- Chapter 2 -

Lone Rat and Cubs

A few hours later, Kasumi went to pick up Kagome from daycare, leaving Splinter alone with the Turtles. He looked over them, watching as they played with Kagome's toys, generally acting like normal children. Splinter watched over them, a small smile on his face as he gently ran his hand over Michelangelo's head.

Soon, Kasumi returned with Kagome in her arms. The little girl was immediately fascinated with the five new babies crawling around. After a minute, Kasumi set her down, and she crawled over to Raphael.

Raphael noticed her and turned his attention from the toys, facing her. Kagome patted his face gently, as if trying to figure out whether or not he was real. He didn't seem to appreciate the gesture, pushing her off of him. She gave a childish grumble, then pushed him back in retaliation. With her aggressor now successfully defeated, Kagome turned to her mother, a questioning look on her face as she pointed to Raphael, who was slowly sitting back up.

"Kagome, these are your new friends," Kasumi explained with a smile. "Yoshi's new children."

"Yoshi?" Kagome asked in childish curiosity.

She looked around, trying to find Yoshi. However, her eyes then settled on Splinter, who was sitting off to the side. He watched her cautiously, as if fearing her reaction to his presence. She let out a soft gasp and crawled over to him, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.

"Hello..." Splinter said uncertainly.

Kagome patted his leg, running her fingers through his fur. He remained perfectly still, afraid that moving might scare her off. Luckily for him, his fears were unfounded. The little girl was soon giggling, holding up her hands as if asking to be picked up. After a minute, Splinter smiled and did just that. She cheered upon being lifted, patting his rat-like nose.

"Yoshi funny!" she declared, grinning happily.

Kasumi smiled at her daughter's interactions, and the visible relief on Splinter's face. "Seems even a child as young as Kagome can still see the man within the rat."

"It seems that way," Splinter nodded.

With that, he set Kagome down so she could play with the turtles. Kasumi sat down next to him, letting her hair down.

"Okay," Kasumi said, cracking her knuckles. "Let's get down to business."

She pulled out a map of the city, spreading it out on the table before them. "We need to find a place for you and the turtles to stay, away from prying eyes, but where I can still find you and help you out when need be."

Splinter nodded, then pointed to a part of the map on the right. "There are many abandoned warehouses on the east end. Perhaps that would be a good place to begin our search."

"Agreed," said Kasumi, giving a stretch. "First thing tomorrow, we'll start looking."

The next day...

Splinter and Kasumi headed out at first light to begin their search. Both were dressed in coats and hoods, taking on the appearance of street people to avoid garnering attention. Splinter was pushing an old shopping cart lined with cardboard to hide the contents. Inside, the five turtles and Kagome all played with a few small toys Kasumi had packed. As they went along, Splinter saw two men approaching them. He gasped, recognizing them as the two men he fought with in the alley the previous night.

Thinking quickly, he grabbed Kasumi's arm and dragged her as well as the cart into an alleyway. She yelped in surprise, only to have Splinter cover her mouth, shushing her.

"Keep quiet," he warned her.

She nodded silently, then he slowly removed his hand. She peeked out of the alley, seeing the two men approaching. She pulled back, sensing something off about the pair.

"Yoshi, who are those people?" she asked.

"The men I fought with over the ooze," Splinter replied. "Now shush."

Kasumi fell silent as the men approached the alleyway, looking around. As they got close, the two ninja listened in on their conversation.

"Do you have any idea where we should start looking for these mutations?" one of those men asked.

"Not at all," replied the other one. "What interest does Ch'rell have in these things, anyway?"

"Do you really wanna question him?"

The second one gulped nervously. "N-no."

"I didn't think so," said the first man. "It doesn't look like there are any around here. Let's move out."

They walked off. Once they were sure it was safe, Kasumi turned to Splinter.

"Yoshi, they're looking for you," she said nervously. "You and the turtles."

"Chikusho... (1)" Splinter swore under his breath. "Then we better stay off their radar."

Right out of the blue, Michelangelo started crying from inside the cart. Splinter went wide eyed, opening the lid as he tried to shush him. Unfortunately, the sound of the turtle's cries drew the attention of the two men.

"Did you hear that?" one asked.

"We better check it out, just in case," said the other.

Kasumi looked out the alley to see the men doubling back. "Yoshi, they're coming. We need to run!"

They did so, taking off down the alley. Unfortunately, they round a sharp corner only to run into another group of the same men.

"Kuso! (2)" Kasumi swore.

"It's the mutant!" one of the men shouted.

"Wait, he's not alone," said another one.

"Just take her too," A third one declared as he shrugged. "I'm sure Ch'rell can find a use for her."

Kasumi scowled at that, sliding into a defensive stance. "I don't know who you are, but we're not going anywhere with you!"

They prepared to fight, and the men all drew futuristic looking guns. After a moment of surprise, the two ninjas charged. Splinter went towards one, dodging laser blasts as he moved. Once he was close enough, he jumped into the air and landed a solid kick to the man's face. The force of the attack sent him flying through the air.

The man landed hard, and Splinter and Kasumi both winced at the sound of metal on stone reverberating through the street. After a minute, the man got up, and Kasumi and Splinter gasped in shock at the sight of him. Splinter's kick had torn off a portion of the man's face, but rather than blood or exposed muscles, what was beneath his skin was metal and circuitry.

"What?" Kasumi exclaimed. "It... it's a machine?!"

The man with the torn face moved in on them, not even bothering to hide the fact that it wasn't human, and the others moved in as well. Their speed was greatly increased, as was their strength, as was proven when a punch that narrowly missed Kasumi clipped the brick wall behind her hard enough to crack it.

Thinking quickly, Splinter ran over to the cart and threw off the lid to the cardboard. A few weapons were tucked inside alongside the babies. Michelangelo even appeared to be using one end of a pair of nunchaku as a pacifier.

Forcing himself to ignore the cuteness of that sight, Splinter grabbed two weapons in particular: a green, crystallized cane passed down through his family through generations (3), and Kasumi's wakizashi.

"Kasumi!" he shouted, throwing her the sword, which she skillfully caught and drew.

The two charged at the men, Kasumi's sword slicing through their metallic limbs and Splinter's cane leaving several dents. While they were distracted by the fight, one of the men approached the cart, and saw the children inside. Kagome threw her toy at the man, hitting him in the face in a panic.

"MAMA!" she screamed.

Kasumi froze up at the sound of Kagome's cry, and turned to see one of the men approaching the cart menacingly. At that moment, she saw red at the very idea of these things laying a finger on her child.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY BABY!" she screamed.

She ran at the man, who barely had time to turn around before Kasumi's sword pierced clean through his chest. He fell over as Kasumi looked over the babies, sighing in relief to see them unhurt.

"Yoshi, we can't stay here!" she cried. "We can't fight and watch over the babies at the same time!"

Splinter nodded. "Grab the basket!"

Kasumi did so, and they took off running the minute they saw an opening. The remaining men gave chase, but the two managed to elude them in the maze of warehouses on the east end.

They ducked into one, trying to catch their breath.

"I... I can't believe it," Kasumi let out. "Those people... they weren't human."

"No, they were not," Splinter whispered, "and I fear what could become of us should they find us."

The children all moved about the cart, seemingly restless. Splinter lifted up the lid, relieved that none of them were hurt.

"Whatever those beings are," he said, "if they mean to do harm to these children, I will not allow it."

Kasumi nodded with determination. "Neither will I."

Splinter peered through a crack in the wall, seeing that the men were continuing their search. "It appears we will have to stay here for the time being."

"Looks like it," Kasumi agreed, slumping against the wall. "Stay low, stay quiet... stay alive."

Splinter slid the lid back into place, then sat down, assuming a meditative position. Kasumi sat down to do the same, only to open her eyes again at the sound of babies cooing. The turtles and Kagome had slipped out of the cart, and were now crawling all over Splinter. The rat man sighed, a deadpan expression on his face.

"It appears that meditation is out of the question for now," Splinter said flatly.

Kasumi giggled. "Looks like it. One of the drawbacks of parenthood, I suppose."

-X-

Some time later, Splinter and Kasumi were practicing ninjutsu, something that they often did when they had free time. While in the midst of their katas, Kasumi turned to see the babies mimicking their every move. She couldn't help but chuckle, tugging on Splinter's sleeve.

"Yoshi," she said smiling. "Look at this."

Splinter turned to see them, a small smile on his face.

"So, you little ones wish to learn ninjutsu?" he asked, bending down so he was at their level.

"It seems that way," Kasumi said, crouching down as well.

Splinter looked at the eager faces of the six kids, his thoughts drifting to happier times. He thought about his childhood, playing along with Kasumi, Seiko, and even Saki. As his thoughts slowly returned to the present, an idea came to him.

"Perhaps there is still hope for our clan," he mused. "These children, our children... the teachings of my family can live on in them."

"I was thinking the same thing," Kasumi replied. "The Hamato Clan won't die with us. I won't let it."

"Neither will I," said Splinter.

No sooner had he said that then the wall of the warehouse exploded. They recoiled, and saw the men from before approaching them in much greater numbers from before.

"It's them!" Kasumi shouted. "Grab the kids and run!"

Splinter gathered all six kids and dumped them into the cart. The second he closed the cardboard lid, they all took off running, the men in hot pursuit.

"Damn it, how do they keep finding us?!" Kasumi demanded.

"I do not know!" Splinter said. "But if we don't find out soon, I fear no where in this city will be safe!"

As they ran, Kasumi saw a godsend; the subway system. "Yoshi, the subway! Down there!"

They ran down into the subway tunnels.

"Quick, disappear!" Splinter exclaimed.

In an instant, the two ninjas hid in the shadows as the men descended the steps. The hoard began looking around, visibly frustrated.

"Where'd they go?" asked one man.

A second man checked a radar-like device, shaking it in annoyance. "I don't know. They're not showing up on the scanner."

"You idiots!" said a third man. "Our tech is useless underground."

Kasumi brightened at that. "Yoshi, did you hear that?"

"Hai," Splinter said. "It appears we've found our advantage."

The second man sighed in resignation. "Fan out. We'll do this the old fashioned way."

They did so, and Splinter and Kasumi slipped into ninja mode, lurking in the shadows, striking, and picking the men off one by one. Once the last was picked off, Splinter grabbed the cart.

"Come." he insisted. "More are sure to follow."

As they went, Kasumi smiled slightly. "They said their scanners or whatnot don't work underground. I think we've found the perfect hiding spot for you."

Splinter nodded in agreement. "All we need now is a sanctum."

They began looking around. Unfortunately, as Splinter predicted, more of the men began practically pouring into the subway.

"Mattaku... (4)" Splinter swore, grabbing Kasumi's hand. "Kasumi, move!"

The two retreated from the subway into the sewers, going through several maze-like tunnels before emptying out into the drainage junction.

"Yoshi, what do we do now?" Kasumi asked.

Splinter looked around at the junction, as the men slowly surrounded them. He looked at Kasumi, then the children in the basket, and his face took on a look of determination.

"We can't run away any longer. It's time to fight!" He drew a katana from the basket, pulling it from its sheath as Kasumi drew her sword. "You want these mutants?! Come and get them!"

With that, the two clashed with the men, avoiding their attacks and slicing them apart. The men fell in droves, but kept coming. Eventually, things reached a head when one of the fallen men slammed into the cart containing the Turtles and Kagome, sending them rolling down and into a flooded, subterranean chamber.

"NO!" Kasumi screamed. Without hesitation, she dove into the water.

"The children!" Splinter shouted as he dove in as well.

The men watched them go, and one simply shrugged.

"Well, with the running water, they'll be swept away," he mused. "They'll be good as dead."

"Good riddance," another man scoffed. "They were more trouble than they were worth."

-X-

Splinter and Kasumi swam down to the bottom of the chamber. Much to their horror, the cart had flipped, trapping the Turtles and Kagome underneath it.

Kasumi frantically swam down and made efforts to free the babies. Splinter joined her. Together, they managed to flip the cart off the children, grabbing all six of them before they were swept up in the water current and pulled away. As they were tossed along by the current, the two passed out.

Some time later...

Splinter slowly regained consciousness, sitting up and coughing up some water. He took several deep breaths as he looked around, seeing he was in a remote part of the urban metro system. He spotted the turtles and Kagome crawling around this abandoned station, slightly wet, but very much alive. He finally laid eyes on Kasumi laying next to him, still unconscious.

Sighing in relief, Splinter turned to Kasumi and gently shook her. Kasumi slowly came to, and looked around, dazed, before gasping.

"Yoshi, the babies!" she exclaimed. "Are they... did we..."

"They're okay," Splinter informed her. "They're alive."

He gestured to the six children, much to Kasumi's relief. She quickly scooped up Kagome, holding her tightly.

"Yokatta... (5)" she whispered, before looking around. "Where are we?"

"I believe... a long-abandoned subway station."

The Turtles were all crawling around, laughing and clapping. Kagome cheered happily as well from her mother's arms, and Kasumi smiled.

"Yoshi," she said. "I do believe we've found our sanctum."

Splinter smiled. "It appears so."

Kasumi stood up, examining the space. "It'll take some time to clean it up and get everything set up, but I'm certain you can make this place a home for the turtles."

"No," Splinter corrected. "For my children."

He turned back to Kasumi and smiled. Kasumi smiled back at him and nodded. While it hadn't been exactly what she had in mind, it seemed that going to the pet store to buy a companion was just what he needed after all.

Author's Note:

(1): Basically means "damn it."

(2): Equivalent to "bloody hell," "damn it", or just plain "shit."

(3): Decided to give an explanation on Splinter's cane from the 2012 show, since they never really did that.

(4): "Really?"

(5): Generally equivalent to "Thank God/goodness".

Not much has changed here, except Splinter and Kasumi swearing in Japanese. Makes sense; they've only been in New York for a year.

Please R&R. Until next time!