Picking Purple

Chapter 1

~~Here's a sneak peek of what's to come~~

  New York...a place where anything could happen. A place where you could be anyone. A place teeming with rampaging mutants and oozesquitos. Not quite what I signed up for, but there's no turning back now. The jar at my hip, containing five mosquito-like bugs, makes glass tink, tink, tink noises while I pedal home as quickly as possible. My parents don't exactly approve of me bringing the bugs home to experiment on, but I do anyway. I've got to make a Retro-mutagen or something of the like. There's a way to return an afflicted human back to normal, there has to be.

It's getting late and darker by the second, the sun setting in the distance. I watch as the last rays of warm sunlight fade from the city. "Great, now I can't see anything!" I complain. "Well, maybe you should have brought a flashlight or night vision goggles," says a sarcastic male voice. My bike skids to a halt, as I yank my black hood over my head and pull my white and red Kitsune mask onto my face. "Show yourself, coward!" I shout into the darkness. There's an exasperated sigh before, "I'm afraid I can't do that miss."

"Why not? Afraid I'll hurt your wittle feewings?" I ask sarcastically to which the voice laughs. "So cute...but so mean," he replies and I spot a red and blue glint from the direction the voice is coming from. I dismount my bike and throw a pebble into an alley, followed quickly by a rather loud yelp. The figure stumbles forward and reveals a turtle mutant wearing a purple mask and a set of mismatched goggles, which explains the glint from earlier. I tap the iridescent necklace just below my collarbone and remove my mask and hood. "You're a mutant too?!" I say, surprised. "You're a turtle!? How? I thought there weren't any other turtle mutants other than me and my brothers," he says scrambling to his feet. "Brothers, there are more of you?" I ask to which he nods and then eyes my necklace. "You wouldn't happen to work for a giant Yokai spider lady named Big Mama would you?" I stare at him for a moment, confused by the question. "Yokai...as in the Japanese word for demon? No...I'm not even into the occult-"

"No, it's just what natural mutants call themselves," he explains. "Oh, no I-I don't know who that is. Does she have something to do with this necklace I found?" I ask. "Probably not...her goons hardly ever leave the hotel." Suddenly aware of how close we were standing, I step back with an embarrassed giggle. "Sorry about calling you a coward." I apologize but he waves his hand dismissively. "You're fine. It's not like you insulted my intelligence. Anyway, you need to come with me. I know a place where you can crash for as long as you need." He grabs my wrist and begins to walk in the opposite direction of my home. "No, I need to get home to my parents!" I protest, ripping my hand from his grasp. He just looks me up and down and then stares blankly at me.

"You don't know what Yokai are, you have a transformation pendant, and you're collecting Oozsquetoes. I'mma go on a limb here and say you recently got mutated into a turtle, and your human parents don't know." I stand there for a long moment, too stunned to speak. "That's what I thought. Come on. My brothers will want to meet you before we inform your parent's about the situation their daughter is currently in." He taps on a screen attached to a metal cuff on his left arm, and his shell opens up to reveal four rotors. "What the hells?" I mutter, startled. "Hover shell," he replies simply and gestures to my bike. I sigh as I reactivate my pendant and climb back onto my bike.

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The ride to their lair, as the purple-clad turtle called it, wasn't the worst trip I've made, but that doesn't mean it was good either. Also, turns out they live in the sewers of all places. "Wandering through the sewers with a mutant turtle I just met...exactly how I wanted to spend my night." I groan, to which he lets out a huff and shakes his head. I start to see light ahead and soon we emerge into a large room with what looks like a massive half-pipe ramp in the center. "This is the main hub of our lair. That's the arcade, the kitchen is there, our bedrooms are directly below us, and over there is my lab which connects to my other bedroom. Oh, and our pops spends most of his time in the living room, which is right there." he explains, gesturing around. "This...this is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I deactivate my pendant and unclip the Oozesquetoes from my belt. "Here, you'll be able to do more with them than me," I say, handing him the jar. "Oh, thanks, Ms?"