Trees. Only trees and bushes everywhere around him. How could that be?
Well, the Central Park was big, but not *that* big and, despite the fact
that there were lots of trees in a park, this area obviously wasn't the
Central Park and this realization led him to another deeply shocking fact:
he definitely wasn't in New York any longer. Shredder gave a gasp of fear.
Where else could he be? What had happened? And, another thing suddenly came
to his mind, where had those dumb mutants gone? He tried to calm down a
little. He had to find a way out of here and panic wouldn't help him work
out a plan. Still feeling a bit weak Shredder sat down on a stone to think
the situation over. He came to the conclusion that, wherever he was, he had
to find anything like a subway station, a bus or at least a telephone. But
he knew that it would be rather difficult - how could he expect public
transport and modern technology anywhere in the jungle?! Anyway, the path
that led through the trees at least *looked* like a street. He decided to
find out where it ended, rose from the stone and looked back before he
started to walk.
After about one hour he hadn't found anything helpful, he only was totally exhausted. "Great", he murmured to himself. A sudden noise, like cracking branches, made him turn round. "What.... what....is that?!", he stammered. The blood ran cold in his veins - standing in front of him was nothing less but a huge dinosaur, whose eyes glowed greedily. He gave a deep, terrifying roar. Shredder didn't dare to move. It was obvious that the creature was prepared to attack and he knew that there wasn't the slightest chance to flee. The same moment the T-Rex stepped forward he turned round, at least trying to get away, but the animal was much faster. The dinosaur smashed Shredder with its gigantic tail and the hard stroke took away Shredder's breath for a moment. Lying on the ground he looked up. He was so shocked that he even didn't dare to shout at the attacker. The T-Rex got ready to finish him off and, opening his mouth, showed his sharp, big teeth. But before he could kill his victim two other animals appeared. They were much smaller but obviously very dangerous and they seemed to be angry about something or... *someone*. The T-Rex turned away from Shredder and focussed on the two raptors who attacked him with stunning speed. They were so furious that the T-Rex was forced to back up. Finally he seemed to realize that he was outnumbered and left, giving a last roar. Shredder's relief didn't last for long. *One* problem was solved, but now he had two others.
"Are you okay? He's pretty dangerous, you know..." The clear, soft voice broke the silence.
"I'm alright", Shredder replied and, suddenly noticing that he was talking to a dinosaur, he turned pale.
"Hey, how can you do that?!"
"What?" The young female raptor stepped forward.
"You are *talking*!"
"Uh.... you mean that. Well, I'd say the green liquid's the reason. Someone brought the stuff here and we tried it out. Anyway, I like talking - it's great fun to me."
Shredder sighed - the turtles had been here, with the mutagen they'd stolen, no other possible reasons were left. And they had invented something like a time machine... now he knew how he got there, but could he go back without any knowledge about the machine?
"Umm, okay I think I can guess what had happened", he replied. "But how the heck could I get back in my time now?", he went on.
The other raptor, the male one, gave him a surprised look. "Your time?"
"Yes, my time... but why should I tell you, you wouldn't understand it anyway."
"Hey, don't be prejudiced", the female snapped. "You don't even know us."
"Okay, okay. I have to go back to New York - a city..."
"I know", she broke in. "A city in the United States. But what do you mean by *your time*?
"I don't want to stay in the past, of course!"
"The past?" She seemed to smile. "That isn't the past, that is your time, as you call it."
He looked at her absolutely startled. "You mean..."
"That's just an island", she explained patiently. "If you want to go back to New York you should go by ship. I can show you..."
"Wait!", the other raptor interrupted her. "It's too late now. That would be far too dangerous - he's just a human, remember!"
She nodded. "He's right. You should stay over night. No need to worry, we'll protect you."
Shredder just stared at the raptor and finally said: "Give me a minute, only a minute to understand what you're saying. You are a raptor - which means you are a carnivore. So why the heck should you want to help me?!"
The young male dinosaur looked straight at him. "Well, at first it was really funny tracking humans but when we realized..."
"He's talking rubbish", the female broke in angrily. "You won't understand anything. Let *me* tell!"
Shredder nodded. "Alright. It doesn't matter for me, who's talking. It's weird anyway."
"Our forefathers were created by human beings, so their DNA got a bit modified during the process - that's the main reason for us to be different from our old race's roots. But, to stick to the line, out forefathers used to live one another island, which should be a kind of tourist attraction... I'm not quite sure if I will ever be able to understand the meaning of this term, but... well, forget it!"
"Go on, sister!", the male urged, giving her an angry look.
"Errr.... where have I got to? Yeah, I know... something went wrong with the island's controlling system and everything turned out to be far too dangerous, so the island was left and, as the years passed by, they forgot about the second island, where all of our forefathers had been created. So what you see now is the product of genetic engineering more less." She paused, looking away for second and finally went on. "Some people came here to hunt our race, but they failed, as far as I know. Today only tourist come here by chance. We are used to stealing their food and we no longer attack them. The youngest raptor-generation never attacked human beings - I don't know the reason but it's an unwritten law."
Shredder slowly nodded. "That's.... wow, I would never have believed that... So it's really the 20th century..."
"Yeah. You can get away easily."
The male raptor, who had ducked down during her speech, suddenly looked up and - his eyes full of anger - he jerked erect and started scanning the side of the path through the twilight.
"What's wrong?", Shredder asked.
"We aren't alone any longer", he responded. "Time to get away!"
After about one hour he hadn't found anything helpful, he only was totally exhausted. "Great", he murmured to himself. A sudden noise, like cracking branches, made him turn round. "What.... what....is that?!", he stammered. The blood ran cold in his veins - standing in front of him was nothing less but a huge dinosaur, whose eyes glowed greedily. He gave a deep, terrifying roar. Shredder didn't dare to move. It was obvious that the creature was prepared to attack and he knew that there wasn't the slightest chance to flee. The same moment the T-Rex stepped forward he turned round, at least trying to get away, but the animal was much faster. The dinosaur smashed Shredder with its gigantic tail and the hard stroke took away Shredder's breath for a moment. Lying on the ground he looked up. He was so shocked that he even didn't dare to shout at the attacker. The T-Rex got ready to finish him off and, opening his mouth, showed his sharp, big teeth. But before he could kill his victim two other animals appeared. They were much smaller but obviously very dangerous and they seemed to be angry about something or... *someone*. The T-Rex turned away from Shredder and focussed on the two raptors who attacked him with stunning speed. They were so furious that the T-Rex was forced to back up. Finally he seemed to realize that he was outnumbered and left, giving a last roar. Shredder's relief didn't last for long. *One* problem was solved, but now he had two others.
"Are you okay? He's pretty dangerous, you know..." The clear, soft voice broke the silence.
"I'm alright", Shredder replied and, suddenly noticing that he was talking to a dinosaur, he turned pale.
"Hey, how can you do that?!"
"What?" The young female raptor stepped forward.
"You are *talking*!"
"Uh.... you mean that. Well, I'd say the green liquid's the reason. Someone brought the stuff here and we tried it out. Anyway, I like talking - it's great fun to me."
Shredder sighed - the turtles had been here, with the mutagen they'd stolen, no other possible reasons were left. And they had invented something like a time machine... now he knew how he got there, but could he go back without any knowledge about the machine?
"Umm, okay I think I can guess what had happened", he replied. "But how the heck could I get back in my time now?", he went on.
The other raptor, the male one, gave him a surprised look. "Your time?"
"Yes, my time... but why should I tell you, you wouldn't understand it anyway."
"Hey, don't be prejudiced", the female snapped. "You don't even know us."
"Okay, okay. I have to go back to New York - a city..."
"I know", she broke in. "A city in the United States. But what do you mean by *your time*?
"I don't want to stay in the past, of course!"
"The past?" She seemed to smile. "That isn't the past, that is your time, as you call it."
He looked at her absolutely startled. "You mean..."
"That's just an island", she explained patiently. "If you want to go back to New York you should go by ship. I can show you..."
"Wait!", the other raptor interrupted her. "It's too late now. That would be far too dangerous - he's just a human, remember!"
She nodded. "He's right. You should stay over night. No need to worry, we'll protect you."
Shredder just stared at the raptor and finally said: "Give me a minute, only a minute to understand what you're saying. You are a raptor - which means you are a carnivore. So why the heck should you want to help me?!"
The young male dinosaur looked straight at him. "Well, at first it was really funny tracking humans but when we realized..."
"He's talking rubbish", the female broke in angrily. "You won't understand anything. Let *me* tell!"
Shredder nodded. "Alright. It doesn't matter for me, who's talking. It's weird anyway."
"Our forefathers were created by human beings, so their DNA got a bit modified during the process - that's the main reason for us to be different from our old race's roots. But, to stick to the line, out forefathers used to live one another island, which should be a kind of tourist attraction... I'm not quite sure if I will ever be able to understand the meaning of this term, but... well, forget it!"
"Go on, sister!", the male urged, giving her an angry look.
"Errr.... where have I got to? Yeah, I know... something went wrong with the island's controlling system and everything turned out to be far too dangerous, so the island was left and, as the years passed by, they forgot about the second island, where all of our forefathers had been created. So what you see now is the product of genetic engineering more less." She paused, looking away for second and finally went on. "Some people came here to hunt our race, but they failed, as far as I know. Today only tourist come here by chance. We are used to stealing their food and we no longer attack them. The youngest raptor-generation never attacked human beings - I don't know the reason but it's an unwritten law."
Shredder slowly nodded. "That's.... wow, I would never have believed that... So it's really the 20th century..."
"Yeah. You can get away easily."
The male raptor, who had ducked down during her speech, suddenly looked up and - his eyes full of anger - he jerked erect and started scanning the side of the path through the twilight.
"What's wrong?", Shredder asked.
"We aren't alone any longer", he responded. "Time to get away!"