II. "AFTER"
LEONARDO
I think, honestly, that Master Splinter is the most caring, compassionate human being on the planet. I mean, think about it. Say you're homeless, in a new country. You wake up in the sewer, and now you're now a mutant rat. There are four other mutant turtle-like creatures next to you, making this godawful crying sound. What would you do? (pause) That's right - run like hell. I know I would've.
MASTER SPLINTER
I did not even notice my mutated condition at first. I only saw four other creatures in desperate need of help. They were crying. They appeared to be sentient, but they clearly did not understand what was going on.
DONATELLO
It's hard to describe what that was like. None of us remember it very vividly, but we all vaguely recall what it was like. Honestly, there's no sensation to compare to it. The best I can come is this. Imagine you're two months old. You go to sleep, you wake up, and then you're twelve years old.
RAPHAEL
Suddenly, we were (gesturing) aware...of everything. We couldn't talk or anything. But now the brains were in place, and it could take everything in, and process it. And I think we all had two main thoughts. One - that hurt like hell. And two - damn, it's cold.
MICHELANGELO
There was this other creature with us. Yeah, he looked strange, but heck, it was the first thing we saw. We didn't know what strange was.
MASTER SPLINTER
I talked to them. (smiling) In Japanese, I think. I had forgotten where I was. But it didn't matter which language I spoke - they did not understand.
LEONARDO
We don't remember that day very well, but Splinter filled us in on all the stuff we're hazy on. He says he tried talking to us, which obviously we didn't understand. Then he reached out and put his hand on each of us. (pause) That I sorta remember. It was...maybe I was looking to cling to something, anything, but suddenly I felt like it was going to be all right, somehow.
MASTER SPLINTER
I decided to build a fire, as it was quite cold. I tried to explain to them that I had to go get material to build a fire, but that I would be back. Again, they didn't understand. When I tried to leave, one of them...screamed.
MICHELANGELO
According to Splinter, we all turned to the one who screamed. Whoever it was - we don't remember who. Then we all realized that we had these voices, so we all started screaming at each other, and laughing. That must've been scary. Heck, it weirds me out just thinking about it.
LEONARDO
Eventually, while we were amusing ourselves, Splinter managed to get some old boxes and pallets, and he lit a fire. The next day, he took us further down into the sewer - it was somewhat warmer there.
DONATELLO
Master Splinter was sort of at the end of his rope. It's hard enough to take care of yourself in New York with no job. And now Sensei had four other mouths to feed.
MICHELANGELO
Luckily, Splinter had made this friend in his first few days in New York.
MASTER SPLINTER
Shoji Mitake is the owner of Nihon Ya, a shop that sells Japanese art and artifacts. I had spoken to him a few times before my mutation. It is only through his kind intercession that we are here today. The day after my mutation, I dared to leave my charges alone, and headed up to meet with him.
MITAKE
I was mildly surprised to see Yoshi again, but not as surprised as I was to see that he was now a rat.
MASTER SPLINTER
I waited until he was locking up the store, and then called him over to meet me in the alley next to his store. I wanted him to be aware that it was, in fact, me before he saw my mutated condition.
MITAKE
Yoshi is not the type to ask for help, but even I could see that he was desperately in need. Had he been alone, he might have managed to struggle through without help, but with four others to care for, there was simply no way he could make it by himself.
MASTER SPLINTER
Mitake offered to loan me some money, which I refused - my pride would not allow that. However, he then hit upon an ideal solution.
MITAKE
My wife and I were hoping to redecorate the store, and I had seen one of Yoshi's paintings. I felt his work would fit in excellently. I asked, if I bought the materials, could he create some paintings for the store?
MASTER SPLINTER
He walked with me to Li's Market, where he proceeded to buy some food for me. I insisted that he subtract the total from what he would pay me for the paintings. He agreed, then of course did not do so.
MITAKE
I provided him with canvas, paints, and brushes, as well as some candles so he could see what he was doing.
MASTER SPLINTER
My charges managed to amuse themselves for long periods of time, during which I attempted to paint. I was suprised how easily the paintings came to me - I suppose believing I would never again see the outside world again, let alone my home country, the images came easily to my mind's eye. Even in my newly mutated state, the paintings emerged with little effort.
MICHELANGELO
Splinter lucked out. Probably karma paying back for the whole mutation thing. Soon after he finished his paintings for Mitake's place, some guy saw them hanging there, and he asked if he could buy them. Mitake didn't know what kind of price these things commanded, so he asked the guy to make an offer. The guy offered, like, five hundred dollars.
MITAKE
Without thinking, I immediately said, "Oh, no." I thought that was far too much. After all, I had obtained them simply for the cost of materials. The man thought I was haggling with him, and raised his offer to a thousand. My impulse was to say no once again, but then I realized this money could be turned over to Yoshi, who severely needed it.
MASTER SPLINTER
I went to visit Mitake a few days later - just to thank him for his generosity. (smiling) I was, to say the least, shocked when he handed me a thousand dollars.
MITAKE
He didn't want to take it, of course, but they were his paintings, and he certainly needed the money more than I did. He finally did take the money, but he insisted I keep ten percent of it, as his "agent". That was an arrangement we ended up keeping for some time.
MASTER SPLINTER
With that much money suddenly at my disposal, I thought at first it would be prudent to find a more comfortable place to live.
RAPHAEL
It wasn't like Splinter wanted to keep us down in the sewers or nothing. But he wasn't sure how people would react to us. He didn't know if he could even find a place that would be willing to rent out to a bunch of freaks like us.
DONATELLO
Rent in New York's insane, and Splinter had no idea if he'd ever get any money like this again. If he spent it all on a month's rent or whatever, then we might have to turn around and move out right afterwards. So it'd be like the money just went to waste.
MASTER SPLINTER
So I decided to stay underground, in the sewers, and raise my charges there for the time being. The money would pay for food for a fair amount of time - enough time for me to figure out another way to make money.
LEONARDO
I think, honestly, that Master Splinter is the most caring, compassionate human being on the planet. I mean, think about it. Say you're homeless, in a new country. You wake up in the sewer, and now you're now a mutant rat. There are four other mutant turtle-like creatures next to you, making this godawful crying sound. What would you do? (pause) That's right - run like hell. I know I would've.
MASTER SPLINTER
I did not even notice my mutated condition at first. I only saw four other creatures in desperate need of help. They were crying. They appeared to be sentient, but they clearly did not understand what was going on.
DONATELLO
It's hard to describe what that was like. None of us remember it very vividly, but we all vaguely recall what it was like. Honestly, there's no sensation to compare to it. The best I can come is this. Imagine you're two months old. You go to sleep, you wake up, and then you're twelve years old.
RAPHAEL
Suddenly, we were (gesturing) aware...of everything. We couldn't talk or anything. But now the brains were in place, and it could take everything in, and process it. And I think we all had two main thoughts. One - that hurt like hell. And two - damn, it's cold.
MICHELANGELO
There was this other creature with us. Yeah, he looked strange, but heck, it was the first thing we saw. We didn't know what strange was.
MASTER SPLINTER
I talked to them. (smiling) In Japanese, I think. I had forgotten where I was. But it didn't matter which language I spoke - they did not understand.
LEONARDO
We don't remember that day very well, but Splinter filled us in on all the stuff we're hazy on. He says he tried talking to us, which obviously we didn't understand. Then he reached out and put his hand on each of us. (pause) That I sorta remember. It was...maybe I was looking to cling to something, anything, but suddenly I felt like it was going to be all right, somehow.
MASTER SPLINTER
I decided to build a fire, as it was quite cold. I tried to explain to them that I had to go get material to build a fire, but that I would be back. Again, they didn't understand. When I tried to leave, one of them...screamed.
MICHELANGELO
According to Splinter, we all turned to the one who screamed. Whoever it was - we don't remember who. Then we all realized that we had these voices, so we all started screaming at each other, and laughing. That must've been scary. Heck, it weirds me out just thinking about it.
LEONARDO
Eventually, while we were amusing ourselves, Splinter managed to get some old boxes and pallets, and he lit a fire. The next day, he took us further down into the sewer - it was somewhat warmer there.
DONATELLO
Master Splinter was sort of at the end of his rope. It's hard enough to take care of yourself in New York with no job. And now Sensei had four other mouths to feed.
MICHELANGELO
Luckily, Splinter had made this friend in his first few days in New York.
MASTER SPLINTER
Shoji Mitake is the owner of Nihon Ya, a shop that sells Japanese art and artifacts. I had spoken to him a few times before my mutation. It is only through his kind intercession that we are here today. The day after my mutation, I dared to leave my charges alone, and headed up to meet with him.
MITAKE
I was mildly surprised to see Yoshi again, but not as surprised as I was to see that he was now a rat.
MASTER SPLINTER
I waited until he was locking up the store, and then called him over to meet me in the alley next to his store. I wanted him to be aware that it was, in fact, me before he saw my mutated condition.
MITAKE
Yoshi is not the type to ask for help, but even I could see that he was desperately in need. Had he been alone, he might have managed to struggle through without help, but with four others to care for, there was simply no way he could make it by himself.
MASTER SPLINTER
Mitake offered to loan me some money, which I refused - my pride would not allow that. However, he then hit upon an ideal solution.
MITAKE
My wife and I were hoping to redecorate the store, and I had seen one of Yoshi's paintings. I felt his work would fit in excellently. I asked, if I bought the materials, could he create some paintings for the store?
MASTER SPLINTER
He walked with me to Li's Market, where he proceeded to buy some food for me. I insisted that he subtract the total from what he would pay me for the paintings. He agreed, then of course did not do so.
MITAKE
I provided him with canvas, paints, and brushes, as well as some candles so he could see what he was doing.
MASTER SPLINTER
My charges managed to amuse themselves for long periods of time, during which I attempted to paint. I was suprised how easily the paintings came to me - I suppose believing I would never again see the outside world again, let alone my home country, the images came easily to my mind's eye. Even in my newly mutated state, the paintings emerged with little effort.
MICHELANGELO
Splinter lucked out. Probably karma paying back for the whole mutation thing. Soon after he finished his paintings for Mitake's place, some guy saw them hanging there, and he asked if he could buy them. Mitake didn't know what kind of price these things commanded, so he asked the guy to make an offer. The guy offered, like, five hundred dollars.
MITAKE
Without thinking, I immediately said, "Oh, no." I thought that was far too much. After all, I had obtained them simply for the cost of materials. The man thought I was haggling with him, and raised his offer to a thousand. My impulse was to say no once again, but then I realized this money could be turned over to Yoshi, who severely needed it.
MASTER SPLINTER
I went to visit Mitake a few days later - just to thank him for his generosity. (smiling) I was, to say the least, shocked when he handed me a thousand dollars.
MITAKE
He didn't want to take it, of course, but they were his paintings, and he certainly needed the money more than I did. He finally did take the money, but he insisted I keep ten percent of it, as his "agent". That was an arrangement we ended up keeping for some time.
MASTER SPLINTER
With that much money suddenly at my disposal, I thought at first it would be prudent to find a more comfortable place to live.
RAPHAEL
It wasn't like Splinter wanted to keep us down in the sewers or nothing. But he wasn't sure how people would react to us. He didn't know if he could even find a place that would be willing to rent out to a bunch of freaks like us.
DONATELLO
Rent in New York's insane, and Splinter had no idea if he'd ever get any money like this again. If he spent it all on a month's rent or whatever, then we might have to turn around and move out right afterwards. So it'd be like the money just went to waste.
MASTER SPLINTER
So I decided to stay underground, in the sewers, and raise my charges there for the time being. The money would pay for food for a fair amount of time - enough time for me to figure out another way to make money.