Chapter Twenty-One
One of the Team
A while later, all of Mutopia was gathered in the mess hall and George was ready to make the announcement of Jake and Callum staying to Mutopia.
Once the Chicago Knights heard the news that Jake had made up his mind to stay in Mutopia they were all very excited.
Everyone was sitting at their paces at the tables talking excitedly, the Chicago Knights and the Turtles were gathered together on two of the tables that were close together whilst Tyroth and Sephie looked after the children.
This will be a first!" Jack said "A Human resident in Mutopia!"
"Second actually." Sarah corrected "Remember Amber stayed with us when she was human!"
"That's true!" Jack remembered snapping his fingers "But she only stayed with us until she found that flat topside though Hugh's help."
"Do you think Jake might do the same?" asked Heather.
"I'm not sure." said Amber "He seemed eager to join us though, as one of the Chicago Knights."
"A Human Chicago Knight." Percy mused "I can see it working to our advantage."
"What do you mean by that Hoppy?" asked Sharky.
"He could be a spy!" Percy confirmed "Especially if we're trying to infuriate crime nests or anything!"
"I can see that working!" Jack said.
"Me too!" Kate agreed "He'd be the mole!"
"Beg your pardon?" the Viper looked over to see Moe the Mole who was sipping a mug of coffee and looking at them funny.
"Not you Dreads." Kate chuckled "We mean something else."
"Deep cover agent!" Jack clarified "Talking about Jake."
"Ah the human brother of the Lizard Lady! Right!" Moe nodded with a smile "Groovy!" he then turned to his mug again and began humming to himself.
"A Mole in the Organisations! I like it!" Jack said.
"I can see it working well once Jake's got the hang of it!" Sharky agreed.
"But the main thing guys." Leonardo brought everyone's attention back "Is Mona going to be happy with it?"
"She did speak to me about her concerns Leo." Raphael said "She says she won't hold Jake back if he wishes to join the Knights as a human member, but she's never be not concerned for his safety."
"She'd be failing her role as a sister if she wasn't worried." Donatello added.
"I'm concerned as well." Michelangelo admitted, showing a more serious side that the others barely saw in the youngest and most carefree of the turtles.
"He has shown he's tough, and compassionate, and he managed to kill Hun!"
"He's forever going to be known as Hun's Killer, that's for sure!" Raphael said.
"But he was lucky when that happened!" Amber said "He had enough bullets and they hit in the right places!"
"Well, whatever happens." Jack said "You can be confident that me and the others will make sure Jake is trained well and he'll stand a chance when with us."
Leonardo nodded with a smile.
"I have confidence in you Jack." he said.
"Me too!" Raphael agreed.
"And us too!" Michelangelo and Donatello said together.
Meanwhile George was standing outside the mess hall with Jake and Mona, and they were waiting for Callum to arrive.
"How did your younger brother take to your decision?" asked the old turtle "About you wishing to stay here in Mutopia?"
Jake looked down.
"He's still mad." he said "He still can't accept that he's lucky to be alive!"
Mona just sighed sadly.
"I can understand his feelings Jake." she said "I can only remember feeling so angry at my mutation."
"You had no choice in the matter sis!" Jake retorted "You didn't want to be a mutant in the first place!"
"And neither did he." Mona replied.
"I'm sorry Mona." Jake said "But his attitude is starting to grind my gears! He's just not accepting that his life was saved! He's got to realise that this is his life now, and sulking in his room like some broody emo isn't going to change anything!"
Mona looked at Jake who was glowering through his glasses and looked saddened again.
George stepped over to Mona and placed a comforting had on her shoulder.
"I know this is hard my dear." he said "But things will be okay, I promise, despite what Callum feels right now, we will not give up on him and make sure he feels at home, it's only been a few days."
Mona nodded in agreement.
"I'm heading in to get everyone's attention." George said "I'll let you know when we're ready for you."
"Thank you George." the siblings replied as the old Turtle walked into the mess hall.
Jake then looked at Mona.
"Hope Callum arrives soon, I did ask him to come here and show he's at least a little grateful that he'll be taken care of here, and that he'll be safe."
Just then, they heard a flapping noise and they saw Callum flying over to them, his wings causing a slight breeze as he flapped them.
Mona stared in amazement at her little brother's flying skills, as did Jake.
"Wow." Jake commented "He picked up Tyroth's teaching rather quickly."
Mona agreed with a nod as she watched then Callum hovered for a moment and landed before them, his taloned feet clawed the stone floor as he landed.
"You've arrived." Jake said unemotionally.
"Yes, and?" Callum replied rolling his eyes.
"Glad you did." Jake said giving Callum the disapproving eyes through his glasses.
Mona meanwhile sensing the tension between the brothers decided to ease it a little.
"You've picked up learning to fly quickly." she said in as best an upbeat voice to Callum to which the Callum turned his eyes to her.
"I've had to." he said coldly "Since I gained these extra limbs." so saying his moved his wings up and down.
"I remember when you used to say you wished you could fly like a bird." Mona said "You even said you'd had dreams about it."
Callum scoffed.
Mona felt a sad pang in her stomach as Callum still refused to acknowledge her or show her kindness.
Jake placed a hand on his big sister's arm in comfort whilst giving Callum a death glare to which the raven glared back.
But before either boy could say anything, George appeared and the three siblings turned to look at him.
"We're ready for you now." the old turtle said.
"Thank you." Jake said.
"Thanks." Callum said in a quiet voice, "Let's get this over with." he said under his breath as he followed his brother and sister into the Mess Hall.
No sooner did they arrive than everyone turned to look at them.
Mona nodded at her brothers encouraging them to go with George whilst she went to sit with the turtles. Jake smiled at her, yet Callum still wouldn't look her in the eye.
As Mona sat next to Raphael he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple lovingly making her smile and rest against him.
"Good evening Mutopia." George said to which everyone replied "Good Evening' back to him.
"Now before we begin our dinner, I have an announcement to make."
Everyone sat up straight and looked towards the turtle, Jake and Callum.
"As you are all aware, Monalisa, the Lizard Lady of the Ninja Turtles from New York, brought with her on this occasion two individuals, none other than her younger brothers who had come to New York searching for her, ten years after she disappeared from their lives, serendipity brought them both together."
The Mutopians gasped as they listened, they knew most of the story from when they arrived in Mutopia, yet not the whole story before and most looked towards Mona who just smiled back nervously and Raphael held her tighter as a way of reassurance.
Jake felt slightly embarrassed, but Callum just stared blankly at everyone, wishing for the whole thing to be over.
He could see some of the female Mutopians looking at him lustfully and he hated it, he looked away from them and stared at a point in the wall on the other side of the room as George continued to speak.
Jake turned his eyes to Callum and glowered slightly. He could see Callum was hating the whole thing, but he smiled as George spoke more about the brothers journey and how they were now welcome in Mutopia as family.
"...And even though tragic events lead to them coming here, we will welcome them both in open arms, both as a mutant and a human! Giving them a chance at a new lease of life! As our law and motto of Mutopia stands!"
At once, everyone cheered and clapped in reply and George smiled.
"And in respect of that!" The old Turtle continued "Tonight! We shall feast in their honour!"
Everyone cheered and clapped then turned to Jake and Callum shouting "Welcome to Mutopia! Welcome brothers!"
Jake smiled and bowed his head in respect and turned to Callum who did the same, yet he still had that poker face.
Sighing, Jake turned to Callum yet the Raven walked away from him to look for a table.
At once many of the Mutopians called out for the Raven to sit with them yet he declined and walked to a free table.
Leona the Fox frowned as she watched Callum walk to the table.
"Not sociable is he?" she asked looking at the female Lynx who sat ext to her.
"Tell me about it!" she agreed.
"Gramps did say he wasn't happy with his mutation!" a male duck said as a male owl nodded.
"Understandable though!" the owl commented "Not all of us had a choice to Mutate."
"He's gotta get used to it!" Leona said "We all did!"
"Give him a chance!" Tyroth cut in as he walked over to the group "He'll open us soon enough, right now, he just needs time!"
"Right boss!" Leona agreed "We understand."
Meanwhile, Jake walked over to Mona, the turtles and the Chicago Knights who all stood up to congratulate him for joining them.
"Welcome to Mutopia Jake!" Jack said hugging him tightly and the others joined in.
"You're gonna be a great asset to the team man!" Sharky said.
"Yeah!" Percy agreed "A human in the Chicago Knights!"
Jake chuckled as he adjusted his glasses.
"Well, I can only do my best!" he said.
"Well once we got you trained up more, then we'll be able to do more to keep Chicago clean!" Kate grinned.
"We got a lot of work ahead!" Sarah added.
"But even what Jake knows already." Amber said.
"It should be a piece of cake!" Heather ended.
The Knights then cheered and raised their glasses to Jake to toast him, and at the same time, Mona stood up and hugged her younger brother.
"Well done Jake." she said "I'm proud of you, I know this is a big change, but I know you'll be alright with the Knights looking after you!"
Jake hugged his sister back.
"I promise you sis." he said "I'll be alright, and as I promised you, and our parents, I'll continue to do the same for Callum."
So saying he looked up at Callum over Mona's shoulder, who sat in a corner on his own, staring at his taloned hands and worry as well as frustration filled his being.
"Callum..." he thought to himself "Please, don't shut people out...I've embraced this new chance? Why can't you?"
So George has announced to all of Mutopia about Jake and Callum staying in Mutopia as residents and they seem happy! Especially the Chicago Knights having Jake on their team as a human member!
But despite the welcome, Callum is still hostile. How will things go from there? Well keep tuning in!