I do not own, so do not give me the credit for creating the characters and places. And don't you dare pay me for anything!
"Da-da-da-da-da-da-da! The Amazing Adventures of the Amazing Splinter!" The page labeled (1) had a picture of a grey rat sitting up on its haunches complete with whiskers. He seemed to be sitting on a grey flat substance that might have been concrete. A red background with horizontal and vertical lines might have represented a brick wall.
"Once upon a time there was a completely normal rat … who knew ninjutsu!" The page across from the first showed a rat surrounded by darkness kicking to the right in a kata the four turtles and rat recognized. Leo thought that said something for both Mikey's martial arts expertise and drawing skills and felt a rise of pride in his heart toward his youngest brother.
The turtle in orange turned the page. One pages (3) and (4) was a far more complex drawing. It showed a street, a big truck driving on it, and a blind man walking into its path. Mikey narrated the events he'd drawn. "Once, Splinter, the ninja-rat, saw a near tragic event for a blind man!"
Mikey turned the page. The next showed two boys one holding a jar with four tiny green turtle-like creatures in it, and one shouting, stepping forward, and jostling the boy with the jar full of turtles. Mikey narrated again. "And what could have become a tragic event for the blind man …" The next page showed the kid who'd run and shouted pushing the old man out of the way of the truck. April actually felt herself sighing in relief despite having already been told this story. Mikey turned the page.
Page (7) showed the jar falling with the turtles inside it. Page (8) showed the jar flying apart into many pieces over some water. Mikey continued, "Became a near tragedy for four little pet turtles instead!" Page (9) showed the four, small turtles swept along in a stream of water toward a storm drain. Page (10) showed them going down into it.
Page (11) showed something falling out of the swerving truck: a canister of green goo with the letter TCRI on it. Page (12) showed it smashing against the bars of the drain. Page (13) showed four, sad little turtles standing in a square of light otherwise surrounded by darkness and covered in green goo.
Mikey's voice continued, "That was when Splinter the ninja-rat stepped in." Page (14) showed the rat from pages (1) and (2) sitting on his haunches and staring at the turtles now looking back at him.
Mikey continued. "He heroically grabbed a nearby, huge, coffee can!" He flipped the page and showed Splinter-rat holding up a shiny, metal can as tall as himself over his head. The turtle in orange narrated, "And he took the four turtles covered in green goo back to his home getting some green goo on himself."
The next drawing showed Splinter, still holding the coffee can over his head, and now spattered in green, striding through the darkness with it. If he'd had a jaw it would have been jutting out. As it was, his nose was pointing toward whatever ceiling was apparently making the background so dark.
A small panel drawn over the coffee can seemed to give the reader X-ray vision into the can. You could see the four turtles still spattered in green goo swooshing about in water inside. One seemed to be enjoying it as he had a wide open, grinning, toothless mouth.
Splinter's voice now interrupted. "Actually, I rinsed and shook myself off after rinsing the rest of you to get the green goo off all of us before I took you back to my nest. It was only after that I went up and glanced around a bit for the boy. I only stuck my head out rather than crawl all the way into the sunlight and street of such a busy area. I did not see the boy then. I feared presenting him with four, small turtles covered in green, shining goo and pieces of glass would be even more dangerous than just showing myself to him with a turtle or two at a time, but I'm glad now I didn't see him."
April gave Splinter a teasing grin, "Oh, really, why?"
"Because I 'might' trust a ten-year-old with four infant turtles briefly covered in glass and green goo, but I would not trust a ten-year-old to care for my four, mutated, turtle sons."
"Here-here," Donnie interjected. He and Raph did a fist-bump. Leo was grinning. Mikey cleared his throat, "As I was reading … The great ninja-rat Splinter brought his four turtle sons back to his 'lair.'"
"It was my nest, my son."
"His lair …" Mikey continued. The picture showed a big roomy area, dark with a nest-like something of a lot of hay, though it also had a blanket the four turtles were tucked under. "Where Splinter himself then succumbed to the exhaustion of carrying them all that way." Splinter was drawn sleeping under the blanked on the opposite end of the nest.
"The next day!" Mikey turned the page. A Splinter with bugging out eyes and a wide-open mouth was shown on the left-hand page. The next showed four turtle-creatures standing on their back feet side-by-side, crossing their arms, and wearing sunglasses. All wore smiles too. One had an open mouth and bubble above his head. The words inside it were "How's it hanging, pops?"
Splinter covered his face with a paw. "That is not … 'exactly' what happened, my son."
"Come on, Sensei! It's an action-comic book. Just go with it!"
Leonardo frowned at his brother. He would have to remind Mikey, privately, after this, they had started this to "show their Sensei respect.'" In the meantime, his little brother went on.
The next page showed a rat standing behind the four turtles, who now came up to his waist. They all stood in a fighting stance. Splinter wore a brown kimono. The turtles all wore their distinctive colored headbands. "Knowing not everyone would understand their distinctive brand of awesome, Splinter, as their Sensei, taught the turtles Ninjutsu: the art of kicking serious …"
Leo stood up from his chair, "Thank you, Mikey … Is there another page after that one?"
The turtle in orange glanced down at his comic. Then he looked back up, "Just one." He turned the page. Leo looked down. To the right of the seemingly last page of the story of the Splinter comic came one that appeared to be an advertisement for the April O'Neil one. Leo raised his eyebrow ridges at that and then looked more carefully at the last story page of the comic. It showed Splinter with the four of them as turtle tots sleeping around him in the nest. The rat sat up holding his cane to his chest with one hand. His other rested on comic-book, baby-Mikey's head. A line over the picture read, "And that's how we became a Super-duper, Awesome, Amazing Mutant, Ninja Family! Thank you, Sensei!"
Leo gave a soft smile. "Why don't you show that to everyone else and then hand your comic to father?"
Mikey smiled at Leo. Then he held the comic book open out over the table. He read the last line of his comic while looking at their father. Afterward, he placed the book down before the rat and sat down grinning.
Sensei smiled at the book. He reached out and took it in his paws before resting its open pages in his lap. "It is beautiful, Michelangelo. Thank you."
April smiled over the rat's shoulder while looking at the last picture again. Casey bent over it and grinned at it too. Then his blue eyes looked over the table to the turtles. "So, uh, guys, does that mean we're through?"
The other three turtles turned to look at Raph. The turtle in red seemed to sink down in his seat. Then he murmured, "Yeah, I guess I can follow that … I guess I gotta.'"
Thank you to all my reviewers for making me feel so loved and appreciated by reviewing this story including my guest reviewer I cannot directly respond to. Leo's my favorite turtle too! That's probably why I concentrate so hard on giving the others love too!
What do you think?
God Bless
ScribeofHeroes