Wow, your reviews really inspire me to get to writing more, even to the point of putting life off! Haha, just messing around – but thanks a ton for the kind words! A little more gets uncovered here…
Massive wooden doors creaked open, and after a few soft steps into the grand room's lush carpeting, the weary ninja dropped to the floor in a deep bow.
At the opposite end of the room, a Japanese man stood from his throne-like seat and haughtily descended a wide stairway. He fingered a razor-sharp bladed gauntlet in one hand, as if readying it for use if he deemed it necessary.
The ninja trembled slightly in the presence of Oroku Saki, a man who had garnered respect among many of New York's citizens, but who inspired dread and loathing among those who knew him better.
"What news have you for me, soldier?"
"Favorable news, my Lord. We have found him."
"Excellent, I see that proper motivation reaps a proper reward." That his master idly placed the gauntlet on a table behind him did not escape the ninja's notice. "Now, go, and summon Karai. I need to speak with her, alone."
Within five minutes a lithe female dressed in black entered the chamber without knocking. Saki acknowledged her with a slight nod.
"Karai, our search is over. The Foot ninja have located Raphael. Now, it is only a matter of time before he is mine. I need you to prepare my men, so that we can proceed."
"But, Father, you have never explained, and I do not understand. From what you have told me, he is just an ordinary turtle. How could you possibly know of his identity, of his location? What on earth would you want with him, what possible threat could he offer to you?"
The Shredder frowned, almost invisibly. None but Karai could question him without immediately regretting it.
"My dear Karai, all will be explained in time. I want to be certain of a few things, before I reveal more. I will tell you this – he is not of this world, and that sort of disturbance leaves metaphysical traces that can be detected by those with the right amount of knowledge and power. In the hands of the right scientists, whose company I always keep, the means of detection can be channeled into devices that can scan the entire city, apartment by apartment. As to the rest, it would be most wise to trust me for the time being. Now, get everything ready as we had discussed."
Karai nodded and left the room. She was not entirely pleased. Acting without having a complete understanding of the situation at hand was not really her style. She considered it foolish, and subject to weaknesses.
*******************
He awoke to that uneasy feeling, the one you have when you know you are being watched. There, about two inches from his face, a glistening eye stared at him.
UUUNGH! WHAT the… He reared slightly, staggering backwards in his surprise. There was Delilah, eying him glassily while rolling a piece of lettuce around in her mouth. She reminded him of a cow chewing her cud, which was not a compliment.
Geez, lady, you wanna give a guy a heart attack?
The female turtle turned and began to plod away, not appearing the least bit concerned about the cardiovascular stability of her companion. It was unusual that she had beaten him awake, as fitful as his nights were, as well-stocked with disturbing, fleeting images as his subconscious was.
Lately, though, he had been sleeping through the night, and could remember no dreams that might question his existence. Two weeks, it had been two weeks since the ninja had appeared in the window, and they had been quiet and peaceful, with no signs of trouble. In fact, he had actually let down his guard enough that he was almost beginning to accept his life in the small aquarium. Almost. He thought that he was probably just reacting in relief, that no further threats to his safety had presented themselves.
He had tried several times in vain to get the Human to notice that he was more than just your average run-of-the-mill terrapin. Drawing figures in the sand turned out to be a bust, as his arms were so blunt all he had succeeded in doing was making it look like a Zen garden of some kind. One day he made a smiley face out of tomatoes and peas, but the man was totally oblivious and after about five minutes, Delilah had eaten the right eye.
His efforts were rewarded only with a visit to a veterinarian about five blocks away who specialized in reptiles. After poking and prodding him in all sorts of horrible places, she pronounced him fit as a fiddle and prescribed an additional dietary supplement that tasted like chalk on leaves. She had suggested to the young professor that his pet may be in need of additional behavioral enrichment. This latter recommendation made it almost worth the humiliating visit, because the turtles were now set free to crawl around the living room for about an hour each day.
Today, during his brief period of freedom, the turtle was resolutely attempting to demonstrate to the Human that he was reading the morning newspaper, cast forgotten to the floor. Some obituary about a guy named Arnold Casey Jones, killed in Central Park by a bunch of street thugs. Some vigilante that had an ax to grind and tried to take them all out on his own.
Each time the turtle approached the paper, the man kept pulling him off of it, afraid he thought it was a toilet. Seething with frustration, he turned his attention partially to the news on television when a special report caught his interest.
Apparently, a gang of street-fighters known as the Purple Dragons had been on the rise, and theft and assault were getting to be such that no one felt safe in the city at night, in any capacity. They had victimized a number of people, but tonight's story had a happy ending for the young businesswoman who was being interviewed after a close shave with several gang members.
"Oh, I tell you, I thought I was a goner. There were five or six of them, and in my fright I took a wrong turn. Before I knew it, they had somehow cornered me in a dead-end alley. I was resigned to what I was sure would be a horrible fate. They grabbed my handbag, one of them sniffed my hair and I thought, 'This is it, this is where my life starts to flash before my eyes. I can't believe this is actually happening to me' and so forth. Then, all of a sudden, these gang members just started flying through the air! I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but then it was over as quickly as it had started, and there they were, bad guys just piled up under the fire escape."
The interviewer was intrigued. "Sounds like a bit of a miracle, did you happen to see your rescuer?"
The near-victim's face transformed instantly from relief to hesitation. "Well… I'm not sure I want to say this on live TV and risk my reputation, but…" she glanced at the reporter, who was staring at her eagerly.
"Well, here goes nothing. As it is, I've had the biggest scare of my life, and am completely exhausted, so forgive me if I'm babbling at this point. First I'll say that the guys who saved me were experts in some type of martial arts, that's how they finished off my attackers.
"Now, I don't know if aliens have finally invaded or there really are monsters in basements, or if these were just about the best costumes ever made, but there were three of them, and they were… well, they looked like giant… turtles."
The newspaper now completely forgotten, he stared at the screen. Giant turtles. Something about this revelation was bothering him, like something was trying to awaken from the murky recesses of his clouded mind. Giant turtles, it sounded too bizarre, but strangely familiar at the same time. Did they have something to do with his fragmented dreams, play a part he couldn't remember?
The businesswoman on the screen was continuing, but he was now only half-listening. "…and they disappeared one by one down a manhole, just as the distant sirens began sounding. I mean, the sewers, of all the dank, disgusting…"
Click. The screen snapped and was black.
He turned his head, and found the young professor gazing intently at him, as though seeing him for the very first time.
The man reached down and picked up the male turtle, which he normally hated. Today, however, was different. There was something about the way the Human was looking at him that begged for his complete attention. So, naturally, he stared back, unafraid as always.
"Giant turtles, eh? Living in the sewers? That is too funny. Guess the lady's got a little post-traumatic stress syndrome or something, I know I would. Still, ya know what that just reminded me of, buddy? Makes me wonder whatever happened to your brothers."
Brothers, what?! As the man was talking he started making his way back over to the aquarium. No, no no no no! Don't sit me back in there and then just go on with your day as if what you say has no impact on me whatsoever. C'mon, just open your eyes to what I've been trying to show you, damn you! Or at the very least, just don't stop talking to me. Don't leave it there, just like that…
Absolutely desperate, he began flailing in the man's arms. Mercifully, he paused at the cage and, without putting the turtle down, continued with his thoughts aloud.
"Yeah, that was a bad day in my childhood, with that near-miss car accident and me dropping your bowl. It's a wonder I was able to grab onto you, had to watch your three brothers slip through that grate, gone forever. I was so upset! You wouldn't remember, see I was just ten, so you were just a baby… aw, what am I saying? It's not like you'd remember anyway, little guy."
No, he didn't recall any of this. Nor would he ever. Otherwise, where would all his other memories have come from, incomplete as they were?
The professor was on a roll now, reliving a part of his boyhood he hadn't thought about for some time.
"What's kind of ironic about that lady's story is that your three brothers disappeared into the sewers, near where there was this little chemical spill. I wonder… nah, that's too crazy. They can't have survived down there."
The man glanced at his pet. If the turtle wanted to keep staring, he'd keep going.
"You see, for days after I first had you at home, you wouldn't eat, or move, or do anything. In my childish ignorance I thought you must have been missing your brothers so badly. I was so afraid you were going to starve yourself that I snuck out one night, back to that grate where I lost those little guys. I heaved off the cover, stepped down into the grossest place I hope I ever find myself, and looked around with a flashlight, like they'd actually still be around there. I didn't come out empty-handed, though. I found this weird canister marked 'TC-something,' I forget now. It looked like it had spilled, so I really carefully surrounded it by half a dozen plastic bags and put it in my backpack, with gloves on and all, and took it home. See, I was a science nerd back then too.
"As it turns out, all you needed was a little more heat. Shows what I knew about reptiles! I tried to study that goo substance, even tried altering it with my chemistry set. I was too afraid to touch it though. That little voice in the back of your head, ya know? Anyway, I couldn't tell anything about what I'd made it into and I finally decided it was bad news, so I put it back in the can, took it to Dad and told him I'd just found it on my way home from school. He grabbed it away immediately, said he'd take it to work and have them get rid of it. See, he works at Innovolutions Technologies, where they had that break-in a coupla weeks ago. I keep meaning to ask him about that, we just haven't talked in so long…"
By now the turtle was back in his glass enclosure, but he was too preoccupied to care. There's a reason I can't remember what you're telling me, guy. It… none of this life with you… ever actually happened to me.
Disturbing as his mysterious origin was, he felt a rush of determination, a renewed sense of purpose. Whether he belonged in this place or not, he knew these brothers had survived and they were here, somewhere. He made a solemn vow that, despite his circumstances and their extreme limitations, he would find them, and then maybe they could help him to find himself.
