Chapter 3: Ninja Rap and Rescue

As Sebastian and the mermaids left the cavern, something caught Vanna's eye. There was a flicker of light above. She had personally turned off all of the battery operated lights in the cavern; this was odd.

"What's that?" she asked her sisters. They all stopped, and another flash of light reflected in the waters above.

"So weird," Briel replied, "Cruise ships don't send off fireworks unless they are out in the ocean."

Maisy replied, "And it's not New Year's Eve or the 4th of July!" The sisters turned and exchanged a look before swimming off in the direction of the docks.

"Girls! No! Stop!" Sebastian exclaimed, "Please come back!"

Vanna and her sisters rose above the surface and gaped at the magnificent fireworks going off above the Dockshore Club. They knew this place well, having snuck out many nights before and watched humans dancing and laughing. The sisters even had a special spot in the corner of the room to observe comfortably. There were rocks for them to climb up and sit on. They had even been able to dislodge some wooden boards to get a better view of the fun within. They swam over to their spot, climbed up, and removed the boards. Inside, there was chaos as humans moved about. It couldn't have been bad since the band was still playing.

"Those are some sick costumes!" one human was saying to a friend. What was going on? Finally, the humans moved, leaving no feat to block their view. What the sisters saw made all four of their hearts stop in unison.

There, in the center of the room, were four turtles! They weren't regular turtles, though. They were part-human! They were fighting some humans dressed in black while dancing! When one evil human remained, the turtles surrounded him, turned around, and crushed him against their shells - knocking him out! The turtles started dancing in celebration, cheered on by the rest of the crowd!

By now, Vanna had only been paying attention to one turtle - the tall one with a purple bandana! She wanted to get up there and dance with him herself! She would love to look into his eyes without the mask! How would it feel for him to brush the purple curls away from her face?

Had she been able to remove herself from her reverie, she would have noticed that her sisters were equally entranced by these part-human turtles. Suddenly, Vanna felt Maisy grab her arm and gasp in alarm. A young wolf had crawled to their hiding space and sniffed Maisy. Maisy reached into her bag, took out some rainbow seaweed, and gave it to the wolf. He only bit a tiny piece but then licked her face like a puppy. Meanwhile, a young snapping turtle crawled over and ate the rest of the seaweed. Vanna a pet the snapping turtle's head and turned back to watch her handsome turtle. She saw that they had now made their way to the stage with the band. The crowd was going wild!

"Like what you saw?" a shorter turtle with an orange bandana yelled to the crowd, "Then give it up for a turtle!" Beside her, Maisy was blushing.

Suddenly a giant speaker was thrown down and the music stopped. A man with spikes all over his clothes and helmet stepped up on stage; the crowd gasped. The four turtles were confronting him. If only they could get closer to hear what they were saying! The man removed a canister filled with something green from his robes. Vanna had a sneaky suspicion that the canister didn't belong to him. The club door burst open and a human boy ran in. He flipped onto the stage and kicked the canister out of the evil human's hands. The spike-adorned man grabbed a human lady by the neck and threatened the turtles. Vanna and Maisy's turtles disappeared while the human boy tackled the evil human. He knocked him down, getting the human girl out of harm's way. Then a speaker exploded, throwing the evil human across the room and into the glass windows near the mermaids' hiding place. The turtles leaped off the stage and ran in their direction.

The one in the blue bandana stopped abruptly, seeing the young wolf and snapping turtle. "Aww," he cooed, "Tokka and Rahzar - how cute!"

"Hey," the orange bandana turtle said, "We'd make a fortune in the diet racket!"

"Oh, Mikey," Vanna's turtle replied.

"Let's go," added the red-masked turtle, and they ran out the door to the dock.

"So that's Mikey," Maisy said to Vanna dreamily.

"Come on!" Briel shouted up at her sisters. She and Leila had climbed down to follow the turtles by the docks. Vanna and Maisy followed, and the four of them swam under a nearby pier across the way. The turtles were a short distance above, looking for the evil human.

"Huh," the blue-bandana turtle stated, "Anything?"

"Nothin'," answered the red-masked turtle.

"Well, dudes," Mikey brushed off his green hands, "I'd say that's pretty much a wrap. Uh, cowabunga?"

All four turtles raised their arms and joined hands. "Cowabunga!" they cheered in unison.

"Cowabunga," the four sisters exhaled dreamily.

Suddenly a crash made the turtles jump. The evil human's hand had come up through the wood! He started grabbing the other planks until the turtles fell to the lower dock beneath them. The sisters looked at each other in horror. They would have noticed the evil human on the lower dock if they hadn't been so infatuated. Vanna felt guilty, but there was no time for that now. The turtles were in danger, and they needed help. The mermaids swam over to the lower dock and stayed out of sight behind the turtles.

"It's a super Shredder!" Vanna's turtle exclaimed as they came within earshot. The evil human, Shredder, the sisters assumed, was much larger than he'd been in the club. This could only make him more dangerous. Shredder started pulling down the dock's planks, and the debris began to fall on the turtles.

"Shredder," the blue-masked turtle exclaimed, stepping forward. "You've got to listen to reason," he pleaded. "You're gonna destroy us all!"

Shredder reached out and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off his feet! Leila let out a distressed gasp – clearly, it was this turtle that she liked. "Then so be it!" Shredder shouted as he tossed the turtle through the air. Briel put her hand on Leila's shoulder both in comfort and to hold her back. They both looked as terrified as Vanna felt. Luckily, Leila's turtle had rolled on his shell and quickly jumped out of a somersault.

"Hey," the red-bandana turtle exclaimed, "it's all comin' down!" More debris fell around them.

"We're pancakes!" shouted Mikey! Apparently, he tried to make light of any situation, just like Maisy.

Lelia's turtle stepped in front of his brothers with bravado. He shouted to Shredder, "A true ninja is a master of himself and his environment. So don't forget, we're turtles!" With that, the turtles leaped off the dock, withdrawing into their shells mid-jump. Shredder was breaking the final hold of the pier's upper level.

Vanna suddenly realized something: the turtle's shells would protect them from the falling debris, but not if it trapped them underwater! She sprang into action, swam over to the shell of the purple-masked turtle, and quickly pushed him out of the path of the falling debris. Briel, Maisy, and Leila pushed their turtles' shells underwater after her. Above, they heard a loud crumbling. The dock fell, with Shredder underneath it. Now that it was safe, the mermaids pushed the turtles' shells back toward the remnants of the dock. They released the shells, which bobbed above the waves.

One by one, the turtles emerged from their shells and swam the few inches over to the dock. They climbed up wearily, catching their breath.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Mikey began.

The others completed the sentence in unison with him, "Man, I love being a turtle!"

"Too bad the Shredder can't say the same thing," Briel's turtle replied.

Suddenly a hand was emerging from the rubble! How was Shredder still alive?

"It can't be!" Mikey exclaimed.

Briel's turtle was shocked, "Nobody coulda survive that!" The sisters gaped in horror and Vanna's mind raced. The turtles were obviously worn out and wouldn't survive another intense battle! Luckily, Shredder's hand fell back down as death overpowered him – hopefully for good this time.

Leila's turtle exhaled a sigh of relief, "That's the end of the Shredder."

The other turtles agreed, climbing onto the damaged dock, then they all stopped. The mermaids couldn't see what was happening to them. Vanna climbed the side of the dock and carefully peaked over the edge. The turtles were sprawled out.

"I think they've passed out from exhaustion," Vanna whispered to her sisters below. She carefully scooted over to her purple-masked turtle as her sisters made their ascent onto the dock. Vanna cautiously approached, not wanting to startle him in his condition. She watched to make sure he was breathing, which he thankfully was. He was bleeding a little bit on the side of his face, though. Vanna reached over and gently removed his bandana, wondering why he wore it when it hid his handsome green face. She gently pressed the end of the purple cloth against his cut while memorizing every detail. She glanced up at her sisters and saw they'd all had the same idea: remove the turtles' masks and tend to their wounds.

"Oh Mikey," she heard Maisy whisper beside her, "Please wake up!"

Vanna looked back at her turtle and tenderly caressed his cheek. She wished she knew his name. She wanted to hear his voice say her name as he gazed lovingly upon her. Could they talk for hours and laugh together? It would be heavenly when he pressed his green lips against hers! Maybe it was possible to be part of the land and sea, exploring the whole human world – with him.

Suddenly the sisters jumped as they heard a voice in the distance. The mermaids quickly dove into the water below and swam under a nearby dock. The human boy from the club ran over to them. Behind him was an older human man in a white coat. They went to each turtle, checked their breathing, and shook them gently. One by one, the turtles came to and sat up. A few minutes later, a van pulled up on a nearby pier. A human man with long, dark hair and a lady in a yellow coat ran over to them. The humans helped the turtles to their feet, escorted them over to a van, and they all got inside and drove away.

Sadly, Maisy looked at her sisters, "They didn't look for us. Did they even know we were there?"

Vanna answered, "I don't think so; they were exhausted."

"Don't worry," Leila spoke up, beaming. "I don't know when, I don't know how, but someday we'll be part of their world!"

In the distance, the mermaids were being watched. Sebastian was shaking his head in his claws. He was sitting on top of the young snapping turtle's head. He'd found him hiding under the dock when the other one collapsed. Sebastian didn't know what he was going to do with the girls. This was all a disaster!

The mermaids had also been recorded on that secretive little device. When Krangina played the footage, she smiled with glee. The King's headstrong mermaids had fallen for the same mutant turtles who caused her brother trouble! What are the odds? She could make this work and take out two birds with one stone. The future was hers!

(Author's note: That scene from 'Secret of the Ooze' is what sparked the mer-girls' personalities! I hope you are enjoying this! In case you haven't realized: the human boy is Keno, the older human man with the white coat is Professor Perry. The two humans in the van are April O'Neil and Casey Jones (who I hated not being in the 'Secret of the Ooze,' but he'll play an upcoming role in the story.) See you soon!