Alice in Turtleland

[SlightPhobia]

Crime was in no short supply here, in New York City. In spite of a quad of new superheros that had shown up on the scene, purse-grubbing pukes, bank robbers, and the usual bandits roamed at large. Drugs, prostitution, and standard debauchery of the law served as a mask for the more sinister goings on of other organizations. The Kraang, for example, did little in the means of common thievery. Their interest was in genetic experimentation on unwilling hosts. Deeper still were less earthly evils. That was the cause of an unfortunate case of wrong place, wrong time tonight. Most little ones were to be at home, in bed, and counting their sheep by the present hour. It was uncommon to see kids under a certain age roaming around at night in the backwaters of the city; more uncommon still to see little ones sporting unusual attire at ungodly hours. Odd attire and appearance was.... well, it was like asking to be mugged.


Alice had no intent to request a good old fashioned mugging though. She had her heart set on tracking down a disturbance in the order of despair, as she called it. She was so intent on her present quest that she'd failed all together to notice that she had been... singled out, so to speak. Curried up in an innocent looking shopping bag were her supplies. A ream of plain-looking ward paper was sacked in a simple 7-11 bag along with small bundles of purified salt. Stranger still were the odd glass globes of what appeared to be... blood? What an odd assortment to fit into a grocery bag. To the eyes of a common thief, a girl dressed in custom-tailored clothes stood for one thing: free money. Little brats generally didn't have enough chump change to warrant a beat-down, but spoiled rich kids? They had gold cards. They had hundred-dollar bills in the double-digits just for weekly allowance! It was her own fault for not expecting any trouble. It was her own fault for looking so...


The young miss was, at present, gawking down at a blank sheet of ward paper. It could have appeared a quaint grocery list-- were it not so OBVIOUSLY blank. The quiet click-clack of her heels lead her into a vulnerable alley-way. Along the side, a rusty old dumpster sat, bursting at the seam with yesterday's garbage. There were no homeless bums-- and that was what confused the blonde. She'd gotten a rather reliable lead that a particular brute was going to be on the move tonight... that the Harlequin known as Goloso intended t manifest himself tonight. All traces had pointed to the crappy alley but there was one problem... There didn't seem to be any mediums hanging around. Frowning at the ward, she clenched at the paper crossly. She never noticed the stench of street-sweat approaching.


The quiet grind of grit beneath combat boots wasn't a startling announcement, but the solid thump of a fabricated pipe against a taped palm was suitable enough to startle. "...Well... well.... well," the brute announced himself. His face was riddled with the pock-marks of five o'clock shadow that was... a little beyond shadow. His dingy white tank-top bore yellowed stains of perspiration. Most importantly, his baggy bluejeans had a crimson bandana tying off one of the legs at his knee leaving one of his shins bare and exposed. Apparently this was gang territory. "You must have hair on your balls, princess... comin' into these parts at this hour. You lost?" he chuckled grinning a crooked row of cigarette stained teeth. The cherry of his cigarette sailed straight over the little one's shoulder, extinguishing itself against the alley wall. Slowly... soberly, Alice turned about to gaze the dirty-looking man.


"..." Well, it might have been predictable for a child to have been speechless in such a situation. It may have been more predictable for a little girl of her size to cry-- but no tears came. Her face failed to twist in fear, which served to annoy the brute before her.


"It ain't polite to ignore your elders... maybe I ought to knock some manners into you, ya rich..." He called her an explicative. He called her a few. Taking a step forward, the creep stood before the small girl. It was easy to appreciate her... odd stature when posed before a standard man. She was the size of a grade-schooler, perhaps, but oddly enough, much more willowy and far less stocky. She looked the part of a miniature bisque doll; particularly given the half-lidded way she gazed him. Her eyes, an empty shade of mirror-blue, seemed distantly focused on something else-- even as the nameless brute wound his fingers around her pressed, white collar and hoisted the girl up off of her feet. The child wore black spats-- black spats that seemed a few sizes too small even for her body in miniature. White lace petticoats peeked from beneath her high-waisted black skirt; the cuffs of her sleeves dripped with french lace. "Well?!" The brute demanded, giving the girl a shake. With the rough gesture, the girl's most unusual feature took to moving. She had an obscene amount of hair; shining platinum hair that hung nearly to her ankles in thick, heavy lengths.


"...You're...." The girl finally spoke, even as the gent wound his fist back to put a few dents into her face. Her voice was quiet, airy, and dulcet. It hardly fit the situation at hand. "...in my way..." She murmured quietly.
This was not the thing to say to a guy twice your size... with biceps twice the size of...one's legs! Expletives flew and in an instant, the man's fist collided with the girl's dainty jaw. Her head turned-- a little too roughly even. A faint trail of scarlet blood ran from the corner of her mouth even before he'd drawn his fist back to lay a second blow to the crest of her cheekbone. It left, in its wake a white welt-- that would surely turn purple.


Each strike forced a jerk and flounder, though the child let loose no noise until she was hurled into the alley wall. This, understandably, knocked the wind straight out of her, forcing her to grunt a pathetic sort of noise. "UHGK!"


"That's what I thought you said," the brute continued. "Shall we get down to business? Because I have pockets that need lining... and I'm sick of snotty little--" the rest was pointless to even listen to. The things he called the girl were unfit for a dog... each taken like water washing smoothly over a river stone.


A smart child would have relinquished a purse-- money.... anything! A smart child would have tucked into the fetal position and cried for help... but Alice... Miss Alice was lamentably stubborn. What could this guy do to her anyhow? Cut her up into little pieces? Maybe... but it seemed he only had a pipe. Being beaten to a bloody pulp was the most likely hindrance of the night. "...I said...." she began, pulling herself to her feet. Her black stockings already had a hole in one of the knees. "...you're... in my way...."


The pipe lifted sky high. The nameless brute's eyes flashed with rage that shouldn't have been unleashed on a child... and then? --One could only hope help would arrive before that pipe came down and busted open Miss Alice's head like a birthday piñata.

[kakarot]

(Jeez that was elaborate. Coulda left out the entricate details about her clothes and body )

The teenage mutant ninja turtles were speaking with Splinter looking for advice on their training. Leonardo was instructed on letting others lead. He needed to not always take the lead and keep an open mind for other options. Raphael still needed to work on his emotions, but not just his anger. He needed to focus on controlling his anger, but also promoting his kindness and care so that others could trust him to be the power house that he was. Donatello was too cautious and hesitant which could be a crucial weakness in times where he is counted on. Lastly Michaelangelo was too care free and needed to become more serious. There were times when these things could all be left alone, but to be true ninjas the turtles needed to train on their weaknesses.

The turtles decided to go solo and train while things were quiet in the city as far as they knew.

All the turtles but Raphael left as Splinter began to couch and he stayed with him to care for him. Splinter expected Raphael to be the first to leave, but instead he stayed and watched over Splinter.

Michaelangelo began to be silly while skateboarding down a sidewalk when a crowd of people was in his way and he stopped and picked up the board and walked casually as he should. There was a park for him, and he realized it could wait.

Donatello was at a loss for how he could train himself to be more assertive and less cautious when he noticed a fire emitting from an apartment window. He quickly climbed the building via pipes and ledges, and used sink water in a bucket to put the water out after escorting a woman and her child into the hall. The old Donatello would have called the fire department or worried about what to do. When he was hugged by the woman he understood what he did.

As stubborn as Raph was, Leo had hard thoughts in his mind as he walked the streets feeling that his leadership was paramount to success. He saw a heist at a bank going on with cops in front of the building and as he began to jump over yellow tape, an officer brought the crooks out and no one was harmed. As he was pushed back across the tape he realized he wasn't always the top person to use in all situations. This was less of a revelation and more a depressing counter to his thinking. He walked down the streets and heard cursing and a young girl's yelp. He thought about what should happen, and he decided to take charge as he found a brutish man about to strike a young girl who was already bloody. The turtle unsheathed one sword and slashed the pipe and gave a cut to the back of the thug's hand. "You are a sorry piece of work. You could have robbed a bank like some other guy, yet you rather best a defenseless girl" he says.

(if you want a fight scene just have the guy knocked out in a couple of hits so we don't have short back and forth posts.)

[SlightPhobia]

[^ ^;; Well I mean. I could have posted: "Alice was in an alley. Alice got mugged." I really dislike that action-driven style of posting. Sorry~ ; 3 ; I'm a detail-driven gal. I'm sure we'll find a happy in-between! ]


The city sure was busy tonight! Fires, crimes, and who could forget- meditation! The side-noise wasn't really important for the time being; the crime at the forefront was. The nameless man had already began his forward momentum to leave a sizable dent in Miss Howard's face. The quiet snick of a stronger blade through brittle metal threw him off balance as the bulk of his weapon went bouncing off behind him. Stepping forward, the idiot nearly planted his own face into the brick wall. Turning on his heel, he offered his assailant a sneer. Said sneer quickly melted into raw terror as he looked upon the green devil who'd cut his attack in half. Literally. "A--Auh...I--" He choked, goggling. That was probably not too uncommon for a turtle mixed up in a human world.


Alice had finally pulled herself to stand correctly when the brute began cowering about something entirely different. The way he practically fell all over himself, she'd expected to find the man neck-deep in Harlequin. Instead, her glassy blue eyes met with... Was that a turtle?! Her own brows rumpled in confusion, though not outright fear. That couldn't have been Goloso, could it? The green one didn't really seem... menacing enough. Worst of all, it was sort of... cute. With few cards up her sleeve, she clutched her shopping bag tightly and called out: "...Goloso...?"

The girl's prompting conquered the panic in the cowardly man enough that he rushed forward, fists brandished. His fists, unfortunately, didn't stand a chance against the seasoned training of a ninja. It was over with one missed swing from the brute and one well-placed blow from the turtle-man. In an instant, the greasy gent fell, face-down atop the pavement.

Finally, in a move that was at least somewhat childlish, the blonde child gawked down at the crumpled body of the gang man. It didn't seem very 'Goloso-ish' to drop a medium. Wasting physical stamina limited one's time in the physical realm, after all. She squinted and took a hesitant pair of steps forward. Her tiny hands stretched up toward the green one's face, perhaps to see that it was not a mask he wore. Whether or not Leonardo allowed himself to be touched was up to him. It wasn't every guy that could stand bold-faced in the presence of such wanton grabby-hands. "...Mister Turtle?" She inquired as though to confirm what he was. At least she hadn't mistaken him for a frog.

[Let me know if you would like to introduce a harlequin to this scene. It'd be easy enough to have Goloso step into the thug. :3 I'm sure Leo could beat it.]

[kakarot]

The turtle didn't expect the thug to act so fearful, but the pathetic attempt to attack was expected and was dealt with easily. He then looked over at the girl who called out an odd name or something. His demeanor was much more relaxed as the thug was out cold and the girl was safe. But when she came up and touched his face he raised his eye as his skin stretched as if an eyebrow were there to give a humanistic look of confusion.

"Um what's Geloso? My name is Leo... Are you okay kid? Looks like that guy roughed you up a bit" he states. He wasn't sure how to handle a situation like this with one victim that hung around him and was curious. Most just went on their way after giving thanks or a hug, but this girl stuck around and seemed interested in him.

[SlightPhobia]

There would be no screams or fleeing.... although hugs might come later. As cryptic and dark as the little one's life was, unbeknownst to Leonardo, she enjoyed... childish things. She was, at heart, a child even if she'd lived well beyond the years of her small stature. "Mnn..." She grunted in a higher, nasal tone as she squished her hands over the turtle's face. It wasn't a mask. "...Youkai?" She asked, confused about his origins and species. Apparently Leonardo's questions didn't matter too much to her. She was such a single-minded girl.

After his name was dealt to her, she frowned and pronounced it stiffly. "Leo..." She looked as though she disagreed with the name for a moment, but nodded quietly. Oddly enough, she offered no name in return. "...You didn't have to..." she eased, gawking toward the discarded thug. "...but..." she paused and took hold of her black skirt. Hefting it out slightly, she curtseyed slightly. "Thank you, Mister Turtle." Because obviously Leo wasn't going to stick just yet. She paused for a moment, placing a flat palm on the chest-region of his shell. It was fascinating to see that he roved about as she deemed: 'naked.' What was a Geloso? She frowned and corrected his pronunciation... what a little brat! "...Go...lo...so," she repeated, wondering if it was a good idea to so freely pass out the names of Harlequins. They'd been summoned willingly with such knowledge before. It was probably a swat-worthy offense. Too bad Leonardo didn't know the implications of knowing a Harlequin name.

She ignored her own wounds for the time being, frowning at old battle wounds she found with her hands on shell and skin of her odd, turtley companion. Frowning, she canted her head to the side and then lifted her eyes to lock with Leonardo's. For a moment, she gazed with such an intensity, it may have seemed indecent-- or at least uncomfortable! No matter how it seemed to Leonardo, the girl frowned and asked a solitary question as she gathered up his larger hand into both of her dainty hands. "...Does it hurt?" What an odd kid. Getting answers from her would be... well... difficult at best. Regardless of his answer, she began to pull on his hand. If Goloso was going to crop up, she certainly didn't want Mr. Turtle to wind up a medium. Where would she take him though? That all depended on whether or not Leonardo would move.

[kakarot]

Leo was very confused by the odd girl. Not only was she saying words or names while looking over him, but even with her wounds and growing bruises she seemed unphased by them. "Goloso? I still don't know what that is, by my name is Leo" he says before she backs away and curtsies. "You're welcome, um stranger. Shouldn't you get to a hospital to tend to those wounds?" he asks

Seeing that the girl hadn't really listened to him anyway he watched as she took his hand in hers and spoke. "Um no it doesn't hurt. Why do you ask?" he asks curiously. He really couldn't put a finger on this girl in regard with figuring her out. They seemed worlds apart.

(Get it? Because it's a crossover )

[SlightPhobia]

[Pfff.... OH GOD WHY?! PUNS! -pretends not to love puns- ]

Mister turtle spoke again, and for some reason, it surprised Alice. Her brows crept up as though to cringe; a small almost infantile noise leaking from her. "Mnn.." His name was Leo... "But..." she began, as though to start a childish argument with a complete stranger. It was as though she thought he existed simply to please her whim. "...Mister Turtle sounds cuter..." Cute! It was the new ninja-objective! Nibbling her lower lip, she pouted for a moment, and only a moment before tugging on his arm once more. She didn't react much to being called stranger, though she did comment about her wounds. "...Mnn. There's blood," she mewed about her knee. She made no moves to stop the bleeding though. "I think... it's worse if you skin your palms though..." Why not! A little grade school dialogue about boo-boos never killed anyone.

Miss Alice cringed at the mention of hospitals. Hospitals... weren't fun places. "...I don't... really enjoy the hospital. It is unpleasant," she replied very matter-of-factly. "...It is also unsanitary. It smells...." She clarified, oblivious to the dumpster smell for the time being. His question about her curiosity forced her to pull on his arm once more. "Don't you ever wonder about suffering?" She replied, as though her reason for asking should have been a simple, mundane thing.

Her pulling persisted-- even until she tugged hard enough to grunt. She pulled even on the chest-straps that held his Katana in place as though to lead a horse by the reigns! Finally, she gave up in trying to force him to move. "...With me?" She asked in a fragmented sentence. Frowning, she decided to clarify. "...Come with me... Three blocks east," she concluded. The directions probably should have consisted of north and west. East of the current location spelled out an even worse slum! "I have tea... really strong tea," she concluded, as though bitter tea might have been enough to bribe him along.

[kakarot]

He sighed with an almost parental smile. "Okay, Mister Turtle it is" he says as he feels her progressively tug on his sheath strap and didn't know what she wanted. Until she said she wanted him to go with her and that she didn't like hospitals. He sighed and knew how to tend to her wounds so he nodded but scooped her up into his arms cradling her. "I've got you, just lead the way" he instructs and walks out into the street in the direction she have him.

"Um suffering..." he comments remembering her question. "I guess I have suffered and felt pain before. But it doesn't happen all the time" he explains. This girl was definitely weird. He remembered Donatello telling him about mental diseases in humans and he was really starting to believe that this girl had one. "Why were you out in the alley at night?" he asks then adds, "it's dangerous and if I didn't catch you, you might not be alive"

[SlightPhobia]

She would have been content to walk, but her scraped knee would have complained the entire way! As the turtle offered her an unfamiliar sort of smile, Alice reached to take hold of his hand once more. She would have tugged him along contently, but Leo had other ideas. As he leaned down and lifted her into his arms, the girl squirmed uncomfortably. She had certain... secrets to hide, but being carried was, as a whole, nice. Her rump was, perhaps, a little more plush than it should have been. Her cloth-covered diaper cover complained lightly against any support offered. Had he cradled her, it might have been different. It all depended on how the turtle held her. "Uhn..." She mumbled as Leonardo began to lecture her about being out in the alley-way. "Um... I..." Well, she was more than willing to change the subject then! "...you shouldn't... walk out on the streets, should you? People will... " Be cruel? Scream? Run? Ninja turtles weren't a standard norm. Leaning in, Alice squirmed to get comfortable, finding the man had no loose clothes or hair to hold onto. "Nnh..." she grunted in discontent, settling to hold onto the loose tails of his mask for the time being. Her arms wound up about his neck, her knees tucked to his side, and she rested her forehead down against the top of his smooth shoulder. He was cold-- colder than her, anyway. Moreover, there was a little unneeded heat in her brow. Alice wasn't the healthiest of kids.

She mumbled her address quietly-- a rather ratty, abandoned-looking building on the surface, but that suited her just as well. The elevator was out of order... there were homeless bums sleeping on the first floor. In order to get to the top floor-- where she lived, one had to access the building from the roof, as the stairs had been, intentionally, disconnected several flights down from her flat. Inside the crappy building was a startling oasis. A Victorian nightmare of soft colors that made the square brick building look like a doll house in miniature. Would Leonardo get the answer to his lectured question? Not without more coaxing-- or demanding. Alice was a lock-jawed kid sometimes.

[kakarot]

He listened to her mumbling and slight whining. "I can walk these streets because I have training and weapons. You have... nothing from the looks of things, aside from this bag" he says motioning with his head as he out the bag on the handle of his left katana when she wasn't looking before he scooped her up.

He then followed her directions and saw the area, then the homeless people, and the elevator door open and clearly broken. He saw the stairs piled up and blocked. "Okay what's the deal? You certainly don't belong here. Your clothes tell a story that your home does not. We need a hotel if this is really where you live" he states being justifiably judgmental.