7041/Shadow Ninja Turtles

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Shadow Ninja Turtles
Date of Scene: 25 March 2019
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Synopsis: Leonardo and Michelangelo pull sentry duty topside, where they encounter a small amount of trouble.
Cast of Characters: Leonardo, Michelangelo




Leonardo has posed:
Surveillance. It's a key part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles keeping the area around their home safe. While there are myriad ways of getting through the sewers to the Turtle Lair, every last one of them known by the four plus their rat sensei, one never knows when one might have to take the most direct approach to avoid trouble, to stay away from being seen by someone who might be able to find them.

As such, Leonardo and Michelangelo have taken up sentry duty atop a roof overlooking the manhole cover they crawled out of. A low apartment building of just two stories, it, along with much of the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn just has that run-down look and feel to it. There are nicer areas, like the immediate vicinity of the sports arena, but the glitz and glamor of the facility does not extend this far. Here, people who try to keep their heads down retreat to the relative safety of their homes at night while predators prowl the streets looking for opportunity.

It is here that the two turtles have set up their watch, looking for trouble to stop. Leonardo's been crouched near the edge for..a while. Half an hour? An hour? Two? He's barely spoken throughout, but every time a vehicle or pedestrian passes by below, his eyes track the movement until the subjects are out of sight.

It's also a test to see how long Michelangelo can remain quiet.

Michelangelo has posed:
Mikey is in the midst of a really silent Michael Jackson routine on the rooftop, which he swears it just practicing his silent foot-work when Leo inevitably gives him that look. His hand swings in a circle, left foot kicking out, and his right hand flinging like he's just tossed a hat. The left grabs the bottom of his shell as he goes into a silent spin that ends with his right hand across his chest shell and his left up in the air like he's caught a breeze to flap his orange bandana out behind him.

Maybe he has.

After he's done this, likely for the millionth time, he hops up on the ledge of the building so his feet can dangle in the shadow of one of the stairwells adjacent to where Leo is sitting. Lips puttering quietly while he drums on his forearm. Then into one of his pouch for his gameboy 3DS to play a game.

Then he rolls backwards onto the roof again to go back to dancing, this time just the running man. He may not be speaking, he may be silent as a mouse fart, but there's no stopping the spice. Leo. You can't stop the Spice.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo has given Mikey 'that look' at least a few times by now, but to the slightly younger turtle's credit, he's actually held up his end of the bargain with no need for Leo to shush him - and there have been a /lot/ of shushings in the past. The blue-masked turtle with the dual katanas over his shell leans forward and returns to watching the general peace and quiet below, only glancing back when his brother comes closer and withdraws his game.

Just beginning to open his mouth, Leo finds it seems the sound has been turned down there as well. Maybe it was good that he saved a few slices of that pizza for Mikey after all. Remind him he's always thinking about him, not just to scold and remind about how ninja are meant to act, and sometimes it's repaid.

Now he can hear another round of dancing, another brief look back to see who Michelangelo is imitating this time - the Michael Jackson was actually pretty good, if he had to admit it - and in that moment there comes a muffled scream down below, some shouting.

In the next moment, Leonardo has sprung from the rooftop to land silently in the adjacent alley, katanas suddenly in both hands. A couple blocks ahead, a young man and woman are being accosted by a group of street toughs, demanding their cash and talking about having some fun with the 'hottie.' "Not tonight," Leo mutters under his breath.

Michelangelo has posed:
Mikey was in the midst of another dance, clapping once as his feet shuffle into little sliding kick backs, both hands flare down then up into a right hand point at Leo's shell. His feet always moving silently across the gravel as he uses his hands to tell the song lyrics. Girl I must waarrrrnn yoooou. Arms crossed over his chest for a half beat, then down into a full body swoop from right to left, back to stationary. His hands go out like an airplane, I sense something strange in my miind with his feet still shuffling, he points at his temple.

That's when the scream echoes up from below and a switch flips.

Mikey goes from joking around trying to make Leo laugh to serious as a heart attack in just that much time. Landing in a low crouch near his older brother, scanning the alleyway with one hand back on the length of chain that sits just back from one set of his nunchucka. His left comes up to flip and motion into silent gestures, Which way? Did you see?

Leonardo has posed:
And so it is that even now, Leo is the one to speak first, and no - he did not laugh at the dancing. It isn't long before his partner for the night is next to him, his 'chucks already being reached for just in case. In the alley, light from the lamps illuminating the street, some of them broken, does not reach them, and the skies are cloudy.

In a whisper, Leonardo says, "Two blocks. That way." He motions toward their right out of the alley. "Coming closer. Wait." A pause. "And be quiet." Of course he says that.

Sure enough, the sounds of pleading become a little more obvious as the couple tries to keep going forward while being jostled and shaken up by the four thugs, currently in the midst of harassing and toying with them. Leo looks down, an idea forming. "Stay here. I'm going to get behind them. Wait on my cue." He's spotted another manhole cover in the alley, and based on what he knows of the tunnel below, it runs directly down the block where he can pop back up. A quick peek around the corner before he slides the cover aside silently, and he adds, "Two guns, a bat, and a crowbar." Then he disappears, the cover back into place as if it'd never been moved.

Michelangelo has posed:
It's only once Leo is looking back away from Mikey that the youngest turtle mocks him with a and be quiet, head bobbing side to side because of course he said it. It's all good natured, though, not at all like Raph. Orangle turtle is waiting in the darkness while stretching out the chainwhip with the flagged iron hook at one end once he's given an accurate assessment of the weaponry they'll be dealing with.

Guns mean range, range requires ranged, Mikey settles into something that can neutralize from a distance without limiting his CQC ability at all. Still in a low crouch, he moves steadily away from the edge of light provided by one of the flickering overhead lights in against the brick wall where he practically blends in. Goofy as he might sometimes be, he's still very much a ninja.

Patiently waiting for Leo to give the word to act.

Leonardo has posed:
Underneath, it is as the 'blue' turtle expected. A hundred feet or so, straight, and another ladder up. Leonardo fishes out a small flashlight from one of the pouches at his belt, just to make sure the way is clear - a few rats do chitter and scatter - and it helps him see better. Then, he scales the ladder swiftly and cracks that manhole cover just enough to peer through the small gap created, just in time to see a pair of booted feet disappearing as the group continues toward Michelangelo's location.

With careful fingers - katanas having been re-sheathed by now - the cover is set gently aside, he returns to the surface, and it's put back in place. A silent count of six follows, one for each finger and thumb, and he peeks out again.

Perfect. They're right about equally between the two turtles, nowhere to duck into to avoid them. The only problem might be in the safety of the couple. One of the thugs, Crowbar, has begun to wrest the woman's purse away from her. Bat shoves the man and demands his wallet once, twice. Gun #1 and Gun #2 laugh, both to either side. Their backs are to Leo, their focus on their prey. He steps out of the alley, something else in his right hand.

The tense moment is interrupted by a shout of pain, a pair of shuriken suddenly striking Gun #1's arm, causing him to drop his weapon. Gun #2 turns and blindly fires at the direction they came from but his shots are wild. Leo leaps forward and rolls to a crouch, his katanas out. Everyone else has stopped and turned toward him.

Mikey's up.

Michelangelo has posed:
By this point Mikey has seen the group coming closer and begun to swing that six foot length of rope with weighted end in a slow long looping circle outside his left hand. The shouts of the four goons and whimpering couple mask the sound of the quiet whisper of metal against air, even as he starts to use his elbow tucks in against the rope as it swings and his right hand grabs it to keep it going with a length twisted around his shoulder to build tension in this new position.

His body acts as an anchor, but never prevents mobility of the twirling rope, and he turns his whole shell to collect more of the rope just across the base of another circulation of the length so that his left hand can take control once more. Two lopes around his right wrist, one around his left elbow, and another around his neck, Mikey is using the shortened bit of rope in a quickly whirling motion to build up just enough force so that when Leo releases the shuriken into one goons shoulder and all three turn towards the sound of Gun #2 firing, he can fire the whole length off his suddenly straightened body like a bullet the full length of six feet from his extended right hand.

The weighted flagged hook smacks against the back of Gun #2s skull with bone crunching force.

The Orange turtle steps into the force of his throw, yanking the rope back so he can quickly recollect it around various appendages that leave the small bit of rope spinning again just outside his right hand. "What a terrible night to have a curse, dude." That's a Castlevania Simons Quest Joke. That is so above these goons head.

Leonardo has posed:
The commotion around the group is ramped up a couple notches. Gun #1 isn't doing anything but shouting in pain and reaching to dislodge the throwing stars. They didn't hit anything lethal, but he's going to bleed and he's going to be feeling it for a while. He certainly isn't about to pick up that gun and use it.

Gun #2 fortunately doesn't actually get a cracked skull, but his piece goes clattering to the ground beside him as he falls in an unconscious heap. The erratic spray of bullets ceases, but some have already struck buildings and cars.

Crowbar's eyes widen and he turns back toward Michelangelo. "What the hell are you? You some kinda freak?" In his shocked reaction, he charges and swings the metal bar at Mikey's head.

Bat makes the decision to take a couple swings toward Leonardo. "Stay back! I'm warning you!" he does indeed threaten, then he tries to bring it down on Leo's noggin only for the turtle to cross his swords in an X, blocking the swing before he shoves up and out, staggering the man for a moment. A quick diagonal swipe downward with both katanas cleaves his bat into three pieces, leaving him holding little more than the knob as one sword cut through just inches from his hand.

"Yield," Leonardo orders. Instead, the man tries to break into a run but he's felled by a spinning back kick that strikes him in the legs, a knee soon pressing him down to the ground.

The man and woman just stare, mouths hanging open.

Michelangelo has posed:
"Dude, dude, dudedudedude!" Mikey plays it up like he's somehow afraid of this guy rushing at him with a crowbar, but he absolutely is not afraid. The swing comes in and Mikey twists with his elbow altering the swing of his weighted chainwhip so that it wraps around the swinging wrist. All momentum on the goons swing is taken away when his arm is caught across the side of Orangle turtles shell and he goes completely slack against the turtle when a heavily wrapped elbow slams backwards into the side of the goons head.

Bodily, Mikey wraps the arm down and around the top of his assailants neck, turning so he's facing into the goons shoulder so as to slide him out of the light into the shadow from which the youngest brother has yet to advance. No reason to startle the couple. "Calling people freaks is rude, bro." He murmurs down to the unconscious goon he settles down into the trash beside a dumpster while bundling up his rope whip to replace on his belt.

From another pouch he produces a paper dunce cap which he slides down upon the unconscious forms head. The purse he managed to snatch is taken and tossed out of the shadows towards the lady from which it was taken. "Uh, like, call the police or something. Hasta luego, bros." Accented by the grating sound of a sewer cap being slid into place after dropping down the ladder.

Leonardo has posed:
While Michelangelo truly does use the shadows to his advantage, Leonardo does not have full benefit of range on his side. He had to show himself, but not for long. "Call them now," he says to the couple, looking rather shell-shocked for what it's worth, adding, "And tell them whatever you think you need to, but don't be surprised if they don't believe you if you describe us. Be more careful out here next time. It's a dangerous area."

He quickly zip-ties Bat's wrists and ankles together, repeating the same with Gun #1, who at least tries to struggle, before he retrieves his shuriken and wipes them off on the man's shirt. "Next time, think twice before you try to take advantage of innocent people," he tells the man, who's left trying to inch away to little success.

With the other two 'asleep,' some lights turning on, and doors cracking open, he passes the couple and leans down to scoop up the purse, handing it to the stunned woman. "Have a nice night."

Leo, swords again in their homes, joins his brother back in the sewers, and the first thing he tells the other turtle is, "You don't need to say it, Mikey. I chose to show myself because I thought I had to. Nobody else saw, and they look too stunned to think straight."

Michelangelo has posed:
Mikey, for the record, was already down in the sewers going through the list of how awesome that was. Pace pace, knee. Pace pace, one two punch, "Leo!" As soon as his older brother has joined him, he's over grabbing hold of the other turltes broader shoulders. "Did you see their faces, dude? They were, like, so happy to see us!" Clearly the young, niave, turtle is a little blind to the shell shock the couple actually has, but he's always been a little more glass is half full than his brothers.

"We just changed their lives forever, bro." Back to rehashing the whole scenario like that was the first time they'd ever gotten into a shadowy fight in the streets above. "Huh, huh, take that.." Shadow boxing, round housing, and generally exagerating every part of what he did actually do in the alley.

"I'm freakin' hungry, man, I hope there's still pizza." Grabbing hold of the skateboard he left leaning against the side of the tunnel, he's already kicking off in a slow roll. "You saved me a couple slices right, bro?"

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo's attitude is more stoic, certainly on the reserved side even if he allows a thin smile to show at Michelangelo's excitement and enthusiasm. "Easy, bro." His hands lift to return the touch to the shoulders, one lightly patting the top of Mikey's head. "I'm sure they're going to be happy they're getting home no worse for wear, but they looked pretty spooked to me. I just hope they learn to be more careful, but I'm more annoyed those guys were so close to home. I didn't recognize any of them." It leaves him to wonder if they're local or if they're from another neighborhood, cruising for trouble elsewhere.

He uses his hands further to let Michelangelo shadow box them a few times, gauging the reaction times in the amped-up turtle, then he gives him a nudge forward at the back of his shell. "Yeah, there is. Let's go get some. That was good tonight, but also not good. It's..nice to get some work in against others, even if they had no skill, but I don't like having to. We might have both waited for them to reach the alley, but I wanted to split their attention."

Michelangelo has posed:
"Nah, they were totally excited to see us, bro." Mikey snaps out quick punches against Leo's palms when they are presented, then he does a Bruce Lee like lip bite and hand waving motion in a low stance. "I have a six sense about these things, dude." He leaves the logistics of why there are fresh faces in the neighborhood to his eldest brother because tactitioning isn't his strongest suit anyways. At least, not when he's keyed up.

Now rolling after Leo's little shove in the direction they're headed, he's on a slow roll with the occational push off with his foot, "I feel like it worked out pretty good, right? I mean, nobody was hurt. Dudes never even saw it coming. Seemless like well stitched pants, bro. Like a couple bawwwwwsses.." Kick flip to short curb slide, to pop shuvit. "Bang, bang, bang..." Another couple punches.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo meets each thrown punch effortlessly, his own reaction times on par with where they ought to be, even if it's not full sparring and just horsing (turtling?) around. "Yeah, you're probably right," he allows, even if he doesn't fully believe it. Excited to be getting away unharmed and with whatever money and other valuables they came with? Probably. Relieved, absolutely. Traumatized? Very likely.

"We could have done better. /I/ could have done better. The one guy shouldn't have even had the chance to shoot, and he could have shot them instead." Leo's already analyzing what they did, the choices he made. No fault found with Mikey's side, only his own. "We took care of them, no problem, but..." He grunts to himself, splashing a bit of low-standing water as they pass through the short distance back to the abandoned subway area that leads to the Lair. "I will need to meditate and speak with Master Splinter about this," he decides, his mask bunched up a bit with the way his brow scrunches together.

Michelangelo has posed:
"You gotta relax, Leo." Mikey picks up just enough speed to execute a ollie to board grab as they come out of the sewer tunnel into the abandoned subway lair. After tossing his board in the direction of the living room, the orange turtle is on the way to the kitchen with his mask pulled down around his neck and his mouth already salivating, "The whole time, all I could think about was stuff crusted pizza, man.. I hope there's still some of that garlic dipping sauce, Raph always uses it up."

There's likely some somewhere in the fridge.

That's Mikey though. He probably does worry that the couple could have gotten hurt, in the moment, but they didn't. So there's no reason for him to worry, at least about that situation. Do it differently next time! Which, of course, is precisely because Leo so thoroughly worries over the details. "You want a slice before you go meditate?" Shouting around the corner with one held up in one hand and one headed for his mouth in the other, "You earned it, dude.. totally give you last slice. Mark it down, put it in your calender. Nobody will ever believe you, Mikey gave you the last slice."

Leonardo has posed:
Letting the much more energetic of the brothers speed on ahead of him, Leonardo catches up after another minute or two as he enters to see Michelangelo already about to get things going with the leftover (imagine that) pizza. "We were up there a while," he confesses, adding, "And you know I go over every encounter, Mikey. I try never to forget what Sensei taught us about using shadows and remaining unseen. I know we can't always do that, and I keep hearing about more out there that seem to be like us. It makes me wonder what the best way is, sometimes."

Leo leaves his blue mask in place, withdrawing his swords again to give them a brief visual inspection and a quick wipedown with a cloth he keeps hand for such use. "Save it for me. I just need to clear my thoughts. I shouldn't be long. You'll probably forget all about it and be over there in a few minutes anyway." He gestures toward their gaming area, rolling his eyes as Michelangelo ends up sending what he told the couple topside back at him in a different way. "That's why I won't tell anyone, ya dummy."

Michelangelo has posed:
"Okay." Mikey says after a second watching Leo. It's a duel meaning okay in that he'll save the last slice (maybe) and that he believes his older brother needing to clear his head. "Don't start up the Xbox if you don't want me to crush you at Mortal Fighter, bro." He shouts out to the gaming room as he rummages around in the fridge for some kind of sauce to add to his little bit of pizza remaining.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo glances over his shoulder before exiting for the dojo. "You want to play later? Maybe." This is tantamount to a 'no' from him when it comes to Mikey and the fighting games in particular, but Leo always was more focused on the real thing. "And, good work out there."