Raphael's body rammed into the ground. He coughed, spitting out gravel. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to run through the portal. Groggily, he raised his head to see where he was.
It was daytime but he was at the end of an alleyway, hiding him from the judgemental eyes of the citizens that dominated the Earth's surface. He was beginning to take in his surroundings when something grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him to his feet. Without thinking, he elbowed whoever was holding him.
"Ow!" Casey let go of the turtle. Raph stumbled forward, nearly falling over again. "What's your problem? I was only tryin' to help ya."
"I didn't ask for anythin'," Raph snapped, the previous events breaking down the wall of numbness in his brain and flooding it. His head turned in all directions as he checked to see who was with them.
Leonardo and Donatello were giving each other their masks back, talking about how well their idea went. A few feet away, April was trying to calm Foxglove down, who was angrily complaining about something. Ignoring Michelangelo and Master Splinter, Raph listened to her.
"We have to go back! Katrina didn't come back!"
Raph's blood turned to ice. He staggered towards the fading doorway. When Leo and Mikey caught hold of his arms, he struggled frantically to break free. Thankfully, after a few seconds, Katrina came out of the portal. She looked confused.
"Kitty!" Raph shouted, escaping the grip of his distracted brothers. He grinned down at her, his icy blood melting. "Yer alive! What took ya?"
She held up a small flask of purple liquid. "He... He gave this to me."
His grin faded noticeably. "What is it supposed ta be?"
She shrugged, allowing Don to take it out of her hands and study it. Mikey went around Raph and stood next to him, narrowing his eyes.
"It looks like blackcurrant juice," Mikey commented.
"Hm," Don said absently, gently shaking it. He leaned towards it, his face nearly touching it. "I'm not sure what it is either."
April went to Don's Mikey-free side, lowering her eyebrows. After a moment's thought, she looked at Katrina. "Did he say anything when he gave it to you?"
"No."
"Hm..." April's eyes drifted back to it.
Splinter's tail swayed from side to side as he approached his purple masked son, a thoughtful expression on his face. "If we cannot figure out what it is, perhaps we can figure out why he would wish to give it to us."
"How about so he could kill us?" Foxglove suggested coldly. "He is a cold-hearted murderer."
Splinter didn't comment on her tone of voice. "I don't think so."
"What, he's not a cold-hearted murderer?" she snorted, rolling her eyes. His sons narrowed their eyes at her but she took no notice. "He was mad and evil."
"I wouldn't disagree with the first part," Leo said calmly, "but I'm not sure he was evil as such."
She stared at him, sneering.
"Leo's right," Don butted in. "I mean, yes, he tried to kill us and take over the world... I don't deny those are immoral acts, but I don't think he was an evil person."
Foxglove clearly didn't enjoy being ganged up on. She crossed her arms, turning away from them. "I must have misjudged you. If he was evil, why did you stop him?"
"Because he was trying to harm innocent people," started April, but Foxglove cut in before she continued.
"What the heck? He's not evil, yet he did something you disagreed with which was evil... you guys make no sense."
Splinter's whiskers twitched and he turned to face her. She found herself looking into his eyes. The first thing she thought of was the sea. They looked like they had existed for a long time, and while they were calm and gentle, they could easily change into a cold stranger. She was unfazed.
"He didn't do those things because he was evil but because he thought what he was doing was right. We know they were not, but he didn't. However, we could not allow him to harm others that didn't have anything to do with this."
"So he was like a misguided toddler," she said icily, obviously not agreeing with him at all. "You're justifying every villain that was ever created."
"He was not doing it for his own benefit. He was not trying to gain anything but his family and what he believed justice."
"Hmph. Whatever."
"Don't talk to my master like dat," Raph spat.
Foxglove's eyes darkened. She rounded on him instead, prodding his plastron. "What, you're going to make me?"
"Yeah," he retorted. "I will if I have to. Ya have no reason to be such a bi-"
"He killed the school!" Foxglove burst out. "He killed everyone I grew up with. They were family to me. How would you feel if someone killed everyone you cared about?"
Seeing the tears in her eyes, he remained silent. April dared to go next to her and put an arm around her heaving shoulders.
"Fang, Charles, Laurence..." Her crying suddenly worsened, the lemur hybrid at the front of her mind... grinning sheepishly... following her around and becoming all shy when he was alone with her... "Blossom..."
Raph flinched.
"Wol, Robin, Silver, Squee, King..."
"No."
Everyone turned their heads towards the source of the voice. Raph's face was pale, but his amber eyes were brightening with a small slither of hope.
"Foxglove." He knocked April's arm off her and put his hands on her shoulders. She became silent, her eyes sparkling. "Take me to the school grounds."
"I... I don't have the teleporter."
"I do," Don said, showing it to Raph.
"I can." Katrina nodded, taking the teleporter. "But why?"
"I need dat." Raph snatched the flask out of Don's hands. His heart was beating rapidly. "Take me there. Now."
"You're in no condition to go anywhere," Leo retorted, gesturing towards Raph's shaking legs. "You need to rest."
"Leonardo is right," Splinter agreed in a 'that's that' tone of voice. "You are injured. Another trip would be foolish."
"Katrina..." Raph stared hard at her. She gulped, a sense of righteousness washing over her body. She inputted the required coordinates into the device.
"What are you doing?" exclaimed Leo, trying to take it from her. She jumped out of the way, surprising Leo with her reflexes. She handed it to Raph, who activated it immediately.
As soon as the gateway opened, he ran through. Katrina followed him straight away.
The others all turned to Leo, who was watching Splinter's face. Clearly, the old rat was not impressed.
"We must go after him."
Rushing in before it closed, they found themselves near a tree and a lake. Splinter caught sight of his son and the girl instantly. They were... heading towards the school?
"Raphael!" Splinter barked, sprinting after them. He caught sight of something and came to a stop.
There was someone else there... large and alive.
It was a large, green, turtle monster. As soon as Don saw it, his feet refused to move any closer. The others hesitated, reminded of a certain time when Don had been a creature similar to it. Raph was on its back, trying to stick his arm into its mouth.
"Have you lost your mind?" shrieked April, watching the creature jerk its head back and into Raph's face.
"He had one before?" asked Casey, getting out a baseball bat and joining the brawl. "Yo! Leave my friend alone!"
"I need," Raph gritted his teeth, ignoring the level of lactic acid in his body that was rising as each second passed, "ya to open her mouth..."
Casey gave Raph a funny look, but he could tell that his angry little friend was serious. He sighed, swinging his weapon at its face.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Mikey piped up as Casey landed a hit on its jaw. The creature howled in pain before choking as Raph poured the purple concoction into its open mouth.
The creature's body shuddered violently, breaking Raph's vice grip of it and throwing him to the ground. He sat up slightly, breathing deeply. Its eyes were rolling into head, and it was screeching like a cat being ran over by a truck. It ducked its head, large tears rolling down its lumpy face.
It seemed to go on for a lifetime before it began to shrink. Its colour and texture flaked off, revealing smooth ivory skin. Its spasms didn't cease until all that was left of it was a skinny red-headed girl, lying on her front naked, and a disgusting green mess.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" repeated Mikey, freaked out. "Why is there a naked chick?"
Raph crawled over to her. He grabbed hold of her wrist clumsily, finding a faint pulse. He smiled stupidly up at the others. Then, he fell unconscious, sprawled on top of her.
TMNTNMT
Blossom's chest rose and fell steadily. The infirmary had gotten crowded, so Splinter had dismissed everyone except himself, April, Don and Raph. Leo had been displeased with this decision, wanting to find out about the girl, but hadn't wanted to go against his father's demands. Foxglove was somewhere in the living room, sobbing faintly in the background. The others were waiting outside the door, listening in nosily.
Raph was sitting next to Blossom's head, staring at her. Staring at her like he thought she would disappear if he took her eyes off her. He stayed still as Splinter interrogated him.
"Raphael, why did you not tell us you were going back for her?"
Because I wanted to make sure she was there first. I didn't want to go back, saying she might be alive, only to find her dead.
"Who is she? What is her name?"
Blossom.
"Answer me, my son."
...
Splinter gave up, seeing that his son needed to be left alone for a while. Out of the corner of his eye, Don was talking to April.
"It must have been an antidote. It must have separated them. Warumagi may have been out of his mind, but he was very intelligent. If only Raph hadn't used it all..."
April nodded, walking over to Raph and resting a hand on his shoulder. She bent her legs, staring at his grave face. "She must have meant a lot to you, huh."
Raph inclined his head very slightly. April nodded again, looking at her as well. If Raph had let his focus spread, he would have noticed Don's very anxious face.
"Me and Don were talking and... we don't know how much she'll remember when she wakes up."
He didn't react.
"For... for all we know," April hated herself right then, "she might not remember anything."
It took Raph a couple of seconds to interpret this. His head twitched again.
"When she wakes up, you'll have to leave. She... she might react badly to you."
"A'ight."
April fiddled with her fingers, averting her gaze. It was like Raph was a bomb, and she didn't know when he'd go off.
"You can stay for now!" She coughed, lowering her voice. "But when she begins to wake up..."
"A'ight."
"Okay then."
And that was that.
TMNTNMT
"So this is New York?" Blossom said excitedly, clasping her hands together and resting them on her chest. Her eyes glittered like the windows of the many buildings surrounding them. The sky was dark with pollution and the lack of the Sun, highlighting every individual light. Murky figures walked past them, not giving the pair a second glance.
Blossom turned to the person next to her. He was wearing a large coat and a floppy hat. He looked ever so peculiar, but she was too polite to tell him this.
"Where are we going?"
"To yer new home," he replied gruffly.
Blossom narrowed her eyes at his unfriendly exterior and stuffed her hands into her jeans' pockets. They were done up with a belt as they were too big. All her clothes were too big. She distracted herself by studying every building they went past, twirling occasionally.
"You're quiet," she commented finally.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Ain't got nothin' to say."
"That's a double negative, so it cancels out, so you're saying you have got something to say."
"Sure."
Blossom sighed. She smiled jokingly at him. "Can't I live with you guys?"
There was a loud silence, which was followed by his quiet response. "No."
"I wouldn't want to live there anyway. It smells." She laughed before realizing what she had said. "Oops, I forgot you live there."
"I don't care."
Blossom brushed a strand of red hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. She studied his face curiously. "You look down. Are you all right?"
"Yeah."
She narrowed her eyes. "Nope, there's something bothering you. I can tell."
"We're here."
Behind the fence they were now next to, the local orphanage stood. They approached the gate, stopping outside of it.
"Well, it was nice knowing you." Blossom furrowed her brow. "I didn't catch your name."
"Raphael."
For a brief moment, it looked like she remembered him.
"Oh yes, Ms. O'Neil mentioned you a bit after I woke up." She kissed his cheek. "Bye!"
Raph watched open the gate and run towards the orphanage building. With a heavy heart, he returned to the manhole they had come out of. At the bottom of the ladder leading to the sewers were the others.
"Is she...?" April couldn't finish her sentence.
"Yep." Raph breathed out loudly, trying to make out that it was no big deal. "Gone. She can get herself a new family. She can have a proper life."
"Speaking of which..." Leo turned to Katrina and Foxglove. Foxglove was in her human form, wearing clothes that April had given her. Her transformation to her human form had surprised them, to say the least, especially when she did it without warning any of them except April (so she could borrow some clothes) in advance. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yes," Foxglove reassured him for the seventh time. "We'll be fine."
"'You can both stay here if you want," Mikey told her. "You could share my room- ow!"
All three brothers and Splinter removed their hands from his head.
"I... um, appreciate the offer, but no thanks," Katrina said, blushing. "I have lived a life of rules, restriction and commands. I want to... live free. I was created to serve Lord Warumagi, and I have done so. I must find a new purpose."
"And I want to see the world," Foxglove added, her eyes glittering. "I've seen New York... but what about Paris? London?" Her eyes shone. "... Las Vegas."
"Be careful," Raph growled, his throat tight, "and don't do anythin' stupid."
Foxglove beamed, taking out a pair of sunglasses and putting them on. "See ya."
The pair of them climbed up the ladder and went through the manhole, hearing their new friends' parting words.
"Farewell, the pair of you."
"Yeah, bye!"
"You're welcome to visit my store any time you're in the neighbourhood!"
"Yo! Make sure ya visit."
"Good luck with your travels."
"Call me!"
When they had left, Casey got Raph in a headlock. "So, yer gonna tell us what's happened all this time or not?"
Raph nodded, his spirits rising... not reaching the top, but getting there. "Lemme go and I'll tell y'all on the way."
They all walked towards the lair, their black silhouettes blending in with the darkness at the end of the tunnel. "So, I went out on patrol when I saw a gang of Purple Dragons. I didn't know what they were doin', but it had to be bad..."
They rounded the corner...
And disappeared from sight.
TMNTNMT
The school grounds were different and the same.
The building was still there. The fields, trees and lake remained exactly like before.
But the liveliness of the place was gone. It had been dead for a few weeks...
... Until now, that is.
A helicopter was situated there, humming gently as its pilot waited for someone to return. In the distance, a woman was facing the school, her black cloak hanging limply in the still air.
She curled her lip. "It looks like Mr Warumagi has come to a premature end... what a pity. His knowledge has been most useful."
Her cell phone began to ring. She took it out of her pocket and answered it, irritated. "Yes?"
"Master." It was one of her high ranking ninjas. "We need your presence here immediately."
"Is it the turtles?" she asked automatically. "Have they plagued my tower once more?"
"We need your presence here immediately."
"I am your master and you will obey me. What is conspiring there?"
They lost connection.
Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew, even though it was summer. She ignored it and headed towards the helicopter, unaware of what was in store for her.
***
The end.