Note: In this chapter, most of the characters as well as their backstories belong to Tyroth Darkstorm, some of their stories I got from the Bios on his FF page which I also have on mine since our stories tie together.
Also some characters are unnamed in this chapter since Tyroth hasn't had a chance to expand on them yet, but do speak.
Enjoy!
Chapter Eight
A Tour of Mutopia
Meanwhile, George lead Callum through the village of Mutopia after they left the medical room. He showed the Raven the whole central area and the canals and bridges and where all the different doors and corridors lead to.
Callum was amazed at the architecture of the village and at the many crystals in the walls and ceilings.
"I never imagined there would be such a place under the city." he said quietly "I wonder if there are other places like this under the major cities in the world."
"That I do not know." George replied "But if there were, that would be interesting to find out, after all, I never knew that there were other mutants in the world, until I met Splinter, the turtles and your sister."
Callum sucked in a breath in anger as Mona was mentioned, but he held it together as George lead him through the first large door that lead to the canteen area, which when they entered was almost vacant due to breakfast being done a while back, apart from some Mutupians drinking hot or cold drinks together and deep in conversation yet they looked up and went silent as they saw George leading Callum around.
Two male bird mutants, a duck and an owl eyed Callum and seemed rather impressed as they looked at the Raven mutant.
"Hey, check out the new addition to the bird mutants!" the duck commented.
The owl chuckled.
"Yeah!" he said "I was wondering if we would get any more flyers in Mutopia and not just dragons, or insects."
George flashed them a stern look and the two bird mutants quickly looked away.
Callum frowned slightly and stared at the kitchen area and the canteen as George continued to speak about where they had managed to salvage the tables, benches as well as the other kitchen appliances and equipment.
Louie was in the kitchen area with his back turned to the canteen, preparing food to be served at lunch and was humming to himself, though George and Callum didn't recognise the tune.
"Louie is our most dedicated and talented chef in Mutopia, been with us over twenty years." George said "He was once a mess personal in the military, yet during his years of service he was badly injured in the spine by shrapnel after incorrect information caused his last deployment to accidentally fired upon by artilleries, after battling depression and being out of work due to his injuries, since they sadly caused him to have the inability to walk properly again, he was approached by us and given a new life, which he accepted with hesitation."
Callum said nothing as he studied the cockroach as he continued to work and hum to himself.
"It seems rather ironic, but despite Louie having the appearance of a creature considered vermin to the humans, he is one of the cleanest and most hygienic when it comes to food related work and environment." George explained.
Callum raised an eyebrow and looked at George in a funny way to which George chuckled and started to lead him away.
As they did, a female fox who was chatting to a female badger looked up and saw Callum as he and George were walking to the entrance of the canteen.
"Hey, check out the new meat, tall dark and mysterious type!" she purred.
The badger also looked over and smirked.
"Hmmm." she nodded in agreement "Is this the newbie those New Yorker's brought in?" she asked.
"Uh huh!" the fox replied "Not a bad looking one!"
George frowned.
"Leona." he said "Hasn't anyone told you it is rude to stare?"
Leona looked awkward for a second as she saw George's disapproving look.
"Sorry Gramps." she said looking back at the badger who bit her lip and they returned to their conversation.
George shook his head.
"Some young ones forget their manners sometimes." he sighed as he lead Callum out of the Canteen and across the way to another set of large doors where they could hear some music being played inside.
As they approached the doors, a large male rhino and a male warthog appeared and walked towards some smaller doors carrying some large boxes filled with what Callum believed to be salvaged stuff from the surface as he saw what looked like a lamp sticking out of one of them.
"Hey Gramps old boy!" The warthog said cheerfully, then they looked at Callum.
"And is this the new arrival?" The Warthog asked "Finally out of the medical room I see?"
"Good day Cam, Barry." George said "Yes Barry, this is our newly mutated member, brought to us by our New York friends."
The Rhino and Warthog looked at Callum, they had been told briefly by Tyroth about their latest addition yet weren't told the full story and were indeed curious to who Callum was.
"Nice to meet you kid." the Rhino said "I'm Cam, and this is my best friend and honoured brother Barry."
"Hi, glad to meet you!" Barry said.
Callum nodded his head acknowledging them.
"Hi." he said "I'm Callum."
"Callum?" asked Cam "Is that your new name or...?"
"My real name." Callum informed.
"Oh I see." Barry said "So you haven't gotten a new name yet hmm? As is tradition in Mutopia?"
George coughed causing the two mutants to look at him.
"Right now our newest member hasn't decided on a new name yet, since he only arrived yesterday and is still trying to get used to his mutation and is right now getting to know his new home and us here." George clarified "You will get your chance to know more about him sooner, that is if he wishes to explain more."
"Our deepest apologies for our rudeness, Gramps." Cam said "And to you newbie." he said to Callum who just frowned but nodded.
"We're the ones to come to for updates in this place!" Barry said "And we visit the surface each day to salvage for stuff that can be of use to us, anything you need help with, just ask us handy men for the job!" he gestured a thumb to himself and Cam.
"Well, better get this stuff to the storage room for sorting, See ya round." he saluted then walked off with the Rhino.
"Not much of a talker is he?" Cam whispered to Barry as they walked through some smaller doors with their loot.
"I guess he's just shy, mate." Barry said "I'm sure he'll open up once he gets to know us, after all we've had others like that when they first arrived here."
George watched the Rhino and Warthog walk off together then lead Callum along.
"They're a fun couple once you get to know them." the old turtle said "And as they explained, they're the best ones for salvaging and for all the latest news and updates."
"Okay." Callum said as he looked at the smaller doors.
"They often salvage anything that can be fixed up, they search Junk-yards, rubbish dumps, you name it, anything they find, they bring here to be fixed up, in fact the fox in the canteen, Leona works with them often using her skills as a carpenter to fix up broken furniture if they find it."
George then chuckled.
"It's funny because, when they first arrived here, they hated each other to begin with, they were rookies from opposite gangs who were beaten up and left for dead, until they were found by us and given a new life, yet their rivalry still continued, I can't tell you all the headaches I had trying to break them up and lecturing them, and James was losing his will to live having to treat their injuries when they fought, but eventually I gave up and decided to let them sort out their feud between themselves, and lo and behold, they did!"
George lead Callum to the large doors and upon opening them, the room was revealed to be large area filled sofas and armchairs as well as a few bean bags, with bookcases of books, musical instruments, DVDs and Video games along with a TV hooked up to some games consoles and a DVD/Blue-Ray player.
Also in the room were some tables and chairs with board games and playing cards and at the end of the room was a good quality pool table where a male frog and a female lynx were playing a game and hadn't noticed the turtle and raven standing in the doorway.
"Hmmm, normally it's more busy than this." George mused "But I'm sure it will fill up later on, anyway, moving on..." he beckoned Callum to follow him and they continued to walk along the canals to explore the rest of the village.
They soon made it to a couple of rooms on the other side where they heard some grunts and cursing along with some banging and whirring.
George rolled his eyes as he listened.
"Sounds like Ryan, or Rattletrap is working on something in there." he said then pulled Callum away "I would stay away from there if I were you, for the time being."
"Rattletrap?" asked Callum.
"Our self-appointed mechanic, yet he's not as good at engineering and mechanics he believes to be." a voice was heard behind them, and the turtle and raven turned around, to which Callum almost jumped out of his feathers when he saw where the voice had come from, a mutant grey spider, eight legs and all as well as extra eyes on his head "In fact he's a moron! Thus the nickname Rattletrap!"
"Ah Hacker!" George smiled at the spider "Nice to see you outside your den."
Callum stared at the mutant spider and blinked.
"Is this our newest member?" asked Hacker "Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise." Callum said quietly.
"Hacker is our security man." George explained "As well as a computer expert, he has installed cameras and internet access around the village, both for our security and safety."
Hacker winked three of his eyes.
"Nice to meet you..."
"Callum." Callum said.
"Callum?" Hacker asked "You gonna stick with that? Well it is tradition to change your name and all, that is unless..."
"He hasn't chosen a new name yet." George interrupted "But he shall soon enough."
"Ah I see." Hacker said "Oh well, nice to meet you Newbie, I gotta go check the cameras are working as well as the security alarms and settings."
He then walked into a room next to where they could still hear the banging and cursing.
"We're lucky to have Hacker." George commented "He's the best security system we have, making sure Mutopia stays secret to the humans above."
George then lead Callum back to the main part of the village, where he showed him the greenhouse area that was near the canteen, where Callum saw was filled with glowing crystals in the walls and ceiling and it was lined with boxes of soil with vegetables and fruits growing in them.
"This area of Mutopia is a life saver." George said "We are lucky to have an area here where we can grow our fruit and vegetables in all year around, and Louie is always in here getting the best pick for his recipes."
Callum looked around as as he did, he felt a strange sensation within him, almost like he felt invigorated.
George noticed this and looked at the crystals.
"The crystals do tend to make one feel like they have gained more energy, thus why it is used as a Green Room" he said "It feels good, but if you're in here too long, you'll feel some withdrawal symptoms when you leave it, so it's best not to stay here longer than you need to."
So saying he lead Callum outside again.
"Now please," he said "This way."
As they left the greenhouse area, George and Callum passed the medical area.
George needed not show Callum that place because of the past few hours he spent in there, so he lead him to the entrance of Mutopia and to the caves and tunnels.
"This is where our many entrances and exits to Mutopia are." the old turtle said "They all lead to different areas to the world above, some lead to different areas of the City of Chicago and some lead under Lake Michigan and beyond."
Callum studied the tunnels, he could barely see further than a few feet as there was barely any light apart from the crystals from the entrance and there were some unlit sewer lamps at the crossroad areas.
"Also down here is the training room." George said "Follow me." he lead Callum down into one of the nearest caves where he showed Callum Mutopia's Dojo and training room which was luckily empty.
The room was indeed large and Callum could see the many different training equipment such as the sand bags, weights, tyres and many more.
What surprised Callum was the Plum Flower poles that reminded him of the ones Mona trained on when she was human.
"One of our newest additions to here is those Plum flower poles." George said "Mona had those brought in so she could train our crime fighters, or the 'Chicago Knights' as they call themselves."
"You have crime fighters too?" asked Callum raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed yes." George said "Founded by Tyroth and Sephie, though to be truthful I wasn't so happy with the idea since I believed that we should never interfere with the world above as I was fearful that their actions would make us vulnerable, but after a while I saw what good they did, and I eventually gave them my blessing to train others in crime fighting, and thus the 'Chicago Knights' were formed."
"Interesting." Callum said as he surveyed the area.
George meanwhile walked over to one of the wooden blocks and he saw there was blood upon it.
"Hmmm." he mused quietly "Someone's been hitting this hard," he placed his fingers on it and frowned "It's still fresh."
Callum meanwhile walked over to the plum flower poles and he manoeuvred his shoulders feeling his wings.
He suddenly felt a rush of blood and he wanted to feel how his wings worked.
As George's back was turned, Callum stepped onto one of the poles and climbed onto the middle one so he was a few feet off the ground, yet not so high.
He then opened his arms and tried to open his wings at the same time, it felt so weird, having what felt like another pair of limbs on his back and he was trying to find a way to use them properly.
As he willed himself to open his wings, he saw them expand almost a half longer than his arms at full span and he moved them up and down feeling the air get pushed underneath and he almost felt his feet get lifted off the pole as he did so, yet he clenched his feet and his clawed talons gripped the flat top which was smaller than a dinner plate.
As Callum was trying to get used to the feeling of his wings, George turned to face him.
"Ah, trying to discover how your wings work?" he asked.
Callum nodded.
"My brain is trying to figure out these extra limbs on my back." Callum said "I seem to feel barely any control."
"Then my advice would be that we seek out the help of Tyroth." George said "He will teach you the art of flight, it will be needed, if you are to get used to being a mutant."
Callum sighed and he leapt off the plum flower pole yet he almost slipped as the air caught under his wings and almost didn't land on his feet.
"Dammit!" he growled as he tried to regain his balance.
"Come on son." George said "Let's go back to the the village." he walked to the entrance of the dojo and as he did, he saw two figures walking towards another set of caves.
He soon recognised them as Mona and Sephie, both dressed in dressing gowns and carrying towels which lead to the assumption that they were going to the public baths.
Yet as the girls passed without noticing him, he saw that Mona's fingers had plasters on them and he remembered the blood on the wooden blocks.
"Oh my gosh..." he thought worried "Mona...?" he watched as the girls walked together and soon disappeared into the caves that lead to the baths.
He turned to look at Callum who was trying to fold his wings back on his back and glaring. The old turtle sighed sadly and lead Callum out of the dojo, feeling glad that the girls hadn't noticed their presence.
"We'll go and look for Tyroth." he said to the grumbling Raven "And you will learn how to use your wings just like you use your arms and legs in everyday life."
So George has shown Callum Mutopia, and he's met a few other mutants, and he has tried to test out his wings, yet will he be able to control them? Also George has seen evidence of Mona's training whilst grieved.
I had to read and re-read Ancient Legacy to get the mapping of Mutopia right when writing this chapter, and I hope I did it justice.
Now Callum has explored Mutopia, what will happen next for the Raven? Well, we shall find out in due course!