Destiny grasps the lid of her chosen pizza, hyper aware of every noise the cardboard makes. She takes a deep breath and flips the lid open, rejoicing silently at her luck. It's a meat lover's pizza, her absolute favourite.
She grabs a slice and gobbles it down, not having a care in the world about her manners or how fast she's chewing. One slice is finished and she is quick to scarf down another, then a third goes down the hatch. As she reaches for a fourth helping, there's the shuffling of footsteps outside. Immediately, all her relaxation and happiness at the warm meal is going and her tail is curling around her body.
"Leo! What are you doing?" a voice asks. There's a sharpness to his voice that makes him sound very harsh, even though the question he's asking doesn't require any type of annoyance.
"Didn't you see her?" a second voice, one that's smoother than the previous one, responds.
"Who?" a third inputs.
"There was a girl...or, she looked like a girl."
"Oh! The one who took the pizza?" a fourth voice guesses. "The one who was twisting and turning and was all like 'Rah!' 'HYAH!' 'NYAAAAAA!'" There's a pause. "That girl?"
"Quiet, Mikey!" the third voice scolds. "Do you want to be caught?"
"It wasn't that loud, Donnie."
"Guys, ssh!" the voice belonging to "Leo" orders. "To answer your question, Mikey, yes. That's her."
Destiny's breath hitches in her throat and she closes the pizza box. Shoving it closer to her backpack, she searches for an escape route. These people can't find her; they just can't. The last thing she wants is to see their horrified expressions when she's discovered. Her quick search for an escape comes up empty, making her curse herself for not thinking of making a second exit.
"Remind me why this matters? Some girl snagged food, so what?" the second voice snaps. "Leo, we need to find what Shredder's up to. You know he's—"
"Wait...do you smell that?" Mikey asks. "It's pizza..."
"If you would get your head out of your stomach and focus, maybe we could actually get something done. Leo, Donnie, help me out here. You know trying to find some random girl isn't going to do us any good."
"Woah Raph, you're taking charge!" There's a loud laugh and the sound of skin hitting skin. "What next, are you gonna take Leo's job?"
"No way, Mikey. Raph's just cranky because he didn't have a nap after training." Leo's voice is teasing, as if he's speaking to a small child.
"Aw, Raph, you need to take better care of yourself," Mikey says, tone soft and caring. "Sleep is good for the soul, bro."
Another sound of something being smacked. "Stop touching me, and I don't take naps! I'm not five!"
"Naps are said to improve mood, alertness, and performance," Donnie cuts in. "They aren't just for children. Most adults—"
"No one asked for a lesson, brainiac."
"Well excuse me, but I felt the need to clarify that you needing naps is nothing to be ashamed of!"
Destiny scrunches her eyes shut and claps her hands over her pointed ears, muffling the voices outside. She pleads silently that they would go away, that their conversation is making them forget that they ever saw her.
Please go away. Please go away. Please go away.
There's a loud shriek that makes Destiny's eyes snap open. A second later, a large green foot comes crashing through the roof of her home directly in front of her face and causes multiple pallets and wooden planks to start caving in. She lets out an uncontrollable scream that sounds like something halfway between a shout and a bark.
The wolf mutant reacts instantly. She grabs the grotesque limb and shoves it upwards, listening as a few cries of surprise sound from the group outside. She bats her makeshift door out of the way and scrambles from the toppling haven, forgetting all about the pizza and her belongings as she gets up and prepares to make her escape.
"Hey! Woah!"
Destiny looks up at the teenagers for just long enough to see that they aren't humans at all. She freezes, eyes going wide and her heartbeat pounding faster. Four green-skinned creatures stare back at her, all of them wearing masks in various colours; blue, red, orange, and purple. They have knee and elbow pads, hand and foot wrappings, and various other gear, including ninja weapons.
They look like humans based on their height and the way they're standing, but...Destiny shakes her head and blinks a few times.
Are those...turtle shells?
"Miss...are you okay?" the blue-masked turtle-thing asks, holding up a three-fingered hand as he takes a step forwards. He looks stunned, maybe dazed.
Destiny gapes at him, unable to make herself speak. Something comes over her as she stares at him, like a sense of safety or familiarity. It's like she's seen him before, like they've crossed paths but never spoken.
She takes a step back, hands clenching into fists as she raises them. "I don't want any trouble," she utters, a tremble present in her voice.
"We don't either, just calm down," he murmurs, now holding up both hands. "We're fine."
She narrows her eyes, taking in the other three turtles for a split second. None of them say a word. She takes another step back, her nostrils flaring slightly. Her slitted pupils dilate.
I'm going crazy, she thinks. These things...they must be aliens, like the Kraang.
No sooner has that thought crossed her mind than pure terror shoots through her. Without a word, she spins around and takes off into a sprint.
"Hey! WAIT!" comes a panicked cry behind her.
She doesn't slow down, not for one second. She's had enough of aliens to last her a lifetime.
----------
Leonardo's shoulders slump, his mouth hanging open slightly. What in the world just happened?
"Aw, dude," Michelangelo lets out a long whine, pouting his lower lip out. "Leo, did you make a weird face at her?"
"No, I didn't," the turtle retorts, turning back to his brothers. "She just turned and ran, that's it. I didn't do anything."
Raphael arches an eye-ridge, stretching his arms behind his back. "Right, sure. Maybe the fact that we're giant talking turtles kinda gave her the shivers," he says, shooting Leonardo a pointed look.
"Guys, I think Mikey destroyed her home," Donatello calls. They look towards the purple-masked turtle, who's kneeling next to the dilapidated pile of wood and sifting through it using a combination of his bō-staff and his hands. "Look, she's got a backpack and pizza and—"
"Pizza? Dude, gimme!" Michelangelo squeals, bounding towards his brother.
Raphael snags the back of the orange-masked turtle's shell. "That isn't yours."
"But Raph, she left it behind..."
"Maybe because your stinky green foot smashed through her ceiling and freaked her out!"
Leonardo ignores the quarrelling pair and moves to Donatello's side, kneeling down and helping him lift up the wood. He grabs the backpack, his sapphire eyes lighting up when he sees the Space Heroes designs on the front. Donatello pays no mind to him, still pulling loose items from the pile.
"Oh man, that was really rude of us..." the intelligent terrapin mumbles, his russet eyes sinking with shame as he dusts off the cover of Romeo and Juliet. "She left all her stuff behind, and now—"
"A hairbrush, an old book, a sweater, and some loose change?" Raphael cuts in, reaching down and snatching the novel from Donatello's hand. "I'm sure she really treasured these things." He rolls his eyes and drops the book, only to have the purple-masked turtle snatch it from the air and shoot him a glare.
"We need to give these back to her," Leonardo says, pushing himself back to his feet as he grips the backpack. "This must be all she has."
"We can just leave it here and she'll come back for it, right? Then we can see her again and show her that we aren't all that bad," Michelangelo says as he pokes away at the loose change scattered near the pizza box. His baby blue eyes brighten. "Ooo, look! She's got Canadian quarters too!"
"Highly doubtful," Donatello sighs. "This sort of home isn't very permanent. I'm guessing she moves around a lot, and now that she knows that we're here, that we know where she was living, I doubt she'll come back."
Leonardo purses his lips, looking down at the backpack in his large hands. His gaze flickers up to the direction the girl took when she ran from them, his grip tightening slightly as his mouth twists into a frown.
He and his brothers have to find her again. They have to make it up to her for smashing her house and separating her from her belongings, or at least Leonardo feels that that's something he must do.
"Pack all her stuff up," he says, the three turtles near him jerking their heads in his direction at the sound of his voice. "We have to find her and give them back. Simple as that."
"Easier said than done, Leo," Donatello says, pursing his lips.
"But it's not impossible," he retorts, turning to them. "We'll get her a fresh pizza or two when we find her again. For now, we can't let those ones go to waste." Michelangelo grins and snatches up the boxes without a second of hesitation. "Come on, let's finish patrol."