NOT QUITE HUMAN
Part One: Donatello's Secret
Although
it was around six o'clock in the morning in Toyama, Japan, a young
teenage boy with thick blonde hair was wide-awake in his room,
checking over some clothes in one of two suitcases. Suddenly, there
was a knock at the door.
"May I come in, Sage?" a man's voice asked.
"Sure thing, Dad," Sage replied. He continued looking through his clothes as his father entered his bedroom.
"Got everything you need for your trip?" Mr. Date asked.
"Sure do, Dad," Sage replied as he closed the suitcase and zipped it shut. "I got plenty of clean clothes, an extra pair of shoes, a bathing suit, a beach towel, deodorant, brush...Oh, yeah! Almost forgot my toothbrush!" Sage quickly ran down the hall to the upstairs bathroom.
Mr. Date also went into the bathroom, where Sage was looking through a cabinet. "Sage, I need you to do a favor for me while you and your friends are in New York City," Mr. Date revealed.
"Sure, Dad. What is it?" Sage asked as he took his toothbrush out of the cabinet.
"Over fifteen years ago, a good friend of mine was forced to leave Japan, due to some confusion at the ninja school he once taught at," Mr. Date explained as he followed his son back to his bedroom. "He was accused of attempting to assassinate the school's master sensei, but it was later discovered that the sword they found on him was planted by his rival."
"No offense, Dad, but if I'm gonna find your friend, I'll need more information than that," Sage replied as he put his toothbrush inside a small duffel bag.
"Of course, son," Mr. Date replied. "His name is Hamato Yoshi. He was a shidoshi in the ancient art of ninjitsu. When he was forced to flee Japan, Yoshi got on a boat for New York City."
"That might not be that helpful, Dad," Sage revealed. "Hamato Yoshi might not have stayed in New York. He might have moved somewhere else. Besides, New York City is huge, almost as big as Tokyo. I wouldn't know where to start looking."
"Isn't there an island in New York City where immigrants had to go when they arrive by boat?" Mr. Date asked.
"Yeah, there is," Sage murmured thoughtfully. "That was one of the places Rowen mentioned yesterday. I think it's called Ellis Island."
"They must keep records there of all the immigrants that have passed through," Mr. Date suggested.
"All right, Dad. I'll check that out when my friends and I visit Ellis Island," Sage replied.
"I also want you to take this," Mr. Date added as he handed Sage a worn black and white photograph. Sage looked at the two young men in the photo and recognized the one on the left as his father.
"Is that him?" Sage asked, pointing at the man on the right, who was dressed in a kimono and striped pants.
Mr. Date nodded as he stared at the picture. "Yoshi has a picture identical to this. If you do happen to find him, you can use this picture as proof that you're my son. He knows that I wouldn't give this picture to just anyone."
Just then, the two heard a loud car horn from outside. "That must be the guys," Sage muttered out loud as he slipped the photograph in a pocket on his duffel bag before picking up his suitcases. "I gotta go now, Dad. Our flight leaves at seven, and it's gonna be a forty-five minute drive to the airport."
"All right then, Sage," Mr. Date replied as he picked up Sage's duffel bag. He followed Sage downstairs, where his wife was waiting for them in her nightgown and robe.
"Have a good time on your trip, Sage," Mrs. Date announced as she gave her son a farewell hug.
"Thanks, Mom," Sage replied. "I promise I'll call you as soon as we arrive at our hotel." Mr. Date opened the door for his son and he soon followed him outside.
"About time, Sage!" Kento complained loudly from the driver's seat of his gold van. "We've been waiting forever!"
"Kento! You know that's not true!" Cye shouted from the front passenger seat. "We just got here!"
Sage chuckled a bit at his two friends' antics. "Guys, you remember my father?"
"Of course, we do. Good morning, Mr. Date," Cye greeted.
"Good morning, boys," Mr. Date greeted.
"Just toss your bags in back, Sage," Kento told his friend. Sage nodded as he walked to the back of the van and opened the trunk door.
"Morning, Sage," Ryo greeted as Sage placed his suitcases among the several suitcases and duffel bags already packed in the trunk.
"Hey, Ryo," Sage greeted back. He then noticed a familiar head of blue hair sitting next to Ryo. "Is Rowen sleeping?" Sage asked as he closed the trunk door.
"He sure is. Rowen's not used to getting up this early," Cye confessed.
"Tell me about it! I had to practically drag him out of bed!" Kento retorted. "It's a good thing Rowen packed his bags last night, otherwise we would have miss our plane!" Sage laughed a bit as he climbed into the back of the van and sat down behind Cye.
"Here's your bag, Sage," Mr. Date announced as he handed Sage the small duffel bag.
"Thanks, Dad," Sage replied as he took the duffel bag from his father.
"Don't forget to call us, Sage," Mr. Date added.
"Don't worry, Dad. I'll call home as soon as I can," Sage replied as his father closed the door. As the gold van pulled away from the Date home, Mr. Date waved goodbye to his son...
"Everyone got their tickets?" Ryo asked his four friends. Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen all nodded as they showed Ryo their airline tickets. They had already dropped off their luggage at the luggage drop-off station and were now standing next to the boarding entrance for the seven o'clock flight to New York City.
"Okay, let's go," Ryo announced as he and his friends headed toward the boarding gates.
"I'll need to see your tickets and passports, please," the stewardess at the gate requested. One by one, the five boys handed their airline tickets and their passports to the young woman. She studied the passports for a few moments before handing them back.
"Enjoy your flight," the stewardess announced as the five friends headed through the boarding gates.
"New York City, here we come!" Kento shouted out of excitement. Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Rowen laughed a bit as they followed Kento to the loading ramp.
"Hey, Rowen, what time are we going to land in New York?" Sage asked.
"Well, according to our time here in Japan, it will be one-thirty in the afternoon when the plane lands in New York," Rowen explained. "But, since we'll be on a six and a half-hour flight through ten separate time zones, the time in New York will be eleven-thirty at night."
"Whoa!" Ryo admitted with a low whistle. "That's a pretty big time difference."
"Because of that time difference, we may experience a bit of jet lag when we land in New York," Rowen admitted as they boarded the plane.
"Please take your seats. We'll be taking off in ten minutes," the airline stewardess instructed as the five friends got on the plane.
"I call the window seat!" Kento announced as he got into his seat. Cye shook his head as he took the seat next to Kento. Sage sat down in the aisle seat next to Cye, while Ryo and Rowen took seats behind them.
"I think Kento's the most excited out of all of us!" Cye remarked.
"I think we're all excited about this trip," Ryo admitted. "None of us have ever been in the United States before."
"And there's a lot of places to see in New York City, right, Rowen?" Sage asked as he looked over the back of his seat at Rowen.
"Sure is," Rowen replied as he took out a small book from his pocket that was entitled "Sights of New York City" and opened it. "We got Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rockefeller Center, the Radio City Music Hall..."
"Geez, Rowen! Does the list ever end?" Kento asked sarcastically.
"I'm not finished yet," Rowen retorted through clenched teeth, a bit irritated that Kento interrupted him. "There's also Coney Island, which is this huge beach and amusement center located in Brooklyn, the Bronx Zoo, and of course, we're definitely going to visit the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium."
"Of course Rowen would want to waste part of our vacation going to a couple of stupid museums," Kento muttered angrily.
"We wouldn't be wasting it, Kento," Rowen told him. "And from what I read, there's some things in these museums that even you will be interested in."
"Yeah, right!" Kento retorted.
"Chill, Kento. We'll be staying in New York for a week," Sage told him.
"Yeah, Kento. Don't forget, we each get a day to pick out places where we want to go," Cye reminded his burly friend.
"Yeah, but why does Rowen get the first day?" Kento complained.
"Because I won the drawing we had yesterday, that's why," Rowen pointed out. Kento growled angrily to himself as he crossed his arms. "So, what are the plans for tomorrow, Rowen?" Ryo asked.
"Well, I was thinking that after breakfast, we can go on this boat tour that I read about," Rowen explained. "It'll take us to Governors Island first, then to Ellis Island, and finally to Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty is located, obviously. After we get back to the city and have some lunch, we'll head over to the Museum of Natural History and the Planetarium. After that, we'll go eat dinner and head back to the hotel. Whatever we do the day after that is all up to Cye."
"Hey, Rowen, have you ever considered getting a job as a tour guide?" Kento asked jokingly. "You'd be really good at it!"
"Very funny, Kento," Rowen stated dully as Ryo, Sage, and Cye snickered a little bit. "It's not just the sights of New York City that I'm interested in."
"What else is there?" Cye asked curiously.
"Well, remember I mentioned my pen pal from the United States, who's also an intellect like myself?" Rowen asked.
"Figures a geek would be pen pals with a geek from another country!" Kento retorted.
"Anyway," Rowen continued after giving Kento a quick dirty look, "my pen pal happens to live in New York City."
"What's his name?" Ryo asked.
"He has quite a unique name: Donatello," Rowen revealed.
"Donatello?" Cye repeated. "Isn't that the name of one of the four famous Renaissance painters?"
"That is correct, Cye," Rowen replied. "In my last letter, I told Donatello about our trip to New York and what hotel we're staying at, so he can give me a call while we're there."
"Are you sure about this, Rowen?" Ryo asked suspiciously. "What if he turns out to be some creep who plans on kidnapping you or something?"
"Don't worry about it, Ryo," Rowen assured him. "I'm not stupid, you know. I plan on asking Donatello to meet me in a public place. If he turns out to be some creep, I doubt he'll agree to that."
"I guess you're right, Rowen," Ryo reluctantly admitted. "Just be careful, okay? And that goes for everyone. I've heard that New York City can be a very dangerous place."
Just then, the PLEASE FASTEN SEATBELTS sign lit up and a man's voice from the intercom system announced, "Attention, passengers. This is your captain speaking. We will be ready for take-off shortly, so everyone please fasten your seatbelts." The passengers all quickly clicked their seatbelts together as instructed.
"Here we go!" Kento shouted as he and everyone else on the airplane felt the massive craft start to slowly head down the runway...
Meanwhile, somewhere in New York City, the sun was slowly starting to go down. A young man dressed in blue pants, dark brown boots, a tan trench coat, and a brown hat was casually walking down the street, carrying a single envelope, a magazine, and a small package with him. He cut through the crowd of people and entered a dark alleyway. When he approached a metal sewer cover, the young man tucked the mail under his arm and removed the sewer cover, revealing a metal ladder leading down into the dank sewer system underneath New York City. After quickly checking to make sure no one was watching him, the young man climbed down the ladder and carefully slid the sewer cover back where it belonged.
"Better get back home before anyone gets worried about me," the young man muttered to himself as he started to walk down the dimly lit sewer tunnel. He zipped through the confusing maze of tunnels with ease, as though he had done it several times before. The young man soon entered a room hidden within the complicated labyrinth of sewer tunnels, with a couch, a beat-up recliner, a coffee table, and a small television set.
"Hey, guys! I'm back!" the young man announced as he placed the mail on the coffee table and took off his hat.
"About time, Donatello!" a voice shouted sarcastically from the other room.
The young man looked up as three humanoid turtles entered the room he was standing in. Each of the three turtles were wearing belts with a distinct letter on the circle-shaped buckle and different colored masks with matching knee, wrist, and elbow pads. One turtle had a L on his belt and was wearing blue, the second turtle had a R on his belt and was wearing red, and the third turtle had a M on his belt and was wearing orange.
"Nice to see you, too, Raphael," Donatello muttered out loud to the turtle in red as he removed the rubber mask he was wearing, revealing himself as a humanoid turtle wearing a purple mask.
"What did we get, dude?" the turtle in orange asked as Donatello picked up the mail.
"Let me see..." Donatello muttered thoughtfully as he sorted through the mail. "Here's that skateboarding magazine you ordered, Michelangelo," he announced as he handed the magazine to the turtle in orange.
"Awesome! I've been waiting forever for this to come in!" Michelangelo exclaimed as he plopped down on the couch and stared flipping through the magazine.
"More like three weeks, Michelangelo!" Raphael retorted.
"I also got something for you, Raphael," Donatello announced as he handed the package to his brother. Raphael quickly tore off the brown wrapping paper from the package to reveal a thick yellow paperback book.
"All right!" Raphael cheered. "It's my very own copy of 'A Thousand and One Ways to Insult Your Friends!' "Donatello shook his head in disappointment as Raphael sat next to Michelangelo and opened up his book.
"Is there anything else, Donatello?" the turtle in blue asked as Donatello started to take off his trench coat.
"There's just a letter for me, Leonardo," Donatello told the turtle in blue as he took off his boots and pants. "It's from my pen pal in Japan."
"You know, Donatello, you haven't told us much about this pen pal of yours, even though you've been writing to him for over a year now," Leonardo muttered suspiciously as Donatello sat down in the recliner with his letter in his hand.
"Yeah, well, I didn't feel like talking about him to you guys," Donatello muttered out loud.
"And why not, Donatello?" Michelangelo asked as he and Raphael looked up.
"Well, it turns out that my pen pal, Rowen Hashiba, is a genius like me!" Donatello admitted proudly. "We're even the same age, give or take a few months."
"That's just great! Our geek writing to another geek halfway around the world!" Raphael retorted dully.
Donatello pretended not to hear Raphael as he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. As he read the letter, Donatello suddenly gasped, "I can't believe this!"
"What's wrong, Donatello?" Leonardo asked.
"Nothing's wrong," Donatello admitted as a smile formed on his face. "I just found out that Rowen is coming to New York City for a whole week!"
"Why? Is there an international nerd convention in town?" Raphael asked sarcastically.
"No, he's spending part of his summer vacation here with friends, Raphael," Donatello revealed. "He wants me to call him at the hotel that he and his friends will be staying at."
"So, when is this Rowen dude getting here?" Michelangelo asked.
Donatello looked at the date of arrival that was written in the letter and exclaimed, "He's coming today!"
"Aren't you gonna call him?" Leonardo asked curiously.
"No, it'd be too late to call him today, Leonardo," Donatello confessed. "With the ten hour time difference between here and Japan, it'll be eleven- thirty at night when his plane finally lands in New York City."
"Whoa, dude! That's really late!" Michelangelo admitted. "I'll try calling Rowen first thing tomorrow morning," Donatello muttered out loud as he stood up. "So, Michelangelo, what kind of pizza are we having for dinner tonight?"
"It's my absolute fave, dudes: pepperoni and caramel fudge sauce!" Michelangelo announced as he headed into the other room, followed by the other Turtles...
"Kento? Kento, wake up!" Cye shouted as he shook his friend's shoulder, who was still sleeping in one of the two twin beds in the hotel room they shared.
"Come on, Cye! Leave me alone!" Kento mumbled groggily as he rolled around to his other side.
"Okay, but you asked for it!" Cye warned him. The next thing Kento knew, he got hit in the head with a pillow.
"Oh, it's on now!" Kento shouted as he stood up on his bed and swung his pillow at Cye, knocking him down to the floor. He jumped on the floor and grabbed Cye in a headlock.
"Come on, Kento! Let me go!" Cye complained. "I had to wake you up! We're supposed to meet the guys downstairs at nine for breakfast, and it's already eight forty-five! Remember, Kento, it's an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet!"
"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Cye?" Kento asked as he let go of Cye and ran to his duffel bag. As Cye sat down on his bed and took in a few gasps of air, Kento dug through his duffel bag and pulled out a yellow T-shirt and a pair of jeans. "Just give me a few minutes, Cye," Kento announced as he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
"While I'm waiting, I might as well make the beds," Cye muttered out loud, who was already dressed in clean clothes.
"You better be joking, Cye!" Kento retorted from the bathroom. "We're in a hotel! Making the beds is the maid's job, remember?"
"Fine, then. I'll leave the beds alone," Cye replied as he put on his sneakers.
"Good for you, Cye. We don't wanna put the maid out of a job," Kento added as he opened the bathroom door, now wearing the yellow T-shirt and jeans. As Kento grabbed his sneakers, he and Cye heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Cye asked.
"It's Sage. What's taking you guys so long?" Sage asked. "I figured with Kento's appetite that he would have been downstairs long before us!"
"Very funny, Sage," Kento muttered out loud as he put on his sneakers. "I'm surprised you're still not tired. We didn't get to our rooms till midnight!"
"Yeah, well, I'm a light sleeper, especially when I'm sleeping in an unfamiliar bed," Sage admitted. "Now, will you two speed it up? Ryo and Rowen are waiting downstairs for us."
"Okay, we're coming," Cye replied as he and Kento walked to the door and opened it.
"You got the keys?" Kento asked as Cye closed the door behind them.
"They're right here," Cye replied as he took the hotel key out of his pocket and locked the door. As Cye put the key back in his pocket, he, Kento, and Sage headed toward the elevator...
"Take it easy, Kento!" Cye retorted as Kento chowed down on a huge stack of blueberry pancakes smothered with melted butter and maple syrup.
"Hey, I'm gonna need the energy," Kento argued. "We're gonna be walking all over New York City today, Cye!"
"Kento, we're taking a bus to the docks," Ryo remarked. "That doesn't count as walking."
"And another thing, if you could, you would eat like this every day, Kento!" Sage pointed out sarcastically, causing a round of snickering from Ryo, Cye, and Rowen.
"Ha, ha, ha! Very funny, guys," Kento retorted dryly before he continued eating his pancakes.
"You better speed it up, Kento," Rowen warned his burly friend. "The boat tour starts at ten, and the bus for the docks leaves the hotel at nine- thirty. I'm not going to miss this tour because of your bottomless pit of a stomach, Kento!"
"He's got the 'bottomless pit' part right," Cye admitted as he tried to muffle his snickering. The five friends were so occupied that they didn't notice a man in his forties wearing a hotel uniform approaching them with a cordless telephone in his hand.
"Excuse me, but would one of you young men happen to be Rowen Hashiba?" the man asked.
"That would be me," Rowen announced.
"You have a telephone call, Mr. Hashiba," the man revealed as he handed the telephone to Rowen. "When you're finished, please return the phone to the front desk."
"I will. Thank you, sir," Rowen replied as the man nodded his head and walked away. "Hello, this is Rowen," he replied through the phone. Ryo, Cye, Sage, and Kento strained their ears to listen to the caller, to see if they could recognize his voice.
"This is Rowen Hashiba I'm speaking to, from Toyama, Japan, correct?" the caller's voice asked, which was unfamiliar to Rowen's friends.
"Yes, it is," Rowen confirmed.
"Hey, Rowen! This is your pen pal, Donatello!" the caller announced.
"Donatello?" Rowen exclaimed. "It's good to hear from you."
"Same here, Rowen," Donatello replied. "How are you enjoying your vacation?"
"Running pretty smoothly so far," Rowen replied as he, Ryo, Cye, Kento, and Sage got up from the table and walked toward the lobby.
"That's good," Donatello admitted. "I know that New York City has a bad reputation, but it's really not as bad as most people think."
"Listen, Donatello, I hate to end this conversation so abruptly, but my friends and I are getting ready to do some sight-seeing in a few minutes," Rowen revealed.
"If you don't mind me asking, where are you guys going?" Donatello asked curiously.
"We're taking this boat tour to Governors Island, Ellis Island, and Liberty Island," Rowen explained.
"Sounds interesting," Donatello admitted.
"Hey, I got an idea. Why don't you come with us, Donatello?" Rowen suggested. There was a pause of silence for a few moments, as though Donatello was thinking about the proposal.
"Well...I'll have to ask my father first, but I think I might be able to join you," Donatello finally answered.
"All right then. If you can make it, we're taking the ten o'clock boat tour," Rowen explained. "You know how to get there, right?"
"Are you kidding?" Donatello asked. "I know this city inside out."
"All right then. Hope to see you there, Donatello," Rowen admitted. "Goodbye for now."
"Goodbye, Rowen," Donatello replied before hanging up the payphone he used to call the hotel with. He let out a deep sigh before he pulled his Turtle Com out of his pants' pocket and turned it on. Almost instantly, Leonardo's face appeared on the Turtle Com's mini-screen.
"What's going on, Donatello?" Leonardo asked.
"I need to talk to Master Splinter, Leonardo. Can you get him on the Turtle Com for me?" Donatello asked.
"Sure thing, Donatello," Leonardo agreed as he got up from the couch. "Just hold on a minute, okay?"
Leonardo walked out of the room, went through the small kitchen, and entered a third room that he and the other Turtles used to practice their moves. Sitting on a small mat in deep meditation was a large brown humanoid rat dressed in a dark pink kimono with a black sash tied around his waist and white bandages wrapped around his feet. Lying next to the humanoid rat was a wooden walking stick.
"Master Splinter?" Leonardo asked as he cautiously approached the giant rat.
"Yes, Leonardo?" Splinter asked as he opened his eyes.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your meditation, Master, but Donatello needs to ask you something," Leonardo explained as he handed Splinter his Turtle Com.
"What is it, Donatello?" Splinter asked curiously.
"Master Splinter, I just got off the phone with my pen pal, and he wants to meet me," Donatello revealed. "Would it be all right with you if I go down to the docks to meet Rowen?"
"Go ahead, Donatello, but please be careful," Splinter approved.
"Don't worry, Master Splinter. I'll be careful," Donatello assured his sensei. "Donatello out." He turned off his Turtle Com and put it back in his pocket. Donatello cautiously looked around to make sure no one was watching him, then he put on his rubber mask, followed by a purple wool hat.
"Let's see, I got less than thirty minutes before that boat tour leaves," Donatello muttered to himself as he checked his watch. "I better get going." With that, the disguised Turtle got on his skateboard and sped through Central Park...
"I wonder what could be taking him so long," Rowen muttered out loud as he leaned against the boat's rail and studied the people boarding the boat, hoping silently that one of them would turn out to be his pen pal.
"Don't worry, Rowen. I'm sure he'll show up soon," Cye assured Rowen, who was standing next to him.
"You know, maybe Donatello couldn't come," Ryo suggested, who was sitting on a bench on the boat's deck, along with Sage and Kento. "He did say that he had to ask his father for permission first."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rowen admitted. "I'm gonna get a soda. You guys want anything?"
"No thanks, Rowen," Sage replied.
"Since you're going, could you get me a soda, too?" Kento asked.
"Sure, Kento," Rowen replied. Kento took some change out of his pocket and handed it to Rowen.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, guys." With that, Rowen walked off of the boat and headed to a soda machine a few yards away from the dock.
"Hey, guys. Check that out!" Ryo remarked as he pointed at a fast moving figure heading towards the dock. Sage, Cye, and Kento looked up and realized that the figure was a young teenage boy on a skateboard. He was wearing blue pants, dark brown boots, a purple sweater, and a matching wool hat.
"Wow! That's pretty awesome!" Kento admitted as he watched the teenage boy use a telephone pole to turn himself toward the ticket booth.
The four boys continued to watch as the teenage boy used a tic-tac maneuver to stop himself. He picked up the skateboard and headed to the ticket booth. After getting his ticket for the boat tour, the teenage boy got on the boat.
"Mind if I sit her for a minute?" he asked Ryo, Sage, and Kento.
"Sure, go ahead," Ryo admitted as they moved over.
"Thanks a lot," the teenage boy admitted as he sat down on the end of the bench and took in a deep breath of air. "I needed that."
"Well, you made it just in time," Sage remarked as the remaining people on the dock quickly got on board.
"You better hurry it up, Rowen, or the boat's gonna leave without you!" Cye shouted.
"Did you say Rowen?" the teenage boy asked curiously.
"Yeah, I did. Why do you ask?" Cye asked.
"You wouldn't happen to be Donatello, would you?" Ryo asked curiously.
"Yeah, that's me," Donatello confessed. "How did you know?"
"Rowen told us about you," Sage admitted.
"Oh, you guys must be his friends," Donatello realized. "Rowen did mention that he was coming to New York City with four of his friends."
"Hey, guys! I'm back!" the five boys heard Rowen shout. They all looked up at Rowen, who was carrying two cans of soda. "Here you go, Kento," Rowen announced as he handed Kento one of the soda cans.
"Hey, Rowen!" Donatello greeted as he stood up.
"Donatello?" Rowen asked, who was a bit surprised to see his pen pal face- to-face.
"Yeah, that's me," Donatello replied. "I was just talking your friends here. Sorry, but I didn't get your names."
"This is Ryo, Sage, and Kento, and this guy over here is Cye," Rowen introduced
"Nice to meet you all," Donatello replied.
"You have some pretty cool skateboarding moves...for a geek," Kento admitted.
"Kento! That was uncalled for!" Cye retorted.
"It's okay," Donatello told him. "I get stuff like this from my brothers all the time, especially Raphael."
"Your parents seem to have a liking for Renaissance painters," Cye remarked.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Donatello admitted. "I also have two other brothers named Leonardo and Michelangelo."
Just then, the boat let out a loud deep bellow that startled the teenage boys, except for Donatello. "Don't worry, guys. The boat's just getting ready to leave," Donatello explained as the boat slowly pulled away from the docks...
"Not to insult your friend, Kento, but I've never seen anyone scarf pizza down so fast! Well, except for Michelangelo," Donatello whispered to Rowen as they left Tony's Pizzeria with Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento.
"It's no big deal, Donatello. Kento eats like that all the time," Rowen admitted. "Every day, I'm becoming more convinced that he's a human ruminant!"
Donatello snickered over Rowen's remark. "Maybe it's the same case with Michelangelo!"
"What did you call me, Rowen?" Kento asked angrily.
"Nothing, Kento. I just said that I think you may be a human ruminant," Rowen confessed.
"And what the heck does that mean?" Kento asked loudly.
"It refers to an animal with four stomachs, like a cow, for example," Donatello revealed.
"That would explain your endless appetite, Kento!" Cye retorted sarcastically, which caused a round of snickering from Ryo, Sage, Rowen, and Donatello.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, guys," Kento muttered out loud.
"Come on, you guys," Rowen interrupted. "We got to catch the next bus to the Museum of Natural History."
"That's not entirely necessary, Rowen," Donatello announced. "The museum's only a couple of blocks away. It'd be quicker to walk, especially around this time of day. Traffic can get really backed up around noontime."
"Well, if you say so, Donatello," Rowen replied.
"The museum's this way. Just follow me," Donatello announced as he led the five teenage boys down the sidewalk...
Meanwhile, several miles below the surface of New York City, a gigantic white tank shaped like a sphere with a huge eyeball on top and massive steel weapons laid in a massive pool of red-hot lava. Inside the giant tank was a complicated maze of halls and rooms. One of the rooms was much larger than the others with three glass tunnels attached to one of the walls and a giant wide-screen television monitor. A six-foot humanoid robot was studying a large power generator he had finished building. The robot was flesh-colored with steel wrist and ankle bands, steel shoulder plates, red shoes, and red briefs. Inside an open yellow compartment in the robot's stomach was a giant pink alien brain with a pair of tentacles, a mouth with small sharp teeth, and lavender eyes.
"Shredder! Get in here!" the alien brain shouted.
A man soon entered the main control room of the massive tank. He was wearing black pants, black boots, a charcoal gray tank top, a purple cape, steel gauntlets with long steel prawns, and steel shin and shoulder plates covered with sharp steel claws. The man known as Shredder was also wearing a steel helmet and mask, which covered his head and all of his face, except for his eyes.
"What is it, Krang?" Shredder asked the alien brain.
"I need you and those mutant nincompoops of yours to go to the surface," Krang announced.
"What for?" Shredder asked.
"This power generator needs five different gem stones for its power source," Krang explained, pointing at the generator. "Once it's activated, my new generator will have enough power to raise the Techno-Drome to the surface!"
"Fine, Krang. What gem stones do you need?" Shredder asked.
"For starters, get me the largest emerald in the world. You'll find it on display at the Museum of Natural History," Krang explained.
"Bebop! Rocksteady! Get in here!" Shredder shouted.
Immediately, two mutants ran into the main control room. One was a humanoid warthog with a purple Mohawk and a silver nose ring. He was wearing purple sunglasses, an open red vest, a necklace made of bones, a pair of shoulder pads shaped like turtle shells, dark gray wristbands, black pants, and red- and-white sneakers. The other mutant was a humanoid rhinoceros with yellow eyes. He was wearing a yellow tank top, light brown cargo pants, a brown belt, light brown leather wristbands, and dark brown boots.
"Yeah, boss?" the humanoid rhinoceros asked as he and the humanoid warthog stopped in front of Shredder.
"We're going to the surface. Bebop, round up the Foot Soldiers!" Shredder ordered the humanoid warthog.
"Sure thing, boss," Bebop replied with a snort as he ran out of the main control room.
"Rocksteady, get the modules ready!" Shredder ordered the humanoid rhinoceros.
"Right, boss," Rocksteady replied as he headed toward the glass tubes, where three strange cylinder- shaped vehicles were parked, each with a huge drill at one end.
"You better not fail me again, Shredder," Krang warned Shredder.
"Don't worry about it, Krang," Shredder assured the alien brain. "You'll get your emerald."
"I'm back, boss," Bebop announced with a snort as he came back into the main control room. He was followed by fifteen robots dressed in black and purple ninja uniforms, black boots, and purple hoods that completely covered their heads.
"Let's go now," Shredder announced as he headed toward the three modules, with Bebop and the Foot Soldiers following him. Rocksteady had just opened the side door of the third module. Shredder entered one of the modules with five of the ninja robots, Rocksteady entered the second module with five more Foot Soldiers, and Bebop entered the last module with the remaining robots. Krang stood by and watched as the three modules left through the giant glass tubes...TO BE CONTINUED
