The Casey Chronicles by Nickelodeon Publishing Read Free Book Online Page B

everywhere!
    â€œYo!” Mikey yelled. “You ready for forty-eight hours of evil-fightin’, galaxy-savin’, super action?!”
    â€œI
was
… until you spilled greasy popcorn ALL OVER ME!” Donnie cried.
    â€œMy bad,” Mikey replied. He decided to do the decent, and delicious, thing: he picked the kernels off Donnie’s face one by one—and ate them.
    While Mikey was busy cleaning up his mess, Raph pulled Leo aside. “You got a minute?” he asked.
    Leo sighed. “Well, I was gonna watch
Super Robo Mecha Force
—”
    â€œCool, so …, ”Raph awkwardly began. “Here’s the deal. See … I … me …”
    Leo was taken aback. He’d never seen Raph struggle like this before!
    â€œSorry,” Raph finally whispered.
    Leo couldn’t believe it. Raph
never
apologized. This was a first in Turtle history, and he knew he had to make this moment last.
    â€œWhat was that?” Leo asked, pretending not to have heard him.
    â€œI said I was … sorry.”
    Leo cupped his ear, pretending to strain to hear the words.
    â€œSorry! Okay? SORRY!” Raph blurted out.
    Everyone heard it that time. Donnie’s and Mikey’s mouths dropped open at the announcement.
    â€œI thought I had my anger under control,” Raph confessed. “Turns out I didn’t. But now I do! Seriously.”
    â€œHe means for now,” Mikey called out from the couch, butting in. “I give him ten more seconds.” And then, still munching his popcorn, he started the countdown: “Nine … eight … seven … ”
    With that, Raph could feel his blood pressure shoot up like a rocket. He bit his lip.
    â€œWhat are you saying, Raph?” Leo prodded, sensing his brother’s anger was being triggered. “It’s not that you are angry, but we
make
you angry?”
    Mikey kept counting: “Six … five … four … three … two … one—”
    â€œSHUT UP!” Raph yelled in a rage.
    â€œBing-bing-bing!”
Mikey joked. “We have a winner!”
    Raph was panting short breaths, trying to keep his cool. But it was too late for that now. His brothers didn’t have any faith in him. And that really got him steamed! He shrugged Leo away and started to walk out of the sewer.
    Again.
    â€œRaph, wait! I was just busting your shell,” Leo explained.
    Donnie had had enough of his moody older brother for one evening. “Eh, let the big green baby go.”
    Raph flung a ninja star toward his brothers, puncturing the popcorn bag. Kernels exploded all over the place.

    Raph punched his way out of the sewer, the manhole cover flying off into the street.
    â€œThose guys are making me loopy!” he fumed, kicking the air. “They just don’t get me!”
    Raph leaped on top of a nearby Dumpster and scaled a fire escape toward the sky above. He wanted to get as far away from his brothers as possible.

At that moment, high atop a different building, Casey Jones was scribbling in his journal. He’d been busy working on a cartoon that perfectly captured his battle with the turtle ninja. As he shaded in the details on his drawing, he winced at the soreness from their fight.
    It’s been three days and my body still feels like a punching bag
, he thought, conscious of the dull ache he felt underneath his hockey gear.
That turtle’s a worthy opponent, I’ll give him that.
He sketched the turtle’s face carefully, its odd look still fresh in his mind. There was something different about this turtle ninja. Something almost …
human.
It wasn’t a blank slate like those robo-ninjas from the rink. And it wasn’t a mindless creature like the goo monster. It was unique.

    A flash of green caught Casey’s attention. He looked up from the page.
    The turtle was practicing its ninja moves on the rooftop of an adjacent building.
    Casey put his journal away,