A/N: This chapter is long, but if your curious of these new turtles they will be discribed more in the next chapter, and some action. Weee..
Chapter 3
"What a strange day," I said to myself fidgeting with the key in the lock.
The cottage was really old, maybe a few decades; the door creaked on its hinges as I opened it. I closed the door behind me and flicked on the light switch.
"Huh, small, cozy," I said to myself looking at the big open room.
I shifted to the couch and placed my bag down. I started carefully taking out the contents and placing them on the wooden coffee table.
I pulled out my cell phone from my jacket pocket and dialed home.
"Strange," I said to myself, as it rang more than usual. They usually answer on the first or second ring.
"Hello," Splinters voice answered.
"Splinter, hi…" I said to him, happy to hear his voice.
"Alex," he said his voice sounded cheerful.
"How is your ventures my dear?" he asked his voice chimed.
"Well, disappointing," I said quickly as I placed the water bottles on the table.
"Oh, is everything okay?" he asked, he seemed to be distracted.
"Yeah, just what I was looking for, isn't where it should be, so tomorrow I'm going to Okinawa," I said to him shifting my arms out of my jacket.
"Your home town?" he asked, I could hear Mikey's voice in the background.
"Pop's is everything okay?" I asked him a bit curious.
"The boys are in the hashi," he said precariously.
I chuckled and shook my head.
"Figured," I replied out loud. "HEY GUYS," I said loudly.
"Alex say's hello," Splinter relayed the message.
"Hahaha, well Splinter I should let you go deal with…. Well the hashi," I said with a laugh.
"Hahaha, good night my dear girl," he said to me. I shook my head and clicked the phone off.
I leaned back against the cushions and closed my eyes for a moment. The sun was setting behind the water line, which left the entire sky orange. I opened my eyes and looked at it. I had forgotten the beauty and peacefulness of this country… living in America, you don't see much of this there.
I leaned over the wooden table looking out the window to the colored sky.
"Wow," I said out loud. That's when I heard something shuffling near the kitchen area of the cabin.
I pretended not to notice and shifted my hands into my boots pulling out the two staff pieces.
I jumped to my feet and snapped the pieces together.
"Hey," I shouted to the hooded figure standing near the back door and the refrigerator.
"You're from earlier, at the shop…. What do you want?" I asked tapping my stick against the ground getting the figures attention.
It turned and looked at me. It had a few frozen meat packages in its hands and some fruits and vegetables as well.
"Hey, I won't hurt you I promise…" I said pushing my staff behind my back. I slowly paced my feet around the couch as to not startle the figure.
"Here," I said reaching for some bottles of water I put on the table and couch. "Here," I said to the figure again extending my hands out.
"You are not human," It hissed at me pulling the food into a basket in its arms.
"I am human, what are you?" I asked, taking another step towards it.
"Hissss…. Be gone human," It said to me. I turned and darted out the back door. I followed behind it, I was curious, if the rumors and legends where true; this could mean that there are other creatures, mutants…. Not just my brothers.
Night had fallen rather quickly over the waters. I followed the figure over a gated fence, probably how it came in, and down to the docks. I slowed down and hide behind a crate. I watched as it looked around to see if I was still following it, a large metal door opened and another figure extended its hands out.
"There's more of them," I said to myself and shifted my feet around the crate. I pulled my staff to my side and used it as a guide over the sand.
"What is this place," I said shifting around another crate. I kept my eyes on the metal door in case it opened again, or someone heard me. If there were lots of them in there, and they found me a threat they may attack me, I'd be outnumbered for sure.
I turned around surveying the crates around me and staggered my feet backwards; I quickly turned again towards the hanger.
"Aaaah," that's when I fell and felt something clamp on my foot. "Aaah, ahhh what is this?"I shouted trying to pry the trap from around my ankle.
The hanger metal door opened. I struggled to try to pull the metal trap from my foot.
"No, no," I said scared of the three figures that emerged from the hanger.
I pulled my staff up to my knees.
"She's caught in the trap," one of them said as they leaned in towards me.
"We have to help her we can't leave her out here," another one of them said.
"No, she is human… they try to hunt us," another said and hissed at her sister.
"Please, don't leave me out here," I half whispered to them as I tried to break the trap open with my staff.
"Take her weapon," one of them said. One of them forcefully took my staff, as another lifted the trap apart off my ankle.
"We can't just leave her," she said to her sisters.
"Bring her in," the one at the door shouted to them.
The one who opened the trap pulled me up by my arms and carried me quickly into the hanger. The others followed.
"Put her down here," one of them said as she shifted and pushed papers and objects off a large metal table.
"Ah," I said slowly trying to slide my boot off.
"Who are you?" I said looking to them, as one of them examined my ankle.
"It cut through the skin, get me the first aid kit," she gestured to the kit. One of them went and grabbed it.
"We never help humans, we will help you… but then leave," she said to me as she wrapped my ankle.
Two of the female figures pulled down their hoods and hovered around a long wooden desk.
"You're…. Your, what are you?" I said looking at the features of one of them.
"Seen enough," the one near me said. She shut the first aid kit and pushed it aside.
"You're female turtles?" I said to her shifting my feet off the table.
"What, now you're going to tell others and they will attempt to hunt us right?" one of the two near the desk said to me.
"No…. no," I said to them bewildered at what I was looking at.
"How did this happen to you?" I said having so many questions I wanted to ask them.
"A science experiment gone wrong, and we were the result of it," the other two pulled down their hoods.
"TGRI?" I said patting myself down for my cell phone.
"Yes how do you know of this?" One of them said to me hovering around me.
"Look," I showed her a picture of my brothers off my cell phone. "These are my brothers, they're turtles too…" I told them turning my phone around to all of them.
"Your brothers? They are like us…" one of them asked.
I started to explain the story of what happened to them, and how they came about, and how they used to belong to me. What they've done in New York, their life there, and even how they have friends…. April, Casey and Vern.
"You lie," one of them said to me as she hovered near her sisters.
"Why would I lie to you about this?" I said to them pulling my phone in to my back jean pocket.
"My name is Alex," I said to them holding my hands up.
"I am Yuri," the tall more built one said, she almost looked like Raph but thinner and more feminine, her face was gentler she had a few yellowish brown dots on her face and arms and legs.
"This is Mari," she pointed to her youngest sister, I smiled because she reminded me so much of Mikey, she was short, stalky, her shell had different markings on them, and she had brown eyes while her sisters had blue and green.
"Aki and this is Nina," she said gesturing her hand to the other two. "They are twins," she said about them. They were completely different in appearance to their sisters, their shells had more brown to them and the skin had spots and different colors on them.
"So you all don't have the same mother?" I asked hobbling away from the table.
"No," Yuri said as she came towards me, she extended a hand to me and helped me to a chair.
"You all live here in this hanger?" I said to them looking around at the large open space, they had set it up as their own personal hang out. I could tell that each one of them had their own place there.
"Yuri, we cannot trust her, she is human just like the others she may attempt to kill us," Mari said to her sister as she came towards her.
"Mari, she won't hurt us, I feel I can trust her." Yuri said lifting a hand to her sister.
"Why do you carry a weapon?" Aki asked holding my staff in her hands examining it.
"It's for defence, I have studied ninjitsu, the art of fighting," I told her extending my hand for my staff. Aki twirled the staff in her hands and around her body.
"You know martial arts," I asked her surprised.
"No we do not, we just learn what we can from books," Nina said taking the staff from her sister and handing it to Yuri.
"How did this happen to you?" I asked again curious. That's when I heard voices outside the hanger.
"Humans, they have come again to hunt us," Mari said peering out from behind a curtain.
"Give me my staff, I promise you I won't hurt you," I said to Yuri. She looked at me and tossed it to me.
"We cannot fight them sister, we must leave here like we always do," Aki said to Yuri as they scrambled around the place packing some items into small bags.
"No," I said and stumbled to my feet.
"I will help you," I said to them and twirled my staff around my body. I reached for my boot and slide it on.
"Your hurt you cannot stand," Yuri said placing a hand to my shoulder.
"You don't need to leave here, leave them to me," I said to her and headed for the metal door. I reached for the handle and opened it. Mari leaned in closer to the window and looked out.
"Hey," I shouted at the five men with torches and weapons in their hands.
"You, miss Alex," the shop owner recognized me and waved his hand for me to come to him.
"Why are you here?" I asked them planting my feet firmly on the ground.
"Please step back from the hanger, kappa, they are evil turtle mutant monsters…." One of the men shouted at me.
"Want them? You'll have to get through me to get them," I said bracing myself, I twirled my staff around in my hands and around my body, then threw it to the air. I saw some of the men shift backwards.
"Miss Alex, please step away from the hanger, these monsters steal from us, hunt our fish, and endanger our waters," the shop owner shouted to me again.
"Why is she defending us?" Mari said to her sisters as they hovered around the window too.
"Miss Alex we don't want any trouble with you, just the monsters," the shop owner said again.
"They're not monsters, there's an explanation for why they are this way, leave them be…" I shouted to them.
"Nina, get our bags we will leave like we usually do then return after," Yuri said gesturing for her sisters to leave the window.
"You can trust me, they are not monsters, they won't hurt anyone," I said to the men, as I hovered near the slightly opened door. I tilted my head to the side and noticed the four of them slide out the back door.
Mari huffed angrily and slung her bag over her shoulder. She followed after her sisters out the back door.
I stepped away from the door as I watched them leave.
"Hey, don't make us hurt you girl," one of the men said as they slowly approached me.
"Look, you have my word these…. Creatures, will not hurt anyone, leave them be and I won't hurt any of you," I said twirling my staff around with one hand.
One of the men seemed fed up with my persistence and threw his torch at me, I jumped back as it hit the ground.
"Hey," I shouted covering an arm to my face from the fire.
"Stand back men," the shop owner shouted to the men as the fire grew in front of me. That's when I felt a hand pull me by my arm.
"Run," Yuri said pulling me through the hanger and out the back door.
"DAMN," I said to myself looking at my arm. It was burnt and bleeding from the fire.
"Hurry," Nina shouted to us guiding us into a underground tunnel. I leaned against the tunnel wall and looked at my arm.
"We don't have anything for this," Yuri said carefully examining my arm.
"I do," I said taking in a deep breath.
"I'm staying at a cottage here, now however I don't think I'm welcome there, I have to get my bag, I have something in there," I said shifting carefully to my feet. My ankle didn't hurt as much as before, but my arm was on fire.
We watched as the hanger lit on fire and the flames engulfed it.
"I'm sorry about your home," I said to them.
"It wasn't our home, we were just living there temporarily to hide from humans," Mari said crossing her arms. She pushed past Aki and Nina towards me.
"Mari," Yuri said to her holding a hand to her shoulder.
"Where is this cabin?" Mari asked pushing her sister's hand aside.
"Well one of you was there earlier," I said to them using my staff as support.
"Oh that place," Aki replied. "Let's go," she said again.
I hobbled slowly behind them as Aki led the way, we could see the men divert themselves through the flames trying to put out the fire, they were distracted enough that they hadn't noticed us cross the docks behind them.
"Here," Yuri said opening the back door, she held it open for me and stayed watch outside.
I hobbled in to the cabin and shuffled around the couch for my bag. "Computer, water, food, where's my viles," I said to myself trying to remember if I had put my pouch in the bag.
"Here they are," I said sitting on the couch. I awkwardly opened the pouch with one hand, I saw Nina and Aki shift near me.
"TGRI mutagen," Aki half shouted. "Where did you get this?" she said her tone was angry, she took the needle from my hand.
"It's not the mutagen that Mr. Sach's made, this is different, it doesn't make a human change or any creature change, it's supposed to heal any wound and make me stronger," I said to her quickly, stealing it back.
I quickly injected it into my arm and wrapped it with some bandages I had in my bag.
"Explain this," Mari said to me from behind the couch.
"Look I'll explain, but we need to leave," I said to them. I threw down the cottage key on the table and hobbled towards the back door.
"We need a way to get out of here, its not safe to stay in Hinto region," I told them.
"I have a way," Nina said, we followed her as she jumped the fence leaving the docks. I looked at the fence and carefully pulled myself over.
I saw her run towards a covered vehicle not far from the docks; it rested along the far side of the fence.
"A truck?" I said holding my arm, it was still hurting but I could see the skin slowly heal itself.
"Yes, we found it abandoned months ago and we use it when needed," Aki said as she crawled into the front seat to hot wire the car, it purred to life. I was surprised it actually worked; it was very old and rusted. They must take care of it and use it often.
"I'll drive," I said to them as I shifted scarcely on my feet towards the car.
"No, I usually drive," Mari said as her sisters shifted into the back seat.
"Let her drive," Yuri said to her sister, Mari sighed and shifted to the passenger seat.
I hobbled into the driver seat and pulled the seat belt on.
"I have a hotel room in Tokyo," I said to them as I shifted the car away from the fence. I turned on the lights and started down a gravel road.
"We'll have to go west, this road leads out to another part of farm lands," Yuri said leaning in towards me.
"You can all stay with me in Tokyo, it's not safe for you to be around humans right now," I said to them shifting off the gravel road to another long stretch of road. It was pitch black outside and the road was shining.
We drove for what seemed like longer than half an hour, I thought maybe I had gotten lost until I saw a road sign signifying I was heading in the right direction.
"Why do you have a vile of mutagen?" Mari asked after a few moments.
"I'll tell you, when I was three years old, I had a heart attack… in order to save me my mother worked with a group of scientists between America and Japan and created a lower form of the mutagen. " I stated to explain as I shifted on to a different road.
"A different form?" Aki asked looking into the mirror to me.
"Yes, see the mutagen that TGRI created, Mr. Sachs created, mutates animals and creatures into a human state," I gestured with my hand to them.
"The one my mother created, heals all wounds, and binds with the blood to stop aliments in the body, it also makes you more intelligent and stronger, and it protects my heart…." I told them stopping at a small intersection.
"So how did Mr Sachs create his mutagen?" Nina asked. "Do you know who Mr Sachs is?" I asked Nina looking through the mirror; I clicked my arrow and shifted left.
"Yes, he is the monster responsible for our mutant forms," Aki and Nina both said.
"What happened?" I asked checking the mirrors.
"We were pet shop turtles in Okinawa," Yuri started to explain. "I'm from Okinawa," I said to her rather surprised.
"Well…. A lady had come in and bought us, a snake, and a few lizards. We were taken to a lab in Okinawa," she went on explaining. I looked through my rear view mirror at her then back to the road.
"Mr. Sachs and another man worked at this lab, I don't remember the other mans name, he wasn't very pleasant…" she said to me as I shifted on to another road.
"Oh?" I said to her.
"Well, they were working on three types of mutagen, the first two failed. The animals they used them on all died within three days, the third type seemed to have been successful, we were turtles, we didn't quite understand much of what was going on, but all we remember was, one week after our injections with this substance we were thrown out. In a shoe box and left near a river, we were slowly growing that when we managed to escape we started figuring things out ourselves…." She seemed upset. Her voice trailed off.
"So you've all been alone ever since, how old are you?" I asked.
"We're not sure…" Mari said as she rolled down the window.
"I'm going to Okinawa, why don't you come with me, maybe I can help find something about you there…." I said to them with a smile.
"Why do you want to help us, we are fine alone," Mari huffed at me. I looked to her.
"I have four brothers, they were normal turtles who ended up in the wrong hands, they were mutated by Sach's lab…. And I let that happen," I said to them and took in a deep breath.
"… Now that I know about you, and that Sach's lied to me, and to my mother, I want to help you." I said to them as I shifted on to another road.
"We don't need your help," Mari said angrily. I shifted the car to the side of the road and stopped.
"Why not?" I said to her. Yuri leaned in towards her sister.
"We cannot live like this no more, running, hiding, stealing to live…." She said to her sister.
"Yeah well how can we trust this human girl to help us when she allowed her own brothers, her pets to be left in the wrong hands," Mari said to her sister.
"I didn't know they were going to experiment on them, I had no idea…. I was eight; I believed everything everyone told me…." I said to her pleading with her to believe me.
"Just come with me, maybe you can find out more about yourselves," I said to her and looked to the back seat.
"Mari, we can't live this way no more," Aki leaned forward and said this to Mari.
Mari opened the car door and stepped out. Yuri did the same and shifted to the back of the truck. Aki and Nina opened the door and followed behind them.
I sighed and took in a deep breath. They seemed to be talking, I looked at them from the mirrors.
After a few moments they all came back and entered the car. Yuri switched seats with Mari and shifted into the passenger seat.
"We will go with you to Okinawa," Yuri said. I smiled and started back on to the road.
I pulled the truck in to the hotel lot and parked it in the underground parking.
"I'll have to sneak you in through the side door…." I was about to say. I got out of the car and swung my bag onto my shoulders.
"Hey," I said noticing the girls near a side door. How did they do that, without the alarm going off?
Aki quickly ran to me to help me across the parking lot.
"How did you do that?" I said to them sliding into the open door.
"Pretty easy," Nina said with a smile.
I quickly hurried myself to the elevator making sure its empty, they all piled in and followed behind me.
"I'm on the fifth floor; let me make sure the halls clear before you exit the elevator." I said to them reaching for my key card from my bag.
As the elevator door opened I peered my head out and checked the halls, I gestured for the girls to follow me as I half ran to my room and unlocked it.
"There we go," I said turning on the lights. "Help yourselves," I said to them. They pushed in past me and looked around the room.
"This room is huge," Aki said from the bathroom.
"My brother Leonardo, he picked it out for me," I told them locking the door.
"They work?" she asked coming through the bathroom in to a small living room.
"Yes, amongst people, they all have their own jobs and they help fight to protect the city," I said to them throwing my bag to the couch.
"With humans?" Nina asked looking out the curtains.
"Yes," I said nodding.
That's when my phone rang and vibrated. I tapped my clothes.
"Uh this is ringing," Nina said holding up my phone.
I smiled and took it from her.
"Order food, help yourselves," I said to them as I clicked the phone on. I hovered in the bedroom with the door opened.
"Took yeah long enough to answer," Leo's voice said on the other end.
"Leo," I said to him extending his name.
"Hey," he said again.
"What's up?" I said to him watching through the door as the girls flicked through the TV.
"Wanted to see if things were okay, how was your trip to the Shinto shrine?" he said to me. The place seemed quiet there was no commotion in the background or nothing.
"Things are fine," I lied to him. I wasn't sure if I should tell him about the female turtles yet, what if he thinks they're a threat and attempts to come here himself to confront them.
"However the Shinto shrine isn't there anymore," I told him again.
"Oh, really do you need help finding it, Donnie could try figuring out a new location for it," he said I heard a something chime. He was at the dojo, probably closing up.
"It's alright Leo, no worries, I'm heading to Okinawa tomorrow to see what I can find out," I said to him. The girls where hovered around the TV watching some Japanese comedy.
"Everything okay Leo?" I asked him again.
"Yeah everything's fine, just closing up the dojo, wanted to check up on yeah," he said again.
"April, Casey and Vern are coming over tonight, we're going to a basketball game," he said. I heard an engine rev.
"That's great, sorry I missed it," I said to him.
"Hey, so have a good trip tomorrow okay," he said to me.
"Thanks," I smiled.
"Love yeah," I said to him.
"Love yeah, stay safe," he said back and clicked the phone.
I smiled and walked into the living area.
Nina and Aki looked to me. "That was my brother Leonardo, he's the oldest of the four, well somewhat, only by a few hours," I said to them.
"He seems to care very much," Nina said to me.
"Yeah," I smiled and reached for the hotel phone.
"I'll order some food, anything you'd like to try?" I said to them. They all turned and looked at me.
"I'll get an assortment," I said and smiled.