Part 2
"Yes I'm not kidding Don! Do you want a damn picture to prove it?" April was flailing her arms in the air and pacing around the kitchen. I stopped in front of the threshold trying to button the white shirt Casey had given me. It felt strange wearing clothes and it was definitely going to take some time to get used to it. These pants that Casey called "jeans" were also proving to be a bit of a challenge for my mobility.
When April saw me, I caught her blush and then she quickly looked away. "You want to talk to him?" She said into the phone. She walked over and handed it to me.
"Don?"
"Leo what the hell?!" Donatello's concerning voice boomed in my ears. Yes, I didn't have small holes for ears anymore and I quite enjoyed it.
"Don…this is amazing!" I laughed while looking at my arms and legs.
"Remember that device I had all you put on? That's what it does, or what it was supposed to do anyway. It was going to make us all human so we could live normal lives like everyone else. For some reason, your device only worked when you left the city." I heard some clicking and vicious typing on the other end of the line and for a while, Don stopped talking. "I see." He said, finally. "All the wireless activity of the city disrupted the connection between my remote and the devices. I switched them on but never switched it off since I figure they didn't work anyway. Once you left Manhattan and went into the country, there weren't any phone lines or anything to disrupt the transmission."
"Are you saying this isn't permanent?" I asked, rather saddened.
"Yes, it's only provisional just as long as I have the remote on, now that you're out of range." He said. "But isn't this great! It actually works!"
"You're a genius Don."
After I finished talking on the phone with my brother, I went into the bathroom to find a mirror so I could further examine my transformation. The new look scared me for a second, my features were more pronounced then they had been with my turtle body. My hair was chocolate brown and my eyes were bluer then the sky. I looked younger than I really was but certainly looked old enough to pass for the 30 year old adult I was. My smile looked the same as it did before with perfectly straight, white teeth. For a moment I just stood there and stared endlessly into that mirror. It was like a new chapter in my life had just begun but like Donnie said; this wasn't permanent and it only worked outside of the city.
"Hey Bro." Casey softly knocked on the door and let himself in. "Look I'm sorry about getting mad at you earlier." He stepped into the frame of the mirror and sighed.
"Do you know how much better we can do if my brothers and I were like this? We could catch our enemies off guard and take them down." I looked at him with desperation.
"Don't go AWOL on me Leo. You just aint' the same as a human yah know? I miss my shelly friend." He admitted with a sigh. I went to say something but a sudden knock at the front door set me on edge.
"You were expecting someone?" I asked him.
"No." Casey responded.
I went to go and hide but then I remembered that I didn't have to hide anymore. For the first time in my life, I actually walked up to the door to meet with the unwelcomed guest.
"April, stay in the kitchen." Casey whispered to her. "I have a feeling this is gunna get ugly."
I reached behind my back to grab my katanas but once I realized they weren't there, I pulled on Casey's arm and stopped him.
"My swords are gone." I gave him a worried look but then quickly ran over to my duffel bag and pulled out the few throwing stars I had brought along. Great, it's me and a few pieces of tin against whoever was at the door.
Casey held one finger to his lips and then placed his hand on the knob. He slowly opened it and greeted the guest with a frown.
"Hello there." It was a woman, a very manly looking woman. "I'm Doctor Churchill." What shocked me most was when she let herself in. "I run an organization with a man called Bishop, I'm sure you've heard of it."
That name set a bad taste on the tip of my tongue. Bishop was an old enemy, the president of a squad that fought alienated threats, including mutants.
"What can I do for you sir, I mean miss?" Casey smiled apologetically. By this time, April had wondered out of the kitchen and made her way over to Casey and I.
"I was sent here after heavy traces of mutagen showed up in this very spot. It's my job to find the source and return it back to base. I spent a few days hanging around the area but sudden spikes in my readings told me I had to investigate further." The heavy set woman threw a large bag onto the floor and began pulling out strange and complicated looking devices. I would kill to have my swords right about now.
"Listen lady, this aint' a free-for-all." Casey's voice was beginning to sound agitated.
"Would you like to see my government addressed warrant?" She got in his face and spat. "I didn't think so. Now step aside SIR." She pulled up a large metal detector looking device and began sweeping it across the floor. "Yes, my suspicions were correct, as always."
"Oh no." April whispered. "Do you think she can detect you?" She asked me quietly.
"I don't know April. Just keep a low profile for now." I tried to calm her.
Churchill walked all the way around the house and nearly destroyed every bit of it in the process. She moved furniture around, knocked over plants and other floor decorations just so she could "get a clear reading" of the entire house. She placed her device directly on Casey Jones and made faces as it beeped. Once satisfied, she moved on. She walked in the bathroom and shouted "Ah-Ha!" as her detector went wild with various noises. "There is definitely an alien in this household!"
"There is now." Casey snickered but stopped once I gave him a look of disapproval.
"Please miss, can't we just settle this like human beings?" April pleaded.
"I'm on a hunt Ms. No deals can be made until I find what I'm looking for." She continued her search upstairs in the attic. Casey, April and I followed closely behind her with me in the lead, keeping them at a safe distance.
"Would you like anything to drink?" April was trying desperately to be polite.
"Yes! The mutant was up here! These readings are amazing! I know I'm on its trail now!" Churchill grinned with pleasure.
"So, what are yah gunna do if you find it?" Casey teased.
"Rip it to shreds of course!"
I shrieked in the back of my throat without knowing it and caught the woman's attention.
"You there!" Churchill grabbed the back of my neck and smacked her face up against mine. "I haven't seen you here. Who are you?!" She demanded to know.
"I'm a friend of the family." I didn't want to fight back just in case Bishop was looking for us specifically. He probably would have told her about our skillful fighting backgrounds.
"Hmm…" She tossed me around like a ragdoll while examining me closely. "I don't see the relation. However, my detector is picking up large amounts of mutagen like properties all over you." She growled. "Have any explaining to do SIR?"
"Uh…" I was lost for words. "I work at the chemical plant down the road." I tried to top of my lie with a smile but it was no use. I was the worst liar in the history of lying. I guess I should have asked Michelangelo for some pointers when I had the chance.
Churchill leaned in closer to me and started to sniff air up her nose. Once she growled and squeezed my neck tighter I knew it was time to blow my cover. I wrapped my legs around hers and threw her huge body overtop of mine. She landed in an awkward position on the other side of the room and got up immediately like nothing had happened.
"Holy crap who is this chick? The 'She hulk'?" Casey grabbed a bat from the corner of the room and swung it in front of him. "April get to safety!"
"No way! I'm with you guys." She planted her feet on the ground and balled her hands into fists.
"Very well. I like doing things the hard way anyway!" Churchill cocked her head awkwardly as she pulled up her detector and shot a large net out of it. I used my throwing stars to cut a few threads before it could reach me but there was too much of it to overpower. It wrapped around my body and sent me crashing to the ground and all the way down the steps. "Some dissection should tell me what's up with the readings I'm getting from you." She chuckled malevolently as she leaped off the top step and landed right next to me on the first floor.
"Get away from my friend!" Casey charged her with his wooden bat but she easily put him in a headlock and threw him on top of me.
"Don't get in my way." She used her foot to kick him to the other side of the room.
"Hiyah!" I saw April jump down the steps and land on Churchill's shoulders. For a while they struggled around the living room as April tried desperately to hold on and Churchill tried desperately to throw her off. It was like a cutout seen from an old western movie. Sadly though, April was tossed and smashed right into Casey who had tried to regain his feet. They both collapsed on the floor in a heap as Churchill put me into a fireman's carry and headed for the door.
"Leo no!" Casey and April cried.
I struggled as best as I could to break free but the nets entangling my body made any kind of movement useless. Once outside, I was thrown into the back of a truck and engulfed by darkness. My new body appeared to be practically useless to me. I had no shell to help the nets stay off me and I felt much weaker as well with my legs restrained by this pathetic human attire. Maybe this transformation wasn't as bright and happy as I thought it would be.
I heard the engine start up and immediately my body went into full out Ninja mode. I used one of the throwing stars to fully release myself from the net and then I began to search for exits. I had no such luck though. I was completely boxed in with no way out and now I could feel the truck rolling down the dirt road.
"Let me go!" I screamed and suddenly I was slammed into a wall by the immediate breaking of the vehicle. I heard Churchill step out and walk to the back where I was being held. I prepared to jump out as soon as the door opened but when it did, there were chain bars blocking the way out.
"Agent Bishop wants to look at my newest captive." She held up a little camera and pointed it at me. "You see sir?" She smiled. "The master is quite pleased."
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something running down the hill at full speed. Once it was close enough, I heard the faint sounds of chanting and immediately I knew who it was.
"Goongala!" Casey's body full out body slammed Churchill, knocking her right into the bars and breaking them enough so I could squeeze my way out. If I would have had a shell, I wouldn't have been able to fit. So I guess this body had its ups after all. Once free, I grabbed the back of Churchill's neck and pulled her into a headlock.
"Mercy! Mercy!" She cried out as I tightened my grip on her.
"Way to use your head Casey." I praised him.
"Let me go!"
Churchill's head thrashed back and crashed into mine but I was able to stay standing after the blow. I only staggered back and moaned from the impact.
"You're coming with me!" She pointed at me and smiled insanely. "Yes, I will finally be promoted with this one!"
"Hey Leo…I know being a turtle has its ups and downs…but like I said, you make a better mutant than a human." Casey looked at me and winked.
"What?" Churchill looked at me in horror. "So you are a mutant?! I knew it!" She pointed a new device at me and swore she would cut me to pieces if I didn't cooperate.
For once in his life despite the intensity of our current situation, Casey had a plan. By telling her I was a mutant, he was able to get her attention off him long enough so he could jump behind her and clock the side of her head with his baseball bat.
"Strike one!" Casey yelled while Churchill spun around dizzily. "Strike two!" He swept her out from underneath her feet. She collapsed onto the floor and moaned loudly while trying to get up. "Strike three!" He gave a last blow to her torso that made her stop moving.
"Sorry miss." I walked up and put my foot on her stomach. "You're out."
"We're coming to you "live" from upstate New York where a young teenage boy was almost kidnapped yesterday evening by a former worker of the EPF. President Bishop claims that he had no idea this was going on and will seek action immediately." Cameras snapped and microphones were held out to me as I smiled and waved at the crowd the next morning. Yes, I smiled and waved to the cameras that were being pointed directly at me. I wasn't running away and trying to hide like I normally would, I was actually welcomed by the outside world for once in my life. The popularity was short lived however. Bishop claimed to have no idea what went on and I needed to fix that. I knew all too well that bishop had everything to do with what happened to us last night.
"Sir, can you tell us what exactly went on here?" One woman asked me while holding out a small tape recorder.
"All I can say is that Bishop is a dangerous man and needs to be dealt with properly." I could already feel Bishop's rage as he witnessed what he thought was a new enemy. But what he thought was new, was actually just the old. I wondered if he was smart enough to catch on.
"Do you believe we should shut down the EPF?" Another woman asked.
"No more questions! Come on get outta here!" Casey backed me up and told everyone to take Churchill and leave. She was sitting in the back of a police vehicle trying to break free while bouncing the car up and down at the same time. "Go on scram!" After a few more minutes and last minute questions with the police, Jones farm was finally paparazzi free.
"Well…this was interesting." April giggled. "It's a bit horrifying knowing that that woman was walking around here though."
"Yeah, except now Bishop is going to know we're onto him." I sighed.
"That's an adventure for another time bro. Come on, let's go home." Casey smiled.
When I returned back to the lair, I was immediately crowded by my curious brothers.
"Wow! You look good bro!" Mike ran his hand up and down my face and grinned. "I want one!"
"Not until you two admit I was right." Don smiled proudly and accepted praise from April, Casey and Master Splinter.
"I'm sorry I ever doubted you bro!" Mikey exclaimed while Raph stayed silent.
"Pfft, I've seen better." He growled.
"So how come he's still human?" April asked.
"The transmission has sort of a lag effect. He should be normal any moment now." Don looked at me as if I was his work of art, which in a way, I was. "Man I'm good."
"So will we all be able to be people too?!" Mikey asked.
"I'm sure I can come up with a way for the signals to be unaffected by the cities pulses. But for now, we'll just have to stay in the shadows." Don smiled.
I didn't mind returning back to my old self and quite frankly, I didn't mind staying in the underground either. After that incident with the news, I would prefer to be unknown and mysterious rather than a part of a world that's as crazy as the one we live in. Besides, I was trained to live and work in the shadows that keep our enemies guessing over and over again. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world, even a chance for a new life.
"Don?" I turned to my purple clad brother.
"Yes?" He looked at me expectantly.
"What are we?" I asked.
"Umm…" He was stumped by the question.
"We're turtles. We're teenage mutant Ninja turtles, not teenage humans." I saw Raph crack a smile at me. "I wouldn't want it any other way. What about you guys?
Mikey looked disappointed at first but then pumped his fist in the air and shouted "turtle power!" Raph nodded in agreement and I turned to Don to see what he thought.
"Your right." After a bit of hesitation, Don took the remaining three earpieces, including mine and crushed them underneath his Bo-Staff.
"Yeah!" Casey chanted. "Man I love you guys!"
"All in bros." Raph held his three fingered hand into the center of the circle that my brothers and I were making. Don and Mikey followed and then waited for me to join in. As I pushed my hand on top of theirs it began to morph in front of my eyes back to its original, green, three-fingered form.
"Turtle Power!"
Well? Not bad for a first time one-shot lol. If you liked this then I will see about making some more (NOT SEQUELS). However, I won't know what you thought unless of course you TELL ME. Lol. I heart criticism people. I like the good stuff too…that's always a bonus :D Please, just review lol THANKS
As you can see though, one-shots for me are terribly long. I don't mind it if you don't. HeHe. And yes, this is a one-shot not a two-shot because I thin two-shots are based on chapter numbers. This one just has parts. Because parts are cool.
-Embers