After that fight with the Jaw warriors, the New York group met Virana, the chief of Fang.
Once they made it clear that they weren't the enemy and told them that they saved Raya and Namaari, they were taken to the palace to answer questions about their origin.
Needless to say, Raya and Namaari were very interested to know where they had gotten those abilities.
They were taken to a room in front of some huge stairs and at the top was a throne on which Virana was seated, with Raya and Namaari standing on either side of her.
"Well then, may I know the names of those who saved my daughter and her friend?" asked Virana.
"Chief Virana, my name is Leonardo and these are my brothers. Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello." said Leo introducing himself to his brothers.
"I am April O'Neil and this is Casey Jones." said April.
"At your service, madame." said Casey bowing in a gentlemanly manner.
"I must admit that in my years of life I have never seen beings such as yourselves. Where do you come from?" asked Virana.
"Well, it's a little hard to explain." said Leo.
"But long story short, we're from another world." said Mikey, to the surprise and confusion of the listeners.
"What?" asked Namaari.
"Another world?" asked Raya.
"Yes, one that is very different from this one though not so much." said Donnie.
"Mmm, If it is true that you are from another world, what exactly are you?" asked Virana.
"We are mutants." said Leo.
"Mutants?" asked Raya.
"Well, to explain it properly, we would have to start from the beginning." said Raph.
"In our world, there is a land called Japan. Our story began 16 years ago, with a man named Hamato Yoshi, a wise and honorable man. He was a great master of ninjitsu." said Leo.
"Ninjitsu?" asked Raya.
"A martial art originating from Japan focused on stealth and power with wisdom in between." said April remembering her sensei's lessons.
"Yoshi was one of the best warriors in Japan and there was only one person who could rival his power. Oroku Saki." said Leo without getting to tell who that person really was.
"Wow. He must be very strong." said Namaari in awe.
"One day, Hamato Yoshi went to a land in our world called New York and bought four turtles." said Leo.
"Four turtles? Did you…?" asked Raya mentally.
"After that, Yoshi ran into a mysterious man. He didn't know why, but he could sense something bad from that man, so he decided to follow him." said Leo.
While Virana listened intently, Raya and Namaari were intrigued by the story.
"He followed him to an alley where he saw him with other similar men exchanging a briefcase. However, Yoshi accidentally stepped on a rat, which alerted those guys and since they didn't want witnesses, they went to eliminate him." said Leo.
"But Yoshi wasn't the type to go down easily. He took them down with a Pow, a Blam and a Boom." began Mikey doing wrestling poses, which made the two girls laugh slightly. "And all while making sure the turtle terrarium didn't fall over."
"If he was able to do that, it means that this Yoshi guy is a great warrior." said Raya.
"That's when the contents of the briefcase were revealed, a boat with a shiny slime inside. During the fight, the canister fell to the ground and the slime splashed on Yoshi, causing him to drop the terrarium on the ground in surprise, which caused all four turtles to fall into the slime." said Leo.
"However, it didn't end there. The slime changed Yoshi completely, turning him into a humanoid rat while the four turtles became… us." said Leo.
"Wait, you were normal turtles before you were… that?" asked Raya in surprise.
"It's what happens to those who touch slime. Hence the reason we are mutants." said Raph.
"What was that strange slime that transformed you and Hamato Yoshi?" asked Virana.
"It is mutagen. A substance that alters the cellular structure of people, causing them to transform into the last thing they touched." said Donnie.
"For example, Yoshi touched the rat, hence his transformation and we were in contact with Yoshi, hence to our almost human appearance." said Mikey.
"Although there are cases where you don't need to have come into contact with anything to undergo a transformation." said April recalling certain people who transformed into beings based on things they didn't touch.
"And while it may sound cool, it's not. Sometimes it can affect people's brains too, making them crazy and dangerous." said Casey making a cuckoo gesture on his head.
Raya and Namaari shared the same thought that the mutagen seemed to be something very dangerous.
In fact, they both imagined a scenario where they would touch the mutagen.
While Raya would transform into a mutated version of Tuk Tuk, Namaari would transform into a mutated version of her feline beast.
Those thoughts aside, Raya wanted to know more of the turtles' history.
"What happened after you transformed?" asked Raya.
"Well, Splinter felt responsible for us, so he took us in as his children and took us into the sewers." said Leo.
"Splinter?" asked Namaari.
"It was the nickname Yoshi was given during his time in Japan." said Raph.
"Wait, you live in the sewers? Why?" asked Raya.
"In our world, mutants aren't very common and people tend to act badly towards what's different from them." said Donnie.
"It's true. When I first met them, I screamed and tried to get away from them." said April remembering the night she met them.
"But it's not too bad. We have food, beds… We practically made it our home." said Mikey.
"Splinter knew that someday, we would want to go outside, so he taught us the art of ninjitsu so we could learn how to defend ourselves and stay hidden." said Leo.
Raya smiled at the thought of how similar Splinter and her father were, as he also trained her to defend herself and fight.
"And no one knows about you?" asked Namaari.
"Well, there are several people who know about us. Most of them are friends of ours like them." said Donnie pointing to April and Casey.
"I met the turtles when my dad and I were in trouble and I've been with them ever since. I even asked Splinter to train me." said April.
"And I used to take to roaming the streets of New York looking for crooks to take down when I met these guys here." said Casey.
"What about the rest of the people who know you?" asked Raya.
"Oh, those want us dead." said Raph.
"Why?" asked Raya in surprise.
"Let's just say, since we first went outside, we had various adventures that ended up creating some enemies for us. Most of them being mutants." said Leo without mentioning certain enemies like the Kraang or the Foot.
"But we are always ready to face them to protect the city and its inhabitants from the shadows." said Mikey.
"No doubt you are all noble warriors despite your condition." said Virana.
"We owe it to the teachings of Master Splinter." said Leo.
Both Raya and Namaari smiled as they wished to meet him someday.
"Wait." began Namaari before turning her gaze to April. "I remember, when you were fighting, you were using a strange power, what was that?"
"Oh, that was a gift I was born with." began April not wanting to tell the origin of those powers before using them to levitate her tensen. "It allows me to move things with my mind, but since I only recently discovered it, I'm still learning how to control it."
"Interesting." said Virana.
"Well, now that the matter of our history is settled, I have a question. What's this about Kumandra, Fang and the other kingdoms? I've been hearing that all day and I haven't understood anything." said Raph.
"Raph!" said Leo scolding his brother.
"It's okay. I understand your question and since you've told us about your story, it's only fair that we tell you about ours." said Virana.
"Thank you, Chief Virana." said Leo.
"For that, I think she should tell it." said Virana looking at Raya, who was taken aback by it.
"Me?" asked Raya pointing to herself.
"You are more than qualified for it." said Virana.
Raya stared at her for a moment before looking at the New York group.
Despite her surprise, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of telling her potential new friends about the history of her homeland.
"Well, like you, I'll start with the beginning. Over 500 years ago, this place was a single kingdom called Kumandra. A place where humans and dragons lived together in harmony" said Raya.
"Wait a minute! Do dragons exist in this world?" asked Mikey in total surprise.
"There are no dragons in your world?" asked Namaari.
"The most there are about dragons are the ones in stories and myths." said Donnie.
"Our master told us that dragons are a symbol of strength, ferocity and intelligence. That they depended not only on their physical strength, but also on their keen intellect." said Leo.
"Well, here in Kumandra, we also revere dragons." said Raya.
"Oh, dude. I want to meet one right now!" said Mikey excitedly.
Raya and Namaari chuckled at his enthusiasm as they thought one thing.
"Sisu would get along great with him." thought the two in unison.
"A land of humans and dragons. Sounds like a dream come true." said April.
"Well, unfortunately, like all dreams, the thing didn't last forever." said Raya.
"What do you mean?" asked Casey.
"One fateful day, an evil force, known as the Druun, awoke and threatened to destroy the peace." said Raya.
"The Druun?" asked Raph.
"They are a plague born of human conflict and discord. The Druun have the ability to turn living creatures to stone, namely humans and dragons, and they multiply each time they do so." said Namaari.
"By Darwin's beard." said Donnie.
"The dragons fought bravely against the Druun, but all fell in combat except for Sisu, whose siblings created the Dragon Gem. A magical gem born through their magic." said Raya.
"Amazing." said Leo.
"Sisu used the Dragon Gem created from his siblings' magic to eliminate the Druun and bring back the people who were turned to stone, but for some reason, the dragons didn't return to normal and Sisu disappeared, which spelled the end of dragons in Kumandra." said Raya.
"Oh, no." said April in horror.
"The last thing left of them was the Dragon Gem. It was supposed to be a symbol of peace and hope for humans, but due to the petty greed to acquire the gem, the last vestige of dragon magic, what was once a single kingdom split into five separate lands that sought to acquire the gem." said Raya.
"I mean, what that Sisu girl uses that gem to save them all at the cost of her life and they make up for it by fighting each other and splitting up because they wanted that gem for themselves? What a bunch of idiots." said Raph crossing his arms.
"Yeah, haven't they heard the word 'sharing'?" asked Casey.
"Well, that's the way it was for 500 years." said Raya.
"You said they were divided into five kingdoms. If Fang in one of them, what are the others?" asked Leo.
"The other kingdoms are Tail, Talon, Spine and Heart, which is where I'm from." said Raya.
"Why such simple names?" asked Mikey.
"It's because all five kingdoms dwell around a dragon-shaped river. The name is based on the position based on the river." said Namaari taking out a map that she threw it towards them, being caught by Leo who opened it as they all looked at it, being amazed.
"Wow. It truly is shaped like a dragon." said April.
"Fascinating. I've never seen geography like this." said Donnie.
"Oh. Now I see it. We, meaning Fang, is in what looks like a fang and Heart is in this place that looks like a heart." said Mikey.
"Wait, you said Kumandra re-formed. How did that happen?" asked Leo.
"It's… another long story, but…" began Raya nervously before looking at Namaari and Virana who nodded in response, as they didn't want to hide that side of the story. "*Sigh* It all started almost 10 years ago. Back then, the kingdom of Heart was in charge of guarding the Dragon Gem so that it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. My father was the guardian and trained me to be his successor."
"That would explain how you can move so well." said Casey, getting a nudge from April.
"Despite the situation with the other kingdoms, my father dreamed that we could form Kumandra again, but it was difficult because the other kingdoms were envious of Heart." said Raya.
"Why?" asked Leo.
"Heart was considered the most prosperous kingdom of all and they believed it was because of the Dragon Gem. Which wasn't true." said Raya.
"That sounds ridiculous." said Donnie.
"One day, my father brought the other kingdoms together for a peaceful dinner where they could settle their differences and try to come to an agreement. It was there that I met Namaari, who became my first friend." said Raya.
"How nice." said April as Namaari lowered her head in sadness, which Leo noticed.
"And it was… at first. At the time, I saw that we had a lot in common and I trusted her enough to take her to the place where we kept the Dragon Gem. And do you know what she did?" asked Raya.
"Uh… Say thank you?" asked Mikey.
"She betrayed me and tried to steal the Dragon Gem." said Raya crossing her arms.
"What?!" asked the NY group in unison.
"You betrayed her when she trusted you?" asked Leo.
"Dudette, that's so cruel." said Mikey.
"And I've known cruel people." said April, crossing her arms.
"I… I was just doing what my mother said was best for Fang. I didn't want things to end the way they did." said Namaari with her head lowered in guilt.
"What happened?" asked Donnie.
"After we fought, the other chiefs arrived on the scene and started arguing about who should have the Dragon Gem. My father tried to appease them, but it was no use and they all ended up fighting over trying to get the Dragon Gem. In the end, the situation ended with the Dragon Gem destroyed in pieces and the return of the Druun." said Raya.
"What?!" asked the NY group in unison.
"So, the most important gem in the world is broken and those demonic beings came back. And all because of you." said Raph pointing accusingly at Namaari and Virana.
"I admit it. We let our envy and greed blind us, causing us to make a terrible mistake that almost tore the world apart." said Virana.
"Wait, in all the time we've been on this world, we haven't seen a single one of those Druun. What happened?" asked Donnie.
"After the Druun returned, we discovered that the pieces of the Dragon Gem kept them away as well as the water, so each leader took a piece and fled with their own. For 10 years, the Druun roamed the five kingdoms, turning anyone who crossed their path into statues, including my father." said Raya lowering her head at the memory of losing her father.
April felt a bit of sympathy for her, as she experienced the loss of her father twice.
"During that time, I decided that the only one who could help us with the Druun was Sisu, the last dragon." said Raya.
"Didn't you say she disappeared after annihilating the first wave of Druun?" asked Leo.
"That's right, but the only good thing Namaari gave me when we first met was information that there was a possibility that Sisu was alive in some of the rivers that the main river flows into. I spent years exploring them all until finally, I found her." said Raya.
"And together you defeated the Druun, didn't you?" asked Casey.
"No we didn't. It turns out that, at first, we all believed that it was Sisu who created the Dragon Gem that destroyed the Druun." said Raya.
"But as you said, it was his siblings who created it." said Leo.
"I mean, her siblings created the weapon and she simply activated it." said Donnie.
"Exactly. I thought there would be no way to stop the Druun, but then I thought there might be a solution by piecing together the pieces of the Dragon Gem. Sisu and I set out to travel around the other kingdoms, where we met some very… peculiar people and together we gathered almost all the pieces of the Dragon Gem. We only had one piece left. That of the Fang." said Raya.
"Ha. After what they did I doubt very much they wanted to give it away for good." said Raph.
"That's right. I was totally suspicious of them, especially Namaari." began Raya causing Namaari to lower her head in sadness. "But Sisu convinced me that there might be good in her, that we could trust her to be able to save everyone from the Druun."
"What did you do?" asked Leo.
"I sent her a note in which I asked to meet alone with her. For a moment, it seemed like everything was going well, but then…" began Raya.
"Then what?" asked Donnie.
"I…" began Namaari clenching her fists, as it was a very difficult subject to tell. "I killed Sisu."
That made the NY group gasp in horror.
"YOU… KILLED SISU?!" asked Mikey.
"First you betray Raya, then you get the Druun back, and now it turns out you killed the last dragon?" asked Raph.
"How could you do that?" asked April with a frown.
"That's on the same level as…" began Casey about to say that person's name.
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" shouted Namaari causing everyone to fall silent. "When I heard that Sisu had returned, I wanted to help her destroy the Druun and save those who were turned into statues, but my mother convinced me otherwise. She told me that the moment the humans returned to normal, everyone would blame Fang because of what we did in the past, so she suggested I capture her and get the pieces that Raya and her friends had gotten."
"Sure. That way, Fang would be considered its savior." said Donnie.
"But obviously, it failed." said Raph.
"Not only that. With Sisu's death, there was nothing left to stop the Druun from attacking Fang. While the people of the kingdom were panicking, I let my anger get the best of me and went after Namaari in revenge." said Raya.
"I know what that's like." said Leo remembering a certain person who was driven by revenge.
"During the fight, I decided to go help the others get the Druun away from the people, but we ended up surrounded by the Druun and the power of the pieces of the gem was waning." said Raya.
"So what happened? What happened?" asked Mikey impatiently.
"I understood that the key to solving everything was trust, so, I decided to trust Namaari." said Raya.
"Really? After everything she did? How could you even trust her?" asked Raph.
"I just did it. I handed her my piece and everyone else followed, placing their trust in her before we were all turned into statues. I thought that was the end, but then, our trust managed to restore the Dragon Gem and with its power, the Druun were wiped out once again while the people turned to stone returned to normal." said Raya.
"The key to it all was in the trust between everyone." said Leo with a smile.
"And also, by some miracle, the dragons that had been turned into statues also returned to normal." said Raya.
"So the dragons came back. Great!" said Casey.
"Not all the dragons." said April thinking about the one that died.
"Actually, yes they all did. Thanks to the dragons' magic, Sisu came back to life." said Raya.
"By Darwin's beard." said Donnie in disbelief.
"It's a miracle!" exclaimed Mikey with joy.
"And that's how Kumandra was formed again, right?" asked Leo.
"That's right. it was a little difficult after everything that happened with the Druun and Fang, but at last, the five kingdoms learned to unite as one and trust each other." said Raya.
"And now the two of you are friends, by the looks of it." said April.
"Yes. She may have made mistakes, but she is a great friend and I wouldn't trade her for anything." said Raya making Namaari smile.
"I know that, now that you know what I did, you probably see me wrong and I won't blame you for it." said Namaari.
"Actually, we don't." said Donnie.
"I do." commented Raph.
"Sisu is alive, the Druun are gone and the two of you are friends again, so all's well that ends well." said Mikey.
"You may have made mistakes in the past, but the important thing is to learn from them and improve as a person and you seem to have done that." said Leo.
In fact, that situation reminded him a bit of a certain person who made mistakes, but now he was a different and better person.
"Thank you." said Namaari with a smile seeing that everyone wasn't going to treat her badly for what she did.
"One last thing I'd like to know. How did you come to our world?" asked Virana.
"Well, during a fight against one of our enemies, they tried to throw us into a portal to space." said Leo.
"And then SOMEONE…" began Raph pointing a thumb at Mikey who responded with a frown. "Wrecked the machine and that resulted in us ending up here."
"Again, you're welcome for saving you." said Mikey.
"So, you don't know how to get back?" asked Raya.
"Well, at first, we thought you might be able to help us." said April.
"But that changed as soon as we saw that this world is pretty primitive. No offense." said Casey.
"No offense." said Namaari.
"But that doesn't worry us. We have friends back home who will eventually find out what happened to us and come after us. We just have to wait." said Leo.
"Well, in that case, you can wait here." said Virana to the surprise of the NY group.
"What? Really?" asked Donnie.
"Why not? After all, you don't have a place to stay until you get back." said Raya.
"Consider it a thank you for saving us earlier." said Namaari.
The NY group looked at each other as they debated mentally.
It was true that they had no place to stay to wait for the rescue party to arrive.
They could sleep out in the open or go to one of the other kingdoms, but right now they were being offered a place to sleep as a method of payment for helping them earlier.
It would be rude to turn it down, especially when it was offered by the chief of a kingdom.
"All right. We accept." said Leo.
Raya and Namaari smiled with joy that they would be able to spend more time with them, as they were gaining from being able to learn from them.