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His lab has fallen down, flames engulfed him and his creations. Everything was going wrong and Lou Jitsu had gotten away. He threw the rubble that was on top of him away and grunted. His face was twisted in raw anger. Baron Draxum would get his revenge..
Just as he was about to escape with the rest of his creations, he heard crying. He wasn't one to comfort anyone, but if anything had survived, he had to check. And right he was to do so.
"The box turtle has survived…" A grin was plastered on his face, his hands burnt from the fire as he reached down and collected the asset from the rubble. He was excited to see it wasn't hurt at all. He didn't have the whole set, but perhaps this new arrangement would suffice.
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It was months later and the turtle was wobbling around like an imbecile. Sit how the mutagen was supposed to work, he expected the mutant to be grown by now, but perhaps he had not added enough mutagen to them before his lab was destroyed..
No matter, he would just have to find a solution.
He picked up the turtle and left his newly constructed lab, walking down the streets and going topside to New York City.
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He didn't exactly have anyone to talk to, and he wasn't looking forward to handing over such a valuable asset, but he needed such a thing out of his hands until he had time on his hands, and unfortunately he was tied up with fixing the lab and working on recreating the mutagen.
Sulking through the city was not his intention but he didn't have any other choices. Draxum was also not expecting to run into a chef who called himself Rupert Swaggart.
"Watch where you're going you-" Draxum looked down as he towered over the puny human.
"Ah, yes, look where I'm going.. my dearest apologies, human." The chef snorted and looked up at him and grimaced.
"Blimey- You have a run in with a house fire or something?" Draxum scoffed and frowned deeply.
"Look, you're the second human I've run into in a century and I need you to look after this thing for me, don't lose it. I'll be back in a few years." He shoved the turtle into the man's hands and walked away, seemingly disappearing into thin air.
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Rupert had returned home with a turtle in his hands and was dumbfounded. He had just come into contact with a strange purple goat man and now he had a baby turtle in his hands, neither of which were very human. He didn't understand it at all, but if he was forced into being a dad now was the best time to start he supposed.
Also, he knew he could just leave the turtle to die or hand it in to authorities but that'd just make him seem crazy or the police would have his hide, so he'd rather just hide out until that weird old man came back and took this new problem out of his hands.
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"Come on now Michael! Stir the pot! I need to chop these vegetables and can't do that when I know the stew isn't being stirred!" He set the carrots onto the chopping block and hacked away. Mikey was stirring the bubbling pot of stew while sticking his tongue out, concentrating.
"Dad, it's gonna boil over!" He swiftly dropped the vegetables into the pot and turned down the heat, throwing in some herbs and grinning. Rupert pat his son on the head and spun the spoon in the stew. Mikey giggled and stepped down from the chair he was standing on so he could reach the oven and help his dad out.
"When's it gonna be done? I wanna taste it!" Rupert took the spoon and blew on it, holding it in front of Mikey, who opened his mouth and clamped down on the stew. Mikey bounced in his spot and smiled up at his dad.
"Is it good? I added some garlic and I wasn't sure if that was a good addition.." Mikey nodded and hopped back up in the chair with some help.
"It was good! I feel like it could be a little more spicier!"
"You mean, a little spicier? Your grammar was off, but I agree." They both added chili flakes and hummed in unison at the tasted the incredible flavor.
"It's dancing on my tongue! You're such a good cooker dad!"
"Thank you Michael, you're not too bad yourself. Now go sit down at the table, dinner is served." Rupert chuckled and smiled warmly.
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He chucked the paint can at the wall and groaned. Inspiration was nowhere today and his brain was not helping. Mikey stumbled out of his room and knocked on his dad's door.
"Hey dad? I have some questions for you." He heard some grumbling before stepping into the room and sitting down on Rupert's bed. He smiled when his dad patted the space next to him and he scooted into the crook of his arm.
"What is it Michael? Was breakfast not good? Having some inspiration issues again? What's wrong my boy?" Mikey frowned and fiddled with his thumbs as he tried to find the words.
"So uh, I know a lot of things now, and I know I'm 13 but I… Why do I look like this? You have 5 fingers and I only have 3… your skin is pale and mine is green.. I'm obviously not normal. Please, don't keep things from me anymore.." Rupert sighed deeply and hugged Mikey closer before holding him at arm's length.
"You're not human, and you've known that for awhile… Okay, I'm just going to say the honest truth." Mikey swallowed heavily, his throat squeezing tighter the longer this went on. Was this a bad idea?
"You're.. you're a mutant. A mutant turtle. You were made in some wacko lab and I'm not sure I know the rest, but you were given to me by some man named Baron Draxum. All I know is that you're my son and I don't want to ever change that." Mikey looked away, avoiding eye contact as his head spun. He had more questions than he had answers.
"Did I have a family before you? What kind of lab experiment? Why was I created? Why-" Rupert shushed him and frowned slightly.
"Draxum will be back for you in a few weeks, so until then, we won't know the answers.. but, my son, I'm always here for you." Mikey nodded and hugged his dad before returning to his room.
His head spun more than he wanted it to.
The inspiration hit him just then. He put on his mask and hoodie before grabbing his backpack full of paint cans and rushing out the door. It was sometime in the afternoon, and he had made sure Dad had passed out for his afternoon nap. Perfect opportunity.
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He was painting a sign on a roof, most likely a billboard when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He swept off his hands on his pants and put his mask back on. It was just a regular medical mask he put on sometimes when cooking certain meals. (like the ones he was slightly allergic to)
He stared out across the rooftops and slid his hood over his head and jerked his attention when he saw figures running across the rooftops and ducking down into alleyways. They were fast. And he was curious.
He rushed after them, dropping what he was doing in the process and left his paint cans behind. He quickly followed after them, sliding down the ladder, scraping his hands against the rough brick walls and banging his knees on the concrete sidewalk below him. He heard fighting just around the corner. Fists hitting flesh, Teeth knocking on knuckles, loud grunts and flashy comebacks.
Mikey peered around the corner, making sure he was hidden in the dark alley, his mask and hoodie helping him be discreet. The figures he saw before were pummeling some dudes wearing a weird get up with orange feet in their heads. And don't forget to mention that there were actual FLAMES on their heads. He watched as the two scrambled away and the three figures high-fived each other and hollered.
"Alright gang, what pizza place are we going to now? Antonio's?" He saw a blue bandana fluttering slightly in the wind, red crescents on the face of a figure. A larger figure had a snaggle tooth and a red bandana, the last one had a purple bandana with goggles on his head. Who were these guys? And why'd they look so weird–
"Ohmigosh-" He slapped a hand over his mouth as heads turned his way. He scrambled behind the corner and quickly made his way up the ladder and onto the roof. Those guys weren't human, that much he assumed, but they were just like him. Well, not like him obviously, but they were all turtles. They were turtles. He was a turtle.
He ran across the roof, hearing shouting behind him as he gathered his paint cans and yelped as a hand touched his shoulder. He didn't mean to, but he popped into his shell and hid. That was probably the worst mistake he could have pulled.
"Oh my banana pancakes-" Mikey heard a monotone voice exclaim as he was being lifted up. He stared out of his shell and popped back out, hands still holding him under his armpits.
"Uhhh… you from Jersey?" The purple one snorted and glared at the blue one. "Seriously Leo?" Leo shrugged and Mikey was set down by the red one, who was just looking him over carefully. He wiped his hands on his pants and stared at them. Yep. Up on the rooftops in the sunlight he could definitely tell they were turtles.
He heard Rupert calling for him and he jumped down, running off. The turtles were telling him to wait but he needed to get home, not indulge himself in fairy tales.
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Mikey set the homemade pizza on the table in front of his dad and sliced it into equal parts, frowning the entire time.
"What's wrong Mikey? You're looking at that pizza like it took your family." He sighed and handed a plate to his old man. It had been a week since he had seen the other turtles and since then, his dad was turned into a pig by some weird mosquito thing. Both of them were just hiding out at home now since they couldn't run the restaurant anymore.
"I'm just.. I'm confused about something, don't worry about it. I'll probably get over it." He heard his dad snort as he sat down and slowly chewed at the pizza in his hand.
"Mikey, this has been your favorite meal since you were 5 and you're barely enjoying it, tell me what's wrong." His eyes finally met his father's and he just groaned.
"Dad, are you sure I didn't have a family before this? I was… I was out spray painting a week ago and saw something really weird.." Rupert's smile fades as he stroked his face, pushing away the pizza.
"Well, when I was turned into a mutant, I did happen to see some fellows that looked like you, but it could have been a coincidence or my imagination.." Mikey slapped his hands on the table a few times, waiting to speak.
"I saw them too! There was a blue one, a purple one and a red one! I remember the blue one was named Leo." Rupert cracked his knuckles and stood up, putting the pizza away. Neither of them were very hungry anyways.
"Well.. you want to go look for them?" Mikey shrugged and frowned.
"I mean.. What if they're not my family? Or what if they are and they left me on purpose?" There was uncomfortable silence before Mikey stood up and hugged his dad.
"I'm going to my room to think.. I'll uh.. figure this out on my own pops."
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