Chapter Eight: Free or Trapped
Uh oh. Raph cleared his throat. "I don't really need ta see yer leader, unless he can get me back ta my world."
"No, but perhaps the scientists can. Besides, everyone who enters the base must meet him."
At this, Raph grumbled, but took out his sai to twirl between his fingers while he waited. Can't say I'm crazy about most leaders. This medic is way more sane than that Yisu, but there's no telling about this leader.
After Bren had finished—and had made Raph drink another glass of water—he led the way as promised. The main room apparently used to be a high-ceilinged warehouse; some mysterious, bulky equipment remained, while plywood had been boarded over the gigantic holes where others had been. Rusty, unused catwalks stretched overhead. Pallets nailed together, or tarps strung across, formed makeshift rooms or cubicles along most of the edges of the huge room. Animals, ranging from three feet to over five feet tall, strode purposefully to their next task with blank or grim faces. Those who walked in twos or threes talked with each other, but softly, contributing to the disquiet atmosphere. Some glanced at Raphael with some curiosity, but Bren's presence seemed to quell any concerns.
They found the leader answering questions and giving assignments in a makeshift planning room, where maps, charts, and other important-looking papers covered one wall. A shaky wooden table bravely bore several books and scrolls; an armed, young-looking koala compared two or three texts and scribbled on a loose paper.
The leader himself had short tan fur, a bushy tail, a pointed muzzle, and enourmous ears. He wore leather armor and an arsenal of weapons: a three-foot-two package of dangerous.
"What is he?" Raphael muttered to Bren. Thankfully the forgnathu automatically copied his volume.
"A fennec fox," the raccoon whispered. "Now hush, and do not antagonize him."
You know that just makes me want to push his buttons, right?
"Sir," said Bren, approaching as the current knot of Deutsu around the leader cleared, "This is Raphael. The last raid team brought him back from the southeast Othila base. He was unconscious from alemnea in a cage. He says he is from another world, that enemies from his world sent him here. He is interested in returning to his world."
Bren turned to Raph. "Raphael, this is Vesuva, the leader of this base and one of the leaders of the Da'an."
Resting his tiny paws on the hilts of various weapons, Vesuva looked the turtle up and down. "Raphael," he said, testing the name. His dark eyes looked directly into Raph's. "Who named you?" The forgnathu took a moment to pick up a new voice, and when it did, Raph could tell he had an accent; it was sharper somehow.
Raph grunted his annoyance. "My father, but the whole naming-means-owning isn't a thing in my culture. He's my sensei, not my owner."
The fennec fox nodded slowly. "I see." Then he swept his paw in a vague gesture. "And what does your name mean?"
The turtle tried not to roll his eyes. All this time wasted talking about names. "I actually don't know, but th' guy my father named me after was a famous Italian painter or whatever. My brothers are named after painters an' sculptors, too."
Apparently this answer passed Vesuva's test, because he said nothing else for a long moment.
Raph suppressed a groan and shifted his feet. "Look, can ya hook me up with some smart scientist ta get me back home? My bros need help."
Vesuva crossed his arms and nodded to Raphael's sai. "Are you trained in that weapon, or was that just what we had available?"
Raph plucked out his sai and twirled it between his fingers. "Oh, no, I'm trained. There's usually two, but th' goons who hit me wi' that dart prob'ly have th' other one."
"Eilu!"
The koala's head snapped up, pen frozen in air.
"Lend us your spare sai, please." Vesuva jerked his chin at Raph, who stepped over to accept it.
Raph tossed it and tested it in his hand, comparing it with his own. "Well, it's a hair heavier, and the black handle doesn't match, but it'll do," he said, glancing up.
"You can keep it—I'm not very good at it," Eilu whispered.
"Thanks."
Vesuva unsheathed a katana; Raphael tensed.
"If you do not mind?" Vesuva said, pacing out into the main room. The koala returned to his work; Bren stood by the doorway, well out of the way, and crossed his arms.
"I don't," said Raph, and Vesuva swung his blade.
Thus ensued a short sparring match. Raph felt his every move being evaluated, while he himself tested out the leader's skill. Man, he's good. Almost as good as Master Splinter. He's not going all out, either.
After a moment, Vesuva stepped back and granted Raph a nod of respect as he sheathed his weapon. Raph gave a short bow, trying not to feel offended that Vesuva did not bow. It's a different culture, as Don would say.
"Your style is unlike the main Othila form. Were you trained in Man-Wa, or perhaps Kuo-twa?"
Raph shook his head, brow furrowed. "I've never heard of those. My sensei taught us ninjutsu. Besides, I'm not an Othila. Or a Dan. I'm just a mutant ninja turtle in my world. But I do think you guys are right about th' whole naming-owning thing, an' namin' yourselves," he added.
"I see," Vesuva said. He turned away sharply. "Bren!"
The medic hurried over. "Yes, sir?"
Vesuva asked a low question that the forgnathu didn't pick up, and the raccoon, glancing over the fox's head at Raph, answered softly.
Raph growled to himself and started tapping his foot. All these questions and checking and testing to see if I'm really who I say I am, all because of their stupid war. Meanwhile, who knows what's happening to Master Splinter, Leo, and Mikey. Who even has them? Did they get Don too? Shell, what if I'm the last turtle standing, and I'm stuck here in this whacko cartoon land? Can I-
"Hazi!" Vesuva called, interrupting Raph's angry worries and the steps of a lanky cream-and-dark-brown ferret. "This is Raphael. Please escort him to the scientists and find a free scientist so that Raphael may ask him or her if returning to his own world is possible."
The ferret, to his credit, only looked slightly surprised before thumping his chest in a salute and turning to wait for Raph.
Bren started to follow, but Vesuva shook his head. "You are needed elsewhere, medic."
"Yes, sir," Bren said, and looked at Raph. "May you find your way, friend."
"Er, thanks," Raph growled.
He noticed Hazi peeking sideways at him once or twice on the brief walk across the great room, but the ferret didn't ask any questions, and Raph didn't offer any answers. When they arrived at a closed door with a sign on it leading to an actual room, Hazi said, "Wait here," before slipping through.
The leader doesn't trust me enough to let me walk around his base alone, but he does let me borrow a brainiac. Well, that's something, anyway.
After a long couple moments, Hazi reappeared with an irritated ring-tailed lemur.
"Yes, what is it? You've interrupted me in the middle of important war work." The lemur jammed a pen back into his lab coat pocket and glared down from his advantage of two inches at Raph.
"Cool yer jets, monkey. If ya send me home, then I won't be in yer hair."
"What?" The lemur sniffed. "Am I to help a deserter?"
In the background, Hazi shifted from foot to foot.
"I can't skip out on a war I'm not a part of," Raph ground out. "Jus' listen. I'm not from here—not from yer world at all. Back in my world, there's no Dew-stoo. Deutsu," he corrected himself before the uptight scientist could. He threw up his hands in exasperation. "Look, see, I can't even say it right. Me an' my family are th' only talking animals. Me an' my friend were fightin' goons on a roof, and my bro called and said, 'Get outta there; they've got the others,' and then a dart hit me, and next thing I knew, I was wakin' up in that annoyin' sleepy forest." Raph paused for air. "So I need ta get back—my bros need me."
The lemur glanced at Hazi, then heaved a great sigh. "If Vesuva sent you, he must believe your story, but it all sounds a bit hard to believe." He stared at Raph for a moment, but before Raph could speak, he continued. "All right, I'll pretend I believe you for a moment. You got hit by an enemy… dart."
"Yeah."
"I assume you brought it with you, to show me so I can analyze it?"
Man, he's like a super annoying version of Don. Raph shook himself and thought hard. "I don't remember it stickin' in me when I woke up in the sleepy forest. I must've plucked it out right after it hit me. It must be still on the rooftop—y'know, I bet D—my brother found it."
The scientist spread his paws. "Well, I can't analyze thin air, can I?"
Hazi cleared his throat in wordless warning.
"Fine. I'll just simplify it: I know of no possible way to teleport a being to another world, with a dart or even with a machine. I have never heard of someone from another world. No such technology exists here. Even if we had the dart, it would take a very long time, likely, to figure out what it was and how to replicate it."
The world rushed in at Raph. He hadn't realized until now that all his hopes had hung on this one slim chance. He had simply assumed that the scientists could zap him back to New York. Sure, they would fuss and rush around a bit, but then produce the wanted result. Donnie always said it wasn't magic, but it sure seemed like it.
Crushing disappointment turned to deep worry, anger, and a touch of panic. Am I stuck here? I can't be stuck here. How can I help rescue the others if I'm stuck here? Do I need rescuing? How is Don gonna get me?
The lemur said something, drawing Raph out of his swirling fears. "What?"
He cleared his throat. "I said—I'm sorry."
Little good that does me, Raph thought, but he wasn't quite so angry as Hazi led the way back to Vesuva, waited his turn, and reported the situation.
The fennec fox looked grimly up at Raph. "I'm sorry to hear that, Raphael. I hope with my heart that if you truly are from another world, that someone from there will find a way to fetch you."
Raph managed to nod.
"In the meantime, will you fight for us?"
After a long moment, Raphael plucked out both sais, his own and the worn, black-handled one, and twirled them before shoving them back in his belt. "If it means goin' back to that sleepy forest so I'm closer ta where I started from… then yes."