Raphael wanted to scream. He was seventeen now; the anger from the past two years had been bubbling up inside of him. He had kept quite, straying away from the lair. Right now he was sitting at the edge of Central Park; throwing rocks at a trash can across the street. Score. Again. Raphael stood up. There was no point to this. No point to living.
Oroku Saki blinked. Where was he? No, he thought. He was dead. The turtle had killed him; the one with the blue mask- Leonardo. He blinked again, adjusting to the light of the room. The Utrom looked around. There were two humans sitting across the room, whispering excitedly. One of them looked at him. He clasped his hands together. "Finally," he breathed. "You're awake!"
The Utrom rolled its eyes. "Obviously." He looked at the other human, who was staring wide-eyed at him. "It can't be." He said. "There were no other creatures like you, and you were near death. I thought John was joking."
"But I wasn't." whispered the other one, his eyes not leaving the red Utrom. He began typing something on his computer… computer? The rest of the room came into view. He was in some kind of lab. "What do you want me for?" asked the Shredder gruffly.
The two humans glanced at each other. They weren't smiling anymore. "We need you to get something for us." said the first one. "We need you to get someone. More exactly… four someones."
Saki grimaced. He knew who the man was talking about. The turtles.
Raphael stomp kicked a trashcan beside him. Weak thing. He didn't care if any of these things were the property of New York citizens. He kicked a few times at a newly planted tree, causing it to snap in half. Foolish humans, he thought. Planting trees in N.Y.C… The owners had probably just moved in and had no idea what New York was like. He growled as lighting struck across the sky, raindrops threatening to fall. He stood up, heading back for the lair just as rain started to pour out of the sky.
Donatello scratched his head. How could this be? He had hacked into some of the human computers that had greater technology possible for the human kind. He had begun to get suspicious. But… He was looking at this one computer, which had a camera in it. The camera was sweeping the room, and three living creatures were identified. And one was an Utrom.
"Reiha, hurry up, will you?" Aunu called. "We'll miss the lunch trash if you don't get here!" Reiha and Aunu had been friends ever since they could remember. Reiha was two years younger, but they didn't care. Reiha used to think that they were sisters when they were young. Aunu sighed as Reiha came tumbling down the sidewalk, Rough at her heels. Rough was the Golden Retriever/Husky/German Shepard she had found in a dumpster when she was ten. Aunu rolled her eyes. "C'mon, we still have time to get the good stu-" she was cut off by someone grabbing her and her friend and pulling them away.
Two far off lands
Cross mountain and sea
Two lands as different as different can be
Although so different in face and in name
All of the dreams that we dream are the same Raphael trudged into the Lair, where he met Splinter. "Raphael, where have you been?" asked the rat cautiously. "Your brothers and I have been worried for you. You haven't been home for three days." He placed a furry paw on Raph's shoulder. "Nowhere, Sensei." stated Raphael through gritted teeth. He didn't like being questioned on his whereabouts. "That okay with you?"
Splinter narrowed his eyes. "Raphael, something troubles you…"
"Maybe I'd like to be left alone?" he asked angrily, running out of the Lair. He probably shouldn't have gone back anyway.
Raphael sighed and sat down against the wall. He was far away from the lair now, and the rain was drying up.
Maiden, Maiden, tell me true
What can glow without the dew?
He gritted his teeth, reviewing what had happened that day.
What can burn for years and years?
What can cry, yet shed no tears? Aunu tried to scream, but she couldn't. She watched her friend be dragged away at her side, and remembered something Reiha had said when they were little. 'Ya know, I'm not like yous. I'm differents.' Aunu scanned the ground for her friend. 'Ya see this orb? It's magic…' Aunu bit the hand of the person holding her. '… It will grant any wishes.'
Aunu sighed. She was sitting, surrounded by Foot ninja, staring at one of the few objects in the room… a mirror. She looked at herself. She had long, silvery-black hair, and pale skin with large, hazel, almond shaped eyes. Currently she was wearing a ragged brown dress with patches sewn in. Reiha was sitting across the room trembling. She had long strawberry-blonde hair that fell right above her shoulders. Her clothing was also patched, but she was wearing a sweater and jeans.
Hey, try to open your heart
To beauty
Try to open your heart
To beauty!
Aunu's last name was once Florin, but she had given it up and only used Aunu. Reiha had liked the name and persuaded Aunu into using it and for her to use it. Now they were Aunu and Reiha Florin.
"Nice to see you here, Miss Florin." drawled a voice from behind them. "Y-you!" Aunu cried, turning to the speaker. He was a Foot ninja, one of her family's friends. Or so he had been. He had joined the Foot and turned on them. The Shredder had killed her parents, and once Shredder had died, the man, his name was Gahgi, had taken over the Foot.
Go to the woods someday
And weave a wreath of memory there
"My name is not 'You', Miss Florin." stated Gahgi. Reiha had inched over to Aunu and was trembling uncontrollably beside her. "It's Master Gahgi." Aunu flinched as he walked up to her. He had once been nice, caring, and had seemed like an older brother she never had. He used to tuck her into bed while she was little, make her breakfast, play with her, everything… because he used to stay with them; he had been part of their family.
Then if tears,
Tears obscure your way
"Now, Miss Florin, I need something from you… and your little friend." Reiha had started crying silently. She trembled as he turned to her. "You have an something I want..."
Then you'll know how fine,
Oh how fine it is
Oh how fine it is to be alive.
Reiha had her hand around the small sphere, shaking violently. "That something… a kind of orb, which I want NOW."
Oroku Saki glared at the two scientists. "So you want me to get the turtles... for what reasons?"
One of the scientists blinked. "Experiments. Understanding their mutation."
The Utrom rolled it's eyes. "I could tell you all that right now."
"Go on." the second scientist replied.
"The turtles were mutated by a certian mutagen created by my own species."
"Yes, yes, we know that..."
"The mutagen acts on a body's genetic material. Through the merest contact with one's skin it is able to enter one's bloodstream and immediately interact with the genetic codes that give a body It's form..."
The two scientists exchanged glances.
"The affected body then phsically mutates into a new form which combines it's original features with those of the last living organism the body has come in contact with... In which the turtles we are currently speaking about had touched a human last before they were mutated."
Scientist #1, as Sai had come to know them by numbers, didn't have much of a reaction to the new information; he didn't exactly jump for joy with excitment.
"But... you see... we want to observe how they interact... interact with another... turtle."
* * *
Aunu almost choked as she spoke. "We-we don't have it."
"YES, YOU DO!" cried Gahgi. "GIVE ME IT, NOW!" he was practically boiling.
"If you don't give me that orb, you wont live to see tomorrow..." he growled, pulling a dagger out of her pocket. Reiha gasped.
* * *
Meanwhile...
Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo had been out looking for Raphael. "Raph..." Mikey moaned. "Sensei's gonna make us do lotsa flips if you dont come home...."
Raphael wasn't in the sewers anymore. He was outside, beating up random punks who got in his way.
"Hey- look at that geek... he's wearing a trench coat! Hah! Fashon tip, those went out of style years ago, man." snickered a teenager with blue spiked hair and an ear ring. That wasn't such a smart thing to do to an angry Raphael. The kid ended up with a broken nose and arm.
Raphael stopped at the Foot's old hide out. Maybe they had started up again... this was a nice chance to kick some Foot arse.
* * *
Aunu gasped at what she saw behind Gahgi. A TURTLE...?!? She had to be imagining things. The 'turtle' had a strange reaction to the dagger. Maybe it was the fact that it was pointing at two children. Or maybe it was the fact that this was the Foot. Nevertheless, he leapt up and smashed Gahgi's head into the floor.
"Hah." Raphael breathed, satisfied. Then he noticed the Foot... they were surrounding the two kids. "You stay away from those kids... you got it?" he growled, pulling his sais from his belt. The Foot soldiers either didn't hear him or didn't care. Probably didin't care. The one nearest to the children grabbed Aunu. "You tell us where the orb is, or your life is over, kid." Aunu kicked the soldier between the legs. Not as much as a whimper came from the soldier. Of course... they had been trained to ignore pain. "Let go of me! I don't know where the orb is!" she cried and closed her eyes, punching in random directions. Then she hit the soldier as hard as she could. He fell over, bleeding. "Reiha... gimme the orb..." she whispered, as the turtle sudenly leapt at an attacking foot soldier. She grabbed the orb and wished. "I wish all the foot soldiers were dead!" she cried, just as one threw her into the wall, knocking her unconcious.
***
"I need a turtle and a reproduction of mutagen." Saki growled. "Then I can mutate it, and let it go make friends or whatever with the ther freaks." then something clicked. He coukd get the new turtle to kill the others... but that could take years to just train the mutant. "And I'll need what's left of my lab. And whatever's in it..." He could make the mutagen mutate things faster. This was perfect.
***
Raphael stared at the foot around him. Motionless. Just... laying there. Dead. He looked over to the kids. Awww, crap... one of the was knocked out. He looked at the awake one, wo was trembling, her leg splattered in blood. The girl looked as though she was gonna puke anny minute. And then she would freak that he was a turtle... stupid humans... "Hey, kid." the girls eyes widened. "What?" He looked behnd his shoulder, to see what the girl was gazing at. Gahgi. The man let a out a maniacal cry and stabbed at Raphael.
