The harbor. Cool winds blew against the numerous warehouses. The air was fresh, but smelled of oil and sea water. Seagulls circled above the ships and cried. Burly workers were busy loading or unloading the ships on the docks.
One of the warehouses had been abandoned for some time, as was the pier next to it. Only several empty crates and boxes were inside the building. No one seemed interested in what was going on over there. Just a young female was standing in the shadows of the warehouse, unnoticed by most.
She was wearing a long coat and extraordinarily big sunglasses. She also seemed to be waiting for someone.
She didn't have to wait long. A man in a similar trenchcoat was approaching. Instead of sunglasses, he wore a hat with a big brim. Spotting the young woman, he walked over to her and asked: "Miss Tendo?"
Nabiki lifted her huge shades for a moment, revealing her green face and her business-like smirk. "Mr. Leonardo, I presume."
"Just Leonardo," the turtle chuckled, lifting his hat slightly, also revealing his face and his blue bandana. "I don't have a passport either."
"That's too bad," Nabiki replied. "Maybe there's something we could do... for a small fee?"
Leonardo laughed. He remembered how she had offered him the address of the best pizza place in Tokyo... for a sizeable amount of money. "You never waste a chance to make money, do you?" he grinned.
Nabiki grinned back. "Never. But let's get down to business, shall we? Care for a walk?"
Leonardo shrugged. "Sure," he said, and the two of them walked down the abandoned pier.
"So you're from Japan," Leonardo spoke up. "I can tell from your accent... and from what your sister told my brother."
"And you are using traditional, Japanese ninja weapons, from what my sisters told me about your brothers," Nabiki nodded. "I think we already established those facts. What I am curious about is: If your appearance is truly from a mutation instead of magic, how could this have happened?"
"Not very much about it," Leonardo shrugged and told her a short story about a truck accident, a canister of spilled, green liquid and four baby turtles.
Nabiki blinked. Getting all this information had been far too easy... and for free on top of that. "Wait a minute..." she then said. "You said that liquid was green?"
"Yeah, the mutagen," Leonardo nodded. "We know that stuff pretty well by now. Shredder's using it on a daily basis..."
"Who?" Nabiki asked, never missing a word.
"Old nemesis of ours," Leonardo explained. "Big metal helmet, spikes on his armguards and an ego bigger than Miss Liberty. If you ever happen to run across him, you better stand clear of him."
'New York's full of crazy loons, got it,' Nabiki mentally noted. "But this... mutagen. I have the strange feeling about it. I mean, the water my sisters and I were splashed with was also green."
"Well, mutagen's more of a slime than a true liquid... but if mixed with water, sure, why not? However... if that is the truth, I'm curious about how it managed to get to Japan..."
"We need to talk about that some other time," Nabiki said. "Do you know any way to reverse the effects of this mutagen?"
Leonardo rubbed his chin. "Well, Shredder did invent a few gadgets that were supposed to be countereffective against the mutagen's results... but I really don't know what he did with them. On top of that, it's not like we can ask him. He's crazy, and most of the time, hiding away in the Technodrome."
'These are the times that I wish we were still in Nerima,' Nabiki mentally sighed. 'Back there, I always had been able to find one or two martial artists that were ready to do a dirty job for me after a short bribe... Now if only Ranma was already here...'
"Why are you fighting that guy anyway?" Nabiki asked. "He got something against you?"
"You could say that," Leonardo added grimly. "He's the old enemy of our master... and on top of that, his plans usually are a danger to all of New York. We can't let him endanger the lives of innocents."
'Figures,' Nabiki sighed. 'Another of those idealistic hero-types... oh well, at least those are easy to read.'
"Well, since all of us have the similar problem of being outcast by publicity, we could work out some advantages of this acquaintanceship. Regarding that we're the only mutants around here..."
She blinked in surprise, when Leonardo had to stifle a chuckle. "What's so funny?" she wanted to know.
"You really haven't lived here for a long time, have you?" Leonardo smirked.
"Akane! Where are you going?" Kasumi asked.
"Training," her youngest sister replied as she climbed out of the window. "We've been forced to hide in here for days... that fight last night just reminded me how much I have neglected by martial arts training. I need to unwind, sis."
Kasumi sighed. "Well, but make sure nobody sees you."
"Don't worry," Akane said. "I'll be going down into the sewers... no one's gonna spot me there." And with one swift motion, the newt-girl was gone.
"Oh my..." Kasumi murmured. "If she only would use the door..."
On her run back from the fight against the two street thugs, Akane had found a nice place in the sewer system beneath Manhattan. It was a big room, except for two huge pipes. Those pipes were the only entrances to this room. The room itself was spacious and empty.
Akane began with an easy kata, before moving on to a more complex one. This one was taught to her by her father, a long time ago, before he stopped doing martial arts himself. It all had to do with the death of his wife, of course...
Over the past few days, Akane had learned that this form was giving her an additional advantage... her tail. She could use it as an additional limb, something that no regular martial artist could do. She found it to be quite flexible and prehensile.
Just when she turned around to punch an imaginary opponent... she noticed that she had a spectator. Someone who must have climbed through one of the pipes during her kata.
And just like her, she was a female, humanoid newt. She was naked except for a pink scarf around her neck, and she had long, brown hair.
"That looked cool," the stranger grinned as she clapped her hands. "You some sort of judoka?"
"Well, I'm a martial artist," Akane said, wiping her forehead. She was more than curious about this newcomer, but decided not to show it. "It's called Anything Goes Martial Arts."
"Looks a bit like what my friend Raphael's doing with his ninja skills," the girl said as she came a bit closer. "Only without any weapon."
'Raphael?' Akane wondered. 'Kasumi said one of the turtle brothers has that name...'
"Say... is this Raphael, by any chance, a turtle?"
"You know him?" the other girl asked.
Akane shook her head. "No, I... just ran into one of his brothers." Deciding that this other newt-girl looked and sounded trustworthy, she extended a hand. "I'm Akane."
"And my name's Mona Lisa," the brunette newt smiled as they shook hands. "Pleased to meetcha!"
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(Posted Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:23)
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