Seventeen years ago….

A single rat crawled onto the streets of New York City.

It was a normal day for Splinter as he casually looked for scraps on the sidewalk. The occasional squealing of a woman or the teasing of feral cats were things that he had experienced almost every day. So when the screeching of tires caught his attention he was immediately drawn to the action.

It was a large armored van that was swerving to avoid…Splinter stood on his hind legs to get a better look…a blind man that had wandered into the crosswalk. It was different than his usual routine and he was grateful for the small excitement since his life in the sewers provided hardly any. The truck seemed to have avoided hitting anything else besides a small pile of trash after someone had heroically moved the blind man out of harm's way. He was about to turn away when suddenly one of the doors to the van swung open and a small shiny cylinder flew out.

It arched through the air and found its mark on the head of a small boy that held a clear jar in his hands. The child shrieked in pain as his hands dropped the jar in surprise. It fell through the air and landed in the water that still flowed from the day's earlier rainstorm. From there it was carried down the street and found its way into one of the rain gutters disappearing from Splinter's sight.

He looked back at the boy who was now surrounded by concerned adults and saw that he had given no care for whatever it was that was inside of the jar. So Splinter decided to investigate.

Crossing the street was rather troublesome but after years of trial and error, he managed to reach the storm drain without injury. He peeked inside and found that there was a safe path down the wall before he entered. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness from the bright sunlight he had just left as he scanned the water for the glass jar and at first he only saw shards of it beside the flowing water.

When he reached the ground he saw what remained of the glass jar and the cylinder that had flown out of the van. He saw their contents spilled onto the ground, green glowing ooze and five baby turtles.

The poor things were completely covered and seemed to be just as shocked as he as he edged his way closer. The ooze was cold under his paws as he examined each turtle with speculation. They would surely die if he left them there; they were much too young to be out on their own in this harsh environment.

Splinter took a look around and saw an empty coffee can lying on its side. He scampered over quickly and pulled it back. And one by one, he ushered them inside so he could take them home to his burrow.

The turtles were sound asleep when he approached the burrow with the can carefully dragging behind him. Exhausted by the trip, Splinter barely found the strength to carry them all into the abandoned drain pipe that hadn't been used in over a decade. With the last one's shell clasped gently between his teeth he ended up fast asleep the minute he stepped into his home.

It wasn't until he felt movement between his teeth that he woke from his deep slumber. The turtle that had been in his mouth had moved over to where the other four had been grouped up but there was something different about them. Splinter rose to his feet only to hit his head on the ceiling of his burrow. The shock of it sent waves of surprise and confusion through him as he looked down at himself and then back to the turtles. They had doubled in size!

Weeks had gone by and the six of them had both grown in physique and mental capabilities. They were all walking on two legs and had found a more appropriate and suitable home for their ever growing states. Although it was difficult most days to find enough food for the six of them, Splinter enjoyed his time alone ever since the turtle children had begun to speak.

Of course, it was a shock at first to hear them utter his name mere hours after he had first spoke his first few words but now, it had become quite an irritation. The youngest, or so he believed, would refuse to be quiet for a single moment and kept saying bizarre things like, cowabunga. The other four were much more willing to cooperate with his requests but at times they too would be less manageable. They enjoyed the sounds of their voices too much for Splinter's liking and he found his time alone to be suitable for meditation.

He pondered many things as he searched piles of trash and he found that most of his thoughts were of the children. His first intention was to care for them until they had grown enough to fend for themselves but they had managed to steal his heart with their cheekiness and innocence. There was one that had called him dad before they had gone to bed last night and the warmth that he felt was addicting. That little turtle was special, not only because she was the only female but because she had been the first to acknowledge that they were a family, and that he was their father.

He was determined to bring back something special for them this night as he picked up his pace before the light faded away. His search brought him to a dead end and a ladder headed for the surface. The idea was tempting for him to climb and to search the streets but in his current form it was too much of a risk. He was the size of a human toddler now and if he were to be seen by the humans, he would never see his family again.

His stomach growled as he scuttled down the way he came which forced him to stop and take another look back at the ladder. Just this once couldn't hurt.

The entire surface run took less than five minutes as he swiftly exited the manhole cover and found a dark alleyway with three full dumpsters. He couldn't believe his luck as he scampered over and with the first look found half of a pizza that had been thrown away accidentally. With it under his arm he silently made his way back to the manhole where his eyes came across the tattered remains of a book.

He loved books.

With his other paw he snatched it from the ground and disappeared into the darkness of the sewer.

He flipped through its pages and marveled at the beautiful pictures that it contained and could only wonder why someone would have thrown this out. Below the pictures were words that he struggled to read as he walked along with the pizza tucked under his arm securely. A few of the words had been smudged away and his reading level was still rather low.

"Leonardo Da Vinci….The Last Supper."

Leonardo…

Splinter liked the name.

"Saint Ge….and the Drag…by Raphael."

He paused from his studies to climb down a grate to get to the lower level before continuing.

"The Statue of Da…by Donato…Betto Bardior better known as Donatello."

He turned the page.

"Famous for the Sistine Chapel…..Michelangelo."

Four artists from the Re…Renn…Renaissance? Four names for the male turtles. His sons.

But what of a woman? Didn't the…Renaissance have women? He flipped through the pages staring intently at each word trying to find a name for the young female turtle, his daughter.

Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo.

Frustration built inside of him as he turned page after page in his hands when finally on the last page where the book had ended he found a picture of a woman. A very pale and sickly woman with a strange collar sitting boldly in the painting staring at him as though she had been waiting for him to discover her.

"The Italian Renaissance came to an end but the English Renaissance, under Queen Elizabeth…"

Splinter couldn't help but smile back at the woman whose expression hadn't changed in the past few seconds.

Elizabeth.

If you have made it this far in the story then I truly appreciate your time!

This fanfiction of mine is going to be based around the 2003 cartoons except it'll be a little different from those. So you know how they were sent to different dimensions and such? Well this is a dimension where things are just about the same except...The little boy had decided to get five turtles instead of four in which the fifth turned out to be a female. And just because of that choice Elizabeth had come into being and thereby the world is different. But not to fret! I'm going to be following a few storylines from the cartoon so that it all goes along swimmingly! If you want to follow along, that's fine.

I really tried sticking to the Renaissance Era for the name for her and since I couldn't find an Italian name that I liked I moved on past Italy and to the rest of Europe and Queen Elizabeth came up! Which I thought was fantastic because I think that she is amazing!

This is a little prologue to the main event so don't think it's over yet! More to come!

Leave me know what you think of my mad genius plan in the box below!