Part 2: Impressions
"So, how's the soup?"
Lola smiled at an eager Mike. "You're a good chef," she ate another spoonful, feeling the warmth of the soup slide down her throat, "Either that, or my tastebuds just went numb,"
He grinned at her joke. She likes the soup. Too bad YOU didn't have
any, Raph...Now you'll get sick...
"So, I take it that you're feeling better, then?"
She frowned and shrugged, "Well, it helps my throat, anyway...But as
for my back...Oy!"
She put the bowl down and sunk back into the cushions.
"How about a little massage, then?" Mike offered.
Lola smiled at him. "Oh ho! Always the skirt chaser, aren't you, Mike?" she reached over and slapped his knee playfully.
"Who, me?" He smiled innocently. "Hey..." he said after a while, "Is that how you, um, know me?"
"Yeah," Lola put her hands behind her neck, "You're like that in the movie, in the magazines, in the cartoon...Well, practically everywhere! You even called April a..A a Aaaa-" Lola felt a sneeze coming on and motioned for Mike to get her the box of Kleenex. "AaaaccchoooOO," She sneezed into the paper towel and blew her nose. She felt yucky.
"I'b sorry," she said, and threw the used paper towel into the waste basket.
Mike pulled up a chair next to the bed. "Never mind that. Now what did you say I called April?"
Lola smirked and dabbed at her nose carefully with another paper towel. "A baaaaaaaaaabbbe," she impersonated him.
"Hehe," Mike rubbed the side of his face.
"You probably shouldn't get involved with me now, you would probably just catch the flu," Lola joked.
Mike giggled. "You're right. Raph refused to eat the chicken soup, by the way, so he'll catch it..."
Lola rolled her eyes. "That is so like Raph,"
"So he's like that in the cartoons and stuff, too?"
"Yep," she nodded, "you're all like this...except, in the cartoons you're very cliché, you know, hilarious stereotypes..."
She went on. "In fact, in the cartoon, you're a total goof-off, kinda
stupid, too..."
Mike didn't know if he was supposed to be insulted, but he must've
looked a little hurt, cause Lola grabbed his arm.
"Hey, Mike, don't get me wrong...I know for a fact that you're not!" She smiled a sincere smile, and he relaxed.
"And all of Don's inventions mostly goes wrong...Except the turtle mobile, the muta-raft, the turtle blimp..." She began counting up his inventions on her fingers.
"The turtle blimp? Blimp, as in Hindenburg?" Mike looked skeptical. "And if we were out flying in that giant thing, wouldn't we be spotted?"
"Yeah, that's what so stupid about it...you were even on TV in those cartoon series, but those stupid people still didn't seem to notice...but, hey, it's a children's show...most of them aren't very well made...they think of estetiqué, not logic! It's just a cartoon, right?"
"It would be neat to see it, though..." Mikey said absently.
"Yeah...By the way, how old are you now?" Lola wondered, " about fifteen, sixteen...?"
"I'll be sixteen this Summer," Mikey said.
"Oh. I'll be sixteen in October," Lola replied.
"You're only fifteen? Jeez, and here I thought you were older than me..."
"You did? Do I look that old?" Lola giggled.
Mike grinned. "Yeah, you're a real fossile..."
Lola laughed and slapped him teasily on his arm, when Splinter walked
in.
Lola widened her eyes in awe. "Wow, it's really you! I'm so honoured to meet you, ah, but I don't know what to call you...Splinter?"
Splinter smiled at her polite manners. "So, you are the girl who knew us, even though you had not met us? The girl from another dimension?" he said gently.
The feeling of almost endless wisdom and patience flowed from his voice, and he gained Lola's respect in a split second.
"Yes, Splinter. I'm Lola. I'm sorry I can not fully show my respect,
but, um, I'm kinda uncapable of any greater, uh, movements right now, I'm
kinda sick..." She shot him an appologetic glance.
Splinter carefully made his way over to the bed and laid his bony,
but strong hand firmly into hers.
"Don't worry about that, child. I am pleased to meet you." He gave her a reassuring smile, "And we will get you well quickly, I promise,"
"Oh, are you gonna give me one of your curing herbal tea mixtures or
something?" She said hopefully.
Splinter seemed somewhat amused by everything she knew about them.
"Yes, that I will. I will be back later. Now, you just rest, my child,
and leave everything up to us,"
When he had left the room, Lola turned to Mike. "He has this certain sense of...peace about him, doesn't he?"
"Yeah..."
Lola suddenly remembered something important. "Hey, what about the Foot?!
Are they all dead or something?
And Shredder?" Lola was beginning to worry. She had forgotten all about
what troubles the turtles faced.
What if they attack us while I'm sick? I'm not much help either way, that's for sure...and if I know them right, they would probably think of me before themselves...well, Leo would anyway...I could never live with myself if I was the cause of someone dying...but maybe I'm just being paranoid...
She carefully sat up in the bed and waited for Mike to answer.
"Shredder? No, he's dead, Splinter killed him..." Mikey began.
"Oh, no! He's not dead, that's just something you think! He's gonna
return, right now he's lying on the junkyard, and he'll wake up soon, and
then he'll get hold of some mutagen, and... and..." Lola suddenly realized
she was babbling.
She felt a cold cloth on her forehead, and she looked up at Mikey's
worried face.
"I think you're maybe getting worse..." he tried to smile.
Lola took a deep breath, and let it out again. "Mike..." she said,
this time calmly, "I'm a little paranoid, I know that, but that's what
happened in the second movie...and I guess I just got carried away...I'm
worried about you guys," she shrugged.
"So, Shredder came back?" Mike whispered, as if he didn't want to cause her a headache,"But he's not at the junkyard, that's for sure. We were fighting at the shore, and he fell into sea. We even saw his body get smashed against the rocks. Don't worry, everything will be okay," he said softly and stroked her cheek, gently and comforting.
"Yeah...But haven't you got any other enemies? Oh my god, Tatsu! What about him?" she continued worrying.
"Psshh, Tatsu? He's nothing to worry about, he fled the country!" Mike waved his hand in a dismissing matter.
Lola closed her eyes and sighed. "I do hope you're right..."
Don and Leo walked into the room. "How's the little pasient doing?" Don asked.
"Well, Mike's soup helped my throat a little, but..." She rubbed her forehead indicatively.
"I'm sorry that Raph isn't here to check on you too, but since he refuses to eat the soup, he doesn't want to get anywhere near you while you're sick..." Leo shook his head.
"Psshh, it's totally okay... I understand him. I wouldn't wanna catch this either, if I were him..." Lola dabbed at her nose again with the paper towel. "You guys better be careful too, you know! The last thing I want is for you to get sick..."
"Aww, I'll think we'll manage," Don smiled.
"Heheheee! I told ya so!"
Raph was peeking into the livingroom, laughing, with his bandanna over his mouth to not get any germs.
"Oh, shut up, or I'll cough on you," Don said hoarsely.
"Hey, it's not ma fault! It's you who couldn't lissen to me jes fer once," came Raph's muffled voice.
"Yeah, well, great, so you were right," Leo said and sneezed, "do you have bother us about it? We're sick!"
It was five days later, and the turtles had caught the flu, all except
Raph, because he'd stayed away from Lola.
Now Lola came smiling and humming into the livingroom, carrying a tray
with four glasses of orange juice. She actually enjoyed taking care of
the turtles, especially now that she had recovered herself. It also gave
her the opportunity to return their kindness and hospitality.
"Here's your drinks," she beamed, " remember to drink lots of fluid when you're sick,"
God, I'm starting to sound like my mom...hope they don't find me as irritating.
She lifted the drinks of the tray and handed them out in turn to the exhausted and limp turtles. Leo was lying on the floor in an old sleeping bag, Mike was on the couch, and Don had been given Lola's big recliner. They were half watching some old rerun on TV, and half fighting with Raph.
She went over to Raph with the last glass. "Want it?"
"Keep dat germ-infected thing away from me," Raph said roughly and backed away into the hallway.
"Okay, whatever," Lola gulped down the contents of the glass right in front of him, and then carried the tray back into the kitchen.
"Don't mind Raph, he's alwa--" Leo began.
"Oh no, but I don't mind him," Lola blinked, confused for a split second, "he doesn't bother me. I know he's not mean, I know what's eating him, and I'm not gonna try to stop him from acting like he wants to--"
"What's dis-- psychology 101?" Raph muttered sarcastically from the hallway. He was lurking there, listening to what was said in the livingroom.
Lola blushed at all of them. "I'm so sorry when I do that, it's just...I don't even think about it, it's so natural to me, cause I know everything about you...maybe I should try to get into my head that you're actually not comic book figu--"
"Yeah, lady, mebbe ya should," Raph vanished into the hall again.
"I have to stop trying to understand you guys all the time," Lola mumbled and sat down on the floor in front of the turtles.
"No, I think it's fascinating...an alternative universe...I would also try to understand the uh, beings there," Don said.
"Yeah, we would probably do the same if you were a comic character...you know, it's just like the fans of moviestars who think they know the person because they've seen him on TV," Mike mused.
Lola laughed momentarily at the thought of her being a comic book figure, but fell silent. It wasn't as crazy as she had thought. The turtles had no idea that they were comic characters. I wonder if there's a dimension where I'm famous...
"I agree with that, but I'm just thinking that maybe you don't like to get your heads digged into and your souls exhibited like that...I know I wouldn't," Lola hugged her knees. At first she had thought it was fun to baffle them with her knowledge, but she had changed her mind. Knowing their names was one thing, but knowing their minds was another...
The turtles mumbled some words of agreement.
It's kind of scary knowing the possibility that someone knows everything you've thought... hell, maybe everything you're going to think too, Don thought. How did they get this information? Have they visited this dimention?
Lola said that Shredder was gonna come back...but she said he was lying on the junkyard...some details are different from what she said...so is that universe like ours? Can we kinda predict the future here? Or is something else going to happen? Mike wondered.
Another dimension...I wonder what they believe in there...is it just
like here, or do they know the answers? Have they come further than us?
Leo
pondered, but had a feeling that the other dimension closely mirrored theirs.
Would people waste their time with comic magazines if they knew
the answers? Or is that the answer?Just... enjoy yourself? Leo
couldn't quite believe that.
If we're comic figures...then what's reality? Am I really
sitting here, or am I just a figment of some drawing artist's imagination?
In the hallway, Raph sat with his ear against the wall, but didn't hear
them say anything.
What? Did those wimps pass out from the flu, Raph thought irritatly,
or
is Psychic Girl in there sending them brain messages?
Raph gave up on his eavesdropping and slumped his shell against the
wall. All I know is that I don't like her snooping around...she knows
too much. Too much about me, anyway...
Lola put on a sweater she'd been given by Leo. She suspected it was
April's.
Heh, this is kinda cool. Me wearing the famous April's sweater...wonder
if they're ever gonna let me meet her...
Lola tied her shoelaces, and got up. It was kinda painful walking,
cause the shoes were just a little too small for her.
April sure has tiny feet...but they'll do...it's not like I could
borrow any shoes from the turtles, even if they wore shoes...I'm not gonna
complain about it...that's just whiney...and ungrateful...
She still couldn't stop thinking like a fan, thinking of them as something
far above her, thinking that maybe she was dreaming after all...thinking
of them as just personalities...premonitioning their every step...
Every thing they did, she thought, 'Oh, that's so like him...' and
'I knew he would do that.'
She didn't mean to, and everytime she caught herself, she tried to
stop, but couldn't.
Lola actually hadn't thought about her home at all, not since that first
night. She was so taken with the turtles, watched them all day, sometimes
not even noticing she made them uncomfortable. Mike was the only one who
loved her attention.
Don and Leo liked it at first, but then later, they got enough. It
wasn't like she followed them around or anything, it was just that she
looked at them...seemed to fall into a daze occasionally.
She didn't gawk at Raph, she knew he would get angry, not to mention
suspicious...she wanted to look at him, but deep down, she was scared of
him. She was scared of what he might do if he was provoked.
Mike rambled on with her constantly, but she couldn't quite follow everything
he said.
Not that what he said was particularly complicated or anything, just
that he was talking so fast, and she had a habit of drifting off when a
persons mouth went off the track with meaningless and cheerful chatter.
Mike didn't seem to care if she listened or not...that is, if he even was
aware that she was only listening half-heartedly.
She liked Mike...but then, she liked them all. Even Raph-- even angry, scowling, evasive Raph. She was fascinated by him, she was fascinated by all the turtles.
But now, as she combed her shoulder-lenght, brown hair, she got struck by the fact that she had to snap out of it, they weren't cartoon figures, they were real, she wasn't dreaming, and she wasn't going to get home just by waking up. When she woke up the next morning, she was going to be in Mikey's bed, not lying on her sunfilled balchony. She had to see that.
She also needed to stop scrutinizing them like a paparazzi.
Lola went in to the livingroom to find it empty. Empty and extremely
messy.
Absently, she began gathering up magazines, organizing them into little
stacks, fluffing up the pillows of the couch and picking up the blankets
that lay strewn around, folding them and putting them on the couch.
She noticed there was a lot of used paper towels, but she wasn't planning
on touching them before she got herself some plastic gloves or anything
else to protect her hands from getting covered with turtle snot.
She found them where they used to keep them at home, under the sink.
They
must be used to touching nasty stuff...
Sighing, she grabbed an old plastic bag and began filling it with paper
towels and old chocolate wrappers and other junk she was disgusted, but
not surprised to find. When she tried to pry a very old and possibly hairy
thing from under the couch, which she couldn't decide what was, either
a marshmallow or an old popsicle, her hand bumped into something.
Lola fumbled with her hands over the rectangular form, and recognized
it as another stack of magazines.
Better put it up with the other ones then...hope it hasn't got any
goo on it...
When she brought them out from the couch and into the light, she widened
her eyes.
A naked woman with only thin straps of leather covering her breasts
stared hungrily and seductively up from the cover.
Porn magazines...? Now this I did not expect...
She blushed and hastily shoved them under the couch again. This was
a little burst in her hero-bubble. She stared at the dirt-covered plastic
gloves on her hands for a while, then realized how stupid she was.
Aww, come on, Lola! What did you expect? They're boys, they're
teenagers...and they don't think they'll ever get a girlfriend...it's more
than okay to dream!
Lola wasn't going to assume that they were Raph's, even after the impression
she'd gotten of him over the past years.
Now, she even thought they'd might belong to Leo. Why not? Looks
like they're not fully mirroring the comics after all...
I shouldn't have thought they were completely identical...even their
looks are kinda different...
She smirked at nothing in particular as she sat down lightly in her recliner. This is definitely something they don't include in the comics...!