I'm totally not making this chapter up as I go along :P ////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Leo's POV I answered my phone. "Yeah?" Donnie's voice came through. "Nardo, I have some news." "That's good, I was starting to think you died or something. What's the news?" "I think Raph should be the one to tell you. Hold on, let me put you on speaker. Raph, would you like to tell our dear brother what we're doing here?" Raph took a while to respond. "Hey, buddy, I hope you're doin' good back home." "Raph, what did you do?" "Well... It's... Complicated..." Donnie cut him off. "He lost Alia." The words sliced through my soul. "He... WHAT?" "He scared her and she somehow got out of the lair. He wouldn't let me tell you, so we tried tracking her, but now my watch is broken." "Raph, what the heck! You're supposed to be the responsible one!" Raph spoke again. "I know, I'm sorry! When she got out I panicked and I didn't want you to worry!" "Well, now I'm worried! Where are you guys?" Donnie told me their location and I opened a portal, turning off my phone. I glared at Raph. "Woah," said an unfimiliar voice. To my right was an odd looking kid in a wheelchar. "How did you do that?" "I used this mystic sword," I said, showing it to them. In a different situation I would have showed it off more, but I had more important matters to attend to. "Leo, this is Jay," Donnie said. "Jay uses they/them, please don't misgender. Jay, this is my twin brother Leonardo." I was about to say something when I heard a shrill battlecry coming from my portal. Mikey ran through the portal and jumped on Raph. "HOW COULD YOU LOSE ALIA SHE'S JUST A KITTEN!" He started whacking his arms, then looked at Jay. "Nice to meet you, Jay, I'm Mikey, the youngest brother." Then he started wacking Raph again. "Mikey, don't you think that's a bit of a late reaction?" I asked. "No, I just went to get my 'chucks." He kept whacking Raph, who was completely unfazed. Jay's POV Raph and Mikey argued for a bit while I tried to figure out what kind of person each of the turtles were. Donnie was the smart one. That much was clear. He had all kinds of fancy tech and used lots of big words. He also had a bit of an attitude. I noticed he had eyebrows on his mask. Did he draw those on? Why? Maybe he'll tell me when we get to know each other better. Leo was too angry at the moment for me to analyze his personality, but I felt gay vibes coming off him. Raph was huge, but he didn't really seem that scary. He reminds me of Ferdinand the bull. Big yet soft. Mikey was a gremlin. I knew he was at least twelve or thirteen, but he acted eight. "Okay," Leo said, "Raph lost Alia, so we just have to find her. Mikey, you and me will search on foot. Donnie, you and Raph will go in the turtle tank. Raph can drive while you fix your watch." I spoke up. "Um, I don't know what a turtle tank is, but I know tanks are big, loud vehicles. Won't that scare your cat?" Leo looked at me. "Well, yes, but Donnie needs somewhere to work, and the turtle tank has a tracking device." "Oh, okay. Is there any way I can help?" I wheeled myself closer to the group. "Uhh..." I saw his eyes flick toward my legs. I hate when people do that. "Leo, can we talk?" Donnie said. He grabbed Leo's arm and they talked in a corner. Donnie was probably telling him about how I got disowned. I held back my tears. Timeskip The lights in the turtle tank were a bit too bright, but I said nothing. I didn't want to make Donnie think I was weak. Besides, the lights weren't hurting my eyes, they were just a bit irritating. Raph squeezed into the driver's seat. It obviously wasn't made for him. I would've offered to drive if I had feet. I wheeled up to Raph and put my hand on his arm. "Just for the record, I don't think this is your fault." He looked at me in suprise. "Thank you." He smiled. I smiled back. "Your'e welcome." I turned my wheelchair around and went to Donnie, who was in the back trying to fix his watch. "This would be so much easier if my shell was working," he muttered. "What does your shell have to do with anything?" He looked up with a jolt. He obviously didn't notice me approach. "Oh, not my actual shell. See, I'm a softshell, so I built this to protect myself." He gestured at the black shell-shaped thing on his back. "I call it my battle shell. It also holds my tools and a number of devices, but unfourtunatley I can't work it until I fix my watch." He pointed at a pile of scrap metal on the desk. "How did that happen?" "Well... That's not important. Let's focus on the task at hand." He flipped his goggles down and started working on the watch. He had tools here in the turtle tank, but apparently not enough. The tank jerked forward, and I was flung toward the wall. I stopped right before I hit it. I looked up to see Donnie clutching the handles on my wheelchair. "Raph!" Donnie yelled. "What the heck was that?" CONT-
CONT- "Sorry!" Raph yelled back. Donnie groaned. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only competent one around here." He sat down and got back to work. I stared at him. Did he think I was stupid? "It'll be nice talking to someone intelligent for once." He smiled at me. Oh, he was talking about his brothers. I smiled back. He turned back to his work. "Hey, Jay, after we find Alia, would you want to stay with us?" I was suprised by the offer. "That depends. Where do you live?" "The sewer." "Then no." He looked at me again. "Why are you so unsuprised? Do I smell?" "No, but I sort of already guessed that. You're a bunch of mutants living in New York City, the sewer is a perfect place for you to hide because nobody goes there. Right?" I felt my face get hot as he stared at me. "Exactly," he said, not breaking his gaze. He snapped out of it. "But I could never live in an actual sewer, so I have all kinds of devices that keep our home clean." "Oh. Then maybe." We went quiet. The only sounds were Donnie working on his watch and the wheeles of the turtle tank. I looked at my three-fingered left hand. I looked at Donnie's hand. He also had three fingers. "Hey, Donnie?" Raph called. "I can't see Alia on the tracker." "What did you do?" Donnie said, getting up to look. I followed. "I didn't do anything. I can still see Mikey and Leo, so I know the thing's working, but Alia's not there. Is she dead?!" "Probably not," I said. "If she were dead, you would still be able to see the tracker, right, Donnie?" "Right," Donnie said. "I think I know what's going on." He pulled out his phone and called Leo. I heard Leo's voice coming faintly through the phone. He asked a question. "No," Donnie answered, "but we have news. She's in the hidden city." ////////////////////////////////////////////////////// End of Chapter 7 Song: Cavetown- This is Home Next: None yet Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1057661830/ First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1053247310/