Prologue
Ashton dropped his backpack onto the floor of his apartment. Stretching with a loud yawn, he walked into his kitchen and made himself a sandwich for dinner. The silence of the apartment disturbed him but he didn't turn on the tv or any music. Just sat in the silence. Not long after he finished his dinner, a ringtone sounded through the apartment. He grabbed the turtle shell shaped phone with a grin and answered the call.
"Hey, wassup Dee?" Ashton asked, walking into his room with his phone to his ear.
"We're about to go on patrol, are you and Casey going to be joining us today?"
Opening his closet, the boy grabbed a change of clothes and tossed them on the bed. "I will, don't know about Jonesy. He had a meet after school, might be tired out."
"Shouldn't you have had a meet too, then?" Donatello asked. "Last I checked, you two played hockey together. It's what you two are practically known for at school according to April."
"I uh, got another detention. It got me kicked off the team," he muttered. He quickly changed into his patrol clothes - a dark, long sleeved pink shirt under a baggy, black t-shirt and a pair jeans, along with a belt to fasten his weapons to and his signature pink bandana - before grabbing a case from the bottom of his closet. "Meet you guys on top of my building?"
"You know it, and you should probably expect a lecture from Leo. He overheard the detention thing."
"Ooh, fun. See ya then, Don," Ashton rolled his eyes at the sound of a 'Leo Lecture' before hanging up. He opened the case to grab a pair daggers Splinter had given him. They were small, the blades only about as long as his hand, and fit comfortably in his hands. He quickly attached their holsters to his belt and slotted them in before grabbing his old baseball bat from the closet. While he normally went out with hockey sticks, much like his childhood best friend Casey Jones did, he had his hockey sticks taken away when he was removed from the hockey team. So his baseball bat from their little league days would have to do.
After fastening his bat to his back, he opened the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. He quickly scaled the side of the building and climbed onto the roof, waiting for his friends to show. He passed the time by flipping his daggers and sitting on the side of the roof people watching.
He was alerted to his friends' arrival by the four signature thumps on feet on the roof. Ashton turned around to see four turtles, each wearing a different colored mask. April O'Neil, his classmate and friend, was a couple rooftops behind, struggling to make the jumps as easily as the others. She practically collapsed on the rooftop, waving half-heartedly at Ashton before sitting down.
"Hey dudes, and April," he waved at his friends happily, climbing to his feet. The smile fell off his face when he saw Leonardo, the leader's, put out expression. "Listen, before you say anything-"
"How did you get detention again?! That's the third time this week, Ashton!" Leo criticized. "Did you get in another fight?"
"No! Well, sorta," Ashton rubbed the back of his neck. "They were tryna pick on some other kid and when I stood up for 'em, they came after me." The boy tugged his sleeves down, drawing the purple-clad turtle's attention.
"Asher, how bad was this fight?" Donnie asked.
Raphael eagerly butted in. "Yeah, did you whoop their butts?"
"I didn't throw anything at them, just let me toss me around. I didn't want to risk my hockey career. But then I saw Jonesy coming around the corner and knew if I didn't throw a punch, he would. So I dodged a swing and tripped 'em so they'd run into the lockers. Some teacher saw and all the blame got put on me. Didn't even bother checkin' the security cams before doling out detention," Ashton explained.
Mikey frowned, crossing his arms. "Not fair, bruh. They should've got the detention, not you."
Ashton shrugged carelessly. "I've sent an email and filed a complaint but I don't know if it'll do anything. Schools tend to care more about parents than students."
Donnie stepped forward with small frown. "How hurt did you get?"
"Nothing too bad." The purple-clad turtle raised an eyebrow before grabbing the boy's arm. He let out a wince and the turtle sighed. "Okay, maybe a little scraped."
"I'll look you over when we get back to the lair, Asher."
"Thanks Dee."
The group of vigilantes began their patrol, keeping the pace slower than usual so April and Ashton wouldn't get exhausted too quickly. The night was calm and they only had to stop a few muggings, not even the purple dragons were out that night. Around midnight, they retreated back to the sewers to head to the turtles' lair.
Upon arriving, Donnie and April immediately rounded Ashton into the lab. The boy sat on the metal table in the center and took off his shirts so Donnie could do his check up. He heard April gasp quietly and grimaced. He knew he wasn't a pretty sight, but it wasn't that bad.
"If this is your definition of a scrape," April stated," I'm worried about what you consider banged up."
Donnie glanced over from where he was gathering medical supplies and sighed. "Yeah, it's pretty bad, Asher. I'm surprised you were able to move as well as you did on patrol." His arms and chest were mottled purple and yellow from bruises.
"Doesn't hurt that much unless somebody's actively puttin' pressure on it," the boy muttered. He winced as Donnie did just that, poking his bruises to determine how bad they are. The turtle pressed a bruise on his chest and Ashton hissed in pain.
"How bad was that, scale of 1-10?"
"4 and a half." Donnie hummed before pressing the bruise again, raising an eyebrow. "6."
"Thought so, you managed to bruise your ribs but other than that you should be fine," the scientist explained. He gave Ashton his shirts back and the teen quickly slid them on. "Just take it easy for the next couple of days."
"Roger that, doc," Ashton stood from the table and stretched his arms out, moving to lean on Donnie's lab table. "Any experiments ya need help with?"
He shook his head. "Nope, not today. Just working on some research, so nothing exciting. You could see if Raph wants to hang out since you're looking for action."
Ashton smiled fondly at his friend as he shot him thumbs up. 'He knows me so well.' The boy headed out to the den and found Leo and Mikey absorbed in some TV show while Raph played the pinball machine. A quick glance revealed that the show was Space Heroes, which he wasn't really in the mood for watching. So he stood beside Raph and watched as the points quickly rang up, hyping the turtle up until the ball slid down the center, ending the game.
"Ya almost had the highscore, Raphie," Ashton teased, playfully elbowing Raph. Said turtle growled, tackling the boy down to the floor. The two friends wrestled for a moment before the dojo doors opened and Splinter, everybody's sensei, strode into the room. The two quickly untangled themselves and stood up to face Splinter.
"My sons, and pupils, I have news for you all," Splinter stated. Donnie and April quickly joined them in the den at the sound of their Sensei's voice. "After meditating on it for a while, I have decided that Ashton is clear to do solo work. While he possesses different skills and training than the five of you, he can certainly take on the same foes the rest of you can. Be sure to treat him the same way you treat your brothers, for he is just as formidable." With that said, the rat quickly retreated back to the dojo before anybody could question his judgement.
Leo turned and blinked absently at Ashton. "Have- Have you really been doing that good in training?"
"I mean, I got a couple a hits in with dirty tricks but otherwise I can't lay a hand on him." Ashton shrugged his shoulders and the turtle's eyes bugged out.
Mikey quickly bounded over, stars in his eyes as he looked up at his friend. "Dude, that's epic! It takes all four of us to even get close to him!"
"Sensei lets you play dirty?" Raph asked, staring at Ashton.
"Well, yeah," the boy shifted on his feet, growing uncomfortable with all the attention on him. "Since I'm not trained as well as you dudes, Splinter lets me fight the way I know how, so tricks, low blows - it's all fair. He knows I won't take it too far."
Donnie - who occasionally sat on the sidelines of Ashton and Splinter's spars because he knew the boy would get hurt - was familiar with his friends fighting style. A mixture of pure instinct, a single self-defense class taken when he was 10, a basic understanding of physics, and several years of hockey and baseball formed quite a bizarre - yet unique - fighting style. A part of him wondered just what Ashton learned in lessons and how it impacted his style. The other part of Donnie didn't want to know.
The brainiac playfully punched his human friend in the shoulder. "Nice work, Asher. Good to know your chaotic style won't get you killed one day. But the bleach you keep using for your hair might."
Ashton blew his - currently faded blue - hair tips out of his face with a grin. "Death by hair dye would certainly make the papers. I'm thinking I go purple next, what do you think?"
Donnie rolled his eyes as Mikey cheered for the idea. 'At least it'll take a while for the bleach to melt through his brain,' the purple-clad turtle thought to himself. As the group began to make bets on Ashton's next hair color, Donnie retreated back to his lab.
Once the bets were placed, and Ashton given more ideas for hair dye, the two humans said their goodbyes and made their way up to the surface in a vain attempt to get some sleep.
Ashton woke to his screaming alarm clock and sighed. He quickly sat up in bed and stretched, glancing out his window to see usual overcast of New York City. After getting dressed, the teen opened his fridge to find some breakfast. All he found was some expired cheese and leftover pizza gyoza. 'Okay, I definitely need to go shopping after school.' He tossed the cheese in the trash and grabbed his backpack off the floor.
Annoyed and hungry, Ashton began the long walk to school. He weaved in and out of crowds as he walked, occasionally keeping an eye out for his two friends. Normally, their parent's drove them to school but they occasionally walked to keep their friend company. Today didn't seem to be one of those day so Ashton walked silence.
He walked into his homeroom and took his seat at the back of the class, setting his head down on his desk. Thankfully, he didn't need to do any homework last night so he was free to take a quick nap until school started. After about a half-hour of sleep, the smell of food woke Ashton up.
"Told ya it'd work, Red," Casey smirked, holding a take-out bag of food in his hands. "Asher has never missed a meal in his life. He likes food too much to miss it." Sleepily, said teen threw out a hand and grabbed the bag of food, all without opening his eyes. He finally sat up with a yawn and reached into the bag and pulled out a breakfast burrito. He took large bite and smiled happily, digging into his breakfast.
A light chuckle made him glance up and notice his two friends. "Uh, hey?" He sent them a sheepish smile before finishing his burrito in record time.
April, seeing how quickly her friend devoured his burrito, gave him a couple of her hashbrowns. "Didn't have breakfast before you left?"
"Nope, there was only cheese and pizza gyoza, and the cheese was bad," he frowned. "I've got to go shopping after school."
Casey pulled out another burrito and handed it to his friend. "I'll ask my dad to drive us so you can grab everything you need in one trip. And he can talk to the teachers about getting you back on team."
"Thanks Jonesy."
Once school was over, the three friends waited outside for their rides. April's dad arrived first and quickly took her back home with only a small wave to her friends. Not long after that, Casey's dad came in his old truck.
"C'mon Casey, Ashton, let's get you boys home. We've gotta be quick so we can get your sister. Lily's practice should be ending soon and you know how hangry she can get," Mr. Jones yelled out the window. The two boys quickly climbed in and then they were off, heading towards Ashton's apartment.
"Would you mind dropping me off the at the grocery store, sir? I need to go shopping," Ashton asked, leaning forward to speak to his friends's dad.
Casey quickly joined his friend. "Yeah, you said you would take him to the store and talk to the teachers about that stupid detention he got."
"I know boys, I'm sorry, but Lily's practice is ending earlier than they planned and if I don't pick her up she'll be waiting for an hour. I can drop you off at the store kiddo, but then I gotta be off. And I told you Ashton, you can just call me Ben."
"That's fine, Mr. Ben. Thanks for the lift."
"Anytime kiddo, and you're always welcome to spend the night if you get lonely in that apartment of yours. Lord knows it's hard with your parent's missing and all."
Ashton winced at the reminder of his parents disappearance. A few months ago, they went missing without a trace. He had called the cops but they couldn't figure anything out, either. The government had ruled that he was old enough to live on his own until his parents were found, so the government paid the bills and sent money for him to buy groceries with. Otherwise, he was completely on his own.
Casey, sensing his friends discomfort, quickly changed to conversation to something lighter until they arrived at the grocery store. Ashton climbed out and his friend followed, telling his father he'd walk home later.
The two best friend walked into the store, idly tossing things into the basket as they walked by them. With the two of them there, they were able to buy, and carry, enough supplies to last Ashton another week. They strolled back to his apartment and put everything away into the fridge and cupboards. The two turned down the offer to patrol with the others and had late night in, eating the junk food they bought as they played games with each other and watched a hockey match on TV.
'Life can't get worse than this', Ashton thought himself, doubling over with laughter as Casey did poor imitation of the ninja turtles.
" 'I'm Raphael, all I ever do is scream and pound things, agh!' " Casey mimicked, barley holding in his own laughter. " 'Watch me twirl my sais and pick fights with my brothers for entertainment!' " Ashton laughed even harder, falling off the couch in his joy. That broke Casey and the ravenette fell back on the couch, laughing his butt off.
A small notification lit up on Ashton's T-phone, so he reluctantly pulled himself off the floor to read.
Today
LeaderinBlue: I know this sudden,
but do you mind doing a solo mission
this friday at the docks?
LeaderinBlue: We heard rumours of a
weapon deal supposed to go down
there, but I already have everybody else
supposed to be doing something somewhere
else.
Isn'tPinkAshjustGlitter?: Sure thing man, just
recon or interference?
LeaderinBlue: Just reconnaissance, as
skilled as you are, you would be totally
outnumbered if the number's we heard
about were true.
LeaderinBlue: Also, you should keep your
hair blue, it looks nice.
Isn'tPinkAshjustGlitter?: Recon it is. And I'll
consider keeping my hair blue
Ashton tilted his phone to let Casey read. "First solo mission, dude!"
Casey, although eager for his friend, seemed hesitant. "Congrats dude, but are you sure you want to do this? If Leo's that worried then maybe you should have some back-up. I could go with you!"
Ashton shook his head. "Nope, you've got a game against Grace High that night. Even if you finish in time, you'll be too tired for patrol. Beside it's just one recon mission. It can't be that bad."
A/N Welcome to the beginning of another story! This idea has been stuck in my head for forever so my editor Neo finally got me to write and start posting for it. I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I do and I hope to see when the next chapter is released.
--No-Name Signing off