Chapter Text
A mutated rat was running for his life in the sewers, escaping from military men chasing after him. He was holding a small basket with something whimpering inside.
The rat tried to calm the crying figure in the basket while fleeing the gunmen.
Suddenly, the grey mutated rat came to a halt by the edge of a large open drain where the sewer water washes down.
"Freeze, mutant-scum!" One of the men yelled at the rat while aiming their rifles at him.
"Stand aside, gentlemen."
The grey rat soon saw a tall, thin man approaching in front of the gunmen; he was wearing a suit and was pale in comparison with slick black hair and a crooked smile that sent shivers down the mutant's spine.
"This doesn't have to end in bloodshed, you know." The tall man sneered in a cool yet menacing tone. "Just hand over the child, and you can live undisturbed in the sewers where you belong."
"I would rather die a thousand deaths than give you my son," The rat growled, cradling the basket close.
"Do we have your say to shoot the freak, Mr. Bishop, sir?" One of the gunmen asked.
The leader, known as John Bishop, just stood behind the gunmen and replied with: "Kill him."
But just as the gunmen fire, the mutated rat is given no choice but to hold the basket tight to his chest and plunge into the giant drain hole below. Bishop looked down at the dark hole in annoyance and hissed:
"Search below the drain and find that mutant at once."
"Yes, sir." The gun men obeyed and went off to find a way down below.
The mutant rat plunged into the water but soon dove back up as he struggled as hard as he could to swim to the next pipe opening near him to escape the strong, rapid currents he was swimming in.
Suddenly, the strong currents made the basket slip out of the rat's arms as he gasped in horror and used his tail to grab the handle.
He grabs onto the ledge of the open pipe, trying to pull himself and the basket out of the rapid waters.
The father soon sees a mutant baby turtle peeking out of the basket lid and cries out for his dad.
"Michelangelo! Hold on!" The father cried out.
"Dada!" The baby whimpered as he was scared.
Unbeknownst to them, Bishop was above one of the pipe openings and saw the mutant rat pulling the basket to shore, before suddenly a gunman charged next to him and opened fire at the rat.
"Wait! Not here, you imbecile!" Bishop growled and punched the gunman down.
One of the bullets grazed the rat's tail as he bellowed in agony, which sadly made him accidentally let go of the basket to his horror.
"MICHELANGELO!!! " The father cried out.
"Dada!" The baby cried out before the basket disappeared into the dark drain hole below.
The rat crawls to the surface of the pipe opening as he looks up to see Bishop glaring down at him before leaving. Tremendous loss and terror sank into the poor father as he screamed in agonising despair and pain.
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Just then, the mutated rat awoke from his nightmare and looked around, realizing he was in his room at home.
He sighed sadly, rubbed his face with his paws, then got up and dressed in his robes. After scanning his surroundings to see if anyone was nearby, he approached his bed again, lifted the mattress up, and removed something underneath it.
The mutated rodent was holding a photo of him as a young rat and four mutant turtles like the one he tried to protect.
He gazed at the youngest, who was sucking his finger, and whispered sadly,
"It's been seventeen years since I lost you... seventeen years that I failed you... My sweet little Michelangelo, I hope you're at peace... Heaven knows I will never find peace for what I failed to do that night."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door as a young man's voice called out:
"Master Splinter, breakfast is ready."
"I'll be there in a minute, Leonardo," Splinter replied to his eldest son.
He returned the photo, hiding it beneath the mattress, then left his room to face another day with his family.
The year is 2006 in New York City; beneath the city's sewers, a secret home shelters a family unlike any other.
Master Splinter, once a pet rat to the beloved Hamato Yoshi, was mutated by alien mutagen, transforming him and four baby turtles into anthropomorphic beings.
He adopted the turtles as his sons, but during a retreat from the villainous Agent John Bishop and his men, he lost one—Michelangelo.
Bishop, an agent of the U.S. government and head of the Earth Protection Force, was tasked with protecting Earth from extraterrestrial threats but was cold and ruthless towards mutants, considering them threats to be eliminated "by any means necessary."
He also aimed to experiment on mutants to uncover mutation secrets. His true intentions remain uncertain, but he became a foe of the Hamato Clan.
After losing Michelangelo, Splinter searched desperately but only found his son's basket broken. Despite further efforts, he believed the poor infant was dead.
That night, devastated, he vowed to strengthen and protect his remaining sons—Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael. He trained them in the ways of his master, Hamato Yoshi, teaching them to be ninjas and to leverage their strengths against enemies.
Over the years, they defended the city from mutants, aliens, and criminal thugs, forging friendships and alliances with figures like April O'Neil, Casey Jones, Leatherhead, and Karai, the daughter of their arch-enemy, The Shredder.
Oroku Saki, the Shredder, was their mortal enemy, known for his murderous acts against Hamato Yoshi, Splinter's owner, and for many wicked schemes. The Hamato Clan eventually defeated and eliminated the Shredder.
After disputes over leadership, Karai united the Foot Clan and the Hamato Clan in a fragile peace, vowing to restore the Foot to its honorable roots, free from Saki's corruption.
Lately, peace had prevailed, but everything changed the moment Splinter tuned into the television and saw the latest news flash on the morning news.
"Breaking News! Are aliens among us once more?" a reporter announced.
That caught Splinter's attention and turned the volume up a bit to listen.
"Police have reported strange sights of a mysterious creature lurking around the alleyways of Canal Street. One individual has snapped a quick photo of the creature, and the results are rather confusing indeed," the news anchor reported.
Soon, the photo was shown as it was a bit blurry, but the figure looked like a mutant turtle fleeing the scene. Thinking it was one of his sons that got exposed since their code is to stick to the shadows and not get seen or caught, the firm father strictly called out:
"BOYS!"
In a quick second, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael approached their father in confusion.
"What's wrong, sensei?" Leonardo quizzed.
"Boys, were any of you near Canal Street last night?" Splinter questioned his sons.
"No, we were hanging out with April and Casey that night, why?" Donatello shook his head.
The rat soon simply points to the TV screen, and the image of the blurry mutant turtle surprised the trio.
"Are you sure you didn't come across that way last night? We've discussed sticking to the shadows a hundred times now." Splinter strictly quizzed.
"Dat ain't us, sensei," Raphael protested.
Splinter looks at the image, then looks back at his sons: "Well, unless you know another turtle that I don't know, now would be a good time to explain yourselves."
"Raph's right, sensei; we were never near Canal Street," Leonardo replied.
"We can call April and Casey to confirm this if you want, master," Donatello offered.
"Are you sure that this is not any of you?" Splinter demanded once more.
"Of course it's not us, sensei! We're experts in da shadows," Raphael argued.
"Not all of us," Donnie mumbled.
"What was that, smart-mouth?" Raphael growled at Donnie.
"Nothing," Donnie anxiously chuckled.
"This is all so strange. This looks like a mutant turtle, but it's not any of us," Leonardo puzzled over the blurry image.
"How do you know, Leonardo?" Splinter asked his eldest son.
"Look closely," Leo pointed at the image: "There's no mask, no weapons, no gear."
"What does that mean? Ya mean to say that there is a mutant turtle butt naked around the city?" Raphael shrugged.
"Don't be stupid, Raph; we're not naked, and we have shells, for goodness sake." Donnie groaned.
"Well then, it could be a fake! For all we know, this might be some prankster in a suit pulling a scare," Raphael added.
"Could be, but I doubt it's a human in a costume," Leonardo shook his head.
"So...is there truly another mutant turtle in the city or something?" Donatello was puzzled by all of this.
Splinter looks at the blurry image of the mysterious creature before something flashed in his mind, a thought that alerted the mutated rat to something that haunts him from long ago.
Suddenly, the lair echoes with a loud ringing of an alarm before Donatello exclaimed, "The home security system has picked up an intruder nearby."
The family rushed to Donatello's lab to find out who was near the secret home of the Hamato Clan.
But unbeknownst to them all, this strange intruder near the lair is something that will change everything forever...