Stella's Pov...
Well now that my long time enemy and the murderer of my parents is now deceased, life right now was very easy for the whole family and myself. I feel like a huge weight was lifted up off of everyone's shoulders of the one person that caused our lives to always be living in fear and danger all this time. But now that danger has now been ceased, we can finally look forward to a happier and brighter future as a family. The day after I defeated the Shredder along with my family, I went up to my favorite rooftop near the lair on a beautiful starry night and I began to talk up to the stars, talking to my parents up in heaven. I told them about all what happened and who was the one who took away their lives just a few years ago. Even though it was quiet of how I spoke when I did say that, the stars did sparkle a little brighter as if they were responding back to me, telling me how proud they are of what I have achieved. I thought that is probably what they would have had to say if they were still alive and I will keep continuing on to make them proud for years to come before I do reunite with them someday.
But yet even though it was a victory for us, it did come out with some consequences with defeating the Shredder. Along with the many bruises and cuts I had littering all over my body, I badly injured my arm and I couldn't walk so well on my left leg, without any support gripping around it. So I have had my arm in a sling for the past two weeks and my leg in a boot like cast that helps me able to walk around without having to have anyone carry me around to get somewhere. But at least Don told me I would be fully healed in the next couple days since I was healing faster than expected.
On a cool September morning, I was resting in Raph's and my bedroom on the bed while reading my book, just relaxing since I couldn't still do Ninjitsu with the rest of the family and as I finished my last page of my chapter I smiled closing it and I placed it on my nightstand, deciding to go check up on the family and see how everyone was doing with training.
I heard the sound of action being made and I looked to see the boys were practicing with weapons training and they were each fighting off each other in the training arena and I saw Judith on the sidelines like always watching with fascination. I smiled and I walked downstairs with my crutches walking up beside my daughter. "Hi Mommy", she said, looking up to me with a smile
"Hi Whirlwind", I said, smiling while sitting down beside her, resting my crutches beside me. "How is watching your Daddy and uncles fighting?", I asked
"Great! So far Uncle Leo and Daddy are winning the match!", she said, excitedly
I giggled and we continued to watch the boys fight for awhile and as I saw Raph block an attack from Don's staff with his sai's, he jumped and roundhouse kicked him in the chest sending him flying. He then looked over and saw me sitting with Judith and he gave me a wink and smile. I giggled covering my mouth blushing and I waved towards him. He smiled but then I noticed Mikey come running towards him full head on attack. "Raph behind you!", I called out
He barely managed to turn his head before, Mikey started to jump with his nunchucks swinging around and both of them knocked Raph in the face knocking him down on the ground with a loud thud.
"Daddy!", Judith said
I watched Mikey come walking slowly over towards Raph grinning and laughing evilly. I gasped a little then I heard little footsteps go running off and I saw Judith go running towards Raph and Mikey. "Judith! Judith!", I called out
But she ignored my pleas and she went running off, before spinning around jumping off her right foot up into the air. She went flying towards Mikey and she spun around and roundhouse kicked Mikey in the chest, before he could of touched Raph sending him flying back, landing on the ground. Judith then landed in front of her father in a fighting stance. "Woah Judith! Sweet roundhouse!", Mikey said, looking up at her
Judith giggled and Raph sat up and looked at Judith stunned, but yet amazed. "Hey you are starting to take after my hard kicks there munchkin", he said
"Been practicing, and I thought you could use some help", she said, smiling back at him
"Well now you both are going to need all the help you can get!", Mikey said, flipping back up to his feet
He twirled his nunchucks at her and Raph and Raph and Judith gave each other smirks. "Up for some payback Whirlwind?", Raph asked
"With pleasure!", she said, pretending to crack her knuckles
Mikey came charging at her and Raph and Judith managed to jump out of the way to avoid Mikey's low kick. "Judith!", Raph called out
He tossed her his sai's as Judith caught them spinning them in her hands. When Mikey swung his nunchuck at her she caught the chain between the nunchucks with one of Raph's sai and she twisted it till Mikey was down to her face, then she jumped and kicked him across the chest again. Mikey went sliding back on his shell losing one of his nunchucks that landed in front of Judith. He got back up to his feet and Judith picked up his one nunchuck and she threw it at his ankles. It wrapped around both of his ankles causing him to trip forward and land on the ground. Raph then put his foot on top of Mikey's shell to keep him down as she pointed the sai towards Mikey's face. "Since when do you let your daughter do your payback bro?", Mikey asked
"Didn't feel like breaking a sweat", he said, smirking "And I thought maybe Judith could kick your shell for me"
Judith giggled and smiled. "Judith 1, Uncle Mikey 0!", she said
"Haha listen to the little funny mutant", he said, rolling his eyes playfully
But just then Leo and Don came jumping out in front of them with weapons drawn. "You may have beaten Mikey Judith, but can you handle the two of us?", Leo asked, smirking at her
"Looks like we got more company Daddy", Judith said, looking back at her father
"Get'em knucklehead, show them what you got!", he said, smiling at her
"Alrighty then!", she said, smiling turning back to her uncles "Who's next?"
Don came chasing after Judith and she rolled out of the way before he could of swung his bo staff at her. Don tried hitting her with his staff again from above and she caught the end of his staff between Raph's sai's and they both grunted as they tried to get away from each other. But then Judith smirked and she pulled back the sai's quickly causing Don to loose his footing, falling forward and making his staff go towards Judith. Judith dropped her sai's and she grabbed a hold of Don's staff and she jabbed it in his plastron, causing him to have the wind knocked out of him and he fell to his knees. Then Judith whacked him again with his staff sending him flying across his shell. I looked at Judith with astonishment and she spun the staff professionally and stabbed it in the ground. She then picked up her sai's again leaving Don's staff on the ground as Leo jumped in front of her. "Nice moves little lady, but can you handle sharp blades?", he asked
"I don't know, but only one way to find out!", she said
She got into a fighting stance gripping the sai's and did a battle cry. Leo then came at her with both of his katana's raised and he kept swinging at her with sharp blades, but Judith was able to dance just out of reach from each strikes. As he tried to stab his katana blade at her she turned backwards and she caught the blade of the sword between the yoku parts of Raph's sai's till it slid down to his wrist. Judith then hook her foot in front of Leo's ankle causing him to fall forward. She then released her sai then she jumped and kicked him in the back of the shell, causing him to fall to the ground. One of Leo's swords fell out of his grasp and it went flying up in the air down towards Judith. "Judith baby look out!", I cried out
She gasped a little and then she set down Raph's sai's and she jumped up in the air and grabbed the handle of the katana and landed down on her feet doing a few hard and swift strikes before she pointed the sword down at Leo. We looked at Judith with complete shock as she looked back at us amazed herself as well. "Oh meine gutte!", I said, amazed
"You mess with the green it gets mean!", she said, with a laugh
"Woah that was unbelievable!", Don said, getting on his hands and knees
"I'll say!", Mikey said, sitting up
"Ahem", Splinter said
We then looked up Splinter who looked like he was watching the whole fight the whole time with his walking stick with both paws resting on top. Judith looked up to him a bit surprised as she held one of Leo's katanas in her hands and she slowly had set it down and backed away a bit. "Oops sorry Grandpa Splinter", she said "I know you have told me not to use the big weapons"
I got my crutches under my arms and slid down to the arena and walked up quickly next to Judith."Please sensei you know she has only been eager to learn Ninjitsu", I said "She didn't mean to cause any trouble"
Splinter chuckled softly as he walked down the steps into the arena. "I'm not angry with her Stellaluna", Splinter said, smiling shaking his head "If that is what you are thinking, but I do have a question for my granddaughter"
"What question?", I said, curiously
"Judith come here", Splinter said, gently
She looked up at Raph a bit worried and Raph knelt down to her and he rubbed her head. "Don't worry baby, he is not mad at you", he said "He just wants to talk to you"
She nodded and she went walking up towards her grandfather. "Yes Grandpa?", she asked
"Judith that was an excellent demonstration of an advance student in training", Splinter said "How did you managed to accomplish these skills?"
"I don't know, I just watch all of you and practice sometimes", Judith said, shaking her head "I don't know how I fought like this, it's better than what I have been practicing before"
"You must of gained these extraordinary skills somehow my granddaughter", he said "You perform at a level I was most impressed with, higher than what most do in the beginning of learning such an art"
"But sensei neither one of us has been teaching Judith anything about Ninjitsu", Leo said
"No?", Splinter asked, surprised "Well then"
He then got a curious look while looking down at Judith with his paw resting below his chin. "What are you thinking master?", Don asked
"I want to test and see how well Judith has been paying attention to our lessons", he said "Come with me my granddaughter"
Judith quickly followed to another portion of the training arena with us following behind them both. Splinter then walked over towards a lever on the side of the arena. "Remember my granddaughter true strength and abilities come from within", Splinter said
He pulled the lever and then suddenly ninja stars came flying down towards Judith. I gasped a little frightened, but Judith smirked and she was able to flip out of reach of each ninja star that came down at her before she ran off. Just then wooden dummies started spinning and Judith blocked each attack made out at her and did an attack back, knocking them over. She continued to run till she came to a balance beam where small swinging clubs came at her. She ducked and somersaulted across the balance beam avoiding any contact with the clubs then she flipped down and continued to run. Splinter came out in front of her holding two wooden boards in his paws.
"Judith leaping split kick!", he said
He threw the boards up in the air and Judith ran at him and jumped high in the air and she spun in between the two boards and kicked the boards doing a perfect split and landed back doing a back flip. The two boards she kicked landed in pieces beside her and we looked at her with amazement and beyond astonishment. "Woah major shell shock!", Mikey said
"Wow! I didn't know I could do that!", Judith said, amazed
"Man you are like a natural born fighter there Whirlwind", Raph said, smiling at her
She smiled and giggled, blushing a little. "Thanks Daddy", she said "I don't know how I did that but that was awesome!"
Splinter then walked over towards her and placed his paw on top of her shoulder. "Some say my granddaughter, that strength doesn't come out from what you can do, it comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't", he said
"Come to think of it master, its just like how Stella was when we saw her skills for the first time", Don said "It's a pretty close comparison"
"So it seems that she has gained Stella's profound strength and abilities", Splinter said "Which have given her quite an advantage, which could only mean one thing that we must do"
"And what would that be master?", I asked
"I think its time that Judith has started her training to be an honorable kunoichi and apart of the fighting clan", he said
Judith's amber eyes went wide as she heard what he said with shock. "Really? You mean I can start becoming a kunoichi?", she asked, with excitement
"If that is what you want my granddaughter", he said, smiling down at her softly
She then looked at Raphael and I. "Mommy, Daddy can I start my training?", she asked
I then looked up at Raph smiling. "What do you think Raphael?", I asked
He then crossed his arms and looked down at Judith with a smile. "I'd say let's get you started so you can start fighting like your old man", he said
"Alright! This is awesome!", she said, happily jumping in the air
"But I must warn you young Judith, becoming a kunoichi is very difficult. It will drain you physically, mentally and spiritually", Splinter said "And I hope you are willing to still become a kunoichi with these consequences"
"I am willing to do it Grandpa Splinter", she said, holding up a fist "At least it won't be harder than pranking Uncle Mikey with Daddy"
Splinter chuckled and he patted her head softly with his paw. "That is a true statement my dear one", he said, chuckling "That is a true statement"
Don's Pov...
A few days later, the whole family was off doing their own things for awhile to relax after training, I began to work on a few chemical experiments that I have been wanting to finish up. Leo was off in the meditation room, Raph and Stella were off in their room sleeping, and Mikey was watching some horror movies that he has been wanting to see, while my niece Judith was off playing somewhere close to the lair in the tunnels. As a few hours went by I finally finished the experiments and I was writing down my conclusions from my theories. I then heard small but quick footsteps coming through the entrance of the lair and I saw my niece Judith come running in smiling happily. I smiled seeing her come running over towards me. "Hey Short Stack!", I said
"Uncle Don! Uncle Don you won't believe what I found you", Judith said, running over to me
I knelt down on my knee towards her then she then pulled out behind her shell two long light blue crystals and I looked at them with surprise and shock. "Woah crystals!", I said, taking them into my hands "Judith? How did you find these?"
"They were in a tunnel poking out of rocks, I thought maybe we could figure out what they are", she said
I looked at them with curiosity seeing how they were not like any crystals that I have seen like before and I slowly walked away towards my work table with Judith quickly following behind me. "What are they Uncle Don?", she asked, climbing up on the stool
"I'm not so sure Judith, but I think I can figure it out", I said
I placed one of the crystals down on the table and the other under a microscope. I opened up a book about crystal structures and I tried to analyze the structure of the crystals but I couldn't find anything like them in the books. The microscopic crystal structure are linked almost like mutated brain cells. "Mmmm I wonder why it's not here, its unlike anything I have ever seen before", I said
"They do make this weird sound when you touch them together Uncle Don", Judith said, pointing to one of the crystals
"A weird noise? Can you show me how?", I asked, handing her the crystals
"Like this", she said, taking them from me
She touched one set of ends of the crystals together and the crystals began to glow brightly and make a harmonic like melody as Judith held them together. I looked at the crystals confused as Judith looked at them with awe and wonder. I guess the sound of the crystals together caught everyone's attention and everyone started coming over towards Judith and I. "Donatello, what is it?", Splinter asked, coming out of his room
I heard Raph and Stella come out of their bedroom yawning before walking down the hall and come walking down the stairs. "What's going on?", Stella asked
"What's with the noise?", Raph asked
Then Leo came out of the meditation room walking over along with Mikey from the living room in front of the TV. "I'm not quite sure", I said, confused
I gently took one of the crystals away from Judith making the glow fade and the sound of the crystals stop. "Are we in any danger Donatello?", Splinter asked
"I'm not so sure sensei, I don't know what this is", I said
"What are those things?", Stella asked, looking at the crystal
"It's some kind of crystal that I have never seen before", I said
"Where did you find that?", Leo asked
"Well I didn't find them, Judith found them", I said, pointing behind my shoulder
We then looked at Judith who had nodded in agreement. "It's true I did", she said "I found them out in a dug out tunnel in the wall while playing"
"Maybe the harmonics of the energy signature of the crystalline structure...?", I said, quite unsure
"You don't know do you?", Raph asked
"Not a clue", I said, shrugging my shoulders
"This is very strange for sure, we should look more into this, Judith could you show us where you exactly found these crystals?", Stella asked
"Yes I can", she said "Its not far away from home"
"Let's take the Sewer Slider, we could get there faster", Leo said
But then all of sudden the large security alarms began to go off within the lair. "Now what is it?", Leo asked
I quickly walked over to the security camera near the living room and I looked at one of the small screens. "Something tripped up a security alarm in one of the old subway tunnels", I said
Suddenly a shadow went racing across the screen with no figuring out to what it could be whatsoever. "Woah!", I said
"What was that?", Stella asked
"Sewer rats are getting bigger around here!", Raph said, pulling out his sai's
"Yeah time to cute the cheese!", Mikey said
Stella and Leo faced palm themselves in the foreheads and Leo looked at him slightly annoyed. "That's not what I meant", he said, sheepishly
"Let's roll!", Leo said
"Come with us Judith, we will need your help", Stella said, picking her up
"Alright! I finally get to see some action!", Judith said, happily
We then started running out of the lair and I quickly grabbed my duffel bag on a lawn chair and slung it over my shoulder as we left to investigate the sewers. We all jumped into the Sewer Slider, one of my inventions for quick escape and assault in the tunnels and we flew over the water as I started it up full speed over the sewer water through the tunnels with its bright headlights and loud engine rumbling throughout the walls.
"Lets not announce ourselves switch to stealth mode", Leo said
I pulled on a lever and the engine instantly had shut down its noise level as we entered another tunnel. As we turned a corner, we went down another tunnel and Judith quickly moved up front beside me and Leo.
Stella's Pov...
"Right there!", Judith said, pointing "That's the tunnel where I found the crystals!"
She was pointing to a huge melted hole within the cement wall. Don quickly slowed down the Sewer Slider and parked on top of the water, with it just floating softly. We jumped out of the Sewer Slider and into the sewer water as I carried Judith in my arms and we pulled out our flashlights looking for any signs that anyone has been here. I set down Judith on the concrete barrier as she started to climb up inside the hole and she crawled inside before poking her head out. "Right here is where I found them", she said "They were buried before I dug them out"
"Did you see anyone here Short Stack?", Don asked "Notice anyone around here when you were here playing?"
"No Uncle D, no one was here when I was around", she said "But I did hear a sound, like if someone was here"
"What did it sound like honey?", Raph asked
"It sounded like a growl, like a lion growling", she said, raising her hands imitating a stance of a lion "Coming from this hole, when I put the crystals together and it made that noise that's when I heard it, that's when I ran home"
Don shined his flashlight and we saw these weird looking tracks along the cement wall that lead into the tunnel where Judith was inside. "These are weird tracks, melted right into the stone", he said
"Whatever it was it tunneled right into the cement", Raph said
"What do you think could of made this big tunnel you guys?", Judith asked "Another mutant maybe?"
"I'm not so sure sweetheart", Leo said "But I have a feeling that something is not right here"
The hole was defiantly large, a good ten feet at least. The dirt that poured out seemed to have melted but dried almost instantly. Don lowered his duffel bag and took out a small pickax and plastic bag, hammering the strange substance and collecting it into a small bag. "Looks like the molecules have become unbounded. Maybe some kind of catalyst? Or an acid?", Don said
"Okay this is the part in the monster movie where the first attack happens!", Mikey said, nervously stuttering while looking around frantically "The first guys never makes it! Need I say more?!"
"Mikey calm down, we are alright", I said, gently "No one is here besides us"
He suddenly gripped my by the shoulders shaking me uncontrollably. "Me?! Calm down?! I don't wanna die! Monster movies all start out like this! We're goners! Goners!", he said
"Just calm down Mikey until we find out what this is", Leo said, taking Mikey off of me as I dusted off myself "What exactly is this?"
"Another mystery", Don said "One thing's for sure I've never seen anything like it!"
Mikey finished the last part with Don and began to freak out and retreat to the Sewer Slider. "That's it! I'm out of here!", he said
Raph took Judith on to his shoulders and he smirked seeing Mikey taking out his nunchucks twirling them while looking around nervously. "Hey knucklehead what do you get when you cross a turtle and a chicken?", Raph asked
"What Daddy?", she asked
"Your Uncle Mikey!", he said, laughing
I giggled covering my mouth from his funny joke and Judith started laughing along with Raph. Mikey stuck out his tongue out at us as Leo chuckled along with me. "We need to get back so I can analyze this and find out just what we are dealing with here", Don said
We jumped back into the Sewer Slider and we started to ride back towards the lair full speed. Once we returned Don went back to the work table and began running a few tests on the strange substance we found in the tunnels. Raph went into the kitchen and got a glass of water, Leo started to do his usual meditation sessions with Judith sitting beside him imitating him, and Mikey kept pacing back and forth in front of Don like he was ready to explode in fear while I stood by watching all that was happening beside Don.
Don poured an acid on the substance and he looked at it curiously when nothing happened. "Hmmm", he said
"Is that a good Hmmm? Or a bad Hmmm?", Mikey asked, frightened "Cause this is the part in the movie we should be looking for the monster's one weakness or we can kiss our shells goodbye! Trust me, you don't wanna underestimate a monster!"
I made my way around to my brother and placed my hand on Mikey's shoulder as my eyes and hand glowed brightly, calming Mikey from the whole ordeal. Mikey slowly calmed down and my eyes began to fade as my hand slid off of his shoulder. "Thanks", he said, looking at me as the glow faded
"Happy to help", I said, smiling
"What can you tell us Donatello?", Splinter asked
"It looks like that creature melted right through the stone. Being able to liquefy stone is the perfect ability for a subterranean life form", he said
"It looks like we are not the only mutants in New York City after all", I said, sounding surprised
"I am hearing answers that raise more questions", Splinter said "A wise strategist gathers all his information, before deciding on a course of action"
"So what exactly do we do now?", I asked "Do we go after it?"
"Anybody up for a fact finding mission?", Leo asked, standing up
"If something is out there looking for us, I say we find it first", Raph said
"I agree completely", I said
"Then its settled, all in favor say I", Leo said
"I!", I said
"I!", Raph said
"I!", Don said
We placed our hands together and we looked at Mikey, who was the only one who hadn't said anything yet. He shivered and gave us a nervous smile. "Uh meep", he squeaked
"Close enough", Leo said, smiling
"Good luck my children, may you return safely home", Splinter said, softly
"May I come?", Judith asked
Raph chuckled and he knelt down to her and rubbed her head and gave her forehead a kiss. "Maybe the next one you can honey", he said "I think this one is just a bit too advanced for you"
"Oh, okay", Judith said, a bit disappointed
Raph gave her a one arm hug and Judith smiled again and hugged her father in return. "Trust me baby, I would take you along too and show you whats it like, but we don't know what could be out there and just want to keep you safe", he said "Don't want any monsters gobbling you up"
He tickled her sides as shrieked trying to shove his hands away. "Daddy no! But it's cool I understand", she said "Besides I still can practice my Ninjitsu training while you are gone!"
She did a battle cry doing a high kick in the air, making him chuckle. "Yeah that is true", he said, smiling softly down at her "Just try not to become a full ninja by the time we get back"
"I can't promise that Daddy", she said, smiling
Raph laughed shaking his head. "Funny munchkin", he said "But we will be back soon and we will tell you all about it"
"Great!", she said, doing a little jump
I smiled and I gave her a kiss on the forehead and stroke to the cheek. "We will back soon darling", I said, taking off
We started running off in different directions taking various things we will need for the journey. Food, water, hiking gear and the two crystals that Judith found along with us. We took the Sewer Slider back to the same melted hole that Judith lead to us earlier and parked the Sewer Slider outside on the water as it floated gently against the current.
We walked along the tunnel with our flashlights in our hands and our backpacks slung over shoulders, flashing the lights everywhere to see what was in the darkness. We came up to the hole that we discovered just a few hours ago and Leo was the first one to crawl up in the hole, Don then Raph crawled inside. "Ladies first", he said, sounding a bit nervous
I eyed him suspiciously and crawled in after Raph helped me inside. But before I can get in any further I saw Mikey tried to sneak away but I grabbed him by his bandanna tails and tugged him inside. "Come on Mikey, this could be really exciting, just think what could be out there", I said, crawling away
"That's what I am afraid of", he said, crawling behind me
We walked through an abandoned sewer tunnel and it defintely lived up to the abandoned part. Subway trains were parked on the rusted train tracks and dust and spiderwebs covered every inch of every object and air particle. The ceiling was broken down and the windows on the train were broken and the train itself was rusting and falling apart. We appeared at the end of the hole's exit and we scanned the area with our flashlights.
"What is this place?", I asked, a bit afraid
It looked as if it was straight from a horror film. Raph held me close to him with his arm to make me feel protected and safe. "There's a whole network of abandoned subway tunnels from the 1900's down here", Don said
"Abandoned? Right", Mikey said
Dust and smalls bits of rock began to trickle down from the ceiling. I let out a squeak of fear and Raph held me closer to him as I looked up to the ceiling in fear. "Hear that creaking?", Don said "These old supports should've given out long ago. I suggest we all be really quiet"
The support beams were rotting away with teeth marks from termites and looked like they were about to cave in on us. But we continued on with our task and we continued walking down the subway tunnels. The abandoned station long behind us now was nothing but walls and ceilings of dirt with rotting support beams above us. "Any sign of the creature tracks?", Leo asked
"Nothing yet", Don said, flashing his flashlight
I walked ahead and I spotted something ahead and I quickly ran over to it. I knelt down to it to see it was a track that we were looking for. "Hey guys I found something!", I said
They quickly came running up to me and I showed them the footprint I found with my flashlight. "It looks fresh", I said, rubbing dirt in between my fingers "They must be close by"
Raph shined his flashlight and behind me there were more tracks like the one I found. "Nope nothing lets go home", Mikey said, nervously
"Come on Mikey we are not giving up that quickly", Don said
We continued on with our walk and suddenly several strays of dust and loose rocks feel from the ceiling of dirt and bits of wood finally were falling down from the support beams. We looked around frantically as we shined our flashlights up frightened at the sudden action."Shhh! Everybody be still!", Leo said, softly
A cloud of dust came up to my face and my face began to huff up a sneeze and I was trying so hard to keep it in. But it didn't help with my allergies to dust and dirt. "Ah...ah..!", I said, with my head going back and forth
Raph quickly covered my nose and mouth carefully as he looked at me with worry, to keep my sneeze from coming out. I felt a sense of relief that it didn't come out and I let out a nervous chuckle "Sorry, very bad allergies", I said, holding my snout with my hand "I can't help it"
"It's okay", he said, understanding "Let's just try not to let that happen with hundred tons of dirt over our heads"
"I got that", I said. with a soft giggle "I'll be more careful next time"
Thinking it was done and over with, we all started walking again. But then all of sudden Mikey looked like he was about to sneeze and his head went quickly back and he sneezed. "Aaachhhhoooo!", Mikey said, sneezing
Mikey's sneeze was the loudest that I have ever before, even louder when Raph had gotten sick just a month ago. The loudness of the sneeze made the walls shake and the walls nearly came crumbling down and the support beams began to waddle, but it safely went back to it's still ways and the boys looked back at Mikey with glares. "Mikey for crying out loud!", Raph said "Next time bring an antihistamine"
"Are you trying to get us killed?", Leo asked
"Boys, boys stop please", I said, gently getting in between "This won't help anything. What matters is that we are fine and we didn't bury ourselves in our own graves"
The boys looks softened and I smiled a little relieved. "Sorry Luna", Mikey said, looking at me sheepishly
"Come on, we should keep moving", I said, softly "Cautiously"
"Um how can I be more cautious when there is a huge grotesque and frankly quite horrifying monster in front of us?!", Mikey said, pointing in front of me in fright
"What?", I asked, confused
We quickly turned and saw a large creature, using its heavy front arms to walk and needing to keeps its head low so not to hit the ceiling. Every heavy step it took it shook the ground below our feet. Its body was of a rock like substance with solid chalk spikes in its forearms and all the way down its spine to its dinosaur like feet. It roared in anger and Raph quickly moved in front of me for protection, showing off its beak like teeth as its glowing red eyes pierced down at the five of us. It continued roaring as the walls and support beams began to topple down over us all and releasing the heavy debris, dust, and solid dirt like waterfalls down on top of us. "Run for your lives!", I yelled
We quickly ran off and away from the falling of the debris and heavy smokes of dust, traveling deeper into the tunnels. The collapsing tunnels stayed close on our shells making us run even faster than we thought we could run. The tunnel collapsed behind us as we tried to take refuge in a high walled dead end. There was no light and the atmosphere was suffocating with smoke. I coughed badly trying to breath and the dust was making it harder for me to see or breath. I screamed as I felt myself collapse against the ground when a rock hit against the back of my head as more came crashing down causing me to black out, before hearing the muffled growl of the creature.
Raph's Pov...
I coughed and coughed as I tried to get the dust out of my lungs and mouth with the little amount of air that was given. "Well this just keeps getting better and better", I said, annoyed
"Just a second", Don said
He was able to retrieve the crystals from the bag and hold them close together to create a blue light, bright enough for us all to see. We were all covered in dust with a few scrapes on our arms and legs. "You think that thing survived?", I asked
"Know your monsters Raph!", Mikey said "It can melt rock!"
"Oh yeah, maybe I forgot cause I was trying not to get buried alive!", I said, angrily
"Everybody calm down!", Leo said "Let's keep moving"
"Wait where is Stella?", Don asked
A look of panic came to my face as I looked around for my wife. Thinking that she was running beside me this whole time, I didn't see or hear her move away or fall. "Stella! Luna where are you?!", I called out
We started running back to the tunnel entrance to try and find her but all we could see was fallen rocks and dirt mounds. My worst fear was that Stella was buried alive under the mass carnage and my heart started leaping into my throat fearing that the worst has happened to her.
"Stella where are you?!", Leo called out
"Stellaluna!", Don called out
"What if the scary monster took her while we were escaping?! Because in most horror movies, the girl always is the first one to go missing whenever a monsters's around to get the main characters!", Mikey said
I gave him a slap on the back of the head annoyed and angered. "Enough already!", I said "Find her!"
I then heard a slight moan coming from a direction and Don used the crystals in order to see what it was. I gasped in horror seeing the light had found Stella and she was on the ground not moving covered with dirt and with rocks covering her shell and legs, breathing uneasily. I started running frantically towards her with my brothers behind me. "Stella!", I yelled
She started moving her head and arms a little as I knelt down to her. "Baby are you okay?", I asked
She didn't respond and I started pushing off the huge rocks that were crushing her small body. Leo and Don helped pushed off the smaller ones off her legs while I pushed off the heaviest ones off her shell. After I moved the last one covering her, I turned her over on her side and I picked her up and placed her in my lap. "Luna, Luna!", I said
She groaned in pain and her squinted shut before they slowly fluttered opened. "Guys?", she said, rubbing her forehead
"Oh thank goodness", I said, relieved hugging her close
"You guys what is going on?", she asked, confused "What has happened?"
"What happened?!", Mikey said, grabbing his head "I'll tell you what happened! A monster chased us down the tunnel with rocks falling everywhere! Now, we are totally lost and you just came out of unconsciousness!"
"Mikey you trying to freak her out here more?!", I said, sounding angered
"Honey I'm fine", she said, placing a hand on my chest "Just my head hurts a bit"
I slowly calmed down from her touch and I hugged her tightly to me relieved that she was alright and I stood up helping her up to feet as she wobbled trying to keep balance as I held her by the shoulders."Can you walk Stella?", Leo asked
"I can try", she said
I slowly released her and as soon as she tried to take a step, she started falling forward. "Agh!", she said, holding her leg in pain
I quickly caught her in my arms before she could of hit the ground as I helped her back to her feet. "No I can't", she said, holding her leg with her hands "I can't move my leg at all, and just when I got it all healed up again"
Don then took a look of Stella's right leg carefully, giving it a few squeezes making her wince a bit in pain. "Well good news is it doesn't look fractured or broken, but it is badly bruised", Don said "That's why your foot can't handle the pressure when trying to walk"
"What do we do now?", I asked
"Here", Don said
He took out his staff behind his shell and he handed it to Stella. "You can use this to help you walk until you feel like you can walk again on your own. Then once we set up camp I can give you proper first aid", he said
"Thanks Don", she said, smiling as she leaned upon it
"We better keep going", Leo said
I helped Stella stand up better and she leaned against me a bit and used the staff to support her weight as we continued on through the tunnel, slowly but steadily. Stella did make a few grunts of pain as we walked for a while and I gave her a gentle squeeze trying to comfort her through her pain and she smiled accepting it and she kissed my cheek.
Stella's Pov...
Don lead the way being the only one with light as the others followed beside me as Raph helped me walked with my injured leg. Again we were lead by small clues of footprints, which lead us deep into the situation that we were in right now. Don stopped when he looked down to see nothing but a thirty story drop of complete rock in front of us.
"Now what?", I asked
Don handed me the crystals and dug into his bag for a long rope. Taking the crystals back from me he tied a loop around a thick spike of rock that would hold his weight, and threw the rest of the rope down to the bottom of the pit. I clutched onto the rope with my life as Raph carried me into his arm as he lead us both down the rope. Raph bounced his feet off from the rock slowly sliding us both down to the bottom. Once we made it to the bottom, Raph carefully set me down against the rock as I moaned in pain rubbing my injured leg. "Oh my gosh this really hurts!", I said
"Don't worry Stella, Don will have that feeling better in no time", Raph said, as he rubbed my shoulder taking off his backpack
I smiled up to him softly and he stroked my head and gave it a kiss. Soon the others joined us down to the bottom and Don leaned against the wall beside me and Mikey just fell flat out on the floor. "I'm beat", Don said
"Even my backache's got a backache", Mikey said, resting his hands behind his shell
"Looks like we all could use some rest", I said
"You said it sissy", Mikey said, with his head collapsing in the dirt
Don started to take out the first aid kit as Leo came down from the rope resting beside me. "Let's make camp here", Leo said "Raph you up for first watch?"
Instantly regaining his energy, Raph jumped up and twirled his sais. "You know me", he said, with a smirk
As everyone else was getting their sleeping bags ready, Don had finished wrapping the bandages around my leg relieving some of the pressure from my leg. "There this should help make the bruises go away and your leg should feel a little better after some rest", he said, giving my leg a rub
I yawned a little sleepily. "Thanks Don", I said "I owe you one"
"No problem", he said, giving me the thumbs up
He smiled and he put everything way before retreating to his sleeping bag near Mikey and Leo. I slowly crawled over to my already open sleeping bag set up by Raph, I climbed inside and I pulled the blanket over me and I laid my head on the soft cool pillow. I let out a sigh of content feeling relaxed and better from what I was feeling just hours before. Raph came over and he sat down beside me and he picked up my head and pillow and he rested it on top of his legs. I looked up to him as he smiled down at me warmly. I smiled sleepily and he rubbed my head softly. "You feeling okay?", he asked
"Yeah the pain is slowly going away, Don worked his magic", I said
"Man you have just been getting beaten up lately", he said
I giggled and smiled at his little joke. "Yeah I have been", I said "First Purple Dragons, then nearly losing my life to the Shredder and nearly get squashed like a bug under boulders"
He chuckled softly. "Well I won't let anymore injuries come to you while on this quest", he said
"I wouldn't be too sure of that Raphael, things could happen unexpectedly", I said
"Well I will be prepared for them", he said, stroking my cheek
I smiled sleepily and I yawned feeling sleep taking me over. "You should get some sleep", he said
"Yeah I need a little shut eye", I said, snuggling deeper into my sleeping bag
Raph leaned down and kissed my forehead softly and I nuzzled his snout with my own. "Sleep well Stella", he said
"Thank you", I said, softly "Stay safe"
I slowly fell asleep with my head in Raph's lap and I curled up in a fetal position facing away from the shining crystals set up in a makeshift handmade fire that glistened off of me. What didn't seem like a few hours had gone by, I felt Raph shift his legs and he shook my shoulder frantically making me moan awake. I yawned softly and I saw Raph's face full of worry. "Baby what is going on?", I asked
"Our friend is back!", he said
"What?!", I said, sitting up
"Get your stuff ready, we need to get out of here!", he said
I quickly squirmed out of my sleeping bag as Raph quickly got up and started waking up the others. "Guys wake up! Mikey rise and shine!", Raph yelled "Everybody up! We're under attack! Our friend is back!"
Our brothers quickly got up from the sound of Raph's yelling and several small rocks fell from above them as the walls began to shiver. "So running would be good right?", Mikey asked
"Guys look!", I said, pointing
The guys looked to where I was pointing and we all saw a large red skinned monster, pushed all its strength into a large boulder, trying to get it to fall down into the cave we were residing in and came crashing down and slid down the wall and crashed on the ground and came bowling quickly towards us. "Follow Mikey's advice and run!", I screamed
We ran into a high tunnel as the boulder was the perfect size to continue rolling towards the five of us as we ran for our lives. "Man don't you just hate it when this happens?", Mikey called out
"Run faster! Before we become flatter than roadside pancakes!", I called out
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me till I was up with my husband and Leo, but then I gasped loudly and I quickly dug my heels into the ground as my feet barely hung over the edge of a broken down bridge. The guys rammed into my shell one by one, not looking where they were going. As Mikey crashed in last, I lost my balance and was about to fall off the ledge and plummet it to my death, but Leo quickly wrapped his arms around me pulling to safety as I let out a yelp.
"Aw great! The bridge is out!", Raph said
"Now what do we do?", Mikey asked
Thinking fast I took out my grappling hook out of my backpack and I began twirling it in the air quickly as the boulder started closing in behind us. "Hurry Stella! It's nearly on our shells!", Raph said
I grunted as I threw it across clear to the other side and allowed it to sink into a thick spike to hold our weight. "Grab on everyone!", I said
Everyone took a hold of the rope and we jumped off the edge just as the boulder arrived from where we were just standing. "Cowabunga!", Mikey cheered
We gripped on to the rope with our lives and we swung clear to the other side. We collided with the wall with grunts, and it made Raph's grip slip and he began to fall before I quickly grabbed his arm and I held him up with all the strength I could to hold his body weight as he gripped on to the rope again in front of me. But then the rope suddenly began to give out dropping us a couple of inches and then catching itself. "It's slipping!", Don said
"As if we couldn't tell?", Raph said, terrified
"Crack the whip on my signal!", I said "One, two, three!"
We jumped and swung ourselves high up into the air and we all landed safely on the edge and I laughed relieved. "I like a little excitement first thing in the morning", I said, fixing my eye mask
"How are we supposed to get back with those things bowling for turtles?", Mikey asked
"Guys look at this", Don said, in front of a large broken doorway
Two big doors were split in half and clearly hanging off their hinges, barely having any support left. They seemed to be made of thick iron and steel. "What is that?", I asked
"Not to make things worse, but you'll notice the door forced open from the inside. Something was trying to get out", Don said
"Oh that doesn't make things worse, it makes things horrifying!", Mikey said
"Shhhh!", Leo said, as he pushed him into the room
The room appeared to be a laboratory with broken glass capsules attacked with thick tubes and old broken down machinery and computers. Bits and pieces of metal and glass were scattered across the floor. "Anybody got a clue to what this is?", Raph asked
We dropped our backpacks in the doorway and we ventured inside. "You want a wild guess?", Mikey asked
"Nope", he said, softly
"Looks like a scientific lab for research", I said
My eyes ventured to what seemed to be a metal table with leather straps. I gulped a little and shivered at the thought of being on one of those and tortured and experimented on. I felt Raph's arm go around me and he pulled me away from it as we joined the others. "I'm seeing machines related to physiology, biology, and genome analysis", Don said, looking at the machinery "It's a genetics lab, they were experimenting with mutation"
"Whoever was in here, surely made a hell of an attempt to escape", I said, softly looking around
"Oooooeeeoooo!", Mikey sang, in a creepy horror movie music tone
He then began backing up and he accidentally stepped through a security laser, setting off an alarm, as we looked towards our borther with annoyance."Mikey!", we all said
The doors we had entered in through suddenly slammed themselves shut with emergency doors and a crystal held up began to glow an ominous blue and began singing its hypnotic harmony, releasing a large blue shield that began to spread itself getting bigger as it continued. "What the shell is that?!", Mikey asked
The shield blinked rapidly as it spread itself closer towards us. "Looks like some kind of force field!", Don said
Raph took out his sai and jumped at it stabbing straight at the shield and the force field swallowed his sai whole and dropped it on the other side. Raph tried pushing it away, but it began to push us all back by the force fields walls. "This doesn't look good for us guys", I said, as I flipped over a table
"Something tells me do not touch", Mikey said
The force field moved closer beginning to make us back away and up against the wall till we started being forced into the wall. "It looks like this energy field only affects living tissue", Don said
"Too bad that's exactly what we are made of!", Raph said
Our shells were being pushed up against the wall as the force field squished us between its electrical transparents wall and the thick dirt walls of the lab. "Raph!", I said, with the field squashing my face
He looked towards me desperately and he tried reaching out for me and I tried reaching out for him and our hands were barely able to touch each others, but I managed to reach farther and we were able to hold each other's hands tightly. "You guys what do we do?!", I asked
"I'm thinking!", Don said
"Well think faster, or we are all gonna be a whole lot thinner!", Mikey said, grinding his teeth as his body was being forcefully pressed
"The crystal! Its somehow powering all this! Raph your sai can go through the field, aim for the crystal!", Don yelled
Raph was able to reach his other sai out from his belt and he managed to throw it through the force field and it stabbed into the machinery that held up the crystal and make it malfunction and spark overloading. The force field gave up, retracting back into the crystal as we all fell to the floor gasping for air and then the doors opened again, from which we entered in. "And that's the end of that", Don said
"You did it Raph! You saved us!", I said
I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek deeply. He blushed red all over his face as he smiled huge and chuckled nervously. "Ah it was nothing", he said
I nuzzled my head in between his neck and shoulder and he rubbed his head against mine. "Awww", he said, chuckling
After the shield went down, it seemed the worst was over as we took sighs of relief. "At least its over and done with", Leo said
"It's only the beginning", Don said "Look at this"
We followed him as a screen forced itself on. I looked at it curiously as many fuzzes on the screen began to form a picture and the picture blacked out, then it appeared on the screen. "It's the sign of the Foot!", I said "They were here!"
"Every time we hit trouble with the Foot symbol is stamped right on it", Raph said "What could it be this time?"
"Well this can't be good", Mikey said
Don walked over to a large control panel and pressed a few buttons to control the screen and its memory feeds and journal entries. "These look like some archived video logs. I'll see if I can access them", he said
The screen cleared perfectly and a video of a man wearing goggles over his eyes and a cap over his head with tubes wired in spoke to the screen. Behind him was the lab we stood in now, nice and new with Foot Soldiers working on the machines. "Day 1: Project Commences. Master Shredder has believed his enemies have taken refuge underground. Our Foot Soldiers have been unable to locate them, so the genetic division have begun to mutate human subjects so they can explore deeper into the Earth."
The screen showed a helpless man belted down onto a metal chair having liquid enter through his body by force and his body began to change. "The subject appears to be in some discomfort, but this is a minor annoyance".
His screams shrieked the speakers and slowly turned into fearsome growls of pain. "Oh my god, they were behind the mutations, using humans as guinea pigs", I said, covering my mouth
"This is starting to get really weird", Mikey said
"Starting?", Raph asked
I watched with horror on the screen and anger started to seep through my bloodstream seeing what was being done to innocent people, like myself and my family. I understood it all. My fists clenched hard and my fingers dug into the palm of my hand as the video continued. "Day 345: The experiment appears to be a success. Although the subjects are sublimating reduced intelligence. Day 575: The creatures are showing sign of instability. They're becoming angry and vicious. The aspects of the experiments have gone horribly wrong. Have we attempted too much developing this unnatural life form? Perhaps, there are somethings...man was never meant to tamper with"
Mikey finished the last part of the sentence with the man on the screen. "That's the one line in a monster movie you don't want to hear!", he said
"Through the generous use of shock restraints, the creatures have been trained to retreat deviance from their explorations. Day 699: The project is a success. Our creatures have found evidence of habitation underground, which has been turned over to Master Shredder. I've been told he is quite pleased. Day 733: The settlement we found was not what Master Shredder was looking forward. He has pronounced the entire project a failure. We have been ordered to shut down the operation...and destroy the creatures"
The man looked as if he had just been through a fist fight with his goggles falling from his sweaty face. "The creatures have freed themselves! They're more intelligent than we ever dreamed! They have been manipulating us all along! Waiting for they're moment to escape!"
A roar was heard from the computers speakers and the man stared wide eyes as he backed out of the camera frame. "No keep away! GAAAHHH!", he screamed
The screen froze showing a large shadowed figure covering the camera. Then it all went black. Suddenly a vicious roar echoed from the doors of the lab. "Looks like we didn't avoid our mutants friends for long", I said
Mikey freaked out and clung on to me tightly, his arms shaking and his teeth chattering. "You know, there's always one man in the movies that freaks out because he can't take the pressure, and I'm about to do an impression of him right now, and it goes a little something like this. Get me out of here!", Mikey said
He ran off like the wind. "Not that I would ever agree with him, but he does have a good point this time", Raph said
"Agreed, fun's over, let's go!", Leo said
We placed out backpacks over our shoulders and walked out of the broken doorway. We turned to walk on the edge of the large underground walls, but stopped when the walls began to shake. The rock began to sizzle as it melted, a sharp clawed hand stretched out through the melting Earth, before it revealed a large hole with a blue insect like creature with glowing gold eyes and thick clawed for hands and long gray hair that fell over its shoulders. Behind it revealed another insect like monster with red scale and large pincers for hands and a scorpion tale behind it. The last one broke down the hole with its large fists, making it bigger and allowing it to emerge, the same monster from the subway tunnel, that we thought we buried in the tunnels was alive.
The blue monster scaled the wall making a strange screeching sound as it jumped down in front of us. The other two seemed to follow what the blue one did, slowly walking towards the five making strange unknown noises. We backed away pulling out weapons ready to fight. "Guys?", Mikey asked "This isn't the end of the movie...is it?"
"No where near close Mikey", I said "We are only just at the exposition!"