Thirteen years had passed since they first accepted me into their family. I had never been more grateful than to ever even know them. Although we have our differences, I wouldn't dare replace them with anyone or anything else, even if the price was to remember my mother. Although as much as I wish to have memories of her, something... my self-conscience maybe... holds me back.
Deep within the sewers of New York, was our home. The room I was in was dark; pitch black, even. The only light source was a candle. The short candle was balanced on the end of our master's walking stick. His whiskers twitched as he spoke, "Remember to be a true ninja, you must become one with the shadows. Darkness gives a ninja power, while light reveals the ninja's presence. Now, can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?" I watched as he flipped the candle off his walking stick and into his hand. A dark figure had immediately pounced in its direction in an attempt to grab it but failed as our master simply moved it out of the way. The figure landed on the opposite wall at this point. "Too noisy, Donatello." Our sensei stated.
Donatello was the smartest out of my brothers. Every day, he would create something new. If he failed at creating his invention the first time, he'd try again and again until he finally made it right. I was first interested in his creations when we were still just children. Even then, he knew how to amaze me and the others with his inventions. If his little creations ever broke, he would find a way to fix it. He even gave me the honor of helping out with his experiments sometimes.
Another large figure jumped forward but also failed to catch the candle for the rat stood up in time. Instead, he went flipping and flying. It wasn't long before he landed on top of Donatello. "Too clumsy, Michelangelo."
Michelangelo, also known as Mikey, was the youngest, the most free-willed and the prankster in the family. He always knew how to make someone smile and have fun. Although he would try to involve me into some pranks, depending on who would be the victim, I would either agree, which happens very rarely, or stay out of trouble, which seemed to be a much safer route. Mikey was the one who actually made me open up more and enjoy life as much as I can.
Not too long, a third shadow came out and barely missed the candle. Sensei ducked in time and took caution with this one, carefully stepping a few paces. The large shadow came again, but Master Splinter had taken a seat once more and tripped the shadow with his walking stick. He landed into the pile of my brothers. Angry grunts could be heard from him. "Poor choice, Raphael."
Raph was the one with the temper in this family. He was rather untrustworthy of me when I first arrived. You can't really blame the guy, considering that it was just him and his brothers before I came in. Also, it's not really every day that your father and brothers anticipate for you to be a part of their family. It took time for Raphael to accept me as a sister. 'How?' You might ask. Well it probably didn't help that one, I was living with him, two a whole lot of training actually paid off and three I got caught in a crossfire of pranks between him and Mikey. Splinter came on the scene and the two were forced to clean up the mess while I got a small bath. The two were forced to apologize as well and surprisingly, he was the first to apologize to me, even though he was reluctant about it.
I realized that it was my turn and I quietly crept around our rat father. His eyes kept themselves closed, although that didn't mean he doesn't have other heightened senses. The others had tried to leap for it, but none of them tried to get the candle from far away. So, that's what I do. I reach for my weapon and toss out the chain end in an attempt to at least grab the candle. Instead, the metallic chain wraps around his staff and I am tossed around to the opposite wall, into my own spot. I gasped slightly and groaned as I heard, "Work on your aim, Isabella."
Isabella. That was the name he gave me. Bella was the nickname Mikey gave me. It kinda stuck with me, but I didn't mind it at all. Both of the names, or at least, part of them seemed so familiar to me.
My gaze followed up when I saw a pair of eyes suddenly open and jump down. A pair of slices were heard when the candle broke in half. The lit candle landed on a blade before it was pulled up, only to be blown out by the eldest of my brothers. The lights were suddenly switched on and they revealed my rat father and turtle brothers. Sorry, if I didn't bother with that one small detail.
"Well done, Leonardo." Leo was the eldest of us and rather the most matured, aside from Splinter, in the family. He was the first to actually try to talk to me, trying to warm up to me when I was still 'new' to the world around me. Both Raph and Leo helped me out a lot, but not as much as Master Splinter. Leo actually did help me pick out my weapon. Though I tried plenty, none of them felt right. That was until I was introduced to the kusarigama. I came across the weapon by pure accident, but there was something about seeing your own reflection on a blade. That's probably why Raph and Leo had blades as well.
I sighed and got up, joining my brothers and father. "Teacher's pet," Raph grumbled. "Ninja dropout," Leo shot back, tossing the candle to Raph and the red-masked turtle caught it. Don and Mike gave a taunting 'ooh' to Raph before he crushed the candle with his hand and motioned himself to Leo to start another fight. I rolled my eyes at them, as they growled at one another.
"My sons," Master Splinter began, dividing the two with his walking stick. He sighed and restarted, "My children, if you are to become a true ninja, you must work harder." My turtle brothers and I gathered before our sensei on our knees. "Your path in life will not be an easy one. The upside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five are so different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive, you must master these skills I teach you. Ninjutsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become Kage; shadow warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world."
I jumped at the sound of a sudden slap of hands and looked to see Mikey with his palms closed. Splinter was in front of him at this point, giving a stare at his student. The turtle smiled nervously while I face-palmed, trying to hold in a laugh. All of the sudden, the ground began to shake around us and all of us were immediately up. "Huh? What is that noise?" Splinter asked to no one in particular. "Whoa, earthquake," Mikey offered. "In New York, possibly, but not likely." Donnie countered before jumping back at a piece that almost landed near his foot. I heard cracking and looked to see the wall crumble. A small robot gave a metallic growl while others followed in chomping jaws on anything that opposed them. "Hey guys, I think we found the answer to what's causing all this," I commented as more of the robots marched in.
All of us had our weapons pulled out at this point. "What are those thing?" Leo questioned. "New York City cockroaches?" Mikey joked. Raph huffed and said, "Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party ta crash." He kicked at one, making it land on its back. Don swung at another. Just as he was about to do the same to the next robot, it locked its jaws on his staff. He tried wiggling his staff out before raising it above his head and smashing the robot on the end. Mikey began shredding through the robots with his nunchucks. He grabbed at one robot before tossing it to his brother. "Hey Leo, think fast." With that Leo had slashed it out of his way.
He sliced through two others while being in the air. I manage to fend off a few with my kusarigama. The weight at the end of the chain crushed while the blade sliced. One got close to my tail and I slapped it away. Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm a leopard gecko. At least, according to what Don had seen in his books when he was younger. My gray-blue eyes eventually land on our rat father. Plenty of these small robots were surrounding him while he could only smash them with his walking stick. I hear Leo gasp and ordered, "We have to help Master Splinter."
While he rushed forward, the others followed, still fighting through the bots. I was too busy with them to notice that the little T-Rex bots were eating through the support structure. While Raph and I fought our way to get closer to Splinter, I heard cracking above us. The ceiling was breaking apart and it was about to drop on us! "Look out!" Leo and Don yelled while they pulled us out of the way. I look up and give a small smile, "Thanks, Donnie." He blushed, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. No problem." I was caught back into reality when I heard an "Oh no." "Masta Splinta!" The five of us ran over and Leo was desperately pulling at pieces to no avail. "Master Splinter?" He called. "Master Splinter! No!"
A robot raised its head with a blinking eye, giving out a mechanical cry. Raph had stomped down on it. "What the shell are those things?" Mikey asked, looking down at a few destroyed bots. "Whatever they were, they're junk now," Raph stated, kicking one away. "Guys, Splinter. We've got to find Splinter," Leo spoke, "Master Splinter, can you hear me?" He called out. There was no answer. "Donatello, any way to-" He was stopped by the sounds of beeping. "What are you doing?" I followed Leo to Don's side as Donnie said, "Shell-cell. I'm calling Master Splinter. I hope." There was no answer at first and I could tell that everyone was nervous. We anticipated for our master to speak. Finally, his voice spoke.
"Hmm. Which button do you press to answer this thing?" Everyone smiled at the statement. I tried not to laugh at him. "Hello?" Leo snagged the phone from Don and said, "Master Splinter? Are you alright?" "Hello?" "Master Splinter," Leo tried. "Stupid device." I ended up laughing a little at that remark. "Master Splinter, you don't have to press any buttons. You already answered it," The eldest explained. "Ah," Splinter began, "Leonardo, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they have managed to eat through the support structure of our home. We must leave right away." The others and I have gathered around, trying to listen in. "Meet me at the old drainage junction at south point." I noticed that Raph shoved Mikey out of the way. I gave him a thumbs up and he smirked. I looked over, hearing Donnie shuffle a little in the brown duffel bag before the genius pulled out a folded paper. He blew on it and opened it up to reveal a map. "If we take the south conduit, it'll intercept with the old drainage tunnel," Don said. "We'll meet you there, sensei." Leo ended the call and Mikey suddenly came back. "What'd he say? What'd he say? Did he mention me?" He asked all excitedly. Raph shoved him and I tripped him, making him fall over.
We all began getting ready to go while Mikey was being oh-so-dramatic. "Goodbye broken pipe. Goodbye, grungy payphone. Goodbye dented manhole cover. Goodbye, home sweet home." I sigh at him. "Anything else you need to say goodbye to?" I ask. Raph didn't let him answer because he grabbed him by tails of his mask. "Hello, cruel world." Raphael pulled him by his mask, "Come on." He grumbled. We walked out of the large hole in the wall and saw the damage the Mousers had left. Tracks were all over and they ate through everything that stood in their way.
"Looks like those things have been through here," Leo stated while we all walked. "These walls are seriously compromised It's lucky that the roof hasn't caved in." I looked around, seeing Don's point, but we all suddenly stop. "You were saying?" Raph raised an eyebrow (ridge?) with that comment. Leo grumbled, "Can't go forward. Can't go back."
"Looks like we go up," Raph smirked. I stiffened at the idea. Don't get me wrong I've wondered what it looked like up there. But with how my brothers got in trouble for going up there and how Splinter spoke about the surface like its a bad place, I grew fearful of it. I suddenly felt a hand grab my wrist and I was pulled. "Come on, sis." I hear the hothead while he heads up to the ladder.
"Hitting the surface is a bad idea," Leo stated, stopping Raph from climbing up the ladder. "We got no other way to go," Donnie said. I sighed and added, "As much as I want to agree with Leo, Don has a point. We have no choice, Ani (brother)," I looked up to Leo. He gave a frustrated sigh. "Alright, but we're only going up to go down the next manhole. No fooling around. Remember what sense said, it's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured. We need to stay out of sight," Leo instructed.
"We got it da first thousand times Leo. Just follow my lead." And Raph started climbing up the ladder. Leo was about to follow him up but noticed me being deep in my thoughts. I just kept having this dreadful feeling about the surface world. I jumped at the feeling of someone placing a hand on my shoulder. My gaze met with Leo's.
"You okay?"He whispered to me. I kept silent and looked up the ladder before looking down. I didn't really need to say anything. He and Splinter knew what I feared more than any of my brothers. Leo was the first one who vowed to not let anyone harm me, but now we had to head to the surface, a dangerous place for us and we had no choice. I shook at that thought. Leo's hand squeezed my shoulder. "It's okay. No one's going to hurt you. The guys and I will make sure of it. That's a promise." He comforted with a smile, putting his forehead on mine. I felt myself heat up at the contact. I gave a small smile back and nodded.
"Anytime you two," Donnie said. I rushed up the ladder and Leo followed after me. I jumped out, seeing Raph look around. "Come on, Leo, move it. I don't wanna be staring at your butt any longer than I have to." I hear Mikey groan. "Shh, guys." Leo hushed them while Raph and I jumped into the shadows. The light passed by us while we kept hidden. I accidentally brushed my hand with Raph's and he jerked away at the small contact. He went ahead without a second thought. It took a moment but the others had finally jumped out of the manhole.
"Hey, where's Raphy boy?" Mikey asked. "He would be that way." I pointed across the street behind me with my thumb. Leo sighed, mumbling something about "impatient hothead." Leo leads the way and the rest of us followed after him. We see Raph throwing a small tantrum by kicking a large vehicle. "Way to be stealthy, Raph."
"Yeah, I don't think they heard you in Jersey." Mikey mocked the hothead. "Give me a hand," Raph said. Mikey gave a big grin and was about to say something, but got cut off. "Don't even think about it, Mikey." Leo pointed back and shook his head, motioning for us to move on. "Aw, forget you guys. I'll push it myself." Good luck with that, big bro. Just then, I hear a click from the door that was near Raph and we all got anxious. "Raph, hide!" Leo and I yelled as low as we could, but instead, he jumped into the back of the van. "No!" We all groaned. You know how you people pull your hair out? Well, I was basically doing the same thing while Mikey facepalmed.
"Poor choice, Raphael." Mikey echoed Master Splinter's words from earlier. The men that come out of the building threw in duffel bags at the back of the van and closed it, locking it as well before driving off. I could only guess that they hadn't seen Raphael.... yet.
"Oh man," Donnie sighed.
"Imagine their surprise when they open the back of that truck," Mikey remarked.
"This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about," Leo complained, "We've gotta get him out of there."
"Don't need to tell us twice, big brother," I said.
Donnie immediately went to the fire escape and launched himself. "Last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg." He taunted slightly. "And that will not be me!" I yell back and followed after him. Then Leo jumped and Mikey was last. Hah, I knew he was hatched from a bad egg. Once on top, we looked down over the edge to see where the armored truck was heading. We found it as it drove by.
"We can cut them off at Third and First," Leo said. "If we run like crazy," answered Donnie. "Is where any other way to run?" Mikey asked. "Well, what are we waiting for?" I said. "Let's go." They ran ahead of me and I immediately followed them from one rooftop to the next. If we weren't chasing after the truck, then I would be enjoying the scenery the city had.
It took me a while but I finally caught up to them. That was about the same time Mikey had landed on his butt covered in a giant sheet. "Mmm... Springtime fresh." He commented. "Come on, Mikey." I rolled my eyes at him, running ahead. "Hey, Bella. Wait for me," Mikey yelled from behind me. The truck had stopped and we only looked down at it. All of the men had left it, but only one remained.
"What do we do now?" Donnie asked. "Leave this to me. Watch this turtle at work, babe." Mikey smirked and went in. I just blinked at his words before looking at the other two. "Did he just call me babe?" Or was he mentioning you, Don? I so wanted to finish that sentence with that, but now wasn't the time. Donnie nervously smiled while the eldest brother just facepalmed and groaned.
"This is a no parking zone," Mikey began. "Here's your ticket and here's your fine." He kicked the man to the back of the van, knocking him unconscious. "Nice work, Mikey." Leo complimented him. "It's a ninja thing," He smiled proudly. "Now let's get Raph out of there," Leo said and we went to the truck. The hothead of a turtle was complaining from the inside as he constantly beat the door. "What happened to good old fashion padlocks?" Mikey remarked.
Donnie only smiled. "Where's the fun in that?" He pulled out two screwdrivers and spun them in his hands. "This one's all mine." Raph was still beating on the door while the shouting was still muffled from the inside. Mikey decided to have a little fun. "What's that, Raph? You're gonna have to speak louder than that. I can't hear you." He taunted. I could see Raph becoming annoyed by his antics and punched at the window to the door. "Okay, I heard that one."
"If you don't mind, I'm trying to work here," Donnie muttered. I only headed towards Mikey. "You know you should stop while you still can." I began. "Why? It's not like he can get me when he's stuck in there." He replied. "Yeah, but what'll happen when he gets out?" I asked before Mikey could answer we heard a beep and something unlocking. The first thing I do? I jump out of the way when I heard Raph rushing out of the truck. "Oh hey, Raph. Welcome back bro- Whoa!" Mikey had his arms spread out while Raph just tackled him down to the ground and started wrestling with each other.
"What a hothead." Leo sighed. "He's related to you, Leo," I added. He only gave me a look. Just then, footsteps were heard. "Uh, guys..." Donnie mumbled. "We don't have time for this!" Leo silently yelled.
"And why not?" Raph grumbled. "Cause we're not alone," Mikey answered. In front of us, there was the gang of boys walking towards us with their own assortment of weapons drawn out.
"Look at the freaks!" "What's with the dweeby costumes?" "This ain't Halloween." Then their leader came out. "You're going down freaks. No one messes with the purple dragons. Especially wearing those stupid costumes." Oh, he's wrong. We're not wearing costumes. I thought and looked at my brothers. We nodded, pulling out our weapons. We punched, kicked and slashed every guy we saw. It took only a few seconds to take them all down. The rest ran off, screaming like five-year-old children.
"Give me some green!" Mikey cheered and high- three'ed Raph. "Well, that was easier than expected," Donnie said. "I hope there's more of those guys. I'm just getting warmed up. Typical Raph. I roll my eyes at him, but as I do. I see shadows on the rooftops staring down at us. There were many of them. "Raph, I think your wish just came true," I spoke. The others had looked up and they were just as surprised as I was.
"Are those guys," Leo hesitated for a second, "ninjas?" He asked. The shadows just jumped down from above and circled us. "Well, they're certainly ninja-esque," Mikey commented. "Be ready for anything," Leo commanded. "Don't have to tell me twice, Ani," I replied. "I'm so gonna enjoy this," Raph smirked and we all rushed into battle. I got myself surrounded by five ninjas but I swung around my chain, knocking a few down rather easily. The others dodged and now had weapons in their hands. I turned quickly and slashed their weapons out of their hands, unfortunately, one jumped behind me and I used my tail to smack him.
I looked and saw that Leo needed my help. I was about to assist him, but I was blocked by a ninja who jumped down in front of me and gave a slash from above. I blocked the attack from above, only to be kicked back. This caught me by surprise and I fell backward, gasping in slight pain. The ninja stood above me, pinning me with his foot. I try to wrap my chain around his blade, but he only swung it out of my grip and into the wall, causing it to clatter.
He raised his blade up high and I only began to thrash and panic before yelling. "Burazāzu! (Brothers!)" I hissed as I felt the foot moved to my neck, trying to prohibit me from speaking or breathing. I hear a familiar angry yell and I see Raph tackle the ninja off me. "Keep off my Lil' sis!" He yelled and gave a very harsh punch to the face of his opponent, making him stumble off of me. I could've sworn that I heard a crack.
Raph came over to me and helped me up. "You alright, sis?" He asked me. I nodded in reply, "I- I'm fine. Just a little hurt, but I'm fine." He knew I was lying. My brothers were always able to tell when I lie. Though they would want the truth, they knew best when not to pry. Raph huffed at me and grabbed my kusarigama with his other hand before handing it to me and setting me in the back of the open truck. I was about to protest before he spoke, "Stay here, sis."
"But I want to help," I protested anyway. "I know, but just trust me on this one, a'ight?" He said, giving a little sense of worry. I was about to argue, but... it's actually very rare for my big brother, Raphael to be worried. I had to comply whether I like it or not. I gave a small nod and he bowed his head back before aiding his brothers. "How many goons do we hafta bap before they get da hint?!" Raph complained. "No kidding. They just keep coming," Mikey said. "Time for Plan B, Donatello?" Leo called out. I look over and I see Don hot-wiring the truck. "Almost there, Leo," Donnie replied, working out the engines. "This bus now leaving for anywhere but here!" He announced as the truck started up.
"Come on, we're going!" I hear Leo command to the hothead. They all suddenly jumped into the back with me while Don drove, causing the truck to swerve and making the doors close up. "Whoa. Nice driving, Don. For a turtle with no license." Mikey mocked his brother while we bounced in the back. "Hey, you want pretty or you want effective?" Donnie shot back.
There was a harsh turn and I was forced to slide across the floor and hit the wall. "Hey Donatello, we don't need any casualties here!" I hissed. "Sorry, Bella." He apologized. I know he didn't mean it, but god damn that hurt. "I gotta tell ya," Mikey began, "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." He complained right before Don made another harsh turn and made Mikey fall over.
"Talk about not right. Check this out." Raph spoke and opened a bag, turning it over and making the cash fall out. Michel decided to joke around with cash in his hand, "Show me the money, baby. Woohoo." I frowned at him while Leo got up. "This isn't finders-keepers, Mikey." He scolded his little brother while I crossed my arms at him.
I got up and thanks to my special foot pads I was able to walk up to the passenger seat. My eyes looked around before I see a glimpse of a police car. "Lieutenant Don, make that turn!" I commanded. He decided not to question it and turned down the street. With him still keeping up the same speed, I ended up falling over with a yelp. Leo looked to me to see what the fuss was all about. I only point out to the windshield window. He looks and sees the police car, getting the idea.
He got up and grabbed the bags while the truck stopped. "Take care of this money, will you guys?" Leo said, tossing out the duffel bags. The eldest looked to me. "Great idea, sis." I smiled and nodded, sitting up.
It didn't take long for Don to crash through a gate and drive down a tunnel. He came to a stop and we all knew why. My gray-blue eyes landed on the silhouette of our rat father. The others and I jumped out. They either gave him a hug or a pat on the shoulder while I smiled brightly. "Sensei, you're alright!" Leo smiled.
"Yes, I'm glad to see you too, my children." Splinter smiled softly. "Master Splinter so much has happened today," Leo said in an excited tone. "Yes, yes. There will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo." He began, "But first, I wish to take you all home." We were all confused by what he said. "Home?" Mikey questioned. "We got no home. Those robots trashed our pad, remember sensei?" Raph said, knocking on the head of a Mouser.
"Do not worry. I think I've found a solution to our current housing problem." Splinter answered to them before adding, "Follow me, my children." Right after that, he jumped down into a hole. We looked to one another and I saw Mikey's mouth agape, before looking ahead just in time to see Leo flip and leap down, following our master. Don dived in next and Mikey was about to go. "Cowabun- Ahhh!" He was about to yell before being shoved by our hotheaded brother. "Not funny, Raph!" He called up to him. "Oh yes, it is." Raph grinned, mumbling to himself.
I chuckled softly at them. "Hey Lil' sis, you coming?" The red-banded turtle asked me. "No. I happened to have found a new place. Of course, I'm coming." I spoke sarcastically. He chuckled in turn before leaping in. Now, I have two choices to make. I could've scaled the wall to climb with my special hand pads, but that would take too long so I jumped down after them. I immediately regretted it.
I ended up slipping and sliding everywhere on the rocky terrain. Let me tell you, if I hadn't had my scales, it would hurt like heck. Of course, it didn't feel any better when I slammed into my terrapin brothers. At the same time, I was kinda lucky to have them cushion me. One by one, we stood up. "Wicked slide," I hear Mikey comment. Just then I heard a familiar tap of a walking stick and I followed it to see Splinter walking ahead of us. Mikey was the first to catch up to him. "No offense, Master Splinter," The orange banded turtle began, "but this place doesn't seem so great."
Our rat father only smiled at him. "Look with your heart, Michelangelo, and not your eyes." Mikey scratched his head. "Um.. okay?" He spoke in confusion. "And walk this way." Splinter finished. And so, Mikey mimicked his movements by hunching over with an imaginary walking stick. I snickered when Don whacked Mikey in the head. "Ow." He responded.
We followed our master and we were only greeted by the magnificent sight of our new home. The others and I looked around in awe like a child to a new toy. "This is beyond awesome," Mikey said. "I could really tune this space up." And there's Donnie. We all had rushed forward and I immediately used my pads to climb up a pillar to see an empty room.
The room I've found was massive and amazing. It was, to me anyway. Granted, it could use some tidying up, okay a lot of tidying up, but it still was fantastic. "I call this room," I yelled out to the others, not caring if they were paying attention or not. I suppose Mikey was doing the same thing because then I heard, "This room here? Mine." I looked at him, only to see him jump down to where Don was. "And where you're standing? Also, mine." By then, I had already jumped down and joined Splinter and the others.
"You see, my children? Change is good." His wise voice spoke. Leo smiled, "We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter." The gray rat nodded to that, "Good." I could see a smug look in his eyes. I had a feeling that I knew what he was going to say. "So let's see you boys clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy." I chuckled while they groaned at that. "Come on guys, the sooner we start this, the sooner we finish. Let's go." I smirked in a playful manner. I only got a few glares in return. I snickered in response to that. Yeah, this life is.. amazing. I thought with a smile as I began to clean up the place from bottom-up. Though, I should've known that this was just the beginning of our adventures.