Mica – At first, I actually wanted to write the word 'pacifier' but because I had never written it before in my life, I couldn't spell it correctly and spell check wasn't giving me any hints. So I settled for the Aussie word equivalent, 'dummy'. Lol! I try my best to use American terminology knowing that most of my readers are American, but sometimes there are times where I just can't. That was one of those times! Hehe, looking at the word now, I feel so stupid for not thinking of spelling it that way!!
Pretender Fanatic – The first five episodes of NT:TNM is the fourth movie, just without the credits and opening sequences after each episode. So yeah, Venus is a person dressed up in a costume. I don't think that there were any cartoon versions of her. It really depends on who you talk to. Some fans don't consider the NT:TNM video, 'East Meets West' as the fourth movie and believe there are only 3 movies, while others include it and say there are 4. But apparently there are rumours of a new movie being made, yet I don't know much about it, but you could check it up on the official website (www.ninjaturtles.com). Oh yeah, I made the bandanna thing up myself! Hehe.
A/N: You will find this story jumps ahead in time quite a lot, mainly because I want Raphael to grow up!
Chapter 9: The Concrete Prison.
5 ½ months later. London, England.
A large egg idly sat in the warm glow of a battery powered incubation box. It wiggled slightly, but the occupants of the underground lair were too focused on a game of Uno to notice. The three adult turtles sat on the cold, concrete floor in a circle, each holding their precious set of cards closely. Raphael, however, was curiously crawling around, helping his Uncle Mikey to cheat.
It was Venus' turn. A blue three was situated upon the gigantic pile of coloured cards in the centre. She sighed and picked up a card from the deck, adding it to her hand. Mike frowned. He had only one card left, yet he couldn't put the card down as it was the wrong colour, hence he couldn't win the game this round. Desperate, Mike laid his hand on the deck, closed his eyes and concentrated. "I must believe in the heart of the cards!" he urged.
Leo rolled his eyes. "You know, you don't have to act so melodramatic. I mean, it's just a game of cards," Leo said seriously. Mike pouted.
"Party pooper," he accused childishly before picking up the card. He giggled in delight and placed down a blue draw two before saying "Uno" once again. "See! This is what happens when you deny the power of the cards!" Mike joked with glee, watching as Leonardo grumpily picked up two cards from the deck, ending his turn. Mike smiled even wider when Raphael whispered what new cards had been added to Leo's hand. Both Leonardo and Venus rolled their eyes in unison. It was so obvious that he was cheating.
A quiet and innocent baby garble drifted through the stillness of the room. The three adults naturally looked over to Raphael, but he only gave them a confused look in return. The soft noise was heard again, along with the sound of something cracking open. Venus and Leo's hearts skipped a beat as they curiously headed over to inspect the incubator.
A little green turtle head poked out of the cracked egg and greeted the new parents with a toothless baby grin. A tidal wave of emotions swept through Leo's mind upon the realisation that this was his child, and that he had just become a father. The hatchling wriggled and squirmed, trying to break the tight confines of the eggshell. Raphael stood on his tiptoes, attempting to gain a glance of the spectacle that was located on top of a ledge. Mike noticed this and bent down so that Raph could climb onto his shoulders.
Venus looked at Leo and noticed the tears in his eyes. She had never seen him cry before. Her heart swelled with love and excitement to know how much this baby meant to him. Leonardo caught her gaze and took her hand in his, squeezing it softly in gratefulness. It didn't take long for the tears of joy to form in Venus' eyes as well.
By this time the top half of the tiny hatchling had broken free and was intensely attempting to crawl the rest of the way out. The whole family held their breath as they excruciatingly waited for the whole child to emerge. Then, with one final wiggle of the legs, the hatchling was completely free from the egg. After looking at the healthy baby for a few seconds, Venus happily hugged Leo, allowing her joyful tears to roll down her cheeks and onto his comforting shoulder.
"It's a girl," she whispered thankfully in his ear. Leonardo smiled and gave her a kiss of the cheek, knowing how much she wanted a daughter. Michelangelo and Raphael stared at them, not hearing a word she had said since she was in such a state of excitable disbelief. Venus noticed their puzzled expressions and smiled even wider. "It's a girl!" she repeated, yet this time it was more of a squeal of joy. Mike grinned while Raph gave a look of disappointment. It seemed he wanted a little brother instead.
The whole family stared at the new arrival while the baby stared curiously back. The two new parents smiled at each other before Venus slowly leaned in to cradle her daughter for the first time. She gently caressed her baby's face with a finger while allowing Leo to warmly look over her shoulder. Venus smiled at him once again before carefully transferring the newborn into his awaiting arms. Immediately Leonardo felt a strong loving connection with the tiny turtle in his embrace. Everything was silent; the only noise being the hatchling's perplexing garbles every now and then. No one spoke as Leo appreciated and treasured what he held in his hands. Like Venus, he was still in disbelief that he was now a father to a daughter.
Raphael, who had now climbed down Mikey's back, stood beneath Leo with a pouting expression firm on his face. Leonardo chuckled and bent down, gently handing the little baby over to her half-brother. Raphael held her with awkwardness as he stared into her confused eyes that looked uncoordinatedly around at the nearby surroundings. Yet suddenly the little girl stared directly at him and gave a large wonderful toothless smile. Her tiny hands reached out and tried to feel Raph's face. The boy couldn't help but grin in return, slowly learning to love the little creature that he would soon call a sister.
It was Mike's turn next. The orange wearing turtle watched silently as the little baby in his arms blew a spit bubble. "How come they always do that around me!?" Mike whined lightheartedly when he remembered his first encounter with Raphael. Leo and Venus could only smile and laugh.
An hour later, after the female hatchling had received her first feed, Sarah arrived with Mike whom was leading the way into the lair. The human gasped and adored the newborn, and was kindly allowed a hold when Venus agreed to her request. After a brief period of inquisitive chatter and friendly catch-up, the family and the single friend sat down in a circle for a communal discussion.
"So what's, what's her name?" Raphael was the one to ask the inevitable.
"I thought you said that if you were going to have a girl, then you'd name it after Sarah?" Mike questioned Venus.
"Really? You were going to name a child after me?" Sarah asked curiously. Mike nodded with a smile. "Wow… I'm flattered," Sarah said, feeling appreciated.
Venus smiled at her comment. "But Mike, that was back then. Things have changed. Besides, there can only be one Sarah," Venus said with a smile. Sarah nodded, knowing how annoying it would be hearing her name all the time.
"Then… what about April?" Mike suggested. Venus and Leonardo shook their heads. "May?" Mike thought out loud, only to receive the same result. "How about June? June's nice," Mike said. The two parents frowned.
"Venus and I… we've agreed to… start again," Leo said slowly, wrapping his arm around Venus while looking at the baby still cradled in her arms.
"No bad memories," Venus added.
"So it's back to the old Renaissance theme huh?" Mike said with a sigh.
"But there are no female artists of that era. Not any renowned ones anyway," Sarah argued.
"And I'm not calling her Madonna… or Mona Lisa," Venus said with determination, saying the latter directly to Leo. He chuckled knowing that they had spoken about the issue before, yet they both knew that he was only joking back then. "And no Venus of Urbino or whatever either," she warned Mike, predicting his next theme, considering that he was the one to nickname her Venus De Milo in the first place all those years ago when she had first met the ninja turtles.
"Yeesh! Okay! … Well what about the angel theme you sort of started with Raph," Mike said while pointing to the boy.
"… But there are no feminine names out of the main angels," Leo said sadly.
"Do angels even have a gender?" Sarah wondered out loud.
"Um… Well… Uh… Venus is a planet. How about something weird, unusual and cool like Mercury, Saturn… Uranus," Mike said with a large smile and a giggle. Everyone in the room rolled their eyes except for Raphael who was too young to understand what was going on.
"Okay, I'm going to ignore him now," Venus said cheekily. Mike pouted in response.
"Can, can we call her Raphielle?" Raphael suggested meekly. Venus only gave him a gentle smile, knowing that he meant well.
"Name her after a Greek goddess then. Like her mother," Sarah suggested warmly. An idea suddenly came to Leonardo. He stood up and went through the small pile of books that Raphael had been given as gifts for his fourth birthday. One of them was a children's book about Greek legends. Leo often read him a story from it's pages as it contained interesting fables such as 'King Midas and the Golden Touch', and also because he didn't feel comfortable telling him the more romantic, 'girlish' fairy tales such as Cinderella.
Leonardo sat back down and flipped to the back of the book, which contained an explanation of the mythological Greek gods and goddesses. All of a sudden, Leo was reminded of Master Splinter, thinking that all those years ago, he must have done this with them using an art book instead. Leonardo smiled before beginning to read out both the Roman and Greek versions of the names. "Okay, there's Juno, Hera, Ceres, Demeter…" Leo looked up only to see everyone in disagreement. "Minerva, Athena, Diana, Artemis-" he was going to continue but Venus stopped him.
"What about Diana?" Venus suggested.
Leo continued to read out the description. "Jupiter's daughter, Apollo's twin sister. She's the goddess of wild things, the huntress goddess and the moon goddess."
"I think it suits her," Sarah admitted.
"Yeah, now she can truly be Daddy's little princess," Mike humoured, thinking of the other Diana.
Venus smiled at Leo. "I like it," she said.
"Then, it's settled. We'll call her Diana," Leonardo agreed. He grinned and smiled at his little girl. She was lying completely still in Venus' arms; her eyes were becoming droopy, her eyelids were nearly closing as though she was about to drift off into a peaceful slumber at any second. Leo and Venus both held the same smile.
Raphael began to yawn in tiredness as well. "I better put the kids to bed," Venus told Leo softly. She kissed him on the cheek before telling Raphael that it was past his bedtime. Leonardo stood up and stretched his legs, finding them cramped up after their long discussion. Mike walked up to stand beside him.
"So what's it feel like to finally have a baby that you dangle over balconies and take into crocodile enclosures?" Mike asked with a wide smirk across his face. Leonardo chuckled in response.
"Nah, that's something Bonesteel would do. Except instead of crocodiles, he'd dangle it in front of us," Leo replied with a lighthearted smile. Mike grinned, picturing it in his head. "But seriously…" Leo continued. "…It feels great. It feels great to be a father," Leo admitted with a reflective smile.
"Were you hoping for a boy though?" Mike asked out of curiosity.
"Sort of… but then again Venus really wanted a girl, and I wouldn't want there to be any competition between Raphael and him," Leo said with a sad smile, yet Mike almost chuckled at the idea of Leo's son against Raph's son. "But we've already raised a boy, so naturally I don't mind having a girl. It doesn't really matter to me in the long run. I'm still a happy father either way," Leo admitted humbly.
*****
Sydney, Australia.
Donatello stared regretfully at the rising sun through the metal bars of the storm drain entrance. He had been standing at that spot with the Hog beside him for the past three hours, and yet again he had waited too long and, as a consequence, another bright day had begun.
Donatello often observed the sunrise unintentionally. Day after day he would journey late at night to the entrance of the underground that he had entered the first time he had arrived in Australia, hoping to sneak on board a plane. He knew that his family was on the opposite side of the world, yet he had also heard from the media about the tight airport security. Don often read in the world news section of the newspaper about the new developments and the more advanced tactics being incorporated to try and catch his family. A lot of renowned scientists were staying in London for the time being.
Knowing Leonardo, Don predicted that they would try to leave the country as soon as possible. But judging from the frequent sightings and newspaper articles, the single turtle assumed that they hadn't as of yet. Donatello often questioned why they hadn't left. Maybe they were looking for him? Maybe they were waiting for him? Could they have forgotten about their long lost brother altogether? It took months until Donatello realised that maybe they couldn't leave, even if they wanted to.
Donatello continued to stare through the wire mesh as the sun rose higher and higher into the morning sky. A cool breeze drifted into the tunnel disturbing the stillness of the loose, dry leaf litter that cluttered the floor. The turtle sighed. His heart ached with yearning to see his family. Like every night, he felt so close to finding the courage to board a plane, to make a daring and risky escape, yet as always, he never did. The deep and powerful fear of being caught still controlled his actions.
Donatello figured that if Leo couldn't find a way out of England, then he wouldn't stand a chance in trying to get back in. Don knew that if was caught again, then it would all be over. The American Government would take him straight back to The Pentagon, yet this time they would go to extremes to make sure that he wouldn't escape. He shuddered when he remembered the lonely nights locked up in that small and cold cage, the tireless hours that he would work endlessly on cracking codes, and of course the amount of hunger he experienced when he refused to cooperate. No, he definitely didn't want to return to that. Donatello was trapped by his own sense of fear. He missed his family greatly, but he had so much more to lose. At least he was safe in Australia, and it was that comforting feeling which tied him to the ground.
Donatello sighed and tediously turned the Hog around to face the other direction. He silently hopped on and revved the engine. The turtle knew that no one would hear him, especially since the early morning peak hour traffic crawled up above on the freeway. Once ready, Don took off down the tunnel, making expert turns here and there, that could only be accomplished after years of experience. The tires crunched under the dry leaves that had been left to rot due to the low rainfall caused by the recently declared drought. But Donatello didn't mind, as he normally wouldn't be able to cycle through the tunnels because of the pooling of water.
Half an hour later, Donatello arrived back at his humble lair. A thin mattress and some blankets and sheets made up his bed. A couple of posters had been stuck onto the concrete wall, while various electronic gadgets cluttered some of the small room. Sometimes the place reminded him of a jail cell. Donatello carefully parked the motorcycle and checked the solar powered security alarm system for intruders; one of the only mechanical things he had successfully installed. After being reassured that there was no threat, Donatello sat down at his acquired desk to eat an apple and a banana for breakfast.
Suddenly the perimeter alarm went off. Donatello nearly jumped out of his seat in shock. An intruder was nearby. His heart pumped double time as he swiftly picked up his trustworthy metallic bo staff. Slowly but carefully he crept out of the lair, eyes and ears on full alert. His imagination ran wild with the many scenarios that pulsated through his head. Don's hands gripped his bo tighter when he heard something or someone crunch through some nearby leaf litter. Very, very carefully, Donatello rounded the last corner. At first he saw nothing, but when he looked down he jumped in surprise.
There, at his feet stood an American alligator snapping turtle. Donatello instinctively jumped back a fair way, not wanting the rather ugly creature to bite off his toes. When the turtle perceived no threat, Donny crouched down to observe the highly unusual sight. After staring at it with a puzzled expression for a few moments, Don remembered something from the dark recesses of his mind. He had heard about this before quite a long time back.
Don remembered reading about some alligator snapping turtle being found in a storm drain in Sydney on the world news. Apparently it was believed to be one of the eight baby turtles that were stolen from a reptile park back in 1979. Naturally, the creature was captured and taken to a zoo to start a breeding program, yet it was theorised that there were others still roaming the tunnels under Sydney. Of course, back then, Donatello and his family had joked about the fact that there were other sewer dwelling turtles out there. He had seen the albino alligators and giant rats that were considered to be urban legends in the sewers of New York before, but never in a million years had he pictured himself finding one of the seven remaining alligator snapping turtles in Sydney.
Donatello gave the ugly reptile a quiet smile. They were so different, yet they somehow mysteriously had a lot in common. After another couple of minutes, the snapping turtle started to move off, retreating towards wherever it had come from. Don emitted a sigh and decided to return to his lair. At least he wasn't the only turtle trapped in the concrete prison beneath the city.
A/N: Alright! Alright! I couldn't resist! The alligator snapping turtle story is actually true. I managed to save the original article so that's up on my website. Btw, they called the turtle… wait for it… Leonardo (tough luck for the Raph fans!) Hehe. They also gave him a sewer-like enclosure! The address www.reptilepark.com.au/animals.asp?catID=9&ID=66 is the zoo's webpage devoted to him.
(Note: I've noticed this address changes quite often due to website renewals. If it doesn't work, then you'll have to go to the zoo's main page and work your way from there).