IT'S FINALLY HERE! I'm so excited!
Chapter 1: Things Change
"Remember. To be a true ninja, you must become one with the shadows." Splinter's voice carried through the room. The flickering candle perched on the end of his wooden cane was the only thing keeping the room from being pitch black. "Darkness gives the ninja power, while light reveals the ninja's presence. Now, can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?"
With a simple flick of the wrist, Splinter threw the candle into the air a few inches, catching it with ease in one hand and closing his eyes.
It should be easy, right?
Well…
"Ha!" A hushed yet harsh voice penetrated the air as an olive-green and purple blur, one carrying a wooden Bo staff, rushed towards Splinter from his right. The gray rat lowered the candle as soon as he heard, causing the blur to instead fly over him and crash into a nearby wall with a grunt of pain.
"Too noisy, Donatello," Splinter said, reopening his eyes.
Another blur of a similar size, this one sea-green and orange, twirling a single pair of nunchucks, launches himself towards Splinter. Said rat simply jumps to his feet at the last second, moving the candle out of reach. The action surprised the attacker, causing him to lose his balance midair and crash into Donatello, who was just getting to his feet, sending both of them to the ground again. "Ow…" he groaned out.
"Too clumsy, Michelangelo," Splinter said. He sat back down and closed his eyes, still holding the candle.
A third blur, one that's dark green and red, tiptoed towards Splinter from behind, then sped up his pace and lunged at the rat. Splinter merely ducked, causing the blur to sail right over him. With a grunt, the third blur landed on his feet and whipped back around. Splinter took a few cautionary steps to the side as the blur twirled his Sais and barreled towards him again. But right before he could attack, Splinter quickly sat back down and lowered his cane, tripping the blur and causing him to crash into the other two.
"Poor choice, Raphael," Splinter said over the groaning and complaining.
The faint sound of swinging metal reached Splinter's ears. The source was quickly revealed to be metallic, black and pink Tessen spiraling towards him. Without even opening his eyes, Splinter backflipped out of the weapon's way, causing it to imbed itself into a nearby wall. A brown and pink blur, this one a bit smaller than the three before her, bolted through the shadows as soon as Splinter's feet touched the ground and dove for the candle. And similar to the other three, Splinter merely jumped out of the way at the last second, causing the blur to let out a surprised noise and crash into the other three.
"Poor timing, Jade," Splinter said, standing still.
From above, a fifth and final blur, this one leaf-green and blue, jumped down from where he had remained hidden amongst the pipes on the ceiling until now. His katana sliced through the candle, cleanly cutting it in half. He landed on his feet and caught the top half of the candle on the blade of his sword, bringing it to his face and smirking for a moment before blowing the flame out, plunging the room into darkness.
Moments later, the lights flickered back on with their familiar hum, thanks to Splinter pulling a lever on a nearby wall. "Well done, Leonardo," he said, his other four children pulling themselves up. Raph, Donnie and Mikey headed over to join their older brother, while Jade worked to pull her Tessen out of the wall.
"Teacher's pet," Raph grumbled.
"Ninja dropout," Leo fired back, tossing the top half of the candle at Raph.
"Ooh!" Donnie and Mikey both taunted in unison as Raph growled, crushing the candle in his hand.
"Oh, dear…" Jade sighed, succeeding in extracting her weapon and snapping it shut.
Leo and Raph looked ready to square off, but were cut off by Splinter. "My children!" he said, then sighed heavily. "My children. If you are to become true ninja, you must work harder." All five of them lined up and sat down in front of their sensei. "Your path in life will not be an easy one. The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five are different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive you must master these skills I teach you."
As he spoke, a fly buzzed around Mikey's head, prompting him to try and snatch it a few times. Jade, sitting between Leo and Raph, briefly glanced over at him, before returning her attention to Splinter.
"Ninjutsu powers of stealth and secrecy," he continued. "You must become kage. Shadow warriors. And you must never be discovered by the outside world."
Mikey slapped his hands together, still preoccupied with trying to catch the fly, then looked up when Splinter approached him with a disapproving look. But before he or anyone else could say anything, the walls around them suddenly began shaking, accompanied by the sound of metal clanging.
"What is that noise?" Splinter asked as he looked around.
Bits of the ceiling began to crack and fall, and the five teens stood back up. "Whoa!" Mikey exclaimed. "Earthquake!"
"In New York?" Donnie said skeptically. "Possible, but not likely."
The metal clanging only grew louder, and Donnie was forced to jump back to avoid a chunk of the wall from hitting him. One of the walls suddenly exploded outwards, and through the dust and debris, something came through. Something small and mechanical, looking vaguely like some kind of bird with sharp jaws, that let out a metallic shriek as the teens drew their weapons.
The robotic creature wasn't alone, as several more identical things began to pour into the room behind it. "What are those things?" Leo asked.
"New York City cockroaches?" Mikey quipped.
"Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party to crash," Raph declared, rushing forward and kicking the first robot, sending it crashing onto its back and uselessly flailing its legs.
The rest of the robots apparently took that as their cue to charge towards them. The family of six fought back. Jade fanned out her Tessen, and with a shout, flung it towards the robots. It hit one, splitting it open and causing sparks to fly, and the weapon ricocheted off it as it collapsed, spiraling to hit another robot. The Tessen hit a few more robots, ricocheting off them like a pinball, before hitting one more robot at just the right angle and spiraling back to its owner. Jade kicked away another robot that had tried to sneak up on her, and jumped up to catch the Tessen with ease.
But while the five siblings ended up together during the fight, their Sensei was on his own on the other side of the room. "We have to help Master Splinter!" Leo said. "Come on!"
The five tried to make their way over to the rat, but the robots made it difficult, with even more of them running into the room. They continued destroying them, but didn't notice that some of the robots were eating away at some of the support structures until the ceiling began to groan and shake. Bits of debris hit the floor, before finally caving in.
"Look out!" Leo yelled, grabbing Raph and jumping back before chunks of the ceiling could hit them. Several more large pieces fell down, and sent even more dust and debris flying everywhere, blocking their view of Splinter.
The five siblings all gasped. "Oh no…" Leo said, all of them running through the cloud of dust.
"Master Splinter!" Raph cried out.
Leo stopped at the pile of debris. "Master Splinter!" he yelled out, trying to pull a chunk of debris away to no avail. He didn't get a response. "Master Splinter!" Everything had finally stopped falling, but still there was no answer. "No!"
One of the downed robots struggled to raise its head, letting out that awful metallic shriek, before Raph stomped on its head, causing something inside it to create a small explosion as it finally died down. Raph gritted his teeth in anger, twirling his Sais and putting them away.
"What the shell are those things?" Mikey asked, standing over another destroyed robot.
Raph walked over to his youngest brother. "Whatever they were," he said, kicking it away with a grunt. "They're junk now."
Jade walked over and stood between both of them. "Are either of you hurt?" she asked, looking over Raph first for any injuries.
"We're fine, dudette," Mikey said as she looked him over next, even pulling his arm away from her to flex it with a grin. Jade gave him a relieved smile, while Raph rolled his eyes.
"Guys," Leo spoke up from where he and Donnie were struggling to find a way through or over the debris. "Splinter. We've got to find Splinter." Jade, Raph and Mikey hurried to join their brothers. "Master Splinter! Can you hear me?"
Once again, he was only met with silence.
"Donatello," Leo said. "Any way to—"
The sound of beeping cut him off, and the four looked over to see Donnie holding his Shell Cell to his ear. "What are you doing?" Leo asked, walking up to his brother.
"Shell Cell," Donnie said. "I'm calling Master Splinter…I hope…"
The device beeped for several more seconds, then was eventually replaced with a familiar voice, "Which button do you press to answer this thing?"
Leo, Donnie, and Jade, who was now standing next to the blue-clad turtle, all beamed at the sound of their Sensei's voice. Leo let out a breath of relief as he grabbed the Shell Cell from Donnie. "Hello?" they heard from the device.
"Master Splinter," Leo said. "Are you alright?"
"Hello?" Splinter repeated. Donnie looked ready to jump in, but Leo held up a finger to stop him.
"Master Splinter…" he said.
"Stupid device…" the rat grumbled out.
"You don't have to press any buttons," Leo said. "You already answered it."
"Ah," Splinter said. "Leonardo, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they have managed to eat through the support structure of our home." All four of Leo's siblings pressed up against him, trying to hear better. "We must leave right away." Mikey tried to push past Raph and Jade, only for his red-clad brother to shove him several feet away. "Meet me at the old drainage junction in south point." Mikey groaned as he landed, and Jade walked over to help him up.
Donnie pulled a map out of his duffel bag, blowing the dust off it before opening it up. "If we take the south conduit," he pointed to a certain spot on the map. "It'll intersect with the old drainage tunnel."
"We'll meet you there, Sensei," Leo said.
"What'd he say? What'd he say?" Mikey asked as he ran back his brothers, putting a hand on Leo and Donnie's shoulders, with Jade behind him. "Did he mention me?"
Raph shoved him away again, and Jade sighed quietly as she went to help the youngest up again.
OoOoOoO
"Goodbye, broken pipe," Mikey said, he and his siblings gathered towards the entrance. "Goodbye, grungy payphone. Goodbye, dented manhole cover. Goodbye, home sweet home."
"Hello, cruel world," Raph said, walking up to Mikey. "Come on." He grabbed the orange tails of the youngest's mask and yanked, pulling him back with a grunt.
The five walked through the tunnel. "Those things have been through here," Leo observed, noting the footprints and the broken walls and floor.
"These walls are seriously compromised," Donnie added on. "It's lucky this roof hasn't caved in."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the five stopped with a few gasps. "You were saying?" Raph asked. The ceiling and walls ahead of them had completely caved in, leaving a towering pile of debris that looked impossible to get past.
"Can't go forward," Leo said. "Can't go back."
"Looks like we go up," Raph concluded, walking to a nearby ladder and starting to climb up it.
Leo ran up and grabbed his brother, stopping him from climbing any further. "Hitting the surface is a bad idea."
"Where else are we gonna go, Leo?" Jade asked.
Leo groaned in defeat. "Alright," he said. "But we're only going up to go down the next manhole. Got it? No fooling around. Remember what Sensei said. It's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured. We need to stay out of sight."
"We got it the first thousand times, Leo," Raph said, still on the ladder. "Just follow my lead." He continued climbing up, and this time, his brothers and sister followed suit.
Raph pushed the manhole cover out of the way and jumped into the alleyway. Leo poked his head out and looked around. "Come on, Leo," Mikey could be heard below him. "Move it. I don't wanna be starin' at your butt any longer than I have to."
The sound of an approaching vehicle hit his and Raph's ears. "Shh, guys!" Leo hissed. He ducked back into the manhole, while Raph pressed himself again the side of a nearby building, hiding in the shadows as a motorcycle passed by.
Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Jade eventually made it up. But unfortunately, the nearest manhole cover—located in the alleyway directly across from them—had the back tire of a truck over it. An armored truck that had pulled up just as Raph made it to the alleyway. A few men inside got out and walked into the nearby building, leaving the passenger and back doors wide open.
Raph ran over to the truck once they were inside, lowering himself to look at the partially covered manhole cover. "Great, just great," he said bitterly. "The old Turtle and Cat Luck workin' true to form." He grunted in anger as he stood back up and kicked the truck.
"Way to be stealthy, Raph," Leo snapped. He, Donnie, Jade and Mikey were around the corner of the building.
"Yeah," Mikey said. "I don't think they heard you over in Jersey."
"Gimme a hand," Raph said, hiking a thumb towards the truck. Mikey holds his hands up and opens his mouth, but is cut off by Raph, who wags a finger at his brother. "Don't even think about it, Mikey."
The youngest closed his mouth and lowered his hands, while Leo's jerked a thumb towards Mikey and shook his head, and Jade placed a hand over her mouth in amusement.
"Ah, forget you guys," Raph waved them away. "I'll push it myself."
He walked over to the back of the truck and put his hands on it. But just as he started pushing, voices started drawing close. Voice from behind the door in the alleyway. Raph immediately stopped and looked over, seeing the shadow of one of the men in the tinted window of the door.
"Hide, Raph!" Leo called. "Come on! Hurry!"
The door opened up. But instead of dashing towards his siblings, Raph jumped into the back of the truck.
"Ah!" Jade exclaimed as quietly as she could.
"No!" Leo whisper-shouted, while Donnie gritted his teeth.
"Whoa," Mikey said, slapping his palm against his forehead. "Poor choice, Raphael."
One of the men laughed as they all walked towards the truck, three of the four carrying duffle bags. "Did you see the way that guy squirmed when we took his cash? Sheep, man. Sheep to be fleeced by us wolves." All three of them tossed the bags into the truck and shut the doors, sealing it with an electronic lock.
The men jumped back into the truck and drove off. "Oh man…" Leo grumbled out, hiding behind a nearby car with his siblings.
"Imagine their surprise when they open the back of that truck," Mikey said.
"This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about," Leo said. "We've gotta get him out of there!"
All four of them ran towards a nearby fire escape. "Last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg!" Donnie called playfully, using his Bo staff to catapult himself up to one of the fire escapes and jump onto the roof, with Leo, Mikey and Jade right behind him.
The four of them made their way to the rooftop's edge, just as the armored truck drove past them. Leo turned to his siblings. "We can cut them off at third and first."
"If we run like crazy," Donnie said.
"Is there any other way to run?" Mikey pointed out. Jade laughed softly as all four of them hurried off.
The truck rounded the corner, and the mutant siblings jumped across the rooftops to keep up with it.
"Haha, yeah!" Mikey laughed, already ahead of his siblings. "You guys are too slow!" Just as he said that, Leo and Donnie flipped over his head and landed with ease in front of Mikey, who had stopped in surprise. "Hey!" he called, now running alongside Jade.
They jumped across a few more buildings. Mikey jumped up and used his nunchucks to slide down a clothesline. But it didn't go the way he planned, and caused him to crash into a sheet, falling to the roof with a surprised yell and the sheet still on his head. He sniffed it, letting out a pleased noise as he pulled it up so it wasn't covering his face anymore. "Mm, springtime fresh."
The sheet was pulled off by an outside force, and Mikey looked up to see Jade now holding the sheet, chuckling softly as she gave the youngest an amused look. Mikey grinned at her. Jade threw the sheet back up to the clothesline, and the two ran after Leo and Donnie, with Mikey whooping excitedly.
OoOoOoO
The truck finally stopped in another alleyway. The men got out, with three heading to one of the buildings, while the fourth stayed behind with a bat in his hands.
"Hey, Two-Ton," one of the men—the one with long blue hair—said to the fourth. "Watch the truck. We wouldn't want somebody to steal our stolen money." He laughed quietly to himself, blissfully unaware of the three turtles and the cat watching from nearby as he went inside the building.
The sound of something clattering nearby made Two-Ton pause and look around the side of the truck, only to see nothing there. A brown-furred hand reached from behind and tapped him on the shoulder, making him turn slightly. "Excuse me, sir," Jade said in a polite, cheery voice. "But this is a no-parking zone." Two-Ton fully turned around, and a piece of paper was shoved into his free hand, making him blink at it in confusion. "Here's your ticket."
"And here's your fine!" Mikey appeared from out of nowhere and kicked Two-Ton in the face, sending him crashing into the truck and knocking him out cold.
Leo jumped down. "Nice work, you two."
Mikey chuckled, while Jade grinned bashfully. "It's a ninja thing," he said, fist-bumping Jade.
Donnie jumped down as well, all four of them walking up to the back of the truck. Raph could be seen through one of the windows, pounding on the door and angrily yelling something, though it was muffled and hard to hear. "Now, let's get Raph out of there," Leo said.
"Man," Mikey said, looking at the electronic lock. "Whatever happened to good old-fashioned padlocks?"
"Heh," Donnie chuckled. "Where's the fun in that?" He pulled two screwdrivers out of his duffle bag, twirling them in his hands. "This one's all mine."
Raph continued his yelling and pounding. "What's that, Raphael?" Mikey taunted. "You're gonna have to speak up, dude. I can't hear you!" Raph growled in anger, and exclaimed loudly as he slammed his fist against the window. "Okay, I heard that."
"I'm trying to work here," Donnie said, turning to the youngest with goggles over his eyes.
It took a little bit, but Donnie eventually disabled the lock, and the doors opened up.
"Hey, Raph," Mikey said, opening his arms up. "Welcome back, bro—"
He was cut off as Raph barreled out of the truck and slammed into Mikey, tackling him to the ground and wrestling him.
"What a hothead," Leo said, arms crossed over his chest. Mikey started yelping in pain, when Leo, Donnie and Jade all turned around in surprise.
"Uh, Raph?" Donnie said, all three of them drawing their weapons and backing towards their brothers.
"We don't have time for this," Leo said.
"And why not?" Raph asked as he looked over his shoulder, now pressing Mikey against the wall.
"Because we're not alone," Mikey said as Raph finally let him down.
The four men from before, along with several other gang members, backed the five siblings to the wall. Each of them had a weapon in hand.
"Look at the freaks!"
"What's with the dweeby costumes?"
"This ain't Halloween."
The leader, the blue-haired man, twirled a wooden staff in his hands. "You're goin' down, freaks. Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons, especially wearin' stupid turtle and cat costumes!"
The siblings all had their weapons drawn, and with a shout, jumped into the fight. It didn't take long for them to take down each of the gang members, and the fight ended with the five standing victoriously over several downed members.
"Let's get outta here!" the blue-haired man shouted, running towards the alleyway's entrance.
"I'm with you!" another member cried out. The Purple Dragons picked themselves and hurriedly ran out of the alleyway.
"Gimme some green!" Mikey cheered and gave Raph a high-three.
"Well, that was easier than expected," Donnie said in amusement.
"I hope there are more of those guys," Raph said. "I'm just gettin' warmed up."
Jade's ears flickered suddenly and she looked up, gasping quietly. The noise drew Mikey's attention, making him look up as well. "Ah, well," he said, pointing to the rooftops above them. "Looks like you got your wish, Raphie boy."
Watching them from rooftop edges above were several figures in dark clothing.
"Are those guys…ninjas?" Leo asked.
The new ninjas apparently took that as their cue to jump down, forming a circle around the five, who now stood back-to-back.
"Well," Mikey quipped. "They're certainly ninja-esque."
"Be ready for anything," Leo said.
"I am so gonna enjoy this," Raph smirked.
The five quickly jumped into battle. However, these ninjas proved to be much tougher than the Purple Dragons.
Jade backflipped a few times before landing gracefully on her feet, some of the ninjas landing around her. One tried to run at her from behind, but she quickly flipped forward, the heel of her right foot delivering an uppercut to his chin the moment her hands touched the ground. The ninja stumbled back as Jade landed in a crouching position.
A second ninja swung a sword down at her, only for her to roll out of the way. The sword struck the ground, and Jade rushed behind the ninja, delivering a kick to his right knee. The second ninja fell to one knee, and Jade didn't hesitate to send a spinning kick to the back of his head, causing him to collapse.
The moment the second ninja hit the ground, a third and fourth ninja ran at her from either side. Jade crouched to avoid a punch from one and a grab from the other. She turned to one and straightened herself up to slam her closed Tessen into the third ninja's nose, making him stumble back and hold his face.
Jade whipped around to deliver another strike to the fourth ninja, only for him to grab her wrist and forearm and flip her over his head, making her yelp in surprise before landing painfully on the ground back-first. Gritting her teeth and glaring up at the ninja, who still had both hands on her right arm and was bent over to do so, Jade moved quickly to slam her left fist into his throat as hard as she could. That made him let go, and she immediately rolled away from him and jumped up.
She fanned out her Tessen and flung it at him, hitting him in the eyes and making him fall to the ground. A fifth ninja ran to her from behind with a sword, but the Tessen, having ricocheted off the fourth, hit him in the head, making him stumble in a daze for a moment. And he reopened his eyes in time to see Jade charging towards him with a shout…and kick a place that should never be kicked.
The fifth ninja dropped the sword and collapsed, with Jade standing over him with a glare. The Tessen boomeranged back to her, and she caught it without even looking up. A few more ninjas surrounded her, making her growl softly as she looked around.
OoOoOoO
Jade wasn't sure how long she and her brothers kept fighting before she backflipped over to Leo and Mikey, who were quickly joined by Raph.
"How many of these goons do we have to bap before they get the hint?" Raph asked.
"Really," Mikey said. "They just keep comin'!"
"Time to switch to Plan B," Leo said. "Donatello?"
Said turtle was currently in the armored truck, messing with the wiring underneath the steering wheel. "Almost there, Leo," Donnie reported, connecting two wires and creating a spark. The vehicle roared to life, and Donnie quickly pulled himself into the driver's seat and shut the door. "This bus now leaving for anywhere but here!"
Two more ninjas jumped down. Raph looked ready to continue fighting, but Leo, having sheathed his katanas, placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on! We're going!"
Donnie sped off, and Leo, Raph, Jade and Miket all jumped into the open back. The ninjas jumped out of the way to avoid being run over, while the four teens inside struggled to stay upright as the genius swerved the vehicle. The doors even slammed themselves shut as Donnie hit a dumpster and rounded the corner to drive onto the street.
"Nice driving, Don!" Mikey snapped dryly. "For a turtle with no license!"
"Hey," Donnie said over his shoulder. "You want pretty, or you want effective?" He hit a couple more trash cans as he said that.
"I gotta tell ya," Mikey said as Donnie rounded another corner and continued speeding down the street. By now, Leo and Mikey were sitting on one side, while Raph and Jade were on the other. A few duffle bags surrounded the latter two. "This has been one mondo bizarro day. First, all those metal robot things underground. And what's with all those ninjas? Ninjas in New York City? Besides us? It's just not right!"
As he spoke, Jade grabbed one of the bags and zipped it open. Her eyes widened, and Raph looked over. Donnie swerve around another corner, and Mikey fell off his seat with a grunt, while Jade barely avoided the same fate while holding onto the bag.
"Talk about not right," Raph said, grabbing the bag from his sister. "Check this out." He held it upside down, causing several wads of cash to fall out.
A grin found its way to Mikey's face, and he grabbed two wads. "Show me the money, baby!" he cheered. "Wahoo!"
Leo stood up and walked over to the youngest, grabbing one of the wads from him. "This isn't finders-keepers, Mikey," he said. His brother looked disappointed, but didn't argue.
They managed to put all the cash back in the bag right before pulling up to an occupied police car on the side of the street. The truck screeched to a halt. "Take care of this money, will ya, guys?" Leo called as he and Jade tossed the bags onto the hood of the car, then sped off.
"Did you see that?!" the younger cop exclaimed. "Some little green men and a furry woman in an armored car just threw a bunch of money at us!"
The older cop tsked. "Rookie."
Donnie turned one last corner into an alleyway, blasting through a gate into a tunnel. After a few more minutes, they finally made it to the old drainage junction, stopping the car and climbing out. And thankfully, Splinter was there waiting for them.
All five of them exclaimed joyfully as they ran to their Sensei and surrounded him. "Yes," Splinter said. "Well, I'm glad to see you too, my children."
"Master Splinter," Leo said. "So much has happened today."
"Yes, yes," Splinter said. "There will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo. But first, I wish to take you all home."
Splinter started walking forward, and the five all looked confused. "Home?" Mikey echoed.
"But, Sensei…" Jade started to say.
"We got no home," Raph finished, crouching down to tap on the head of one of those robots, with much metal debris scattered across the floor. "Those robots trashed our pad. Remember, Sensei?"
"Do not worry," Splinter said with a smile, stopping in front of a large hole in the floor. "I think I have found a solution to our current housing problem. Follow me, my children."
And with that, he jumped into the hole. The siblings looked amongst themselves for a moment, then back at the hole. Leo went first, flipping forward and leaping into the hole. Donnie went next, diving in head first. Jade followed suit, making sure to hold her skirt down with one hand as she jumped in.
"Cowabung—" Mikey was cut off as Raph shoved him into the hole, yelling in surprise as his older brother laughed. "Not funny, Raph!" his voice echoed from the hole.
"Oh yes it is," the red-clad turtle said before jumping in.
All five of them yelled as the hole led them to another tunnel, and caused them all to tumble and slam into each other, leaving them a tangle of limbs on the floor. They stood back up and dusted themselves off. "Wicked slide!" Mikey said.
Splinter continued walking. "No offense, Master Splinter," Mikey said, catching up to the rat. "But this place doesn't seem so great."
"Look with your heart, Michelangelo," Splinter replied. "And not your eyes."
Mikey stopped to scratch his head in confusion. "Um…Okay." His brother and sister joined his side.
"And walk this way," Splinter continued, never breaking his stride.
With a cheeky grin, Mikey started to imitate the way Splinter walked…until Donnie whacked him over the head with his staff. "Ow!" the youngest exclaimed.
Splinter eventually led them to a large, open area. Some kind of underground atrium minus the skylight, maybe? Whatever this place was, despite all the dust and debris around, all five were in awe.
"This is beyond awesome!" Mikey said.
"I could really tune this space up," Donnie said. All five broke off to explore the new area.
Mikey climbed up to the second floor, stopping in front of one doorway. "This room here?" he said while pointing at it. "Mine." He jumped down next to Donnie, who was standing in front of another doorway. "And where you're standing? Also mine."
"You see, my children?" Splinter said, all five teens gathering around him. "Change is good."
We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter," Leo said with a smile.
"Good," Splinter said. "So let's see you kids clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy!"
Jade sighed, while her brothers all voiced their complaints.