Chapter 5: In The Hall of the Ninja Turtles
When April came to, she immediately took stock on her surroundings. Wherever her rescuers had taken her, it was noticeably drier than the storm drains. It was also fairly spacious and well-lit, and looked to be an abandoned subway station. An oddly well-kept abandoned subway station, but an abandoned subway station nonetheless. Presently, she was lying on a largish couch, with a good-sized blanket covering her.
Who'd live-
"You're awake."
April turned and saw the four figures from earlier. In the brighter light of the subway station, she could now clearly see that they were, in fact, humanoid turtles. Nearby was a similarly humanoid rat with brown fur, clad in a reddish kimono. She took a deep breath.
"Who or what are you?" she asked.
The rat turned around.
"I shall explain. The story of my young friends and I is really that of a man named Hamoto Yoshi."
April nestled into the couch.
"Go on." she said.
"In Japan, there is a ninja clan known as the Foot. Hamoto Yoshi was their teacher of the warrior ways of enlightenment. He was a quiet man, who loved his art. But there was one student who sought to usurp control of the Foot- Oroku Saki."
April raised her hand.
"What happened?"
"Saki betrayed Yoshi and took over the Foot, and Yoshi fled to America. To evade his enemies, he hid in the tunnels beneath the city. His sole companions were the rats…until the day four infant turtles fell down the drain."
"Get the feeling this is going somewhere?" one of the turtles snarked.
The rat glared at his cohort.
"Anyways, Yoshi lived a simple life, but that was suddenly upended one day when he returned to his home in one of the pump stations. The four turtles had been covered in a glowing purple slime. As Yoshi soon learned, the slime was a powerful mutagen. It caused whoever touched it to take on the form of whatever animal they had most recently been in contact with. The turtles started becoming human, but Yoshi had most recently been in contact with the rats."
Just then, it all clicked.
"Then you are-"
"Yes. I am Hamoto Yoshi. The turtles you see are my adopted sons, Miss…"
"O'Neil. April O'Neil."
One of the turtles walked up to April. She noticed that the reptile in question had a blue headband.
"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Leonardo. The one with the red headband is Raphael, the one looming over the computer terminal is Donatello, and the one who you met when we rescued you is Michelangelo."
As if on cue, Michelangelo gave a friendly wave.
"Miss O'Neil, we find ourselves at your mercy. For obvious reasons, we have not revealed ourselves to the surface world. To that end, we must ask if you can keep our secret."
"I will, Mister Yoshi."
"Call me Splinter. My sons do."
April nodded.
"So, now that we've got the introductions out of the way, I've got a question for you." Raphael piped up.
"Ask away."
"What was a gal like you doing in the storm drains being pursued by those Mouser 'bots?"
April blinked.
"How do y-"
"Saw the press release on TV earlier today. That and they trashed our old place last night." Donatello replied.
"You mean that storm drain collapse-"
"Yep."
"Are you sure the interloper has been eliminated?"
"Positive, Mister Saki. Those Mousers've undoubtedly turned her into hamburger by now-"
"Good. We may proceed with Phase 2 of the plan, assuming that Hun and his people aren't suffering any complications."