Love Never Lost

Pulverizer Returns: Part 1

Brooke's POV:

Tonight, we're on a rooftop knocking down Foot ninjas.

Raph: "I could do this all night."

Raph knocks out a Foot soldier and looks around to see the fight's over.

Raph: "Aw, man."

Me: "Babe, if you keep breaking your toys, I'm not gonna buy you new ones."

Mikey: "Dude, it's like we just cleared a video game on 'easy'."

Leo: "Mikey, if Master Splinter has taught us anything, it's that real combat is not like a video game."

Donnie: "Hey, coins!"

Leo: "The Foot soldiers haven't been much of a challenge lately. Wonder why."

Raph: "Well, maybe we're just that awesome."

Me: "That sounds right."

Donnie: "You know who I'd hate to be?"

Me: "The guy who has to tell Shredder about this?"

Donnie: "Bingo!"

Me: "Man, I'm on a roll tonight!"

Raph chuckles as we all walk off to a new location.

{Time skip}

We're overlooking TCRI, but there seems to be no present activity.

Leo: "Alright, guys. Let's pack it in. Nothing's happening."

Raph: "I was afraid this day would come. We've run out of butts to kick."

Me: "Never say never, Raph."

I direct their attention to a Foot soldier trying to break into TCRI.

Raph: "I don't get it. Just one guy?"

Mikey: "Maybe they only need one guy. Maybe this guy is the meanest, baddest, most deadly ninja we've ever seen."

The soldier tries and fails to climb the wall from the ground up.

Donnie: "Or not."

The guy opens a panel but gets stuck halfway through crawling into it.

Mikey: "Anyone else find this dude adorable?"

Me: "Well, he's not much, but he's all we've got."

Leo: "Let's go."

We leap off the roof and take a defensive stance behind the soldier. Suddenly, more Foot soldiers jump to surround us.

Leo: "Ambush!"

Raph smiles as we all draw our weapons.

Raph: "All right!"

We take down most of them in minutes while the rest leave the man stuck in the window behind. He slides out and approaches us, but Donnie trips him with his staff and holds it in front of his face.

Pulverizer: "Wait, Donnie, it's me!"

Wait, that voice. Aw, crud. I take off his mask to reveal-

Donnie & I: "The Pulverizer?"

Pulverizer: "Hey, guys. How awesome is this? Bet you guys were wondering when you'd see me again."

Raph: "No."

Pulverizer puts an arm around Raph with a smile.

Pulverizer: "Raphael, still the jokester I see. Good one."

Pulverizer goes in for a fist bump, but Raph twists his forearm around.

Pulverizer: "Hey, what do you guys think of my new threads? I'm a ninja now!"

Me: "What are you doing with the Foot?"

Pulverizer: "Well, last time, you told me I needed to practice. So I joined a Bradford dojo to hone my craft. I wowed 'em with my smooth moves. And boom! They liked me so much, they asked me if I wanted to join the Foot Clan."

Mikey: "Wow, they must really be hurting for dudes."

Pulverizer: "I've only been with 'em a few days, and I've already made the rank of ashigaru-sha."

Donnie & I facepalm.

Me: "Do you know what ashigaru-sha means?"

I've been studying Japanese history, specifically in the martial arts sector, for a while now. And, 'ashigaru-sha' is less glamorous than it sounds.

Pulverizer: "No."

Donnie: "It means 'cannon fodder'."

Pulverizer: "Oh, ho, ho. Wow."

Donnie: "Do you know what that means?"

Pulverizer: "No."

Me: "In traditional Japanese warfare, the ashigaru-sha were the expendable soldiers who were sent in first to waste the enemy's ammunition and set off traps before the real soldiers arrived."

Pulverizer: "Nah. Nah. The Foot wouldn't do that. We're the good guys."

Donnie: "Why would you think that?"

Pulverizer: "We're out there fighting the Kraang just like you. I mean, I do check for traps, and I do get shot at a lot. And now that you mention it, they do keep calling me expendable."

Leo: "Why are the Foot fighting the Kraang?"

Pulverizer: "I can totally find that out for you. I could be a spy!"

Me: "Pulverizer, do yourself a favor and quit the Foot."

I toss his mask to the side, and he retrieves it before turning to me with a sly grin.

Pulverizer: "Oh, sure. I'll quit the Foot.*winks*"

Me: "No, I'm serious."

Pulverizer: *winks 5x* "Of course you're serious."

Donnie: "She is. Stop winking!"

Pulverizer: "Right. I'll recon intel and send you a text. I'm in ninja stealth mode."

He runs off into the street, nearly getting hit by a car. Well, this can only end badly.

TO BE CONTINUED