Seriously, how did a turtle end up in Antarctica?
10 Years Ago
Foot HQ
"Donnie!" Mikey screamed as a foot ninja lifted up his cage and carried him off.
"Mikey!" Donnie yelled after him. He grabbed the bars of his own cage in anxious fear. Several Foot Ninja got to their feet and escorted Mikey and his holder out of the room, leaving Donnie alone.
Well, not totally alone. The last team of Foot Ninja remained.
"What should we do with this one?" one of the ninja asked another ninja who appeared to be leader of this group.
That ninja didn't respond.
"I heard one of the others saying something about dropping the biggest one out of a plane." one of the other ninjas said. "That could be fun."
"That's uncreative." another ninja said. He wasn't fat but he was larger than the others. "Its a turtle. A big one too. We could probably get a pretty good amount of turtle soup out of it."
Donnie gasped and retreated a bit into his shell. Were they really going to eat him?
"Man, that's nasty." a ninja with an accent different from the others said. "It's a friggin' mutant. Who know what kinda chemicals 'n what not are in that thing. You really want to eat that?"
The large ninja gagged.
"Just let me go." Donnie begged.
"Shut it, animal." the ninja closest to Donnie's cage hissed. He elbowed the cage making it jostle. "I say we just kill it now, get it over with."
"You all make good points." the lead ninja finally spoke. "But it would be a waste just to dispose of this creature."
"What are you suggesting?" the accented ninja asked.
"We sell it." the leader said. "Split the profits?"
The other ninja looked around at each other and nodded.
"Where would we sell it?" the ninja who had suggested dropping Donnie asked. Donnie decided that one was his least favorite, other than the one who wanted to eat him. This guy was mean. A big meanie head. "A pet shop would ask too many questions."
"The Foot Clan has been funded by the Bradford family in the past." the leader started.
"Those rich stuck ups?" the accented ninja questioned. "You think they'd by it?"
"No." the leader said. "But it is likely that they know of someone who participates in illegal exotic auctions."
A few weeks later, Donnie was still in the cage. He had not been let out. His back was cramped from being hunched over. This cage was far too small. He was hungry and thirsty and he smelled horrible. They didn't even let him out to relieve himself. He just had to sit in it. It was really gross and that was saying something if it came from someone who lived in a sewer is whole life.
The only time he'd been let out was a couple hours ago but it wasn't to stretch or eat. One of the ninja had put a muzzle on him so he couldn't speak and another ninja had given his cage a quick scrub. Then, he was thrown back in and another ninja draped a black piece of cloth over him so he couldn't see out through the bars.
Judging by the sounds and movement, the ninjas had taken him to the place of the auction. It was all they had really been talking about ever since they decided they would sell him so Donnie didn't hear anything about his brothers which only added to his anxiety.
Someone grabbed his cage and suddenly he was being carried.
"You have the merchandise?" a gruff voice asked. The cover was briefly lifted and Donnie was able to see a large man peer in at him. "Woah. That one's gotta be worth some big bucks. You're free to enter."
The cloth was dropped again and the group of ninjas continued their way in. After a few more conversations, the cage was set down where Donnie assumed the animals were kept. He heard various sounds of animals he'd never thought he'd see. Or hear, rather since he still couldn't see.
He suddenly heard a loud applause. He assumed the auction was starting.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen." a booming voice greeted. "Welcome to Underground Exotics! We've got some real rarities tonight, folks! Before we start, I'd like to give a rather special guest a warm welcome! Everyone, be sure to say hello to Mr. F. All of you probably know him better as the Collector."
A series of cheers were heard. Donnie gulped. If he had to guess, the Collector was probably going to be the one to by him. He sounded like a big shot and Donnie knew better than anyone how rare mutants were. Only someone with too much money on their hands could afford to outbid everyone else.
"Let's try to get through the little guys first." the auctioneer said. "We've got a number of big boys tonight. Fifteen total animals today, folks!"
Another auctioneer took over. "Animal number one: the Indian Gharial! Starting with one grand, do I hear a one grand?"
Donnie was shocked that an Indian Gharial was considered a 'little guy'. But judging by the sounds of the other animals around him, he was sure to have many more surprises in store for him.
The croc was sold pretty quickly. "Animal two: the Orangutan!"
Again, Donnie was shocked at what was considered a 'little guy'. Turns out that a giant otter, a black mamba, a spider monkey, several types of sharks and even a few turtles were considered the 'little guys'. Those past pretty quickly and the auctioneer was soon onto what he called the 'big boys'.
"Right here we got a real pretty one. I doubt you'll ever see one ever again." the auctioneer said. "Number twelve: the Amur Tiger!"
A huge roar echoed throughout the building that made Donnie shudder in his shell but his scientific brain overpowered his child like fears. Donnie had read about the Amur Tiger. Those things were rare! He really wished he could see it but he couldn't get his hand through the bar of the cage to lift the cloth for a peak.
"Sold!" the auctioneer shouted. Donnie didn't hear how much it was sold for due to his distraction. He heard the tiger's cage being wheeled away and another cage being taken out to the display. "Next up, number thirteen: the Saola!"
The reaction to this animal wasn't as enthused as any of the other animals. The crowd sounded pretty disappointed. The auctioneer tried explaining how rare this animals was but it ended up being booed off of of the stage. None of these rich people cared how rare it was, they wanted something they could show off.
"Number fourteen: the Sumatran Rhinoceros!" the auctioneer said. Donnie couldn't hear the auction at all over all the noise. It seemed people actually did care about the animal's rarity.
Donnie felt his cage being moved. Donnie desperately gripped at the muzzle covering his face so maybe he could cry out for help but the evil thing was attached too tight.
"Last creature tonight folks! An animal so rare that it has never been seen in public before! So rare, no zoologist has ever even heard of it!" the auctioneer announced. The room was filled with shocked murmurs as the buyers exchanged shocked commentary. "I give you number fifteen: the humanoid turtle!"
The cover was whipped of his cage and Donnie was nearly blinded by all the lights. A large man walked up to the cage and opened it. Donnie crawled back away from him as a hand reached in. It clasped around his arm and he was harshly pulled out. He was shoved to the center of the stage right into the view off all of the humans.
Donnie was already crying by now. He was standing at the center of a stage with all eyes on him and no way to call out for help. The audience sat in the shadows but several flashes of cameras shot out from them.
The man stepped in front of Donnie. Donnie tried to hide in his shell but found the muzzle prevented him from pulling his head into his shell and he couldn't balance properly with his limbs in so he was forced to face everything.
"No photography please." the auctioneer said. The sounds of cameras died away. "Please hand over any and all cameras, phones and photography devices to the nearest bouncer or they will be taken. I assure you, no harm will come to them, they will just delete images of this specific specimen as per request of its sellers."
Donnie felt rage building in his chest at being called a specimen. Couldn't they see he was a person too? Donnie tried to make a break for it but the man grabbed him again and shoved him back to the center of the stage.
Donnie didn't want to look at the buyers but something stopped him from looking away. Most of these humans were wearing some pretty fancy dresses and tuxedos. The woman were all decked out pretty heavily in nice jewelry and the men had some fancy looking things that Donnie hadn't seen before.
Donnie's gaze fell on one particular human. Rather than sitting in rows, he was sitting off on his own with several bodyguards surrounding him. He was a huge man, dressed nicely too but what caught Donnie's eye was his chair. It was massive, it had to be to seat him. It was a simple design of pure oak wood but it decorated with diamond, jade, lapis lazuli, ruby and just about every other type of jewel that Donnie could think of.
For all he knew, the chair could've been fake but somehow he doubted that. He made eye contact with the man seated on it. He knew that man was going to be the one to buy him. The Collector.
"Let's start at… ten million." the auctioneer said. Donnie glanced back in surprise. That was a lot of money. He knew he'd be worth a lot but the other turtles had only sold for a few thousand. But then again, he was a mutant. He was one of a kind. Actually, one of four. More tears ran down his face as he thought about his brothers.
Almost all of the buyers held up their signs. The auctioneer nodded to one of them. "Do I hear fifteen? Do I hear fifteen million?"
Again, nearly every sign went up. The auctioneer grinned. "Do I hear twenty? Anyone for twenty million?"
Donnie blocked out all of the other buyers and focused on the man in the chair.
"Twenty five, do I hear a twenty five million?"
The man held a sign in his right hand.
"Thirty? Anyone for thirty million?"
The Collector did not move. An uneasy feeling flowed through Donnie. As much as he feared being bought by the Collector, he knew if he was bought by anyone else, he'd be kept on display in a glass cage in some rich person's mansion and boasted about to other rich people who owned mansions. At least if this guy bought him, there would be more in store for him. Maybe he wouldn't feel like some lowly animal. But the man wasn't moving.
"Forty, do I hear a forty million?"
The bidding was starting to slow.
"Fifty." a voice rang loud and clear though the building. Donnie turned to the voice. On the opposite corner than the collector, a French looking man stood looking confident.
"Fifty?" the auctioneer questions. "Any challengers? Fifty, going once? Going twice?"
"Fifty five." the Collector finally spoke up.
"Sixty." the French Man said.
"Seventy five." the Collector challenged.
"Uhh…" the French Man looked nervous. Donnie was even more surprised than he'd been all night. They were only getting nervous now? How did these people have this kind of money? And why were they spending it on him? "Eighty?"
"One hundred." the Collector said boldly. It made the room go dead silent.
"One hundred. Going once, going twice." the auctioneer said. "Sold! Mr. F., you are now the proud owner of this humanoid turtle!"
Donnie fell to his knees. The stress of being treated and sold like an animal was finally catching up with him. Two humans walked up to him and grabbed him. Donnie struggled a bit but he wasn't strong enough to free himself from their grip.
Donnie screamed against the muzzle but any of the sound that made it through it came out distorted. The two humans ignored him and shoved him back into his cage.
The buyers began to file out. A few remained to stare at him.
"What a strange creature." a woman commented to her husband.
"Yes, it looks almost human." the man nodded. "Look, it's even crying. Like a child."
"It is sort of cute in its own way." the woman said. "Too bad we couldn't get it but I suppose we wouldn't no what to do with it any better than that Collector man."
Rage burned in Donnie's chest. These humans could see that he was a person! They saw that he was crying! They saw his fear! They saw that he was just a kid! And they just watched and bid. How could anyone be so cruel? More than ever, Donnie understood why Splinter told them humans were bad and why they should avoid them.
The couple walked away. A few more humans made similar comments. The French Man stared at him a bit then shook the Collector's hand and exchanged a few words as he made his way over.
Soon, the huge man towered over the caged Donnie. Donnie shuddered a bit. Up close, he looked much bigger. He looked strong, probably well over 6 feet and 200 pounds of pure skin, muscle, and bone.
"Take it to the van." the Collector instructed. The two humans who'd grabbed him nodded and picked up his cage and carried it outside.
Donnie hadn't seen the sky in weeks. Actually, he'd only seen the sky a few times. That was the only positive thing he had gained from being kidnapped. He'd been able to go topside. But he'd trade anything to be back down in the sewers with his brothers and sensei. Looking up at the night sky, Donnie felt immensely lonely. Even the stars had friends. They weren't alone.
Looking down from the sky, Donnie saw a large truck. One of the humans opened up the back doors and he was brought inside and his cage was strapped down.
None of the humans said anything. Within a few minutes, they were both out of the truck and the twin doors were slammed shut leaving Donnie all alone once more.
Author's Note: Again, I was really putting this off. The Antarctica stuff will happen shortly.
I honestly have no idea about how pricing works at auctions. The closest thing I've seen to this was an auction for farm animals at a fair. I briefly researched this. I read some articles about how the dinosaur pricings in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom were way off. Taking some of the points they had into account and the fact that at this point in time (10 years before the turtles were reunited and 10 years before the first episode of the TV show if we were in that universe) no one knew mutants or anything crazy existed, I figured it was somewhat reasonable.
When I originally wrote Four Corners of the Earth, I hadn't really planned on righting this so in my head, the Foot just dropped all the turtles out of planes at random locations like they did for Raph. Then I realized that was stupid, I wouldn't fly all the way to Antarctica just to drop a turtle out of a plane so I had to think of something better. I had to do the same for Leo and Mikey. They'll have pretty good stories too. Eventually. Right now we just have to wonder how in the world Donnie goes from being an illegal pet in New York to a research assistant in Antarctica.