NOT QUITE HUMAN
Part Four: An Old Friend, A New Enemy
"Are
we there yet?" Kento asked a bit impatiently. He and his four
friends have been following Donatello through the sewers for about
twenty minutes.
"We're almost there, Kento," Donatello replied as he turned left into another sewer tunnel. The six teenage boys soon reached a wide tunnel with a river of sewage water running through it.
"Great! Now we have to wade through this stinky sewer sludge!" Kento complained as he, Cye, Ryo, Sage, and Rowen covered their noses.
"No, you don't," Donatello pointed out as he picked up a wide wooden plank that was propped up against the wall. He laid the plank across the tunnel, creating a makeshift bridge right across the river of sewer sludge.
"Okay, everyone across, one at a time," Donatello instructed.
"I'll go first," Rowen announced as he stepped forward. Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Donatello watched as Rowen slowly walked across the wooden plank. It only took Rowen less than a minute to cross the makeshift bridge to the other side.
"Come on, guys. This is easy," Rowen told Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento.
"Let's go," Ryo announced as he crossed the wooden plank, followed by Sage, Cye, Kento, and Donatello. Donatello dragged the wooden plank across the river of sewer sludge and propped it against the wall.
"Which way now, Donatello?" Sage asked curiously.
"This way," Donatello replied as he pointed at another tunnel in front of him.
"Donatello, if you don't mind me asking, how did you and your brothers become, umm...?" Rowen asked a bit hesitantly.
"Mutants?" Donatello asked.
"Yeah, mutants," Rowen admitted.
"Well, the whole thing happened over fifteen years ago," Donatello started as he continued leading the five teenage boys through the sewers. "My brothers and I were originally four ordinary pet shop turtles, but by accident, we ended up in the sewers. We came in contact with a powerful mutagen, which caused whatever touched it to take on the form of whatever animal they have most recently been in contact with. Because of that, we all started to become human, since we have most recently been in contact with humans. And for obvious reasons, we had to live down here in the sewers."
"What about this Master Splinter you've been talking about? Is he a turtle, too?" Ryo asked curiously.
"No, he's a rat," Donatello replied. "You see, Splinter used to be human, kinda like you guys. When he first came here to America, he was forced to live in the sewers because he didn't have any money. Like us, Splinter came in contact with the mutagen. And as you probably noticed, the most common animal living down here in the sewers are..."
"Rats!" Kento shouted.
"Exactly," Donatello admitted.
"No! I mean rats!" Kento repeated, pointing behind him. Donatello, Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Rowen turned around and saw the two sewer rats chewing on some garbage.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of a couple of rats, Kento!" Cye retorted as he tried to muffle his snickering.
"You better not be, Kento, because we'll soon be meeting a rather large rat," Rowen pointed out.
"I wasn't scared, guys! I was just...startled. That's all," Kento tried to convince his friends.
"Sure you were," Sage retorted under his breath.
"COWABUNGA!" a voice echoed loudly from somewhere in the sewers.
"Who was that?" Kento asked curiously.
"Sounds like Michelangelo. Splinter told me that he was skateboarding in the sewers," Donatello revealed. "Sounds like he's nearby."
"How can you tell, Donatello?" Rowen asked. "That echo could have come from anywhere."
"When you live in the sewers as long as I have, you pick up on certain things," Donatello explained as he reached a wide sewer tunnel with several large sewer pipes connected on either side.
"Which way now?" Kento asked as he stopped at one of the huge sewer pipes and turned around to face Donatello and his four friends.
"This way," Donatello replied, pointing at the tunnel that Kento was standing at.
"See you guys at the end of the tunnel!" Kento shouted as he ran down the tunnel ahead of everyone.
"Kento, wait for us!" Cye shouted as he, Ryo, Sage, Rowen, and Donatello ran down the tunnel after Kento. Before they even got halfway down the tunnel, they could see Kento collide with someone riding on a skateboard.
"Kento, are you all right?" Cye asked as he helped Kento stand up.
"Yeah, I think so," Kento muttered out loud as he held his head in his hand.
"Michelangelo, what about you?" Donatello asked his younger brother, who was rubbing the top of his bald green head.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Good thing I have such a thick shell!" Michelangelo replied.
"And you got a thick skull to match, Michelangelo!" Donatello remarked with a quick chuckle as he helped Michelangelo get up.
"Donatello, what's going on here?" Michelangelo asked curiously when he noticed five human boys standing around him and Donatello. "I thought you were only bringing one dude down here, not five!"
"There was an unexpected change of plans," Donatello revealed.
"Is Splinter cool with this?" Michelangelo asked. "If not, you're gonna be in so much trouble, Donatello!"
"No need to worry, Michelangelo. I already contacted Splinter about it," Donatello explained.
"I'll head back to the lair with you," Michelangelo announced as he picked up his skateboard. "I'm ready for some pizza!"
"Come on, Michelangelo," Donatello replied as he continued leading Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen further into the sewers, followed by Michelangelo.
"Hey! I remember you two dudes from the museum!" Michelangelo announced as he walked next to Cye and Kento. "What are your names again?"
"I'm Cye, and this is Kento," Cye replied.
"You and that other Turtle totally annihilated those Foot Soldiers yesterday!" Kento admitted.
"No problem-o, dude. Those robots are a piece of cake! And 'that other Turtle' was my bro, Raphael," Michelangelo pointed out.
"Okay, we're here," Donatello announced as he stopped at a large opening. Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen looked into the opening and could see a couch, a television set, and a coffee table in a large room with some old rugs on the floor.
"Here we are. Home, sweet home," Donatello admitted as he took off his hat and trench coat.
"Nice place you got here," Kento muttered out loud as he looked around the living room.
"This is about as nice as you can get down here in the sewers," Donatello told Kento. "This is the living room, and we also have a kitchen, our bedroom, the practice area, and over there is my workshop, where I keep and work on my inventions."
"Let's go straight to this workshop of yours, Donatello," Rowen requested.
"You read my mind, Rowen," Donatello admitted as he led Rowen and his four friends into his workshop.
"Wow! This is incredible!" Rowen whispered in astonishment as he looked around at all the tools and gadgets in the room.
"Rowen kind of reminds me of Kento in a candy store!" Cye remarked.
"Watch it, Cye!" Kento muttered angrily.
"How did you do all of this, Donatello?" Rowen asked curiously.
"I've constructed my inventions by using scrap metal and broken appliances I find down at the city dump," Donatello explained.
"Very impressive," Rowen admitted.
"Thanks, Rowen," Donatello replied.
"What is this?" Rowen asked as he pointed at a small generator that was attached to a large flat screen.
"That's my portable interdimensional portal generator," Donatello explained. "With it, I can open portals to other worlds that no one could have possibly imagined have existed in the first place."
"I had no idea that there were other dimensions out there. This is actual proof that parallel universes indeed exist, Donatello!" Rowen exclaimed. "You could earn the Nobel Prize for this!"
"Yeah, I guess so, but I can't exactly go up there and accept it, Rowen," Donatello pointed out.
"Oh, that's right," Rowen muttered out loud.
"If you think that's impressive, Rowen, just take a look at this!" Donatello announced as he lead Rowen over to his worktable.
"You dudes bored yet?" Michelangelo asked Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento. "I know I am!"
"You definitely read my mind!" Kento admitted.
"What about Rowen and Donatello? Do we leave them in here?" Cye asked.
"We might as well, Cye. I don't think we'll be able to pry Rowen away from this room for a while," Ryo pointed out.
"They'll be okay. Once Donatello starts talking about his inventions, it's hard to make him stop!" Michelangelo confessed.
"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Sage asked.
"Leonardo told me that you two dudes were pretty handy with a sword," Michelangelo revealed, pointing at Ryo and Sage. "How about we get in a little practice, mano a turtle-o?"
"I guess we could do that, but we don't exactly carry swords on us," Ryo pointed out.
"No sweat, dudes! Just follow me!" Michelangelo announced as he headed into another room, followed by Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye.
"So this is where you guys practice?" Kento asked as he looked around the large room, with a variety of weapons hanging on the wall and mats on the floor.
"Exactamundo, Kento!" Michelangelo admitted as he approached the wall holding the weapons. "So, which one of you dudes wants to tangle with a Turtle?"
"I'll accept your challenge, Michelangelo," Ryo announced as he removed a pair of swords from the wall. "What about you? Where are your weapons?"
"Right here, Ryo," Michelangelo revealed as he pulled out the pair of nunchucks from his belt and started whirling them around...
"Okay, tell me again, Leonardo: what's with the asparagus and yogurt?" Raphael asked curiously. He and Leonardo, both dressed in trench coats and matching hats, were walking through the sewers back to the lair. Raphael and Leonardo were each carrying two paper bags filled with groceries.
"It's for pizza, of course," Leonardo explained. "Think healthy for a change, Raphael!"
"Yuck! And I thought Michelangelo came up with the most bizarre pizza toppings!" Raphael retorted as they entered the living room of their secret lair. Suddenly, the two Turtles were surprised by strange noises coming from the practice area.
"What was that?" Raphael asked curiously as he and Leonardo put their bags down on the floor and took off their trench coats and hats.
"I don't know, Raphael. We better go check it out," Leonardo suggested. Raphael nodded in agreement as they slowly approached the practice area, where the noises were coming from.
As they peered into the room, Leonardo and Raphael could see Michelangelo fighting off a young man with long black hair, who was armed with a pair of katanas. They didn't see Sage, Cye, and Kento, who were leaning against the wall out of their sight.
"An intruder! How did he get past the security system without us knowing about it?" Leonardo muttered out loud.
"Don't look at me, Leonardo! That's Donatello's department!" Raphael remarked.
"We have to stop him!" Leonardo revealed as he withdrew his swords from the leather sheaths attached to the back of his shell.
"I'll back you up, Leonardo!" Raphael announced as he removed his sais from his belt.
"Wait a minute, Raphael. That boy, he looks familiar," Leonardo confessed as he carefully watched the human that was fighting Michelangelo. A few seconds later, the boy turned his head slightly toward where Leonardo and Raphael were.
"That's one of the boys I met at the museum yesterday when I fought the Shredder!" Leonardo realized as he put away his swords.
"But why is he fighting our brother?" Raphael asked as he cautiously put away his sais.
"I don't know, but let's find out," Leonardo suggested as he and Raphael entered the practice area.
"Hey, Leonardo! Raphael!" Michelangelo greeted as he and Ryo stopped sparring.
"Hey, Michelangelo. What are you up to?" Raphael asked curiously.
"Oh, we were just practicing," Michelangelo confessed as he tucked his nunchucks back into his belt. "You remember these dudes from the museum, right?"
"Of course, we do. But wasn't there five of you?" Leonardo asked after noticing Cye, Kento, and Sage leaning against the wall.
"Yeah, our friend, Rowen, is inside with Donatello," Sage replied.
"How cute! The nerds are hanging out together!" Raphael remarked.
"Hey, don't you call our friend a nerd!" Kento shouted. "If anyone's gonna get away with calling Rowen a nerd, it's gonna be me!"
"Oh, boy!" Cye muttered out loud as he shook his head in disapproval.
"Cool it, Kento! Don't forget, we're guests here," Ryo reminded Kento as he put the katanas back on the wall.
"Yeah, yeah," Kento mumbled under his breath
"Sorry, but we didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Leonardo and this is Raphael," Leonardo introduced.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ryo, and this is Kento, Cye, and Sage," Ryo introduced.
"Leonardo, Raphael, you're back," Donatello announced as he entered the practice area, followed by Rowen. "Rowen, these are my two other brothers that I told you about earlier: Leonardo and Raphael."
"Pleasure to meet you both," Rowen replied.
"Same here, Rowen," Leonardo replied.
"What's going on, my students?" Splinter asked as he walked into the practice area with his walking stick in hand.
"Greetings, Master Splinter," Leonardo greeted as he bowed respectively to Splinter.
"Master, I would like you to meet my pen pal, Rowen Hashiba," Donatello announced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Splinter," Rowen replied as he bowed to Splinter out of respect.
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Rowen," Splinter admitted. "Donatello has spoken very highly of you."
That voice, it sounds familiar, Sage thought. And that kimono...it looks just like the one I've seen Hamato Yoshi wear. That kimono was only given to the shidoshi of the Foot Clan, and there can't be two identical kimonos out there. Is it possible that this old rat is actually my father's long- lost friend?
"And who are these young men?" Splinter asked curiously as he turned towards Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento.
"These are my friends, Splinter. They came with me to New York," Rowen explained. "This is Ryo Sanada, Cye Mouri, Kento Rei Fuan, and Sage Date."
"Sage Date, hmm...that name sounds familiar," Splinter muttered thoughtfully.
"There may be a reason for that, Splinter. I know this is possibly a stab in the dark, but were you at one time a man named Hamato Yoshi?" Sage asked curiously. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo all gasped loudly when they heard Sage say Splinter's real name.
"Yes, I was Hamato Yoshi before I became what you now see before you," Splinter admitted.
"Hold on. How do you know about Splinter's human form?" Leonardo asked curiously.
"Hamato Yoshi is a friend of my father's. My dad asked me if I could try to find Yoshi while I was vacationing in New York City," Sage explained as he reached into his jacket and took out a worn black and white photograph. "He wanted me to show you this."
A small smile spread across Splinter's face when he recognized the photograph. "Yes, I remember my old friend, Seiji Date," Splinter admitted as Sage handed him the photograph so he could look at it. "This picture was taken over fifteen years ago. It's been so long since I've seen Seiji. How is my old friend?"
"He's doing just fine, Yoshi. He's been very concerned about you, though. You never wrote to him or contacted him at all after you left Japan," Sage revealed.
"Times were difficult when I first arrived here in America. I was penniless and forced to live down here in this maze of underground tunnels," Splinter explained. He looked up at Sage before he continued. "You were only two years of age when I last saw you. You have grown into quite an exceptional young man these past fifteen years, Sage."
"Thank you, Yoshi," Sage replied as he bowed his head slightly.
"It seems that we have quite a bit of catching up to do, Sage," Splinter confessed. "Perhaps you and your friends can stay for dinner."
"Certainly, Yoshi. That is, if it's okay with you guys," Sage replied as he looked over at Ryo, Cye, Kento, and Rowen.
"Well, I certainly have no problem with that," Rowen admitted.
"Same here," Ryo added as Cye and Kento both nodded their heads in agreement.
"It is settled, then," Splinter admitted.
"All right! I'll just toss some extra pizzas in the oven, dudes!" Michelangelo announced as he made a beeline for the kitchen.
"And in case Michelangelo's taste in pizza isn't to your liking, I could prepare some sushi," Splinter revealed.
"Thank you, Hamato Yoshi...or do you prefer Splinter instead?" Sage asked curiously.
"Splinter will suffice, Sage," Splinter admitted...
"Let's see..." Shredder muttered thoughtfully. He was in a large room inside of the Techno-Drome, going through a small pile of antique oriental scrolls on a table.
"Ah-ha! I've found it!" Shredder announced as he picked up another scroll, unrolled it, and spread it out on top of the table. "Everything about the legend of the nine armors is right here. And if the legend is true...then those five boys should possess the five Ronin armors! I must tell Krang about this."
Shredder quickly rolled up the scroll, tucked it under his arm, and left the room. He eventually entered the main control room that contained the trans-dimensional portal.
"What is it now, Shredder?" Krang demanded, who was standing in the main control room.
"I have something to show you, Krang," Shredder announced as he held out the scroll so Krang could read it.
"What is this nonsense? How do you expect to get any energy from some legendary armor that doesn't even exist?" Krang asked.
"The armor does exist, Krang, and those five boys from the museum have it," Shredder revealed.
"How can you be so sure, Shredder?" Krang asked curiously.
"First of all, the boys' fighting technique was that of the samurai," Shredder explained. "The fighting style of the samurai is even older than ninjitsu, but it's hardly practiced anymore. Therefore, it would be unlikely that five teenage boys would know this technique."
"Is that all you have? That doesn't prove anything, Shredder!" Krang shouted angrily.
"Just be patient, Krang. There's more," Shredder explained. "According to the legend, the five Ronin armors can merge together to form an even more incredible armor known as the armor of Inferno, capable of mass destruction. With such a powerful armor at our command, Krang, nothing can stop us from getting the power we need for the Techno-Drome and taking over the world, not even those blasted pizza-loving shellbacks!"
"Hmm...that is an interesting proposition, Shredder, but do you have any proof that this armor even exists?" Krang asked.
"I will be able to prove it soon, Krang. According to my research, the first man to ever wear the armor of Inferno was a samurai by the name of Hariel," Shredder explained. "I managed to trace down a descendent of Hariel in Japan named Ryo Sanada. He happens to be one of the five boys I encountered in the museum yesterday. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Ryo and his four friends possess the five Ronin armors that can create the armor of Inferno."
"And how do you plan on getting this armor from them, Shredder?" Krang inquired.
"Simple, Krang. I planted a tracking device on one of the boys yesterday in the museum," Shredder explained. "I'll corner them with an army of my Foot Soldiers and force them to give their armor to me."
"If this armor is as powerful as you claim it is, Shredder, then these boys won't be giving that up without a fight," Krang pointed out.
"I know, Krang. Do you have any weapons that I can use to steal the armor?" Shredder asked.
"Perhaps," Krang muttered out loud as he approached a metal chest, opened it, and removed a large laser gun from the chest. "This special laser blaster can create a powerful electromagnetic force field around anyone or anything you fire at. The force field is impenetrable. Nothing can break through it," Krang boasted as he handed the weapon to Shredder.
"Excellent. Those armors will soon be ours, Krang, I promise you that," Shredder admitted as he held the laser blaster in his steel-clawed hands.
"You better not fail me again, Shredder," Krang warned Shredder.
"I won't fail this time, Krang," Shredder tried to convince Krang. He approached the large monitor and pressed a button, activating the intercom. "Bebop! Rocksteady! Come to the control room immediately, and bring thirty Foot Soldiers with you! We're going to the surface!" Shredder shouted into the intercom.
"Right away, Master Shredder!" Rocksteady replied through the intercom...TO BE CONTINUED
