TRIGGER: READ BOTTOM OF STORY FOR TRANSLATION OF THE DUTCH.

It was a cold, January day in New York. Fifteen-year-old Raphael sighed irritably and cracked his knuckles. "I'm so damn bored," he complained for the fiftieth time that day.
"Me too, Raph," his mate, sixteen-year-old Leo said. "It's your turn by the way."
"Ain't no fun playing Monopoly by ourselves, Leo. Where the heck are Mikey and Don? They said they'd be back with dinner hours ago. "I'm hungry."
"Me too. Your go."
"I'm sick of this game."
"Maybe because you're losing."
"Not for long," Raphael snapped, throwing the dice. "Screw that," he said, landing on Leo's property. "Ain't fair."
"That'll be sixty thousand," Leo said, smirking. "Come on. Pay up."
Raphael forked over the last of his money, and scowled."Ya win, Leo."
"As always. Why don't we watch TV? I think the Attack of the Killer Clams is on."
"Nah. Saw that yesterday."
"I got a fun game we can play," Leo said lustily, moving to his side and running his fingers down Raphael's plastron. "You smell amazing, Raph."
"Shove off, Leo," Raphael said, pushing him away. "I ain't in the mood."
"Really? Because you lost one game?"
"You don't love me anymore? Last night you were all over me."
"I love ya, Leo. Look it ain't ya. I'm bored of sittin' in this damn lair. Ain't nothin' happened in weeks. The villains are all quiet, it's been rainin' forever. I feel cooped up."
"You aren't expecting, are you?" Leo asked anxiously. "You've been temperamental."
Raphael laughed. "I've always been temperamental, Leo. I ain't pregnant. I'd tell ya if I was. I'm just bored." Raphael grabbed Leo's hand. "Fearless, ya and me are a team. Nothin' will change that."
"Okay."

"Hey guys," a soaking wet Mikey said, entering the lair, flanked by Don. "I brought dinner. Marshmallow, octopus and chili pepper pizza."
"All right!" Raphael said. "I'm so damn hungry. Let's tuck in."

"Can you wipe your feet," Leo asked crossly. "I spent ages cleaning the floor."
"I'll do that later," Mikey said, taking off his raincoat, tossing it on a couch and handing out the pizza boxes. Dinner's served."

The family sat down to eat. "Any news on the street?" Raphael asked. "Any burglaries, somethin', any action?"
"Me and Mikey stopped a mugging. That was it," Don said.
"So why were you guys so damn long? Ya were gone four hours!"
"Um, we kind of got distracted," Don said, blushing hard. "We found a place to be alone and..."
"Okay, okay," Raphael said, throwing his hands up. "No more. Please. Ya will scar me."
"Not like you and Leo aren't frisky."
"Um, so I was thinkin'," Raphael said, hastily changing the subject. "Ya guys want ta go ta the movies later?"

"It's cold and wet, Raph," Mikey said. "I want the boob tube."

"Ya, Leo?" Raphael asked.
"Nope. I was hoping to watch that show about caring for Bonsai."
"Yawn. That was on last week."
"It's a new episode, Raph. Watch with me."
"Pass. I'd rather watch a test pattern."

"I'd like to watch the documentary on Confucius," Mikey said.
His mate looked at him, stunned. "That's very deep, Mikey," Don said. "Didn't think you liked that kind of thing."

"A kiddie's wadin' pool is ta deep for him," Raphael said, chuckling. Mikey threw a pillow at him.

After dinner, Leo, Mikey and Don settled down to watch TV, while Raphael went to his and Leo's bedroom. Flipping though his latest comic, he was soon bored. Gotta be somethin' better ta do, he thought. I know Don has that new machine in his lab. I'm gonna try it.

Leo happened to glance up from the TV and saw Raphael walking to the lab. He followed him, entered the lab and said, "Raph, what are you doing here?"
"Ya know that Dreamovision machine? I want ta try it. Come on, Leo. It beats sittin' around doin' nothin'."
"I don't know."
"Look, what bad can happen, Leo? We press a button and come home. Ya chicken?"
"I like adventure just as much as you, Raph, but what if it has a few bugs and we don't come home?"
"Chicken!" Raphael taunted.
"I'm not. Okay, I'll try, but I'm going first."

Leo donned the Dreamovision and landed up in a world where he was sitting on a massive throne and Raphael was feeding him grapes. Don and Mikey were fanning him. "All hail, the mighty Leonardus," Mikey said. "Whoa. What the heck. How did I end up here?"

"You idiot, Leo," Don snapped. "Mikey and I were watching TV. Now we're in your damn dream. I haven't finished getting rid of the bugs. We could.."
Leo laughed. "I could get used to this."

"I bet ya could," Raphael said. "But I'm yer mate. Not yer servant. Change that, Leo." Leo dreamed again and Raphael sat on another throne by Leo's side. "Much better. Now I could like this. Fan faster, Don. I'm hot."

"No!" Don yelled, ripping the machine off Leo's head and putting it on. "I'm going to try it. Hey, maybe there are no bugs after all." A few minutes later, Don smiled, seeing his brothers in the audience at the Nobel Peace Awards. "And I'd like to call Hamato Donatello," the announcer said. "For his contribution to science." His brothers clapped as Don went onto the stage and received his prize. But before he could make his announcement, Mikey snatched the Dreamovision machine off his head. "Hey, no fair," Don said. "I was enjoying that."

"My turn," Mikey said. A couple minutes later, they found themselves on a beach with Mikey being declared the world surfing champion and winning a year's supply of pizza. "Trust ya ta think of food," Raphael said. "My turn." He grabbed the machine off of Mikey, shut his eyes and imagined he and Leo were on a secluded island far away from everyone, but to his consternation, he saw people fighting, gunshots being fired and spears being thrown. Multiple people died before his very eyes. "Holy shit," he said, pressing the button on the machine. "Send us home. Now." But it didn't work.

"Nice work," Don yelled, ducking behind a rock. "You brought us up in the middle of a war, Raph. Press the button."
"I did, but it doesn't work," Raphael said, joining him and crouching down. "Ya know where we are."

"Looking at their outfits," Leo said, jumping down beside Raph. "I'd say we're in the nineteenth century. Where, I have no idea."
Mikey shouted from high up in a tree. "You guys okay?"

"Fine," Raphael said. "Ya know where we are?"
Mikey jumped down and joined his brothers. "Some war. Nice going, Raph! Look at that river. It's stained red with their blood. I've never seen such violence before."

"Hmm red river," Don said, snapping his fingers. "I know where we are. We're in South Africa and this is the Battle of Blood River, so called because of so many lives lost, which turned the river red. We've travelled back in time to December 1838.
"Wonderful," Raphael said angrily. "So what do we do?" He pressed the button on the machine again, but still didn't work. Ripping it off in frustration, he tossed it on the ground.
"Until that damn machine works," Don said, picking it up. "We're stuck here. By the way the war was between the Dutch forefathers and the Zulus."

"Who won, Don?" Leo asked.
"The Dutch. After this battle, it was commemorated as having occurred at Blood River and today, the 16 December, is a public holiday in South Africa. Before 1994, it was known as the "Day of the Vow," "the "the Day of the Covenant" and "Dingaan's Day"; but today it is "the Day of Reconciliation". Again, fantastic getting us stuck here, Raph. You better hope no one sees us. If they do, we're dead!"

"I'm sorry," Raphael said. "I had no idea this would happen. How was I supposed ta know that machine had bugs."
"Next time, leave my machines alone until I say they're safe to use."

"Wie is julle?" a furious voice demanded from behind them.
"Oh, oh," Don said, slowly turning around. "I think we have company."
"Watter soort dinge is julle?" the tall and bearded man said, pointing his gun at them, a scowl marring his handsome features.
"Turn around slowly, guys."

The other three turtles turned around and the man continued to study them. "Wat is julle?" he shouted.
"What's he speakin', Don?" Raphael asked.

"Dutch, I think," Don said. He held up his hands in a show of surrender. "My brothers and I mean no harm."

"Johan, wat doen jy?" (another man said, joining his friend and frowning when he saw the turtles." He pointed his gun at them, too.
"Piet, daardie dinge lyk soos skilpad. Ek dink ek sien dinge."
"Nee, ek sien dit ook. Jy is nie mal nie. Die dinge sal met ons kom. Miskien hulle werk vir die Engelse."

Raphael stepped forward. "We mean no harm, man." Piet took that as a threat and yelled for his men to join them. Half a dozen men appeared, with knives and guns. "Oh, boy," Leo said. "Nice going, Raph. They took you as a threat."

The men stepped forward, pointing their guns. Some had rope. "Julle kom met ons!" Piet shouted.
Raphael tried to make a break for it, but the men immediately surrounded him and he quickly surrendered. The men promptly tied the turtles up and led them back to their camp. "Now where are we?" Raphael asked, spotting a campfire and several wagons.

"At their base, I guess," Leo said.
"That smells yummy," Mikey said, looking at a woman stirring a large three legged pot on the fire. "I'm starving."

"Can't ya stop thinkin' bout food," Raphael groused.

Leo, Mikey and Don were shoved into a wagon and locked inside, but Piet and Johan took Raphael with them. "Hey, leave him alone," Leo growled. "He's my mate. Leave him."
Piet and Johan ignored him and dragged Raphael off towards the campfire.

"What are they doing, Don?" Leo asked fearfully, spying a large three legged pot on the fire.
"Um, either they're giving food to Raph or they're going to eat him!"
"No!" Leo screamed, banging on the small window. "No, leave him alone." Leo watched helplessly as his mate was lowered into a pot of water on the fire. Don and Mikey looked away, unable to watch. Raphael's eyes widened in shock as his body hit the water. What a way ta go, he thought miserably. Boiled alive. I wish I'd never tried Don's machine. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that his death would be a swift one.

Notes: Heh. I studied this at school and thought it would be fun to write "Wie is jy= Who are you?"
"Wat is julle= What are you?"
"Wat doen jy= What are you doing?"
"Daardie dinge lyk soos skilpad. Ek dink ek sien dinge."= Those things look like tortoises. I think I'm seeing things."
"Nee, ek sien dit ook. Jy is nie mal nie. Die dinge sal met ons kom. Miskien hulle werk vir die Engelse." =No, I see them too. You are not crazy. The things will come with us. Maybe they work for the English."
"Julle kom met ons= You come with us."

Series this work belongs to:

Part 1 of the Travels