Panic rushed through Ebony veins as she rummaged through the small alley way. Goosebumps and fear flooded her body as she thought of all the bad things that could happen to the two boys she was in charge of. Worrying, almost crying, Ebony ran her thin fingers through her choppy bang. She checked the alley way at least three times before kicking the dumpster in annoyance and frustration, which she immediately regretted. Ebony winced in pain as she looked at her leg that was still bleeding from her previous encounter. However, Ebony knew she had to continue looking for the boys, and changed her direction of search. A small dumpster in the corner of the alley, How could I miss that?! Adavncing towards the small dumpster, Ebony let out a small scream as she slipped into the ground and fell onto the concrete. Groaning, she turned around and noticed her foot had fell into a manhole that was moved aside slightly. Ebony held her nose and coughed at the horrid smell that was lingering from the manhole. I cannot believe these boys.. Ebony got up from her fall, and held her breath as she jumped lightly into the rancid sewer.
It seemed like an eternity as Ebony made her way through the tunnels that seemed to never end or begin anywhere. Growing even more worried, Ebony looked around for any signs or the boys being down here, what worried her more was that she didn't remember how to get back to the surface. Groaning in annoyance, Ebony kicked the water and continued on her way though the tunnel. However, the search was soon interuptted as footsteps and yelling came to her ears. Finding a small hole next to a pillar, Ebony hid and waited to see who was causing the commotion. Unfortunately, she wasn't as small as she thought, and couldn't hide all the way in the hole. Her breathing slowed as she saw giant green figures run past her. They were so close to her, that the water had even splashed onto her feet. It was cold and disgusting, and Ebony had to have all the will power to not gag. Ebony poked her head out and watched where these creatures where going. Furrowing her brows, Ebony followed their moves and limped thorought the tunnels.
What Ebony didn't expect to see was these four large figures began to roll down the tunnel on their backs. She thought it was weird and didn't understand the importance of it or how they did it. Ebony picked up her pace and continued done the long, wet, dark tunnel until she saw a hole. Lifting her leg up in pain, the muscular petite figure crawled through the hole and gasped at the sight. A man cave almost, but with gadgets and gizmos that were lying about. Punching bags and weapons surrounded the liar that was filled with personality. Amazed at the sight, Ebony was almost distracted, however the four figures had stopped in their tracks and so had a lean figure. However, this figure had a tail that was wrinkled in skin?! Maybe I've lost to much blood. Ebony jumped out of the hole and carefully made her way to the other side of the lair near the gadgets and technologic objects. Ebony got a closer look at what the four figures were looking at and who they were.
Confident she was hallucinating, Ebony saw four giant turtles and a giant rat, looking down at two small people. Ebony gasped as she saw the two mischievous boys hold each others hand and tear up at the sight of the tall giants. Two little boys, one with dark brown hair, the other with light brown almost auburn hair. Both with dark hazel eyes, almost brown. Their shirts were torn and had noticible sewing marks all around it. Their tennis shoes had multiple holes, were you could see their toes poking through. One turtle with an orange mask kneeled down and reached a hand out, "Hey little guys, are you guys lost? What are-" as the turtle advanced, the two boys tensed up and flinched at the sudden movement. Ebony had to act, and couldn't tell if their intentions were good or bad. As soon as one of the little boys reached his hand out, Ebony yelled, causing all of them to look her way.
"Cliffton! Demetri!" Gathering up the courage, Ebony ran up and pushed the orange masked turtle out of the way, standing in between the five figures, and the boys. The two boys hugged her sweater and peaked at the figures. Ebony got into a fighting stance. The four figures, which she was still convinced that she was hallucinating, stared at her, and tensed up. In front of them was a girl, about a foot and a half smaller than them, with thin fingers held in fists. Large hazel eyes peaked through choppy bangs that adorned her two messy buns that sat on either side of her head. She wore a large indigo sweater with a dalmation on it; a trenchcoat hung over the sweater, which was noticably larger than her. They noticed her tight fitting pants with massive holes in it, yet the holes took away from the blood stains on her thighs. She had no shoes on.
"We do not want to harm you-" Ebony's aggressive gaze shifted from the turtles to the giant rat. "The exit." Then, the turtle with a torn red mask stepped forward, "Aye, he said we're not going to hurt you- ooff!" which was a big mistake. Ebony punched his chest and he took a couple steps back.
"I said, the exit. Where is it!" Ebony's eye began to fade, she had to get out of there with Cliffton and Demetri now. The second tallest turtle came forth, his face was calm and his mask was blue. "If you take that hole, it will lead you out." He pointed to the hole across the lair, and nodded. Ebony nodded in agreement, and grabbed both of the boys hands, leading them away. Both boys looked back at the turtles, and tried to go back to them.
"Cliffton, Demetri! Let's go!" Both boys protested. "We don't trust strangers! No matter who they are!" Ebony picked up one of the twins, placing him on her shoulder, which proved a bad idea. Ebony stumbled and set the boy down, glancing down at her leg she groaned grabbed the nearest pillar.
"You are hurt badly," said the large rat. "I'll be fine-" Ebony ran out of breath and slid down the pillar, falling down a small set of stairs. The two boys gasped and continued to call out, "Ebby! Ebbbbby!" All five figures came forward and leaned over the small figure. The two boys began to tear up as Ebony didn't respond to any of their calls. A purple masked turtle began to check her vitals, and sighed in relief. "She'll be okay, she's just loosing blood and will be asleep for a while, okay boys?" He turned to the little humans as they nodded, watching the blue masked turtle lift up their guardian and take her to a room.
"Holy crap... what hit me..?" Ebony's eyes squinted at the dim lighted room and noticed all the weapons on the walls. Panicky, Ebony sat up as straight as a board. Which caused her to wince and groan. She noticed the door by the small dresser across the room. Rolling her eyes in frustration and pain, Ebony swung her legs, painfully I might add, over the bed. Ebony slowly got up and shuffled her feet toward the dresser, but didn't realize how bad her leg really was. The door had a hollow sound when someone began knocking,
"Ebony, are you awake yet." Ebony couldn't tell who it was talking, but gathered it was safe to open the door. However, as soon as she reached the door knob, the door bursted open and a tall turtle came forth. Opening her eyes wide, Ebony's mouth dropped in disbelief and in shock, her leg gave out on her. The giant turtle reached forward and grabbed her elbows gently. Ebony could feel his callused fingers against her thinned out sweater. Ebony stared at his body the whole time; muscular arms, with a large chest, adorned with two straps that held his swords. His face was more circular and his nose was rounded. His eyes that hid in his deep blue mask, were like ocean waves. Ebony didn't realize what she was seeing, more like she couldn't believe it.
"Ebony? Hey...! Ebony!" She finally snapped out of her thoughts and muttered, "Giant... Turtle..." The blue masked turtle chuckled at her confused expression and lead Ebony back to the bed, "Yes, I'm a giant turtle, but please." He laid her down with such care, it was almost hypocritical in comparison to his size. "Ebony, you need to rest." She looked into his eyes, "You know my name?" Almost immediately, two loud voices came running towards her bedside.
"Cliffton! Demetri! Oh I'm so glad you're okay!" She scoopped the two little humans into her chest and smiled greatly. The masked turtle signalled towrads the door. Ebony's eyes trailed across and saw three more turtles, just as giant, just as turtley(?). Ebony broke into a giant smile, which soon faded as soon as she remembered what happened to her.
"Would you like some answers?" A giant rat came forth amongst the turtles. Ebony flinched and held the boys tighter, but eventually nodded.
"Your sons ran into our home. Luckily, my sons came back from patrol and noticed them. In defense, you tried to protect them-" Ebony held her hand up.
"Okay, I got that. But... how?" The large rodent was confused and gave Ebony a look to continue, "How are they... so big... and able to hold human qualities...?" Ebony glanced at the eldest turtle with curious eyes.
"Ah. A long time ago, I found four turtles down here in the sewers. All four were covered in green ooze and I eventually was covered as well. They were only babies, and thus, I took them under my care. I have been trained in the art of Ninjitsu, which I passed onto my sons." Ebony continued to glance at each turtle, imagining cute little tiny turtles, swimming in ooze.
"I named them after the great Renaissance Artists, Leonardo," The blue masked turtle nodded and bowed, Ebony smiled. "Raphael," The one she punched earlier nodded his head, Ebony smiled sheepishly, knowing he was probably made her. "Donatello," a turtle with a purple masked smiled and waved, Ebony continued to smile. "and-" the smallest turtle jumped forward and leaned in close, "The names Michaelangelo! Or Mikey for short! How ya doin' sweetie?" Ebony furrowed her brows at his sudden outburst but smiled quickly. Pushing his face out of the way, Ebony looked toward the rat, "And you...?"
"I am their father, Master Splinter." Ebony noticed his title and nodded her head. "I am grateful for the help you have given us. I appreciate it." Master Splinter smiled and pointed towards her leg, still bandaged and painful. "Tell us what had happened to you and your sons?"
"Oh-Uh... Cliffton, Demetri, go on and play, it's grown up talk time..." Cliffton rolled his eyes and followed his brother, "Grown up talk is gross!" Ebony smiled and rolled her eyes and became serious, "Keep this between us.. please." Splinter and the others nodded and waited patiently.
"Cliffton and Demetri are not my kids. I'm only 17," Ebony laughed a little thinking of herself as a mother, "You see, we're all orphans, and they were only two years old when they came in, I guess I've imprinted myself as their mother and that's all they see me as. However, I don't want that to change, I'd die for those boys."
"Or stand between four giant turtles." Raphael commented, Ebony smirked, "Exaclty."
"So what brings you to New York City?" Donatello asked with curiousity in his voice. "If you don't mind me asking." Ebony smiled at his politeness.
"You are all very polite. I bet they are great sons." Splinted chuckled and muttered, "You don't even know the half of it," Ebony smiled and cleared her voice.
"Well, we weren't born here. I became an orphan when I was about 4 or 5, my parents didn't want me anymore, and the doctors couldn't afford to..." Ebony's thoughts became to scrambled, "afford to continue my treatments, I-uh have a skin condition, but not deadly.
"I was told that I was going to an orphanage in Albany, New York that would be able to treat my condition... Both Cliffton and Demetri have a muscle disease..." Ebony bit her lip and sighed deeply. "We were at the orphanage together for about four years until an arsonist burnt it down. Not many survived because of our conditions, but I was willing to get Cliff and Dee out of there.
"Unfortunately, I thought people in New York City would be able to help us, maybe give us a small place to stay, some food, anything. Until I was able to get a job or something..." Ebony's eyes changed and began to tear up, "But I was wrong, New Yorkers are rude, hateful, and disgraceful!" Ebony looked at Master Splinter with longing eyes, and realized her tears, immediately wiping them away.
"I'm sorry, I've just... we haven't had anyone take care of us like this..." Ebony went to hug heer knees to her chest, and winced when she moved her leg. Leo kneeled down next to her, holding her leg down gently, "You need to keep it laying down."
"What happened? Who hurt you?" Mikey butted in. Ebony glanced at Leo's hand and frowned. "I don't know. It was a pure accident. We three were walking in the alley last night. Apparently somebody thought that having some type of deal would be a good idea. We were caught in the middle of it. But these guys were weird, like, full black clothing-"
"Ninja moves!" a small voice bosted loudly, Ebony and everyone else glanced at the door, "Demetri, Cliffton, I told you to wait outside!" Ebony frowned at them. They both ran towards the petite woman and sat down on the bed next to her. All of the turtles looked at eachother, all with narrowed eyes, which Ebony noticed.
"What is it?" Master Splinter frowned and his tone became quiet serious. "What else happened?" Ebony was taken back by his tone of voice but continued. "Well, they came at us and surrounded us. Luckily I got Cliffton and Demetri to run off and hide before they could get them. I got kicked and punched pretty bad, however, I am as skilled as they are. So I put up a pretty good fight. But this one ninja's sword missed my arm as I punched his face, and his sword went straight into my leg. Luckily they were called away and I didn't feel the pain to badly until I began looking for Cliffton and Demetri."
All of there faces went sour after she described her experience, she knew that they knew something. "You've encountered them before, haven't you?" Leo nodded and looked Ebony straight in the eye,
"They're called the Foot Clan, they are lead by one person. One person you cannot trust." Ebony shifted her gaze away and looked at Splinter. "What's their name?" Splinter's tone was sharp and spiteful.
"He prefers to be called, The Shredder." Ebony's eyes widened and her fist clenched the sheets. Her solemn gaze went back to her leg.
"What is wrong, my dear?" Splinter probably noticed Ebony's sudden anger. Ebony's eyes grew dark as she looked down at her trembling hands.
"In the orphanage, we had someone like you. A master, mentor, teacher, father... His name was Clarence Overtree. He trained those who could or wanted to defend themselves in MMA. Clarence had many friends and enemies, including one from a foreign country. Oroku Saki was a mad man, who wanted Clarence to use us at the orphanage for apart of his clan. Clarence disagreed. . ." Ebony wiped her tears away one last time, and with a harsh tone, she held onto her two boys,
"On the night of the fire, while everybody was leaving, I tried to find Clarence. But... I was to late. The Shredder was standing over him, and he looked at me through the blazes. He cried out, 'Let the Shredder's reign of terror flood your veins.' I always hear those words in the shadows... haunting us." Cliffton and Demetri began to cry silently. Ebony held them closer and rocked them back and forth, shushing them, telling them it was okay, that it was all over now. But of course Master Splinter knew it was never going to be over.
"We will protect you." Raphael said quickly. "We will make sure Shredhead never touches you, or your boys." Ebony glanced up at the scarred turtle, almost in admiration. Raph looked away immediately, he didn't want to admit it, but h didn't want to see these two boys be scared all their lives. Seeing them flinch at them made Raph sad. He wanted to show these boys that they didn't have to be scared of them. "T-Thank you, but we cannot stay here, it is not our place-"
"Oroku Saki took my master aswell. I know the pain you feel." Master Splinter added, Ebony looked at Master Splinter with longing eyes, almost asking for help but not wanting to say it.
"You may stay, if you wish. We will give you protection from harm. As long as you take you part in this home, I wish for you and your boys to grow together away from harm." Ebony's smiled so greatly, she didn't realize she had caught the eye of a certain turtle.
"Master Splinter, I would feel bad for taking your food, your home, your sanctuary and privacy. It's not our place."
"What about your sons?" Leo added, "Don't you think it wouldn't be such a bad idea. I mean, they'd be safer here then up on the surface." Ebony and Leo held a gaze that seemed to last a lifetime. Leo broke the gaze as soon as he realized that everyone was watching them.
"Ebby, can we please stay here?!" Cliffton looked up at Ebony with a big smile and puppy dog eyes, only allowing Demetri to follow suit. "Yeah! I'm tired of sleeping next to old smelly men all night at the homeless shelter! I wanna be able to play and not worry about food!"
Ebony looked at these two boys. A lot of people would definitely believe that they're related, the brown hair and hazel eyes and all. Ebony wanted the best for these boys, she also knew she couldn't really say no..
"I'm tired of the homeless shelter too..." and with a smile, Ebony took Master Splinter's hand and nodded, "Thank you for allowing us into your home, I promise we will not be a burden." The laughter and joyous celebration of Cliffton and Demetri filled Ebony's heart with hope and happiness. All of the turtles, including Raph smiled greatly and high fived each other. Ebony's heart was filled with relief, hoping that this home would soon be suitable for her boys.