The hooded figure moved along the streets of New York as silently as he could manage, doing his best not to let even the sound of the shopping cart he was pushing draw attention...while at the same time hoping that the noise of said cart was enough to drown out any incidental noise made by its contents. Already the unknown men who were not men were in pursuit, and there was no telling when or where they would catch up...only that they would, and that if he was unprepared, it would be doom for himself and those within the cart.
The former Hamato Yoshi resisted the urge to scratch nervously at his arm, still unused to the feeling of fur covering his entire body. On the one hand, he was certain if he lived long enough he would grow used to it. On the other hand, that meant leaving behind - and possibly forgetting - what it was like and meant to be human. He needed to hold onto those memories, if only because those in his care inside the cooler in his shopping cart would need the lessons he could pass on from those memories, as they would have no such memories of their own.
A brief glance into the cooler revealed his four infant turtle-creatures, each the size of a small housecat and looking and acting more akin to human infants than reptilian. Three of them were almost completely asleep, and the fourth looked up at him with sleepy, affectionate eyes. He quickly closed the lid in the hopes that sleep would keep them quiet, even as he only allowed himself to rest while awake and focused. If he slept now, those men who were not men - the ones who called themselves Kraang - would find him unawares, and they would be dead.
He could not turn to humans for help. For one, he did not know who would be working for the men who were not men. For another, he didn't know who among those who weren't might turn him and his over to them, whether out of fear or for profit. For yet a third, one such as he would find no help from humans. A rat creature like himself would be greeted with fear and revulsion...or worse, scientific investigation of an inhumane variety. There would be no humans who could possibly look at one such as he - half man, half rat - and offer help without fear or ulterior motive.
As his eyelids began to drop from sheer weariness as well as the depressive turn of his thoughts, a strident voice startled him awake. "Mutant organism!"
Jerking his eyes up, the former Yoshi stared at the five men who were not men that approached him, guns unlike any he'd seen in their arms though not yet pointed at him. They marched in formation, no emotion on their faces or hesitation in their movements, uncanny like machines. He quickly shook off his weariness as his eyes scanned for an exit.
"Come that which is known as...quietly," the one in the lead declared, his tone firm even if his syntax wasn't as the group came to a halt.
Yoshi braced himself, ready to leap for his weapons the moment their guns pointed his way...but another voice stopped him.
"Now where's the fun in that?" someone declared from behind the group, leaning idly against the black car they'd driven up in. "For all you know, he might be a screamer...and who am I to judge?"
Yoshi frowned as he focused his gaze, trying to look past the men who were not men even as three of them spun to face this new person...who was very different. He stood nearly as tall as the armed figures, dressed all in black and with a bag of groceries in one arm and what looked like an umbrella gripped in his other hand. His black hair was smoothed flat against his face, and a rather debonair mustache adorned his face, giving him a quite distinctive appearance.
Yoshi got to his feet quickly, reaching for his weapons. While the interference was unexpected, he would take every opportunity to protect his little ones. "You should leave, sir!" he called out uncertainly. "This does not concern you!"
"With due respect to your own conflict, it's five against one," the man called back with a wide grin. "I'll be happy to let you go your own way if you want, once I've..." He tossed the bag of groceries into the air, both hands going to the umbrella. "...evened the odds."
"Surrender mutant and human," the leader of the men who were not men ordered as they aimed their guns. "Resistance to Kraang is futile!"
"We shall see," Yoshi stated firmly as he took a combat stance.
"Now that's a challenge I can't turn down!" the other man declared excitedly.
As a train passed by on the tracks overhead, Yoshi lunged forward to close the distance...and so did the other man. The men who were not men between them opened fire, bursts of pink light erupting from their guns. Yoshi dodged each as they approached, making sure to position himself so that the misses - as well aimed as they were - came nowhere near the precious burden behind him. The other man, however, pulled a sword out of the umbrella and proceeded to deflect the blasts with flicks of the blade as his wrist twitched back and forth, the classic fencing pose only mildly disrupted by the speed with which he approached the targets. In the time it took Yoshi to reach the men and begin taking them down with punches and kicks, the other man had met them from the other side, splitting their guns apart with quick slashes of his sword before he proceeded to slash the clothing off them with quick strikes before running them through in locations that would be painful but not lethal...only to be thrown off as the first such strike brought sparks rather than blood. "Well now, what's this?" he asked as another swing took the face right off one of the men, revealing a face of metal.
"The wounds that are mere of the flesh shall not stop the soldiers that are Kraang!" the now faceless figure declared firmly as it got to its feet.
Before Yoshi or the figure could react, five quick slashes left the torso, all four limbs, and the head in six different locations, sparking at the cuts. "In that case, we'll call it a draw!" the man declared with a warm smile before turning to the one figure still standing, Yoshi having managed to account for two in the meantime and the severed head having sent the third tumbling. "Have you got this one, fellow, or should I?"
"Your assistance is appreciated," Yoshi stated firmly as he struck the figure down before rubbing his wrists. "However, it would be best if we went our separate ways now."
"But we haven't even introduced ourselves!" the man complained as he picked up his umbrella - the sword having somehow vanished in the process - before catching his bag of groceries as it came back down. "That's hardly good manners."
"It would be better for you if you did not know me," Yoshi said as he turned back to check on the little ones in the cart. "This will not stop them from pursuing me."
"And I couldn't possibly let a parent and youngsters race away into the night without at least a good meal!" the other man declared firmly. "Come, my good man, it's a matter of family honor!"
Yoshi hesitated. To hear someone declare that so fervently... "...very well," he allowed finally. "But if I feel that we bring danger to your family, we will be gone before you can blink."
"If you insist," the man replied. "And what shall I call you?" Walking up, he placed the groceries in the cart before walking alongside Yoshi as he pushed the cart along.
Yoshi frowned thoughtfully. He didn't really consider himself Hamato Yoshi any longer, and given what he'd said he doubted this man would question an obvious pseudonym. Casting his mind around, he spoke the first thing it settled on. "You may call me Splinter," he allowed finally. "And what name do you go by?"
The man grinned rakishly. "I am Gomez Addams, Splinter. And it is a pleasure to meet you." Before Splinter could react, Gomez had taken his hand and shaken it. "Good health on your fur, but you could use a better shampoo. I'll ask Cousin It for his recommendation before you go on your way...and we really must do something about your nails. Long and sharp is all well and good, but ragged is just asking for infection."
Splinter blinked in surprise as he followed along behind this man who had witnessed everything non-human about him...and shrugged it off as normal, addressing health concerns like it was the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps there was someone who would not greet the non-human with only fear or revulsion.
His ears twitched as he heard other men who were not men speaking of what had come to pass. "The organisms that are mutant have received the protection of the humans known as Addams," one declared in a monotone voice.
"The humans known as Addams have entered into conflict with that which is Kraang," another declared. "The situation has devolved to that which is suck."
"Instructions to all in the vicinity that are Kraaang," another declared firmly. "Engage behavior camouflage protocol Addams. Emulate the behavior that is normal humans in response to the humans that are Addams."
"Affirmative," the other figures responding unanimously...before throwing their arms over their heads and letting out loud, monotone screams before racing around like headless chickens, bumping into and tripping over each other as they gathered the pieces of their fallen before piling into their vehicles and driving off at unsafe speeds, still screaming.
Or perhaps he is simply dangerously insane, Splinter mused thoughtfully. Still, a good meal would do himself and his young ones good, and he was...pretty certain he'd be able to scent anything dangerous. Besides, at this point it would be rude to refuse hospitality, and at least this way he would be safe from those men who were not men for a time...whereas he doubted he'd be safe from Mr. Addams were he rude now.