Chapter 1: Hey There Delilah, What's it Like in New York City?
"Ugh. It's hot out." I complained to myself as I walked home from school. It was eighty degrees out. Most people think of this as a comfortable temperature. Not me. Anything above seventy is too hot for my taste.
I looked around carefully. I hated walking home from school, but I hated riding the bus home even more. That being said, it was probably a stupid choice to walk around by myself in one of the many bad parts of New York, and if I had a decent amount of common sense I would have rode home instead. Except I never cared much for common sense. I'd much rather risk it all for a little alone time on the way home than listen to perverted boys and gossiping girls.
That's what I hate about New York the most, I think. Traffic is so bad here that it's impossible for a teenager to drive anywhere, even with a license. I mean, if I drove everywhere I went, I would be flat broke.
"Two more blocks to my house. Yay." I thought to myself sarcastically.
Actually, things at home weren't THAT bad…ok maybe they were. After Dad disappeared without a trace a few years ago, Mom became an alcoholic. She could get a little violent when she was drunk, and I had to get a job at the age of thirteen to support us, but besides that, things are just peachy.
"Fucking teacher, giving me a fucking 'D' on my English paper because it wasn't typed. Well EXCUSE me for not having a computer." I growled to myself as I ducked into the ally that was connected to the apartment my mom and I shared. "Let's see him complete Sophomore year with a 'C' average while juggling a job and a constantly drunk mother. God, it sucks to be sixteen."
I undid my long, red hair out of its ponytail. I got sick of having to take a shower every day to wash my hair (not that I paid the water bill anyway. I took showers in the girls locker-room before school started), so I wore it up. The only downside? That on top of my not-so-perfect grades had me labeled as a punk, as well as worse things. I thought a ponytail would make me seem less threatening, but I guess not.
I dug my hand into my black sweatshirt pocket and pulled out the apartment keys. I didn't notice the glass cylinder whiz through the air and implant itself on my neck.
I did however, notice the slight pain in my neck after it hit me, but was distracted when I heard a noise coming from the dumpster to my right.
"Not again!" I groaned. I walked over to the dumpster and peered in. "Mom?" I asked. "Are you in there? Did you pass out again?" There was too little light in the ally for me to see clearly. I flipped the lid completely open and let out a strangled scream, backing away quickly. My back hit the brick wall of the apartment next door, causing me to drop my keys.
I heard someone move to the right of me, towards the back wall of the ally. I couldn't see who it was, since the person was covered in shadow. Suddenly a hand shot out from the darkness and grabbed me, covering my mouth.
I tried to elbow the person but suddenly became dizzy. At the same time, my vision began to blur. I quickly remembered the slight pain on my shoulder from earlier. Could it have been a dart with anesthesia in it? Like in movies? That didn't seem very likely, but who was I to say what was realistic anymore, after seeing what had been hiding in the dumpster?
The last thing I saw was the green, reptilian monster emerged from the dumpster, spinning something that looked like a fork with a really long, sharp middle prong.
"So, Bishop's after some random chick, huh?" Mikey asked. He was lounging upside down on the couch so his head was on the floor and his feet were resting on the back of the couch.
"Apparently so." Donny nodded. He, Raph, and Leo were standing around the couch Mikey was on. The four brothers were at their home, called the Lair. Oddly enough, it was located in the sewers. Even more oddly, these brothers weren't human. They were mutated turtles, trained to be ninjas by their Sensei, Master Splinter, a mutated rat. The boys decided to call themselves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Each brother was named after a different Renaissance Master and given different weapons individually.
"Raph and I caught a few commandos stalking her a week ago. Since then, they haven't stopped." The one called Leonardo, who had twin katanas and a blue mask, announced.
"But what does he want with her?" Mikey (full name Michelangelo. He had nunchukus and an orange ninja mask) frowned, righting himself.
"How should we know?" Raphael growled. He was wearing a red mask and spinning one of his sias in his green, three-fingered hand.
"I believe he wants to use her for some type of experiment. Raph and I shadowed her, in case of a commando attacked, and it seems she doesn't have much family besides her alcoholic mother and no friends. She would be the perfect target if he was looking for someone to experiment on. No one would realize she was missing." Leo answered sadly.
"Ah, don't go all gushy on us now, Fearless Leader." Raph rolled his eyes. He had detected the sadness in his brother's voice.
"There's nothing wrong with feeling sorry for someone in a bad situation, Raph."
"Yeah!" Mikey added.
"Whatevah. We gonna do somethin 'bout dis or not?"
Leo nodded. "We're going to do something about those commandos before this girl gets hurt."
In a matter of moments, they were running through the sewers. Luckily, there was a manhole in the ally that led to the entrance of the girl's apartment. The four weren't really sure where she would be. Leo and Raph had only tailed her at night when they couldn't be as easily seen. Fortunately, they DID know where she lived, and that was a good enough start.
"Ok, everyone hide. She's a teenager, so more than likely she'll be coming home from school any moment now." Leo informed them.
"I wish you had at least found out her name." Donny (aka Donatello, who wore a purple bandana and wielded a bo staff) complained. "I could have done a quick search on the internet and found out where she went to school so we could tail her from there."
All four brothers quickly scattered. Donny hid behind a few boxes, while Mikey laid flat on the platform of the fire escape on the opposite apartment. Raph hid in the dumpster next to the entrance to the apartment, and Leo donned shuko spikes he had hidden in his belt and climbed up the wall of the opposite apartment, hidden in the shadows.
Before the girl arrived though, a garbage truck backed into the ally. The three other turtles held their breath, praying that somehow Raph wouldn't be discovered.
The truck stopped abruptly and ten men in commando gear (including guns) hopped out of the van. Four men went into the apartment the girl lived in, and another four went into the opposite apartment. It was assumed they went on to their respective roofs. The remaining two men hid in the very back corners of the ally, hidden in shadow. One of the commandos stayed behind to back the truck out of the alley and park it along the street just outside, before hiding as well.
The band of ninjas was just about to jump them, when the girl arrived. She quickly strode over to the door. They saw one of the soldiers shoot a vial of anesthesia at her, but before any of them could act, a strange noise came from the dumpster.
Leo and Mikey could see the two commandos switch their attention to the dumpster, and Leo could hear the commandos on the roof ready their guns, which he assumed were snipers loaded with real bullets this time.
Raph had found a spider in the dark of the garbage and had let out a small yelp. He covered his mouth quickly and grimaced, willing the spider to go away.
The girl also stopped and said something the others couldn't hear, then went to check the garbage.
"Well, there goes the element of surprise." Leo sighed as he jumped off of the wall and onto an unsuspecting commando just as the girl let out a scream. They all saw her back away into the wall, and the other commando on the ground quickly darted over to her and pulled her into his grip, just as she lost consciousness.
Raph jumped out of his hiding spot, along with his two younger brothers.
The commandos from the roofs had already entered the alleyway again, and were shooting their lethal guns at them.
With deadly skill, the four brothers began dispatching the soldiers without much difficulty. As they took on multiple commandos each, the one with the girl quickly slipped back into the garbage truck unnoticed.
The car started up, and the brothers realized their mistake.
"Shell!" Leo growled. "Donny, can you-"
"Already on it!" Don interrupted. He grabbed a tracer from out of his belt and threw it like a shuriken onto the truck just as it sped past the alley. It magnetically stuck to the side of it.
Raph knocked out the last of the commandos, and the brothers quickly took to the sewers. They ran away from the truck and directly to the warehouse they hid their vehicles in. Leaving the sewers, they ran into the warehouse and jumped into a heavily armed car Donny had dubbed "the Battle Shell". It was equipped with all kinds of things Donny had built into it. It even had tinted windows to keep the teenagers hidden, and from the outside it looked like a normal moving van.
Donny hopped into the front seat and pulled out a tracker. They then began to follow the little dot glowing on it that resembled the garbage truck the girl was in.
"Is this it, Don?" Leo asked curiously. He was in the passenger seat.
Donny stopped the car in front of an old, foreclosed on gas station at the very edge of town. "It appears it's directly under it."
The leader of the group nodded. "Alright. The plan is to get in and get out. Try to do this as stealthily as possible."
The others nodded and they got out of the car. They followed Donny, who was still watching the tracker. He went over to the front door and opened it. Instead of an entrance, they discovered it was actually an elevator that could only go down from surface level.
"Ya sure this is a good idea, Leo?" Raph asked as he entered.
"Good or not, we can't let Bishop use this girl as a test subject." He answered in a convicted tone as the doors closed and encased them in darkness.
The garbage truck parked at the second gas pump on the left side of the old, foreclosed gas station. The commando quickly left the vehicle and punched in a code on the pin number pad formerly used by customers when paying for gas. He then jumped back into the vehicle just as a door opened underneath the truck and slowly lowered it into Bishop's secret base.
The base was basically the exact same as area 51, but just simply moved to a different location after the turtles discovered it. There were large machines everywhere, most designed for gruesome purposes.
A man in a long black coat and slacks, white long-sleeved t-shirt, and black tie walked over to him. "Where are the others?" He sneered, peering down at the soldier with his rectangular glasses.
"There was interference." The soldier answered nervously. "The others were dispatched by the humanoid turtles, but I managed to capture the subject."
A twisted grin broke out over Bishop's face, causing the commando to involuntarily shudder. "It must be my lucky day. The turtles will surely follow the girl here, where I can easily capture them. Now bring out the girl and set her up for immediate genetic experimentation."
The soldier saluted in response and went to the back of the truck, where garbage was usually kept. Instead of it being a normal truck, the back was actually equipped with a state-of-the-art containment center.
Bishop strode away, still grinning. "If this works, I can create an army of super soldiers not even aliens will have a chance against!"
"Oooh. My head. God dammit, whoever is responsible for this is gonna pay." I groaned. I opened my eyes slowly, but shut them quickly again and cried out in pain. There was an extremely bright light right above me.
"Oh good. You're awake." A voice called to me.
I squinted and carefully opened my eyes again. This time, the light was dimmed just enough for me to open my eyes without too much pain. I noticed a man in a long black coat wearing a pair of really geeky glasses standing over me. "Who the hell are you?"
"My name is Agent Bishop. I am in charge of the Earth Protection Force, dedicated to defending the earth from the alien menace."
"Riiiiiiight." I rolled my eyes. I didn't believe in aliens…or did I… "Wait a sec, aliens like the one in the dumpster by my apartment? Were you rescuing me or somthin?"
"Unfortunately, no. That was a mutant of this planet, and consequently there are four of them. I believe they were trying to save you from me." He grinned deviously.
"Uh, if ya work for the government, aren't YOU the GOOD guy?"
"Yes. But some would deem my methods of protection…unethical."
"Yeah…so uh, why am I strapped down?" I asked, noticing I had restraints keeping me strapped to a metal table.
"You happen to be part of my more unethical plans to protect the planet." He said simply. There was a hint of evil in his tone.
I gulped, getting nervous now. But I couldn't show fear. The most important lesson you learn growing up in the slums is to never show your fear. "What exactly does that entail?"
"You will be a new breed of super soldiers infused with animal DNA. Not only will you gain animalistic instincts, but a vast amount of agility and strength. You will become a killing machine."
I was deathly pale now. "D-don't I have a say in this?" I asked, disgusted with myself for letting the terror I felt seep into my voice.
"No." He turned away from me. "Begin the transfusion." He called to someone I couldn't see. "You see, sometimes one person must sacrifice themselves for the good of mankind. You should feel honored."
"Hey, come on man! Y-you don't want me as a soldier! I can barely pass high school!" I laughed nervously. "Seriously you-Wait a damn minute! Where are my clothes? What the hell man! You perv!"
I could hear my captor's laughter, but could no longer see him. "I wouldn't be saying such nasty things to the person controlling whether you live or die."
"Come on man, what do you want?"
"A way to defend the earth. And that's exactly what you're going to give me."
I was about to plead, when a burning sensation engulfed my entire body. Every nerve was on fire, and I was aware of every cell in my body burning. I screamed in pain. I don't think I'd ever screamed so loud or so high in my life.
I heard noise in the background. Some sort of scuffling, then everything went quite as I passed out.
"We haven't seen anybody yet." Donny whispered quietly.
The ninjas had stealthily continued their way through the base after getting off of the elevator.
They suddenly heard an earsplitting scream.
All four of them went pale.
"It came from that way." Leo whispered. They followed him down the left hallway. They were met by over fifty commandos.
"Shell." Mikey groaned.
The boys quickly got to work, fighting there way as fast as they could to the end of the corridor.
They made it unscathed, but there were still thirty commandos standing and running after them.
Once through, they were met with Bishop and several scientists standing on a platform overlooking the girl they'd seen from earlier. Except her torn jeans, black converse, and black sweatshirt had been removed.
The brothers blushed and covered their eyes.
"Oh Darwin." Donny yelped.
"Really?" Raph asked skeptically as he opened his eyes to fight the commandos rushing them from behind.
"Well, I don't believe in God." He shrugged.
Raph rolled his eyes as the others quickly began to help.
"Ah, the turtles. Do you like the welcome wagon I rolled out for you?" Bishop called to them.
"Next time (kia) try a (hai) fruit basket. They're more practical." Mikey informed him as he fought off another soldier.
Bishop watched as the turtles defeated all of his soldiers.
They turned, looking towards him.
"Now what, Bishop?" Raph grinned.
Bishop turned to check on the girl, then looked back at them. "You didn't think that was the hardest part, did you?" He grinned and reached into his shirt and grabbed a katana.
"Let's dance, reptiles." He growled and charged at them.
The turtles charged back, engaging in combat.
Raph went at Bishop from the front, but was stopped when he had to dodge his opponent's katana. At the same time, Donny jumped at him from behind and hit him over the head.
Bishop growled, but was kicked over by both Mikey and Leo, who attacked at the same time.
He stumbled away and frowned. "You have improved." He looked between the girl and the exit and growled in disgust. "Fine. I may lose my research, but I can at least promise I will live to fight another day!" The madman grinned. He grabbed a remote from his shirt and pressed a button on it, then fled towards a large cylinder on the wall.
Raph was about to dart after him, but Leo grabbed his arm.
"Get in, get out, right?"
Raph scowled. "Right." He growled through his teeth.
Self-destruct in T-minus one minute. A computerized voice echoed.
"Until next time, terrapins." Bishop called as the cylinder shut.
"Come on!" Leo yelled as he jumped down to the level below them where the girl was laying.
Donny ran over to the computer and the others followed Leo.
"Whatever Bishop did, it's done! It's ok to pull her out. Just make sure to take the IV out of her arm." Donny called. He quickly took out a tiny device from his belt and put it into the USB drive of Bishop's computer. All of the madman's data quickly transferred onto the tiny device, which Doni pocketed again.
Leo undid the IV as Raph cut the girl free from her restraints. Leo then picked her up and they fled out of the building and into the Battle Shell.
As they drove away, the building exploded behind them.
"We barely made it." Donny sighed in exhaustion.
"Don't we always?" Mikey rolled his eyes. "We always escape RIGHT before something explodes."
"So…um…do we have anything we can…you know, cover her up with?" Leo blushed.
"Dude, ya just carried her. I think its ok." Raph called from the back as he rolled his eyes.
Leo frowned and got up to get a blanket from the back. He found one and did his best not to look at the girl on the floor as he covered her up. He was about to leave, but saw something weird on her neck.
"Hey Don, check this out."
"Raph, take over. …Leo, I'd expect Raph to ask me to come check out a girl, but you?" Donny joked.
Leo frowned, obviously not amused. "Just get over here."
Donny made his way over and looked at the girl's neck also. "Scales?" He asked in amazement.
"I think so."
"They're spreading!" Donny yelped in surprise.
By this time, Mikey had become curious and come over as well.
Raph mumbled unintelligible things to himself about how stupid it was he was stuck driving.
The three brothers stepped back as more emerald green scales appeared. All over her body, the girl's skin cells turned red and irritated then seemed to split as scales took their place.
At the same time, odd cracking noises filled the air. The girl screamed in pain, and after that never stopped whimpering.
"Her bones are cracking." Donny explained. "I wish I had anesthesia to numb the pain a little." He said worriedly.
In a matter of minutes, the once human girl had grown a tail, had scales covering her body, grown claws in place of her fingernails, and had her ears replaced by earholes.
The girl stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes. Her irises had become more reptilian and diamond shaped. Strangely, her irises stayed the same deep blue they had been before the mutation.
"Where am I?" She tried to say. Instead it came out as a muffled groan. Every single bone in her body hurt. Not only that, but she had a killer migraine that would definitely make her voice echo painfully in her ears. She knew if she tried to move, she would collapse.
"You're safe." Leo assured her. He sat down next to her head so she could see him with little effort.
Her hazy eyes focused in the direction of the voice. A scream welled up in her throat, but she calmed when she realized she had seen the creature, or at least someone a lot like it, before. "You're one of the things I saw in the dumpster at my apartment." She croaked out, narrowing her eyes. "Before that bastard captured me. I'm assuming you saved me. Thanks for that. He was crazy. Talking some kinda nonsense about turning me into a super soldier by giving me animal DNA or somthin." A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Did you get there in time, or am I different?"
The turtles were surprised by the tone of her voice. It seemed as if she was completely uncaring about the answer to her question. Like someone asking what time it was.
"We didn't arrive in time. I'm sorry." Leo said slowly.
She pursed her lips. "Eh. It's all good. Not like ya can do everything, right? At least you saved me." She gave him a smile that pulled a little too far to the left. "I'd stand up to shake your hand, but if I move I'm afraid I'd break into more pieces than a jigsaw puzzle."
"No need. Take as much time as you have too to recover. My name is Leonardo, by the way."
The newly born mutant nodded. She turned her head to the left. "And these two guys?" She asked.
"Donatello." Donny introduced himself. "But call me Donny."
"I'm Mikey, the pretty one!" Mikey grinned.
Don groaned. "Do you have to say that every time you introduce yourself to a human?"
"Duh." The orange masked ninja rolled his eyes.
"Our brother, Raphael, is driving." Leo told her.
"I'd come over and meetcha face ta face, but then the car would run inta a telephone pole, and we don't want dat, do we?" Raph called from the front. "Oh, and don't call me 'Raphael'. People only call me that when I'm busted for doin somethin. Call me Raph."
"Hehe. I can tell I'm gonna like you already, Raph." The girl grinned. "'Name's Delilah."
"Delilah?" Donny asked in surprise.
"My full name is Delilah, but everyone calls me Del, which ticks me off since I ain't a computer so I prefer my whole name. Um, can one of you help me sit up?" She asked, unsure if that was too much to ask of someone who just saved her life.
"Of course." Leo replied, jumping to his feet. He carefully helped her into a sitting position and then gently slid her back so she was propped up against the wall of the Battle Shell.
The turtles shut their eyes tightly as the blanket covering Delilah fell off of her torso.
On the other hand, Delilah's eyes widened in surprise. "And I thought chivalry was dead…" She thought to herself. She quickly adjusted the blanket so it was wrapped around her tightly and wouldn't fall off again.
"Boys? You can open your eyes now." She informed them, still slightly shocked.
They blinked their eyes open.
She laughed at them. "You guys sure are somethin'."
"Well obviously." Mikey grinned. "Just look at these guns!" He flexed his muscles for her.
Donny rolled his eyes.
"What do you mean, Miss Delilah?" Leo asked her seriously.
She laughed again. "That right there! You guys are treating me with more respect than anyone ever has before. Definitely more than a boy has, anyway."
"That's unfortunate!" He exclaimed. "I'm really sorry."
She studied the sincerity on Leo's face for a moment. "…I can't tell if I'm really going to get along with you, or fight with you a lot."
Donny and Mikey snickered.
Leo shrugged. "You can't get along with everyone."
"I'm leaning more towards liking you. Just be sure not to call me 'miss' again." She smiled. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Where are you guys taking me by the way?"
"Well, right now we're heading to our home." Donny informed her. "But if there's somewhere else you think you'd be safer, we can take you there instead."
Delilah thought in silence. She had never been so tired in her life. The thought of standing made her want to throw up, and she could still feel a faint throb of burning pain throughout her body. Besides, where would she go? Back to her and her mom's apartment? Her mom barely recognized her most of the time, thanks to cheap beer. If she went back now, her mom would most likely try to kill her. She couldn't do anything until she was back to normal, if that was possible. But maybe there was still hope.
"How…how different do I look exactly?" She whispered. It was the first time any of them had seen her show worry or sadness since she got there.
"Pretty different!" Mikey exclaimed. "If I hadn't seen you transform, I wouldn't have believed you were the same person!"
"MIKEY!" All of the other brothers (including Raph) yelled.
"I was afraid of that." She looked away from them, pinching the bridge of her nose. Where would she stay?
"You can stay with us for as long as you need." Leo assured her.
She looked at him in bewilderment. "How did-"
"-How did he know?" Mikey asked. "That's just his thing."
"Well, if you're sure…there's just one problem."
"What's that?" Donny frowned.
"I'm gonna need clothes so you guys don't keep blushing on me!"