Chapter 1—Introductions
It was a dark night in New York to Ryoko as she ran down the alley . Why do I always attract these kinds of people?! She looked over her shoulder at the Foot soldiers following her. They don't give up! She looked back in front of her and saw an open sewage drain. She smiled. I can lose them down there. She jumped down the hole and kept running. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. They had followed her down. She kept running. She looked forward and saw a small culvert ahead. She ran faster and dashed down it, shrinking against the wall, disappearing into the shadows. She watched as they ran past her, and she breathed a sigh. That was close.
"Hey, why are the Foot chasing after you?" an angry voice said behind her. Ryoko gasped and turned around. What she saw surprised her. Her eyes got wide when she saw four, human-sized turtles in front of her. They each had a mask on, each one a different color: blue, red, purple, and orange. They also had ninja weapons (or weapon in the case of the purple masked one.)
She blinked. "Do talking turtles even exist?" she asked to no one in particular.
"Hey, she called us turtles!" the orange masked turtle said.
"At least someone knows their biology," the purple masked one said.
The blue masked turtle stepped forward. "I am sorry about my brothers behavior. We normally don't get that question when people first see us, unless they are some scientific megalomaniacs or aliens, which they more or less just start shooting at us. Normal humans just turn and run from us."
Ryoko nodded. "Well, I can understand why. Four human-sized turtles walking around like humans is not something you see every day, nor is it something that is considered normal."
The blue masked turtle smiled. "Well, it is nice to know at least one normal human doesn't think of us as monsters."
Ryoko laughed. "I am by no means normal, turtle. My parents were killed by those Foot soldiers quite a few years back. I was staying with a nice couple out in the country, but then I started hearing tales of the people matching the Foot's description attacking other farms in the area. I thought maybe they were looking for me, so I left and came back to the city. So, here I am, being chased by the Foot for whatever reason. Not exactly a normal existence," she said, shrugging.
The blue-masked turtle nodded. "Yeah, that isn't, but I am being rude. Let's go somewhere more safe and we can talk more."
Ryoko nodded and followed the four turtles. She looked at them more closely. She could tell that the blue-masked one was the leader by his demeanor. He carried two katanas. The red-masked one was not far behind him. He was the only one who hadn't spoke, so she figured he was the first one who spoke to her. He carried two sais. The purple-masked one carried a bo staff, and the orange-masked one carried two nun chucks. They are definitely ninjas, she thought to herself as she followed the four turtles. After a while, they came to a wall. The purple-masked one pressed a brick and a keypad popped out. He pressed in a few numbers and the wall opened up. Ryoko followed the four turtles into the huge room that the wall had opened up to.
"This is our home," the blue-masked one said. "And by the way, my name is Leonardo," he said, motioning to himself, "this is Raphael," he motioned towards the red-masked turtle, "this is Donatello," he motioned towards the purple-masked turtle, "and this is Michelangelo," he motioned towards the orange-masked turtle.
Ryoko smiled. "Pleasure to meet you four. I am Ryoko," she said.
"Ryoko. Doesn't that mean 'dragon' in Japanese?" Leonardo asked.
Ryoko nodded. "Yes. My parents raised me to be the dragon of our family, I guess you could say," she said.
"Typically that is a name only a fierce family would give their child," a voice said from behind the turtles. Ryoko looked up to see a rat, smaller than the turtles, but human-sized.
She cocked her head. "So there are human-sized rats too. This world keeps getting stranger and stranger," she said, awe in her voice.
"Yes, many things in this world are strange, child, but even stranger is why the Foot are intently pursuing a child like you," the rat said.
Ryoko gazed into the rat's eyes. She nodded. "You are correct in saying that my family is fierce. I am a descendent of the strongest mercenary branches in Japan. I have been taught different things, such as ninjutsu, jujitsu, and judo, along with other mercenary skills. I guess my parents took the wrong job concerning the Foot and now they are on a mission to completely wipe us out. Not sure exactly how they knew I even existed, but apparently they do," she said.
The rat nodded. "Agreed. By the way, I am Master Splinter. I am these four's father," he said.
Ryoko choked back a chuckle, then looked at him and then the four turtles. "I will take that you mean that figuratively, not literally."
Master Splinter smiled. "Yes, figuratively."
Ryoko nodded, then asked, "If I may ask, how exactly did you guys end up like this?" she asked.
Splinter nodded. "It is a long story."
Ryoko smirked. "And I have a long time to listen."
The turtles smirked and sat down to listen to the tale. Ryoko also sat and listened very intently. After Master Splinter was done with their story, Ryoko sat there, thinking. "So, you learned ninjutsu by just watching Hamato Yoshi, and when you and the turtles were mutated, you taught them also how to use ninjutsu and you have destroyed the Shredder." Master Splinter nodded. "It is definitely a story that cannot be made up, considering the evidence," she said.
Master Splinter looked at the turtles, then looked at Ryoko. "It also seems that the Shredder also wants your head. If you need a safe place to stay, you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you like."
Ryoko looked at him, surprise on her face. "You would just welcome a stranger into your home?" she asked, shocked.
"Of course. It is obvious you are not with the Foot," Leonardo said.
Ryoko shook her head. "But, I said I was from a family of mercenaries, how can you know I won't betray you at all?" she asked, confusion on her face.
"I agree with her, how can we know that we can trust her!" Raphael shouted.
"If she was somebody that would betray us, she wouldn't have left the couple on the farm because she feared for their safety," Donatello pointed out.
"But you don't know me at all," Ryoko said.
"Trust must be earned, but some level of trust must also be given," Splinter said. "I trust that you won't betray the trust that I have given you," he said.
Ryoko nodded, then stood and bowed. "No, Master Splinter, I will not betray that trust."
"I still don't trust her," Raphael grumbled.
"Well, I trust her," Leonardo said. "She may be a stranger, but there is something about her that you can just trust her. Well, at least for me," he said, looking at Raphael as he said the last part.
Ryoko looked at the red-masked turtle, then turned and walked so that she was standing in front of where he was sitting. Raphael looked up at her, eyes narrowed. Ryoko stared at him, eyes unblinking. Raphael sat there, eyeing her. She was of average height, around five and a half feet, and thin. She appeared to be the same age as them, maybe even a little older. She had long, brown hair with subtle streaks of blonde and red. Her eyes seemed to be grey, but as Raphael watched them, they also seemed to change between green and blue. She wore a pair of denim jeans and a black tank top showing some midriff. Right above her waistband, what looked like a tattoo poked out above it. She wore a necklace, the design catching his eye. It was very simple. The cord was a thin leather and the pendant was in the shape of a dragon. Ryoko smirked, then placed her hands on either side of him on the couch and did a flip over it. Raphael jerked around, growling at her. She looked back at him over her shoulder. "Really, if you don't trust me, then don't make it so easy to get your sais from you," she said as she dangled them over her index finger.
"Why you little…," Raphael didn't get further than that before he charged at her. Ryoko smiled.
"Such a straight forward attack won't work on me, Raphael. I can just dodge," she said as she stepped to the side, his fist whistling past her ear. He turned quickly, aiming for her stomach. She ducked and swung her legs around, swiping his feet out from under him. He hit the floor, and before he could blink, she was on top of him, sais imbedded in the floor on either side of his head. "Attacking in anger does nothing, it just gets you into trouble. Perhaps you shouldn't trust me, and I don't blame you. After what I told you about myself, I wouldn't trust me either."
"And you think attacking me helps you any?!" he shouted, struggling, but she had him pinned down good.
"No, but I just showed you a little what I am capable of. I can do much more, but I want to lay all my cards out for you, and then you can train to be able to beat me. Even though I will never do anything to betray you guys, you at least have the peace of mind that if I do ever try something, you can beat me."
Raphael lay quiet for a minute, then nodded. Ryoko smiled and got off of him. "It makes sense, but I still don't trust you," he said.
Ryoko chuckled. "I didn't expect you to, Raphael, but please at least give me a chance," she said, extending her hand to him. Raphael looked at her offered hand, then took it and pulled himself up.
"Alright, I'll give you a chance. And also, call me Raph."
Ryoko smiled. "Alright, Raph."