New York City. It was dark and late in the night. And this night was especially dark, with many clouds covering the sky and the bright moon.
It's nights like this when an inhabitant of Manhattan has to be very careful. Because on nights like this, the scum of the streets comes out to wreak havoc. The burglars, pilferers and pickpockets.
Also, quite a few criminal minds have decided that this night is perfect for breaking in stores that are not secure as others.
A pair of dark hoodlums was cowering in front of the dark, empty market at the corner of the street. The owner didn't have enough money to afford any cameras or other security systems, and the two scoundrels knew that.
"Here, this is the place," one of them whispered. "Do you have the crowbar?"
"Be quiet!" his accomplice hissed. "Or else the cops are gonna hear us!"
"Ah, the cops never come here," his buddy grinned. They got to work. Both of them had put black paint on their faces and wore black berets and sweaters. Larry was pretty thin. Danny was big and muscular, but also fat.
"This is it," Larry said after he managed to break through. "Just a few more minutes, and the money is ours, big guy!"
"Instead of giving me dumb speeches, why don't you hurry it up?" Danny grumbled. "I have a bad feeling about this, ya know? Do you know what they say about these parts of town? About the giant reptiles from the sewers?"
"Ah, what are you talking about, ya big baby? I'm telling ya, with the money we get from this, we're set for the rest of the month! Now, hand me the flashlight, will ya?"
When his buddy didn't reply, Larry turned around his head in annoyance. "What's the matter? I thought you told me to hurry up? Now give me that damn light before we get caught..."
"O... over there..." Danny whispered. He gestured over to the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
A man was standing there... no, not a man. An imposing figure, dressed in a trenchcoat. But it wasn't a man. The light from the street lamp was shining directly on his face... and it was a green, reptilian face they could see.
"I really don't get it," the humanoid, trenchcoat-wearing turtle shrugged. "You guys could be sitting at home, eating pizza and enjoy the late evening news on TV... by the way, watch Channel Six, they always have the best news!"
"It's one of those freaks!" Danny hissed. "The ones they talked about in the news!"
"Freaks? That settles it: It's not Channel Six you've been watching," Michelangelo grinned. He took off his hat, revealing the orange bandana he was wearing underneath. "But honestly, guys, breaking into other people's houses is uncool. How about you just go away and I forget for today that I've seen you, huh?"
"I say we skin that ugly reptile!" Larry yelled, menacingly swinging the crowbar around. Danny, wanting to show that he had at least as much guts as his spindly, smaller companion, raised his fists.
Michelangelo sighed. "They always want to fight..." he murmured. "You know, you guys remind me of Bebop and Rocksteady... just add the features of a warthog and rhino, and we have the same bumbling duo."
Larry yelled as loud as he could as he ran at the turtle. With a swift move, Mike pulled out his two trademark weapons, a pair of nunchakus, which he twirled around.
"Gotcha!" he grinned as he nimbly disarmed his opponent. "Heheh, looks like I still got it! You still wanna try your luck?"
Danny had decided that he had seen enough. "Good luck, Larry!" he shouted before turning around and running down the street.
He didn't come far.
A sleek, green tail came whipping out of a side alley and made the thug trip. Danny yelped as he stumbled against the wall.
Mike blinked when a green hand came out of the alley and pulled the thug back into the darkness. "You know, I was hoping that the boys in America wouldn't be as dumb as the ones in Japan," a female voice spoke up. "Looks like I was wrong..."
Just a moment later, Danny came flying out of the alley. Hitting a trashcan in mid-flight, he came stumbling to the ground.
Michelangelo was so baffled by the scene that he nearly forgot about his own opponent. From the corner of his eyes, he saw how Larry tried to pick up the crowbar.
"Ah ah ah!" he grinned and wagged his finger. "Can't let you do that!" A swift kick with his foot, and the crowbar was sent flying. Another kick, and Larry was sent against the house wall. With a small groan, the unconscious form of the burglar sank down to the ground.
Mike quickly ran over to the limp form of Danny, only to see that he was out cold as well. He then looked into the alley, just in time to see a slender form that was about to disappear in the sewers.
A slender, green form. With a tail.
"H-hey!" Mike shouted, and the figure stopped. "Who are you?"
"I'm... new in town," the other mutant said. Mikey couldn't see much of the face, but he realized that it was a girl... and that she had short bluish hair on her head. Also, she wasn't a turtle... her long tail made her resemble a newt, or something similar. "I... heard about you... and about others. That's the reason why my family and I came here, to the USA."
'There are more of us?' Mike wondered. "Where are you from?" he asked.
"Japan," the girl said quickly.
"Hey, that's cool!" Mike smirked. "Our Master Splinter comes from Japan as well, you know? Hey, why don't you come along and I introduce you to my brothers?"
"I'm sorry... I can't stay... my sisters are waiting. Maybe some other time..." And she began to slide down the sewer shaft.
"Hey, wait!" Michelangelo shouted. "I didn't even get your name..."
"My name's Akane," she said before she vanished. Mike quickly jumped after her, but when he jumped down into the sewers, he saw no trace of her.
"A girl from Japan..." he murmured. "And she's just like me and my brothers... and she has sisters!" A big grin suddenly appeared on the turtle's face. "I wonder if they are as cute as she is."
He suddenly noticed that he really did find her cute. He blushed, as much as that was possible for a turtle. "Dang..." he murmured. "What's wrong with me? I barely know her and yet I act like a lovesick idiot?" He snickered and bopped himself on the head with his knuckles. "Get a hold of yourself, Mikey..."
He remembered that a pizza was waiting for him, back at home. "All right! Pizza time comes first, and then I can still ask the guys what they think about this," he grinned.
But while he was on his way back home, his thoughts wandered back to the female mutant. "Akane..."
In another tunnel, a female newt mutant was running. Mike hadn't been able to see it in the darkness, but she was wearing a tattered training gi. Unlike Michelangelo, she didn't stay in the sewers for too long. At a certain point, she climbed out of another shaft, coming out of another back alley. Here, she climbed up the fire escape of an apartment building, and, making sure that nobody saw her, climbed into a window.
The young newt sighed to herself when she took a look around. "Lucky, Daddy and my sisters aren't awake yet..."
"That's not quite right, sis," someone standing next to her said. "While Kasumi and Dad are still asleep, you should know that it doesn't take much to wake me up."
Akane winced when she saw how her older sister Nabiki was standing next to her, her tail waving through the air eratically, whole she crossed her arms underneath her bosom.
Akane grinned sheepishly. "Eheheh... hi there, oneechan..."
"Didn't Daddy tell us not to show ourselves to the public?" Nabiki frowned. "At least not until we've found out more about these other mutants... who they are and what the people think about them here. Do you want that the people here treat us in the same manner as they did at home? You do remember what Kuno did, right?"
"I do remember, sis," Akane sighed. "He demanded to know what the 'evil creatures' did with the 'lovely Akane Tendo and her innocent sisters', not realizing that we were one and the same. But Nabiki, Kuno is a delusional fool, you know that. I don't think the people living here are as crazy as the people from Nerima..."
"Maybe, but we don't know that," Nabiki said. "You know how quickly the others from school listened to Kuno and his dear sister Kodachi after they declared us the 'monsters of Furinkan'. Dad came here with us so we could start anew. And the only lead we have are a few, old, misguiding newspapers from New York that show us a couple of faded photographs of a group of humanoid reptiles that we know nothing about. Heck, we don't even know if they exist..."
"They do exist. I met one of them today," Akane told her sister.
Nabiki blinked. "You... met one of them?" she asked, disbelief in her voice. "When? How?"
"Just half an hour ago," Akane said. "I helped him capture a few men who wanted to break into a department store..."
"Akane, you showed your face?"
"Nonono, I stayed hidden, in an alley. Only one of those thugs saw my face... I think..."
"I don't believe it... we come here, hoping for a new start, and my little sister has nothing better to do than to flick her tail in front of someone's face who could also be a regular guy on his way to a late costume party."
"That was no costume!" Akane proclaimed. "Honestly! That guy was for real!" Her face lit up with excitement. "Think about it, sis: We're finally not alone! There are others like us..."
"I... still don't get it..." Nabiki sighed. "Do you think they also have visited Jusenkyo when they were young? Is that how they got cursed? And do you think they, like us, got locked in their cursed forms?"
"I... really don't know," Akane admitted. "But the next time I see him, I can ask him. He even invited me to come along and meet his brothers... but I told him I'd ask you about it first."
"Well... it really is the only clue we got..." Nabiki muttered. "And we came to New York because we hoped we'd find a trace of them... oh well, I guess talking to them can't hurt. But let's talk this through with Daddy and Kasumi first, you got that?"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh, since when have you turned into my Mommy, Nabiki?" Akane grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Since the three of us turned into humanoid newts after an accident with Jusenkyo water, and since everyone we know from Nerima regarded us as freaks, little sister!"
"Not everyone..." Akane mumbled, thinking back to Dr. Toju. "Not everyone..."
"We talked about this, Akane, remember? Man, I can't go back to sleep now... what do you say? Shall I order a pizza for breakfast?"
Akane shrugged. "Yeah, whatever... pizza sounds nice..."
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(Posted Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:01)
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