Chapter 4

The next day we came to the dinosaur tracks, exactly where the map indicated they'd be.

"How cool is this?" I exclaimed as we followed the tracks. I had always loved dinosaurs. "There are three distinct types of tracks. Anyone know what species they are?" I asked.

"I do," Mikey spoke up of course. "Big ones. Dead ones. Big dead ones," he joked. Mikey paused as he thought a moment. "At least I hope they're dead," he finally said.

Leonardo had been studding the maps of the old and modern sewers. "I think I can save us some time, might be a way to take a short cut here…"

"Where?" I asked quickly glancing over his shoulder at the map.

"Here," Leo pointed to a small section.

We had reached the opening of a large cave, and so we entered. "Don't look natural," Mikey said. He was right. I was getting the same eerie feeling.

"I agree," I said. "The walls look carved; the edges curve around but are still sharp, not soft and smooth like you'd get with water erosion. It looks excavated."

"Excavated?" questioned Raphael. "but… but by what? Dinosaurs?"

"Year Mom," Mikey laughed.

"Don't spook yourself Mikey," Leo scolded. He sometimes wondered about his youngest brother. We all did. Apparently Mikey failed to understand that Raph's mom was his mom too; and mine and Leo's. What did he think brother's meant?

We all stopped short within the next few moments as we came upon the sight before us. It was magnificent. A huge, towering architectural structure that looked like it was made of solid gold.

"Um, now can I spook myself?" Mikey asked.

What in the world was something like this doing down in the grungy sewers of New York? I marveled at its wonder as I expressed my thoughts aloud. "Could it truly be? Is this… the lost city of gold?"

"Wow!"

"I assume this place ain't on the map," Raph said with a sarcastic tone. "Nice shortcut."

"Ah…no," I answered.

As we came closer the ancient fortress-like structure, I realized the building, if you could really call it that, was not made of gold at all. My first impression had in fact been completely incorrect. I needed a closer look. My curiosity was peek. I was ready to explore.

What strange architecture… classic columns and arches but no distinctive or at least recognizable style. These might be the ruins of an as-yet undiscovered past empire.. one that may have exited in North America before the Olmec of Latin America.

"Or else some hokey movie set," said Mikey wondering for all his might why I always found stuff like this so fascinating.

"…and look at the precision," I continued. "I bet this city was carved directly out of the surrounding rock! What could they have used for tools?"

Anyone who knew could tell that I was very fascinated.

"He's geeking out again," Mikey informed our other two brothers.

"The spring?" Leo asked me while he ignored Mikey's comment.

"I'd say so. It corresponds to where it's indicated on the map. Your shortcut worked after all, Leo," I said.

We all ran for the spring. After being drenched in sweat and exhausted from our walk through the sewers, a swim felt really good about now.

"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Mikey yelled.

"Coming in, Don?" Raph asked me as he started to run after Mikey.

"Yeah, in a little while," I answered. "I just want to run some PH tests and do an analysis of the spring, check on protozoa and bacteria; see if it'll be a good source of drinking water…"

"In English that means…?" Raph said.

Even then I was such a ubergeek with my homemade chemistry set that I used to carry around in an old cigar box

"…just wanna see what's in it," I finished.

"Hey there's fishes in here; little white fishes," Mikey announced as all four of us turtles swam through the spring's waters.

I think back o the fun I used to miss out on…

My brothers discovered that the spring held more advanced forms of life than the simple ones I was testing for; several types of blind albino fish, an albino crab, all probability previously unknown to science.

"Hey, check this out. Looks sort of like a lobster trap," Leo said as he pulled on the heavy metal chains to lift the trap out.

"What the fudge?" said Mike. "This isn't a lobster, it a turtle!"

"Now who the shell would be trapping blind albino turtles in this forgotten whacked-out place," Raph said.

"Um, I think I can hazard a guess," I said in a squeaky voice as a small army of strange looking creatures approached us.

"Ut-oh," Mikey voiced all our thoughts.