The strap of your bag was digging into your shoulder leaving the skin red and raw. Anything that could possibly link you to the Purple Dragons was shoved within the rucksack.
As you walked into the more dangerous parts of New York, you assured yourself that this was the last time you would ever get involved in such nonsense. Making some quick cash wasn't worth your death. You had seen what your friend looked like when they were in school the next day... bruised and cut up beyond measure.
The door into the Purple Dragon's hangout was broken off and lying in pieces next to the wall.
Steadying yourself, you took a deep breath and entered. The guards were waiting inside and they both stepped up to greet you.
"Now I didn't think we'd ever be seeing you again," the one sneered. He always had the worst breath, making you recoil automatically. "We thought that the little scene last night would have chased you off. It tends to work that way with weaklings."
You chose to ignore that and held your head up high. "I've come to collect my pay."
The other one eyed you suspiciously. "Is that so? The sniveling creature that was here last night took both of your portions. Claimed you bailed on them."
Your eyes narrowed and you dropped the rucksack unceremoniously on the ground. The canisters inside rattled loudly. "Then I guess I should go and see them. Here's all your crap, you won't be seeing me again."
"Wait!" the second one said suddenly. He pointed at the bag. "What's in there?"
"A jacket, some paint, a cell phone, and some weird blue liquid," you said with a simple shrug. "Nothing to write home about. It's not like I've rigged a bomb or something to go off."
Stench-breath seemed to make the connection at that point. "Blue liquid?!" he asked loudly. He grabbed the bag and your arm and began moving into the headquarters. "We have got to tell the boss about this!"
Confused but curious, you put up no resistance.
Hun was a man you had met few times before and never spoken to. He gave off an air of danger in everything he did and said. The look he fixed you with when you burst in was enough to make one's soul whither.
Before he could even ask what was going on, the guard threw the bag onto the table and dragged you forward. "You'll never believe what this one claims to have."
"Aren't you one of those lackeys trying to prove yourself worthy?" Hun asked coldly. He carefully opened the bag and poked around within its contents until a spark of emotion flashed across his face. He removed a canister. "Where did you get this?"
All eyes in the room were on you and a large pressure settled upon your shoulders. "Last night I found it lying on the floor," you stammered out. "It looked important so I gathered some of it up and bring it back."
"How many?" Hun asked.
Never before had you been more thankful to your past self for keeping track of things. "Thirteen," you said. "But one is a little less full than the others."
Hun slowly stood from where he had been lounging. He placed the canister down and walked over to you. "Well done," he said simply. "You have helped the Purple Dragons immensely. Our partner will be very happy to hear that not all of these were destroyed in the battle last night. I'm sure you're expecting compensation for such a deed."
"Not really," you said. "I just – "
Hun continued as though you had said nothing. "Intelligence is lacking in this gang lately," he said. "They all care only over brute force. Clearly you are different..." he paused for a second before nodding. "This one is currently our most promising initiate," he declared.
You froze. The words replayed in your mind until he spoke again.
"I think you would make a good addition to the Purple Dragons but you still have to prove yourself..." he muttered. "Tomorrow, you will stop by and be given more important work than walking aimlessly around the city. And you will get higher pay of course."
Earlier that day, you had been promising yourself that you would leave the Dragons for good. You had never wanted to get involved again...
But he was promising you exactly what you wanted. Jobs that were actually exciting, good pay, and most importantly praise. There was nothing in the world you loved more than praise.
"Of course," you said instantly. "I will be sure to prove myself worthy of a Purple Dragon title."
It was a bit of an exaggeration. You weren't really looking to become the member of a gang but hanging around until the point of proper initiation wouldn't be too bad. After all, when the time came for you to become a true Purple Dragon, you would just decline.
That would show your friend to steal your money and lie...
You left without your bag or jacket afterwards. When Hun had offered it back, you had refused on the claim that it brought too much unwanted attention from the general public.
He had nodded and flung it aside without even a second thought.
It had made you laugh to think that your friend valued it so much. Clearly it was worthless to the Dragons and you couldn't wait to share such a fact. Along with other 'big' news of course.
Somebody yelling snapped you out of your thoughts and you glanced curiously over.
The girl was stocky, her eyes blazing with malice. At her back, 2 men stood with their arms crossed like some kind of body guard. You recognized her immediately as a member of a rival gang. "You're a little close to our line, don't you think?"
Giving a customary glance to the ground, you gave a casual shrug. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, don't pretend," she scoffed. "Some of the others saw you scurrying around last night. You're one of the Dragon's lackeys. Haven't they taught you yet about our boundaries?"
Rolling your eyes, you shrugged. "They have. I know I'm not violating rules here."
"I'll never understand your kind," she muttered. "You're not even an actual Purple Dragon and yet you walk around like you are. Do you have any idea how long it will take you to even get to the point of being a low-level lackey?!"
"I guess I'll get to see," you replied with a small grin. "Now if you don't mind – "
"Do not walk away from me!" the shout was so unexpected that it caused you to flinch and cower ever so slightly.
She wouldn't actually do anything... right?
If she had been planning on it, you would never know. Before you could retort, a male voice called out with an order to leave you alone. You blinked and one of the turtle things that you had seen the previous night was standing in front of you, shielding you from a perceived threat.
You stumbled backwards and landed on your ass. What was meant to be a scream only came out a breathless gasp for air as you tried to move away from whatever it was.
"It's one of those mutants!" you heard somebody yell.
Mutant... The word made your heart beat faster and the bile rise in your throat. What was it going to do to you?
You had never been more scared in your life than when it turned to face you. It was a bipedal reptile of some kind... nothing like what you had ever seen. The shell on its back was indicative of it being a tortoise or turtle or... something?!
It seemed to sense your distress because it immediately raised its hands in surrender and gave you what was meant to be a smile. "Hey, don't worry. I won't hurt you."
"What... I mean... how?" Despite being fluent in English, you couldn't form a sentence.
It rubbed the back of its neck and chuckled. "Sorry to scare you. I saw that gang trying to get the jump on you and figured I should help out. You don't really seem like you're the kind of person to fight off three gang members."
"No," was your soft and eloquent reply. "What..."
"I'm a turtle," it said with a small laugh. "I get that question often. The name's Michelangelo! I promise I'm not dangerous." He held out his hand. "Can I help you up?"
You timidly took his hand and stood. Sliding a few steps away, you worked up the courage to speak at a slightly louder decibel. "Thanks for um... helping me," you said. "You're right. I don't frequent this area so I wouldn't have been able to save myself from that."
They couldn't have done anything because you were over the territory border but that wasn't important.
Taking a deep breath, you offered a smile of your own. "I'm (y/n)," you said. "Sorry about my reaction but I haven't ever really seen a mutant before..."
He laughed. "It's no problem. I've had worse reactions. You could have had a heart attack! That would have been pretty bad. Or you could have fallen in something nasty," he wrinkled his nose in displeasure.
You forced a laugh. "I wouldn't have been very happy then."
These were the creatures that had attacked the Purple Dragon's headquarters, you were sure of it. The bandanna wrapped around their eyes made you almost certain of it. If that was the case... well... Hun had rewarded you immensely for a few canisters, what would you get if you made friends with one of their enemies for information?
"I'm going to go," the turtle said, happy at your apparent acceptance of what had happened. "You should get out of here before the Purple Dragons show up."
"But then you'd save me again, right?" you asked, feigning innocence to the best of your ability.
His eyes sparkled and he nodded quickly. "Of course! I'll always be able to help those who can't protect themselves."
You nodded and smiled. "I'm really shaken about this though..." you muttered. "Could you maybe escort me home? I would feel a lot safer."
For a brief second, you thought he was going to agree but then realization dawned on his face. "My bros probably won't be too happy if I do that," he admitted. "I'm not really meant to talk to humans at all but..."
"Do you maybe have a cellphone?" you asked. "We could trade numbers."
That one worked and you soon had entered his number into your contacts. He had told you to call him Mikey rather than Michelangelo because only his father called him by his full name.
You promised to call if you got into any trouble and he promised to answer immediately.
After he had disappeared onto the rooftops and you had begun walking home, you mulled over the day's surprises. At the time, it felt like things were really starting to go right in your life. You were finally getting exactly what you had wanted in your world. You could taste the adrenaline on your tongue.
That moment was basically when you tied the first cannonball to your leg and glanced into the dark waters for the first time.