Wow, this story got a lot more attention than I thought it would! Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, or left a review on this story! This chapter is a bit rusty due to medical issues, but I really wanted to get it out and posted, so I hope you enjoy! The beginning is definitely where I had the most trouble, but I think it's alright. I hope you guys enjoy the cruel irony with our little turtle and his 'name', as it slightly broke my heart thinking about it.
I don't own TMNT.
Flames licked at the edges of his vision, burning his eyes. He held an arm against his face, trying to guard himself as he stepped forward. Something was pressing against his chest, holding him back. He could hear a child screaming, crying, and he had to get to her. He had to save her...
He woke up to actual cries, multiple ones echoing through the room around him. Above him was a concrete ceiling, and from what he could see, concrete walls. Sunlight filtered in from some sort of vent in the ceiling. Breathing heavily, he reached up to wipe his eyes and was frozen by the sight. His hand, once human, was now pink and bony. The sight reminded him of the rats sold inthe pet shop. This brought back a flash of a memory, and he moved his gaze to the rest of his body.
He was covered in brown fur, and his feet had been affected in much the same way as his hands. Shaking, he touched his face, closing his eyes in horror when he felt a long nose and soft wiskers instead of his normal features. He was a rat, but not a normal one, not by any standards. He reminded himself of a monster from a cheap science fiction movie. He was some sort of hybrid, a freak.
His study of his new appearance had distracted him from his situation, and he snapped back to his senses. Deciding his problem would have to be set aside, he turned towards the source of the crying and gasped.
Three beings were curled around each other not a foot away from him. They were sobbing, clutching on to each other like they were beloved stuffed animals. The way they held themselves was that of a human toddler, and they shared many appearance traits with one. However, their skin was various shades of green, and a shell covered their torso. They were hybrids as well, turtle-like humans, or perhaps human-like turtles.
Seeing them brought back a flood of memories, small snippets of the night before, and he struggled to sort them through. Closing his eyes, he went through everything one at a time, distinguishing between his nightmare and reality.
He had stopped by the pet shop for a new friend. After much deliberation, he ended up with four baby turtles. After leaving the building, he was bumped into by a strange man and followed him. What was the saying? Curiosity killed the cat. He smiled slightly at his choice of words, the cruel irony hitting him. Yes, curiosity killed the cat, bringing him back as prey for his former self.
Amused, he returned to his task. A green ooze had hit him and, if their appearance was anything to go by, the turtles. He had been in the worst pain of his life, worse than the incident before. In a rush, every noise magnified and vision blurry, he had grabbed his former pets and pulled himself into a manhole. He roamed for hours until he arrived at an empty subway station, falling asleep soon after.
A twinge of sorrow hit him as he glanced at the three turtles. They were no longer crying, having reduced their noise to soft whimpers. He reached out for the closest one but paused, the beginning of his story nagging at his mind. He had left the store with four turtles, but only three were here. Standing up, he searched the room, hoping the fourth had simply wondered off, but in his heart, he knew what had happened. He had left the child on the surface, and by now, he could've been taken by someone, killed, or worse. He mentally slapped himself. Yes, he had been confused, but he had left a child behind, a mutant that could be all over the news by now. He could've subjected this child to horrible, horrible things.
He walked towards the exit, ready to go check if, by some miracle, the kid was still alive. He passed under a patch of light and stopped in his tracks, looking up at the world above. It was daytime. If he went now, he would no doubt be caught. Not to mention the other turtles, who he had been so quick to leave behind. He would have to start thinking more clearly if he was to make it through this.
Taking deep breaths, he turned back to the children, kneeling down beside them. Tonight, he would search for the missing turtle, but first, he needed food, for himself and the other three in his care.
The turtle sighed happily. Whatever this light was, it felt amazing. So warm, comforting, and it made it so easy for him to relax. Now, he was well rested, but he wasn't ready to move just yet. Maybe if he stayed there, he could go back to sleep. He was still exhausted from the night's activities, after all.
Just as he managed to drift into dreamland, he was awoken by multiple gasps. Blinking, he pulled himself into a sitting position, carefully making out the image before him.
Three of those beings stood in front of him, staring down in a none too positive way. One of them spoke, her words making their way to the turtle's head. "Freak. Freak? What was that? It had to be referring to him, as she was looking right at him. The prospect excited him. He heard these beings call each other things all the time, but he had never gotten one besides 'turtle'. He was supposed to be called 'freak', not turtle. Yes, this made much more sense! Giggling softly, he clapped his hands together. He finally had something to be called!
This joy was short lived as rough hands yanked him up.
The next thing he knew he was being shaken, and three sets of eyes examined him. One of them pulled out a piece of metal and plastic, pushing a few buttons before beginning to speak into it rapidly. Suddenly self-conscious, he shrank back, pulling his head into his shell.
This resulted in him being turned upside down and staring at the ground that seemed miles away. One voice began to reprimand another, which answered in annoyance. As the two argued, the turtle stared at the ground in shock. Shrieking, he began to wiggle, eventually pulling away from the grasp that held him.
He fell to the ground, a sharp pain radiating throughout his body. Ignoring the yells behind him, he tried to stand, forgetting his earlier lesson. Hitting the ground yet again, he gasped, rolling over to see the beings towering over him, reaching out to grab him again. "It'll be okay. We're going to take to a safe place."
These words meant nothing to him, only sparking more fear. Searching for an escape route, he began to panic, until his eyes landed on a hole.
Yellow tape surrounded the area, but he could get through it. He just had to get past the beings and into the hole, and he'd be alright.
Staring up at their faces one last time, he waited until the hands were inches away before jumping between pairs of legs. He crawled as quickly as he could, pulling himself forward until he had reached the yellow barrier.
Scrambling through it, he pulled himself through the hole to the sounds of distant sirens and scarily close shouts.
Instantly, he was in a free fall, screaming as he tried to find a hold on something, anything. This was to no avail, and he hit water below with a sharp snap.
Instinctively holding his breath, he stayed under, staring through the ripples at light shining through. It was a solid circle, with no shadows blocking it, but he stayed still until he felt as though his lungs would explode.
Pulling up with a gasp, he floated in the water. Voices sounded above him, and he made the decision to swim, ducking under the surface and moving away from the light. As hopeless as he was moving like the beings were, he did fine in water.
After a few minutes of swimming, he grew tired, drifting to the side of the tunnel until he had a grip on the ledge. Leaning his head against it, he rested for a moment before lifting his eyes and looking around.
Some distance away, an empty doorway lead to a large, round room. Curiosity peaked, he pulled himself in, peering closer.
A ledge surrounded the perimeter of the room, but the center was filled with water. A waterfall roared down on one side of the circle. Freak, as he had begun to call himself, followed the flow of the water from the hole it was spilling out from, to the center of the room and out, until he had turned around and was looking back the way he came. No wonder he had gotten tired so easily. He was swimming against the water, not with it.
Proud of himself for deducing that, Freak pulled himself into the room, soft laughter escaping him as he was pulled into the center and pushed back out. Flipping onto his back, he kicked towards the ledge, pulling out of the water and going to investigate the waterfall.
To his delight, he could slip behind it. A small path entered into a tiny version of the room on the other side. There wasn't a pool so much as a small puddle of water, and the rest of the area was dry. Turning around, it was nearly impossible for him to see the rest of the room, which provided him with a feeling he didn't get very often in his old glass tank.
Turning his attention to the puddle, he dipped a finger in to see just how deep it was. This observing was interrupted by a movement in corner of his vision. He ducked closer to the water, studying the moving surface.
He could just make out some sort of person with dark eyes and green skin. Somehow, Freak understood that he was looking at himself. He didn't look like those other, much louder beings. He also didn't look like the ones he used to live with, either. All in all, he looked pretty...what was the word they used in the pet store sometimes? Cool. He looked cool. His face broke out in a grin, and he was distracted once more by a gap in his smile. He stuck his tongue into the gap, smiling in amusement. It reminded him of the smaller beings that came into the pet store and looked at him sometimes.
He had decided that this would be a new home. The water wasn't as clean as what it was in his old home. In fact, it was coated with a green slime, and every noise he made echoed loudly, but it was all his.
A pang in his stomach reminded him that he had never gotten anything from the pet store. He couldn't go back, what if they were still there? No, he would have to find something himself. What that was, he didn't know, but hopefully he'd know when he found it. Yes, he'd get food, and then he'd look for the others.