Down in new York, everyone thinks all there is are the sewers, but they are wrong.
The turtles, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, together with master Splinter and his daughter, Miwa, nicknamed Karai, were they were dining, eating worms and algae. The only one who wasn't picking was Splinter.
"There's a little more worms and algae if anyone want's it. Anybody? Anybody?" asked Michelangelo.
"No thanks" "I'm good" "All yours" they said at one once.
"Then I suppose no one has any room for... THIS!" he added presenting a green cake.
"It IS a cake" Donnie said.
"Made of algae" Karai noticed. "And worms" Raph added.
"What's the frosting made out of?" Leo asked.
"You don't wanna know" Mickey warned "HAPPY MUTATION DAY" he announced
"HAPPY MUTATION DAY" the all yelled.
"Ah yes, 15 years ago' our lives changed for ever and we became the most unlikeliest of family's"
"We?" Karai asked.
"Most of us became unlikely" Splinter added.
"Tell us the story, Sensei" Mickey demanded.
"Michelangelo, I have already told the story many times" Splinter said.
"Please, PLEEEEEASE!" Mickey begged.
"Please, Sensei." Raph said, covering Mickey's mouth "It's the only thing that will make Mickey shut up"
Splinter sighed: "Very well. Many years ago', when I was still human, I was leaving the pet store with 4 baby turtles..."
"That was us!" Mickey interrupted.
"Yes. Don't interrupted" Splinter said, continuing: "While I walked down the street, I passed a strange man. Something felt off about him. I decided to follow him"
"I noticed he was carrying a strange package. While I tried to listen, I accidently stepped on a rat. They turned and attacked me. I fought back, but I accidently knocked over the canister, witch broke. Then I turned in the last thing I touched, a rat. I also dropped you in the stuff."
"It was the strange stuff in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all." he finished, holding up the canister.
"so, Sensei" Leo asked "Now that we're 15, I think we're finally ready to go to the surface!"
"True, even I haven't been up there, and I'm human" Karai added.
"Yes" Splinter said and everyone got exited "And no." everyone looked disappointed, while Raph said "I hate it when he does that"
"You have all grown very powerful, but you are still unprepared" Splinter said
"So is that a no, Sensei?" Leo asked.
"Yes. And no." he added "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes"
"Ah, so in order to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes, so we can go" Donnie guessed.
"No" Splinter said "And yes?" Donnie asked hopefully "No" Splinter answered "Aw, Man" Donnie cursed.
"Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us..." Leo said.
"But we can't spend our whole lives down here" Karai finished.
Splinter considered for a moment, then noticed the turtles on there knees making cute eyes and Karai (still standing up) looking pleadingly at her father. Splinter sighed.
"You may go. Tonight" he finally said.
Everyone yelled in triumph and Mickey proposed a high 3.
{ Later }
Leo was watching his favourite show, Space heroes, while Karai was reading her "Japanese Mythology" and Raph had a comic.
"Haven't you seen this enough times already?" Raph asked.
"Hey, Space Heroes is a great show. And Captain Ryan is a great leader, someday I'm gonna be just like him." Leo declared dramatically.
"Great, wake me up when something interesting comes on" Karai yawned.
"HEY!" Mickey called "It's go time!"
They all got their weapons ready: Leo with his swords, Karai with HER katana and knife, Raph with his sai's, Mickey with his nunchucks and Donnie with his staff.
"You are going to a strange and hostile world. It is best you stay prepared." explained Splinter.
"Hai, Sensei!"
"Stay in the shadows."
"Hai, Sensei!"
"Don't talk to strangers"
"Hai, Sensei!"
"Everyone is a stranger!"
"Hai, Sensei." they said wearily and started to head out.
"Make sure you GO before you leave, the restrooms up there are filthy!" he added.
"SENSEI" they said before finally heading out.
They found a manhole cover that lead to the surface and went up.
They saw the city right in front of them. They went off exploring.
"Look at all the computers!" Donnie said.
"Where to next, before Donnie goes and steals those computers!" Karai said.
Just then, a guy on a motorbike stopped in front of them, staring. Raph then made a scary face, that sent the guy away screaming.
"That was kind of fun" he admitted.
"We're too exposed out here" Leo said and headed for the rooftop's.
They headed for the roof, but Mickey noticed something the guy had dropped.
"Pizza?" he asked, on the rooftop.
"Should we open it?" Raph asked.
"Careful, it could be dangerous!" Leo warned.
They opened it and saw a circle with what looked like cheese, tomatoes' and pepperoni.
"I think it's food" Donnie said.
"Well it's not like any food I ever saw!" Karai noted.
"I'll try it." Mickey said.
He took a slice and bit it, then stuffed what was left in his mouth. It was clear that it was good, though he tried to cover it.
"YUCK. You guys won't like it, I'll take the rest."
"NO WAY" the others, except Karai, said.
"I never thought I'd taste something better than worms and algae, but this is great!"
"Karai, you gotta try this!" Leo said.
"I'm good, besides it can't be that great!" she answered.
"Just have the last slice!" Donnie offered.
"There's no getting out of this, is there?" she asked.
"No" the others said.
Karai tried the slice: "You know, i's actually not that bad" she said, finishing the slice.
"I LOVE IT UP HERE!" Mickey yelled.
{ Later }
The team had explored almost the whole city, until they finally arrived at the edge of a long line of rooftop's.
"It's getting late, we should head back" Leo said. They headed for the sewers, but Donnie stopped them.
"Guy's,look at that!" he sad pointing. Down on the ground there was a girl walking with her father. She had red hair tied in a pony tail with a slight fringe. She also wore a yellow T-shirt ad a pair of shorts on top of some leggings and boots and brown wrist bands.
"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!" he said.
"Isn't she the ONLY girl you ever saw?" Raph noted.
"HEY" Karai said.
"Sorry, the only OTHER girl you ever saw?" he corrected.
"My point still stands" he said.
Just then a van stopped in front of the girl and her father. A bunch of guys came out and started kidnapping them.
"Come on, we gotta help her!" Donnie said, but Leo stopped him.
"Splinter's instructions were very clear, we're supposed to stay away from people. And bathrooms!" he said
"I thought you wanted to be a hero. Since when do heroes ask for help?" Karai said.
"They don't!" Leo answered "Well I'm going" Donnie said. The others followed. Leo started battling the kidnappers, but while they were fighting, they started jabbing their weapons at each other. They hardly managed to hit anyone. Donnie went after the girl. He knocked aside the one who was holding her.
"We'll protect you" he said smiling. The girl then screamed and backed away. "No, wait, we're the good guy's" he said, an offered a hand. The girl seemed to have calmed down because she reached out, but then Mickey hit Donnie by accident with his nunchuck.
Then they got distracted by other kidnappers, and the van managed to get away.
"Come on guy's. The van!" Karai called. But it was too late. The van had gone. They headed back to the sewers, were they were called at a meeting in the dojo.
"So not only did you let the van escape, you also failed to stay hidden!" Splinter said.
"It would have gone a lot better, Father, if a certain guy didn't block my swipe with his sai!" Karai said glaring at Raph.
"Well if Hero Boy here wasn't arguing with me, we would have kicked their butt!" he said to Leo.
"Well, you went off on your own. How smart was that?!" Leo glared at Donnie.
"Well I would have made it if somebody hadn't hit me in the head with his nunchuck's!" Donnie glared at Mickey.
"Well, none of this would have happened if..." he paused: "SOMEBODY hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!" he concluded.
The others gasped, because Mickey was blaming Splinter.
"Oh, jeez. I'm sorry, Sensei" he apologized.
"No, Michelangelo. You are wright" Splinter said.
"HE IS?" the others said.
"I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. Perhaps in another year, you will be ready!" Splinter said.
"Another YEAR? Sensei, there were people being kidnapped. They don't have a year!" Donnie said.
Splinter hesitated a this, while Donnie continued: "You weren't there, Sensei. You didn't see how that girl looked into my eyes: she was scared and she was counting on me... US to save her!"
Splinter paused for a moment and said: "Yes, you must go out there and save her!"
"I agree, Sensei, but in that fight we weren't exactly a well loyalled machine." Leo said.
"Like that weird brain thing" Mickey recalled. He was attacked earlier and claimed that there was a brain-squid thing inside of a kidnappers body.
"Give it a rest!" Karai said.
"If you are to fight as a unit, you are going to need a leader" Splinter noted.
"Can I be the leader?" Leo asked.
"Why should you be the leader, I kicked your butt, I should lead." Raph said.
"Hey, I'm the best strategist, I should lead!" Karai said.
"Hey, I'm smarter than all of you put together, I should lead" Donnie said.
"No way, it should be ME" Mickey said. Everyone stared at him. "I don't really have a reason, I just think it would be neat!" he said.
"This is a difficult decision" Splinter said "I will meditate over this" he said, closing the door to his room. Three seconds later, he opened it again and said: "It's Leonardo"
"No hard feelings, Raph?" he said.
Raph growled and said: "Stick it in your shell." He exited the dojo.
{ Later }
The guys and Karai were all standing on a rooftop.
"Remind me the plan again." Mickey said. The others groaned.
"Mickey, we've been over this!" Leo said "That building has the same symbol on the van, so if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show up and when he does, we'll make him tell us were there keeping the kidnapped. OK?"
"What do I do?" Mickey asked.
"Just hit the guy we tell you too" Karai summarised. "Will do!" Mickey gave a thumbs up.
{ 3 hours later }
"Are they going to show up yet?" Raph asked impatiently.
"Trust me, they'll be coming any minute now." Leo said.
"Really, because the five of us standing here with our thumbs up our noses..." Raph said.
"I don't think they fit!" Mickey noted.
"...Is pointless!" Raph finished.
"You sure about that, Raph?" Leo asked testily.
"He just showed up, didn't he?" he guessed.
"You should have complained two hours ago." Karai said.
The van pulled up beside the building and then the guys suddenly jumped down in front of the man who came out.
"Alright then, we can do this the easy way, or, my vote, the hard way" Raph said.
The guy suddenly pulled out a gun and started shooting them.
He went back into he van and then everyone started chasing it, until Leo threw a shuriken at a wheel on the van, which flipped over.
They came down next too it and Leo started doing a few message gestures in the air.
"I. Don't. Know. What. That. Means!" Raph said, doing his own gestures in the air.
Karai sighed and said: "I taught him that. He said "Go around back"."
"Why didn't he just say so?" Mickey asked.
They went near the back of the van and Raph opened the back door. Inside were a load of boxes and out of one, a canister with some strange turquoise liquid fell out.
Mickey then recognised it.
"MOM?!"
{ To be continued }
