Chapter1
The night was dark as the girl ran through the dim streets of the city. Her attacker's footsteps only whispers in the night. She glanced back at the beckoning shadows spreading their cold fingers out to her. The girl's breathing quickened as she saw a figure approach her. The alley she was running down turned out to be a dead end. A manhole saw at her feet so she quickly uncovered it and slid down the ladder.
The figures followed her down into the sewer. Her feet slid on the water-covered cement. The echoes of the chase were spreading through the canals and tunnels. She tripped and fell onto the ground. Turning she saw the men advance toward her fallen form. She shut her eyes and waited for the cold she knew that would come. Suddenly the sounds of fighting met her ears.
In front of her there were four short figures beating back the men. Metal glinted in the dim light that came through the manholes. Grunts of pain were heard as the dark men retreated. The girl lied on the ground trembling. Her arms covering her head.
"Is she okay?" asked a voice that faintly reminding her of a surfer. There were mumblings and then a hand on her shoulder. She cried out in pain and curled into a ball. The hand retreated as if it touched fire.
"It's okay, were here to help." A kind voice said above her.
"I…I don't need help. Just leave me alone." She said sitting up sorely. She had been running since dawn and had little to eat since the day before. There was nothing much she could do except sit there.
"If we leave they might come back. With an even bigger force, and dude, that's not cool. There was a lot." The first voice said. The fallen woman heard shifting bodies and then there was someone kneeling next to her.
"You aren't helping Mikey. Now, are you hurt?" He gently reached out and received a wince. "If we get you into the light we could help better."
"No! I…don't want you to help. You'll just call them up again. Like the last time I went into the light." She said scooting herself against the wall.
"We can't go into the light either." said a gruff voice. Suddenly someone lit up a flashlight and shone it on one of her rescuers. It was a giant green turtle with a red bandanna around its eyes. There were two sais around its waist. She gasped as the light swung from one green being to another showing her that each of her rescuers was a giant turtle with a bandanna and a ninja weapon.
"Why don't you come with us, we'll help you." Said the turtle with the blue bandanna and twin katannas. He reached out a three-fingered hand that she grasped. He pulled her up onto her feet as she tried not to moan and groan. The purple turtle led the way down a tunnel. Light seemed to come from ahead and the girl tried to hide from it behind the blue turtle.
"This is our home. Dude, you are welcome to whatever's in the fridge." The orange turtle named Mikey said. He walked past the couches and computers to grab one of the sodas on the counter.
"I'm Leonardo. That's Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo." Said the blue turtle pointing at each of his brothers as their names were said. "Donny's the medic, so why don't you sit down somewhere while he gets his kit." The one named Donatello walked up with a white box.
"What's your name sweet thing?" Michelangelo asked sitting next to her.
"Ca…Catalina Morryson. My friend called me Cat." Catalina said pulling her hat tighter over her head.
"Well, Catalina. Where are you hurt?" Donatello asked sitting on a nearby footstool. Slowly Catalina took off her jacket to reveal a bloodstained tank top. Her shoulders were bloody and tender. Most of Catalina's forearms were covered in makeshift bandages.
"Dude." Michelangelo said softly.
"I tried to fix it myself." Catalina said softly. Donatello tried to take off the black gloves on Catalina's hands, but she jerked them back. "No. Don't do that."
"Are they wounded too?" He asked looking at Catalina. She slowly nodded and slid off the gloves to reveal bandaged hands tipped with claws. Catalina reached up and pulled her hat off making her red-brown hair tumble down her shoulders. There were two cat ears on her head that trembled.
"What are you?" Leonardo asked looking at Catalina's ears.
"What are you?" Catalina asked softly. "Did you escape too?" She winced as Donatello unwrapped her arms.
"What are you talking about?" Michelangelo asked leaning forward.
"Government scientists. They've been kidnapping humans to test their theory of mutants." Said someone from the doorway. It was a giant rat in a robe. "I am Master Splinter. No, we were not 'lab rats' as they put it. I'm guessing you escaped from their clutches." Catalina nodded. "How long were you taken for?"
"They took me four years ago." Catalina said unshed tears making her green eyes shine. She was silent as she watched Donatello clean her shoulders. "They didn't even tell me what was going on. They just knocked me out while I was on my way home from school and dropped me in a jail cell." The sadness in her voice penetrated their hearts.
"What exactly did they do to you?" Raphael asked his arms crossed. He acted as if he cared little, but he was listening intently.
"They shoved me in a room and injected my body with mutated animal DNA to see what my body would take too. It only took three and a half years of pain for them to inject me full of Tiger DNA." Catalina stared at her hands and breathed deeply to calm herself down.
"You said something about 'last time I went into the light'." Donatello said tying up the last of the bandages. "Did something happen after you mutated?"
"I escaped from the lab after the first cat injection. Then I only had claws. I met up with a scientist and asked if he could help. I didn't know he was working with them. I had been hiding during the day and running by night sometimes I even traveled in the sewers." Catalina said licking her lips. "He called them up while I was asleep and when I woke up they were there. When they finally dragged me back to that hellhole I got another injection. Kitten DNA. Now, I can barely climb a tree let alone bend metal."
"Wait, you could bend metal? Cool, I wish I could do that." Michelangelo said bouncing in his seat.
"You are already annoying enough with being able to pretend to be Superman." Raphael said walking towards them. "Catty, do you want anything to eat?" Catalina smiled up at him grateful.
"Dude, Raph was nice to someone! That's gotta mean the world's gonna end or something equally bad like pizza becoming extinct." Michelangelo said putting his hands on his head in horror. Raphael glared at him and walked to the kitchen. Master splinter walked over to Catalina and patted her head, making her ears twitch.
"Do not worry. My sons will take good care of you. They can handle almost anything." With that the rat walked out of the room and into a room with a scroll door. Raphael came back with a piece of pizza on a plate and a glass of milk. He handed it to Catalina and she ravenously ate the pizza and guzzled down the milk.
"Have you eaten anything today?" asked Leonardo watching Catalina drain the glass. She swallowed and shook her head.
"I've been running since I woke this morning. Haven't had time to eat. I didn't want to get caught again." Catalina said yawning largely, showing them her sharp cat teeth. "Is there anywhere I could crash?" Leonardo offered his room and they let her fall asleep in his bed. She curled up and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
"What do we do now?" asked Donatello who watched Catalina's ears flick back and forth as they continued their conversation. "We can't just let her heal and send her on her merry way."
"It seems that she's been through a lot. The government'll probably catch her if she steps out into the city. There is nothing much we can do." Leonardo said closing the door.
"Dude, she can stay here with us. I bet that we can turn one of the rooms into her room. I mean this can become a mutant sanctuary or something." Mike said jumping in front of Leonardo as they walked towards Master Splinter's room. "She's one of us now, she can't leak information into the outside world. I bet she even cooks better than Donny."
They entered as Master Splinter was meditating. His eyes were still closed as he spoke. "Catalina is, for now, to stay here. She is one of many to come for I fear the worst. I must speak with her when she awakes. I fear that something is about to take place."
"Tell us, Sensei." Donatello pleaded, but Master Splinter shook his head.
"Protect her, my sons. Now go get some sleep. Sunrise is still far away." He said folding his legs to begin meditating again. The four turtles bowed to their master and left his room. They separated to their rooms except for Leonardo who slept on the couch.
It wasn't until dawn when Donatello woke to the sounds of whimpering. His room was across from Leonardo's room so he knew it was Catalina. Carefully he peeked into the room and saw a form shuddering on the bed. The poor girl sat up and lifted what looked to be a tail. She sighed and her dark eyes flicked to the door.
"I can hear you out there, Donatello." Catalina said turning to Donatello as he opened the door. "For ninjas you guys are loud."
"What are you doing up so late?" Donatello asked standing in the doorway. Catalina looked down at her new tail.
"I guess the last DNA they stuck in me was diluted. I just grew a tail. Usually it happens right there while I'm on the operating table. As soon as it enters my bloodstream, I start to morph and change." Catalina said her voice getting hoarse. "You know, morphing is painful. Most of the kids my age were killed because they couldn't handle the pain. If they changed back to being human then they didn't adapt to that animal so they tried again with a different animal."
She shivered and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Donatello reached over and pulled a blanket around her. "Don't worry, we won't let you go back there." Catalina's sad face turned up to him.
"Promise?"
"Yeah, I promise."
Catalina fell asleep almost instantly after that and Donatello stayed watching her for awhile. Then he went to go watch TV. No matter what he couldn't stop thinking about what the people had done to Catalina. They murdered innocent children to test their theories after they kidnapped them and made their family's suffer.
"Donny, What'cha doin' up so early?" Michelangelo asked walking in yawning. He went into the kitchen and then returned with a bowl of Lucky Charms.
"I couldn't sleep." Donatello said flipping through the channels. "What are our plans for today?" Mike shrugged his shoulders and drained his bowl.
"Leo called April last night. Dude asked her to bring down a couple changes of clothes for the kitten upstairs. I mean everything she's got is all bloody or torn up. It isn't hard to believe what she's been through." Mike dropped his bowl on the table next to him. "Dude, I still can't believe how much she was beat up. I wonder what happened to her."
"You don't want to know." Said a feminine voice from the doorway. Catalina walked in and curled herself into the armchair on the other side of the table. Her new tail wrapped around her feet.
"Whoa, when did you get a tail?" Mike asked unaware of the bolts of pain that the tail had given to Catalina.
"Last night." She said a little bitter. She turned her attention the news that was on the channel Donatello flipped to.
"…another child fell victim to the phantom kidnapper who had taken three kids in the past four months. Parents are warned to keep their children safe until this person is caught. Now, back to you-." Catalina tuned out as she saw the picture of her younger brother, Timothy, during that segment.