***
Kali is sitting sideways in the Dragon Lord’s throne.
"Hello everyone and welcome to week two of Divine Eyes. Last week you voted and here are the results:
"Two for Wick.
"Two for Venus.
"One for Donatello.
"One for April.
"We have a tie. But I can’t kick both of them off, so I’ll decide the final vote."
The room lights up and Wick is sitting beside the throne in an uncomfortable plastic chair.
"Hey, Wick."
"Hello, Kali, I love what you’ve done with the place."
"Thank you, Wick, but sucking up won’t get you back in the fic."
"Why not Venus? Huh?"
Kali smiles. "She’s more popular than you are apparently. I got votes to keep her on. Besides, I’m not through with her yet."
Wick shakes his head. "You’re worse than the master."
"Thanks. Now that you’re off, do you have anything to say about your experiences?"
"Only that I’m glad it’s over. And if you ever try this again, I will eat you."
Kali just shrugs. "Sure you will, dragon-boy. Just be glad that you don’t have to eat paprika."
Wick got wide-eyed. "You’re evil!"
"I know. Now on with the fic!"
"I want my book back!"
***
Day Six
Leonardo is pacing the length of the dojo. "It’s not fair. That pathetic lizard gets to leave but I have to stay here in this hell!"
Casey stops hitting the training dummy. "This is your home, Leo. You’re just sore 'cause you aren’t in control for once."
"I am always in control!"
Casey pauses for a moment. "Sure, Leo, whatever you say."
Leo is about to give Casey a piece of his mind, but he's interrupted by giggling. They leave the dojo and go into the living room.
Sitting on the couch is Shredder; his legs propped up on the table and his arm around Venus.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Venus jumps and looks at him. Shredder just smirks.
"Leo!" Venus cries.
"Greetings, my enemies." Shredder waves at them.
Leo frowns at Venus. "What are you doing?"
"Talking!"
Shredder points at Leo. "She’s her own person, shellback. She doesn’t need you telling her what to do."
"Yeah!" Venus jumps up. "How dare you try to tell me who I can and cannot talk with."
Casey is trying very hard not to laugh. Shredder sighs, "Venus, you are beautiful when you're angry."
Before Leo can argue he’s interrupted again, this time by Mike.
"Dinner!"
They all file into the kitchen. Mikey is pulling a pizza from the oven and has another on the counter. Raphael is already at the table.
About five minutes into the meal, Raphael starts snickering. Mike tries to shush him while holding in his own laughter.
"What’s so funny?" Don asks.
Raphael grins. "Paprika."
"What!" Dragon Lord jumps up. "The author told you, didn’t she? That evil…" Suddenly his eyes roll into the back of his head and he passes out.
Mike and Raph can no longer contain their laughter and crack up. Casey and Shredder join in, too.
"What have you done!" April cries.
Don points at her. "You skipped a button."
April looks down and grabs the front of her shirt, blushing madly. She runs from the room.
Leo blinks. "Has everyone gone crazy?"
"No," Venus says. "Just you."
***
Day Seven
Donatello sits alone with one of the books he's brought with him. Just sitting there. Reading.
Suddenly, the letters on the page swirl around to form new words.
Do something.
Don slams the book shut. "How's that for something?"
He suddenly drops the book because he's gotten a papercut. "Ow, damn it, that hurts!"
***
The Dragon Lord walks in from the garage. "I hate this."
April runs over. "You're all right!"
"No thanks to that miserable turtle," he hisses. "Gods, my head hurts."
"Ooooohh," April coos.
Mike, who's sitting on the couch with Leo and Casey, starts making kiss-y noises. "Awww, is April gonna kiss it all better?"
Casey glares at Dragon Lord. "Step away from my woman."
Dragon Lord tilts his head up. "Make me, you pathetic human."
Casey jumps off the couch and lands a punch on the dragon's snout. The Dragon Lord picks him up by his shirt. Venus walks into the room with a piece of paper.
"Kali's given me my powers back so I can save Casey."
"Well?" Leo says.
Venus folds her arms over her chest. "No."
"No?" Casey gasps.
"I'm not going to be at the beck and call of that succubus! You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it."
Raphael runs in from the kitchen. "I'll save ya, buddy." Raphael jumps onto the Dragon Lord's back and shakes the paprika bottle in his face. Dragon Lord drops Casey and Raphael jumps away.
The Dragon Lord starts sneezing violently. Another piece of paper appears in Venus' hand. "'I take it back.' No!"
Raph waves his piece of paper. "Kali warned me."
***
Day Eight
Raphael is watching the scene in front of him in pure bliss. He grins as Leo takes another step forward in his nervous breakdown.
"This cannot be happening! When I get out of here, I'm going to give that witch a piece of my mind."
"Yeah," Raph says. "And she'll take a piece of your hide while she's at it."
Leo turns on him. "You should be on my side, Raph! She stole your bike."
Raph shrugs. "I'll get it back, and freshly washed, too. Besides, she's keeping it away from the goon squad."
"You're on her side?"
"Look, Leo, I'd rather be on her, period. Remember that this'll be all over soon. Maybe we'll all get lucky and you'll be voted out this week."
"Yeah….Hey!"
Raph snickers. "Go back to your nervous breakdown, Leo."
***
Day Nine
"Dudes, check this out!" Michaelangelo runs in waving a piece of paper. "We're a hit!"
"Huh?" Venus asks, totally confused by his words.
"It means they like us," Raph explains. "Gimmie the paper."
Mike clutches it to his chest. "No, I'm keeping it! She gave it to me!"
"I said give it!" Raph demands through gritted teeth. He pushes Mike's head into his shell and grabs the paper.
"That was uncalled for, Raph," Don says.
"Kiss my shell, techno-geek."
"Are they always like this?" Shredder asks.
"Pretty much," Venus replies.
Shredder looks to Dragon Lord, who is now a light shade of blue. Yes, blue. An allergic reaction to… something. "How do these losers always manage to beat us?"
"Don't ask me," Dragon Lord says. "You've been trying longer than I have."
"We are not losers!" Don yells. "You're the losers!"
Shredder stands up. "Come over here and say that freak!"
Suddenly, a light fixture falls from the ceiling and lands on Shredder's head, giving him a slight electrical shock and bump on the head. Venus covers her mouth and screams.
Don tilts his head upwards. "Thanks Kali."
The light fixture sparks in response.
***
Day Ten
"What is that sound?" April asks.
Mike looks over from the TV. "Leo."
"What is he doing?"
"He's trying to get kicked off."
"Oh." She pauses. "By destroying the dojo?"
Raph snickers from his place beside Mike. "Maybe he's been sniffing the paprika."
"That's not funny!" April yells, wapping Raph on the back of his head.
"Yo, Ape, cool it, will ya? You've already got Casey pissed at you. Don't make it worse on yourself."
April screams through her teeth and pulls her hair as she runs out of the room.
Mike and Raph high-three.
***
"Stupid bitch!"
Leo punches the black clad practice dummy again. The blonde wig falls off and he bends down to pick it up.
Donatello and Casey stand off to the side. "I think he's snapped," Casey says.
"Nah," Donatello says. "He does this every now and then. It relieves his tension. He'll be fine after the vote. That is, if he's still here after the vote."
***
Shredder and Dragon Lord are huddled together in the far corner of the garage.
"What are you doing?"
Shredder whirled around to face Venus. "Venus! Don't do that!"
She looks past him. "Are you trying to pry open that drain?"
"Yes," Dragon Lord says. "We've had enough, we're getting out of here."
"Isn't that against the rules?" Venus says. "I mean, we are supposed to stay for this."
Shredder touches her cheek softly. "My lovely flower, rules are meant to be broken. Anyway, if you don't tell, you can come with us."
"Okay."
***
Kali waits until the lights come up. She moves her mouth but no sound comes out. She faces off stage and silently yells. There's a moment while she listens. She looks at her microphone and flips the switch with her thumb.
"Stupid sound people. Ahem, that's it for week two. Remember, at FF.n, you can vote/review once per chapter. Drop me a line and make your vote count!" A springy bounce sound is heard.
Kali calmly walks off camera and a large crash is heard, followed by several screams and crying.
Kali returns to the screen and smiles. "See you next week."
***