you would please remove it from your bag and stop talking Mr. Jones that would be delightful."

With that the class began a discussion on the cheerful topics of tyranny and just how many freedoms people would be willing to surrender and how easy it was to convince someone to believe things that aren't true.


The bell rang signalling an end to the day and as the crowd of students began to pile out of the classroom Taylor tried to hide herself in the mass so she could avoid any awkward conversations.

"Taylor, could you stay behind for a moment?"

Curse foiled again. As she turned to head back towards her teachers desk the jock from earlier gave her a smug smile and mouthed the word ouch to her. Moving past the condescending jerk Taylor and Ms. Langstein stood in silence as they both waited for all the students to leave the room. Finally, when blessed isolation fell over the room Taylor began to speak.

"Look, if this is about my paper, I am so sorry. I swear it's not my fault and if you can just give a day I can write it again for you. I promise."

Taylor's panicked babbling was cut off as Ms. Langstein slammed something down on the desk.

"I have your paper right here Taylor. It looks quite good on a first run through and I'm sure you'll do well." Ms. Langstein looked at Taylor with sharp eyes that seemed to see everything. "Now do you want to explain to me what happened this morning?"

Taylor looked down and said nothing.

"I'm new here Taylor. You've got to catch me up because I'm confused and I need you to clarify a few things. When you were assigned to my class, I was told by other teachers who had you that you were lazy, unmotivated and I must say that's not been my experience." She reached out and pushed Taylor's chin up slightly so they would be looking each other in the eye. "How long has this been going on?"

"Two years. Since I started school here." Taylor whispered.

"I thought so." Ms. Langstein replied as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. "So, here's what's going to happen going forward. I'll be raising complaints to Principal Blackwell about the bullying I saw but I imagine you've already done so." Taylor nodded her head. "I might need to send it up the chain then so in the meantime do you have internet access at home?"

"Yes, I mean it's a bit slow but I can go online and send emails and stuff."

"Good, this is my personal email. Send any assignments to me. I've spoken to your other teachers and managed to convince them to accept them from me if you can't provide them."

Taylor held the piece of paper to her chest like it was a life preserver.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Ms. Langstein grinned at her. "I'm just sorry I couldn't do more but for now at least." She trailed off.

"For now at least." Taylor beamed at her and began to run out the door. "I'll see you Monday."


As Taylor got off the bus and began walking the few blocks to her home, she couldn't help but smile every time she placed her hand in her pocket and felt that scrap of paper. Despite Ms. Langstein's words she didn't think that her complaints with the administration or the school board or whatever would amount to anything, or that this would really make any difference with her grades in her other classes but still this meant a chance to keep up in the one class she cared about. Well, that and her computer classes at least (wow she was really breaking the bell curve). Still as she hopped over the rotting step and climbed the stairs to her room, she decided to do something she hadn't done in a while.

Taylor set down at the small desk in her room and after waiting the requisite five minutes for the computer to boot up she got to work. English, science, history, world affairs and all of her other courses became the focus of her world. She redid assignments that had been destroyed and made a strong start on the assignments that would be due in the next week. Sure, it probably wouldn't mean anything in the long run but she'd be damned if anyone could say she didn't try.

Finally, after her computer (affectionately nicknamed the beast) completed its herculean task of sending the last email, Taylor leaned back in her chair and stretched out before looking out the window. The sun was just beginning to set and after taking a moment to appreciate the beautiful colors Taylor realized that she had failed to do her afternoon run.

"Shit, shit, shit." Taylor muttered to herself as she paced back and forth. "Okay, there was that big dust up between the ABB and the Protectorate a few days back, so people are probably going to be laying low. Right? Right. So, I should be fine just so long as I take the pepper spray Dad got me. Also, Dad's not home right now so he won't be worried so it'll be like I never went for the run so no need to tell him. Perfect, good plan Taylor."

As she was dashing around the room grabbing her sweatpants and a hoodie there was a brief moment where Taylor realized that she had carried on a full conversation with herself. After a moment of deep contemplation and honest introspection, she concluded that this was in no way a reason to be worried for her emotional wellbeing or mental health. In fact, if she was to have her mental health tested she would pass with flying colors… Which is both achievable and a perfectly rational thing to want.


A few hours later Taylor was leaning against a building on the docks and taking a moment to catch her breath. She'd made the cardinal sin of forgetting to pace herself and she was paying for it now. Eventually after a few hundred desperate gasps for air and few dozen promises to sacrifice a cow to Hermes, the god of travellers Taylor's breathing was finally evening out and she could hear something besides her own suffering.

Next to the building that was serving as her support there was an alleyway and down that alleyway she could hear the sounds of a fight.

We should go find a phone and call the police or something Taylor's brain insisted.

We will of course we will Taylor's legs replied as they started walking her down the alley. We should just make sure we know what's happening before we call. Besides, we're a superhero (sort of) what could go wrong?

We control bugs and we aren't even in a costume. We don't even have a costume yet!!!

Despite that eminently logical argument the legs and Taylor's own curiosity won the argument and so doing her best to keep to the shadows she peaked out to see what was going on.

There seemed to be two groups involved in the fighting and both of them must have been new because Taylor didn't recognize either of them. On one side was a group that were all dressed in blacks and greys with a red insignia emblazoned on the chest. From where she was standing Taylor couldn't see exactly what the insignia was. The ninja wannabes were strange enough but their opponents were even stranger. There were four of them and they were all giant humanoid turtles wielding weapons.

She winced instinctively as the one with a blue mask and two swords knocked the blade from one of the ninjas hands and immediately followed up with a devastating kick to the head. Nearby him there was one wearing a red mask and fighting with two three bladed knives that looked vaguely familiar to Taylor. Hitting his opponent hard with the pommel of his knife he knocked his foe to the ground and called out to the blue one.

"What's the plan, fearless leader?" He growled out.

The blue one blocked a sword strike from another ninja and pushed him away.

"Just hold on a little longer." He cried. "We just need to keep them busy for another ten minutes or so."

"Correction." Said a third turtle before hitting one of the ninjas with his stick. "It seems that the ship is leaving port now. Perhaps we should make a retreat."

"No way bro." Said the one in orange as he lashed out with his nunchucks. "We got these guys on the ropes."

From her hiding spot Taylor tried to stifle a chuckle at the fact that this weird turtle man creature sounded like a surfer bro from a children's cartoon. Sadly, it seemed that she didn't succeed as one of the ninjas moved towards with blinding speed. Holding her tightly around the neck he pulled her from her hiding place and held her in front of him with his knife disturbingly close to Taylor's neck. The one in red snarled and made to charge at the two of them but stopped when the knife pressed in just a little harder and a trickle of blood began to fall.

"Surrender freaks." The ninja snarled in a thick Japanese accent. "Or would you have her blood on her hands?"

"Let the girl go." The blue one demanded. "She has no part in this."

"Of course, but first your surrender." To make his point clearer he made as if to cut her throat. "Now put away your weapons."

The four looked hesitant but eventually the blue one began to sheath his swords and the others followed suit with the one in red being the last to put his knives away. As this was happening Taylor was putting her powers to use.

You wouldn't think that bug control would be very useful in a fight but you'd be surprised how many nasty, stinging, biting things you could find around a dockyard and all of them answered Taylor's call and made their way to their new master. As the swarm surrounded his head and the wasps stung and the spiders bit the ninja managed to remain stoic. Then Taylor managed to fish out her pepper spray and getting that in his eyes was too much. He let out a scream and pushed Taylor away as she stumbled forward the red turtle broke stereotypes and ran past her at serious speed.

"Thanks." He grunted before punching out the would-be hostage taker.

After that things fell into chaos as the fight resumed and Taylor was pulled into it. She did her best to help what she had decided were the good guys, sending her swarms to distract anyone who was attacking the turtles and just doing her best to stay out of the way.

Eventually the fighting came to an end as the last of the ninjas fled into the night. After a moment the four turtles put their weapons away and walked up to her.

"Thanks for the help." The blue one said as he made to offer her a hand. "The foot can be- GET DOWN!"

The four turtles dropped to the ground in an instant but Taylor was just a tad too slow and felt a stabbing pain. As she turned her head towards the source of the pain she saw an arrow embedded in her arm.

"Oh, I got shot." Taylor said distantly. "With an arrow. That's funny I always figured it would be a guuu."

Her voice trailed off into a slur as she fell bonelessly to the ground.

"What do we do Leo?" The one in orange asked in a panic.

"We should get her to a hospital." The one in purple replied. "This arrow is clearly poisoned."

"And tell the intake desk what" The one in red scoffed. "We were fighting a ninja clan and she got caught in the crossfire oh and by the way don't call the Protectorate."

"Quiet." The one in blue said sharply. "Mikey you help me carry her. Splinter's dealt with the foot before he'll know what to do. Raph you take point, Donnie watch our six."

The other three moved to follow his orders although the now named Raphael made sure to grumble about it the whole way.

---

Rising up against evil, paint the city green,
Raph is ready for a fight, Leo's runnin' the scene
Mikey's got mad skills, Donnie rocks machines
With each other they discover their destiny and rise!

Cowabunga!

Rise of the...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
(Rise of the!) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Heroes in a half shell
Turtle Power!

Growing up in shadows, Brockton Bay underground
Discovering the secrets that are hiding all around
The city needs heroes when there's trouble on the prowl
Four brothers from the sewers rise to take the villains out!

 

[Mat92]

Before anyone says something. No I didn't do the traditional April O'neill scream and pass out. I just couldn't see Taylor doing that.

Now without any further adieu.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
(Turtles count it off)
1,2 3,4 (Turtles)
Mutant Chain Reaction (Turtles)
Livin' Underground (Turtles)
Ninjitsu Action (Turtles)
It's a SHELL OF A TOWN

---

As he and his brothers moved through the night Leonardo readjusted the girl he and Michelangelo were carrying and wondered just how things had gotten so complicated. It should have been simple, a mission like any other. The night before Raphael had seen a group of foot clan ninja's loading something onto a boat and when he'd told Master Splinter about it, the four of them had been ordered to investigate. They'd arrived and discovered a bunch of crates loaded up with weapons ready to be sent off to other branches of the Foot. From there they proceeded to take down the bad guys and it was all going smooth until the field leader for the foot saw this girl and things went –

"So, are we going to talk about what just happened?" The cheerful voice of Michelangelo asked.

"Shut up, Mikey." Raphael grumbled from up front.

"It would be a good idea for us to lay out some groundwork for what we do next." Donatello pointed out. "I mean this girl saw us and we are bringing her to the lair. How are we going to keep this quiet?"

"I can take care of that." Raphael snarled.

"That's enough." Leonardo barked out sharply. "She was an innocent bystander in all of this and we protected her. That's what Sensei trained us to do. Whatever happens because of that we'll deal with when it happens. Got it."

After a moment it became clear that no one was willing to question Leonardo on this one (an experience that Leo hoped would become more common someday) the brothers and their unconscious passenger continued on through the night.

"Seriously though, we've got an actual cape here my brothers!" Michelangelo enthused as they made their way downtown. "You saw what she could do with those bugs, how great is it going to be –"

"This ain't the Protectorate." Raphael snarled. "We're taking her to Splinter so we can make sure she doesn't die and then we're dumping her somewhere. Anything else is too much trouble."

"That's a little harsh Raph." Donnie said hesitantly. "Maybe we should."

"We should what Donnie?" Raphael interrupted. "Invite her in for tea, tell her all about us, join up with the Protectorate? You remember what happened last time, right?" There was no response from anyone and Raphael nodded to himself. "That's what I thought."

"Guys, there's a lot up in the air right now. Let's not make any rash decisions." Leonardo said trying to soothe his brothers. "We're going to keep our family safe I promise but this girl helped us. We owe her." He reached out a hand and spun Raphael around so he could look him in the eyes. "Are you with me on this?"

Raphael gave Leonardo a hard stare but after a moment his gaze drifted over to the girl his brothers were carrying. Her breathing was labored and you could still see blood on her shirt from the arrow wound. A change came over him so subtle that only those who had known him for years would be able to see it but he softened, just ever so slightly and nodded his head.

"I'm with you bro."

This lovely moment of bonding was interrupted by the sound of a manhole cover crashing to the ground.

"Sorry to interrupt but this debate will be meaningless if we don't get her to Master Splinter shortly. So perhaps we could get a move on." Donatello snarked.

Leonardo nodded firmly and after a slightly awkward moment he took the full weight of their passenger from Mikey and leaped down heading down the final stretch towards home.


As he awaited the safe return of his sons (of course they'd be safe) the creature now known as Splinter placed the final candle in his meditation circle and closed his eyes. The cultivation of inner peace was difficult for one such as him. A man who was simultaneously a rat and a rat who was simultaneously a man. Still, he reflected as he adjusted the brown robe he wore and sat down it was still a worthwhile endeavor despite the difficulty. Or perhaps he mused it was the difficulty which made it worthwhile. As he breathed in and out, in and out he felt his mind drifting away, moving past old pains and future worries, pausing for a moment to enjoy precious memories before letting those too pass by. He was Splinter and he was –

"MASTER SPLINTER!!!"

And he was needed apparently.

"Yes, what is it that you need Michelangelo?"

Splinter asked as he opened his eyes and came to his feet. Without realizing it he gripped his cane tighter before his eyes assured him that his sons were unharmed. It would appear though that the girl Leonardo carried was not so fortunate.

"Place her on the sofa and tell me what happened."

"She got caught up in our battle with the foot Master Splinter." Leonardo explained as he gently placed the girl down. "She was stricken by an arrow. We think it must have been poisoned."

"I have it here." Donatello said as he pulled it from a satchel slung across his hip and handed it to Splinter. "We didn't want to risk taking her to a hospital. Is there anything you can do for her, Sensei?"

Splinter very carefully rubbed a finger along the tip of the arrow and then licked the residue from his finger. He tasted it for a few seconds before spitting it out.

"Yes, I believe so." He relied calmly. "Raphael would you please collect the medical satchel from my room. It is on the rack by the door."

"On it."

"And Michelangelo watch her while I prepare the treatment. Alert me if her breathing changes."

"You got it pops."

Just as Michelangelo settled into his task with an uncharacteristically serious look on his face Raphael returned and handed the bag off to Splinter.

"Thank you, my son." Splinter said gravely. "The poison they used isn't terribly potent but we'll need to move quickly. Leonardo, please start slicing those herbs, long thin strips, Raphael, I'll need you to take the pestle and mortar and prepare those blue petals. I'll do the rest. Donatello if you could heat up some water, please."

As soon as the instructions were given no one wasted time acknowledging their orders, they merely set about doing what needed doing. As the minutes ticked by, they felt like hours and all involved tried to ignore the worry about whether or not their efforts would be in vain.

"Guys her breathing's starting to look kind of rough." Michelangelo called out in alarm.

"A few moments more." Splinter replied as he gathered the ingredients and placed them in the boiling kettle that had been provided by Donatello. With practiced movements he swiftly poured the concoction into a cup and carried over to the patient.

"Would you raise her head?"

As soon as Michelangelo gently lifted her head Splinter placed the cup to her lips and poured it down her throat. Slowly her breathing began to even out and all of the people in the room let out a sigh of relief. As they watched their guest lay there Raphael was the one who dared to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"What do we do next, Master Splinter?"

"We do our duty and ensure that she recovers and after that." Splinter paused to organize his thoughts. "We shall speak with her and determine our next move."


Taylor Hebert had never been a morning person and in spite of her developing the habit of waking up early to go for a run in preparation for her sure to be impressive superhero career, this fundamental truth of her being had not changed. Thus, as she began the slow shamble back towards consciousness she kept to her usual routine. Her eyes stayed set as long as possible and she let her mind wander for a bit before the hated alarm clock.

Her brow furrowed as she realized that strangely enough, she didn't remember coming home after her run. In fact, the very last thing she could remember was getting pulled into a fight with some weird –

"Hey guys! I think she's waking up." A friendly voice called out and seemed to echo around her.

In spite of her better judgement Taylor slowly opened her eyes and found herself face to face with one of the creatures from last night. It was indeed a giant turtle but from up close she could notice more humanoid features around the face. The eyes behind the orange mask were friendly and it gave her a smile.

"Good to see you awake." The creature carried on in his efforts to strike up a conversation, seemingly oblivious to the confusion in Taylor's eyes. "My name's Michelangelo. What's yours?"

Taylor's eyes frantically darted around the room she was in trying to figure out where she was. It was a dark and somewhat dank place but somehow homey in spite of that. Off to the side of her she could see a kitchen that appeared to be well used and loved and based on the large T.V across from her this must have been a living room. The well-worn recliner next to the couch she was lying on confirmed this hypothesis. Before she could finish taking stock of the situation a green hand waved in front of her face.

"Hello, hello. Is anyone in there?" The now named Michelangelo's friendly voice was rapidly becoming obnoxious. "Guys, I think she's broken."

"Calm yourself, my son." A voice said from a nearby doorway. "She has been through quite an ordeal and we must be patient."

The voice stepped out from the shadows and a rat standing about five feet tall was walking towards Taylor with what seemed to be a warm smile on his face. Taylor, involuntarily gulped and hoped that she was interpreting that correctly. As soon as the rat reached her side, he quickly grabbed her wrist and after a moment nodded to himself.

"The pulse is strong. I believe she'll fully recover after a few nights sleep."

He patted her hand but beyond that paid her no mind as he looked at something behind her.

"That's a relief." A serious voice responded. "I'd hate for something to have happened to her because she helped us."

"Not like we needed her getting involved." A rough voice cut in. "She's the one who decided to butt into our business."

"Come on Raph, she did help us out." A fourth and final voice said in a conciliatory tone. "Lay off her, huh."

"Whattya mean lay off her? I never said nothin' to her."

Taylor ignored the squabbling and pushed herself up to a seating position. She quickly confirmed that yes there was a human sized rat and turtle in front of her. She turned her head to see that there were three more turtles behind her. It had been real, it had all been real. The ones in red and purple didn't notice her while they were caught up in their bickering but the one in blue gave her a small bow.

"Thank you for your assistance last night, I'm sorry you were injured and I'm pleased to see that you are alright." He stood up straight and took on a more friendly demeanor.

"I'm Leonardo and these are my brothers Donatello." He pointed out the purple one. "And Raphael." He pointed out the red one. "I think you've already met Master Splinter and Michelangelo." He paused for a moment. "And you are?"

"I don't think she wants to tell us her name." Michelangelo whispered loudly. "It's très rude."

"Taylor, it's Taylor Hebert." Taylor said as she turned herself to face Michelangelo and Master Splinter directly. "Who, what are you guys?"

"Teenagers." Michelangelo laughed.

"Mutant's." Raphael snarled.

"Ninja's." Leonardo stated calmly.

"Turtles." Donatello piped in.

"All that and more." Splinter said heavily. "The more pertinent question is who are you Ms. Hebert? Friend or foe?"

"Me, I'm, I'm nobody." Taylor stuttered. "I just got caught up in all of this. That's all." She noticed the gleam of the knives on Raphael's waist and become uncomfortably aware of how sharp they looked and tried to figure out what they wanted to hear.

"Nobody, are you kidding me? You're a freaking cape." Michelangelo cheered. "How many bugs can you control? What kinds? Do you have an arch enemy yet?"

"Oh, for crying out loud." Raphael grumbled before smacking him on the head. "Not the time, Mikey."

"Ow." Mickey yelped rubbing his head. "Come on guys, she jumped in the middle of a ninja fight to help us out. I think it's safe to say she's on our side."

Taylor nodded her head in agreement.

"I hate to say it but Mikey makes a good point." Donatello said slowly. "She got shot helping us. Why would she do that only to turn around and attack us."

"Maybe it's a foot trick." Raphael snarled. "Maybe they want us to think she's just some poor hopeless girl and then."

"I didn't even know you guys existed until a couple hours ago?" Taylor yelled. "Or those guys in the footie pyjamas. I just caught up in everything that's all."

"That is enough!" Splinter stated firmly as he slammed his cane on the ground. all the turtles went immediately silent and Taylor found herself sitting up straighter.

"I don't believe Ms. Hebert intends us any harm." Splinter continued on. "But that doesn't mean she couldn't harm us unintentionally." He looked Taylor dead in the eye and his voice became grave.

"The group you saw my sons fighting are known as the Foot Clan. They are a deadly foe and the greatest protection that our family has is that no one knows who we are. Do you understand me?"

Taylor nodded her head emphatically and Splinter heaved out a sigh.

"The safest thing to do, perhaps even the wisest would be for us to ensure your silence." Splinter sighed.

"Master." Leonardo began before being cut off by Splinter's raised hand.

"But that is the way of our enemy, not ours. I am choosing to trust you, Taylor Hebert. Do you understand?"

"I won't tell anyone. I promise." Taylor swore as she stared into Splinter's eyes willing him to believe her.

"Good." Splinter nodded. "Leonardo will escort you from here. There is however one more thing." He pulled out a piece of cloth from his robe and swiftly tied it around Taylor's eyes. "You'll wear that until Leonardo returns you to your home. Is that understood?"

"Do I have a choice?" Taylor grumbled.

"No."

Taylor felt a gentle hand take her arm and begin to guide her to her feet.

"Come on, let's get you home." Leonardo said softly.


The only conversation between the two of them had been Taylor informing Leonardo that her house was Laird Avenue. After that Leonardo seemed unwilling to speak to her and Taylor's limited social skills left her unable to come up with something to say to break the ice. This not so companionable silence was broken when Taylor tripped over something and went down hard.

"Shit." Taylor grunted out as she obeyed the instincts deeply embedded in all mankind and cradled her knee.

"Are you alright?" Leonardo asked as he knelt down next to her.

"Fine, fine." Taylor grunted before turning to look at where she thought Leonardo's face was. "But how about taking this thing off huh."

"Master Splinter says that the location of our home must remain a secret." Taylor could hear the frown in Leonardo's voice.

"Look, I'm not going to tell anyone and you guys know where I live. If it makes you feel better you can keep an eye on me."

"I shouldn't."

"It'll make this all go faster." Leonardo game a small hmm and Taylor sensed that she had him. "Besides you guys owe me. I took an arrow for you."

"Please don't make me regret this." Leonardo grumbled as Taylor felt the blindfold begin to loosen. "Raph would never let me live it down."

Taylor blinked rapidly as she took in the sights around her. The dank metal walls, the flowing water next to them and came to one conclusion.

"Are we in the sewer?"

"Yeah." Leonardo answered sheepishly and he ducked his head down to hide his blush. A part of Taylor idly noted that they must be warm blooded somehow. "Can't beat the rents though." Leonardo finished with a bit of a chuckle.

"Wait if this is the sewer, what is up with your guy's place?" Taylor asked as she and Leonardo lightly jogged along. "It's a little… roomier than I would have imagined."

"Used to be a villain's lair. It belonged to that Marquis guy." Leonardo answered. "After he got taken down way back when there was no one who came looking for it so we just moved in."

"Aren't you worried about anyone coming to take it back?"

"It's been years." Leonardo answered calmly. "If anyone was going to make a play for it, they would have by –"

Leonardo was cut off by a high pitched beeping sound and with a grumble he pulled out what appeared to be a small turtle shell that flipped open to reveal a phone. Noticing Taylor's befuddled stare Leonardo shrugged.

"Donnie." He said and it was unclear if he meant that Donnie was calling him or that Donnie had somehow built a working cell phone while living in the sewers of Brockton Bay.

"Hey, I'm just about to send Taylor off. We aren't too far out from her home."

"Forget that." Donnie yelped. "Get back here ASAP! We've got trouble. Someone found the lair."

The call disconnected and Leonardo shoved it back into his pouch with a wordless snarl.

"Taylor, keep heading straight until you reach the third turn off on the right. Walk for three manhole covers and you'll be a few blocks from your home.

With those hasty instruction he turned and ran off at a rather impressive speed for a turtle and Taylor was left standing there in shock. She could do what he said, she could go home and forget all about this. Go about her life and never think of this weird family ever again. She could do that but they helped her, they might have saved her life from whatever was on that arrow and she did was going to be a hero. Taylor started running after Leonardo and unnoticed by the young ninja a fly perched itself on his shell.


Taylor turned the last corner and found herself looking at a scene of total pandemonium. The home of the Turtle's had seemed calm and peaceful in spite of the tension caused by her interrogation but that peace had been shattered. The family of five were being menaced by these robots that looked like small raptors almost. They'd almost be cute except for the razer-sharp claws and the jaws that looked like they could bite through anything. Michelangelo was the nearest turtle to her and he was surrounded by three of them. He was managing to keep them at bay with his nunchucks but they just kept coming with snapping jaws and slashing claws.

Acting on instinct Taylor ran over to Mickey and kicked one away from him. This proved to be a bad plan when it turned to attack her and she was forced to stumble back in terror to try to get away. Mickey quickly grabbed her by the hand and pulled her over to the couch that had been flipped over to form an impromptu barrier. In this place of relative safety, he turned to her.

"Taylor, what the heck are you doing here?" He exploded.

"I heard what happened and I didn't want to miss the party." Taylor answered with a only slightly hysterical laugh.

Any further conversation was cut off when one of the robots split the couch in two with a few bites and leapt at the two of them. Moving with grace Michelangelo rolled away and was back on his feet ready for a fight. Taylor moved with far less grace but she still managed to scramble to safety, at least for a moment as one of the robots jumped at her ready to do to her face what he did to the couch. Moving on instinct and powered by adrenaline Taylor managed to catch the mechanical menace and hold it away from her.

"Taylor, send it my way!" Leonardo yelled out from somewhere to the left of her. Not bothering to question it Taylor turned and threw it as hard as she could in that direction. Leonardo dashed forward and met the robot halfway before slicing it in two with his katana.

"Bashing them doesn't work." Leonardo snapped out. "So, get them over to me and Raph so we can slice em'."

"Figures we end up doing all the work." Raphael grumbled as Donnie scooped up one of them with his stick and sent it rocketing over to his brother. The vicious smile on the face of Raphael as he quickly cut the thing to shreds proved that despite his grumbling he didn't truly mind.

To her frustration Taylor found that despite her best efforts she really wasn't that much help to the turtles and Splinter. The family moved as a single unit, almost as if they were of a single mind and swiftly the robots were corralled towards either Leonardo, Raphael or surprisingly enough Splinter who revealed that his cane hid a sword which he was quite proficient with. So the only way Taylor was able to contribute was to occasionally grab a straggler and through it towards those who were armed with pointy and cutty accessories or sacrificing a large amount of bugs to jam up the joints of the robots and slow them down. Still, she contributed what she could and based on the smiles she received during the few moments of reprieve it seemed that it was appreciated.

"Leo, heading your way."

Taylor called out as she snagged one of the last few robots and tossed it to Leonardo's whirling blades. She breathed heavily and took just a second to slow down and rest as exhaustion caught up with her. This was her mistake she reflected as sharp claws and deadly jaws suddenly came in front of her eyes. In an attempt to keep it from attacking her Taylor fell back and the girl and the robot rolled on the floor until Taylor's back collided with a hard surface.

The display case she hit rattled with the force of the impact and weapons fell to the ground. Groping blindly for something, anything she could use to protect herself. She grabbed onto a long and hard stick with a handle maybe three quarters of the way up. Moving quickly, she stuffed the stick in between the jaws of the menacing mechanoid and just as the stick shattered in its jaws one of Raphael's sai's impaled it through the head. The robot fell to the ground.

"You alright?" Raphael asked as he offered her a hand up.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Raphael looked around the lair quickly. "Looks like that's the last of them." He yelled out. The rest of the turtles walked over and joined the two of them.

"Oh no and just when I was starting to have fun." Mickey's faux complaint was met with good natured groans from the rest of the family.

"Don't joke Mikey, this is serious." Leonardo said sharply. "Whatever these things are they were able to find our home. I'll set up some traps around the perimeter but we need to find out where these things came from."

"I can't see any markings on these things." Donatello said from where he was crouched down examining some of the remains. "I'll take a closer look and see what I can find out when I get these things in my lab."

"A fine plan, my sons." Splinter said gravely as he joined the four of them. "However, there is one thing you've forgotten."

"Really, what's that Master Splinter?" Leonardo asked in a rush.

"To thank the one who came to our aid when she did not need to." Master Splinter gave Taylor a warm smile as he leaned on his cane. "I asked you earlier whether you were a friend or a foe and I believe I have my answer." He offered her his hand. "I hope you'll accept our friendship in kind despite the way I treated you."

"Sure, I mean I guess I get it." Taylor answered as she shook his hand. "I'm just glad I was able to help."

"Why did you come back for us?" Raphael asked.

With a moment of concentration Taylor summoned a fair number of bugs from the area and had them circle around her hand.

"I'm planning on being a hero." Taylor answered. "Might as well start now."

"If you're gonna be a hero. You need to learn to throw a punch." Raphael replied as he tossed an arm around Taylor's neck. "I think I can help with that."

"We all can help with that."

Leonardo said solemnly and Michelangelo and Donatello nodded their agreement. A smile came across Taylor's face and somehow, she knew that despite how much weirder her life had become over the course of a single night. Things were going to get much, much better.

---

And it truly begins.

Final part of the three part pilot comes out tonight.
Edit: sadly was unable to get it completed without staying up way too late to properly function at work tomorrow and I need to save up my sick time. Going up Friday instead.

 

[Mat92]

In one section of this it becomes very, very, very clear that I do not skateboard. If any of you do please be kind and remember that this involves mutated reptilian adolescents who practice ninjitsu and suspend your disbelief accordingly.

Alright it's already taking me longer than I wanted to get the third chapter out and personally I find after around 4,000 words it gets kind of annoying to read chapters on spacebattles/sufficent velocity. So doing this in two part sets and so here we go.

---

The moment of happiness and excitement at a new start was brought to an end by the sound of a clearing throat. The four teenagers turned to face Splinter who was stroking the long bit of fur he'd styled into something resembling a beard and looking at them with a fond smile.

"While I too am excited to have another student it is getting rather late. Perhaps it would be best if Taylor returned to her home while we assess the damage to ours?" Splinter asked them gently.

"I can stay and help out if you need me to."

"We appreciate it, Taylor." Leonardo replied. "But Master Splinter's right, it was late when we brought you here and that was a while ago. Probably best if you get back before anyone worries."

"Seriously, I can stay." Taylor insisted. "My Dad always works late I doubt he even noticed I'm gone."

There was a moment as the family silently conferred and all agreed that it would be best not to follow up on that comment right now. There would always be time later. Although Leonardo's narrowed eyes made it clear that he wasn't thrilled about this decision and a slight grunt from Raphael also showed some displeasure.

"Be that as it may." Splinter said just before Taylor could start feeling awkward about the silence. "I would prefer to know that you were home, safe and well. Please humor an old man."

"Fine." Taylor groaned with an eyeroll worthy of any teenager. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Splinter promised.

"Drop by the manhole on Mirage. We'll meet you there." Mikey called out cheerfully.

"Sure thing. Later guys." Taylor gave a small wave and headed for the exit.

"Wait, do you need one of us to take you home?" Donatello asked.

"No, I'll be fine." Taylor replied and after a pause for a moment a group of flies flew out from beneath her hair. "These little guys can show me the way."

"They can? How?" Donatello sputtered as he raced over to Taylor and began to examine both her and the flies intently. "Is it some kind of a hive mind setup with you as the center or do you share information somehow, can you communicate with them or just control-"

"Hemhem." Splinter gave Donatello an unamused stare and the purple clad Turtle backed away from Taylor.

"Right, right. Wrong time I got it." He leaned in close and whispered to Taylor. "We'll talk later."

"Sure."

Taylor laughed and with another quick wave she headed on her way. A few minutes after she left the lair Leonardo spoke up.

"Master Splinter, may I go check the perimeter?"

The moment after Splinter nodded his agreement Leonardo was off like a shot. Raphael stared after him in confusion before his eyes lit up in realization.

"Sensei, Leo could use my help. Maybe I could."

"Go." Splinter sighed and Raphael followed after his brother.

Michelangelo and Donatello both looked at the empty spaces where their brothers had once been. Michelangelo tilted his head in confusion.

"Hey Donnie."

"Yes, Michelangelo." Donatello sighed from where he was righting furniture. "I can fix that in the morning." He muttered.

"Do you ever feel like you missed something?" Mikey asked heedless of anything that Donatello may have said prior.

"Not nearly so often as you, I'm sure."

"Aw thanks bro." There was a poignant pause. "HEY!"

With that the home was filled with the sounds of brotherly bickering once again and Splinter gave a fond chuckle as he let it all wash over him.

"The more things change." He murmured.


Leonardo marched through the sewers in silence, his every stride was filled with purpose and he wasn't willing to let anything keep him from his target. Following a few feet behind him was his brother Raphael who was no less serious about their mission but was much less silent about it.

"You know Leo, I'm pretty sure there's a word for guys who follow teenage girls home." Raphael snarked.

"Be quiet, Raphael."

"I'm just saying if we're not careful we could get a reputation."

"Be. Quiet. Raphael." Leonardo growled out through gritted teeth.

"I'm just saying is there any reason we couldn't go up to Taylor and ask, 'hey mind if we walk home with ya?'

Leonardo let out a sign and stalked over to Raphael.

"You know this is a rough town at night." Leonardo said as calmly as he could. "I'm just making sure she doesn't get in any more trouble."

"Okay, fine." Raphael replied as he raised a sardonic eyebrow. "And why aren't we telling Taylor that we're doing this?"

"You heard what she said about her dad not noticing if she doesn't come home." Leo paused for a second and his voice got softer. "I just want to make sure we aren't sending her anywhere that's not safe."

"Fair enough." Raphael nodded. "Now one last question. What do we do if it ain't safe?"

"We handle it." Leonardo growled before stalking off.

"Sounds good to me." Raphael smirked as he followed after his brother and occasional leader.


Brockton Bay was actually pretty nice at night Taylor reflected as she strolled down the street without a care in the world. It was a real shame that the only people out late enough to enjoy them were either, poor overworked schmucks at some dead-end job, criminals trying to take advantage of the cover of night and heroes valiantly trying to stop said criminals. A frown came over her face when her bugs alerted her to a fourth variety on a nearby rooftop, well meaning new friends who don't understand boundaries. Reaching out with the help of her bugs she found a suitably empty alley and quickly went down it.

"I know you're there." She whispered as loud as she dared. "Get out here. NOW!"

There was a moment of silence and then a voice spoke from behind her.

"Alright, how'd you find us?" Raphael demanded as Leonardo leapt down to stand beside his brother.

As if in answer to his question a fly flew out of the shells of the turtles and flew a slow loop around their heads, before flying over to Taylor and settling in her hair. Taylor gave them a smirk and raised a sardonic eyebrow. Raphael's eyes lit up in understanding and he snapped his fingers in realization.

"Those freaky bugs o' yours. You can tell where they are." He exclaimed.

Taylor gave (what she hoped) was a coy shrug and smile.

"No, that's not all of it." Leonardo said slowly. "There's no way we could have been in your range the whole time. You can see what the bugs see."

"Spoil my fun why don't ya." Taylor grumbled with what was most certainly not a pout on her face.

"Oh man, Master Splinter is just going to love this." Raphael chortled as he threw an arm around Leo.

"Hide and hunt is definitely going to be a bit more interesting from now on." Leo remarked idly.

"What's hide and –" Taylor shook herself firmly and jabbed a finger at Leonardo as she remembered something important. "Nevermind that, why were you guys following me!?"

Raphael put his hands up placatingly and walked closer to Taylor.

"Look, we're sorry but we just wanted to make sure you got home okay is all." Raphael jabbed a thumb at Leo and continued. "He'd never admit it but this guy is more of a mother hen than a turtle if you ask me."

"Oh, ha ha." Leonardo snarked. "And who was the turtle demanding to come with me?"

"That's not important right now." Raphael waved him off. "This is a rough town and with what happened with the Foot, we were just worried. Maybe we should have told ya but we didn't mean any harm by it."

"I'm a big girl Raph. I can take care of myself." Taylor insisted.

"I'm sure you can Taylor but if any of the Foot remembered your face it could mean trouble." Leonardo interjected. "If either me or Splinter had our heads on straight, we would have asked you to let us take you home. At least for the next little while, until we can be sure the heat's died down."

"How bad could they be." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I've never even heard of them."

"Bad." Raphael and Leonardo answered simultaneously.

"They ain't like any of the costumed yahoos we got here." Raphael exclaimed. "They got cells all over the world, they got money, they got power, they got influence and if they decide they want you gone they aren't gonna send some nutty dog made of knives to mess up your day. They'll sneak into your home, poison all your food, cut your brakes and if that don't work, they'll slip in and slit the throats of you and everyone you love." Raphael put a heavy hand on Taylor's shoulder.

"We're probably just being paranoid but the guy running them here is this dude named Hun and he's vicious. You're our friend now Tay and we don't got a lot of them as it is."

Raphael gave her a small almost shy smile and squeezed her should once before stepping away from her and looking away awkwardly. Under the dim street lights Taylor almost thought that she could see his skin turning a deeper shade of green. Leonardo put a hand on his brother's shoulder and looked at Taylor with a level stare.

"Just humor us on this one, please."

"Fine." Taylor sighed. "But stay out of sight alright. I don't need the neighbors asking why I'm bringing strange man home."

"Deal."

With that the two brothers returned to the rooftops and Taylor resumed her journey home. As she made her way down the road an idle thought crossed her mind.

'Tonight would be a really, really bad night for someone to try to mug her.'


Raphael and Leonardo watched Taylor as she approached her home and watched as she paused for a moment and offered them a furtive wave. Leonardo gave a small wave back and continued watching as Taylor took notice of the semi rusted truck in the driveway and approached the house slowly. After she entered the house, they waited for a light to come on, for yelling to start, for furniture to thrown or for fists to fly. None of this happened and the two both let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't proof, not really but it was a sign that at the very least the only danger their friend faced would be coming from outside the home.

"That was pretty slick Raph." Leonardo commented as he wrote something on a piece of paper. "Distracting her with the Foot Clan like that. She probably wouldn't have taken it well if we'd told her. Well you know."

"You know what Master Splinter always says 'the best lie is the truth.' So, I just gave her a truth." Raphael shrugged. "Plus, now she'll probably keep an eye out on her own so win win."

"You are getting devious, my brother."

"The ways of the Ninja are –"

"Cunning, deception and misdirection." The two finished the sentence together as Leonardo tied his note to a shuriken and watched the Hebert house intently.

"So how are we gonna meet up with Taylor anyhow?" Raphael asked. "Not like any of us can walk her home from school."

"We're gonna have her meet us in the alley on Mirage Avenue."

A light on the second floor of the Hebert house turned on and Leonardo let the shuriken fly to be next to the window. After a moment Taylor opened the window and leaned out to grab the sharp projectile, after carefully removing it, she turned her head to stare directly at Leonardo. She slowly raised both middle fingers and then closed her window. There was a moment of silence.

"I'm going to pay for that, aren't I?"


Despite the usual all-encompassing aura of depression, apathy and civil neglect that pervaded the high school Taylor was legally obligated to spend the majority of her time in. The day had been going rather well, her teachers had confirmed that Ms. Langstein had indeed passed on her assignments and that the grades would be out shortly. A part of Taylor that she'd assumed had died was excited at the prospect of getting her grades back in order.

Once upon a time she'd had an opportunity to attend Arcadia instead of Winslow and maybe, just maybe if she could improve enough by the end of the school year, she could crack open that door again. Or perhaps given what was to begin after school finally let out a more appropriate analogy would be maybe there'd be a window she could sneak through. Well whichever analogy she went with there was a time when she turned down an opportunity for the sake of friendship and maybe she'd be able to –"

"Oh, Taylor." A syrupy sweet voice crooned.

"And speak of the succubus and she shall appear." Taylor muttered as she turned around. "What do you want Emma?"

"I just wanted to tell you how brave you are to show up like that."

Emma paused to slowly and deliberately look Taylor up and down. It was a trap. Taylor knew it was a trap but she couldn't stop herself from falling the path of Emma's eyes and wondering what she was talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Taylor sighed figuring it was best to get it over with.

"Oh, nothing it's not just anyone who can pull off that strung out look." Emma simpered.

"How does she do it?" Madison asked with faux-curiosity. "I know she doesn't have the money to pay for anything."

"Probably has to perform for it." One of the cronies sneered. "Doubt it gets her the good stuff but if the dealer's testing the product maybe he'd go for it."

"Yes, yes. Very witty." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I'm ugly and I'm a skank got it. We done here?"

There was a moment of silence and Taylor took her chance to leave. Sadly, before she could make her escape a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Taylor had overheard some of the boys in the school talk about how pretty Sophia was (before devolving into less family appropriate terms) but as she stared into the hate filled eyes and contemplated the cruel sneer she wore. Taylor just couldn't see it.

"You don't leave till I say you leave." Sophia growled as she shoved Taylor back into the lockers.

"GOONGALLLLLLLAAAAAAAA!"

A male voice screamed some nonsense words and almost immediately after Taylor realized that something hard and fast was coming her way. Moving on instinct Taylor flinched to the right and a hockey puck collided with the locker mere inches away from where her head had been. On its pathway there it had just brushed both Emma and Madison who turned to stare in horror at some guy with a hockey stick pulling back for another slapshot.

"GOONGALLLLLA! GOONGALLA!!!"

He yelled again and most of the girls scattered before they could see what came next. To their dubious credit the bitches three were dedicated to hang around just long enough for Gladly to exit his classroom and take in the situation. Evidently the hockey player was low enough on the totem pole that Gladly was comfortable exercising his authority.

"Blackwell's office now!"

Gladly barked and if you didn't know him one would be tricked into thinking he was someone to be respected. Despite the fact that he probably knew Glady for what he was Taylor's accidental savior allowed himself to be guided down the hall while Gladly kept (what he imagined to be) a firm hand on his shoulder. As they passed by Taylor the hockey player turned his head just long enough to give Taylor a quick wink.

Taylor turned and walked towards study hall with a small smile on her face.


The rest of the day had passed in a blur and as Taylor raced down Wolf Street on the way to Mirage she felt her excitement grow more and more. Maybe it was immature of her but didn't every girl grow up watching poorly dubbed martial arts films and dreaming of beating up random assortments of thugs with jump kicks… Okay maybe that was the result of being raised by Annette Hebert but still the point stands. Some childhood dreams were coming true.

As soon as she made the turn onto Mirage Avenue Taylor grabbed as many bugs as she could find n her range and started her search for anything Ninja Turtle shaped. A few alleys down one of her wasps found what she was looking for and Taylor slipped into the shadows and Taylor reached down to lift the manhole cover and begin her training.

As Taylor huffed and puffed and swore, she realized that manhole covers were actually really heavy. Finally, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pulled as hard as she could and the cover moved. Slowly, ever so slowly she was lifting it from the ground and finally once she was sure she had proved her point she tried to toss it to the left of her. The manhole didn't move. With a heavy heart Taylor opened her eyes and saw the orange bandana of Michelangelo looking up at her.

"Need a hand?"

Taylor contemplated saying no out of sheer pride, she then imagined suddenly being pulled to the ground by the weight she was still barely holding up even with help and decided on a better option.

"Yes please, Mikey."

The two of them moved the manhole to the side and Taylor swore that not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day she shall have her revenge and the world would tremble at her feet.

"Alrighty then." Mikey cheered. "Now come along madame. Your sewer awaits."

With that said he hopped off of the ladder he had been holding onto and fell into the darkness. Taylor stared after him in surprise at the abrupt exit. Without missing a beat Mikey called up to her.

"Hey, you coming or what?"

As Taylor climbed down, she gave voice to the thought that kept running through her head.

"Just embrace the weird. Just embrace the weird."


After a seeming eternity Taylor finally made contact with solid ground, Taylor turned and took in the sight of Michelangelo wearing a humongous grin on his face and hiding something behind his back.

"Sensei wants to get started training right away." Mickey said rocking back and forth on his feet. "So, I figured we could have some fun and do some balance training on the way to the lair."

"What's balance training?" Taylor asked. "Like meditation or something. Master the mind to master the body type of thing."

"Nah, that yawn fest is more Leo's speed. I mean real balance. You know not eating pavement. Catch."

Without waiting for a response Mikey tossed something at her and despite fumbling for a few hectic moments Taylor managed to catch it. She stared in confusion at the prize she held in her hands before fixing Mikey with an incredulous stare.

"You're kidding right?"

"Noopppe." Mikey grinned. "Skateboarding is the perfect way to train your balance and coordination. Now c'mon I'm going to teach you the basics and then we'll be on our way."

"Alright if you say so."

Taylor replied as she put the skateboard down and placed one foot on it. After a moment of rolling it back and forth Taylor worked up her courage and pushed off, for one brief glorious second she was doing it, she was moving and then she immediately fell to the ground. Mikey offered her a hand up and looked her over with his customary grin.

"Maybe we'll work on the basic, basics first."


Despite the rough start Taylor did eventually manage to get herself moving and as her and Mikey were skating their way through abandoned sewer tunnels, she let out a whoop of laughter.

"I have to admit Mikey, this is pretty great."

"I know right!" Mikey cheered as he zig zagged back and forth in front of Taylor. "When I'm boarding it's just like everything floats away. All that's left is me and the board, no thoughts, no troubles it's bliss."

Taylor and Mikey both closed their eyes and let out a sigh at the rather lovely thought.

"Dude, there's a rail up ahead! You've got to try a grind." Mikey cheered.

"What, no I'm not ready." Taylor sputtered as she began to slow down.

"Master Splinter says that life is a series of tests." Mikey intoned in his best attempt at a wise voice. "And whether we are ready or not we must face them when they arrive. Will you face this test, Taylor?"

At this challenge Taylor's eyes narrowed and she began to pick up steam in the face of the challenge. She was getting closer, closer and now! Taylor kicked off the ground, the skateboard made contact with the railing, she flailed for a moment but regained her balance. She was doing it, no she did, she actually did it. Taylor and Mikey both cheered until the moment was ruined when Taylor began to approach the end of the railing. She didn't know how to dismount.

"Bail out bro. I mean sis!" Mikey called out and Taylor did as instructed jumping as the board left the rail.

She landed on her feet and watched as her board rolled a few feet away on its own. Mikey came up beside her and the two stood in a companionable silence.

"Mikey."

"Yeah."

"Teach me how to do that."

The two grinned at each other and silently agreed that Splinter and the others could wait just a little while longer.


In the lair the rest of the turtles waited impatiently for the rest of their party.

"What's taking them so long!" Raphael growled as he slammed a fist into the role. "I swear if Mikey is goofing off, I'll beat the shell of of him."

"Calm down Raph, I'm sure that Mikey is taking this." Donatello paused before deciding that argument wasn't going to work. "I'm sure they won't be too long."

"Donatello is right my son. You must be patient." Splinter said soothingly. "I ensured that Michelangelo knew how important it was to begin Miss. Hebert's training properly."

"Besides Mikey knows it's double meat lovers night. No way he's going to be late for that." Leonardo idly commented as he watched the entrance to the lair.

"Indeed, why do you think I chose today for Michelangelo's balance training." Splinter replied.

Raphael opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the secondary entrance opening and the sounds of two screaming voices.

"Coming in hot! Coming in hot!!!!!" Mikey called out.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH" Taylor screamed showcasing her mastery of the English language.

The four watched as a turtle and a teenaged girl flew by them fast and with a sigh Splinter got up and walked over to the front of the couch where he awaited the inevitable ending of all of this. Michelangelo and Taylor hit the back of the couch, flew through the air and landed on the ground where they stared up at Splinter.

"I see you decided to take the large drainpipe." Splinter commented.

"Yes, Sensei." Michelangelo responded and a moment later this was repeated by Taylor.

"I see." Splinter nodded and stroked his beard for a moment. "It would appear you both require training in how to stop at high speeds."

"Yes, sensei."

"We'll work on that. When you are ready to get up there is dinner on the table. Please join the rest of us." Splinter left the two of them to their suffering but after he was a few feet away he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"In the meantime, I would recommend sticking to the side tunnels. They are much slower going."

"Mikey, as soon as I get up, I'm going to hit you and I don't know when I'm going to stop." Taylor panted.

"That's fair."

---

Next time on Strike Hard and Fade Away.
Combat Training with Raph
The discovery of who sent the mechanical menaces and
Why the turtles stay hidden.

So until next time I leave you with possibly my favourite piece of turtles media

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCuMfm03nFI

 

[Mat92]

The boss fight over in Hero Of The Bay is kicking my ass (appropriate for a Zelda crossover I suppose) so in honour of the fact that I have gotten my tickets to Mutant Mayhem I sat down and banged this out.

Pretty tame chapter but I kind of felt switching back to action after this just didn't flow right, so here we are.

---

On some level Taylor had found comfort in the knowledge that after the last few years she had seen the worst that the world had to offer. From Emma she had seen spite, from Sophia cruelty and from Madison, well Madison was just kind of there for the most part but then there was the locker. Oh yes, the locker, in its confines Taylor had known that she had seen the true depths of depravity and horror. Later, when she was alone and at peace, she'd realize that this was still mostly true but the sight of Michelangelo eating three extra-large pizzas simultaneously would still haunt her for the rest of her days. Taylor's eyes widened as she watched him roll all three up into a kind of pizza burrito, from her left and right she could faintly hear Raphael and Donatello cheering him on.

"I, I would have thought ninja training would have covered table manners." Taylor said faintly.

"One would think so." Splinter sighed as he approached the table and banged his cane loudly on the floor. "Michelangelo, that is enough. We have a guest."

Mikey turned to look at the disapproving gazes of Splinter and Leonardo (as well as the horrified yet fascinated look on Taylor's face) and after one last mighty swallow gave them all a sheepish smile.

"Do you want some, Taylor?" Mikey asked politely as he held out the half-eaten pizzarito in offer.

"No, I'm good."

Taylor said blankly before her eyes widened in shock as a fresh slice of meat lovery goodness from Little Lou Tony's Pizza was placed in front of her.

"Don't worry about it."

Leonardo said simply as he quickly dispensed the pizza to the two turtles and the rat that were still waiting to be fed. His work done he sat himself down in a chair next to Splinter and took a large bite before letting out a grateful moan of enjoyment.

"I always get a few extra pies." Leo explained in between bites. "Just in case Mikey."

"Acts like Mikey." Raphael snarked from across the way.

"You were cheering him on." Donatello laughed before ducking away when Raphael swatted at his head.

"Well of course he was." Mikey boasted as he finished off his miraculous culinary creation and let out a lair shaking belch. "Scuse me." He said sheepishly before carrying on as if nothing had happened. "As I was saying of course you two were cheering me on. When someone goes for the world pizza eating record, how could anyone not cheer."

"The record is sixteen pies at once. You weren't even close." Leonardo shattered Michelangelo's dreams of eternal glory with the casual ease mastered by big brothers everywhere. "Besides even if you pulled it off, it's not like we could tell anyone."

"Why can't you?" Taylor asked and as the gazes of the family of five all turned on her, she fought the urge to shrink back in her seat. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she carried on. "I'm serious. Why are you guys hiding out down here?"

Splinter took a sip of his tea and placed the cup in front of him before he began to explain.

"That is a long story Ms. Hebert, but I shall do my best to tell you all that you need to know." Splinter said slowly in a grave voice that caused all of the teenagers to give him their full attention. "One day, sixteen years ago a young man purchased four baby turtles at a pet shop."

"That's us." Mikey chimed in before silencing himself after Leonardo slapped him.

"Yes, my sons." Splinter chuckled.

"Those four baby turtles were you. But to continue the story, as the young man was leaving the pet shop with his new companions, danger was approaching. The driver of a transport vehicle carrying experimental material through the city had lost control and was careening wildly. As the truck came up to the corner where the boy was standing some of the cargo came loose. A canister containing a glowing green ooze collided with the child's face where it smashed open and coated the four turtles. In his pain the boy dropped the turtles and they fell into the sewers where I was living."

Splinter paused his story to look over his four boys with a proud smile. Leonardo, honorable and dutiful, Raphael fierce and strong, Donatello, wise and curious and Michelangelo, joyous and kind. No father could hope for better sons and Splinter gave a silent thanks to whatever fates had gifted him with them.

"What happened next Splinter?" Taylor asked.

"Ah, yes apologies I was lost in thought." Splinter chuckled. "Taking pity on the four I gathered them up in an old coffee can and brought them to my home. They were still coated with the ooze and in the process, some of it got onto me. The years have not increased their cleanliness as much as one would hope" He stared at Michelangelo and Raphael briefly before resuming his tale.

"I took them in and fed for them and cared for them as best as I could. In time however I noticed that they were changing and indeed that I was changing as well. We were becoming larger, more intelligent and over time we became what you see before you today. Realizing that the humans and the world above may not be kind to my sons I took it upon myself to train them in the ways of ninjitsu."

"But that doesn't explain why you guys have to live down here." Taylor's voice was confused. "I mean there are capes out there that don't look human, a bunch of them. They even have a name for them um, case somethings."

"Case 53s." Donatello said quietly.

"Right, thanks." Taylor said quickly as she carried on so caught up in her thought process that she didn't notice the four turtles looking down. "Why not just go to the Protectorate or something and get them to set you up? I mean you could probably ninja your way on there, right?"

"We tried that." Raphael growled. "Didn't work."

Raphael fell into a sullen silence and a tension fell over the room. Taylor began to fidget in her seat.

"I didn't mean." She began. "If I said something wrong or something I didn't mean to upset any-."

"It's fine, Taylor." Leonardo's voice was struggling to remain calm. "Just brought up some bad memories is all."

"If you guys don't want to talk about this you don't have to." Taylor frowned to herself. "I didn't mean to pry or anything."

"No, no." Leo shook his head sharply. "You should probably know, just so you know why we need you to keep us a secret."

Despite his words and a few stumbling attempts to start telling the story Leonardo remained silent until Donatello cleared his throat.

"Why don't I start it, Leo?" Donnie asked softly and once he got the nod of approval, he began. "About five years ago there was a story on the tv about Case 53's and we realized that like you said if we told people that we were capes like that who would know? So, we asked Master Splinter if we could go to the Rig and he said no."

"It was my fault." Raphael suddenly growled out.

"We all agreed to go Raph." Leonardo had immediately gotten up from his chair and flipped over the kitchen table to be next to his brother. The comforting hand he tried to put on Raphael's shoulder was ignored. "It wasn't anyone's fault."

"Least not anyone here's fault." Michelangelo muttered with a surprisingly dark look in his eyes.

"Guys you can just cliffs notes this." Taylor said quickly trying to cut the tension in case any of the highly trained martial artists decided to turn their ire on her.

"Fine, here it is." Raphael growled. "We snuck out, it was a stupid decision and we shoudn'ta done it but we did. We swam out to that eyesore in the harbor and snuck on board, flagged down the first creepazoid in spandex and said hi. Then it went bad."

Without another word Raphael stood up from the table and stalked off.

"Well, to expand on that rather succinct explanation." Donatello began in a tone eerily reminiscent of the voice Taylor's mother would use when lecturing bored freshmen. "As it turns out all case 53s suffer from a rather severe case of amnesia, something which we were unaware of and didn't exhibit."

"Once they realized we weren't capes they stopped playing nice." Leonardo said darkly as his arms flexed like they wanted to reach for his weapons. "They carted us all off to labs for tests."

"They wanted to see if we had this Covina patella thingie." Mikey said. "All superheroes have them and when we didn't." His cheerful voice trailed off.

"They decided we were creations of some bio tinker." Donatello said and then let out a bitter laugh. "They might have been right."

"Once Director Piggot realized we weren't really human, it followed that we didn't have human rights." Leonardo finished off. "It was two days."

"That is enough my sons." Splinter said kindly as he gave his children the kindest smile he could muster. "It was two days Ms. Hebert before I could recover my sons. They were not well when I found them."

"I'm sorry." Taylor answered softly. "I didn't know."

"And now you do." Splinter responded in a voice that was firm but not unkind. "Now, knowing our stories, do you understand why it is vital that we remain in the shadows?"

"I do." Taylor nodded firmly. "I won't tell anyone. I swear it."

"Good." Splinter said simply. "Now I believe you were promised training, yes?" Taylor nodded. "Are you still interested?" Taylor nodded once more. "Very well, Leonardo please prepare the training area. We shall start with basic drills. You'll assist me in instructing Ms. Hebert."

"Yes, Master Splinter." Leonardo answered promptly and after a moment's pause Taylor repeated his words.

TMNT


​

In a dark lab a middle-aged man was pacing while frantically muttering to himself.

"It's hardly anything to be worked up about Baxter." The man said as he ran his hands over his face. "It was an initial test run, there are meant to be hiccups. 98% of the prototypes completed their task and returned to station. That's well within the acceptable margin."

Suddenly he turned and rushed to his computer. As it slowly began to come to life, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the monitor. A middle-aged black man who would have been handsome if not for the stress lines on his face and the bags under his eyes. To his ever growing frustration the results on his screen remained the same as when he first analyzed them the night before.

"The M.O.U.S.E.R.S went out and 98% came back." He muttered to himself as he hooked a chair with his foot and pulled it over so he could sit down. "But what happened to that two percent?" He moaned as he put his face in his hands and slumped down. Before he could have a single solitary of peace the phone next to his ear began to ring.

"What is it?" Baxter barked into the phone.

"Now, Mr. Stockman is that anyway to speak to a client." An oily voice said on the other end of the line. "Especially when your company is in shall we say a less then advantageous position."

"My company will be quite fine, I assure you." Baxter said shortly. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"I merely wished to inquire about the first round of testing." The man replied. "You seem to have forgotten to send me a copy of the results as we had agreed."

"I'm sorry." Baxter gritted out. "Must have slipped my mind. The testing went well, everything is working within acceptable parameters."

"I see." His benefactor said simply. "In that case I would like to request a personal demonstration."

"A personal demonstration?"

"A personal demonstration. After all I like to see what I'm purchasing. Let's say two days from now, eight o'clock in the evening should do."

"Of course, Mr. Calvert. Two days from now."

"Excellent, I look forward to it Mr. Stockman."

With that the call ended and Baxter Stockman was left alone in his office. In a fit of pique he slammed his phone on the receiver hard enough to hear something crunch.

"Self-important pencil pusher."

---

This is always the least interesting issue/episode