The Greatest Game

[Katie]

Ok, time for me to come out of Hiatus. My Takeover pals are starting back with the writing…er, well, Stryker has been carrying the torch himself for awhile….*clears throat* anyway…um more Katie Stories…follows the Bounty story line. if you want it or not, here it comes:


A Random Teaser

Another barrage of arrows sang through the trees and thumped to their marks. It was cold and dark and the only thing anyone knew for sure was that there was a crazy maniac with a crossbow taking pot shots at them. A small army of…what appeared to be tourists…were also there. Donatello cautiously inched back up again and looked over at his brothers. They were randomly scattered around the old cabin trying to protect themselves from the attack. For the moment, it was quiet again.

“W-w-w-w-hhhhho-s-s-se b-b-right-t-t-t I-idea w-was this-s anyway?” Michelangelo chattered, a cloud of frozen breath rising from him as he spoke. Donatello looked worriedly on his shivering brother then turned back to face the direction of attack.

“Everyone ok?” Leonardo asked after a moment. “Don? Raph?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Greatest Game


Slowly, stroke by stroke, the cold black steel came to polished perfection. It was none too soon as the squeak of brakes outside the lodge heralded the arrival of the next batch of blue bloods willing to fork over a chunk of their inheritances in exchange for stories. Stories that would be inflated and manipulated until the teller was the hero who “barely escaped death” at the next pissing contest that came up. The hunter chuckled to himself at the though and quickly holstered his weapon and awaited his moneymakers.

They entered carrying bags and bags of unnecessary crap. God forbid we try and make it two weeks without our Gucci bags and silk underclothes, he thought, but smiled warmly and cordially as they filed into the decidedly masculine hunting lodge. There were about a dozen of them, old money guys that had inherited what they were living off of and wouldn’t know a hard day’s work if it bit them in the hind parts. And an extra bonus, two barely weaned teenager types brought along for their rite of passage…the next generation of Conservatives convinced that the world revolved around them.

One kid caught the particular interest of the hunter…barely fourteen...if that…and already complaining. This was going to be a terrific trip.

“Dad…you said we were going to the Beach House. That was the deal. You sent Mom and Tiffany to Paris to shop for the Vanderbarken’s New Year’s party and we were supposed to go to the Beach house in the Bahamas. But instead you brought me to the middle of nowhere to hunt…to hunt…what are we doing? Don’t we have people to do this kind of thing for us?” His whining and still breaking voice twinged the hunter’s ear.

“Man over beast, son, you need to learn your place in the world.” The father replied

“Whatever” The youth scoffed.

With Lightning speed, the wide eyed kid was snatched off his feet by a heavy, burnished steel claw of a hand.

“Show some respect..or you’ll end up like me.” The hunter growled to the trembling boy.

“Come now, Steele, no need to scare the boy.” The father sighed. “I paid you to make a man of him, not scare him to a useless mass.” The boy was lowered to the ground.

“My name is John Steele,” The Hunter announced in a loud and booming voice to the crowd. “and I’m going to be your guide…”

[Masked Ninja]

Augh, I prodded you on the other thread in vain! Fun snippets of writing, yes... both intriguing.

...Y'know, I wonder if I should make a sig for the return of the Takeover. :trazz:

[The Stryker]

MAKE IT NOW!!

oh! Hello Katie...Nice work!

[Ambush]

ummmmm....r u gonna write more any time soon? :roll: :| :evil:

[In The Clouds]

Woohoo! Katie writes again! :D You can bet I'll be watching this one!

[Katie]

Woohoo! Katie writes again! :D You can bet I'll be watching this one!

In the Clouds!!!! where have you been??? :D

I promise, I'm working on it...I want a good piece of work this time so it will not be a quick thing ;)

[In The Clouds]

In the Clouds!!!! where have you been??? :D

I promise, I'm working on it...I want a good piece of work this time so it will not be a quick thing ;)
I've been...around. Just reading everybody's fanfics and promising myself I'd review them eventually...and then I'd forget!

But hey, I'm so glad you're back! And don't worry about taking your time, we be just a bunch of impatient fans!

[Katie]

heheh gotta please my fans ;)

___________________________________


Thunk.

Michelangelo, who had just been wholly engrossed in one of his comics, jumped half out of his skin and turned around from the direction of the jab he had just received. Nothing. Not a single sound.

“Klunk? That you?” The orange masked turtle asked. From his perch on a ledge in the room the cat lazily opened his eyes and yawned then stretched at the sound of his name. Michelangelo shrugged to himself and settled back down on the floor of his room with his story.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….thunk.

This time a familiar snickering accompanied the assault. The orange masked turtle looked over his shoulder to see Donatello crouched outside his door, remote control in hand. Rammed squarely against his shell was Don’s favorite RC car.

“Do-on” Michelangelo groaned. Now Donatello was laughing without holding back. The purple masked turtle entered the room and collected the toy.

“We’re supposed to be packing.” Donatello reminded his brother. “Not reading comics.”

“How am I supposed to pick which ones to take without reading?” Michelangelo frowned quickly. “Think Master Splinter will let me sit this family vacation out?”

“I doubt it, Mikey.” Donatello said as he quickly looked over the story his brother had been reading. “and anyway, don’t you want a break from this crazy city for awhile?”

“Not if it means leaving all my stuff here…” Michelangelo grumbled. “I was just getting all caught up on my video games and stuff.”

“It’s just for two weeks, I think you’ll survive.” Donatello said with a sympathetic pat on the back. The purple masked brother took his car and left his brother to continue packing up for the trip.

“If you say so.” Michelangelo sighed and began jamming things in his bag again.

[In The Clouds]

Ah, a family vacation. The perfect opportunity for the turtles to just relax and have some fun...*snorts* Yeah right!

*bounces up and down like the impatient fan she is* Update soooooon!

[Katie]

my only excuse is that I've been VERY sick :cry: sorry it took so long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Come on…neither one of us like this and you know it.” Raphael prodded. He was leaned against a wall watching Leonardo pack for the trip

“Yeah…but for different reasons.” Leonardo answered, neatly stowing his gear.

“So what! I don’t wanna go ‘cause I can’t stand the thought of being out in the middle of nowhere…and you don’t wanna go ‘cause you’ve convinced yourself that the whole city falls apart when we aren’t around. Different reasons, same want.” Raphael concluded.

“It’s not that I think…” Leonardo started, but Raphael cut his blue masked brother off.

“Don’t try and make up some lame excuse. I know what’s in your head.” Raphael said smugly. “I’ve been around you long enough to know how you think. So what set you off this time?” Leonardo set his jaw.

“It doesn’t matter what we think. Master Splinter wants to go, so we’re going.” Leonardo reminded him.

“I just think we’re getting old enough to…I don’t know…make up our own mind on things like this.” Raphael protested. “And I don’t wanna go.” Leonardo shook his head and looked back at his red masked brother.

“And I am very sure that Master Splinter is set on ALL of us going on this trip.” Leonardo sighed. “Just drop it, Raph.”

“Very sure? You dog! You already tried to get out of this, didn’t you!” Raphael grinned slyly. “AND you got a lecture didn’t you!” Raphael always reveled in Leonardo being brought down a notch or two. Leonardo said nothing and finished his work.

“Yep! Leonardo got his butt chewed…” Raphael sang. “Wha’d you say to him? More visions? Ummmm .More kids hanging out in the Park at night?” Leonardo’s jaw tensed at his red masked brother’s taunting. “More scary criminals on the news?

“Raph…” Leonardo warned.

“What was it?” Raphael insisted. Leonardo shifted his eyes to the door and then looked back at Raphael.

“John Steele…” Leonardo said. Raphael fell silent.

[Masked Ninja]

Da da DUN...

Sorry for not saying anything the last time you updated. This is turning out pretty good! And Raph's got Leo pegged... doesn't seem that our turtle in blue likes to be predictable.

[In The Clouds]

"Very sure? You dog! You already tried to get out of this didn't you?"

Ahahahahaha! *shakes head* Leo, Leo, Leo...

[Katie]

I'm feeling inspired ;)

Thanks guys!!! :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“John Steele?!” Raphael asked quickly in an excited whisper. “He’s that whacked out hunter that Shredder hired, right?”

“Yep.” Leonardo answered solemnly.

“That guy who shot you!” Raphael said with a flood of memories. Leonardo shuddered a little. He remembered what had happened. That moment had haunted him in his dreams. “Didn’t they lock him away in some psych ward upstate?”

“Yep.” Leonardo sighed. Raphael frowned.

“And you guys call me the moody one. So….they let him out or something? Or is this another one of your little visions?” Raphael asked. “The way he was mumbling about seeing us I figured they’d never let him go.”

“They said on the news that he was released. He was ‘cured’ I guess.” Leonardo replied, not liking his red masked brother’s comment about being moody. “He always insisted he wasn’t crazy…doesn’t that sound to you like he’ll be coming for us?”

“So why wouldn’t you wanna get out of here? He knows where we are…” Raphael asked.

“That’s why Master Splinter wants to leave the city. Give this guy time to loose interest…” Leonardo said. “I’m thinking that if we leave…that just leaves this place vulnerable.”

“And WHY didn’t you share this info with the rest of us?” Raphael demanded.

“Master Splinter didn’t want to worry anyone.” Leonardo answered. Raphael shook his head and turned to leave. “Raph, what are you doing?”

“First I’m going to tell Mike and Donnie what’s REALLY going on. Then I’m going to talk to Master Splinter.” Raphael growled. The red masked turtle disappeared into the darkened lair to find his brothers. Leonardo watched him go.

“Raph…” The blue masked turtle sighed.

[In The Clouds]

That's right Raph, you tell Mike and Don what's REALLY going on...though, if Leo couldn't get anywhere with Splinter, somehow, I doubt you'll do much better.

Okay, I 've got several different ways of ending this message...this time I'll go with: Write More! :)

[Katie]

:P I wrote more, I wrote more! :P :lol:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHAM!

The door came to an abrupt and loud close. Michelangelo dove over his pile of comics, scattering them everywhere in process. Donatello fell off the chair where he had settled. As they both regathered themselves, they turned to see a ticked off Raphael standing in the doorway.

“Jeez, Raph.” Michelangelo frowned. “Got drama much?” Raphael’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed.

“Uh-oh,” Donatello said. “I know that look…” The red masked turtle shook his head. “You and Leo were having a discussion again, weren’t you.”

“That ain’t the half of it.” Raphael said. “Looks like we’ve been a little out of the loop lately.” Michelangelo and Donatello exchanged glances. “Leo doesn’t want to go…”

“And?” Donatello sighed. Raphael clenched his teeth. “I think I’m the only one who is looking forward to this.”

“Leo doesn’t want to go…and I don’t want to go…and you NEVER want to do anything…why are we going?” Michelangelo asked.

“Because Master Splinter wants to.” Donatello said with a knowing grin.

“Master Splinter’s been holding out on us.” Raphael frowned. “Leo heard on the news that that whack bag hunter John Steele got out of the crazy house this week. THAT’S why Splinter is so hot on leaving the city all of the sudden.”

“John Steele?” Donatello asked. “….that guy knows where we are…”

“Yeah.” Raphael said. “and Leo wants to sit here and wait for him to come to us. We can take care of him once and for all!” The red masked turtle pounded his fist for emphasis.

“Is that what Leo said?” Michelangelo asked. Getting the heck out of Dodge was suddenly looking pretty appealing to the orange masked turtle. “Cause if Master Splinter thinks…”

“Come on! No one messes with us and gets away with it!” Raphael persisted. “If we all go to Splinter and want to stay, he’ll have to let us stay…”

“I don’t think so, Raph.” Donatello said skeptically.

“We out number him!” Raphael insisted. “Majority rules, right?” Donatello looked up abruptly and Michelangelo’s gaze shifted.

“This family is not a Democracy, Raphael.” Splinter said.

[Katie]

Raphael hung his head in despair and turned around to face the rat. Leonardo was behind their mentor with a concerned look on his face. Raphael was making a federal case out of something that was past discussion.

“We get no say?” Raphael grumbled. “We’re not gonna stay and defend ourselves?”

“Sometimes the wisest course of action is to avoid conflict.” Splinter said sagely. “If we can avoid confrontation, I think it best that we do just that.”

“It makes sense, Raph.” Donatello said with a nod. “After last time, I’m not sure I wanna cross that guy again. The red masked turtle shook his head in disbelief.

“So we leave him to come into our house?” Raphael frowned. “Man, what’s with you guys?”

“Better for him to come and the place looks abandoned than for him to come and find us here.” Donatello said. “At least then he might leave us alone.”

“But…How do we know this guy will even come after us?” Michelangelo asked suddenly. “Maybe he just wants to get on with his life.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it. Our track record with these wackos is that they ALWAYS come back.” Raphael said. “I say put him out of commission once and for all.” Raphael punctuated his thought with a fist against the bricks sending a dull thud resonating through the room. “Leo, say something!”

“We should go.” The blue masked turtle said solemnly. Raphael shook his head. Would Leonardo EVER think for himself?

“That’s great, Leo. Two minutes ago you were agreeing with me that we should stay….but when push comes to shove, you bow to everyone else.” Raphael growled.

“You didn’t want to go ‘cause you thought the trip would be boring.” Leonardo reminded his red masked brother.

“Whatever. I got new information and compared to what’s gonna happen around here, it will be. I’ll go, but you guys are going to come back and wish you had listened to me.” Raphael sighed. Leonardo set his jaw and nobody else moved. Raphael looked each one of them in the eye before leaving again.

Splinter shook his head. Raphael was always the catalyst in a chain of events that would lead to chaos.

“Anyone else think Raph would make a great lawyer if things were different?” Michelangelo finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

[Katie]

The trip upstate had been more grueling than usual this time. Steele stared listlessly out the windows at the misty, post rain, sylvanian landscape. It was almost as if he had lost his passion. He used to love the hunt…the chase, the unpredictability…now he was reduced to chasing a few mangy deer penned in the pasture of a hunting camp. There was no thrill…no outsmarting some great animal in a one on one race for survival.

He longed for the days past, outsmarting authorities…one on one with the toughest and rarest of all animals. Wiley carnivores, snow leopards, polar bears, grizzlies…fierce giants like the Sumatran rhino, the raging bull elephants in Kenya and the Siberian Tiger…they were all shadows of days past. Days before he answered that ad placed by Oroku Saki. Days before…before the most thrilling chase of his life.

Steele sighed and turned away from the window and tried to drown out the excited ramblings of his latest group of novice killers. Two weeks from now they would head back down the mountains, Satisfied to have shot the six whitetails and three elk that had been provided for them. Steele snorted. Canned hunts…what was the fun in that? He wondered what these guys would do if faced with a real hunt.

Again his mind drifted back to the tunnels beneath Manhattan. There waited the perfect prey. Human enough to provide the unpredictable adapting that gave for a great chase…and still not human so the useless feelings of guilt at killing another sentient soul could be avoided.

His hand slid to the rigid and cold metal claw where a hand used to be. There was a score to be settled. Maybe the perfect way out of his rut was to get through this nightmarish cycle he was in and reclaim some honor in his hunt.

The bus pulled to a stop outside the hunting camp. Steele said nothing as he stared out over the landscape with a haunted look in his eyes. His charges noisily unpacked their gear around him and tromped into the main lodge to gather themselves and begin dinner preparations. Steele didn’t budge.

From the corner of his eye he caught sight of a golden eagle gently gliding along the wind currents searching for her prey. She looked back and forth across the field until she found her mark and swooped in for the kill.

“good work, sister.” Steele said under his breath. “Give me two weeks of hell and I’ll be free to hunt again too.”

[Katie]

Leonardo stared listlessly out the window as the family traveled the winding back roads up into the mountains. It had rained last night and a heavy shroud of mist was clinging to the valleys and culverts among the gray winter mountains.

Last night had been exhausting. Raphael went round and round with the tenacity of a chihuahua cornered by a rottweiler. He wasn’t going to back down, but arguing was futile in the end. Splinter had put his foot down and Raphael had withdrawn in steamy silence. Now the red masked turtle was dozing in his seat, having said no more about the revelations of John Steele.

“Leo…you ok?” Donatello asked. The purple masked turtle had been staring at his blue masked brother for the better part of fifteen minutes. Leo had that look…the one like the weight of the world was squarely on his shoulders.

“Yeah…..just doing some thinking.” Leonardo replied.

“you look like you lost your best friend...” April observed from the front seat. She and Casey had been invited along, if only to provide less of a distraction to any motorists that happened to be around. Casey looked momentarily back through the rear-view mirror and shook his head.

“It’s a vacation, Leo.” Casey frowned. “Lighten up.”

“I know…I just can’t help but wonder…you know…” Leonardo sighed.

“Worrying about such matters does little but cloud the mind.” Splinter said. “I am sure you remember our talks on self fulfilling prophecy.”

“Yes, Master Splinter.” Leonardo sighed.

“Do not go looking for trouble…and trouble will not find you.” Splinter said. Leonardo sighed and returned his gaze to the passing scenery.

Michelangelo, who had been engrossed in his music, eyes closed, suddenly turned to the windows and sat upright. They passed by a complex of buildings with a big bonfire and a group of people out to the side.

“Wow! Check out that party!” Michelangelo grinned. “We’ll have to slip down later and see what’s going on”

“There’s a whole bus load of people…” Donatello said, turning back to his brother as the lodge faded in the distance. “Probably not the smartest thing for us to be sneaking down to see them…”

“What harm could it do?” Michelangelo grinned.

[Masked Ninja]

Famous last words, Mikey. :trazz:

Sorry for not commenting... I always manage to miss this thread for some odd reason. It's coming along great, and you have the guys' personalities down well. I feel bad for Raph, but I don't see how hanging around would be a wise decision when you could have a crazed hunter on your tail. Write on, write on!

[Katie]

that's ok, MN...I can tell people are reading ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelangelo paused momentarily in his task and checked over each shoulder. With a broad grin he returned to the work at hand.

Everyone else was busy getting settled in at the vacation cabin April had found for them to rent. They were busy calling beds and arguing about what dinner would be. Michelangelo laughed to himself. He didn’t care about any of that. His mind was tunnel vision focused on that party he had seen. It was definitely more fun than hanging around with the Worry Twins and Don…and the cabin didn’t have TV…what else was he supposed to do?

“What do you think you’re doing?” Donatello asked, having come up silently behind his orange masked brother. Michelangelo quickly tried to hide his work, but it was obvious to Donatello what he was doing.

“Oh…you know…nothing..” Michelangelo said with a broad grin.

“Nothing? Looks like marshmallows and chocolate to me…” Don said shrewdly. Michelangelo grinned uncertainly. “Maybe you were still thinking about going down to that party?”

“No…I..” Michelangelo fumbled. Donatello rolled his eyes.

“Please don’t tell me you were gonna just walk up and offer s’mores and they weren’t gonna run screaming.” Donatello said shaking his head.

“Why not?” Michelangelo said defensively. “It might work.”

“You’re gonna get in trouble.” Donatello sighed.

“Then come with me!” Michelangelo said hopefully. “Betcha find a girllllllllll…” Donatello blushed a little and got a goofy grin on his face.

“Mikey…” Donatello sighed. “I’ll go with you…but I don’t think it’s a good idea….I just don’t want you to get in trouble without someone there to save you when things go bad.”

“I won’t need saving…you’ll see…” Michelangelo grinned.

[Garou]

Hehe, I've been reading along since the beginning, and I haven't written one lousy reply *slaps self* Bad Garou :P Anyway, it's really a good story. I can't wait to read the next installment - and see what trouble Mikey gets him and Don into...

[Katie]

oooh...heheh people I didn't even know read my stuff :D Thanks, Garou :)

now, I had a special PM request to "advertise" my other stories that are predecesors to this one:

The Bounty (http://www.thetechnodrome.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12751)
The Tunnel Rats (http://www.thetechnodrome.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13632&page=1&pp=20)
Doublecrossed (http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=13957)


enjoy :)

[Jo Dawn]

Aye, good work, Katie. I'll be reading more. :) I'm interested, and it's written well.

Keep up the great work.

[Katie]

Raphael stood looking out the window into the ever growing darkness. It was cold. It was wet. It looked like it was going to snow. Even still Michelangelo and Donatello had gone out there unbeknownst to all but him. The only brotherly thing to do was spoil their fun…and It WOULD be better than hanging around here all night. If anything else he would have fun harassing them on the way.

“Raphael, have you seen Michelangelo and Donatello?” Splinter asked coming up behind his red masked son. Raphael turned around.

“Nope.” He answered, “Not lately.”

“You are troubled?” Splinter asked.

“Wondering why we’re out here….I don’t like running” Raphael sighed. Splinter shook his head. “I feel like the walls are closing in on me.”

“Perhaps you could find some fire wood for us. Then you could get some fresh air.” Splinter offered. Raphael turned back to the window and grinned to himself. Prefect.

“Yeah…I could do that.” Raphael replied

“Be careful…I do not want any trouble.” Splinter warned forebodingly.

“I’ll be fine.” Raphael groaned with a roll of his eyes. “There’s nothing out there but trees anyway. Alright?” Splinter nodded. Raphael turned and quickly slipped on a handy coat and hat, then disappeared out into the darkness.

“Where’s he going?” Casey asked as Raphael left. Splinter turned to him and grinned shrewdly.

“He is going wherever Donatello and Michelangelo have gone.” Splinter said.

The old rat turned back to the window and stared out at the dark night again.

[In The Clouds]

Bwahahahaha!
Splinter knows all!

Can't wait to see what kind of trouble the boys get themselves into...

[Katie]

:D :D :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Get down, Mikey!” Donatello scolded. The orange masked turtle had led his brother waaaay too close to the party and probably would be easy to see in the warm glow of the fire. Michelangelo rolled his eyes and sank down in the brush a little further.

“I wonder what these guys are doing way out here in the middle of nowhere…” Michelangelo whispered. Donatello shrugged.

“As long as they aren’t some strange turtle hunting cult….” Donatello started

“or psychotic ninja clan…” Michelangelo grinned. Donatello stifled his laughter.

“or riled up street gang…or crazed vigilantes…” Donatello continued. Michelangelo clamped his hand over his mouth to try and contain his laughter.

“We should write a comic about all the stuff we have to go through. I bet we could make millions!” Michelangelo said.

“yeah riiiiiight…..who’d wanna read some comic about us?” Donatello said with a roll of his eyes. “we don’t even have super powers…” Some rustling in the bushes to the side of them froze the two brothers. Michelangelo turned to his purple masked brother and shrugged. He didn’t know what it was.

There was more rustling, this time on both sides of them. The two turtles inched closer to one another and turned back to back. Michelangelo looked around nervously at the bonfire people, but they seemed oblivious to what was going on.

Suddenly there was even more movement, this time seemingly surrounding the two brothers. Donatello felt the flush of adrenaline take over his body. How was he supposed to fight something he had yet to see?

“Don…what’s going on?” Michelangelo asked in an uncertain voice. The purple masked turtle glared at his brother and motioned for him to be quiet.

“Did you two think I was going to let you sneak out here all by yourselves?”

Donatello and Michelangelo sighed deep in relief and looked up. Raphael tossed another handful of pebbles down into the dead leaves that surrounded his brothers and slipped down from his tree limb perch.

“Raph…I’m gonna…” Donatello frowned

“what?” Raphael asked. “You think I wanna stay cooped up in that cabin…no way. So what’s going on here?”

“We were TRYING to figure that out.” Michelangelo said turning back to the fire and its revelers. Suddenly his eyes locked on one figure, alone and away from the others. “oh no!”

“What?” Donatello frowned. Raphael and Donatello followed their brother’s gaze. “Is that…”

“John Steele.” Raphael said narrowing his eyes. “I’m gonna get my fight yet.”

[Garou]

Uuuuuuuh. Can't wait for the next chapter :P

[Katie]

Raphael sneaked away from the shadow for a closer look and a listen. Donatello and Michelangelo exchanged glances and groans as they followed after their brother.

“Raph, we have to get out of here. We have to tell the others that he’s up here.” Donatello reasoned.

“Not before I get one shot at that guy.” Raphael whispered, slinking forward another few inches.

“You’re crazy! You’re going to get us killed!” Donatello frowned

“..uh, guys…” Michelangelo frowned dryly.

“Shut up, Don….if it was up to you, you’d let him come althe way to the cabin and take everyone out before you decided to do anything.” Raphael hissed.

“Guys…I’d keep it down…” Michelangelo warned again. Steele was beginning to take notice of the small commotion.

“If everything was up to you, we wouldn’t have lived this long…” Donatello frowned.

“Don….Raph…” Michelangelo whispered hoarsely as he began to inch back a little bit. The two were now focused on each other.


BANG!!!!!!!!!!!

The sound of a shotgun blast silenced all arguing and halted all the revelry around the campfire. Steele peered into the bushes trying to see what his mark had been.

[Katie]

The once boisterous group around the campfire fell silent as the enigmatic hunter made his way into the scrubby overgrown bushes along the property’s edge.

“Steele! What are you doing?” One man demanded. “You could have shot one of the kids.”

“It was just bird shot.” The hunter replied calmly. “Wouldn’t have killed anything much bigger than a dove….” He poked and kicked at the brush. There was blood…he knew he had hit something. “Wouldn’t want your kids being carried off by a coyote or anything…”

“I’d still feel better if you put that thing away for tonight.” The man persisted.

“harrumph.” Steele snorted. “I thought you rich white guys all liked the idea of being able to carry guns whenever you wanted to.” He glanced in the bushes one more time and turned reluctantly to rejoin his group.

“What do you think it was?” another asked as the hunter sat down solemnly.

“something bigger than a dove.” Steele replied in a low gravelly growl.


*********


“Ya see! Ya see how dangerous it was?” Donatello scolded the red masked turtle. Raphael narrowed his eyes. “You’re always getting us into trouble lately…” Michelangelo rolled his eyes and groaned.

“The way I see it, if you hadn’t felt the need to correct me…and come after me…they would have never known I was coming. Seems a lot of the trouble I get into is because one of you mooks thinks it’s your responsibility to come after me. Then you guys cause some kind of argument..get in my face…mess things up. You’re getting as bad as Leo, Don.” Raphael snarled as they dodged through a quick running and icy creek.

“Well I have the scars to prove you don’t make the best judgements.” Donatello returned. “and I guess I’m going to have some more…”

“It’s just a flesh wound, ya baby.” Raphael sighed grimly.

“He would have never even shot at us if you had let it go.” Donatello said.

“Damn! Leave me alone already, Don! Jeez!” Raphael snapped. “Least Mikey has sense enough to keep quiet.”

“I was getting a kick out of Don snapping.” Mikey grinned. “He’s right though. Things could have been worse. Now if you bot had paid attention to me….”

“Stow it, Mikey.” Raphael growled. “You both think I cause so much trouble? Fine. We won’t tell Leo and Splinter and the others he’s up here. You want me to keep out of it? Fine. I’m out.” With that Raphael cut away from his brothers and disappeared into the nigh time shadows to go work off his frustrations. It seemed to him that no one understood that this was a big deal. Whatever.

“Harsh.” Michelangelo frowned. “I haven’t seen you break in a long time, Don.”

“well, we can see what being caught across the chest with hot lead does for your personality.” Donatello frowned. “And we’re going to have some explaining to do when we get back.”

[Masked Ninja]

That is interesting indeed... a Don/Raph fight. And Mikey was the only one who was paying attention to reality! A fun little irony.

Unfortunate that John Steele is so dang perceptive. The plot thickens.

[Katie]

The next day, John Steele was up and put of the lodge before any of his charges were even awake. Something about the incident last night had him on edge.

He went back to the edge of the fire site. Steele knelt and examined the brush and ground trying to ease his mind. He knew that whatever he shot at was big. Too big to be any animal in its right mind that close to a fire.

There was a lot of damage to the twigs and limbs of the little evergreens and brambles in the scrub. Evidence of scuffling on the ground….and the tiniest bit of blood. Steele couldn’t tell if the blood was from a hit or from a wound caused by scuffling against the brush.

The man crept further into the forest. There were bits of red and purple cloth, torn from its source, snagged on some of the branches. There was an odd imprint in the mud, almost like something or someone had fallen in a hasty retreat. Steele ran his hand over the ridges and patterns impressed in the soft ground. Something seemed familiar about these patterns.

He carefully made his way a little further back, It was easy enough to see which direction the thing had taken off in, the damage to the bushes and trees left an unmistakable trail. The man glance carefully up at the trees and around him with a growing uneasiness. This was no bear…no wolf or coyote. The trail was too sloppy.

“John? Are you out here?” One of the men had discovered his absence. Steele sighed to himself and took one last look around. Out of the corner of his eye, The hunter spotted something that made his blood run cold. There, in the soft mud, was one perfect print of a two toed foot. A two toed foot that was all too familiar.

“There’s no way…” Steele whispered to himself.

“Steele?” The man called again. Quickly, Steele marked the print and made the decision to come back out later and check again. Steele exited the brush and joined the man.

“just checking things from last night.” Steele muttered, trying to contain the shock he was feeling.

“You got your shot….whatever it was is probably long gone from here.” The man said cheerily. “Come on, the chef has breakfast ready.”

Reluctantly, Steele followed.

[Garou]

This is getting quite exciting. Please post again soon!

[Katie]

“I’m telling you, Leo, I know what we saw.”

The blue masked turtle had his arms folded in contemplation while Raphael tried to sell him on making another trip down to the lodge. Raphael had been gone almost all night only to return to the cabin in the pre-dawn hours with quite a story to tell.

“It was him…”

“Are you sure you didn’t want to see him so bad that your mind…kind of…made you see him?” Leonardo asked.

“No!” Raphael growled. “I know what I saw. Don and Mikey saw him too. For cripes sake, he shot at us and Don caught the pellets…what do you think happened to him?”

“Mike and Don haven’t said a word about Steele.” Leonardo sighed. “And Don didn’t seem to have any wounds. Raph, I really think your mind is playing tricks on you.” Raphael frowned at the thought of Don and Mikey actually taking his sarcastic suggestion to heart on the way home and deciding to keep this between them. They probably thought that if they ignored the problem it would go away. Raphael was just being proactive. Get the hunter before the hunter got them.

“It’s not, Leo, I swear!” Raphael argued. “Come on…Look at this…” Raphael displayed what looked to Leonardo to be scrapes from wandering through the bushes. “You know we can end this. You and me…no one else even cares about this.”

“I don’t think they don’t care…but come on, Raph. What are the odds of this guy being in the same place as we are, at the same place…I mean really.”

“Just come with me. Look. That’s all I’m asking.” Raphael frowned. “If I’m wrong, I’ll shut up about it. I swear.”

It was a tempting offer. Leonardo wondered how long that would last before another shadow ended up looking like Steele to his obsessed brother.

“Ok, Raph. I’ll go take a look with you. But remember. You promised to shut up about things afterwards.

Raphael grinned shrewdly.

[Katie]

Raphael stared at the empty field and seemingly abandoned lodges. Leonardo kicked at a clump of grasses growing on the ground near by and sighed out a puff of frozen breath.

“There…They were here…I swear…” Raphael fumbled. “We all couldn’t have been seeing things…on the drive. Remember we drove by this place and there were all those people…”

“It just looked like a bunch of people having a bonfire.” Leonardo said. “They probably packed up and left last night.”

“But I…WE saw Steele last night. Donnie and mike and I we saw him.” The red masked turtle scanned everything quickly trying to make sense.

“Maybe the fire was playing tricks on your eyes…you know, like I said. Maybe you just wanted to see him so badly…wanted to have a shot at him or something…”

“Shot…he shot at us…there has to be casings or something left!” Raphael said dropping to his knees in the brush where he had been concealed the night before.

Leonardo shook his head and moves the leaf litter around with his foot. It seemed a pointless exercise delving deeper and deeper into Raphael’s maddening psyche. This time, the blue masked turtle thought, Raphael has slipped off the deep end.

=============================================


Michelangelo and Donatello came down for breakfast that morning only to find their brothers missing. They had gone over to the lodge to settle Raphael's mind, Splinter explained.

The two brothers exchanged glances.

[Katie]

“we should say something.” Michelangelo frowned. He and Donatello had been silent through the meal.

“If we do, then we’re going to end up in a fight. We came out here to stay away from trouble.” Donatello sighed. He and Michelangelo had been charged with cleaning up the dishes and the purple masked turtle passed his brother another wet plate to dry. Michelangelo groaned in protest.

“But we know…”

“Steele didn’t see us. He shot at noise, not us. He has no idea we’re out here. Let’s keep it that way.” Donatello said.

“But Raph knows…” Michelangelo insisted.

“And?”

“Do you want to face that wrath?” Michelangelo asked.

“Raph’s just going to get us in more trouble. Let him think he’s loosing his mind.” Donatello said, again passing his orange masked brother a plate for drying. “Maybe he’ll learn to think before he goes jumping into the fire.”

“This is all to teach Raph a lesson?” Michelangelo sighed.

“Is that a problem?” Donatello asked. The orange masked turtle thought for a moment and began to see the fun that could be had making Raphael believe he was loosing his mind.

“Nope….” Michelangelo grinned.

[discordiatookie]

“We should write a comic about all the stuff we have to go through. I bet we could make millions!” Michelangelo said.

“yeah riiiiiight…..who’d wanna read some comic about us?” Donatello said with a roll of his eyes. “we don’t even have super powers…”



gold. solid gold.

i just discovered this here thread and am very much enjoying it! keep up the good work katie! now i'm gonna have to go and read your other stories, cheers for the 'advertisement'! perhaps you should put them there links in your sig? sheer fanwork wonderment!

[Garou]

Poor Raph... ANyway, the story is getting better for each chapter, Katie. I can't wait to read more... :thyper:

[Katie]

“ I am not loosing my mind!” Raphael snapped. The red masked turtle had been persuaded, albeit reluctantly, to head back for the cabin. The blue masked turtle rolled his eyes skyward and silently asked for a little more patience. All the training in the world could not keep Raphael from bringing him to his melting point sometimes.

“I knew you couldn’t let things go.” Leonardo sighed. “You never do. You obsess and obsess and it takes over your mind and slowly…what little sanity you have left is drained away.”

“I know what I saw, Leo.” Raphael growled. “Steele’s here. I can’t WAIT to say I told you so.” There was nothing Raphael loved more than seeing his brother brought down a few notches. High and mighty Leo. He wasn’t always right. This time the passionate red masked turtle KNEW he was right and Leo was wrong. How could Leonardo, who professed time and again to want the family to remain intact, act like there was no threat?

Leonardo shook his head and looked at the pacific surroundings of the mountains. He had that nagging little voice in the back of his head screaming…in Raphael’s voice…that things didn’t add up. If Steele really was out here…he would have to be dealt with.

“…LEO!” Raphael was festering for his brother’s attention with the persistence of a five year old whose had discovered a new toy. “ahhhhhhh! Forget you. The only one’s who can prove what I saw are Don and Mikey. Those two got some things to explain.”

“…you said…no more chasing ghosts out here….” Leonardo reminded him again. “isn’t it possible that YOU were WRONG?”

“maybe you just can’t admit you aren’t always right.”

“It’s not about whose right or wrong. When are ya gonna figure that out?”

“Can you afford to brush me off?” Raphael said pleadingly. "huh?" Leonardo remained silent.

[Garou]

Ehm.... is this dead? I really wanted to see what happened :cry:

[The Stryker]

I think it is, She's going through some hard times right now and the last thing on her mind is this.

It might come back, but for the time being...Yeah it's dead.

[Masked Ninja]

Thanks for bumping it, though... somehow I missed it again. I must keep forgetting the thread title... *facedesk*

Well, Katie... it's still looking great. Love the angle of Leo thinking Raph has completely snapped - and the line "I can't WAIT to say I told you so" was great... I can just hear Raph saying something like that.

Whenever you feel you're ready to take this up again, I'll be eager to hear it.

[Mr. Stay Puft]

Whenever you feel you're ready to take this up again, I'll be eager to hear it.

Same here.

[Katie]

Ok......Time to try and write this thing again. I've been thinking alot about it and...well...let's get it going again. :D Sorry for bailing before, but, you know.

*************************


"Oh, hey Leo...." Michelangelo grinned uncertianly casting a look to Donatello. Leonardo had a bit of a worried and all together puzzled look on his face. "something...wrong?"

Donatello rubbed the scabbed over wounds on his shoulder and chest. Leonardo was after answers. If they told him what they saw....

"so, you and Raph went out this morning. I guess he's trying to find evidence to support that crack theory of his." Donatello said. "any luck in the 'Great Ghost Hunt'?" Leonardo sighed and sat down in a chair accross from his two brothers.

"I dunno what to make of this." Leonardo groaned. "THIS is not like Raphael. He's a hot head...He's looking for a fight...but he's not delusional."

"Yeah." Michelangelo frowned with a guilty downturn of his eyes. "What'd he say?"

"He INSISTS that you guys saw Steele too." Leonardo continued. "He's....I hate to say it...but he's kinda scaring me. Please.... PLEASE tell me you saw SOMETHING. ANYTHING."

"We..." Michelangelo started. Donatello quickly interrupted him.

"We didn't see anything. Just some kids at a bonfire." Donatello said casting a look at the orange masked turtle. Michelangelo looked down again. "You're right, Raph's just looking for a fight. He just saw what he wanted to."

Leonardo looked both his brothers in the eye and sighed again. What was going on with Raphael?

[Katie]

Michelangelo sat in silence for awhile. Leonardo had been gone for awhile since his little "talk" with them and the orange masked turtle's silence was a bit unnerving for Donatello. Michelangelo could barely sit still for two seconds let alone sit in silence. The purple masked turtle couldn't stand the silence.

"Mikey..."

"Why? Really...I mean....Leo was totally worried. Can't we just cut Raph a break? He's tense enough as he is...you really wanna push him over the edge by making him think he's crazy?"

"You and I both agreed..." Donatello frowned.

"It was funny last night....today, not so much." Michelangelo sighed. "I was thinking last night..."

Donatello groaned. "Mikey...."

"I was thinking, " Michelangelo continued unphased "That we probably should be worried that Steele's out here. Y'know...after last time."

"If we tell Leo that we DID see him....Raph's going to drag us into a fight...Steele dosen't even know we're here. the best hiding spot is sometimes right under your enemy's nose." Donatello reminded his brother.

"It made better sense last night when this was funny." Michelangelo frowned.

"When what was funny?" Raphael asked. he appeared in the room after giving up on his fevered attempts to prove himself after Leonardo left him. Donatello and Michelangelo exchanged the same pained look that had met with Leonardo's entrance. "WHAT?"

"nothing." Donatello muttered. Michelangelo lowered his head and then looked up at Raphael again. Raphael narrowed his eyes.

"Feeling guilty, Mikey?" Raphael sneered. "Something you wanna tell me...MIKEY?" The red masked turtle continued.

"chill out, Raph." Donatello frowned.

"You two think you're real funny....making like I'm crazy." Raphael growled.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Donatello replied cooly.

"Yeah, I get it. I think you wanged your head last night. You forgot the pecking order here. That's ok...I got it. Level headed Donatello has a little bit of the dark side in him. Maybe you are my brother after all." The red masked turtle snorted. "We'll see wo's laughing when I bring Steele in." Raphael huffed. "Enjoy your game, genius."

[In The Clouds]

Ahh, I love reading the tension between Don and Raph. Nice!

[SassyGal]

:D Okay, totally addicted. Love your style and the story has grabbed me by the throat & I can't wait for more!

[Katie]

Steele felt like the world was going in slow motion. Slowly, through the course of the trip he was falling more and more into his thoughts on those big green karate whoszits he fought a couple years ago. He had just about succeeded in convincing himself that he'd never have to deal with that nightmare or that crazy Oroku Saki again. Only....there where his hand used to be was the reminder that one of those things had sliced his hand off.

"Steele, this is fine country....fine indeed. Where do you think the game is hiding in this place of yours." One of his patrons asked, interrupting his train of thought.

"hum...oh. There here. Probably hugging the fence line. they know what's going on." Steele muttered. Reduced to these canned hunts with spoiled rich city folks. Every time he thought about it it made him sick. He wanted a challenge.

"on the fence line you say?" the man repeated. Idiot, Steele thought, That's what I said...on the fence line. You wanted to make your snot nosed kid into a man by letting him kill something...He'd be more of a man if that stupid deer had a fighting chance.

"Yeah...just head on up and follow the line. They're up there. They can't get out." Steele said with slightly gritted teeth. "Bunch of does fat on corn."

at least with any luck those morons would kill something today and get the hell out.

"You must really enjoy this big game hunt you have going on here....." the man commented as his son joind the group.

"Those farm raised deer are hardly 'big game' " Steele said in his husky voice. He momentarily scanned the ridge of the mountian. The fog was burning off and the air was warming. A frantic report of shotgun fire filled the air. "Looks like part of your little field trip group found the deer. You better get up there or all you're going to have left to shoot at is hamburger."

"I don't wan to shoot the stupid deer. I want to go on a real hunt." The kid said in a whiny voice. "I wanna kill something for real, like Mr. Steele." The father seemed to beam with pride...Steele twinged a little. "Dad make him take up on a REAL hunting trip." Son of a....Steele thought, he would never shed these pampered city folks.

"Ok steele...I have another five hundred if you'll let us kill something 'real'" The man said. Steele's mouth went dry. As much as he hated tagging along with people who had no clue....he loved money. And five hundred thousand was alot of money. and this guy WAS talking thousands.

"Whatever you want boss. I think there's some game up here that might make it worth your time." Steele replied.

[MadPirateBunny]

epp! I just saw this and started to read. It's obvious to me I need to go back and start from the beginning but I'm too excited to focus this morning. hehe. *hug* I wanna know how dude lost his hand!

[Swany]

Whoo, awsome that your posting here again.

I do love your writing.

[Masked Ninja]

Ack, not looking good for the boys. I can only imagine how Leo will react when Raph gets proved right, especially since Don of all turtles was lying to his face. Some interesting repercussions in store...

[Garou]

Love it Katie. I'm so glad you decided on continuing.

And Bunny, there's a pre-story to this one... somewhere I think, that Katie wrote a while back. And it's definitely worth one's time :D

[Katie]

hehe thanks everybody :D

******************************************

Steele watched the bus load of happy hunters drive off. They had managed to shoot five of the does on the property and that was good enough for them. With any luck he'd be done with crap like this real soon.

"So Steele, What do you have lined up for us in the way of a hunt?" the father asked.

"Something real different. Something smart...and downright human." Steele said, his eyes drifting to the cold metal claw where his hand used to be.

"HAHA Hunting bigfoot are we?" the dad sad witha good natured jab to the hunter's ribs. steele wasn't laughing. "That will give my boy a laugh. Seriously though, what kind of big game is up here?"

"Something you've never seen before." Steele said. He scuffled along the ground over to where the bonfire had been. The man wasn't far behind.

"Does this have anything to do with your shooting into the bushes before?" The man asked slowly coming to speed. "Is that what we are hunting?"

Steele didn't say a word but brushed his hand along the ground. He knew the tracks were still here...and likely there were more. Bingo. He lightly brushed his hand over the indention in the ground. Two toes...reptilian skin impression....big as a man's and bipedal.

"There." Steele grunted. "There's our game. These tracks will lead us right to him." the man stared at the odd two toed tracks.

"What is is?...a bear?" The dumbfounded man asked. Looked pretty human to him.

"a turtle." Steel answered.

[Swany]

Score. I love youre writing I've read the ones before this. Loving this though.

It'll be cool to see how others react to the turtles.

[Katie]

"....a turtle?" The dumbfounded man asked. "You want us to hunt a turtle...?"

"Four probably." Steele answered without missing a beat. The man frowned. He didn't know mutch about big game, but a turtle, let alone four, didn't seem like much of a challenge.

"Now, look here, Steele, I payed you alot of money to show my boy some real game...."

"You'll get your money's worth." Steele said through clenched teeth. "In fact, I'll be surprised if we all make it out alive."

The man stepped back in bewilderment. Turtles...were that lethal?


===================================



Splinter looked out the window of the old farm house in silent contemplation. Raphael was practicing out by the barn. Nice to see the effort, the old rat thought, but not very much like his passionate red masked son.

"He's been at it for hours" Leonardo said, noticing his mentor's gaze. "If he wasn't acting so strange, I'd be kinda happy at his attitude towards training suddenly."

"Indeed." Splinter pondered. "He is still speaking of Steele, I gather?"

"Yes, sensei." Leonardo answered.

"And what of your talk with Donatello and Michelangelo?" Teh sage rat then asked.

"I don't know, sensei. Donatello insists that nothing happened....but Mikey seemed really nervous."

"Do you suppose that something more is going on?" Splinter asked.

"I'm sure of it...but I don't know who to trust." Leonardo answered. "Don's so....reliable and Raph's so...so...Raph. Sometimes he blows the smallest things out of proportion."

"The key, then, lies with Michelangelo." Splinter said. "Perhaps he knows more than he speaks."

"Maybe." Leonardo frowned.

Splinter returned his gaze to Raphael, who had sunk to his knees in shere exhaustion.

[Swany]

I saw that youd updated this earlier today and only remembered now.

This is a great wee bit. If my neck didnt hurt to much I'd be on the edge of my seat.

[Masked Ninja]

Very insightful of Splinter. Best course of action is to get Mikey alone without Don or Raph to pressure him... then he'll most likely be honest. And man, are that guy and his son in for one heck of a hunt. :trazz: