Chapter 1: Things Change
'My name is Leonardo and right now my siblings and I are in a mess of trouble. Our backs are up against a wall in some trash strewn alley, cornered by the toughest street gang on the east side.'
"Look at the freaks." One of them called while the group approached the five. "What's with the dweebie costumes?" A big man holding a pole with large screws coming out the end taunted. "This ain't Halloween." Another man added. "You're going down, freaks." The leader of them started, "Nobody messes with the purple dragons, especially wearing some stupid turtle and lizard costumes."
'He's wrong. We're not wearing costumes.' And with that they leapt into the fight.
The room was dark, pitch black even. All except for a candle held steady and upright on the end of a walking stick. It was all silent until an elderly man's voice broke through it ever so softly. "Remember, to be a true ninja you must become one with the shadows. Darkness gives the ninja power while light reveals the ninja's presence." His voice echoed through the tunnels outside of their home even though he spoke so softly to those around him. "Now, can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?" The candle was tossed up from the short staff and it flipped for a moment before getting caught, revealing a clawed hand holding it. He remained seated while he held the candle up, awaiting for someone to try to extinguish its light.
Everyone's eyes were trained on him and the flame. His senses however were still far beyond their own and it proves itself in this moment. His ears twitch at the sound of someone coming at him. He set his walking stick upright in one hand and the other hand quickly lowered just as a large figure flew past his front and slid on their side to the nearby wall with a grunt. "Too noisy, Donatello." He sighed.
A couple feet away, another similarly shaped figure hopped to him with a weapon whirling about above their head. They were just about to grab him but the sensei stood up and dodged his attack, leaving the student to fly unceremoniously in the air to the other side of the room where his body met Donatello's. "Whoa!" "Hey!" The two collided and it ended with an "ow" after they both fell. "Too clumsy, Michelangelo."
The teacher sat back down on his knees, seemingly unaware of the one sneaking up behind him. He heard the last few steps rushing at him and ducked, letting the person fly over his head. Bounding to a stop, the shadow stood his ground and turned to him, eyes on him. The teacher was cautious, standing up and taking a few steps back while holding the candle firmly in his hand. The third person spun his weapon around and ran at him. However, the sensei sat down and held his walking stick out, making the larger guy trip over it and slide over to the other two. Frustrated grunts could be heard from him. The master stood up, facing the group. "Poor choice, Raphael."
Raphael was the temperamental and emotional one of the group. He was untrustworthy to strangers, but for many good reasons. The teacher understood that. He understood what it meant to be cautious of strangers, especially if they sought to harm you or those you cared about. However, there was one case where that cautiousness was not needed.
He could feel eyes trained on him and the candle. The sensei's ears flicked while he listened. The steps were soft and steady. They were circling him, just barely out of reach of the flame's light. His tail twitched to the side, ready to use at a moment's notice. His ears heard the small clinks of chains and he jumped out of the way, seeing the chain fly into his former spot. He almost had it in a quick grab but it was flicked back to its origin. He inhaled softly, catching the scent of her and gauging the distance. The steps were light but fast now. It was a soft pitter-patter across the floor but it was noticeable.
A hand finally reached into the flame's light and the rat noticed quickly, using his tail to grab the arm and push it back to the body. "Oof!" A soft noise left this opponent. His other hand held the walking stick and he gave a firm hit with it on her side, making her stumble and fall to the floor just nearby the other three. "Mind your reach, Isabella."
Isabella, his youngest child of all of them. While the other four had a few years head-start on their ninjutsu training, she was a quick learner. She was clever and he admired her determination. The others had grown protective of her and Raphael acted like the overprotective brother the most after he realized that she was not a stranger bringing in danger, despite the fact that she was just a child herself much like he was. The sensei was relieved the day they began getting along.
He was lost in thoughts, unaware of the shadow above him. Someone who was holding and waiting the moment he got in position. A pair of swords came down and sliced the candle in his hand. The teacher looked surprised with the lit-up wick no longer there but it landed on a long katana blade close to the handle and it got blown out. A proud grunt left the teacher and he went to the lever, turning on the lights with his walking stick and revealing his five children and himself. His four turtle sons and his youngest gecko daughter stood up. "Well done, Leonardo."
Leonardo set his swords away and held the candle in his hand. He was the oldest of his turtle sons, or he acts like he has to be, and he was skilled in the arts of ninjutsu. He was the most patient with his siblings, especially with Raphael but sometimes the dark green turtle in red tested that patience to its limit. "Teacher's pet." He let out a gruff. "Ninja dropout." Leonardo shot back, tossing the candle at him. Raphael caught it and squished the candle while Don and Mikey leaned towards each other, letting out taunting "Oooh"s at him. Raphael went to Leo and prompted him for a little skirmish. Isabella rolled her eyes at them and gave a huff.
"My sons." Splinter scolded and set his stick between the two to stop them. He sighed and corrected himself, "My children, if you are to become true ninja, you must work harder." The five reptiles knelt before him as he began to speak. From one end to another, there was Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo, Isabella and Michelangelo. "Your path in life will not be an easy one. The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five are different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive you must master these skills I teach you." Mikey listened to Splinter's briefing, but he could hear the buzz of a fly. It kept circling around with the buzzing sound going closer and farther away rapidly. It was annoying the dark teal turtle in orange and so, he found the culprit of the buzzing sound and kept his eyes on it, grabbing at it the first time and missing it as it flew upwards.
"Ninjutsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become kage; shadow warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world." Splinter continued before being interrupted at the sound of hands clasping together. The dark teal turtle looked proud of himself when he finally caught the fly, but he came back into the moment when he saw his rat father in front of him with a neutral face. He wasn't unimpressed but he did have a stern expression on his face with a hand on his hip and another on his walking stick. If Isabella knew better, it'd look like Mikey would give a cheeky 'sorry' grin, but that didn't happen.
There was a loud rumbling nearby and the sound of something metallic coming closer. Splinter stood straighter, his eyes widened and his ears raised. "Huh? What is that noise?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. The metallic noise had the rhythm of stomping, yet that seemed unlikely. The room shook and stones fell from the ceiling. The five reptiles stood up with surprised gasps leaving. "Whoa! Earthquake!" Mikey spoke while he got to Donny's side. "In New York? Possible but not likely." Don informed him. Rubble kept falling from the ceiling all around while the others backed up. A large stone slab fell at Don's feet and he jumped back to his siblings.
Isabella tensed at the sound of the metallic stomping coming closer. A wall nearby crumbled open and a small mechanical creature let out a screech while others followed behind it. "Well, earthquakes was a nice guess, Mike, but these things look like they're the ones causing problems for us." The gecko added in her commentary while more of the little mechanisms marched towards them. "What are those things?" Leonardo inquired. "New York City cockroaches?" Mikey offered up, scratching the top of his head for a second. "Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party to crash." Raph kicked one away. The other little robots just watched as that one landed on its back, stuck in the hole its body made when it landed.
One charged forward and let out another screech before proceeding to be thrown back by the swing of Don's staff. Another one chomped its jaws and had a good grip on the olive-green turtle's staff before he swung it up and brought it back down with enough force to break it. Mikey rushed to a group of them, spinning his nunchucks around and breaking them apart while he kept flipping and showing off. He wrapped his nunchucks around one, grabbing it by the head and called out. "Hey Leo! Think fast!" He tossed it back to the turtle in blue who sliced it in half just like that and jumped in, somersaulting over and slicing one in threes and another in half. The one that was sliced in half twitched and jolted around before it fell apart and exploded into smaller parts.
Isabella used her kusarigama, stabbing through the small heads and slashing them in half when they jumped. A few of them tried to chomp on her tail and one of them caught her. The pain stung but the gecko managed to use a support beam to slap her tail against it and crush them. The top half of the head popped off and the rest of the body fell to pieces. The other miniature robots went to the other side of the room. Isabella's eyes followed them and she saw their Master Splinter being surrounded by many of those things. She barely heard Leo give a soft gasp in the midst of all the mess. The rat smashed one with his staff and let another fly with a swing.
"We have to help Master Splinter. Come on!" Leo led them through. The five reptiles fought through the little robots while trying to reach their rat teacher slash father. They stabbed, sliced, smashed those in the way. A row of the mechanical pests nearly got the old rat but he swept them aside with the walking stick again. Some of the robots seem to have understood the situation and began eating at the support beams of their home. They munched away with the chaos around them distracting their larger opponents. Bits of stone fell from the ceiling while Raphael went ahead, punching one of the machines aside just to get closer to Splinter. However the dark green turtle in red was unaware of the massive crack in the ceiling. The support beams became thinner as each of the little bots munched on them before it fell and they along with it.
The bots were crushed by the slabs of stone and Raph was close to being next. "Look out!" Leo snatched Raphael back to the rest of the group while the ceiling fell in. Isabella looked across the room with them towards their rat father. He was still struggling with some of those little mechanical pests. More of the ceiling fell in, crushing the majority of the robots and splitting their home in half and then some. Gasps escaped all of them while dust, rubble and dirt clouded their vision. "Oh no." Leo rushed in with the others following. "Master Splinter!" Raphael called out. Leonardo pulled at the rubble before them. "Master Splinter. Master Splinter!" He mimicked Raph, calling out to their ray father but there was no answer. "No~o~" He screamed.
One of the bots picked up its head with a screech but it was immediately met with a foot stomping down on it and crushing it. Raphael scowled at it, twirling his sai and putting them away on his belt. "What the shell are those things?" Mikey asked, bending to investigate one of the robots before he stood up. "Whatever they were," Raph gave a grunt and kicked the tin can toy away, "they're junk now." It clattered to another part of the destroyed room. The two looked up and saw that Isa, Leo, and Don were frantically looking for a way through the debris pile. "Guys, Splinter. We've got to find Splinter." Leo spoke up. Isa looked ready to dig through the debris if she had to but it all looked too heavy to lift even with all five of them. It'd cause the pile to get uneven and well there would be some colossal damage involving them in the middle of it all and she wouldn't dare put that thought of them hurt or worse in Splinter's head.
"Master Splinter, can you hear me?!" Leonardo called out. A moment passed and there was nothing but the sounds of water dribbling into puddles and their gentle shifting of steps. There was no answer and Isabella held her tail close, kneading into it. "Donatello, any way to..." Leo was going to ask him something and Isa guessed he must've read her mind just moments ago. 'Any way to get through?' He was probably going to ask. He didn't get the chance to when he heard a gentle beeping noise. "What are you doing?" They all turned to look at Donny. "Shell cell. I'm calling Master Splinter... I hope." He hesitated. Don was just as anxious as the rest of them, waiting while the shell cell just kept sending out its signal, waiting for a response.
On the other side of the debris wall, the old rat was laying on the ground, dazed. It was all dark and quiet for a moment. Then his ear twitched a bit upon hearing the sound of beeping coming from the inside of his yukata. Splinter let out a huff from his snout, blowing out any loose dust. The dirt shifted around him as he sat himself on his knees. He reached a paw in and grabbed at the hard, round device his son had given him, pulling it out. It opened up in his hand and he stared at its glowing front. "Hmm," He hummed with a finger thoughtfully on his goatee before he pressed a few buttons. "Which button do you-"
"-press to answer this thing?" His voice carried through the shell cell, making the reptile teens feel relieved to hear their master speak. "Hello?" Splinter spoke through. Leonardo gave a breath of relief and snagged the shell cell from Don who looked mildly offended at that. "Master Splinter, are you alright?" He asked, having forgotten that technology wasn't the old rat's forte. "Hello?" The rat called. "Master Splinter..." Leo shook a finger and whether it be at Don trying to get the shell cell back or listening to their father struggle with some buttons, it could almost apply for both. The five listened in on the conversation. "Stupid device," The rat on the other end huffed in frustration. "You don't have to press any buttons, you already answered it." Leo gave a short explanation to the rat.
The rat on the other side let his ears down and his eyes went from squinting to their normal state. Signs of irritation melted away and he gave a small breath, trying to remain as stoic as he'd always been perceived as. "Ah. Leonardo, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they have managed to eat through the support structure of our home." He stated the most obvious thing of the entire event. However irritating it may be to many, it did set in the reality of the whole situation.
"We must leave right away." The five mutants gathered around the shell cell. Leo still held it in hand, Donny was holding onto Leo's bicep, Raph had his hand on Leo's other arm, Isa stuck her head between Raph and Leo's looking at the shell cell while Mikey went from behind Don to beside Raph in a moment, more than likely about to do the same as their lizard sis. "Meet me at the old drainage junction." Raph pushed the turtle in orange away and of course Mikey was dramatic enough to allow himself to fly to a couple of feet away. "Whoa, ow." Mikey groaned, trying to gain some sympathy. Isa sighed at his theatrics. Even she knew that Raph wouldn't shove too hard to hurt and Mikey was always so dramatic.
She heard a shuffling of someone going through a bag and turned to see Don pulling out an old map from his duffel bag. She swears that when he first found that bag and claimed it, he never let anyone else hold it. Granted she didn't want to. Who knows what he put in there? Donny blew at the parchment and wisps of dust flew off, thankfully not flying far enough to make anyone sneeze. "If we take the south conduit," he dragged a finger along the map, tracing a route, "it'll intersect with the old drainage tunnel." Leo smiled and lifted the shell cell up a bit to put his beak near and spoke, "We'll meet you there, Sensei."
Mikey rushed back up to them, a hand on Leo's and Don's shoulders. "What'd he say, what'd he say? Did he mention me?" He grinned. The shell cell was still open so there was no doubt that the rat on the other end heard that and gave a soft, muffled sigh before the connection ended. Raph shoves the dark teal turtle in orange away again with a bit more force and of course Mikey flew to the floor again with an "oomph".
The leopard gecko shook her head at him and dusted off the front of her makeshift shozoku. Her kusarigama had its chain wrapped around the handle and set it on her belt with the blade of it sheathed in order to not nick herself. Mikey got up at one point and once more began being oh-so dramatic by talking to the lair. "Goodbye broken pipe, goodbye grungy payphone, goodbye dented manhole cover, goodbye home sweet home." He had a soft smile with a hand on his plastron. Isa sighed, "Anything else you need to say goodbye to, Mike?" He didn't get a chance to answer because Raph came up behind him. "Nope. Hello cruel world. Come on." He grabbed Mikey by the mask tails and pulled him along like a leash before letting go when Mikey followed the group.
"Looks like those things have been through here," Leo noted, looking at the tracks of whatever those little machines were. Just by walking they caused destruction and that wasn't counting the other holes in the floor. 'What were they doing down below?' Isa wondered for a moment but shook the thought aside, keeping her gaze ahead. The five traveled through the tunnel, heading straight ahead. "These walls are seriously compromised. It's lucky this roof hasn't caved in." Donny motioned his arm, pointing to the cracks and the uneven pipeline.
Gasps escaped the reptiles when their gazes fell to a massive pile of debris, making the tunnel impassable. "You were saying?" Raph looked at the yellowish olive-green turtle in purple. Leo groaned in frustration. "Can't go forward, can't go back." The dark green turtle in red was just as frustrated as him but it barely did much to hide his enthusiasm. "Looks like we go up." He pointed to the ladder with a thumb before grabbing on Isabella's wrist. "Come on, sis." The gecko was at the mercy of the turtle pulling her along while he went to the ladder. Raph had to let go to climb the ladder. Isabella backed up while Leo went ahead, setting his hands on him ready to, more than likely, pull him off the ladder. "Hitting the surface is a bad idea." He remarked, keeping a hold on him while Raph gave a glare.
"We've got no other way to go, Leo." Donny spoke up. Leo groaned, knowing he was right but not liking it one bit. "All right, but we're only going up to go down the next manhole. Got it? No fooling around." He instructed, reciting Splinter's words and moving his arms to exaggerate, "Remember what Sensei said, it's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured. We need to stay out of sight." Raph rolled his eyes, "We got it the first thousand times, Leo. Just follow my lead." Isabella watched the turtle climb up the ladder and she grabbed onto the rungs herself but stiffened, hesitating. She had a feeling that the moment they climbed this and went out on the surface a set of events could happen. Perhaps she was overthinking it, but the feeling was there and rightfully so when it's coupled with the fact that almost every time they did go on the surface there was always some sort of trouble they got involved in. The gecko was frozen in her thoughts until she felt a hand.
"Hey, Isa, you okay?" Mikey asked, noting how she jumped a bit in surprise before the gecko let out a sigh through her nostrils. Leo was going to ask the same thing, but Mikey had an easier time getting her to talk, especially since the day they found her. He was more enthusiastic to finally talk to someone new and eventually she gave feedback. Basically, she found it easy to talk to the friendly dark teal turtle. "Are you sure we can't go around? That there isn't another way?" She asked, loud enough for even Raph, who halted before lifting the manhole cover, to hear. "Well, believe me. If there were any other way, we'd be going for it right now. Like Leo said, we just gotta find the next manhole and we're back down here." Mikey offered the skittish gecko.
Isa looked up the ladder, her hands still clinging onto the rungs. "Hey.." The turtle in orange gave a softer voice, "we won't let anyone hurt you. You know that, right? It's our job as big bros to protect our precious little sis." He smiled at the smaller lizard. "You gonna be alright?" He asked once more. "Yeah.. I'm fine. Let's just get going." She nodded, shaking off the hesitation and finally climbing up. Mikey's hand slid off her shoulder and after a moment of giving her enough space due to her tail, Leo went up after her. They heard the manhole cover finally move and Isa caught sight of Raphael jumping out. The gecko went up faster and jumped out after him.
Leo popped his head up after and looked around. "Come on Leo, move it. I don't want to be staring at your butt any longer than I have to." The turtle in blue looked down at the younger quadruplet brother who tried to lighten up the tension. "Shh, guys." Leo warned and ducked back down while Raph flattened against the wall and Isa dived to hide behind the box, curling her tail close to herself. The sound of a moped drove by and the street was back to being as unoccupied as it could be with it being New York. The gecko watched as Raph came out of hiding, going round the corner. He heard people inside the building and steps coming closer to the door and immediately jumped on top of the portico that's seen better days. He leaped off it and wrapped his arms around the pole of a street light. The turtle gazed around and just across the street was another manhole cover. It was a real quick in and out situation. Easy. "Ah, manhole cover, twelve o'clock." He leaped down and flipped across the street, briefly touching the road for a moment. His eyes were on his quickest way home but his hearing caught the sound of a vehicle. "Now what?" Raph got out of line of sight as the vehicle approached.
Meanwhile on the other side of the street, Isa was tense the moment the headlights shone brighter than the others and the gecko hoped the driver and passengers inside barely caught a glance of Raph. Her eyes watched as the vehicle slowed and backed into the alleyway Raph was so determined to stay on. It stopped and the lights cut before the people inside came out and went into the building. She let out a soft breath and came out of her own hiding place when the other three turtles popped out of the manhole.
"Where did Raph go?" Donny asked. "He would be that way." Isa pointed with her thumb behind her. Leo could see Raph going from the sidewalk to the truck across the street and gave a groan, "Come on. Let's make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." The turtles and gecko manage to get across the street without anyone noticing. Supposedly they were lucky to be in a less busy area of the city. Raphael looked underneath the truck, quickly noticing the tire parked right on top of the manhole cover. "Great, just great. The old turtle luck working true to form." He stood back up with a huff and growled. "Argh!" He kicked the side of the armored van in frustration.
"Way to be stealthy, Raph." Leo whispered-yelled. The other three mutants were looking around the corner at Raphael. "Yeah, I don't think they heard you over in Jersey." Mikey gave an exaggerated accent to the name of Jersey and smiled at the dark green turtle. "Give me a hand." Raph threw his arm back and pointed his thumb to the armored vehicle. Mikey hummed and lifted his hands up, ready to clap for him. "Don't even think about it Mikey." Raph pointed and wagged a finger accusingly at his younger brother whose enthusiastic smile shrank away. Leo shook his head and pointed backwards. The turtle in blue was basically saying "This isn't worth the hassle." Isabella agreed. She'd rather be back underground with Splinter right now than be surrounded by humans, even if they hadn't caught their sights yet.
"Ah, forget you guys, I'll push it myself." He waved them off and walked to the back of the truck, already trying to push it the moment he got back there. He grunted as he pushed, trying to make it budge just enough to get the manhole cover, well, uncovered. Isabella understood that he just wanted to get home as fast as possible too, but with how the vehicle barely budged or how it didn't seem to sway at Raph's strain, going home didn't look like it was happening anytime soon.
"Ah man, what a score," A muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door. A laugh followed that statement. Raph jumped away from the vehicle, his body forward but his face staring at the door. Admittedly he froze for a moment but he turned when he heard Leo panic. "Hide, Raph! Come on, hurry!" He tried to wave him over. Raph looked around, backing away and trying to find a place to hide. From his spot though, there was very little option except... The door to the building swung open and the impulsive dark green turtle in red jumped to the back of the armored truck. "No," Leo and Isa hissed underneath their breath. "Oh," Mike slapped a hand to his face, "poor choice, Raphael." He mimicked his sensei's words.
A man with blue hair cut partly in a flat-top with long strands sitting on his shoulders came out of the building. He had a long reddish trench coat with yellow sleeves and dragons the same color as the main part of the coat decorating the arms. One of those arms held a duffel bag. "Did you see the way that guy squirmed when we took his cash?" Another man followed him out, holding a duffel bag of his own. "Sheep man. Sheep to be fleeced by us wolves." The blue-haired man, assuming the leader position, tossed the packed bag into the back of the truck. Other bags followed and they looked stuffed to the brim, almost threatening to pop the zipper. The doors pushed shut and Raph could barely see the light through the lightly tinted windows. "And once we've shown this guy the Purple Dragons can be his enforcement army ain't nothing gonna be able to stop us." Raph could hear that guy's voice muffled by the door. "We'll rule this town." The blue-haired guy turned to the group. "Rest of you guys, meet us at the loading dock in twenty minutes. Our employer said he'd have his own people meeting us there. I don't want anything going wrong."
Raphael was counting himself lucky he wasn't seen, sticking himself to the roof of the car, but on the inside he was berating himself for being so stupid. Yeah, he panicked but that wasn't an excuse to pull the most idiotic move of all idiotic moves. There was the sound of beeps. 'Figures. It had to be some password lock.' He mentally groaned to himself, dropping from the top when he heard the armored truck finally start. "Raphael, you did it to yourself now." He scolded himself quietly, not wanting to take chances of the gang members hearing.
The truck pulled out of the alley, passing the other three turtles and the lizard who were hiding. "Aww man, imagine their surprise when they open the back of that truck." Mikey worried, trying not to obviously show it. "This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about," Leo walked around, catching the attention of all mutants and moving his arms to emphasize. "We've got to get him out of there." Immediately, Donny turned and rushed, getting a couple seconds head-start. "Last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg." He claimed, using his bō to pole vault to the fire escape and flipping onto another before landing on the rooftop. Leo jumped up after him and Isabella rushed, half using her natural gecko ability to climb up the wall and half flipping over the rest of the way, landing behind Leo and Mikey got up last. More than likely, keeping an eye out for the gecko, but he wasn't about to say that.
The four mutants rushed over to the side of the building, looking down and catching sight of the truck speeding by. "We can cut them off on Third and First." Leo turned to them, pointing ahead. "If we run like crazy." Donny added before rushing after Leo. "Is there any other way to run?" Mikey smiled and followed the turtles. "Hey! You cheated! Wait for me!" Isa complained after them, chasing after the three. Mikey sprang forward to the next building, letting out a laugh. "Ha ha, yeah! You guys are too slow!" He taunted with a big grin, leaping to the next rooftop. An audible gasp left him as his eyes caught sight of his older two siblings doing a synchronized flip over him and both landing in front and passing him. "Hey!"
Isabella kept pace with them, a little behind but not too far for them to complain, not that she would be that slow. On any other night, she'd enjoy the colorful lights, the dark night sky that was illuminated by the moon, the clouds gently reflecting the moonlight, and the wind making her bandana tails fly, but of course trouble happened and it looked like she wasn't going to get a chance to soak in the scenery. Perhaps she'll get to another day, or rather night.
The mutants rushed across the rooftops and Mikey took a chance to try to get ahead again by using a slanted roof to slide ahead. He leaped off and immediately saw his mistake, pulling out his nunchaku to wrap around the clothesline near him, spinning around before his head got caught in a sheet, losing sight and letting go of one side of his nunchaku. "Ah, ah, whoa!" He dropped down to another rooftop. "Oof" He let out. That was the third time he's landed on his butt tonight. He sniffed the sheet, smiling softly. "Mm, springtime fresh." He pulled the sheet off, seeing the other turtles run ahead and Isabella looking back at him, shaking her head and trying not to smile so hard. She leapt after the other two and Mikey was quick to follow. "Woohoo!"
Meanwhile, a tap of the walking stick indicated the rat's steps forward. He turned the corner, heading to the meeting point. His tail waved behind him as he made his way towards the lit up place before finally stopping in the massive room filled with pipes and had electrical lights above him. "Ah, the old drainage junction." He sighed before looking around. "Now, where are my children?" He asked out loud. It didn't take him more than a moment to realize he couldn't even hear the echoes of their voices. Not even bickering. His children were never this silent with each other, not unless they've done something they shouldn't have. He kept a firm gaze to the direction of the south conduit, awaiting to see their forms. Nothing.
His ears picked up a different sound, a sound he was beginning to despise. The sound of marching and munching. His face scrunched up while he looked down and cracks formed beneath his feet. He backed away, avoiding the cracks, but another formation of them interrupted his stride and he turned away from that one too. Bits of floor fell apart and out popped a pair of those mechanical fiends that destroyed his home. There were more? He wondered. His mouth agape and his eyes wide at the sight of a little destructive machine screeching at him and apparently these things were intelligent enough to put the rat in the trap. How many more are there? Did they get his children? He worried, frozen on his feet while he gripped on his walking stick.
Back up on the surface, the mutant reptiles were still chasing after the truck. It sped down the street before finally slowing down and making a turn into an alley behind some buildings. The driver made another turn before putting it in reverse and parking it. Raphael was pressing on the glass from the inside, trying to make that give way, but instead it remained just as reinforced as the rest of the damn vehicle itself. He could hear the engine stop and the voices leave. The turtle dropped out of sight before any of the passengers could see him.
The blue haired man turned to the big guy and gave an order. "Hey Two-Ton, watch the truck. We wouldn't want someone to steal our stolen money." He let out a chuckle and went inside the building. Four reptiles looked down at the situation. A big guard armed up with a pipe that had a set of screws poking out the top of it. He paced back and forth, focused on the task at hand. However, it was still night out and there weren't any lights around the building. It was dark, and the darkness was to the reptiles' advantage. Isa has got to thank Master Splinter for the lesson, even if she didn't do that well.
"What's with this? Are they meeting up with someone here?" The gecko inquired softly. "It looks like it. Come on, we need to get Raph out before they open the door. Mikey," Leo looked over to the teal turtle in orange. "Distraction expert coming right up. Watch this, lil' sis." Mikey chuckled and made a jump for it when the big guy's back was turned away. He made sure to remain light on his feet, careful to not make any sounds to cause the guy to look in his direction. He almost let out a snicker over how stupid the big man looked, not even seeing him close by. The turtle's eyes caught sight of a loose can near him and made a quick grab for it. He tossed it up and caught it in one hand before heading to the truck, still remaining light on his feet. The reptiles above him kept an eye while the dark teal turtle went on, pressing his side to the front of the truck and sending an arm around to the side of the vehicle. The can tumbled on the ground leaving his hand and it made this 'Two-Ton', a slightly offensive yet cliche nickname, suspicious.
"Huh?" He followed the origin of the sound, heading to the side of the truck and looking over. Nothing caught his eye, but that didn't mean he was alone. Man he couldn't afford to mess this up. This job the Purple Dragons were on was more important than any they ever been on. It was an opportunity to get some respect from this "big boss" they heard so much about. He had no idea who this "big boss" was but from conversations he had with John, the blue haired leader, the guy was way up on the top of the societal and economical ladder. The Dragons could barely imagine what would happen if they'd fail. Two-Ton kept his eyes open and the pipe in his hand, becoming more alert than he had before.
A tap found his shoulder and he turned his head to look down at a small figure. He couldn't tell what the thing in front of him was. He didn't even have a moment to register exactly who or what it was. "Hey, this is a no parking zone." The shorter person said, waving a finger in front of him. "Here's your ticket," The guy pulled up a piece of paper in front of him before he dropped it and turned his body to the side, "And here's your fine!" A kick was sent to his head and with an "oof," Two-Ton was down for the count on the asphalt beside the truck.
Mikey grinned, all proud of himself while the other three reptiles climbed and jumped out from their hiding places. "Nice work, Mikey" Leo praised him, giving a thumbs up. "Eh, it's a ninja thing." He humbled himself and smiled, soaking in the bit of praise. "Now, let's get Raph out of there." Leo looked up to the window of the vehicle where on the inside, Raph smacked his hands against the door and his yells were muffled though Isabella could guess what he was saying. Mikey took notice of the lock. "Man, whatever happened to the good old fashioned padlocks?" He questioned. He did find the password lock neat, but it was just inconvenient timing and well, he was a pop culture movie fanatic so it was obvious he'd say such a thing. Donny however sported an enthusiastic smile. "Where's the fun in that?" He took out a pair of screwdrivers from the duffel bag, twirling them around in his hands. "This one's all mine."
Raph's voice was muffled but he was clearly saying, "Get me outta here. Open up, I say." Mikey taunted the dark green turtle from the outside. "What's that, Raphael? You're gonna have to speak up, dude. I can't hear you." Raphael on the inside shook his fists, growling in frustration at the youngest of the bale teasing him. He gave a hard kick to the door, making the door shake and Donny huffed, rolling his eyes at the two. "Okay, I heard that." Mikey backpedaled. Donny stood up from his handiwork, glaring at Mike through his goggles, "I'm trying to work here." The leopard gecko jumped in while Don put his focus back on the task. "Mikey, you should know better. You need to stop while you still can." Mikey still looked a bit smug. "Not like he can reach from way in there." Isa nodded, "Right," she crossed her arms and tilted her hips in a sort of sass she absorbed from the others and developed herself, "and what happens when he gets out?" Mikey didn't have an answer. He just had a closed mouth grin on his beak with wide eyes. The look of "oh I messed up." It didn't take the turtle another moment before he backed away just a bit. "Yeah, I figured that." Isa shook her head.
The dark furred rat was surrounded by more of the little machines. They cornered him while his body was still tensed up with wide eyes and his ears frontal. His whiskers were wide apart before they went back to their neutral position. Most of these were telltale signs of him being startled. One of the mechanisms grabbed the edge of his yukata, pulling on it and shaking its head. It was at that moment the rest of his body followed the signs of an aggressive posture. His fur puffed up, his back arched while he lifted himself higher on his feet and his ears were more up and forward. He bared his teeth at the little robot, growling and whipping his tail at it so hard that he sent it flying to the far side of the room where it lodged in the wall for a moment.
The wall broke apart behind it, evidenced by the hole it left. The machine dropped down on its feet, shaking its head and steadying itself, before snapping its jaws threateningly at the taller rat. Despite Splinter's height over them and his ninjutsu prowess, there was something in its sharp screech that made the rat still feel tense. The sound itself felt like it squeezed on something deep in him, something from his days as a normal rat. An unease he thought he left far behind him in the fifteen years of mutation and gaining intellect greater than he ever had before. He took a breath and raised his walking stick, intending to keep himself in the moment and to rid the things that made such a noise. The little robots kept on approaching him with their jaws open in a threatening motion. He backed away, trying to keep distance, but the little mechanical menaces jumped at him, unleashing a symphony of screeches that still rattled something instinctual deep in him.
Way back on the surface, the other reptiles waited, half guarding their sibling and half watching him, while Donny worked his way around the lock. The yellowish olive-green turtle in purple kept his eyes on the wires inside the lock. He could barely see the color of them and all he had going for him was the moonlight far above their heads. 'Night vision goggles are definitely on my to do list.' He thought, pressing a series of buttons and pulled at a pair of exposed wires before pressing them together. There were sparks flying for a good moment and honestly Donny was glad for the tough skin and his technological talent, he didn't have to worry about sparks surprising him like they used to when he was a little turtle tot who didn't know better quite yet.
A series of beeps followed one after another in a pattern and the door opened. Mikey backed up further and Raphael no doubt went to the back of the armored truck. Isa jumped away to Don's side. "He-eey Raph! Welcome back bro'." Mikey tried to start an apology but it was too late. Raphael charged out of the truck and leapt onto Mikey, tackling him to the asphalt and tumbling around with him. "What a hothead." Leo sighed and turned his head to the other two. Isa looked back at Leo with raised eye ridges, looking at him as if asking if he was serious while Mikey's chorus of "ow"s continued in the background. She was about to make a comment right back at him, but that process was interrupted when a question, not from any of them, came into the air.
"So, where's these guys this "big boss" is supposed to have us meet?" A man's voice sounded off and Donny and Leo took notice of it too. "How am I supposed to know? He told me-" A more familiar voice responded before yelling, "Hey!" Looks like they've been found out. "Uh.. Raph..." Donatello pulled out his bō, holding it in the standard front position while he backed away to the other two. "We don't have time for this." Leo unsheathed a katana, holding out his blade with one hand and the other held out in front of the gecko, keeping her behind him. Isa almost huffed at his over-protectiveness but did understand he meant well. They all did. She shook that thought aside and pulled out her kusarigama. "And why is that?" The turtle in red held up the other in orange by the shoulders. Mikey looked like he was trying to make himself smaller, despite not having the ability to retract to his shell. Oh what he'd do to be able to have that. "Because we're not alone." He pointed to the group of Purple Dragons approaching. "And I don't think they appreciate how we took down one of their own." Isa added, glancing down at the big guy on the ground while standing between the four of them. Mikey and Raph however were still trying to keep themselves in front of her, guarding her more out of habit. Isabella was one of the things they'd ever agree on and it was going to stay that way.
"Look at the freaks!" One of the gang members spoke up. "What's with the dweebie costumes?" Another man, who had somewhat the same build as the guard they left, questioned in a condescending tone. Isabella didn't get so much of a chance to take in details like she usually would. The humans approached the mutants but neither side had any idea what they were in store for, other than a world of hurt. "This ain't Halloween." Taunts kept flying out of various members of this street gang. The guy with the blue flat top hair and long coat came forward. His dog tags jingled as they swayed a bit and a staff laid across his shoulders. "You're going down, freaks." He pulled the staff off his shoulder and spun it in one hand. Donny almost wanted to scoff at how he handled the staff precariously. "Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons, especially wearing stupid turtle and even stupider lizard costumes." The leader threatened while the rest of the gang sprawled about the alleyway, closing off the massive exit.
Isabella honestly felt offended at that before baring her teeth. 'No. This isn't a costume and I don't look stupid.' She pulled the chain of the kusarigama taut and spun the weighted end around, smacked it into the ground and yanked back, pulling it into her hand. Donny definitely stared at that blue haired guy and spun his staff more expertly, catching it firmly in both hands and swinging it around, making a jump and landing with his staff almost piercing the ground beneath. However, he swept the staff to the side and stood ready.
Mikey spun his pair of nunchaku around for a quick second, before settling them beneath his arms. He already knew better than to show off too much, since he had smacked himself plenty of times way back then. He'd rather not talk about it and how embarrassing it was when he was trying to impress the others with tricks. Raph took his sai out and spun them as well, holding the prongs inward when he grasped them again and sent a kick out before landing. Leonardo brandished his swords, slicing the air before him and standing ready with the rest of them.
All of that was for the sake of show, to intimidate the enemies with their skill and hopefully make some of them rethink the fight they were about to jump into. It seemed to work since there were fewer people than before. With all that aside, the turtles and gecko jumped into the fight with a cry and the remaining Purple Dragons charged at them.
Raphael met one of the Purple Dragons with a knife. The guy shot his arm forward but Raph bent back, ducking away in time with the short blade inches away from his beak. "You call that a knife? That's not a knife!" He quoted, standing upright and using a sai to catch the knife. With a firm pull, he made the guy let go of it and the knife spun way behind him out of reach from its wielder. "This is a knife." Raph grinned.
Donny had to ruin a bit of Raph's fun with facts. "That's a sai, Raphael." He leaned back, looking at the turtle in red while he used his bō to block the guy in front of him. Raph gave a glare. "Shut up, Don! You do your shtick, I'll do mine." Donny huffed. "I don't do shtick." He would cross his arms if he could. "Nah, you do stick!" Mikey called from across the alley while he flipped over the big man, spinning one of his nunchaku around. Don could hear the obvious grin in his voice. The yellowish olive-green turtle in purple took his staff back, breaking the other guy's stance and sent the bō forward into his stomach. The guy's pain was obvious on his face with the crossed eyes and his face puffed out, trying to hold in and muffle the noise. "Cram it, Mike."
"All of you cram it! This whole thing is a nightmare!" Leo snapped at them. His swords met the pipes that were swung at him in a vicious manner by one of the gang members wearing a beret, or a variant of it anyways. He didn't know or care at the moment. "We were to meet back up with Master Splinter! Instead, we let ourselves get dragged into the middle of this-" The guy leaned into his next swing with the pipe meeting the sword again, cutting Leo off a bit, "this whatever-this-is." Leo hissed and finally broke contact, making the man before him stumble and raising a leg up and back to send a hard kick. The Purple Dragon member flew back, hitting a trash can on the way and smacking his back against the wall before sliding down it. "We're shadow warriors, Raph! We hide in the shadows! Not trucks!"
"I didn't want to get spotted! I can't help it if that stupid truck parked on top of the sewer plate I was going to duck into!" The dark green turtle snapped back at him, throwing a sai right at someone's head but it landed right in the brick wall beside the guy's noggin and one of the prongs caught on the big hooped earring he had on, pinning him to the wall. "Why're you acting like it's my fault?!"
Donny nearby ducked and spun his body around, sweeping two guys off their feet with his staff and making them fall, hitting their heads right on the ground. They groaned in pain and laid there, out of commission. "News flash, Raph: It ain't acting!" He understood how Leo felt. He would rather have avoided this whole thing entirely as well. Sure it was fun cracking open the lock, but he'd rather be back with their rat father too.
"Aw come on guys! Isa, lil' sis, you don't think it's my fault, do you?" Raphael looked over to the gecko who was hopping away from another gang member and watching as he got increasingly frustrated that the opponent before him wasn't keeping still and being easy. "Raph, I cannot argue any good defense for you! Was it an easy spot? Maybe. Should you have picked it? Well, we're here!" The leopard gecko finally stopped moving but she spun around and smacked her tail right up on the other, causing them to fly away at the force. Isa didn't want to be involved with the whole argument. She already knew Raphael was beating himself up over it inside and hearing it from the others wasn't going to make it any better.
The guy with the blue hair yelled out at them. "Okay, that's it!" His staff had been discarded long ago and he reached into his coat, pulling out something out of it. However, it didn't take the mutants a moment to realize that he pulled out a small firearm on them. "You freaks are going down!" He panicked, about to aim right at them and put his finger right on the trigger. "You got that right!" Mikey jumped at the drop of a hat and swung his nunchaku at the guy, smacking him right in the head. The guy dropped to the ground and Mike kicked away the gun, making sure it was out of reach from him.
"Let's get out of here!" Most of the Purple Dragons had got up and ran out, finally getting the common sense to do so. "I'm with you!" The big guard, Two-Ton, had woken up some time ago, grabbed their flat-top blue haired leader and made a break for it. The alleyway was cleared out, leaving the turtles and gecko behind. "Gimme some green!" Mikey cheered, getting a high three with Raph. "Well, that was easier than expected." Donny came forward. "Except for the whole gun," Isa eyed the handgun on the ground, left abandoned by the wielder. There was no way she was picking that up. "Yeah, but you saw me! I got him before he could even aim." Mikey grinned, proud of himself.
"I hope there are more of those guys, I'm just getting warmed up." Isabella could practically hear that Raphael had that confident, tough guy tone in his voice. 'A little overconfident,' She thought to herself. Her eyes darted to the ground and she noticed that the building's shadows surrounding them had expanded a bit with the extension of.. people's shadows. Mikey noticed movement from the corner of his eye and he looked up to the rooftops with Isabella in tandem. "Uh, well, looks like you got your wish, Raphie boy." He pointed up top with his nunchaku, turning everyone else's attention upwards. The shadows surrounded them and some of them had bandana tails flying in the gentle breeze.
"Are those guys..." Leo picked up his katana blades at the ready, one of them glinting in the moonlight, "ninjas?" The uniformed ninjas leapt down and immediately they circled the five mutants, leaving no room for them to slip through. "Well, they're certainly ninja-esque." Mikey replied in a lower voice. "Be ready for anything." Leonardo cautioned more than ordered, pulling his swords up. Isabella nodded along with that, letting the chain gently drop from her grip. "I am so going to enjoy this." The red banded turtle smirked while he held his sai in position.
Donny leaped forward, pole vaulting over a group of ninjas, landing and spinning around, using the tactic from earlier and knocking them down. Two more jumped down from above. One of them swung their sword at him which he blocked, pushing them back and using the other side of his staff to trip the other. Don gave a noise of approval at them being on the ground. However they didn't stay there like the Purple Dragons had. They got themselves back on their feet and armed themselves again, ready to take action. Don gave a grunt, furrowing his eye ridges and gripping on his staff tighter.
Three ninjas jumped and surrounded Raph from both sides and his back. They bombarded him with punches and kicks and Raph dodged out of the way each time they came close. "Nice dragon kick. Yeah, sweet double phoenix punch." He taunted them, blocking a kick from behind and another from ahead of him. "Hey, ya' know this one?" He spun on one foot and kicked the trio away. Nearby, Leo met swords with one of them. The steel clinked when they met, and the wielders both refused to move before Leo broke it. The uniformed ninja leaned forward, not expecting that and got smacked on his back, falling forward onto the ground entirely.
Leo back-flipped and landed on some overhang. He turned his head and kept his eyes on the ninja following him on the overhang, leaping up and running across the wall to gain an advantage. Leo blocked their sword and watched as the person slid in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of another ninja standing behind him in a fighting stance. Then and there without a moment to lose, the three engaged in battle. Swords met in a clash with sparks flying. Leo twisted and turned to keep on blocking their strikes. The two ninjas made their swords met his own pair again and pressed down on them, causing him to struggle against them, gritting his teeth.
Mikey back on the ground swung his nunchaku at a ninja wielding tonfa. He made the typical noises he heard from movies. It seemed pointless to do that but it was his thing. Another jumped behind him to try to surprise the turtle. Michel, however, wasn't fooled, turning just as the guy was about to strike and dodged. The pair of ninjas kept swinging but he kept blocking. Meanwhile Isabella kept her distance, hopping away from the one ninja in front of her who kept trying to close it. Another popped up behind her ready to take a swing but Isa moved to the side. Her hands flew to the guy's wrist and she wrapped her chain around it, getting behind him and twisting it as hard as she could. The guy let out a yell in pain and Isa swore she felt something pop. She let the chain loose, only to kick him in the back and send him forward to the guy who backed her into the assailant.
Her eyes caught sight of Leo struggling on the overhang and was about to climb up to help him. Instead, she got blocked by another ninja who jumped down and was about to land on top of her. A sword glinted in the moonlight and she rolled out of the way. The blade's tip pierced into a crack in the concrete and the gecko faltered at the idea of what could've happened if she hadn't moved in time. The ninja pulled his sword up fast and the leopard gecko mutant blocked the oncoming attack, only for her own stance to falter and she received a kick in the chest. Any air she had left her entirely and she was knocked on her back on the ground. The ninja stepped right on her chest, pinning her there and holding his sword in both hands, raising it above his head and aiming it right at her neck.
"Isa!" Raph yelled, running and grabbing the guy by the front of his shozoku, pulling him right off the gecko. "Keep off my lil' sis!" He used the blunt end of his sai to jab him right between his eyes, letting go of him and making the opponent fall right back. He heard something crack underneath that mask of theirs and gave a satisfied grin before letting that grin fall when he turned to the gecko. He pulled her kusarigama up without too much care while helping the smaller gecko lean on him. Her arm went shoulders while he set his hand on her side, walking her to the back of the truck.
He could hear her struggle to breathe while he laid her down, using one of the duffel bags to lay her head on while he set her weapon away. "Come on. Breathe, sis. Breathe." He tried to remain calm for the sake of helping her but she still struggled to. He looked back outside to the guy who knocked her down, ready to put the hurt on him. The guy got up and went to come right towards them but Mikey had caught notice of the situation and jumped right in. He had to hand it to his little brother. He may goof off but he definitely prioritizes his family over everything. Finally, Isa took a gulp of air, gasping audibly. "Easy, lady. Slow deep breaths."
The gecko nodded and done so, finally gaining the rhythm of her breathing back. She let out a sigh when she finally felt calm, despite the fighting outside. "There. You alright?" He asked. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little out of breath and bruised." She answered. "Good. Now how the heck did he catch you like that? You're usually much faster than that." He scolded her, not in a serious way, just a sibling thing. "We wouldn't even be here if you didn't jump in the truck." She sat up, going to grab her kusarigama but Raphael snatched it away. "You don't think I know that?" He huffed at her.
"Give it back." She huffed right back. "Nuh uh, you're sitting this one out." He held the kusarigama out of reach from her. "I can help." Isabella reached for the weapon anyways, barely grasping the chain of it. "Not if you're hurt." He growled, using his other hand to push her back. Isabella was about to argue until she actually looked at his features. He looked tough on the surface but he was showing some form of vulnerability in his eyes. He was being protective and for the right reasons too. These opponents they had outside weren't like anything they've ever faced. The Purple Dragons' movements were predictable. That's why it was easy to take care of them so quickly. These guys however.. They were more professional. They fought like they had decades of training compared to them barely getting a singular decade of training underneath their belts.
She didn't get the chance to protest again. A group of shadows surrounded the back of the truck and they didn't give the mutants time to breathe. Isa went to the door and slapped her tail right out there, smacking one of them out of the way. "You sure about me sitting this out?" A smirk grew on her snout. Raphael shook his head and sighed. "Of course you gotta be a tough little lizard." He gave a smirk of his own and tossed the kusarigama back to her which she caught. "Alright, but you're staying close." She rolled her eyes and got out of the way just when he ran out and tackled a few of the ninjas. She followed him out after.
Meanwhile, two more of the ninjas landed before Donny and they both threw a pair of shurikens which the turtle in purple blocked them. The shurikens pierced his staff and he looked surprised. No, not surprised. It was more like he realized that while the fight went on, it was getting tougher and these guys were not willing to give up. Not until they were out of the way, one way or another. One of them made a leap for it and kicked him in the chest, right on his plastron. Donny felt his shell smack against the truck behind him and Mikey joined, getting his shell smacked on the truck beside him.
"Don, are we beating them, or are they beating us?" Mikey asked him. Donny didn't get to answer that instantly. Instead his eyes widened at the sight before him and he quickly turned to pull the door open, snatching his younger brother inside the armored truck. He shut the door as fast as he could just when it got pelted by shurikens. Neither turtle heard anymore of them make contact and Don opened the door, finally answering Mike. "Ask me again when we're winning, Mikey." The turtle in orange understood what that meant and it meant they were getting beat by them. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Down underground, Master Splinter was backed into a corner with two little robotic beasts approaching him still. Two other mechanisms laid on the ground with their parts in different spots and their bodies crushed. The two in front of him made a jump for it and he was quick to use his walking stick to slam them right back down. They crashed and rolled onto the floor, too damaged to even stand up or turn back on. He didn't assume safety just yet. There were four robots destroyed in front of him and he counted five earlier. His ears caught the horrible screeching sound and his eyes found the source.
The little robot jumped at him from behind, trying to get him off guard, but it failed to do so. The rat reeled his arm back and swung it across his front. It got hit so hard that it got smashed in half. It let out a final cry and parts fell to the ground beside him. Smoke from the machines floated in the air and now all five of the little machines laid on the ground, looking more like broken toys than anything complicated. The old rat went to take a step forward, ready to leave and to go look for wherever his children were. They should've been here by now. Something had to have happened to them.
He stepped down and felt the ground shake, hearing a cracking sound. His head tilted down in time to see the floor come apart. It all collapsed underneath his feet and he fell with a scream. Rubble fell alongside him as he spiraled down. He turned over entirely, trying to look where he was falling into but his eyes were squeezed shut, trying to keep debris out. His backside felt up on the stone wall and he spiraled out onto flat ground with dirt, dust and rubble kicking up behind him. He finally came to a stop, taking a moment to pick himself up with a short grunt and huffed, patting his shoulder to kick dust off. He looked around and started walking, trying to get a hold of his surroundings. There was a bright light to his right side and he turned to it, walking forward in caution. He stopped right at the entrance in shock of the new discovery.
Leonardo still stood on the overhang. The two ninjas from before holding onto him while three more jumped right in to assist. He clenched his teeth and growled, finally wringing his arm loose from one of them and hitting the one away. He got a chance to kick the other one who held him first away and took it. The three new ninjas pinned him up on the wall but he swung his arm out, sword still in hand. The three ducked away from that, not wanting to get sliced, but in doing so they lost their grip. Immediately, Leo followed that with another swing, punching them straight off the overhang and he jumped down to meet the rest of his siblings.
"How many of these goons do we have to bap before they get the hint?" Raphael complained after landing beside the truck where Mikey, Isa, and Leo were. Isa almost wanted to laugh at the irony of his question, considering he was the one who wanted to have a challenge. "Really. They just keep coming." Mikey put a hand on his head, sounding more worried just as more ninjas hopped right in front and posed for a fight. "Time to switch to plan B. Donatello?" Leonardo looked into the truck where Donny was beneath the steering wheel, hot wiring the truck. "Almost there, Leo." He responded, taking the last two wires in hand and pressing them together causing them to spark. The engine roared to life and Don jumped up into the driver's seat. "This bus now leaving for anywhere but here!" He called out, shutting the door.
The uniformed shinobi surrounded the mutants and Raphael looked ready to kick another one away but Leo stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. "Come on, we're going!" He yelled as the wheels to the truck began screeching. Isabella followed after the turtles, jumping right in just before Don could speed off and speed off he did. The ninja jumped away just as the turtle barreled out of the alley. "Whoa! Nice driving Don, for a turtle with no license." Mikey jabbed at him while the turtles bounced in the back of the truck. "Hey, you want pretty, or you want effective?" Donny shot back, swerving around on the street.
Unfortunately his swerving caused the gecko to slide across the floor and hit the wall. "Donny! We can't have casualties here! What are we gonna tell Splinter?" Isa yelled up front, standing up and grabbing a hold of the passenger seat. "Sorry, Isa." He winced, already not wanting to think about what Splinter would say of their escapade. "Stay right there. I'm coming up front." She grumbled, climbing to the passenger seat. "Isa, your tail's blinding me!" Don gave a huff at her tail, pushing it aside with one hand. "Are you saying it's fat?" Isa just gasped and looked at him all offended. "I am not. It wouldn't be a bad thing if it was anyways." Don noted, putting his hand back on the steering wheel. Isabella just gave a huff back and sat down, holding her tail in her lap.
"I gotta tell you, this has been one mondo bizarro day." Mikey changed the subject and Isa looked back at him, leaning the center console and Don's duffel bag. "First all those metal robot things underground and," he frowned and gave a more frustrated tone, "what's with all those ninjas? Ninjas in New York City, besides us?" Donny turned down a street in a harsh left and Mikey fell out of the seat he had. Raphael picked up one of the Purple Dragon's duffel bags and unzipped it. "Talk about not right, check this out." He turned it right over and dumped the cash on the ground. Cold hard wads of cash that were definitely unethically gathered. Mikey grabbed two wads of them and got up on his knees. "Show me the money baby! Woohoo!"
Leo stood up and walked to him, snatching the cash out of his hand. "This isn't finders' keepers, Mikey." The turtle in orange deflated at that. Isabella looked out the window and caught sight of a cop car. "Hey, isn't that the same car that chased this armored truck for a minute?" She asked, pointing them out. Leo took the hint and the three turtles in the back put the cash back in the bag. Donny drove up alongside them and stopped. "Alright, Isa move over." Leo held one of the bags and stood behind the center console. "You gotta be kidding me. I just got comfy here." She huffed a bit. "Just lean the chair back for a moment."
Isabella gave a noise and grabbed the lever to the side of the chair before pushing down on it. She yelped as the chair dropped back all the way and took her with it. "You good?" Raph looked down at her. "Yeah, I'm good," The gecko couldn't help a giggle. Leo rolled his eyes and gave an amused smile before leaning over and tossing one of the duffel bags. "Take care of this money, will you guys?" Other bags followed after them, landing on the roof of the policeman's car. One of the policemen, a younger man, watched as the truck they were chasing drove away. "Did you see that? Some little green men in an armored car just threw a bunch of money at us!" The older man rolled his eyes and let out a "tch, rookie" in an annoyed tone.
Meanwhile the turtle behind the wheel, Donny kept on driving, making a sharp right and busting through some gates. "Good gods, Donatello. Did you have to do that?" The gecko looked at the yellowish olive-green turtle while she let the chair sit back up. "Now's not the time to be polytheistic, sis." He had a grin on his face. "Yeah, yeah." The gecko rolled her eyes and fixed her chair a bit more. If Don memorized the map right, then he could just make this turn and intersect with the drainage junction. He did so, finally seeing the light ahead.
The reptiles let out a collective sigh of relief, seeing the familiar rat waiting for them. Don slowed the truck and parked it near where Splinter waits. Just right after the turtles and gecko all ran out of the truck, heading to Splinter. All of them shouted a collective "Hey!" Leo added on, "Sensei, you're alright." and Raph yelled "Splinter" while they gathered around him. Splinter stood up and smiled at the five of them. "Yes. Well, I am glad to see you too, my children."
"Master Splinter, so much has happened today." Leo told, almost ecstatic to tell him everything that happened despite everything. "That's an understatement," Isa jabbed at the turtle in blue. "Yes, yes, there will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo." The rat turned his head forward and began walking to the giant hole in the ground. "But first I wish to take you all home." Those words left the reptiles confused. "Home?" Mikey spoke what was on everyone's mind. "We got no home." Raph squatted down to one robot's head on the ground, smacking it and receiving clangs back in response. "Those robots trashed our pad, remember, Sensei?"
"Do not worry. I think I have found a solution to our current housing problem." He looked back at them with a sort of enthusiasm. "Follow me, my children." He turned back ahead and jumped, disappearing down the giant hole in the ground. Mikey's mouth was agape while Raph and Don looked at each other. Isabella stared at where Splinter once stood, taking a moment to comprehend what happened. Leonardo finally followed after Splinter with a flip and Don dived right after. Mikey was poised at the edge of the hole, more than likely about to do a cannonball and yelled, "Cowabu-" Raph shoved him and Mikey fell in, "Ahh! Not funny, Raph!"
Raph chuckled underneath his breath, "Oh yes it is." He smirked. Isabella gave an amused chuckle of her own. "Come on, lil' sis. We gotta catch up to Splinter." He called to her which she nodded. "Nah, I'm good. I think I'll find my own place. Of course I know that." She bit back sarcastically, watching the dark green turtle in red jump after the others. Isabella did have a choice of scaling the walls of the tunnel but it looked too smooth to grasp and it would've taken too long to try to climb down so she jumped after them. Isabella of course regretted her actions. The tunnel was a bit longer than expected. She ended up shouting with the turtles while sliding and skidding across the hard terrain before she slammed against the turtle pile in the middle of the floor. They definitely were not comfortable cushions to land on.
"Wicked slide!" Mikey shouted. "Two out of ten. I would not recommend it." Isabella reviewed, letting a soft set of clicks leave her which made Mikey let out a soft squeak, standing up and catching up with Master Splinter. Isabella sat herself up with a wince, still sore from the stony slide which she glared at while she stood up. "No offense, Master Splinter, but this place doesn't seem so great." Isabella heard Mikey and went to catch up with the turtle and rat. "Look with your heart, Michelangelo, and not your eyes." Splinter still had a smile on his muzzle. "Um, okay." The dark teal turtle stopped in his tracks, scratching the side of his head in confusion. "And walk this way." Splinter lead the way, tapping his staff alongside him.
Mikey bent over enough, pretending to walk the same way Splinter does. Donny crossed his arms at him before pulling out his staff to bap him in the head receiving an "ow" from the younger turtle. "Pretty sure he meant in this direction, Mike." Isabella held back a chuckle and went ahead, following after Splinter. It didn't take a moment before the turtles followed them too. The young reptiles all halted and gasped at the grandeur of the place. "This is beyond awesome!" Mikey's excited tone bounced off the walls. "I could really tune this space up." Don looked around in awe of it all. Raph and Leo didn't waste a second, already running in. Mikey rushed in and climbed up a pillar at a rapid speed to the second floor. "This room here, mine!" He called, pointing at the room next to him before he jumped down to where Don was standing. "And where you're standing, also mine." Isabella looked around the place in awe before following Mikey's example and climbing up another pillar, finding a room.
It was massive compared to the one they all used to have. To her, it was amazing to have her own space, even if it did need some cleaning. "I call this room!" The gecko yelled, not caring if they were even paying attention or not. She came out of the room, climbing back down to join with the others and Splinter. "You see my children, Change is good," Splinter smiled. "We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter." Leo smiled back. "Good," the rat gave a smug sounding tone in his voice, "so let's see you kids clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy." The turtles groaned. "Aww, man." Isabella gave a sigh, "Come on guys. It'll be worth it in the end." The lizard was annoyed as well, but this was no doubt probably karma for running to the surface. Oh, she was not looking forward to Splinter's scolding when he'll hear the whole story. 'Welp, better delay the inevitable.' She thought to herself and got herself started on cleaning up their new home with the others.
Far above the surface, the guy with the blue flat-top styled hair knelt before a man who gently poured a cup of steaming hot tea. He watched as the man brought the cup to his lips and sipped, not showing any sign that he cared if his mouth burned from the heat. The man before him despite his age had a sense of refined power to him that made the gang leader terrified out of his mind. "Sir I..." He was too terrified to even think of the words to say yet he had to speak, to plead for forgiveness and another chance. "I uh, my men, we uh, we lost the armored car with the money. But we were attacked.." This made the man raise an eyebrow. ".. by some sort of karate frog creatures or something." The man's eyes narrowed. It was such a small change yet it still was very noticeable. "They took us by surprise. It - it wasn't my fault."
"Enough." The elder raised his hand, halting the man's explanation entirely. It sounded like something of a madman. No, not even that. Perhaps it was a poorly convoluted lie, yet there was too much conviction to simply call it a fib. "I promise sir, I won't fail you again." The Purple Dragon gang leader looked up at him. "I know." The ebony haired man spoke softly, unnerving the younger person in the room. "You won't fail me again." He stood up from his place and the man's eyes followed him up. He was in front of a banner that had a claw pointing upwards looking more like a crown above the man's head as if the atmosphere itself didn't speak for who had the most power here. "Ever."
The Purple Dragon leader, or former leader, known as John pleaded, "NO! SIR! PLEASE!" Terror couldn't even describe how John felt in his final moments while the doors slammed firmly shut. His screams echoed through the room and then... there was nothing. For a moment, there was an eerie silence and even that was broken. A maniacal laugh filled the air, echoing through the same room the screams once filled. The laugh belonged to the older man, someone who was on top of the underground criminal empire. He may as well have built this criminal empire himself with how powerful he was. Yet, he wanted more than that and nothing was going to get in the way of what he wanted.
Author's Note: Okay so I wasn't as consistent as I'd hope to be, I was trying to absorb as much Ninja media as I could before I finally came around to watch the episodes, find the transcripts and write down the chapters. Yes, I said chapters, I'm basically going to write them down and hope I post them in a bi-weekly/monthly schedule, if that makes any sense.
I'm sure by now you've noticed the difference between Sister's Story and TMNG, most notably it being the third person perspective instead of first person. I liked the first person POV for a while but doing so made details unnoticeable or irrelevant to the person talking so a third POV seemed a better option for writing.
Does the third person point of view drag a bit? Yes, however, this story is not meant to be all about Isabella. I mean, it is, but she's not the only main character and I felt doing Sister's Story the way I did, it basically erased the entire TMNT group as main characters themselves. I want it to be about them as much as it is about her. I want to relay their canonical personalities, their thoughts, all of it, and apply it all to this fic, this universe.
Basically, I want to do Isabella and the TMNT group justice after everything I did in Sister's Story. I want to give them something better than what I initially wrote for them.
I'm getting emotional over some fictional characters again, but hey that happens for everyone one way or another.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'm happy for those who still stuck around. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear from all of you again. Also, happy national TMNT day. I'll try not to leave you guys hanging so often.