Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Places ❯ 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Part 6

Huddled under umbrellas, a small crowd gathered behind the barricades and cars as police picked their way through the street and photographed the bodies. Ambulances had already rushed away the survivors. Body bags lined the sidewalk, some of them so flat that people wondered how anyone could be inside. The rain was beginning to let up, turning into a mist that sparkled on the shattered glass and police cars.

April finished giving her statement to an officer and wandered through the crowd until she spotted Casey being interviewed by another policewoman. Instead of going right over to him, she looked at the street in front of her shop, a little less messy now that the pieces had been picked up, but it would be hours before the police finished collecting every bit of evidence and washed away the blood. She put her hand to her mouth and walked quickly to Casey's side.

"--turned on the lights, I didn't get to see what was going on outside." Casey scratched the back of his head, doing his best to act like a clueless boyfriend. "It just sounded like a war out there, all those guns goin' off. I think I even heard a shotgun but with all that screaming--"

"You did," the cop said, making another note on her clipboard. "I don't think the guy using it'll ever be firing again. That arm got shot off." She noticed April then, closing her eyes and turning slightly away. "Oh, sorry, ma'am. Listen, either of you remember anything else, hear anything else, you let us know. You got my number, right?"

"Yeah," Casey said, nodding. "Hey, you got any idea what happened out here?"

"Probably a rival gang," she said, putting away her pen. "For being so new, the Five claws made a lot of enemies. This isn't the first gang we've seen go down like this. Ah, you two might wanna sleep somewhere else. Tonight's gonna be a real scorcher, and, well, we're not gonna be able to clean this up fast enough, if you get my drift."

"Huh?" Casey grimaced as he suddenly got it. "Oh. Eww. Yeah, we'll find a place. Maybe a motel."

"Great. Do us a favor, too, leave those lights of yours on. I'd hate to do this with a flashlight."

"Yeah, sure. Good luck an' all." When she left, he turned and put an arm around April's shoulder, letting her bury her face in his shirt. "C'mon, let's get you inside."

He took her in just as the news vans arrived and locked the door before any reporters came near. The shop looked neat and clean inside, no bullet holes or broken glass or blood. It could have been any other night, except for the flashing cameras outside. He drew the window blinds shut and turned around. And backed into the blinds with a yelp.

Michelangelo and Donatello helped April into a recliner, while Raphael pulled one of the chairs out for Splinter to sit. He beckoned Casey over, and he sat on one of the counters nearby.

"So, I guess you all saw what's left," he said.

"We saw," Don said. "From up on the roof."

"I don't get it," April said, holding tight to Mike's hand. He sat on the recliner's arm and put his arm around her shoulder. "What happened to him? The Leo I know would never have done that."

"I'm afraid I missed the warning signs," Splinter said. "I thought he was merely resting, recovering his strength. I did not realize the true extent of his injuries."

"I don't get it, Master," Mike said. "I didn't see any problems."

"Battle leaves more injuries than just the physical," Splinter said. "He acted normally for the most part, but looking back, some of the signs were so obvious."

"Hardly eating," Raph said, nodding, "sitting in the dark all the time."

"More than that," Splinter said. "A couple of days ago, I heard him practicing during the night. When he fell silent for a long time, I looked in on him. He was standing completely still, and stood that way for several hours."

"Like meditation?" Mike asked.

"Probably just caught up in a really strong memory," Don said. "Or he could've been catatonic. It's one of the symptoms of schizophrenia."

"What?" Mike gasped. "Leo's going crazy?"

"Not quite. Modern science might call it post traumatic stress disorder," Donatello said. "What it means is we have one very messed up turtle."

"But he seemed all right when I talked to him," April said. "He even snuck up on me like Mike does all the time."

"Yeah," Casey said, "when I talked to him, he was more worried about you guys. Absolutely normal."

"Until he gets into a fight," Raph said, looking at the closed windows. "Listen, he told me more about what happened to him, but I didn't wanna say anything 'cause it felt like I was betraying his confidence."

"I think he wanted you to tell us," Don said, "so he wouldn't have to. When I talked to him later, he said he wondered if you'd even listened."

"Oh I listened all right. He said he was stuck in a place like a bunch of hallways and rooms all connected, and there was no way to tell where they were. And they were constantly killing things."

"Things?" Don asked.

"He didn't go into detail, just that they were trying to kill them. Some of 'em were real small and fast, and some were so big that..." He paused a moment. "That when they killed 'em, they had to carve up the bodies to get by."

"They?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, he said there were three of them at first, him, a girl and a guy called Felix."

"Felix?" April sat straight and looked at all of them. "That's what he called the last one, the one he was...laughing with."

As she grew silent, Casey quickly explained what they had seen as the lights came out, the tall black man holding the gun to Leo's face, the sword poised at the man's throat, and then both of them relaxing as they recognized each other. All of them shivered as they thought about how close they had come to losing their brother.

"He really did all that?" Mike asked quietly. "I mean...all those bodies..."

"That wasn't all of the gang," Casey said. "I think they shot each other up by accident, but some of them, yeah. That's Leo's doing."

"This Felix," Splinter said, "what did he look like?"

"Big black guy with dreadlocks," Casey said, "And I mean big. Like, he wasn't no George Foreman, but I wouldn't wanna meet him in an alley."

"He was wearing old army fatigues," she said. "The kind they sell at surplus stores. And...he was drenched."

"'Cause of the rain?" Mike asked.

She shook her head, and he didn't ask again.

"They took off when the sirens started," Casey said. "I dunno where they went."

While they considered their options, Donatello opened his satchel and dug out his shell communicator. He flipped it open and brought up the screen. Four red dots blinked on the grid, three together and one several blocks away.

"I think I can find him," Don said. "He forgot about the tracer in all of these. We can follow him that way."

"And then what?" Raph said. "'Hey Leo, we think you're goin' nuts, come home and let us lock you up for awhile'?"

"Uh..."

"He must be brought home," Splinter said, "not to lock him up, but to help him recover. And also to keep him separate from his new friend. If Leonardo managed that massacre outside, I shudder to think what two of them might do together."

"We'd better get going," Raph said. "Mike, you and Don come with me. April, if you an' Casey wanna stay at our place for awhile--"
Casey glanced at April who still had a sick look on her face. "That's probably the best idea. Lemme just get some things."

As they stood to head off in their different directions, Splinter put one hand on Raphael's arm, holding him back for a moment. He spoke in a low voice for him alone. "Be cautious when you find him. Try to avoid a fight."

"Yes, master. I don't wanna hurt him."

Splinter shook his head with a sigh. "This has been hard on all of us, but you especially. Without Leonardo, you have been a rock for your brothers and I. Whatever happens tonight, know that I am proud of you."

It didn't take the weight of responsibility off, but it helped Raphael shoulder it a little easier. He smiled and nodded. "I'll bring him back, master. I promise."

*

With no real place to go and in no hurry to decide, two figures walked through the alleys and sidestreets, keeping to the dark blocks with few streetlamps. Felix had his hands in his pockets, his knife safely clipped to his belt. Leonardo walked with his arms crossed, head down. He'd taken one sheath off his back and strapped it to his waist so he could draw easily. Neither of them noticed the amount of blood still caught in their clothes. They were used to much more.

"--found out they'd listed me as missing," Felix said. "I could've gone back to work, but after all that, you don't just sit down like nothing's happened."

"So, the white claws?

"I could do a little fighting. Took out a couple smaller gangs, make enough money to pay my back rent. You?"

Leo shook his head. "Just a lot of sitting in the dark. I don't trust light anymore."

"Yeah...one of the better reasons about the claws. They did all their work at night."

A lamp stood on the corner so they turned down into an alley and continued, slowly coming out of the rain. Not far ahead they heard whispers suddenly stop, but they kept going past the garbage cans and dumpsters. Two figures on the left, three on the right, and reflected moonlight on the edges of their knives. There was a hiss of metal and a snap of a clip being popped open. In the silence, without constant howls and screams, Leonardo noticed that he could hear the skin being cut open, hear the gurgle of a slashed throat and the thud of someone hitting the floor. Blood pumping out of severed arteries sounded like the stream in the lair, fingers scratching useless at the pavement like rats.

No screams. A minute later they came out on the sidewalk, Leo sliding his sword back and Felix putting his knife back on his belt.

"I don't think I'll find another gang, though," Felix said. "I think I can handle working again. Start slow, no rush."

"Lucky," Leo said. "Master put me back to work almost immediately. Dealing with the claws was my first task."

"That O'Neil woman, she your friend? Stubborn chick."

"When you've got four ninjas to back you up..."

Felix laughed, a deep laugh that rumbled in his chest. "Mutant ninja turtles," he said, tasting the words. "All the weird things I saw in the army, you definitely take first prize, man."

"Teenage," Leo added. "I'm only sixteen."

"Sixteen? No shit? No offense, but it's hard to tell."

Leo shrugged and smirked. "No problem. All you humans look the same to me, too."

Felix looked at him, then laughed again. "Fair enough. C'mon, I know a little hole in the wall that serves 'till dawn. Should be dark enough for you."

With a nod, Leonardo followed him, arms crossed again, head down. The wind, cool and brisk, blew a newspaper page by them, and the rain rushed down the gutters. Somewhere in the distance a night club created a steady, faint beat, as if New York itself was alive, and all her demons walking her streets.

TBC...