Three Little Ninjas from Dimension X

[Artemesia]

OK, here's the prologue to a series of stories I had an idea for. It's not exactly a future fic, more of a 'Where are they now' fic set in the orriginal cartoon series universe. I haven't quite detailed everything, so suggestions are appreciated.
OK, disclaimer. I am a college student employed at McDonald's. You think I could afford to own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? They belong to Eastman and Laird. The OC's are mine though.

Prologue I: Give Us A Wink

"Look, don't hurt me. Just take my purse."
"It's not your purse I want, sweetie."
Cynthia broke out in a cold sweat as her attacker's knife blade edged against her throat. Maybe she should co-operate. Just let him do what he wanted- and be found dead and naked in a dumpster in the morning. She stamped on his booted toe with the heel of her left Vaneli and broke into a run. He was chasing her, cursing at her. Cynthia's heels weren't suited for running. The heel snapped. She felt her foot twist and give way. The sting of pavement scratched her skin as she fell. "I was going to try and make it nice for you." the attacker said as he came closer. "But you're not a nice girl." He raised the knife. There was a loud crack and the attacker screamed out and dropped the knife. Cynthia scrambled for the dropped weapon and held it. She looked up to see that her attacker was now clawing at his throat. Someone, obscured by the shadows of the dark alley, had something wrapped tightly around the attackers neck.
"I'm not a nice girl either." said the newcomer. A female voice, Cynthia noticed. Young sounding.
"Please," gasped the attacker. "Don't hurt me!"
The newcomer laughed. "How many of your victims said the same thing?"
"Please," he gasped at the thick garrote and fought for breath to speak. "Let me go. I swear, I'll never touch another girl again!"
"Why don't I believe you?" The attacker winced as the thick garrote was drawn tighter. "No means no, you got that, creep? What's the matter? You such a loser you can't get a girl on your own? Gotta resort to forcing girls to give ya some, is that it?" She gave a sharp kick to his already raw back. "You make me sick!" The attacker was flat on his front now, next to Cynthia. She could see that a strip of his jacket and shirt were flayed open and he had a viscous pink scar on his back that oozed tiny droplets of blood. She almost felt sorry for him...almost.
The newcomer knelt on the attacker's back and grabbed his arms. Cynthia could see her rescuer better now. She had been expecting a policewoman. What she saw shocked her. She had the build of an athletic fifteen year old girl wearing dark green sweat pants with a matching crop top and bandana. Her skin was sea foam green and she had the most unusual looking face- like a reptilian elf. Her yellow (not blonde) hair looked more like tissue paper than separate tresses and had been styled to resemble short, tossled curls. She was tying up the attacker's hands with a bit of rope. She had something clenched in her teeth as she tied the rope. Cynthia could see that it was the handle of a bullwhip.
The newcomer got off the attacker and stood, taking the whip back in her hands. "Alright, stand up." The attacker hesitated. "I said stand up!" She cracked the whip, not hitting him, just making a frightful sound. The attacker scrambled in an attempt to stand with his arms tied behind his back. He only succeeded in flopping on the concrete. The newcomer made a grunt of irritation. "You have no flexibility at all!" She said as she forced him into a standing position. "Y'know, when I was twelve, my sisters and I used to play a game like this. They'd lay me down, tie me up, and I'd be on my feet, untied and kicking their butts before you could say 'pepperoni pizza'! Guess you never played this game before." As she spoke, she dragged him down the alleyway towards the street. "I saw a nice lamppost out here. I'll just tie you up and leave you for the cops. How's that sound?"
Cynthia didn't hear the attacker's reply. She decided now would be a good time to leave, only to feel her foot protest in an explosion of pain when she tried to stand.
"Are you hurt?" She hadn't even heard her rescuer return.
Cynthia whirled about and shook as she pointed the knife at the shadowy figure. "D-don't...I swear! I'll..." A crack. The knife was out of her hand.
"Look, lady, I'm really trying to help you." She tossed the knife over her shoulder. "You got a cell phone? You can call the police or someone."
"It needs to be recharged." Cynthia admitted.
"Well, tell me where you live and I'll take you there."
"Cedarvale Apartments."
"Cedarvale...think I know where that is." The newcomer scooped Cynthia up before she could protest. "Let's take the shortest route." Another crack sounded as she hurled her whip at a nearby fire escape and swung upward, Cynthia screaming the whole time. "You mind not screaming right in my ear?" she asked as they landed on the roof. "Lessee, grappler's probably better for this kind of thing. Can you stand?"
Cynthia tried to stand as the newcomer let go of her. She nearly toppled over, her good foot clad in a spike heel. The newcomer caught her. "Alright, sit over here." She directed Cynthia to the ledge. Cynthia watched the strange creature wind the whip around its handle and place it in a sort of holster on her hip. "Why don't we introduce ourselves? My name is Rita."
"Rita?" Such an ordinary name for someone so...odd.
"Yeah. As in Lovely Rita. I do a little more than hand out parking meter tickets though. What's your name?"
"Cynthia. Cynthia Barclay."
"Kay, Cynthia." Rita took out some strange wire with a weight from her belt. "So, what brings you out at this hour?"
"I was working late at the office. Usually, I take the subway home, but they were doing repairs and...and what are you doing?" Rita was picking her up.
"Taking you home. What floor do you live on?" Before Cynthia could answer, Rita tossed the grappler to the roof of the next building and proceeded to swing. Cynthia gave out a scream. "Lady, if you're gonna scream like that every time we swing to another building, I'm just going to drop you off right here!"
"No! No! Don't drop me!"
"I didn't say I'd 'drop' you." Rita sighed. "Now, Cedarvale, right? What floor?"
"N-Ninth."
"Here we go then." Cynthia tried not to scream as she and the strange being swung through the air. "Here we are! Cedarvale! Which window's yours?"
"Th-the one with the p-petunias on the- the terrace."
"Petunias, huh? Understated but tasteful. Ah, I see where it is." Cynthia clapped her hands over her eyes as Rita swung them over. "Here we are! You lock your windows, Cynthia?" She shook her head. "Well, you really should, but it's a good thing this time. I won't have to jimmy the lock." Rita opened the window and came in carrying Cynthia. "Hey, nice place. You decorate yourself?" Rita laid Cynthia on the couch. Cynthia never felt so glad to be home. "Where d'ya keep the towels? I'll make you an icepack for that ankle."
"Drawer by the sink." Cynthia watched Rita get to work in the kitchen from the sofa. What was she? One of those ninja turtles people had sighted off and on in New York since the late eighties? Good guess as any. Never heard of a girl turtle though. "Rita? Are- are you a ninja turtle?"
"Mmm...close but no cigar." Cynthia could hear Rita crushing up some ice. "Little lesson in biology. A turtle has a shell and no visible ears. As you can plainly see, I have visible ears and no shell." Rita approached with the ice pack. "Let me see that foot." Rita sat on the couch and took off the broken shoe and looked at it. "Cynthia? Why do you human females wear such funny looking shoes? You can't walk very well in them and running's impossible."
"Well, I can't very well walk into a sales meeting wearing sneakers, now, can I?"
"I don't know. Can you? And what do you call these things again?" Rita plucked at the shredded nylon. "Panty goes?"
"Panty hose." Cynthia reminded her. "And they're ruined now."
"Why don't you humans wear things that last?" Rita shook her head. "Well, keep this elevated." She propped up her foot on some pillows. "Soak it in hot water later. Where's your charger? I'll set up your cell so you can call for help later. You might wanna consider taking a sick day tomorrow."
"I think I will." Cynthia took her phone and a cord out of her purse. "Just plug it in over there." She pointed at a nearby outlet. Rita plugged the phone in and laid it within Cynthia's reach. "Hey, Rita? Thanks. Really. For saving me from that creep."
"Eh, forget it."
"No, really, he would've killed me." She dug some money out of her purse. "It's not much. I usually pay with credit cards. But, I want you to have this."
"I couldn't. I didn't do it for money."
"Please? I-I really want to show my appreciation."
Rita seemed to be thinking it over. "Well...I'm meeting my sisters for dinner later. I guess I can treat them to dessert." Rita took the money.
"There's more of you?"
"There's only one me." She laughed as she took out her grappling hook. "Take care of that ankle and get well soon." Rita left out the same window she came in.

[Artemesia]

Prologue II: The Girl With Kaleidescope Eyes

In another part of the city, two teenaged girls were walking down a street and talking. "So, anyway, when Tiffany told Brittany what Ashley said about Blain and LaShawn, she just went totally ballistic!"
"Oh my God, like, did you tell Brittany what LaShawn did with the applesauce?"
Before the girls' gossip could go any further, a skateboarder zipped by and snatched their purses, knocking them over. "Thanks for the loot, babes!" he laughed as he skated away.
"Like, how rude!"
The skateboarder hadn't gone very far when he suddenly skidded to a halt and fell flat on his face. He never saw the aikuchi that lodged in his front wheel. He heard an odd whoosh sound nearby. He looked up and saw two green feet, each with two toes, on a floating board of metallic pink. He looked further up, and didn't see anything past the shining blade in his face. "Wow, you're gonna have road rash tomorrow dude." said a girl's voice. "Like my dad always says, if you're gonna go boarding, you oughta wear pads and a helmet. Oh, he also says it's not nice to take things that aren't yours. Don't you agree?"
"Uh...uh-huh," He always agreed with anyone who had a knife in his face.
"In that case, pick up those purses and take them back to those nice ladies. And don't think about running away, cuz I'll catch you before you can say 'pepperoni pizza'!"
The skateboarder meekly picked up the purses and took them back to the girls. He felt something poke him in the back. The strange girl was following him. "Uh, here ya go." he said. Amazed, the girls silently took them back
"Now tell them that you're very sorry."
"Um, I'm very sorry."
"Now tell them you won't ever do it again."
"Uh...I won't ever do it again."
"Now tell them that you're a dorkwad who likes to wear lacy panties."
"What? No!"
"OK, then, you can do a math problem. The blade of this aikuchi is only eight inches long. However, your jugular artery is a mere eighteenth of a millimeter below your skin. My accuracy has been calculated at 97%. What are the odds that you might die if you don't do as I say?" She said it with all the sweetness of a kindergarten teacher.
"Er...I'm a dorkwad who likes to wear lacy panties!"
"Good. Now, hands behind your back." The skateboarder shakingly did as he was told. "Good boy!" He felt his hands being tied up.
"W-what're you doin' to me?" he asked.
"Well, you're a very naughty boy, so I'm going to leave you tied up for the police to handle." She dragged him over to a street light and bound him to it. She then took a gel pen out of the pocket of her hot pink bicycle shorts. She wrote "I steal purses- please arrest me." on his forehead. She stood back as if to admire her handiwork. She removed the pink helmet she had been wearing, revealing odd yellow hair sculpted into two buns. She scratched her head and hummed. "Oh, here's what's missing." She pulled down the skater's pants. "OK, they're not lacy. But you really should think about changing them. Eew."
"You're cold." he told her.
"Hey, you're the one taking stuff that isn't yours. Speaking of which..." She went through his pants pocket. "You mind if I take your wallet? Thanks!" The skateboarder could only sputter helplessly. She picked up his skateboard and pocketed the aikuchi she had used to trip him up. "Not a bad skateboard. But, I like mine better. Wheels are so passé where I'm from." She noticed the two girls were still there, watching everything in utter amazement. "Hey, either of you want a new skateboard?"
"I'll take it!" said one of the girls, who had long black hair with green tips.
"Here you go then." The green girl handed over the skateboard. "Wow, I love your hair!"
"Thanks! Yours is cool too."
"You really think so? Thanks! I was going for something between Princess Leia and Sailor Moon. Ooh, neat shirt. You like the Beatles too?"
"Ooh baby, you know it! Retro is so totally in now, and Paul McCartney is still really cute."
"My mom's got the 'Let It Be' tee too. In fact, my name's Lucy. As in Lucy in the Sky."
"Coolies. My name's Destiny and this is my friend Courtney." Courtney meekly waved at the strange new girl.
"Hey, Courtney." said Lucy. "Love the bag. Hello Kitty is one of my favorite cartoons too."
"Great." Courtney couldn't believe she and Destiny were talking to some weird green ninja girl like just someone from school.
"Hey, Lucy?" said Destiny. "If you don't mind me asking, are you like, one of those Ninja Turtles or something?"
"Actually, my dad's one."
"Oh my god, like, no way!" squealed Destiny.
"Like, way!" said Lucy.
"Wow! Hey, me and Courtney are going to a party at Stephanie Miller's house. Wanna join?"
"Destiny!" hissed Courtney.
"What?"
"She can't...y'know...."
"Courtney, she totally saved our lives- well, OK, our purses. And she knows the Ninja Turtles!"
"That's OK." said Lucy, strapping her helmet back on. "I promised to meet my sisters for dinner anyway. Oh, you got any paper? I can give you my e-mail addy." Destiny found an old sales receipt in her purse. Lucy wrote '[email protected]' along with a web address. "That's the site for my page on Myspace. Hope you don't mind if I mention you girls in my blog."
"No prob."
"Well, gotta dash. See ya!" She stepped on her hot pink hoverboard and zipped off.

[Artemesia]

Prologue III: Words That Go Together Well

"Hey, Justin!" The heavyset man said to the teenaged boy in a dark alley. "How you be, man? What can ol' Snake Eyes do for you?"
"Just the usual dime bag, Snakes." he said, offering up the money.
"Just a dime bag? That all you want?"
"Yeah, Snakes. That's it."
"Justin, buddy, how long have I been dealing with you?"
"Umm...I dunno."
"It's been six whole months. Justin, you're a good kid. I like you. And I always supply you with top quality reefer, don't I?"
"Yeah, Snakes."
"Justin, buddy, how'd you like to make a bit of cash? Maybe get some free weed while you're at it?"
"I'm in! My 'rents threatened to cut my allowance just cuz my grades slipped a bit."
"Yeah, you stick by your buddy Snake Eyes, Justin, and you won't need parents! All ya gotta do is hand some of this **** out to your little buddies. Make sure there ain't no grown folk around. You know how some people can get about ruining other people's good time. Give your friends some pot, tell 'em what it does for you. Tell 'em how good it'll make 'em feel. Once they start coming back for more, Justin, you start chargin' 'em. I give you the ****, you get to keep twenty percent of the take. That a good deal?"
"Sounds good, Snakes."
"Happy to hear it! Ooh, since we're such good buddies, Justin, I wanna give you a gift." Snakes reached into his coat and pulled out a plastic bag of white powder. "Got it off the boat just this morning! The sweetest coke you can get this side of Madison, and I'm giving it to you!"
"I dunno, Snakes. I ain't never tried coke before."
"It's just as easy as it looks in the movies, kid. Just spread out a line on a smooth surface- mirror's best. Roll up a tube of paper and snort away. You'll wonder why you ever wasted time on baby stuff like pot."
"Well, I'll give it a try." Justin reached out for the bag, only to see it whipped out of Snakes' hand and pinned to the ground by a shuriken.
"Like fun you will!" Justin heard a girl's voice yell. Snakes whirled about wildly, looking for the source of the voice. To Justin's shock, Snakes whipped a gun out of his jacket.
"You best show yourself!" Snakes demanded. There was a flash of silver and a sliver of blood at Snakes' gun hand. He cursed, dropped the weapon and cradled his injured hand. WHAM! A blow to the head sent Snakes flying.
"You like to sell drugs to kids!" the attacker said in disgust. Justin stared at her slack jawed. She didn't look much older than himself- and she was green. She wore yellow track pants with a matching crop top and bandana. Her yellow hair was shaped in a samurai knot. She carried a wooden staff with a blade on one end.
Snakes struggled to his feet. "Don't just stand there, boy!" he demanded. "Do something!" But all Justin could do was stand there. He was so shocked and amazed by this green girl from nowhere, that he could only stare as she lambasted the drug dealer. Without his gun, Snake Eyes didn't stand a chance against her. Justin thought she might kill him, but she stopped just short of that. Snakes was on the ground, beaten black and blue and moaning when she took out some rope and began to hogtie him.
"I'll just leave you here for the cops to find, along with your gun and drugs. If someone finds you before the cops do, well, too bad!"
"Who...are...you?" Snakes groaned.
"They call me Michelle." she said, Putting a foot on his chest. "But you can call me ma'am."
"Yes, ma'am." He passed out.
Justin stared agog at the scene. Michelle noticed him, and approached. "Uh...uh..." Justin took a step backwards. "P-please don't hurt me, ma'am!"
"I won't hurt you." she said. "That creep has hurt you enough."
"Snakes? Nah, he ain't ever hurt me. Gives me a good dime bag for my money."
"What did he call you? Justin? Well, Justin, Snakes is not your friend. He's no one's friend. He's just using you. Selling you drugs and trying to use you to get other kids hooked."
"Aw, c'mon, it's just pot! Um, you ain't gonna beat me up and leave me for the cops are you?"
"No. I'm going to take you home and tell your parents what you've been up to."
"Can't you just beat me up and leave me for the cops?"
She sheathed her naginata in a strap behind her back. "Let's go, kid." she said, taking out a grappler. Next thing Justin knew, she grabbed him and they were swinging off the ground. Whoa, we're really high up! was the first thing he noticed. Whoa, she has boobies! was the second thing he noticed.
"Don't stare too hard at them." she said when she noticed where his line of vision was. "You won't be meeting them. I've been watching you, Justin." They landed on the roof of a building. "You came out of that apartment building on Laird Avenue." She pointed it out. "Why don't you tell me which apartment is yours?"
"Uh...we live on the second floor, apartment 22A." He was still staring at her bosom.
"Hello!" She grabbed his chin and forced him to look up. "I'm up here!" She pointed at her face. It was a rather odd face. Pale green skin with blue eyes and the most unusually shaped features. Rather pretty, in an exotic sort of way, Justin decided. "C'mon, I'm taking you home." she said, putting an arm around him. "And keep your hands off the goodies!"
Mrs. Whitmyer paced the floor and looked at the clock. Where was Justin? When was he coming back? Was he coming back? Had she been to harsh with him earlier? What was he doing? What was wrong with him? Should she just go to bed and forget it until morning? A tap at the window interrupted her thoughts. She opened the venetian blinds and nearly screamed when she saw a green alien-looking girl. Then she saw Justin was with her. The green girl motioned for Mrs. Whitmyer to open the window. She did so. "Good evening, ma'am." said the green girl. "My name is Michelle, and I found your son doing something foolish. Tell your mother what you were doing, Justin."
"Uh, hi, Mom." Justin said with a weak smile. "I was, um, I was just...uh...."
"Go on." Michelle urged.
"I was, um, buying pot."
"You were WHAT!?!?" Mrs. Whitmyer shrieked. "JUSTIN HOWARD WHITMYER, YOU GET YOUR ASS IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
"Nice middle name." Michelle remarked as Justin flushed and stepped inside.
"WHAT IN HELL'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?" his mother shouted. "I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU! WONDERING IF YOU WERE DEAD IN A DITCH SOMEWHERE! AND YOU'VE BEEN BUYING DRUGS?"
"It was just pot!" He protested.
"What's going on, Maureen?" A man's voice said from down the hall.
"Fred, you get in here right now!" Mrs. Whitmyer's voice was getting exhausted from screaming and she needed someone to take over. "Your son's been taking drugs!"
A large man in a sleeveless shirt and boxers entered the room. "What do you mean he's taking..." He noticed Michelle, who had taken a seat on the window sill. "What the hell is that?"
"Beats me." his wife shrugged. "She just came to the window with Justin. Her name's Rochelle or something."
"Michelle." the green girl gently corrected her.
"OK, Michelle. She brought Justin home and got him to confess to buying drugs, FOR WHICH HE WILL BE GROUNDED FOR THE WHOLE SUMMER FOR!"
"Mo-om!" Justin moaned. "You can't do that!"
"Oh yes I can!"
"Justin," said Mr. Whitmyer. "I think you better go to your room now."
"I hate you all!" Justin shouted before he stormed off to his room.
"He doesn't mean it." said Michelle. "He's just angry."
"My son's a drug addict!" Mrs. Whitmyer wailed.
"Don't worry, ma'am." said Michelle. "Marijuana's only a psychological addiction, like TV or chocolate. The only difference is, he has to deal with low life scum to get it. Tonight, his dealer was offering him a job as a junior drug pusher and a free sample of cocaine."
"What sort of monster gives coke to children?" Mrs. Whitmyer sobbed. "Justin is barely fourteen years old!"
"Maureen," Mr. Whitmyer put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's be glad that Michelle here caught him and stopped him before things got worse."
"It's my fault." she whimpered. "I'm a bad mother. I should've paid more attention to him."
"I'm just as much to blame too, dear." her husband sighed.
"Well, I can see this is a bit of a family crisis." said Michelle. "So, I'll leave. I hope you can straighten things out with your son." She got up and took out her grappler.
"Thank you." Mrs. Whitmyer said softly. "You- you may have saved Justin's life. I know he doesn't appreciate it now, but I do."
"Yeah." said Mr. Whitmyer. "Thanks for bringing Justin back."
"Anytime." She bowed, then leapt out the window. The last they saw of her was her silhouette swinging into the dark shadows of the city.

[Artemesia]

Rita whiled away the time by using her whip as a skipping rope. "Five little turtles jumping on the bed." she chanted. "One fell down and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said 'No more turtles jumping on the bed!' Four little turtles jumping on the bed. One fell down and bumped his head. Mama called the..." The low hum of a hoverboard broke her rhythm. "Hey, Lucy." she said.
"Hey, Rita." Lucy stepped off the board and made it flip into her arms by stepping on one end. "Doing a little jump rope?"
"Eh, just passing some time, waiting for you and Michelle to show up."
"Remember when we played double dutch when we were little?"
"Yeah, I remember. I always like it when Dad joined in."
Lucy laughed a little. "Daddy's always been lots of fun. So's Mom. They both played games with us when we were little. I've heard a lot of parents just don't do that. So, what have you been up to?"
"I kicked a rapist's lily ass tonight. The lady was mostly OK. Twisted her ankle though and needed to be brought home. You?"
"I took down a purse snatcher. The girls he took the purses from seemed really cool and invited me to a party, but I told them I already made plans with you and Michelle. Where is she, anyway? She's not usually late."
"I'm right here." Michelle leapt from a fire escape and landed in a somersault.
"Show off." said Rita.
"A true ninja can hide in shadows, ready to spring when needed."
"Whatevs." Rita shrugged. "Where ya wanna go eat?"
"Dad recommended this place called Clown Time." said Lucy. "The owners don't really care what their customers look like. And they have pinball!"
"I was thinking Vinnie's" said Rita. "Vinnie's a big Turtles fan and gives us extra pineapple."
"We went to Vinnie's last night." said Michelle. "Let's try Clown Time."
Clown Time, as its name suggested, had a clown/circus theme to it. All the staff were dressed as clowns. It was also an arcade of sorts. Clown paintings and balloons made up the decor. "Well, this place is nice." said Rita. "For a five year old!"
"Oh, Rita, give it a chance!" said Lucy. They took a booth and were approached by an orange haired clown with an oversized pink bow tie.
"Hi, I'm Bobo." He said. "I'll be your waiter."
"Hi, I'm Rita." she said. "I'll be your customer."
"Ha-ha. What can I get for you this evening?"
"Do you have Jelly-Belly jelly beans?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, ma'am."
"OK, I want a personal pan with Jelly-Bellies, no licorice or cantaloupe flavored, sausage and spinach. Ooh, and can you substitute marshmallow fluff for tomato sauce?"
"Alright." Bobo jotted down the order. "And you ladies?"
"I'll have pepperoni, jalapeño and pineapple." said Rita.
"Can you make mine without cheese?" asked Michelle. Bobo nodded. "Good. Make mine mushrooms, mango and shrimp. No cheese."
"Will there be anything else?"
"A pitcher of Coca-Cola, please." said Michelle.
"Will do." Bobo walked off shaking his head. The customers were getting weirder and weirder. First those mutant turtles, then they brought in those weird pointy eared aliens with the day-glo hair. Now green girls with day-glo hair. And the pizza orders were strange too. No cheese? That was weird.
The sisters talked as they ate their pizza. "So, Lucy," said Michelle. "You say Dad recommended this place?"
"Yeah. He said it's where he and Mom fell in love."
"Eew!" said Rita. "Hello! I'm trying to eat here!"
"It's not a bad place." said Michelle. "Not many places on the Earth plane that won't hassle us for the way we look. And they have mango and didn't mind too much when I asked for no cheese."
"And they have pinball!" Lucy pointed out.
"Lemme check out the dessert menu." said Rita. "Then I'll tell you if this place is any good."
"You got the money for dessert?" asked Michelle.
"This lady I saved from a rapist insisted I take it."
"Rita, a ninja does not work for reward. Doing good is..."
"Its own reward." Rita finished her sentence. "Yeah, yeah. I swear, Michelle, you're getting more like Uncle Leo every day."
"I wanted to buy dessert!" said Lucy. "I took the purse snatcher's wallet."
"Lucy!" snapped Michelle.
"What?"
"You shouldn't do that! Two wrongs..."
"Don't make a right." Rita finished her sentence.
"Will you cut that out?"
"Ooh! They have Death by Chocolate!" said Lucy. "Let's get that!"
They ate and played video games well into the night. "Getting late." Michelle pointed out. "Mom and Dad told us not to stay out too late tonight. Mom's got that meeting so we gotta be back in Dimension X early tomorrow morning."
"Aw, but I'm winning!" Lucy said from the pinball machine.
"Let's go."

[Artemesia]

Meanwhile, Peter Ramirez parked his car outside a run down apartment building. The name of the building was Sunny Hill Apartments. Pete didn't know why it was called this. It wasn't on a hill and the dingy place looked like it had never seen sunlight. He didn't like the way the engine coughed when he came to a stop. Pete sighed, picked up the insulated pizza carrier and exited the car. He reflected on the irony. He took this job to pay for his rustbucket of a car, and needed same rustbucket to keep the job. The elevator was out of order. The stairway creaked and roaches scurried about. Something in the hallways smelled bad. Pete checked the slip again. Apartment 35B. He knocked on the door of 35B. The denizen of said apartment took the pizza, handed him the money and slammed the door with barely a word. Pete counted the money. A lousy fifty cent tip.
He was heading for the stairs when he heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Ramirez!" Pete turned to see Piers "Mac" McGuilicutty and his gang.
"Uh, hi, Mac." Pete started walking.
"Come over here, Ramirez," said Mac. "I ain't seen you since school let out. I wanna talk to ya."
"Can't talk, working." Pete walked a little faster. Suddenly, he walked straight into Buffalo, one of Mac's friends. Buffalo was six feet tall, nearly 400 pounds and had been kicked off the football team for being too rough.
"We wanna borrow some money." said Buffalo.
Yeah, right, borrow. he thought. "Look, guys, I don't have any money."
"Don't give us that bull, Ramirez." said Mac. "We just saw you deliver a pizza. We know you got money."
"Yeah." said Tom, one of Mac's hangers on. "And pizza boys always carry dough to make change. Hey, pizza! Dough! Get it?"
"Shut up, Tom." said Mac.
"OK."
"He shouldn't be here anyway." said Blaze, another hanger on. "We don't want no stinkin' chink messing up our apartment."
"Blaze, you dummy!" said Mac. "He ain't a chink, not with a name like Ramirez. He's a spic!" The gang all laughed.
"He looks like a chink to me." said Buffalo. "Can I beat him up, Mac?"
"Nah, Buffalo, you can't." said Mac. "We're all gonna beat him up!"
Pete raced down the stairs, the gang hot on his heels. He sped out the front door and nearly ripped the car door off its hinges trying to get inside. Pete revved up the engine, only to hear a sickening growl and not much else. C'mon! Don't conk out on me now! Pete turned the key and stepped on the gas. Nothing but a stuttering growl followed by a cough. The window beside him smashed as fragments of glass whipped his face and the arm he raised out of instinct. Pete scurried out of reach as the arms grabbed for him. He exited the passenger door and ran like a demon.
Pete's heart raced as Mac and his gang chased him. He could hear their boots slap against the pavement. He could hear the racial slurs they were yelling at him. He looked about wildly. Where could he go? Where could he hide? He cried out "Help me!" only to hear the gang laugh at him. Right. New York City. Who cared what happened to some mixed-breed pizza boy?
The wind was knocked out of him as something fell on him. It was Buffalo. "I got him, Mac!" he yelled as he held the smaller boy down. "Whaddya wanna do to him?"
"I wanna teach him a lesson." Mac said as he drew out his switchblade. "I wanna teach him what happens to dirty mongrels who set foot on my turf. Flip him over, Buffalo! It's going across his gut!"
Peter kicked and squirmed as Buffalo pulled him into position. He felt the first sting of the knife against flesh. He bit down on Buffalo's meaty wrist and kicked wildly. Buffalo bellowed as he released Pete. Mac let out a scream that Pete once thought only sopranos could hit. Good, Pete thought as he ran. That means he won't get his girlfriend preggers. He could hear Blaze and Tom chasing after him. Pete knew he wouldn't last much longer. Where to hide? He caught a glimpse of a storm drain. Pete knew he was probably skinny enough to slip through. Would they follow him into the sewers? Only one way to find out.
He lost his hat and scratched himself up further doing it, but he managed to slip through the storm drain. He barely had time to catch his breath when he saw Tom's black Doc Martin's slip through the hole. Pete ran across slick pavement, hearing the splash of two others chasing them.
Pete ran until he was sure he would pass out from exhaustion and fear. He soon found himself cornered. He hadn't known where all these subterranean tunnels would lead. He leaned against a cold, mildewing wall and panted and the chuckling thugs came closer.
"We're gonna cut you to pieces, half breed!" said Blaze, drawing a knife.
"Yeah! Yeah!" said Tom. "I'll hold him down for ya, Blaze!"
Pete no longer had the strength to resist as Tom held his arms around him and Blaze held up the knife. Suddenly, there was a crack as Tom screamed out in pain. Blaze shouted out as his knife was knocked out of his hand. Pete looked down to see Blaze's switchblade lying on the ground with an odd looking knife. It didn't fold up or have a crosspiece at the hilt. It had been designed for throwing. "Let him go now!" a girl's voice shouted.
"Who the hell did that?" Tom demanded, feeling the welt on his back. He shouted as a wooden staff cracked against his head. Kicks and punches rained on him.
"You're nothing but a big bully!" the girl's voice said. "Holding people down so they can't fight back!"
Blaze scrambled for his dropped knife. Before he could even threaten to do anything with it, there was a whip crack as it was snatched from his fingers. "Ah-ah, shouldn't play with sharp objects." another girl's voice taunted.
"Naughty, naughty!" teased yet another girl, as a green foot came flying at Blaze's face.
"OK, OK, we're leavin'!" said Tom.
"Yeah, we give! Youse girls can have him!" said Blaze the two of them ran away.
Pete could hardly believe it. He was safe now. "Th-thank...you...." he gasped out.
"Don't mention it." said the first girl.
They were closer now. Pete was getting a better look at them. "Y-you're not human!" he suddenly realized.
"Wow, what a genius!" said the one with the whip.
"W-what...what are...." He passed out before he could finish his sentence.
"Aw, he's no fun." said Rita. "He fainted!"
"We better take him to Oji-Chan's." Michelle said, hefting him up.
"He's much prettier than most humans." Lucy observed.

[Artemesia]

Pete blinked his eyes. There was a green and yellow blur in front of him. "Hello!" she said pleasantly. The image became sharper. It was one of those green girls! Pete yelped and scooched away from her. "Please don't do that. You'll open your wound."
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"My name's Lucy. You know, 'Lucy in the sky-y with diamonds'!" She sang the verse.
"Great. Someone put acid in my Coke. Again."
Lucy laughed. "You're funny!"
"Where did you come from?"
"Well, when a daddy mutant turtle and a mommy neutrino love each other very much...."
"You mustn't upset our patient, Lucy-ko." Peter looked up and saw a giant gray rat in a magenta kimono. He held a walking stick in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Peter fainted.
Someone was wiping a damp washcloth on his face. "Mom?" he asked weekly.
"Shh, don't talk." said a gentle voice. "Would you like a drink of water?"
He gratefully accepted the glass. "Mom, I had a bad dream. Mac's gang was after me again. I got rescued be three Martians."
"Actually, we're from Dimension X." Lucy in the Sky was real after all.
"Yeah, we're just here to visit Oji-Chan and our uncles for the weekend."
"You wouldn't happen to have any extra pizza, would you?"
"Rita!" The last speaker was the woman Pete mistook for his mom. His vision cleared. The woman was still wiping his face. She looked like she could pass for human- though her features were rather fine chiseled and her ears were pointed- making her look very much like an elf from Tolkien. And what was with the day-glo yellow hair? It looked like something out of Star Wars. Pete stared at the three green girls. What the hell was going on? "My name is Kala." said the woman. "You met my daughters. Why don't you tell me your name?"
"Uh-it's Pete. Pete Ramirez. Those are your-um-daughters?"
"Aren't they the coolest?" Kala asked with a smile.
"I told him my name." said Lucy. "So your name is Pete, huh? Well, these are my sisters, Rita and Michelle."
"Is he awake now?" Pete looked up and saw that the gray rat in the magenta kimono hadn't been a hallucination after all. He wasn't so sure about the giant turtle wearing an orange mask standing next to the rat.
"So what have you girls brought home?" The giant turtle asked fondly.
"He followed us home, Daddy." said Lucy. "Can we keep him?"
"I dunno," the large turtle said doubtfully. "We gotta see if he belongs to anyone first."
"Hey! I don't belong to nobody!" Pete snapped.
"Relax, dude." said the turtle. "Lucy was just joking."
"You should not let yourself get upset." said the rat. "That will make it difficult for you to heal."
"Hey, I think I know who you are." Pete pointed at the giant turtle. "You- you're one of them Ninja Turtles, right?"
"Correctomundo." he said with a bow. "Name's Michelangelo."
"Yeah, Vinnie told me about you guys. Never thought I'd actually meet one of you." Peter turned to the rat. "You...I have no idea who you are."
The rat smiled. "In my time, I have borne many titles. Hamato Yoshi. Shidoshi. Sensei. Master. Splinter. My most recent title is Oji-Chan, Japanese for 'grandpa'. You may call me Splinter if you like."
"OK, um, Splinter, I really gotta...Ow!" Pete winced as he sat up.
"You were stabbed in the stomach." said Splinter. "I had to sew your wound closed."
Pete grabbed at the soreness in his gut. There was a gauze dressing taped there. He just had minor surgery performed, by a rat. "It hurts when I sit up." he said.
"Then don't sit up." Rita shrugged.
"But, my boss, my mom...I guess I can call 'em on my cell." He dug the phone out of his pocket. He noticed that the money he collected from the customer was still there. He called the number.
"Vinnie's Pizza, howa can I a-help ya?" Vinnie said in his thick Italian accent.
"Vinnie? It's me, Pete."
"Peter! Where you-a been all night, huh? I a-gotta deliver all thesea pizzas alla by myself! I calla an' I a-calla you numbuh, but you a-no answer!" Pete realized he must've had the phone on 'vibrate' and didn't feel it when he was out. "An' wherea you be lasta three hour, huh?"
"It's been three hours?" No wonder his head felt like cotton.
"Thatsa right!"
"Vinnie, listen, I got mugged at Sunny Hill Apartments."
"Mugged? Dio mia, Vinnie, you-a OK?"
"I-I kinda got cut up, but I'll live. I'm-um-at a friend's place. I still have the money from the last customer. I'll get it to you when I can."
"Don' a-worry, Peter. You jus' work on gettin' better an' call me whena ya feel likea workin' again." Vinnie sighed. "We a-gonna hafta take Sunny Hill offa our list, sì?"
"Well, I ain't going back there. I'll talk to you later, Vinnie."
"Okie-dokie. Bye-bye."
Peter dialed another number. Would Mom be asleep? Nope. "Peter Shang Guillermo Ramirez! Where the hell are you? You said you'd be home by midnight! It is now..."
"Mom. Mom, listen." he interrupted. "Mom, I, uh, I kinda got hurt while I was delivering..."
"Hurt! I knew I never should've let you take that job! Working late hours in those bad neighborhoods. Oh, you just wait until I have words with that Vinnie Giuseppe! They have laws about putting minors in jeopardy!"
"Mom, I turned eighteen last week, remember?"
"Of course I remember! You think I'm dim enough to forget my own son's birthday? And where the hell are you? Do you need a doctor? I can come pick you up."
"No, look, Mom, I'm OK. I'm- I'm with friends."
"What friends? Anyone I know? Did they take you to a doctor? If you're really hurt you should see a doctor."
"Oh, uh, yeah. One of the guys who took me in is a doctor. Fixed me right up."
"Let me talk to him."
"Uh, Mom...."
"Let me talk to him!"
"OK." He turned to Splinter. "I told Mom you were a doctor. Go along with it?"
"I dislike the idea of lying." he said.
"Please? It'll make her feel better."
Splinter sighed and took the phone. "Er...hello."
"Am I speaking to the doctor?" said a woman's voice.
"Er, yes. This is, ah, Dr. Yoshi. Mrs. Ramirez?"
"Wu."
"I...beg your pardon?"
"I went back to my maiden name after the divorce. My name is Ms Wu. What's wrong with my son?"
"He has many scratches on his face and arm caused by broken glass. I cleaned and dressed them. I needed to sew up a wound on his stomach." Ms Wu made a sound of distress. "Do not worry, Ms Wu. Your son is mending."
"What hospital is he at?"
"Er...he is not at a hospital. He is at my home."
"Oh. Private practice, huh?"
"You might say that. Ms Wu, Peter is in much pain when he moves. I think he should stay here for awhile."
"How long?"
"That is hard to determine. Possibly three days or so."
"Three days?" She sounded as if he said 'three years'.
"We will keep in contact, Ms Wu. It is late. Peter needs sleep as do you."
"Oh, very well. Thank you, Dr. Yoshi."
"Well, we better get going." said Kala. "I've got that meeting with the senate early tomorrow morning."
"Donny's got the portal warmed up." Michelangelo said, helping her to stand.
"Mom, Dad," said Lucy. "Would it be alright if I stayed here? Oji-Chan's gonna need help taking care of Pete."
"I dunno...." Michelangelo said hesitatingly.
"Splinter will be here." Kala reminded him. She leaned closer to Michelangelo. "And it's not like Pete can really do anything."
"Well...OK. How 'bout you two?" Michelangelo addressed his other daughters.
"Eh, I had enough of Earth for a while." said Rita. "I'm going home."
"I think I'll stay and help." said Michelle.
"Alright." Michelangelo and Kala hugged their kids good-bye. "Watch out for your sister." Michelangelo whispered as he embraced Michelle.
"Hey! Portal's ready!" Another turtle, this one in a purple mask, entered the room.
"Coming, Uncle Donny." said Rita. "You all stay frosty!"
"Aren't Michelle and Lucy going?" asked Uncle Donny.
"They're staying to help Splinter take care of Pete." said Kala.
"Who's Pete?"
"I'm Pete." He raised his hand.
"Oh. Hi, Pete. Talk to you in a minute, I gotta get them home."
"I am so confused." sighed Pete.
"You need rest." said Splinter. "I'll make you some herbal tea. It will help you relax."
"Oji-Chan makes great tea." Lucy told Pete as Splinter left. "You'll like it."
The tea was hot and smelled like perfume, but it had a nice sweet and sour taste. Lucy had supported his head to help him drink it. When that became too difficult, Michelle suggested a straw. Pete had barely sucked a few sips from the straw when he fell asleep.

[hazlov2004]

good job artemesia

[Dragnskull]

i have to say, i REALLY like dreading these, and i dont like to read too many fanfics that arnt comics, i really hope you finish these :)

[Artemesia]

Oh, I will! Here's where I can use a little help. I haven't really decided what happened to the other Turtles over the years. (I didn't say they were still in the sewers. They could've been just visiting.) I toyed with the idea of Leo having had a kid with Lotus, but their relationship didn't exactly work out. (It's like the Batman/Catwoman pairing. He's lawful good, she's chaotic neutral. Just won't last.) Good idea or bad idea? Any other suggestions would be good.
Dragnskull, I hope you meant to say you like reading them and not dreading them.;) I guessed from the rest of your post that you liked it.

[Artemesia]

Sorry I'm late, but the forum was having some problems yesterday. Anyway, I'm having issues with the story that need to be ironed out. Until then, here's some pics I did of the girls. (Yes, I do fan art too.) I don't have them dressed exactly like I described, but this is fan fic, not an actual cartoon, which means the rules are different. (People change their clothes and sometimes say naughty words.- some things that almost never happens in cartoons.)
Let's start with Rita.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/cygnavamp/rita.jpg

[Artemesia]

And Michelle
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/cygnavamp/michelle.jpg

[Artemesia]

And Lucy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/cygnavamp/lucy.jpg

[Artemesia]

I'll try to get the chapter up today, but I haven't been feeling well, so no promises.
Until then, here's a doll I made of Pete. The base is from Doll Palace. I did the rest myself with Nova PhotoExplosion and a bit of clip art.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/cygnavamp/Pete.jpg

[Artemesia]

Finally! Here it is!

Pete heard a familiar voice as he started to wake. April O’Neil? He must've left the TV on last night. He could make out separate words. "I got him some things he might like to have here. Is he up yet?" Who was she talking about? Then he remembered. Last night. The gang. The green girls. The sewers. He was still there. She entered the room he had been left in. April O’Neil looked different from the way Peter was used to seeing her. She was wearing well worn jeans, an "I <heart> NY" T shirt and was carrying two plastic bags. Her hair looked like it had just barely been brushed. "Hi!" she said. "Pete, right? Since you're gonna be here a while, I brought you some things I wished I had first time I was here."
"You're April O’Neil!" Pete gasped.
"That's what it says on my press pass."
"You-you look different then on TV."
"Well, you don't think I wear suit dresses and enough make-up to spackle Grand Central Station all the time, do you?" She smiled. "No, when I'm not reporting on Headline News, I just put on something comfy and come down here to visit my friends." She opened one of the bags. "I got you a ThermaBath. Donatello has a shower rigged up, but Splinter says you should keep your stitches dry. I picked up some jeans and t-shirts from Goodwill. They gave me a guesstemate of your size. What do you think?"
Pete held up a pair of jeans. "They might be a bit big on me." he said, hating his skinny frame once more.
"I got you a belt too, just in case. Oh, I also got you some trail mix and some power bars. You're not allergic to nuts, are you?" Pete shook his head. "Good. The people down here have pretty weird taste when it comes to food."
"Hi, Aunt April! Hi, Pete!" Lucy came in carrying a dish. "I made you a breakfast pizza, Pete! And it's happy to see you!" The pizza was coated with oatmeal and had eggs and bacon arranged in a smiley face."
"See what I mean?" said April.
"I'll give it a try." Pete said, taking a slice of it. It wasn't so bad, if you didn't mind a little egg with apple-cinnamon flavored oatmeal.
"Oji-Chan says you should eat well and get plenty of fluids." said Lucy.
"Hey, Lucy." Michelle stood in the doorway, leaning on her naginata. "We gotta go do our morning exercises."
"Coming." Lucy sighed. "I'll talk to you later, Pete. Holler if you need anything." She left.
"Where did they come from?" Peter asked as he munched on his pizza.
"Well, it's a very long story." April said as she opened a bag of trail mix. "It sort of begins in Japan. With a man named Hamato Yoshi."
"Splinter, you mean?"
"Yeah. He used to be human. He was part of the Foot Clan. Long story short, got kicked out, came to New York, lived in the sewers, took in some pet turtles, ran into some mutagen, mutated, named the turtles after Renaissance painters and taught them martial arts."
"And that's the short version?"
"That's the short-short version."
"And the girls?"
"Well, along their adventures, the Turtles met and befriended some neutrinos from Dimension X. One of them, Kala, kinda fell for Michelangelo. He loved her too. It was the mother of all long distance relationships, but somehow they managed to work it out. Dimension X for many years had been torn apart by war, but after the downfall of Krang and General Tragg, the neutrinos were starting to rebuild their society. Kala decided to help her people by running for the senate. However, there were people who had profited from the war who didn't want Kala in office. After an attempt on her life, she asked the Turtles to assist her by acting as her bodyguard. On the day of her inauguration, there was another assassination attempt. Michelangelo saved her, getting a pretty nasty gouge on his shell in the process. He asked her to marry him that day and she accepted. The others, including me, were sad to see him go, but he was needed more in Dimension X with Kala. I helped perform their wedding ceremony."
"You can perform wedding ceremonies?"
"By neutrino law I can. Neutrino marriages are performed by the parents of the bride and groom. If parents aren't available, the couple can choose the next best thing. Kala's parents died in a bombing, so she had her aunt and uncle do it. Michelangelo had Splinter and me do the honors. It's simple. All I had to do was ask Kala to promise to always show love, patience and kindness to Michelangelo. Splinter had her promise to make it so Michelangelo never regretted his decision to leave. He also incorporated the san-san kuno ritual into the ceremony."
"San-san kuno?"
"Japanese tradition. Lots of bowing and the bride and groom each take nine sips of saké. You should see the pictures sometime. It was a very special day."
"Sounds like it."
"It was a bit sad, too. We all had to say good-bye to Michelangelo. He and Kala still managed to visit us at least once a week via the portal. The only time they stopped visiting was during the four months Kala was pregnant with the triplets."
"Four months?"
"Neutrino pregnancies only last five months. Multiples are a bit premature. Kala had developed a taste for rock music while on Earth, particularly the Beatles. She named her daughters after characters in Beatles songs. Lucy after 'Lucy in the Sky'. Rita after 'Lovely Rita'. And Michelle after, um, 'Michelle'."
"Good thing there were no boys." said Pete. "He'd be named Mean Mr. Mustard."
April laughed. "I think Kala would've went with Jude had that happened. Well, about as soon as they could walk, Mikey started teaching them martial arts. When they were old enough, they chose weapons to be proficient at. Michelle uses the naginata- a sort of pole with a blade on one end. Lucy is master of the aikuchi- throwing knives. Rita's weapon is the bullwhip."
"So, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Next Generation, huh?"
"Well, they're not mutant turtles, per se. Their father is a mutant turtle, their mother is an alien being from another dimension."
"Cross breeds, huh? Like me."
"I like the word hybrid better. It means you get the best of both."
"Or the worst of both in my case. I'm Chinese on my mom's side and Puerto Rican on my dad's side. That's why that gang was after me. Didn't want no mongrels in their territory."
"Pete, you are being way too hard on yourself. Those guys are just plain ignorant."
"If you say so." He sighed. "What was that word you used? Hybrid? I thought it only applied to cars."
"It means the best of two things put together. Like...if a dog and a wolf have puppies. The pups are hybrids. They'll grow up to be bigger, stronger and have keener senses than most dogs and be swifter, smaller and easier to hide than most wolves and can breed more often."
"Or when a horse and a donkey get together and make a jackass."
"Oh, Pete!" April laughed.

A/N: A horse/donkey hybrid is actually called a mule. A jackass is simply a male donkey. Pete's a city slicker who doesn't know any better.

[Artemesia]

Meanwhile, Lucy and Michelle were doing some hand to hand sparring in the exercise room while Splinter looked on. "Bow!" he ordered as the girls faced each other. The sisters bowed to each other. "Fight!" Michelle struck, Lucy blocked and punched. Michelle ducked and did a sweep kick, knocking Lucy to the ground. "Hold! Points to Michelle." said Splinter, as Michelle helped her sister stand. "Bow!" The girls bowed to each other. "Fight!" Lucy kicked, only for Michelle to grab her leg and throw her off balance. "Hold! Points to Michelle. Lucy, you are not concentrating!"
"Sorry, Oji-Chan." said Lucy, picking herself up.
"C'mon," said Michelle, picking up her naginata. "Let's do some weapons practice. Hey! Uncle Donny! Wanna spar?"
"Sure." he said taking up the bo.
"So sis," said Michelle. "When you gonna put down the knives and get a real weapon?"
"The aikuchi is a real weapon!" she said.
"It only works from a distance or when they're so close they're breathing on you. The naginata, now, that's a weapon. If your enemy gets too close, you can push 'em back. Like this." She jabbed at Donatello, throwing him back. She made a swipe with the blade that got ducked and parried.
"Not bad." said Donatello. "You're getting better."
"Oh Luuuuucy!" Raphael called out on entering the room. "I'm home!"
"Hi, Uncle Raph!" Lucy laughed. Uncle Raph always said her name like Ricky Ricardo did on I Love Lucy.
"Up for target practice, little niece?"
"You bet I am!" The two of them stood several feet in front of the targets. Raphael threw a sai, hitting the bull's eye.
"Bull's Eye!" he said. "You know, Lucy, we oughta go to O'Flanaghan's Bar some night for their darts contest. We'd really clean up!"
"I'm not old enough to go to bars." Lucy laughed.
Raphael took the sai out of the target. "Hey, show your uncle your famous triple bull's eye!"
"You got it!" she said, drawing three aikuchi. She threw three at once. Two stuck into the bull's eye. Another hit the twenty point mark. Raphael shook his head.
"Lucy, is something bothering you?"
"W-why would anything be bothering me?"
"Lucy, you're not concentrating!" He took the knives out of the target and handed them to her. "Now, tell Uncle Raph what's wrong."
Lucy stared at the floor for a moment. "Uncle Raph? What should you do if you like a guy but you don't know if he likes you?"
"Well, for one thing, I've never been interested in guys to be honest."
"Uncle Raph, I'm being serious!"
Raphael sighed. "If I say anything besides 'Keep your pants on', your father will kill me."
"Uncle Raph!" Lucy blushed. "It-it's not like that!"
"Look, Lucy," Raph sighed. "Maybe you should just talk to him, OK? You can figure things out for yourself from there."

[Artemesia]

"Uh, Ms O’Neil?" Pete said to her.
"You can call me April." she said.
"Um, I gotta go to the bathroom."
"Oh. Why don't I get Leonardo to help you?"
Leonardo was another mutant turtle. "OK, we'll go one step at a time." he said as he picked Pete up and sat him on his feet. Pete winced a bit in pain as he walked. "Easy now, just hold on to me." said Leonardo. "We're here." he finally said, stopping at a makeshift door. "Um...think you can handle it yourself from here?"
"Yeah, I think I can. Thanks." Pete entered the room. It was small and literally a hole in the floor. Well, any port in a storm.
Leo helped him back to bed. "Anything else I can do for you?"
"Well, could you heat up this ThermaBath for me?" asked Pete.
"Sure. I'll just pop it in the microwave." Leo took the bath kit. He soon returned. "I'll stand outside and make sure you get some privacy." he said.
It felt good to get cleaned up and put on fresh clothes, even if Pete did have to move gingerly so as not to injure his wound. His cell phone rang. "Hello?" he said as he answered it.
"Pete? It's Mom. Are you all right?"
"Mom, I'm great. The people here are taking good care of me. They've given me food, clothes, a ThermaBath."
"ThermaBath?"
"It's this thing you heat up in a microwave and rub on you when you can't take a real bath or shower. Spl-uh-Dr. Yoshi says I shouldn't get my stitches wet."
"I want to speak to Dr. Yoshi."
Pete sighed and put down the phone. "Leonardo!" he called. "Can you get Splinter?"
"Is anything wrong?" he asked.
"My mom wants to talk to him."
Leonardo got Splinter. Splinter took the phone. "Hello, Ms Wu." he said.
"I want to know how my son is, Dr. Yoshi."
"I was just about to change the dressing on his wound. He seems healthy enough, though sudden moves pain him. As long as we can keep infection from setting in, he should be fine."
"How much will I owe you?"
"Er, you don't have to pay. I'm just glad I could help your son."
"Really? Oh, thank you, Dr. Yoshi!"
"Er, you needn't call me Dr. Yoshi." Splinter felt uncomfortable being called a title he hadn't earned.
"What should I call you?"
"Ah, Hamato." It had been long since anyone called him his given name.
"Alright, Hamato. My name's Ming Lin, but you can just call me Lynne."
"Ming Lin is a nice name. It is Chinese for 'shining jade', is it not?"
"Why, yes! I was born in Beijing, but my parents and I moved here when I was two. So, no accent. You have a charming accent yourself, Hamato. Japanese?"
"Hai." he said with a smile.
"You have a very lovely voice."
"Well, thank you." Splinter's free hand reflexively went to the back of his neck. Just when I thought I was too old to blush. he thought.
"I heard Pete call someone Leonardo. Who's he?"
"One of my sons." He could say this with no hesitation.
"You have children? How many?"
"Four sons."
"Four? How does your wife stand it?"
"Er, I don't have a wife."
"No wife? And four children on your own?"
"They are no longer children. They are all grown."
"I see. My Petey is nearly grown himself. I know all about raising children alone. I've had to take care of Pete on my own since he was ten. He was a bit of a handful by himself. I couldn't imagine taking care of four boys by myself."
"It was not easy, Lynne, but I managed. All it takes is lots of love, patience and self confidence."
"Hamato, why don't I come over later?"
"Er, you can't."
"Why not?"
Splinter sighed. Time to tell the truth. "My home is a sewer."
"Oh, it can't be that bad. I know how it is to get behind in housework. You're probably so busy with patients you just don't have time to clean your house. Why don't you come to my place for dinner some night? I can make an Asian stir fry. Do you like edamame?"
"Actually, yes, I do. But, I am afraid I cannot accept your invitation, Lynne."
"Please, Hamato? I really want to show my appreciation for what you've done for Pete. I know you're busy, but you really deserve a night for yourself."
"I...shall consider it, Lynne."
"Alright. I look forward to hearing from you, Hamato. Good-bye."
"Good-bye." Splinter couldn't help smiling as he handed the phone back to Pete.
"What was Mom inviting you to?" asked Pete.
"Um, she wants me to come over for dinner some night." Splinter said uncomfortably. "Raise your shirt so I can change your dressing." Pete exposed his wound so Splinter could work on it.
"Wow, Master!" Leo sounded impressed. "Sounds like you got a date!"
Splinter went pink under his fur. "It's not a date. I only said I'd consider it. She-she merely wants to show appreciation for the help I've given her son. For...obvious reasons, I don't think I'll be able to accept her invitation anyway."
"Yeah, you got it all wrong, Leonardo." said Pete. "My mom doesn't date. She's too old for that kinda thing."
"One is only as old as one feels, Peter." said Splinter. "Now, hold still. I need to put some disinfectant on your face."
"Am-am I gonna be scarred?"
"The cuts were not so deep and they are being disinfected. Scarring will be minimal."
"Like it matters." Pete sighed. "It's not like I was good looking to begin with."
"I sense you have a good spirit, Pete." Splinter said as he took a Q-Tip of ointment to a scratch. "A fine spirit is more important than fine looks."
"With all due respect, Master." said Leo. "Perhaps you should follow your own advice when considering Ms Wu's invitation."
"Perhaps I should." Splinter said with a smile.

[Artemesia]

There was a tap at the door. "Everyone in there decent?" asked Lucy.
"Depends on what you mean by decent." Pete answered.
"You can come in, Lucy." said Leo.
She came in. "Hi, Uncle Leo. Hey, Oji-Chan. How ya feeling, Pete?"
"Better than last night, thanks."
"Leonardo," Splinter stood. "Have you done your morning exercises yet?"
"Of course."
"Well, why don't we go see how Michelle is doing? She was sparring with Donatello last I saw of her."
"Master," Leo whispered as they started to leave the room. "Should we...?"
"I'll leave the door open." he whispered.
"Hey, nice shirt." said Lucy.
"Thanks. Your friend April got it for me. Gotta say it's better than wearing my work shirt all day. You guys are friends with April O’Neil? The reporter?"
"Aunt April? Yeah, Dad and my uncles knew her from way back when she was just an anchor for Channel 6. You, um, wanna talk or something?" asked Lucy as she sat down.
"Sure." Pete was glad to have someone to talk to since there wasn't much else he could do in his state. "Waddya wanna talk about?"
"Um...I dunno." She kicked her feet restlessly. "Why were those guys after you last night?"
He sighed. "They said they wanted me to give them money. But that's not the real reason. They like to pick on me cuz I'm skinny and weak and can't fight back."
"That's terrible!" said Lucy. "They're just plain mean."
"Yeah, that's them alright. And it's not just cuz I'm a 90 pound weakling. The guys in that gang and I go to the same school. Well, used to. I graduated just before summer started. The principal liked to brag about the school's 'ethnic diversity'. We had black kids, white kids, Asian kids, Mexican and Puerto Rican kids- big old melting pot. Bull. Yeah, we had kids of all colors and races, but I guarantee, every time you walk in the lunchroom, all the black kids are sitting together in one place, all the white kids in another place and so on. In P.E., when choosing sides for sports the Asian kid would only pick other Asians, the black kid only blacks, the white kid only whites and so on. I didn't fit with anybody. I'm half Chinese, half Puerto Rican. The Chinese kids didn't like my Spanish name or my dirt brown skin. The Puerto Rican kids didn't like my slanty eyes or my weird mom. I'm just an ugly, stupid half-breed."
"I don't think you're an ugly, stupid half-breed." said Lucy. "I mean, look at me. I'm half turtle. You don't think I'm an ugly, stupid half-breed, do you?"
"No, no, I don't Lucy." he sighed. "In fact, you're probably one of the nicest girls I've met in a long time."
Lucy giggled. "How many girls have you met?"
"Mostly girls just laugh at me. You laugh too, but I know you're not being mean about it. You have a very cute laugh."
Lucy knew she was blushing. "Thank you." she said.
"April tells me you're from someplace called Dimension X. What do you do there?"
"Do?"
"Yeah. You go to school or anything?"
"Not exactly. Minors are required by law to spend a minimum of fifteen hours a week with an EduComp."
"Fifteen?"
"Yeah, it's a drag. I tried to talk Mom into changing the law to make it ten hours but she wouldn't hear it."
"You only have schooling for fifteen hours a week?" Pete did the math in his head. "That's just three hours a day and you still have weekends off!"
"How long does your school day last?"
"Seven hours, five days a week, grand total of thirty-five hours."
"Thirty-five hours? How do you find time for anything else? If I had to spend thirty-five hours a week with the EduComp, I wouldn't have time to practice ninjitsu, hoverboard, play galaxy pinball or anything else I like to do. I'm surprised you have time to eat!"
"Well, they do give us a break for lunch. The food they serve isn't too spectacular. It's either crap on rice, crap on noodles, or a slab of mystery meat you could use as a hockey puck. I tried bringing a sacked lunch from home, but Mac and his buddies stole it."
"Wow, Earth school sounds like a real bummer. I don't think I'll complain about EduComp anymore."
"I start classes at New York State in September. I haven't picked a major yet. Taking some sociology and English and math classes. Going on the Pell grant and living at home with Mom. Maybe it will be better than high school. No way are Mac and his buddies college material."
"You know what you should do when you get better, Pete? You should have Oji-Chan teach you ninjitsu. So you can protect yourself from those bullies."
"Me? Ninjitsu?" Peter would've laughed if it hadn't sounded so pathetic. "Lucy, there's no way. I'm just too small and weak."
"Size matters not. Judge me by my size do you?"
Pete laughed. "You like Star Wars too, huh?"
"Well, you gotta respect Yoda. Not many green role models out there."

[Artemesia]

Pete took a good look at Lucy. She wasn't very big, hardly even five feet tall. Her figure was trim and athletic with discernable muscles in the arms and legs. They weren't bulky, but very well defined. Her facial features were somewhat on the delicate side. "Well, I'll think about it. I gotta warn you, though, I kinda suck at sports."
"Well, I'm sure you can do something else well."
He shrugged. "I can figure out math pretty well, but that's about it."
"That's better than what I can do. I'm lousy at math."
"I'm taking a trig class at NYU this fall. Hoping I'll do OK." He sighed. "About all I'm good at is making good grades. Like anyone cares."
"Well, what do you like to do, Pete?"
"I read a lot. And I like video games. I'm on the 'net a lot."
"Really? I have a MySpace account. You should check it out sometime."
"I tried keeping a blog once. Got bored with it."
"Know what I like to do sometimes, Pete?" She leaned in conspiratorly. "I get a lot of perverts trying to chat me up on MySpace. It clearly says I'm only fifteen, but I get forty, sometimes fifty year old pedos sending me gross pics and asking me to meet with them. I arrange to meet them in a dark ally late at night and whamo! I give the creep just what he deserves!"
Pete laughed so hard his wound ached. "So, you're fifteen?"
"Going on sixteen. My sisters and I have our birthday in a few weeks."
"My birthday was last week. I turned eighteen. 'Fraid it's illegal for me to spend too much time alone with you, cutie."
"You think I'm cute?" She blushed.
"Very. Pity you're not a bit older."
"In Dimension X, the age of consent is sixteen. Mom's trying to raise it." Lucy rolled her eyes. "But the other senators don't wanna."
"Don't wanna loose their cute little girlfriends, probably." Pete smiled. "You know, Lucy, I was overhearing your grandpa on the phone with my mom. Your Uncle Leo thinks she likes him. Have you ever heard anything so crazy?"
"Crazy? How about gross?" Lucy shuddered. "Ick! Old people! Eew! If they got married, you'd be my dad's stepbrother, and that would make you my uncle! Ick, ick, ick!"
"What? Don't you think I'd make a nice uncle?" He smiled at her, making her blush again. "Well, I guess having a rat for a stepdad can't be worse than having a shrew for a stepmom."
"A shrew?"
"Yeah. My parents divorced when I was ten and Dad went off to Jersey and married a Puerto Rican girl barely twelve years older than me. Her name's Maria and she is the nastiest puta this side of San Juan. They had a couple of kids together. Nice, normal, full-blood Puerto Rican kids. Real brats too. But, they're part of Dad's new life now. Now that I'm eighteen, he doesn't have to pay child support anymore and he can forget all about me."
"Oh, Peter." she took his hand.
Peter fingered her hand. Not scaly as he half expected. The green skin was soft and slick smooth. Only three fingers. "Hey, Lucy? How do you type with just three fingers?"
"I manage. You know, that's how our parents told us apart. By our fingers. Michelle has five fingers. She's older than me by seven minutes. Rita has four fingers. She's older than me by two minutes. Guess that makes me the baby of the family."
"They told you apart by number of fingers?"
"When we were babies. When we got older, I don't think they needed to see fingers to tell us apart. Michelle's the smart one, even if she is kinda bossy. Rita's always been sort of a tomboy and me...." Lucy shrugged. "I'm just me."
"That's the best thing you can be, Lucy."
Lucy smiled. "Mom said that one time when we were babies, Rita clonked Dad over the head with one of his own nunchucks!"
"Ouch! That's one strong baby."
"Well, she was using telekinesis."
"Telekinesis?"
"Yeah. Neutrino babies have telekinesis for about the first four years. Since we're only half neutrino, we outgrew it by age two. I don't even remember it."
"Lucy-Ko." Splinter was at the door. "Would you be so kind as to help me prepare lunch?"
"Is it that time already?"
"Yes, it is."
"OK. I'll talk to you later, Pete." She left.
"I hope my granddaughter is not pestering you." said Splinter.
"Pestering me? No way. I like talking to her."
"I am glad. Peter? What sort of flowers does your mother like?"
"Flowers?"
"Yes. Is it not the custom for a gentleman to bring flowers when a lady is serving him a meal?"
"You're serious?"
"Roses come off as too forward. I like sakura myself, but they are no longer in season. Would a basket of cherries be inappropriate?"
"Excuse me, I think I'm going to faint again."
Splinter chuckled. "Well, I have to go and make sure that Lucy-Ko doesn't blow up the kitchen. She is a good cook, but she tends to experiment. And experiments don't always go as planned."
"I'll keep that in mind." A giant Japanese rat played doctor on me and is thinking about dating my mom. April O’Neil brought me clothes and snacks. He looked through one of the bags and saw a comb among other hygienic supplies. Oh, and a comb. Guess I'll tidy up my hair a bit. He thought some more on recent events. I'm a guest of the Ninja Turtles in their lair in the sewers. And what's more, a strange green girl from another dimension likes me and I think I like her too. Yep, it's official. My life has taken a turn for the weird.

[Artemesia]

While Peter convalesced, he got to know Lucy a little better. Leonardo had helped him to the couch so he could see the TV. Lucy sat at his feet as they watched a Star Wars marathon. "You like Jar Jar too?" she was saying. "Wow! I thought I was the only Star Wars fan in the universe who liked Jar Jar."
"What can I say?" Pete shrugged. "He reminds me of me."
"I like Padmé too. She kinda reminds me of my mom."
"Bet your dad isn't like Anakin though."
"Nah. He's not half as whiney. Or stupid. He'd never fall for Palpatine's lies like that."
"My stitches itch." Pete complained as he rubbed at the gauze covered wound.
"Don't scratch it. You'll open it. Oji-Chan always says that when a wound itches, that means it's getting better. Want me to get him?"
"Nah, that's alright. I talked to Mom earlier. The city impounded my car, but she got it back for me. Window's busted which means I gotta get out the Hefty bag and duct tape. She wants to know more about your grandpa."
"I still think it's gross. Old people shouldn't date."
"One day you will be an old person." Lucy flushed as she heard Splinter's voice. "Will it seem gross to you then?"
"Er...well, er...I mean...." she stammered.
Splinter laughed. "It's alright, Lucy-ko. I know it may seem strange to you, but adults, even older ones, like to maintain healthy relationships with others."
"Hey! Lucy!" Michelle called from the kitchen. "Come help me make lunch."
"In a sec!" she called back. "Hey, Pete? You like anime?"
"Sure."
"Cool. I got some Tenchi Muyo DVDs we can watch while we eat lunch. I gotta go. Michelle's helpless in the kitchen."
"Kay, see ya." Lucy smiled at him and left. Peter smiled. He was getting to like Lucy very much. She was so sweet and friendly. Her appearance was a bit odd, but still sorta cute. She was nice to hold hands with. He planned on giving her a hug as soon as he could bend his torso without wanting to scream. He briefly wondered what his mom would think of her. Well, she had developed a fascination for Splinter, or, rather, "Dr. Yoshi".
"Um, Splinter?" said Peter. "You're gonna tell Mom the truth, right?"
"It would seem inevitable." Splinter sighed.
"Not exactly." Donatello entered the room with a watch. "It's a new invention of mine. It surrounds the body with a realistic looking hologram. I thought it would make a good disguise for people who don't look exactly human. Try it, Sensei. Press the red button." Splinter put on the watch and pressed the red button. His image flickered and was replaced by that of an elderly Japanese man with gray hair. "I took an old photo of you as Hamato Yoshi and digitally aged it. Not bad looking, if I say so myself."
Splinter looked in a mirror. Though rugged with age, his features were still handsome by human standards. His hair was salt and pepper colored and his eyes and mouth were framed by smile lines. He sighed heavily and pressed the button again, returning to his true image. "No." he said quietly. "It is a good invention, Donatello. It will aid us in walking above ground undisturbed. But...." He shook his head. "I cannot go on lying to Lynne. She deserves the truth."
Lucy helped Michelle prepare lunch. "No cheese on your pizza, right?" Lucy asked.
"As usual. You know what dairy does to me."
"Which means you don't get ice cream either. Drag."
"You don't miss what you never had, Lucy. Pass the bananas."
"Michelle? You don't really think Oji-Chan would date Pete's mom, do you?" she asked as she took up the bunch of bananas. "I mean, her only kid is eighteen and Oji-Chan has grandkids who are nearly sixteen, so there's gotta be a huge age difference."
"I think once you hit a certain age, it doesn't really matter, Lucy."
"It would just be too weird to have Pete as an uncle."
"Could be worse. Remember that book Dad read to us when we were little? The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
"I loved that story! Especially since one character had my name."
"Well, remember, there was also a character named Peter."
"Who was Lucy's brother! Eew! Double ick! Why do you remind me of these things, Michelle?"
"What are big sisters for?"
"You're only older than me by seven minutes!'
"Well, they were long minutes."

[Artemesia]

Meanwhile, Mac and his gang were hanging about listlessly in a back alley. Mac fiddled with his knife as Tom scratched at his back. "Man, my back still hurts!" he complained. "If that green bitch scarred me I'll...."
"Wet yourself if you ever see her again?" suggested Blaze.
"Hey, you were scared too! You took off runnin'!"
"Will you both shut up!" said Mac.
"Oh, yeah." said Buffalo. "How's your nut sac, Mac?"
"Ain't none of your business! But I tell you, I ever see that ****ing half breed again, I ain't gonna stop at cutting him! I'll ****ing kill him!"
"Perhapssss I can be of assssissstanssss." a voice hissed from around the corner.
"Yo, who the **** are you?" Mac jumped to his feet and readied his knife.
"Ssssomeone who can give you great power. Power to dessstroy your enemiesss, get revenge. All you have to do isss a few choresss for me."
"Come out here wheres we can see ya!" Mac demanded.
"I will. But, be warned, if you are frightened by my appearansss, I will find people of sssterner ssstuff." From behind the corner slithered a gigantic snake lady. She had arms, but no legs. Her entire lower body was serpentine. She wore a tattered lab coat and her reptilian head had strings of brown hair. Her entire body was covered in green scales. The gang stared in shock. Mac dropped his knife. "I frighten you." she said.
"N-no way!" said Mac. "I-I ain't scared of you!"
"Yessss you are. But it iss healthy fear. None of you ran like rabbitsss. Good. You are ssssuffissssent. Come! We mussst begin immediately!"
They followed her into a nearby warehouse. "Hey, who the hell are you, anyhow?" Mac demanded.
"Onssse, I wasss human." she said. "My name wass Dr. Ophelia Hasssling, a ressspected sssscientissst in the sssubject of herpetology."
"Hey, maybe you can help me then!" said Blaze. "See, I've had this rash on my johnson for a couple of days...."
"Herpetology is the ssstudy of reptilesss, you fool!" she snapped. "Now, let me finissssh! After a missshap in the lab, I became what you now ssssee. I call mysssself Lamia and have pledged to usssse my new powersss for my own gain!"
"What powers?" asked Mac.
Lamia spit a stream of green venom on the floor. A smoking hole melted in it. "Thatsss one of them." she said. "Now, come with me."
They followed her into a makeshift lab. She went to a terrarium and pulled out five small lizards and handed them out. "Jussst hold on to them for a while."
"Uh, mine got away." Buffalo said, holding up a squirmy tail. "His tail broke off and he just scampered off."
Lamia sighed in exasperation and took another lizard out of the terrarium. "Hold on to thisss one, you cretin!" She put on a pair of heavy gloves and opened the canister. Something inside was glowing. "Jussst hold sssstill...."

A/N: I was a bit surprised to see some of the words had been censored. Oh, well, I'm sure my readers are clever enough to figure out what words I meant to use. I do think it's odd that the F word and S word got censored, but not the words "spic" and "chink". Those words are far more offensive than any mundane swear word. Keep in mind, Mac and his gang are not nice people.

[Artemesia]

Peter tried not to whimper as he lay on his side with his wound exposed. "I will do it as quickly as I can." Splinter assured him. "So as to cause you minimal pain."
"I'll be here the whole time, Pete." said Lucy. "Just hold my hand."
A part of Peter wanted to tell her to go away. He didn't want her to see him like this. Another part of him wanted to cling to her for dear life. That part was just a little stronger.
"Do not hold your breath." Splinter advised as he took the scissors from the shallow dish of alcohol they had been lying in. "Take slow but deep breaths. Many find chanting a mantra helps."
"What's a mantra?"
"Nothing." said Lucy. "What's a mantra with you?" Both Peter and Splinter stared at her. "Heh-heh, just trying to lighten up the situation."
Splinter held the skin around the wound taut with one hand. "Stay still and try to relax. If you tense up or flinch, I may cut you on accident." He began snipping away at the stitches. Peter's breathing hitched. "Slow, deep breaths." Splinter reminded him. "Breathe in the light, breathe out the darkness." Peter tried to regulate his breathing.
Peter squeezed Lucy's hand, squinched his eyes shut and bit his lip to keep from yelling. The removal of stitches hurt even more than being cut in the first place. He felt Lucy's free hand in his hair. "Breathe, remember to breathe." she said gently.
"Am I having stitches removed or having a baby?" he asked.
She laughed. "Well, you can still make jokes. That's good."
"It is done." Splinter said as he applied medicine to the wound. "Leave this new dressing on until you are ready to bathe tonight." he said as he taped on fresh gauze. "Pat your wound dry and let it get some air. Does it hurt to move?"
"Not as much as it used to." Peter said as he slowly sat up. "I really liked staying here, but, my mom's gonna want me home soon."
"Can you stand up on your own?" Splinter asked.
"I'll try." Lucy helped him to his feet. He was a bit wobbly from being bedridden for the past couple of days. The pain in his side was now dull instead of sharp. "I think I'll be OK, thanks."
Splinter nodded. "Then you may leave when you wish. But you will always be welcome here as our friend, Peter. Ah, Lucy-Ko, not long ago I spoke with your parents. They will collect you and Michelle later tonight."
"I see, Oji-Chan." Lucy said softly. "Oji-Chan? Can I bring Peter to his home?"
"Of course you may." said Splinter.
As Lucy and Peter left the room, they were stopped by Donatello. "Hey, Lucy," he said. "I want you to try something. It's a new invention of mine." He handed her a watch. "Just put it on and press the red button." Lucy did as he said. To Peter's surprise, her image flickered and in her place was an ordinary (if fairly attractive) teenage girl with strawberry blonde hair. Donatello gave her a mirror. "It's a holographic illusion. You can walk about topside anywhere you want and you'll look like just another human. I've made some for your sisters for the next time you visit Earth. What do you think?"
Lucy stared at her reflection. "What do you think, Pete?" she asked.
"Nice." he said. "But I think I like the real you even better." Lucy smiled. Peter's words made her feel deliciously warm inside. He really liked her!
It was about sunset when they climbed out of the manhole. He took her hand. They looked at each other and smiled a moment before Lucy gave a morose sigh and started to walk, still holding his hand. "What's wrong?" Pete had only known her a few days, but he knew her well enough to know that sorrowful sighs weren't normal for her.
"I'll be leaving soon." she said. "Back to Dimension X. I-I'll miss you."
"I-I'll miss you too." Damn, I finally meet a girl who likes me and we don't even live on the same plane of existence. "Could we at least e-mail or something?"
She smiled. "We do have a computer hooked to the Universal net. Not many people check out Earth web sites or chat with humans. No offence, but most people from other planets and dimensions think Earth is kinda primitive."
"None taken."
"Hey, know what my parents did to remember each other even though they were in different dimensions? They kept pictures of each other. Let's find a photo booth!"
Peter normally didn't like being photographed. He always thought of himself as "funny looking". He glimpsed at his face reflected in a store window. No acne today, but he still had some scratches from where the broken glass hit him. April had been thoughtful enough to provide him with shaving supplies, but Peter was starting to wonder if he was getting a bit bristly.
"Come on!" Lucy tugged his arm. "There's one here at Eckerd's and it's in color!" Once inside the booth, Lucy turned off her inducer. "We'll take one of just me, one of just you and two of the two of us together. I'll go first." Peter stood to the side as Lucy smiled and waved at the flashing light. Pete tried to smile at the camera, but, as always, the flash made him flinch. Lucy put his arms around him for the third and fourth flashes.
Peter looked at the photos. Lucy was cute, no two ways about it. His photo looked stupid with a weird half grin and already too small eyes that were squinting up. "Sorry I don't photograph well." he apologized.
"It's OK." she said. "I once saw the photo of Dad that Mom kept when they were younger. He had this funny half smile too. Like he was starting to smile but the camera caught him before he was finished. It's sorta cute actually."
"Not as cute as you." He put an arm around her and pulled her close. He tilted her head up and kissed her. The kiss ended almost as soon as it started. She pushed him away. Knew I should've taken some mouthwash! He thought.
"Pete, someone's watching us." Her gaze was directed above and behind him. Pete turned and looked up. He thought he saw a flitting shadow on the roof of a building, but it was quickly gone. "There's someone up there." she said.
"It's probably just a construction worker." he told her.
"A green construction worker?"
"Maybe your sister or one of your uncles is following us."
"If they are, they're getting a talking to!" she said, getting out her grappling hook. "I'm almost sixteen, for quark sake! If I wanna spend time with a boy, then by golly I can!" She swung the grappler and threw it up to the edge of the roof. "Wanna come help me tell them off?"
"Um...I'll just wait here, thanks."
"Suit yourself." Lucy rappled up the side of the building. She climbed over the ledge to see the back of someone with green skin as the person was retreating to the door leading to the stairwell. "Alright, I see you!" said Lucy. "And listen up! I'm a big girl and I don't need you to..." The figure turned to face her. The face was long and thin with menacing yellow eyes. It approached her and sneered, revealing sharp fangs. "Uh, you're not anyone I know." she said as she reached for her aikuchi.

[Artemesia]

I know, you're probably ticked that I left it on a cliffie for so long. Now that finals are over, I'll have more time to work on it. In the meantime, Here's a charcoal drawing of what Peter's face looks like in my mind. He wears his hair rather long and it sometimes falls in his face, but he ties it up when he's working. I don't know if I wrote much of a description of him. I've seen too many crap fics where the writer goes into page length descriptions of their OC. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Check that...I will post a pic as soon as I can find a computer with a working A-drive! (At a library.)

[Artemesia]

OK, here it is. I'm not totally crazy about the nose. (Noses and hands are the two toughest things to draw.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/cygnavamp/pete.jpg

[Artemesia]

I haven't forgotten this, just got sidetracked by other projects and RL.
Here it is! The fight scene!

"So the half-breed's got a girl friend, huh?" chuckled the reptile. "How much is he paying ya? Cute chicks like you don't hang out with freaks like him for free."
"You should talk!" She switched off the hologram. "Still think I'm cute?"
The reptile gasped, then glared. "You're that green bitch that whipped me a few nights ago!"
"That was my sister! And don't call her names!"
"Mac's gonna love this!" the reptile snickered as he ran towards her. Lucy jumped and flipped over her attacker's head. She landed and gave him a karate chop to the neck.
"You call that fighting?" Lucy laughed as she put a foot on her prone attacker's back.
"Blaze! Help!" he screamed.
"What the hell's wrong this time, Tom?" Lucy turned to see another lizard man. She held tight to her pair of aikuchi, ready to strike. Blaze glared at her. "You're one of those girls who ganged up on us!"
"Like you ganged up on Pete!" said Lucy. So the gang members had mutated themselves. How? And why?
"She's Ramirez's shorty!" laughed Tom. "I saw 'em smoochin'!"
Lucy couldn't help blush. "Yeah, well, you two better leave Pete alone from now on! Or you'll answer to me!" I am a ninja. I can take on two at once. No prob.
Blaze grinned, showing a muzzle full of fangs. "Hey! Buffalo!" he shouted at the entrance.
Buffalo just barely managed to squeeze through the entrance. He looked like a miniature version of Godzilla. Lucy quailed a bit as his shadow loomed over her. A ninja does not know fear! she reminded herself. She flung one of her aikuchi at him. It lodged in his shoulder. He merely plucked it out and tossed it aside as if it were only a thorn. The wound closed immediately. "Nice girls don't throw knives." he said as he grabbed her. A thump on the head with the butt end of a naginata made Buffalo let go.
"Nice boys don't man-handle ladies!" Michelle said as she landed, weapon in hand.
"Michelle!" said Lucy. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving your butt! What's it look like?" Buffalo lunged at Michelle, who used her naginata to give herself the leverage to kick him in the face. Blaze came running at them.
"You were spying on me?" Lucy said incredulously as she punched Blaze square in the nose. "I can't believe you!" She kicked Blaze in the stomach. "Don't you think Pete and I deserve a little privacy?" She put Blaze in a judo roll.
"Well, excuse me for being concerned!" Michelle jabbed at Buffalo's throat and followed with a sweep kick.
"I'm old enough to take care of myself!" Lucy said as she parried Blaze's punch and drop kicked him. "Why the hell does everyone treat me like a baby?"
"Well, y'know," said Tom. "Maybe if you acted a bit more mature, you'd be treated like an adult."
"Who asked you?" Lucy said as she KO'ed Blaze.
"Yeah," said Michelle. "This is an A/B conversation." She leapt at him and delivered a flying kick. "So 'C' your way out of it!" Tom skidded across the roof and lay on his back mumbling something about birdies.
"What the hell is going on out there?" asked a voice from inside the entrance. "I think I found that thing Lamia wanted us to get...." Another lizard man stepped out onto the roof, holding an odd looking crystalline sphere. He saw what had become of his comrades and looked at Michelle and Lucy. "Aw, man, I thought Blaze and Tom were high when they told me about you two!"
"Whatever that thing is," said Michelle. "I suggest you hand it over right now!"
"Or what?"
"Or we'll kick your scrawny butt!" said Lucy.
The lizard man looked worried for a second, then grinned. "Catch!" he shouted, tossing it in the air.
Lucy jumped up and caught the crystal while Michelle ran after their enemy. To Michelle's surprise, he just climbed over the edge of the roof and started climbing down the wall. "You won't get away that easily!" she said, getting out her grappling hook. She rappelled down the side of the building in full pursuit. As soon as she got close enough, the lizard man bit down on her calf. Michelle yelled out in pain and tightened her grip on the rope. He bit down harder and pulled. Michelle's hands burned as she started to lose her grip on the rope. Lucy swung by, kicked the lizard in the head and grabbed her falling sister.
"He's getting away!" Michelle said as they landed.
"Forget him." said Lucy. "Let me see your leg." Lucy knelt down to examine the bite. Pete came up to them.
"What happened?" he asked."
"Long story." said Lucy. "Got anything we can use as a bandage? Michelle got bitten by one of those things." The bite marks on Michelle's calf seeped blood.
Pete tore a strip from the bottom of his t-shirt. "Got bitten by what things?"
Lucy dressed her sister's wound. "Know that gang that was after you? Somehow, they got mutated into lizards and were trying to steal some crystal thingy."
"Lucy," said Michelle. "Did you catch it?"
She smiled and took it from her pocket. "Just call me Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
"Somehow, I don't think that's an ordinary diamond." said Michelle. "We should take it to Uncle Donny and see if he can figure it out."
"Can you walk, Michelle?" Lucy asked.
Michelle took a few experimental steps. "Yeah, I think I'll be OK."
"Then you can take the crystal back to Uncle Donny and I'll take Pete home."
"You sure you'll be OK?"
"Michelle, I just saved your butt. Duh, I can take care of myself!"
"Fine!" Michelle took the crystal and sighed. "Um, thanks. For saving me."
"Well, thanks for helping me whip those other dudes."
Michelle smiled at her sister. "Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do." she turned away.
"Make sure Oji-Chan gets a look at your bite." Lucy called after her.

[Artemesia]

Lucy switched her inducer back on and continued walking Pete home. "So, Mac and his gang are now all lizard men, huh?" he said.
"Yeah. We fought Blaze and Tom on the night we met you. They have this humungous Godzilla looking dude they called Buffalo. I stuck him with one of my knives. He just pulled it out and the wound just healed up right there!"
"Buffalo's too dumb to feel pain. If he can heal up that quickly, he'd be unstoppable!"
"I think it might've been the one you call Mac that bit Michelle. I wonder what they wanted with that crystal? Mac mentioned someone called Lamia."
"Lamia, Lamia...." Pete rolled the name over in his mind. "Never heard of anyone by that name. The apartment's right here. Um...would you like to come up and meet my mom?"
"You wanna take me home to meet your mother?"
"Um, well, if-if you want to."
"I'd love to."
They entered the lobby and approached the elevator. "You and your sisters look out for each other, don't you?" Pete asked as he pressed the button.
"Yeah. Michelle and I had a bit of an argument. I didn't like how she was following us. I mean, she knows you're a good person who wouldn't try to hurt me."
"I never would." He smiled at her in a way that made Lucy feel like mush. "and if I tried to, you could beat me into a pulp."
"I'd never hurt you either, Pete." Ding. The elevator doors opened. They got in and Pete pressed the tenth floor button.
"Well, anyway," Lucy sighed. "I guess it was a good thing Michelle was there anyway. I couldn't've taken them all out on my own."
"Ultimately, you wound up saving her life." Pete pointed out. "Sometimes I wish I had sisters or brothers. We could all look out for each other."
"Having siblings isn't perfect." she reminded him. "Every morning, we practically get into a free for all just to see who gets to use the bathroom first." The doors opened and they stepped out. "And Rita always 'borrows' my stuff without asking. And Michelle thinks she's the boss of us."
"Yeah, but, it's good for the most part, right?"
"Well, don't tell them I said this, but I love them and wouldn't trade them for anything." "Here's the place." Pete opened the door. Lucy noticed the pungent smell of chicken cooking. The apartment was tasteful, but not too fancy. "Mom, I'm home!" he called. "I brought a friend."
A petite, middle-aged Chinese woman came out of the kitchen. "Pete, what happened to your shirt?" she asked.
"Uh, Lucy's sister needed a bandage. She, um, got bitten."
"They really need to do something about all those stray dogs." said Ms Wu. "Someday, some poor kid is going to get bitten and get rabies. Well, introduce me to your friend."
"Mom, this is Lucy. I've been staying with her family after the, um, accident. Lucy, my mom, Lynn Wu."
"How do you do, Ms Wu?" Lucy offered her hand. Ms Wu took it.
"Fine, thank you." she said. "How are you related to Dr. Hamato Yoshi?"
"Um, he's my grandfather."
"Your grandfather?" Ms Wu blinked. "Lucy, I hope you don't mind me asking, but, how is it that you can have a Japanese grandfather and still have blonde hair and blue eyes?"
"Oh, um, my dad was adopted."
"Oh. I see. Is your father the one named Leonardo?"
"No, that's my uncle. My dad's named Michelangelo."
"Well, would you like to stay for dinner, Lucy? I made noodles and sesame chicken. I always make too much."
"Love to. Thanks."
Ms Wu brought dinner to the table. "Would you like a fork, Lucy?" she asked. "Pete and I use chopsticks sometimes."
"Oh, that's OK. I'm pretty good at using chopsticks myself." Pete held out a chair for Lucy. She smiled and took it.
Ms Wu served up the chicken and noodles. "So, Lucy, tell me. What's your grandfather like?"
"Well, he likes sushi, meditation, Renaissance art and Akira Kurusawa films."
"No, no, you misunderstand. I mean, what's he like, as a person?"
"Oh! Well, he's rather quiet. Patient. Kind. Very loving. But he can be strict too. He always pushes me and my sisters to do our best."
"Oh, you have sisters?"
"Two. We're triplets."
"Really? Identical?"
"We do look a lot like each other."
"That must be interesting. So, what does your grandfather look like?"
Lucy nearly choked on her chicken. She cleared her throat and wiped her mouth. "Um...you want to know what he looks like?" she asked. Pete looked nervous.
"Well, looks aren't all that important, but I'm still curious."
"Oh, well, he's gray."
Ms Wu nodded. "I sort of guessed that he was on the mature side."
"And, um, he has whiskers."
"Full beard or just a mustache?"
"Uh, he usually has a lot of hair on his face. And, he's not very tall."
"Oh, that's alright." Ms Hu laughed. "Neither am I. Tell me more."
"Oh, uh...I always thought he had very nice eyes. They're dark and shiny. Very kind looking. He calls me Lucy-Ko sometimes. He calls my sisters Rita and Michelle 'Ko' sometimes too. We call him Oji-Chan."
"So, where are you from, Lucy?"
"Dim-uh-Des Moines." Lucy told the first flat out lie that night.
"Ah, corn country."
"Yep! Lots and lots of corn." Lucy said nervously.
"How long are you going to be in New York?"
"Um, my parents are taking me back tonight."
"Oh, that's too bad. I was hoping to get to know you and your family a little better. Got time for dessert? We have some rocky road ice cream."
"I think I could manage to stay a few more minutes."