All TMNT characters are © Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman, now currently Nickelodeon.
Author Note: This story's about daily life going on between April, her daughter, and the now grown-up Turtles. When some serious abuse allegations from April's young daughter May arise against the Turtles, April is forced to choose sides. Should she believe her daughter or the Turtles? Who's telling the truth? Read and find out!
Cast: April O'Neil, Casey Jones, May Jones, and the Turtles; Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello.
This is my first TMNT fic and I have yet to see the newer TMNT, so this fic is more based off the live action movie Turtles, yet I like having Splinter as formerly being the human Hamato Yoshi as in the 80's cartoon (not a pet rat as in the movies). Please Read & Review!
Note: There's mature content due to the reality issues I often put in my stories, so it's not really for the little kiddies out there. The swearing is no longer censored! Please check out my main site at www. cpbunnyart. com (remove the spaces) for the artwork of my fanfics & original stories! Enjoy! (( alaer. deviantart. com (remove the spaces) is being updated with new art/stories and still has plenty of my old art and stories))
Destruction of Trust
On her day off from Channel Six News, April laid back on her couch to relax for a while. The days before were hectic and stressful. Even though she had her friends the Turtles baby-sit her child May, she was still tired out.
Casey was fulfilling a new goal in his life to become a real police officer instead of being an extremist vigilante. Catching unlawful scum and getting paid for it would definitely help support his family better.
As time went on, Casey was coming closer to controlling his temper with Anger Management classes and April was working hard at find new stories to air. The Turtles watched out for May more often than not while the parents slaved away all day.
As the years went by, May was no longer a helpless baby and she talked extremely well for her age of seven thanks to Donatello's tutoring. April thought back to the weeks before and how her daughter was acting strangely.
She acted as if she was hiding something, but April never got around to asking her what was wrong. So today she got off the couch and went to her daughter's room to find out what.
April opened the door and caught May doing something unspeakable to herself. Angrily she grabbed her daughter and yelled at her. May avoided her eyes and stared at the floor.
"What were you just doing?! Where did you learn such dirty bad things?!" April shouted. What May murmured next threw April into a world of new torment. The Turtles taught her...? NO!
April didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. But she didn't know who else could have taught her. Certainly not Casey! April felt like her mind would explode any minute when she heard May accuse Raphael of such abuse then.
The mother in her wanted to kill that mutated amphibian with her bare hands. But her inner voice told her otherwise. The Turtles were not like that, were they? She knew them for over ten years now.
She hadn't ever seen them harm children before. They were good guys, noble animals. Mutated yes, but still decent animal creatures. Then, doubt seeped into her mind. Animals are supposed to be noble... But they are still animals...
And sometimes...sometimes you just can't trust animals. They do whatever they want whenever they pleased without a thought or a care.
No. No, the Turtles were not ordinary animals. They are special creatures, highly enhanced mutants. They could think just as well as humans. They know right from wrong. They would never dare... Would they?
"May, listen to me. Are you saying Raphael was touching you like that before?" April asked and went on when May nodded her head. "How many times has he touched you, May?"
"A lot of times, Mama. He hits me too." May went on, liking this attention she was getting from her elusive mother, a person she hardly got to see.
Instead of checking for proof, April scooped up May and called Casey. She never hid anything from him. Her rage didn't allow her to spare any details. Naturally Casey was furious and wanted to have all four of the Turtles de-shelled instantly.
April somehow got him to calm down and said she wanted to investigate first. But really she wanted to get her hands on Raphael and punish him right out of his shell.
Leaving May at a neighbor's house, April went to the abandoned subway station below where the Turtles lived. April wondered if the death of Splinter had anything to do with the Turtles' becoming like this.
They had matured greatly from the wild playful teens they were ten years ago. Leonardo was becoming a second Splinter and often meditated when he wasn't perfecting his swordsman skills.
Donatello was deeply involved with his scientific works and enjoyed taking care of his organic garden of super large vegetables. Raphael was becoming increasingly aggressive to be a better fighter than just a ninja, which annoyed Leo.
Raph liked to train when Leo wanted silence so he could meditate. The two fought often over who got what they wanted first. Getting clawed in the face and having your tail nearly bitten off was not Leo's idea of friendly sparring as Raph called it.
Leo found it unbelievably hard to assert his superiority over Raph. His other brothers seemed to accept it ok, but not much so for Raph.
Michelangelo was the only one who was still pretty playful, but he was very toned down compared to his teenaged self. Lately he seemed depressed even, which was like a death sentence to such an usually happy creature.
April knew Mikey longed for a significant other, which Don promised to figure out some way of making that happen for them all. She never really paid that no mind until now.
Maybe they were using her daughter for ungodly experiments? Cloning her DNA to make female Turtles? April's mind whirled with scary thoughts. First thing she had to do was to pick a bone with Raphael.
She found Leonardo meditating in a subway car as soon as she arrived and pushed on his shoulder. He grunted in annoyance and opened his eyes irritably at her.
"April. I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother me while I'm meditating." he said with a frown. As much as April was his friend, her daughter was really getting on his nerves. With that kid around, he couldn't get any peace and quiet.
"Where's your brother, Raphael?" April demanded, her tone alerting Leo to her hostility. Believing she was mad at him for being less than friendly, he sighed and figured he should apologize.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you, April. I think Raph's in the training quarters or he's in his room. Anyway, would you please not disturb me?" He paused and watched April walk off in a huff.
With his annoyance refreshed, Leo couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "I've had enough trouble with your loud-mouthed kid." He had no time to worry about silly humans. He cleared his mind of all thoughts and went back to meditating.
April didn't find Raphael in the training quarters, so she went to his room. She didn't care if it was off limits and all who venture there get a savage kick to the face, she had to see him.
She threw open the doors and surprised the turtle while he was doing some private reading. He hastily tried to hide his magazines. Seeing the naughty publications, April's rage made her stomp up to the angry protesting turtle and slap him in the face.
Of course the slap didn't hurt Raphael, but he knew an insult when he felt one. She began to yell at him and kicked the box of his favorite magazines across the room, making a mess.
"How dare you touch May like that!" April shrieked, hitting him again.
"What?! What the hell are you talking about?" he yelled back, getting pretty angry himself almost instantly.
"May said you were touching her private parts!" April screamed, slamming her fists on his chest and face. The Turtles weren't the small five foot creatures she first knew them as. They were now around six feet tall with stronger claws and beaks.
She was starting to see them more as monsters than her friends. Her anger would not let her listen to reason or hunt for the truth. She was blinded by rage.
"WHAT?!" Raphael roared, baring his teeth. April took a step back as he advanced forward in a swift charge.
"HOW COULD YOU ACCUSE ME OF DOING SUCH A SICK, DISHONORABLE THING AS THAT?! HOW COULD YOU?!" he shouted furiously. Growling angrily, he struggled not to attack her.
Being accused of such a thing drove Raph into a world of insane rage. After all those years babysitting May for practically nothing, this was the thanks they got? How dare she accuse him of doing child abuse! And THAT kind of child abuse!
A moment later, Leo came in looking very grave and angry. Raph immediately let him know what April had accused him of with much hurt in his voice. It was like she split his shell in two and yanked his spine out. That's how betrayed he felt.
"Did you hear what she said to me, Leo?! Did you?!" he shouted, growling still. Leo nodded.
"Yes, I did." he said softly and looked to April. Lately, their relationship with the humans were a bit strained due to the unbelievable amounts of stress May caused them on top of losing Splinter to cancer. This was making it much worse.
"April, you must apologize to Raphael. Now." he commanded, his stare and tone very authoritative and striking. April nearly backed down due to his impressive stature, but then she stood her ground.
"April. I said-"
"I heard what you said! And no, I won't apologize to a child molester!" April shot back, but cringed when she heard Raphael vicious roar of rage.
Leonardo had to hold his brother back from really attacking April then. She backed out of the room while Leonardo yelled at Raphael to calm down as he screamed out a flurry of species slurs.
"YOU UNGRATEFUL HUMAN! WAIT UNTIL I GET MY CLAWS ON YOU! HOW COULD YOU BE ACCUSING AN INNOCENT TURTLE LIKE THAT!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Raphael shrieked, flipping out.
He slammed Leo into the wall to get him off and went after April. Snarling viciously, Raphael grit his teeth tightly as he struggled to keep his claws to himself.
"DAMN IT, APRIL! I DIDN'T DO IT! WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?!" he yelled, flexing and unflexing his claws. It took all the strength he had to hold himself from lashing out.
April had seen the Turtles get aggressive in battle, but not this savage and wild over an argument. She feared for her safety suddenly. She had never worried about her safety around the Turtles...until now.
The helpless hurt sad look beyond the boiling rage in Raphael's eyes struck April, helping to convince her a little. But she still had doubts. Who was telling the truth? Her daughter couldn't be lying... Why would she?
Was she being biased for May since she was her one and only daughter? Surely, May wasn't a liar. Raphael was a different matter for that, but she never known any of the Turtles to behave like mindless filthy animals with no consciences.
What if she sided with the Turtles then find out later that she was wrong and allowed her daughter to be abused further by letting the Turtles to continue babysitting May? She couldn't afford to chance that.
"April, I suggest you leave now. Ow..." Leo rubbed the back of his head. Why did Raph have to slam him THAT hard? Sheesh!
"I-I will." April simply said, feeling like she had more questions than answers. She hated to see the angry tears leaking from Raph's eyes as she tore away from his volcanic glare. He had stopped growling at least.
The brothers watched her leave and just then Donatello appeared looking shocked and irritated. "Did I hear right? Did April really say those things?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so, Donatello." Leonardo answered, still rubbing his head. "What's the matter with her?" Donatello asked in disbelief.
Raphael snarled hatefully and punched his fist into the side of a subway car, causing it to derail and sit off balance on the rail.
"After all we did for April and that LYING kid of hers! All those sleepless nights for what?! Man!" Raphael looked at to the port hole where April climbed out of.
"Does she think I have no honor?! Does she think I would disgrace Master Splinter's memory like-like THAT?! HELL NO!" he ranted on, swiping at the tears in his eyes.
"I HAVE ONLY ONE THING TO SAY, APRIL! KARMA! YOU HEAR ME?! KARMA!" Raphael went back to his room, snarling and growling all along the way. Leo and Don cringed at the sound of slamming doors seconds later.
"Why would she think Raph did that to May? It just doesn't make any sense." Donatello wondered out loud. Leonardo shook his head and shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to keep on talking about it anymore than Raphael since he now had a splitting headache.
"I don't know why, Donnie. Ugh, can you make me some of your headache medicine?"
"Sure thing. Good thing Michelangelo is out getting pizza. He wouldn't be able to take an altercation like this one very well."
"Yes, I know. After Master Splinter left this world, he really hasn't been the same. I haven't heard him laugh in weeks."
"Yeah...It's really sad. I even saw him throw out all those stupid mind-numbing video games a few days ago. Strange, since he loved them so much. Ah, well. I'll get that medicine for you in a jiffy. Wait here." Donatello said and hurried off.
Leonardo sat down in a nearby easy chair and squeezed his eyes shut as he rubbed his temples. 'Why did you have to die like that Master Splinter? Why couldn't Donatello find a cure for your cancer? Why?' he thought in sorrow.
'How can I lead my brothers without you? I didn't have enough time to learn everything you knew. I wish you were here to help me and my brothers through this difficult time... I miss you, Sensai... Father...'
"How can he fall asleep with such a bad headache like that? It only took me a minute to make that pain-killer. Hmm..." Donatello asked out loud, then noticed the dampness around Leo's eyes.
Leonardo hastily wiped his eyes and stood up. Donatello understood. He had seen Leo's sorrow before and he felt it himself ever since he failed to save Splinter from cancer.
They knew they had to move on, but it was so hard. So very hard. Crime was at an all time high. Some nutcase above was recruiting any and all kids off the streets to steal and deal drugs.
The Turtles had their hands full keeping that nutcase from opening shop elsewhere. Whoever he was, he was just as bad as the Shredder was. They definitely didn't need more problems. April sure was NOT helping either, not one tiny bit!
Will Raphael's name be cleared of this horrid allegation? Who's really telling the truth and who will April believe in the end? How will the Turtles deal with this new distrust in April?
To Be Continued in Chapter 2! (The more reviews, the faster a new chapter is posted! Who do you think is telling the truth?) Plz be nice! This is my first Turtles ficcy! ^.^