The Beginning
A/N: Okay, after many revisions and reboots, I'm finally ready to share my TMNT fanfic series with all of you guys. It's based in the 2003 universe (which is my personal favorite iteration of everyone's favorite pizza loving turtles) and will cover all seven seasons and (if you guys would like) the "Turtles Forever" special. Now, just a heads up, this series will eventually head in a romantic direction around Book/Season 4, where each turtle will have their own human girlfriend in one of the Mystic Sisters (aka my OCs). It will be a slow-burn build up. Okay, enough of me...hope you enjoy this first chapter.
"Life is unpredictable. Sometimes it can be perfect; other times, it can knock you flat on your back and laugh in your face as everything is ripped away from you. The latter happened to me and my sisters at a young age when our mother was taken from us."
A young woman with midnight black hair and crystal blue eyes gripped her katana tightly as she faced her opponent, clad in silver armor with various spikes. Four pairs of blue eyes watched as their mother fought the intruder from under a loose floorboard in the corner.
"A man came into our home and demanded information from our mother, but she refused to tell him what he wanted, and a fight followed. The intruder gained the upper hand and forced mom to the ground."
The Shredder held his gauntlet to Serenity's neck, demanding again the location of his enemies and she again refused to answer. He raised his hand with the intent of delivering a final blow, but at the last second, Serenity swept her leg under him and pushed him out the nearest window, both of them falling to the ground.
"That was the last we ever saw of her, and that was almost a decade ago. After that day, our father drove us to our grandmothers in the middle of Brooklyn, New York, and we never saw him again. Since then, my sisters and I have trained ourselves in Ninjutsu, just like our mother had taught us, and we swore to one day avenge her death.
My name is Talia Hanson; I'm just your average 15 year-old girl who attends high school and works at a local rec center. Only, I'm a self-trained ninja, oh yeah, I can also manipulate the element of water, and my closest friend is a five-foot-tall mutant ninja turtle named Leonardo. How do girls with mystic powers go about befriending four teenage mutant ninja turtle brothers? Well, that's where this story really begins."
Late at night, four girls stood on a rooftop, dressed in dark clothes as they fought with a larger group of ninjas clad in black, known as the Foot. The sisters all wore the same garbs; tight black pants and tops, along with a piece of black cloth covering their mouths, their hair pulled up in high ponytails. The only differences were the color of the ribbons around their waists; dark blue, emerald green, blazing red, and pale yellow. Each ribbon had a Japanese kanji in the center for one of the four elements: Water, Earth, Fire and Air.
The eldest sister, who wore the symbol for Water on her waist ribbon, blocked two Foot Ninja with her weapon, a single katana with silver and gold ribbon woven around the hilt. Her sky-blue eyes narrowed as she spun around, leaping into the air and performing two split kicks in quick succession, dispatching more of the Foot ninjas. When her feet hit the ground, her honey-brown ponytail fell over her shoulder.
The second oldest sister, who wore the symbol for Earth, held her own against five enemy ninja. She twirled her pair of sais around and narrowed her eyes, which were the same sky blue as the rest of her sisters. As she went on the offensive, she looked as though she was enjoying the fight.
The fourth sister, the second youngest who sported the symbol for Fire, slid on her knees and knocked over two Foot ninja with her bo-staff. She jumped to her feet and spun her weapon around her body, a wave of heat radiating from her to the point small embers fell where her staff made contact.
The youngest of the four, sporting the Wind symbol, cartwheeled a few feet away, spun her nunchucks around and knocked back four more Foot Ninja. She let out a childish giggle, spinning her weapons once more, this time creating a powerful gust of wind, which blew away another advancing group of ninjas.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook, courtesy of their sister stomping on her foot, which triggered a seismic event.
"Alright, let's bail!" ordered Talia, the eldest of the four.
In perfect sync, the sisters leaped off the roof and onto the next building, continuing from roof to roof, putting some distance between them and the Foot Ninja. "Nice one, Laurel." the youngest, Aria, scolded, running alongside her.
"A little warning next time would be nice." added the second youngest, Seraphina.
The sisters stopped to rest for a moment, but were soon surrounded by the Foot Clan. "Son of a bitch." Laurel cursed, pulling her sais from her belt.
"Round two." Talia sighed, flexing her fingers around the hilt of her katana.
The Mystic Sisters stayed close together as the Foot ninja converged on them. It wasn't too long before they were backed up to the ledge and had no choice but to take their fight to the alleyway below. Only the alley wasn't deserted as the sisters had hoped.
Aside from an abandoned armored truck, four non-human creatures stood shocked when they saw the four human girls land in front of them, and the dozens of ninjas surround them from the roofs on either side, standing ready for a fight.
"Looks like you got your wish, Raphie boy." noted the large turtle wearing an orange mask and had dark green skins.
"Are they...ninjas?" the turtle with forest green skin and a blue bandana inquired.
The Foot Clan readied their weapons, and the four females did the same. "Technically, the girls would be classified as Kunoichi." the olive green, purple masked turtle clarified. "You know, female ninjas."
"Who cares?" scoffed the emerald green, red masked turtle, pulling out his sais. "I am gonna enjoy this." He let out a dark chuckle.
The fight started, with the four turtle brothers aiding the kunoichi sisters. Laurel was backed into the wall but showed no signs of fear. She held her sais at the ready and waited for the Foot to make their move. The Earth Mystic blocked the weapons aimed at her and swept her leg out, flipping to the side and stabbing two ninja in the shoulders before landing a few feet away. She spun around and saw three Foot Ninja fly over her head and land on a nearby dumpster, her eyes landing on Raphael, the red masked turtle, who had a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Not bad." Laurel commented, with a shrug of her shoulders. "For a reptile."
"Ya ain't so bad yourself." Raph snarkily replied. "For a human."
The orange masked turtle, Michelangelo, stood back-to-back with Aria as they each swung their nunchucks at the oncoming Foot Ninja. "You're pretty good with those." Mikey chuckled, givin the human girl behind him a smile. They both ducked to avoid another attack from the ninjas around them. "Quick with the reflexes too." They both jumped and kicked the Foot Ninja in the chest, sending them into the walls. The next instant, they spun around and knocked out the remaining ninjas with their weapons, their eyes locking.
"The name's Mikey." the orange masked turtle introduced. "What's your name?"
Aria just let out a giggle, "You're adorable." she said sweetly. "Maybe next time." She winked and jumped onto the awning a few feet above her, engaging in combat with a few other Foot Ninja.
Flipping through the air, dodging a barrage of shuriken thrown her way, Seraphina spun her metal staff around her body, slamming it against two ninja, and landed next to Donatello. They unintentionally bumped shoulders and, upon looking in her eyes, Donnie gulped. "Nice night, huh?" he chuckled.
Seraphina nodded and spun her staff in a circle, blocking the next wave of shuriken. She then swept out her foot, and a small wave of fire sparked, creating a barrier between the ninjas and the unlikely pair of turtle and Mystic. Donatello blinked in shock, "They're Mystics." he deduced, seeing that each kunoichi manipulated the element that was displayed on their waistbands. "Cool." A Foot Ninja came at him and knocked him into the armored truck, and an idea came to the purple masked turtle's mind. He climbed in and started hot-wiring the vehicle.
Talia pressed her back against the concrete wall, her katana held defensively in front of her body, as four ninja converged on her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and upon exhale, she blocked their attacks. She blocked two swords with her own while kicking the other two off the awning they stood on. The Water Mystic flipped over her two opponents, swept her leg out, knocking them off balance, and then slashed them across the chests with her blade. She smirked under her mask, unaware of the Foot Ninja sneaking up behind her.
She only realized the enemy a second too late and was thrown off the awning, landing on the ground with a hard 'thud', her katana sliding just out of reach. Talia shook off her daze, her ponytail falling over her shoulder, her eyes catching the approaching shadow looming over her.
Just as she turned her head, a blade came between them, and the large turtle wearing a blue mask sent the lone ninja flying. Leonardo glanced down and gently kicked the kunoichi's katana back towards her and offered her his hand. Talia grabbed her weapon, then took the turtle's offered hand, and he easily pulled her to her feet, their eyes locking for a few long moments before he returned to the fight, regrouping with his three brothers near the armored truck.
The four Mystics did the same, "Alright girls, fall back." Talia ordered.
"Fall back?" Laurel repeated. "Seriously?"
"Yes." the eldest sister confirmed.
"Works for me." Seraphina agreed, pulling a small smoke bomb from her waistband. She threw it on the ground, and the four sisters vanished.
At the same time, the four turtle brothers jumped into the armored truck with Donatello behind the wheel and sped away from the alley. From a few rooftops away, the Mystic Sisters saw the vehicle swerve down the road, before they ran in the opposite direction.
"This has been one mondo bizarro day." Mikey pointed out from the back of the truck. "First, all those metal robot things underground and...what's with all those ninjas?" he questioned. "Ninjas in New York City, besides us? It's just not right." He folded his arms over his chest. "And what about those chicks? What's their deal?"
"They were Mystics." Donatello corrected from the driver's seat.
"Whoever they were, they're good." Raphael added. "They obviously knew what they were doin' in that fight." He looked down at the bag at his feet and unzipped it, revealing stacks of cash.
Lights clicked on in a small brownstone apartment, and the Hanson sisters entered, removing their masks. "Okay, I'll be the one to ask." Laurel spoke up, as she grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. "What the hell were those things that helped us?"
"Well, they were large, talking turtles who knew ninjutsu and could speak perfect English." Seraphina answered with a slightly sarcastic tone as she leaned against the kitchen counter.
"But they're not normal turtles." Aria pointed out. Her three sisters giving her 'no duh' looks with slightly raised eyebrows. "Obviously. Turtles don't walk on two legs, speak, or know how to wield nunchucks like a pro." She held her own weapon up for emphasis. "Think they work for him?"
"I don't think so." Talia shook her head, looking out the window. "They seemed confused when they saw the Foot Clan." Her eyes narrowed as she fixated on an illuminated symbol on the side of a skyscraper.
"You gotta admit, though, they had our backs." Aria said after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah." Laurel muttered. "But can we trust them?"
Seraphina shrugged, "Maybe." she sighed, leaning against the wall. "What do you think, Tal?"
Talia continued to stare at the Foot Clan symbol on the skyscraper, the image of Leonardo flashing through her mind. "I think it's too soon to say." she admitted, turning to face her sisters. "It's late, and we have school in the morning. Get to bed."
Seraphina and Aria retired to their shared room and, after changing out of their kunoichi getup and into some sleepwear; Aria into an oversized Mickey Mouse t-shirt and Seraphina into a pair of dark blue shorts and a pink long-sleeved shirt. Exhaustion took hold, and they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows, the faces of Donatello and Michelangelo flashing in their minds.
In the next room, Laurel laid on her back, wearing a pair of blue basketball shorts and a Knicks jersy, staring at the ceiling until her eyes closed. The last thought she had was of Raphael, and a small smirk crossed her lips. Talia leaned against her pillow, wearing a matching set of light blue pajama pants and shirt, staring at a photograph of her mother, Serenity.
"I promise, mom." she whispered, "I'll avenge you." She lightly kissed it before slipping it under her pillow. Talia laid back and turned on her side, another image of Leonardo crossing her mind, before she drifted off as well.