Hey everybody! It's me, CroftButler21 (or Megara), comin' at you with yet another new story!
This round, we're diving headfirst into the very awesome TMNT Universe, specifically, the 2003 Cartoon Series. This was one of my favourite shows to watch growing up from start to finish, and one I feel pays the best homage to the original comics, while doing a good job in being a unique reboot of the story (Fun fact: The original writers had a hand in the creative process, even down to the Utrom Shredder!). I admit to even playing pretend as a child, imagining myself as part of the TMNT Crew through a multitude of different identities (Something I'm sure most of you reading this have done too; lol, childhood memories)...
Now, I think it's time I finally put one to the keyboard.
I'll be remaining true to most of the main plot and dialogue, but like my other creations, I will incorporate some detail shifts to fit the criteria of my added-in OCs, including some potential special (original) chapters of my own design.
Ahem, so then, before we begin this new tale, I hereby enact the following disclaimer that shall extend from here to the final chapter.
I do not, in any shape nor form, own the rights to the Plot or Characters of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Copyright and Ownership belongs solely to the original creator team Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, TV series developer Lloyd Goldfine, main producer JoEllyn Marlow, and of course, production companies Mirage Studios, 4Kids Entertainment, Dong Woo Animations, and the current owner, Nickelodeon.
"...My name, is Leonardo. And right now my siblings and I are in a mess of trouble."
Zooming downward from the ledge of a tall apartment building, we find our vision cast over five shadowed figures being pushed towards a tin-roofed wall of another piece of architecture that made up Manhattan, New York City's infamous concrete jungle...
"Our backs are up against the wall in some trash-strewn alley, cornered by the toughest street gang on the East Side."
Turning our vision to the quintet's perspective, we see the perpetrators responsible to be about more than half a dozen punks, all dressed in a mix of skater and headbanger fashions, from baggy pants to layered shirts and wild hairstyles, each carrying makeshift weaponry ranging from lead pipes to chains to crowbars and even golf clubs.
"Look a' the freaks!"
"What's with the dweeby costumes?" "This ain' Halloween."
Their leader - a man with warm ivory skin, teal blue hair styled in a mix of the hi-top fade and mullet cut, and wearing an outfit comprised of a black shirt and pants, a thick-banded belt of maroon purple matching the base of his open trench coat, the sleeves chartreuse with tattoo-style dragon designs, and brown shoes - pulls out a wooden staff to twirl with a menacing sneer.
"You're goin' down, freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons..."
The group of five step out from the shadows into the moonlight, highlighting their features for all to witness. From left to right, we see them to be four humanoid turtles with their own unique green skin tones, light lime green carapaces and yellow plastrons making up their shells, and wore brown knee and elbow pads that matched their wrist bands and belts. The more individualistic characteristics that set them apart from eachother, included each one having a different colour for their own ribbon-styled bandana mask (purple, orange, red and blue), which was also highlighted on the grip areas of their weapons, they being a wooden bō staff, nunchaku, sai blades, and double katana.
...Standing in the middle of those four anthropomorphic reptiles, was a young woman about half a foot shorter than they, she having warm beige skin, raven black hair with silver highlights in the roots and cut into short beach waves that ran past her shoulders, currently held under a white bandana kerchief with a black paisley pattern, and irises the shade of thick honey. Her outfit consisted of a maroon brown tank top under a slate green bomber jacket, bright red skinny jeans, and a pair of monochrome Converse All-Stars sneakers. And in her hands, she wielded a pair of black-washed brown tonfas previously sitting in modified leather handgun holsters attached to her hips...
The gang leader with teal blue hair adds with a scoff solely directed at the misfit group's image,
"Especially wearin' stupid turtle costumes or lookin' like a wannabe biker chick!"
...The turtle with the blue bandana mask pulls out their long swords at ready with a grinding sneer and glare.
"He's wrong. We're not wearing costumes."
And with a collective warrior cry, this strange band of young souls spring on their attackers!
...
...
How did this event come to pass? Well, let's turn back the clock to find our answer.
Hours earlier...
The darkness of night blankets over the noisy streets of New York during a new evening, dark slivers of cloud starting their steady retreat to make room for moonbeams to cast their light alongside the many illuminating streetlights and buzzing neon signs, creating an illusion of security for the bodies that dare wander the concrete blacktop at this time, and make it feel as if life never slows down no matter what stage the big star in the sky is in...
A dusty scrap of paper flutters across the street on a passing breeze, traveling over a lone metal sewer manhole cover, shielding surface dwellers from another epistemic view of their streets...
If one were to remove the circular lid, they would have to climb down a section of metal stairs before landing on the 'other sidewalk' running along the edge of dingy sewer water, containing the remnants of carelessly thrown away items ranging from reusable to beyond redemption, the walls and ceiling thick with the pipework and wiring that made only a small part of Manhattan's water reservoir treatment system and underground electrical...
Our focus takes us behind one section of brick that had a wide crack in center, following the sound of an older male's voice which carried a Japanese accent holding hands with American.
"Remember: to be a true ninja, you must become one with the shadows..."
Slipping between the crack, we enter a room shroud in darkness save the dim light of a small candle, it sitting on the end of a walking stick belonging to...an anthropomorphic rat, sitting in a kneel on the floor. We see he has slate grey fur, black-brown eyes, his height estimated to be just under five foot five, a long pink tail, and wore a set of mud brown monk robes held together by a black sash belt that matched the bordering.
"Darkness gives the ninja power, while light reveals their presence...Now. Can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?"
The rat flips the candle off his walking stick to be grabbed by his free left hand, and awaits a performance of action...The first attempt would be conducted by a shadowed green blur leaping forward to almost tackle the skinny slab of wax.
"Hup!"
But, the figure misses, and goes sliding into the wall, dropping their bō staff in the process and revealing a familiar reptilian shape with a purple bandana mask...Smiling slightly, the rat critiques their strategy in a teachable manner.
"Too noisy, Donatello."
Next, came a second green blur swinging one of their orange-decorated nunchaku, who also runs forward before attempting their own leap, also missing their shot, and slams into the first figure before they could grab their weapon.
"Ow!"
"Hey!"
"Sorry..."
Lowering his arm to relax back into his position from before, the rat comments,
"Too clumsy, Michelangelo."
...The next brave soul to attempt the mission would be the reptile with the red bandana mask, tip-toeing behind the rat before lunging for the candle with their sai.
"Hrh!"
The candle is swiftly lowered down, but unlike the first two, this green figure recovers with a flip and hop before spinning around at ready. The rat stands with a calculated expression directed their way, moving back a step or two...The wielder of the short blades twirls his weapons before rushing forward, but would wind up missing the walking stick being held down against the floor, which catches his left foot and causes him to go tripping and flying right into the first two humanoid reptiles.
"Ah! Grrrrh!" "Auh!" "Awoh..."
"Poor choice, Raphael."
...The challenge wasn't over yet, of course, as evident by the eyes that suddenly snap open between blue fabric up above between the ceiling's pipes. That figure jumps downward, and swiftly pulls out their katana, slicing the candle at two points in the middle, stealing away the top part with the burning wicker! After standing up from their kneel, the shortened candle is caught by the swords-...turtle, atop their blade near the hilt.
...But just as they go to blow the flickering flame out:
(Clack, swipe-shing)
"Uh...!"
The perpendicular handle of a tonfa suddenly dives down with the swing of a fifth more human-shaped blur and hooks against the katana, shoving the blade upward and throwing the candle into the air, to land softly on the shaft of the melee weapon's twin that's lowered down seconds afterward!
...The hand holding the tonfa raises the candle upward, its dim light revealing the cheeky-smiling, warm beige-complexioned face of a young girl, her black beach-waved hair tousled sideways in her curved position above in the pipework, her honey irises sparking with mirth. Giggling, she whispers,
"Not this time, dear brother," before snuffing out the candle with a short blow of air...
(Clank)
The rat flicks a power switch on with the tip of his walking stick, illuminating the room with the electric energy of several ceiling lamps, and revealing a reasonably-furnished section of the sewers that humans walking the streets above have not discovered, with a few lockers set up against one part of the left wall, a hammock and full-view mirror set in the far right corner, the latter object cracked and worn, a few doors leading to other rooms attached, and what looked to be a spear stuck in a thick pipe.
Turning to the dark pear green-complexioned turtle with the blue bandana mask wielding the double katana, the gray-furred rat commends their more successful efforts.
"Well done, Leonardo."
(...Hop, click)
The young lady with medium-short raven hair and silver highlighting in the roots jumps and lands smoothly onto the floor, straightening her stance to hold up the now very small candle out in her left palm, her clothing fashion being the same as it would be in time to come. Stifling a small chuckle, the anthropomorphic rat nods and adds,
"And you as well, Shiori."
She, Shiori, beams with another little laugh, and the other three turtles - each one also having their own unique skin pigmentation, specifically, dark emerald for the one with the red bandana mask, fern green for the one with the orange mask, and dark yellow-olive green for the turtle with the purple mask - approach the other three people.
"That was really ingenious of you, Yori, using your Tonfa like you did."
Pivoting her vision to the turtle who wields the bō staff, Shiori replies back,
"Thanks, Donnie," before curving her mouth into a half-smirk to direct at the turtle with the orange mask.
"Well, Mikey, I believe I won our little bet..."
He sighs in a playful manner and reaches to shake her hand while complaining halfheartedly,
"Aw shell, I was so sure you weren't gonna pull that one out of the hat!"
"Never doubt, never fail. That's the unwritten law for tackling any challenge."
"True 'dat."
The other three turtles and one rat look at the pair strangely, and the one reptile with the blue bandana mask, Leonardo, asks,
"Uh, what's this about a bet?"
"Oh we just made a gentleman's bet a couple days ago to see who could outsmart you during training this week."
"...Ah, I, see..."
Michelangelo adds in good nature,
"Which sis totally did hands-down!"
He and Shiori high-five/high-three, and Donatello comments with a shake of his head,
"You two and your bets..."
Meanwhile, the turtle with the red bandana mask, Raphael, remained sore over not completing the task and allowing the spotlight of praise to go to his brother and sister.
"Tch, great, now we've got two Teacher's Pets."
Leonardo would smoothly retaliate with,
"So quotes the Ninja Dropout," causing the other two turtles to 'ooooo' in a mocking manner.
Grinding out a growl, Raphael stomps forward to get into his brother's face, the latter glaring back as both size eachother up for a possible squabble. Dropping the candle and putting her tonfas back into the brown leather holsters attached to her bright red jeans, Shiori rushes over to stand into the middle of the two while placing her palms softly on each turtle's torso.
"Come on, you two, no fighting," which the rat in the brown monk robe would follow in his own sterner direction of,
"Listen to your sister, my sons," raising his walking stick up for emphasis...
The two brothers listen to both their human sibling and rat master, relaxing their stances while turning attention to the elder. He would then expel a short breath and place his free left hand against the side of his face in slight exasperation over the spout of uncooperative behaviour.
"...My children. (Removes hand) If you are to become true ninja, you must work harder."
The four turtles and one human girl quickly move to sit in a line in front of the elder rat, ready to listen to his latest lecture.
"Your path in life, will not be an easy one. The outside world will not be a friendly place for you."
He glances over his four adopted sons:
"You four are different in ways the surface dwellers will never understand."
His black irises then focus to the beige-skinned blackette:
"And you, my dear daughter, despite being human, will still stand apart from the rest in ways very few will be willing to, hear out."
Shiori nods and replies softly,
"I know, sensei...and I will accept that path in life, (straightens up) with my head held high."
And I will train hard, to remain out of sight of those who would want to separate me...from my family.
People, who cannot swallow the truth of the unexpected.
"Good...and for you all to survive, you must master these skills I teach you. Ninjitsu powers of Stealth, and Secrecy. You must become Kage, Shadow Warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world."
Quirking a tiny smile, the girl with honey irises thinks to herself in amusement,
Heh, or at the very least, the parts of the outside world prejudice of our existence.
We, kind-a broke sensei's rule already with my friends up in the streets years ago...but he and my brothers trust them to keep our secret, so it's okay.
(Slap)
"Uh!"
Shiori blinks back in a jolt from her thoughts to the sound of a clap, conducted by noneother than Michelangelo, who was trying to catch a fly that had been buzzing around his person during the lecture, and only just succeeds. His small smile of pride would quickly be replaced with a look of innocence as the elder rat stepped in front of him, a deadpanned expression on his face...
(Rumble...)
But any possible scolding on listening skills would be thrown to the hand basket, when the room suddenly began to shake!
"Uh! What, is that noise?"
The teenage mutants and human rose to their feet on alert, casting their eyes to the ceiling above as it released a few pieces of foundation from forming cracks.
"Whoa, earthquake...!" Donatello comments on Michelangelo's guess:
"In New York? Possible, but not likely."
He then barely steps back to avoid a slab of brick slamming to the floor...Detecting a secondary pattern in the rumbling, Shiori narrows her irises before dropping down to press her ear near the ground, much to the yellow-olive green turtle's confusion.
"...Uh, Shiori?"
"Shh!...Do any of you hear that?" Raphael asks with rhetorical sarcasm,
"How can anyone not hear this racket?"
"Not the shaking, Raph, the other noise!...It sounds like, footfalls."
Leonardo asks with a raised brow,
"Footfalls?"
"Yeah, and heavy ones at that...And, there's a clang following each step, like they're wearing thick metal-soled shoes."
...Suddenly, a hole bursts open in the right wall, and out from the dusty cloud walks a strange steel robot with likeness and size towards a small turkey. It had a single, glowing yellow eye atop its large, rounded oval head, powerful-looking jaws with sharp teeth, and bird-like legs with gripping toes!
The student ninjas pull out their respected weapons at ready as they observe more of these robots filing inside their home behind the first one, it letting out a roar that would make you think of a mechanical dinosaur as it turns to run towards the organic matter in the room.
"What are those things?"
With a head scratch, Michelangelo makes a joking suggestion as a possible answer to Leonardo's question.
"New York City cockroaches?" Shiori scoffs and comments with a frown,
"If those are roaches, mother nature really goofed up this time."
Raphael cuts in a bit more seriously with an exclaimed,
"Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party to crash!"
He then rushes forward to make the first defensive attack, kicking one of the robotic intruders to land on its back and press an indent into the hard stone ground. The rest would quickly retaliate, letting out high-pitched, techno-fuzzed cries before rushing towards the group to try and get payback.
Using his bō staff, Donatello swung aside one robot before a second one clamped their sharp jaws on the end of the crafted wood, which would be a big mistake when the turtle threw them down hard against the ground to explode into pieces...
Meanwhile, Michelangelo charged forward in a series of forward leaps while swinging his nunchaku in circles, whacking several of the mechanical menaces apart, before using one of his weapons to toss a robot over for another of his brothers to take down.
"Hey Leo, think fast!"
And swift reaction was what the blue-bandana masked turtle delivered, as he swerved around to slice the flying robot to pieces with his katana. He then jumps forward to use both swords against two more robots mid-air, slashing them into three and two consecutive pieces simultaneously!
...As for Raphael and Shiori, they chose to tag-team together with their sais and tonfas respectively, the latter using her melee weapons to knock a robot upward before battering the machine towards the former to be skewered by his blades, like an odd juggling game.
"Hah, hah, geez, these things are relentless!"
"Just keep knockin' 'em my way, sis, and I'll smash 'em t' bits! (Jab) Hrh!"
That left the anthropomorphic grey rat on his own at the other end of the room, using his walking stick like a club to take down the robots as best he could...However, Leonardo notices the former was slowly becoming surrounded by a bulk of the metal army, and called his other siblings to attention.
"We have to help Master Splinter! Come on!"
The five student warriors began to fight their way over to their teacher, but would only get so close before finding themselves distracted by saving themselves and eachother from being chomped to bits...
But that would be the least of everyone's problems, as observed by Shiori as she finishes thrusting her left tonfa shaft into the skull cavity of another robot, before spotting more of the menaces snapping their way through the walls and pipes of the ceiling.
"Uh! Oh no!"
They're eating through the room supports; the whole place is gonna collapse!
Hearing her exclaim, Leonardo follows her point of sight and gasps over what he saw, just as the entire room began to shake under the lost support for the upper weight! He turns his focus on Raphael as the main pillar gives way, allowing the whole ceiling to start falling apart, and sprints to pull his brother away before they both got buried alive.
"Look out!"
They land in a slide to the floor just as a large piece of brick drops down to crush two of the robots, which would follow with the rest of the structure, with Master Splinter stuck on the other side fighting back a few other of the attackers! A short outcry emits from him before the collapsing ceiling overpowers his voice, leaving the five teens to take in sharp breaths of worry for their sensei, not wasting another second to rush into the thick dust cloud.
"Oh no...!" "Master Splinter!"
Reaching the new massive pile of rubble first, Leonardo felt his heart clench at the thought of the worst possible.
"Master Splinter?!...Master Splinter! Noooo!"
The young girl with black beach waves coughs and sputters as she came through the dying cloud of dirt and powdered brick next, before trying to call out for the large rat next.
"Sensei! Senseeeei!"
...Not hearing a response, Shiori's body began shaking with fear, her honey-coloured orbs brimming with small, fat tears.
Please...please be alright, dad...!
Sensing her rising emotional distress, Donatello takes it upon himself to wrap the girl in a comforting hug to try and calm her down from a possible anxiety attack.
"Hey, hey, it'll be alright...We'll find him, Shiori."
"(Sniff) D-Don..."
The turtle with dark emerald skin watches the two, forming a sad and angry frown at seeing his sister on the verge of crying, and turns to stomp hard on the head of one of the robots he deemed responsible for disrupting the harmony of his family.
Grh, whoever sent these things, (puts away his sai) is gonna pay!
Bending down for a closer look at the trashed remains, Michelangelo asks aloud,
"What the shell are those things?"
Stepping forward to the pile of scrap, Raphael answers,
"Whatever they were, (kick) tuah! They're junk now..."
Shiori's POV
Shell, I really really hope dad's okay...Where did these, robots even come from?
Thanks to my big-hearted brother, Donnie, I calmed down enough from my near-panic attack that he could step away and help Leo try to clear back the rubble for any signs of our Ninjitsu Master and parent.
"Guys, Splinter! We've got to find Splinter!" Leo tries calling for dad again:
"Master Splinter, can you hear me?!"
Now that my head was unclogged and could think more rationally, I realize,
Even if sensei did escape being buried, he might not be able to hear us from the other side of this dirt pile...hm...
...Wait! I got it!
Groping my hands over my jacket, I felt for my shell-cell - one of six that Don created with his brilliant tech-savvy brain about a year ago for each of us to have - and found it in my right pocket.
"Yes!"
I smiled hopefully, and clicked it on to send a call request, the ringing catching the attention of my brothers.
"Huh?" "Hm?"
"Sis?"
"What're you doing, Shiori?"
Holding up my turtle-shaped device, I reply to the guys (more so Leo),
"Praying that Master Splinter picks up his shell-cell and calls back."
Their eyes light up in an 'oooh' sort-of way, feeling the same rise of hope I was.
This had better work...
...A couple more rings pass, before I heard the single beep, followed by the sound of a very familiar male voice.
"Hm...Which button do you press to answer this thing?"
Ah! He's okay; dad's okay!
My heart soared, as did the blood-pumping organs of my brothers based on the relieved grins spreading on their faces to match mine...
"Hello?"
Oh, right, need to answer back, doigt.
"Master Splinter, thank goodness. Are you alright?"
"Hellooo?"
"...Um, sensei-"
"Stupid device..."
Fighting the urge to facepalm, I gently explain to him,
"You don't need to push anymore buttons, sensei. You already answered."
"Ah...Shiori, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they have managed to eat through the support structures of our home. We must leave right away."
Uh!...Leave, home?
My face contorts into a sad frown, hesitant to leave behind the one place I've truly called a home these last six years...But I swallow down a sigh and answer back quietly,
"I...We understand, sensei, but where will we go from here?"
"Meet me by the old drainage junction, at South Point."
South Point, huh?
Ignoring the sound of Mikey's pained groan from being shoved down from the huddle (most likely Raph's doing), I turn my attention from my cell to Donnie as he pulls out an old map of the sewers our whole family created together.
"If we take the South Conduit, it'll intersect with the old drainage tunnel."
I smile slightly at his confidence:
Sounds simple enough.
Shifting focus, I tell our father,
"We'll be there as soon as we can, sensei. Stay safe."
With that, I click my shell-cell off just as Mike rushed back to us excitedly, wrapping an arm around mine and Don's shoulders.
"What'd he say, what'd he say? Did he mention me~?"
I shook my head with an amused smile, while Raph responded by shoving our brother to the ground again...The five of us would then spend a couple minutes prepping for the journey ahead, doing a quick survey for any light supplies we could salvage from the wreckage to place in either my bomber jacket pockets or Donnie's duffel bag, knowing we would return here for a bigger search of remnants...eventually.
But not soon enough...
"Goodbye, broken pipe. Goodbye, grungy payphone. Goodbye, dented manhole cover..."
I smile sadly at Mikey's lament, and rise to a stand after adjusting the shoelace of my left sneaker before walking over to his side and join in on the following concluding line.
"...Goodbye, home sweet home."
Raph would come by to add with a grim sneer,
"Hello, cruel world...Come on, you two."
He grasps my hand and Mikey's shoulder to tug us along, following our other two brothers through the very hole our metal-bodied attackers chewed their way through...
"Looks like those things have been through here."
Nodding at Leo's observation, I wonder bitterly,
"And who knows where else they've been tunneling around at..."
Don makes note of the structure density for these older parts of the sewers we call home.
"These walls are seriously compromised. It's lucky this roof hasn't caved in."
...He would eat his words only three seconds later, when we find ourselves stopped short by another pile of collapsed rubble.
"You were sayin'?"
At the same time I nudge Raph's torso with a pointed look for his sarcasm, Leo groans and mutters,
"Can't go forward...can't go back..."
Knowing where this was leading, I make the motion towards the nearest ladder heading upward for the blacktop manhole cover.
"We'll need to go this way then."
As expected, however, our Splinter-like brother of green and blue would sternly protest such an option, gripping my left elbow gently but firmly to prevent me from climbing up any further than the first four steps.
"Heading to the surface is a bad idea." Donnie reasons,
"We've got no other way to go, Leo," and I add,
"Plus I've been up this particular direction a couple times; I know which way to go top-side that won't pin us out in the open...Please, Leo?"
Sighing, he agrees to the spontaneous plan, but not without giving us a reminder of what dad's taught us over the years.
"Alright. But we're only going up to go down the next manhole cover, got it? No fooling around. Remember what sensei said: it's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured. We need to stay out of sight."
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Raph lightly retorts,
"We got it the first thousand times, Leo. Let's just follow Shiori's lead."
Taking this as my cue, I start the climb again, with that brother following swiftly behind me...After a minute, I reach the top of the ladder and gently shove the thick metal lid away to the side, check for any street life, before hopping out onto the grounds between the sidewalk and the entrance to an alleyway. I take in the sight of the open air just as Raph jumps out behind me.
Mm...Been some time since I last came up here.
Though Master Splinter does give me permission to hit the upper pavement once in a while, he's just as protective over my well-being as he is for the guys...
"Come on, Leo, move it! I don't wanna be starin' at your butt anymore than I have to."
We hear a vehicle coming, and Leo shushes Mike before ducking down back into the sewer while Raph and I plaster ourselves into the shadows of the wall until the pedestrian passes.
Which is just as well: human or otherwise, the world's not a safe place for anybody.
I finish my conclusion on life just as Raph suddenly moves ahead of me to the block, before being forced to flip onto the little tent set over an entrance to one of the local dance clubs just as a young man and woman come waltzing out, both clearly a bit buzzed and giggly. I chose to go a more casual route, leaning on my side against the wall, smirking slightly at the friends or couple's 'gliding on air' poses.
Heh, thankfully, not all of New York's nightlife is dangerous. Accident-prone, maybe...
Now then, the manhole cover.
Peering around for a moment, I spot the closet metal lid in the blacktop just across this street heading into yet another alley.
Bingo.
I dart my away across the road, joined shortly by Raph after he leaps down from the lamppost and summer-rolls to duck behind a car with me, avoiding the headlights of another driving. I smirk and say to him,
"Shall we, Raph?"
His lips upturn a little as he nods...until:
(Vrooom...)
"Uh!"
We had to duck down just as another much larger vehicle - an armoured truck by the looks of it - suddenly comes by and slows down in front of here. I curse quietly while Raph grumbles,
"Now what?"
And just to add insult to injury, not only do they park in that alley, but one of the front tires ends up stopping right overtop the manhole cover!
Aw, crud...
My brother with the red ninja mask's opinion wasn't far off of mine, when he bends down to see after the three occupants of the truck leave inside the building making the left of this area.
"Great. Juuus' great! The old turtle luck working true t' form...!"
By no surprise to me, Raph would then boycott his ninja training for a moment to make way for his anger, growling a bit loudly before kicking the side of the truck. I fight the urge to roll my eyes:
Oh yeah, and that's gonna help our luck how?
"Wayda be stealthy, Raph."
I turn my head back to the corner to see Leo, Don and Mikey peering over at us, the third then commenting more jokingly,
"Yeah, I don't think they heard you over in Joisey."
Ignoring the sarcasm, Raph tries to employ help for a fruitless task.
"Gimme a hand."
He'd quickly shoot down my more easy-going brother's response of clapping his palms.
"Don't, even think about it, Mikey."
Mike surrenders his comedy, while Leo tries to gesture us to turn back and look for another alley.
Once again, by no surprise to me, Raph's temper made him stubborn.
"Ah, forget'chu guys; I'll push it myself."
He walks to the opened back of the armoured truck, and I take it upon myself to act as the voice of reason, rushing over to tug at his arm to get his attention.
"Raphael, it's useless. Let's just head to the next manhole cover a few blocks from here. Plus, I'm getting this bad feeling..."
"Tch, you worry too much, Shiori."
"Please, Raph-"
I'd stop my pleas short when my ears pick up on the approaching voices and footfalls of people coming up, most likely the drivers.
Ooooh no...!
"Hide, Raph, Shiori; come on!"
In the split seconds that came after Leo's whispered urging to flee and make for the shadows, Raph would've dove into the back of the armoured truck, while I chose to duck down in a split, before shooting right underneath where he'd be! I could hear the other three groan and cringe, Mikey quoting our master from the training session earlier before everything went sideways.
"Poor choice, Raphael..." Don mutters,
"I just can't believe Shiori actually ducked under the truck."
You and me both, bro. Ugh, I can already feel the dirt and oil scuffs...
"Heheheh, did you see the way that guy squirmed when we took his cash?"
Turning thoughts away from the washing I'll need much later on, I carefully peek over towards the back end of this vehicle, seeing at least four, no, five men dressed in the fashion of street gang punks coming over to toss in a few sacks of money.
"Sheep, man. Sheep to be fleeced by us wolves, hehahaha!"
I frown in distaste, recognizing the tattoos on their arms and sleeves.
Nuts, it's the Purple Dragons, one of the toughest street gangs on this side of Manhattan...
Raph must've found a decent way to hide, because I didn't see any reactions of alarm as the cash is loaded and the doors are locked...Still, that wasn't a good thing.
Oh man, Raphael's trapped inside now!
I hear the engine start up shortly afterward, so I risk it and fast-crawled out before I could get run over...
"Shiori!"
The others rush over and meet me at the entrance to the alley, Don giving me a once over for any possible injuries.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little dirty from brushing the undercarriage and the pavement...I'm more worried about Raph, though: he was still inside when they locked the truck."
Mikey comments with a wry smile,
"Imagine their surprise when they open the back later..."
Cue Leo's lecture mode:
"This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about. We've gotta get 'im outta there!"
Donnie would lead the charge to a more inconspicuous path, namely, the rooftops.
"Last one to the roof, hatched from a rotten egg!"
I myself would be last, since my legs weren't quite as powerful as my brothers in jumping high, and Mikey holds a hand out to me to yank me up to the rooftop to join the other two as we all observe the truck heading for one of the next intersections. Leo quickly formulated a plan of action:
"We can cut them off at third and first." The turtle of purple jokes,
"If we run like crazy," which Mikey adds onto with a rhetoric,
"Is there any other way to run?"
I just shook my head in amusement before moving to run and leap across the tops of these gargantuan-tall buildings, feeling exhilarated from the breeze blowing past my body.
Man, this is fun, despite our underlying problem...I can finally enjoy being top side with my family for once.
Mikey was certainly taking advantage of the opportunity, grinning as he calls back from way in front,
"You guys are too slow!"
Oh we'll show him slow.
Smirking over at Don and Leo, they mirror my expression back before rushing ahead to flip right over our cheeky brother, continuing the run ahead of him.
"Hey!"
I joke back as I speed past him,
"Hay is for horses, Mike, now come on!"
"You too, sis?!"
I just laugh, moving along so I was a bit close behind my other brothers...A few rooftops later, Mikey would catch up again, sliding down a protruding part of the roof we were currently running across before attempting to use a single nunchaku to slide down a laundry line. He'd succeed only halfway before he got obscured by a towel and went crashing to the next roof below, which thankfully wasn't too low down. Nevertheless, it didn't stop me from checking up on him, my sisterly worries spiking a bit.
"Mikey, are you okay?"
"(Sniff sniff) Mmmm, springtime fresh."
A small sigh of exasperated relief escapes my upturned lips, and he takes my hand after shucking the fabric off so that we'd be running and jumping down to the next area together.
"Whoo-hoo!" "Banzai!"
Hang in there, Raph, we're comin'.
Splinter's POV
It would not take me too long before I had reached the appointed meeting place in South Point, an area that has not seen the faces of humans for some time...
"Ah. The old drainage junction. (Looks around) Now, where are my sons and daughter?"
They must have been forced to take an alternate route...hopefully while avoiding the surface.
...My ears then picked up on a familiar rumbling sound, and I look down to see the ground crumbling under my feet.
"Uh!"
I back away before I could fall under the weakening weight, only for another spot to perform the same phenomenon.
Could this be...?
And much to my unfortunate dismay, I would find myself blocked by two of those mechanical creatures that destroyed my family's home not long ago!
This is not good...!
Top Side, No POV
The three anthropomorphic teenage turtles and one human teenage girl follow the armoured truck for several more blocks, the chase ending in yet another blocked alleyway, one that had a bordering tin roof covering a porch-like outside storage area for the apartment-sized buildings in this area. Raphael peers out from the back of the vehicle, but was then forced to duck down to avoid being detected by the several Purple Dragon Gang members as they get out to head inside the left building, most likely to check in with a higher-up on their task for the evening.
Just before heading in with the others, the man with the teal blue hi-top fade/mullet hair turns to another male of rather husky proportion - he having short, unkempt brown hair tied back with a red bandana, warm ivory skin, and wearing a dark teal tank top with the maroon purple gang symbol in the middle, black fingerless gloves, bandages wrapped from wrists to the end of his upper arms, dark olive green baggy cargo pants held up with a chain belt, and black trainers - to appoint for guard duty.
"Hey, Two-Ton, watch the truck. We wouldn't want someone to steal our stolen money."
The two scoff out chuckles before the first man parts to join the others, leaving Two-Ton to start his pacing...
Watching from up above near the ledge of the right building, Shiori hms with a glared frown and says quietly to her brothers,
"I've seen those creeps in particular before..."
"You have?" She nods to Leonardo:
"Mhm. The guy with the blue hair's name is John, and about a month ago during one of my visits, he and his buddies tried to break into the abandoned apartment building my friends secretly built a home in, probably to make a new base. (Wry smile) Thankfully, a good dose of Talon's ventriloquism and Shun's shadow puppetry scared them off, and since then, none of the Purple Dragons wanna go near the place 'cause they're scared of the 'ghosts' haunting the joint."
Mikey chimes with a laugh,
"Noice," and slide-fives her offered hand, just as an idea pops into her mind regarding future matters.
"...I know it's a bit too early to be thinking about this...but, maybe, we could find a new home with my friends, in that building."
The turtles look at their sister in surprise for her suggestion, and Don asks,
"But, wouldn't that be a little crowded?"
"Not at all. They just have the one large apartment room cleaned and cleared. There's still scores of sections ripe for new tenants...It's also in a neighbourhood that's generally quiet of pedestrian traffic, so there's less a chance that you guys, or, Master Splinter being exposed..."
Smiling softly, Shiori adds,
"And those four...they already love you guys like any other friend's family. They accept that you're not exactly, 'society normal' and don't care, by just seeing you all for you past the shells and fur...I'm not saying this as an only way, but...there is that option if we can't find a solid spot in the sewers anymore...Whaddo you think?"
Her brothers hum in thought...before the turtle wielding the double katana places a kind hand on the blackette's shoulder while replying,
"It does sound like a reasonable idea...I just don't know if Master Splinter would be on board with it."
"I know..."
"We can bring it up in discussion later, though. For now, let's focus on freeing Raphael so we can all meet up with sensei. Okay?"
Shiori nods with a small smile and says,
"Okay," before turning her honey-coloured orbs down back on the armoured truck and Two-Ton.
"So then, how do you boys propose we take down that walking tank?"
"I got a plan."
She turns to Michelangelo with a raised brow of surprise:
"Really? You have a plan? Do tell."
The fern green turtle leans over to whisper his idea in his sister's waiting ear...her lips spreading into a small grin by the end.
"Huh. Well, Mike, I think you've finally achieved 'So crazy, it just might work'."
He smiles proudly, if with a mixed mild glare directed at her for the cheek, before gesturing her to go and start the first piece of his plan, much to the confusion of Donatello and Leonardo as they watched their sister climb over the ledge to slide down the wall, landing silently on the fire escape.
"Shiori?"
"What're you two-"
"Relax, you guys. It's all part of the plan."
Meanwhile, the girl wearing the white bandana kerchief with the black paisley pattern scoops up a small, forgotten flower pot sitting on the fire escape floor, before setting it in the handle of one of her tonfas, and using it like a spear-thrower to sent the piece of pottery near one corner of the alley's entrance/exit.
(...Smash)
"Uh?"
Two-Ton's hearing picks up on the shattered pot, and he creeps around the corner of the armoured truck with his baseball bat - it fixed with a large nail at the blunt end for a more brutal impact - held at ready...But, he sees no one, so he backs to his station...only to feel someone tap his shoulder, they being Michelangelo!
"Hey. This is a 'No Parking' zone. (Holds out a paper slip) Here's your ticket, and here's your fine!"
(Kick)
"Gouh!"
The bulking punk goes slamming into the truck, falling unconscious just as Leonardo comes landing down from the rooftop with an impressed smile.
"Ni~ce work, Mikey."
Shrugging amusingly and modestly, the turtle wearing orange replies,
"Eh, it's a Ninja thing. And anyway-"
Shiori jumps down from the fire escape with a 'hup', joining Donatello in walking over to the others.
"I gotta give half-credit to Yori for the distraction."
She smiles appreciatively at her brother and quips with a salute,
"All in a day's work," before focus is turned on the turtle trapped in the truck.
"Now, let's get Raph outta there."
Said sai-wielding reptile was currently wracking his fist on the window while calling out aggravated but incoherent sentences. Mikey comments on the make of the code lock:
"Man, whatever happened to good old-fashioned padlocks?"
Donatello smirks smartly and brandishes out a set of screwdrivers from his duffel bag with a showy twirl.
"Heh, where's the fun in that? This one's all~ mine."
While he got started on cracking the code, Michelangelo proceeded to mock Raphael who was still knocking on the door, clearly not wanting to be inside the truck any longer than necessary.
"What's that, Raphael? You're gonna have to speak up, dude. I can't he~ar you~."
In response, the turtle with the red bandana mask growls before kicking the door hard.
"Okay, I heard that."
Shiori sighs before chiding with a scolding frown,
"Mikey, can you please not pile onto our brother's bad mood?"
Donatello, he now wearing a set of goggle-style glasses, adds in a slightly annoyed tone,
"Yeah, especially since I'm trying to work here..."
The turtle with nunchaku as weapons sighs and mutters apologetically,
"Alright, sorry, guys..."
The girl with black beach waves smiles a bit in approval of her brother's self-control to joking around, patting the rim of his shell before turning to step right in front of the windowed door that Raphael was glaring out from. She places a calming palm on the glass surface over where his hand rested.
"Raph?"
His expression relaxes a bit upon taking in the soft tone of his sister, who chides,
"Just take a few deep breaths and calm down, okay? Donnie's working on busting you out as we speak."
...The turtle lets out a muffled breath of faltering frustration, before nodding with a frown that read he understood.
...
Meanwhile, back down below in the South Point drainage junction, Splinter was facing a dilemma in the form of five of those strange, vicious robots. One steps up and seizes the rat in its jaws by a corner of his mud brown monk robes, before he growls and slaps the menace away with a flick of his tail. It hits the wall, shakes its head, before emitting two consecutive, robotic screeching roars, moving back towards where it was previously.
Splinter backs up a few steps, raising his walking stick at ready for an appending fight, just as two of the five robots spring!
...
By this time, Donatello had finished tinkering with the wiring of the armoured truck's storage lock, cracking the code and unlocking the doors. Michelangelo would be the first to greet his freed brother:
"He-ey, Raph! Welcome back bro-whoa!"
But his positivity would be figuratively and literally knocked down when Raphael comes lunging out of the truck, tackling the other turtle to the ground to start a squabble. Shiori facepalms with a sigh as Leonardo shakes his head while muttering,
"What a hothead..."
He, Donatello and Shiori would then feel new presences approaching, and took in sharp breaths while pulling out their weapons at ready, backing up slow.
"Uh, Raph,"
"Mikey?"
"We don't have time for this..."
Raphael inquires as he held up Michelangelo up against a post,
"And why not?" The latter would answer as he spotted the approaching threat,
"Because we're not alone...?"
And said threat, was noneother than those several Purple Dragon punks, returning from their business inside the building, only to find a quintet of intruders.
"Look a' the freaks!"
"What's with the dweeby costumes?"
"This ain' Halloween."
The leader, John, twirls out his own bō staff while jeering,
"You're goin' down, freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons, especially wearin' stupid turtle costumes or lookin' like a wannabe biker chick!"
...Oh how wrong he would be to taunt those five. After showing off their weapons in a series of intricate movements, the four turtles and one human girl charge forward to attack, quickly forming a pile of bruised gang members after just a few rounds of punches, kicks and thrusts from their equipment...!
Twirling one of her tonfas in a similar fashion to her brother with the sais, Shiori quirks with a menacing smile,
"What was that bit about stupid turtles and a wannabe biker chick? Get your facts straight, creep. We're ninja."
Cringing with fear and surprise, the leader of this Purple Dragon branch spins on his heel and starts speeding out of the alley.
"Let's get outta here!"
"I'm with you!"
All of the punks hurry behind with their 'tails between their legs', not wanting to take anymore chances with the quintet...
"Gimme some green!"
Raphael obliges his orange-bandana wearing brother and high-threes him, before Donatello comments with a smile,
"Well, that was easier than expected."
Shiori scoffs,
"No surprise to me. Punks like them are usually all talk and no real walk when they're up against opponents with real-trained skills."
"I hope there are more of d'ose guys. I'm just gettin' warmed up."
...Feeling a new set of eyes on him and his siblings, Michelangelo turns his head to look up, and widens his eyes before replying back,
"Ah, well, looks like you've got your wish, Raphie-boy."
Following his direct of sight, the other four would find themselves being leered at from above, by the silhouettes of fellow 'Kage Warriors'. Readying his double katana on the defense, Leonardo asks aloud in surprise,
"Are those guys...ninjas?"
...The figures all hop soundlessly to the ground off the rooftops, surrounding the quintet in a circle, revealing their appearances as indeed ninja, wearing the stereotypical outfit comprised of a full-black garbs that also covered their entire heads, with dark grey making up an overvest, gloves and boots, and either carried one of various Ninjitsu-related weapons or chose to go bare-handed. Michelangelo comments,
"Well, they're certainly ninja-esque..."
Shiori swallows a bundle of nerves down her throat while holding her tonfas at ready.
"Now, these guys, I've never seen before, and already got my gut screaming a high danger warning."
Leo chides with a grit while readying his swords,
"Be ready, for anything," while Raphael says to himself with a smirk of anticipation,
"I am sooo gonna enjoy this."
Donatello makes the first move, using his bō staff to vault over a section of the ninja circle, before spinning and knocking that portion of black-clad men down with the ends of his weapon. He then sweeps one side against a charging ninja as he raised his staff to block the sword of another, lifting the wood under their knees to thrust them backwards to the ground...But the turtle masked in purple would quickly learn that unlike the human street punks he and his siblings just took down a moment ago, these new opponents were not going to be defeated so easily, as evident by the recovery hops back onto their feet.
"Uh! Hm..."
We then check in on another turtle, Raphael, as he works to dodge the attacks of three fist-driven ninja who decided to try and gang up on him.
"Nice Dragon Kick. Ah, sweet Double Phoenix Punch. Hey, you know this one?"
He then swiftly roundhouse-kicks the trio in a spin...
At that moment, Leonardo was struggling to hold back another incoming blade with his own, which Shiori would take advantage of by rushing over and thrusting one of her tonfa shafts into the ninja's chest, adding a kick for emphasis.
"Hi-ya!"
(Whack)
"Guh!"
The turtle and young girl share a quick nod, before the former backflips onto the tin roof to survey...only to find another ninja speeding sideways along the wall straight for him! The opponents clash blades, before the black-clad human lands on the roof in a slide, joined by an ally on the other side of Leonardo only seconds after. Steel would clang and scrape against eachother a couple times, before the teenage turtle found himself trapped in a standoff, struggling to hold his arms up against the strength of two against one.
His sister would catch a glimpse of the situation from her point down below as she herself took on four of the ninja, using her weapons as an extra guard for her arms in her punches and jabs.
"Leo!"
Shell, this isn't looking good...
Michelangelo meanwhile, was using his nunchaku to clack against the thicker-based tonfa of two ninja...
At that moment, Donatello barely blocks two shuriken with the base of his bō staff, only to realize the feint two seconds too late, and gets leap-kicked hard in the torso, his body slamming into the armoured truck, followed shortly by the turtle with the orange mask. Thankfully, their shells took the bulk of the blow, so they weren't terribly hurt...Yet, as he sets his weapons under his belt again, Michelangelo couldn't help but ask,
"Don, are we beating them, or are they beating us?"
He's then yanked into the driver's end of the truck by his brother to dodge an incoming flurry of shurikens, and both turtles look down at the pin cushion that was now the door as the latter replies,
"Ask me again when we're winning, Mikey."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
...
Back in the sewer, their sensei and parental figure had just finished taking out the small group of robots that ganged up on them, smashing them to pieces with single choice swings from his walking stick...
(Crick, crack...)
"Hm?"
Unfortunately for him, the razor-jawed monsters had done more damage to the floor of the drainage junction than he previously expected, and before he could make the move to run, he found himself falling down a tunnel to a lower section of the sewers!
"Aaa-auu-uuuuh!"
Harsh though the fall was, Splinter manages to avoid any terrible injury, standing up slowly to brush himself off and try to figure out where he was now...What he would find upon turning to his right, was not what he anticipated.
"Ah! Aaah..."
Leonardo's POV
Grh, these guys are really starting to get under my shell, and thoughts like this are usually Raph-oriented.
The two ninja that were pinning me with their blades on mine were soon joined by three more, the lot of them seeking to get me to submit...But no way was that happening: it took some specific shifts in my stance and muscle direction, but I managed to kick down the two nearest to my sides, before pulling myself free from the other three just as they try to pin me to the wall, and knock them away next.
With those obstacles gone, I was able to get off the tin roof, landing atop one of the four ninja who were trying to get a leg over my sister. She then implemented the less traditional technique with her tonfa, flipping them over so she was gripping the bare shafts and using the handles to hook against the one ninja's double short blades, then shove them down as she jumped-kicked him in the jaw.
"Ha!"
(Whack)
"Cuah!"
That human falls, and Shiori takes advantage of the surprise from the other two to rush on them and punch them out using her weapons like extra guards.
Wow...She's really made the tonfas her own.
"...Leo?"
I snap out of my impressed thoughts when I feel a familiar soft hand grip my wrist, belonging to the very girl I was thinking about, she tugging at me with an urgent expression.
"Come on, let's group over at the truck while we've got an open path."
"Right."
We run over to where Mikey was standing, Raph leaping in shortly afterward, his eagerness for a fight beginning to wane.
"How many of these goons do we need to bap before they get the hint?!"
Mikey adds in emphasis,
"Reaaally! They just keep comin'," and Shiori voices her thoughts:
"Plus this is starting to waste more time than necessary when it should be invested in finding sensei."
That's right: we need to meet with Master Splinter...But, leaving on foot's too easy a way for these ninjas to tail us.
"Time to switch to Plan B. (Pivots head) Donatello?"
He calls from the driver's seat,
"Al~most there, Leo..."
I then hear a spark from the steering wheel area few seconds afterward, followed by the subtle roar of the engine.
Alright, Donnie!
"This bus now leaving for, anywhere but here!"
We don't invest anymore energy with these ninjas and hurry to the back of the vehicle, I urging Raph while Shiori grabbed Mikey.
"Come on, we're going!"
"This way, Mikey!"
"Right behind ya, sis!"
We all jump into the back in time just as Don revved the engine, and sis scrambles to shut the doors in accordance to our brother's...less than cautious driving skills.
"Whoa, Don, easy on the swerve!" Mikey jeers playfully,
"Yeah, nice driving, for a turtle with no license!"
Don calls back with an irritated smile at both our siblings,
"Hey, you want pretty, o-or do you want effective?"
As we continued along down the streets (just narrowly avoiding collisions with parked vehicles and hardly staying in one lane, I may add), Mikey starts a sum-up of our family's ordeals that came crashing down on us tonight.
"I gotta tell ya, this has been one mondo, bizarro day, and I mean more than when we met Shiori. No offense, sis."
She just waves him off with a smile while holding Raph's arm for support as the truck bumped and jerked a little.
"None taken. Now that was a day for the history books. (Frown) And I agree: today has offered way too much weird peril for one sitting. First, we nearly get buried alive when those metal turkeys with shark teeth ate through our home."
We almost laughed at our sister's description of the robots...
"Then we had to play heroes and rescue Raph from becoming a payment piece to those Purple Dragon creeps."
"'Ey!"
"Just being honest, bro."
Mikey would then jump back in with the last and strangest detail of this adventure above ground.
"And, what's with all those ninjas? I mean, ninjas in New York City, besides us? It's just not right!"
Hm, there is something suspicious about their appearance...
Just as my brother with the nunchaku falls forward from another sharp turn, Raph would open up one of the duffel bags and pour out yet another problem to deal with.
"Talkin' about not right? Check this out."
...Aw shell...
Shiori says with a distasteful frown,
"I remember John saying something about making some poor man squirm after taking their cash...Guess this is what he meant."
Mikey would grab a fistful each of the green bills with an excited grin, somehow missing our sister's hint of this being bad money.
"Show me the money, baby; whoo-hoo!"
I yank one of the handfuls out of his hands before telling him sternly,
"This isn't finders-keepers, Mikey."
Thankfully, it wouldn't take too long before we found a source of do-gooders that could get this stolen cash back to where it needs to be, namely, a cop car with two policemen working from it tonight. I grab the first bag and call,
"Take care of this money, will ya guys," before tossing it and the others with some passes from Shiori...
With that issue taken care of, we'd only have to drive down the roads to where South Point began, before ducking down an alley and crashing through a set of rusty metal gates leading into the old drainage junction...where our sensei and father would be patiently awaiting us in mediation.
Dad...!
Once Don put the truck in park, we all scrambled out to greet him, happily relieved that all of us made it through this hardship alive.
"Hey!" "Sensei!"
"Sensei, you're alright!"
"Master Splinter!"
"You made it, Master Splinter!"
He was also smiling in relief at seeing our faces:
"Yes, well, I'm glad to see you too, my children."
I began our tale with,
"Master Splinter, so much has happened today..."
"Yes, yes. There will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo. But first, I wish to take you all home."
...What?
The rest of my siblings were just as confused:
"Home?"
"We've got no home. Those robots trashed our pad. Remember, sensei?"
Shiori was especially saddened by the reality:
"It's, gone...no more than a pile of rubble..."
My brothers and I look at her with sympathy, recalling her story of what happened to her old home years ago, just weeks before we would find and adopt her into our family.
The causes may have been different...but both are equally devastating.
Master Splinter's smile softened a little at our sister's disheartened expression as he chided,
"Do not worry. I think I have found a solution to our, current housing problem. Follow me, my sons, my daughter."
He then, hops down a large hole in the ground!
Huh? Sensei?
...Well, he's never steered us wrong before.
Shrugging slightly, I follow his example, flipping onto a single palm before flipping back and down the hole. I hear Donnie and Shiori jump down next, followed by an echo from Mikey that sounded like,
"Cowabun-gaaaauh, not, funny, Raph!"
If I wasn't so concentrated on making a somewhat smooth landing down this winding tunnel, I would've rolled my eyes. It wouldn't take even half a minute before we all reached the bottom, each of us crashing into eachother in the order we came down. Mikey recovered with a smile and an exclaim of,
"Wicked slide!"
Heh, sometimes I envy his positivity...
Once he and Raph get up off us, Don and I help Shiori up before we all trail after Master Splinter down a tunnel that compared to where we lived previously, wasn't that much better. My brother with the more lazed and fun personality would make such a note to our sensei too.
"No offense, Master Splinter, buuut this place doesn't seem so great..."
Sensei patiently replies,
"Look with your heart, Michelangelo, and not your eyes."
"Uuum...okay."
"And walk this way."
...Shiori would quickly stop Mikey from imitating Master Splinter's walk by whacking his head with one of her tonfa.
(Bonk)
"Ow!"
"Mike, don't do impersonations like that. It's rude."
"Sorry, sorry!"
I shake my head in amusement at the two before we all moved after sensei again...
And when we reached the entrance to this new area, we'd all be in for a big surprise.
"Haah...!" "Whoa..."
This was definitely a section of the underground that no one's been in for who knows how long, and the architecture was unlike that of the regular sewer tunnels. It'd almost make you think of some lost part of an old-time New York train station, with arched pillars, well-packed brick walls and several different rooms! There was some reasonable wear and tear, but that just seemed to add...character.
"This is beyond awesome!"
Wayda sum it up, Mike.
Donnie was already looking around with that inventive smile:
"I could really tune this space up..."
They and Raph then start rushing around to get a closer look at what may very well be labelled as our new home. Shiori stayed with me as we walked over to Master Splinter, quirking quietly,
"Guess we won't have to call up my buds topside to inquire about a 'room for rent', huh?"
"Heh, guess not, but it was still a good idea, anyway."
"Thanks..."
We laugh silently at the sound of our nunchaku-wielding brother already calling dibs on a room or two.
"This room here, mine...And where you're standing? Also mine!"
Sensei then says with his own smile,
"You see, my children? Change is good," which I'd reply wholeheartedly,
"We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter," Shiori nodding with me.
"Good...so let's see you kids clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy."
We all groan at that prospect, but obeyed the direction nonetheless, since the sooner we got this place in tip top shape to live in, the better.
...Little did we know, that both of those battles on the surface streets, were more closely linked than they appeared.
No POV
As the Hamato Family began settling into their new home, we find ourselves zooming into a different, unmarked location between the towering buildings of the Manhattan area, specifically, a room styled with elements of a traditional Japanese sitting room, a few torches lit to cast shadowed light against the screen doors and polished hard wood.
In the middle-back, sat a man with light beige skin, short, sleek-back onyx hair, and steely dark brown irises, wearing an outfit comprised of a cream white haori and hakama, the sleeves of the former bordered with a dull gold-tan matching the thick material belt tied tight around his waist, a quilted overvest of blue-grey with a curious red clan symbol stamped on both sides, shaped like a clawed foot. His place was in front of a low-legged desk, sipping on some steaming green tea, and behind him, rested a scabbard sword...
Kneeling before him, was that same Purple Dragon gang leader from earlier this evening, John, feeling really small under that cold gaze.
"S-Sir. I, I-uh, my men. We, w-we lost the armoured truck with the money. B-But we were attacked! By some, karate frog creatures or somehin' and a crazy biker chick! Th-They took us by surprise; i-it wasn't my fault."
The other male raises a flat palm to stop the street punk's yammering.
"Enough."
Shivering a little from the very deep, deadly-toned voice, the bluenette adds without stuttering,
"I promise, sir...it won't, happen again."
"I know."
...The man with brown irises that only reflected death rose from his seat.
"You won't fail me again...ever."
"No, sir, please...!"
No kowtow of desperation would save John's life...and his scream would ring through what is revealed zooming back outward as the top floor of a very tall skyscraper, that same clan symbol stamped in the middle of a neon sign, glowing ominously to the tune of the other male's dark laughter...