Chapter 2: The Past and The Present
The New York City press conference and the hidden city
It was a sunny, yet windy day in New York City.
At the plaza, there was a massive crowd of people. Not just humans, but also some Yokai. They were all cheering, holding up various signs such as “blue, red, orange, purple”, or “Turtle-power”. Some people came in costumes, holding various toy items resembling ancient ninja weapons.
Someone stood on a podium, a few security guards behind him. He looked energetic, yet completely serious. Then… this man, who was the mayor, spoke.
“2 years ago…on this day… we faced an enemy that we had never seen before.”
The crowd went completely silent. Only Pigeons could be heard and the leaves rattling in the wind.
“Everything we did was hopeless, many lives were lost, many citizens were hurt. All our efforts were in vain… except theirs.”
People in the crowd started cheering. Not everyone did, but only the ones who were so enthusiastic that they just had to let themselves go. Because of their heroic deeds, Yokai were now finally being accepted in New York city. And it wasn’t only the turtles, as many Yokai helped evacuate human citizens to safety.
“Those turtles, we honor them today… for saving the city. No, they saved the entire world. I wish we could see them doing their heroic deeds in the city more often. They are a symbol of a society of both people… and Yokai!”
Everyone started cheering, loudly clapping, brimming with happiness! Not realizing, a few rooftops away, their heroes were watching.
The mindful one, Michelangelo. The strong one, Raphael. The smart one, Donatello. And of course, the leader, Leonardo. They each wore a bandana, respectively orange, red, purple and blue. Secretly, the turtles were listening to the press conference as well. But… while they looked at the crowd of people, they couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about everything that had happened.
“It’s still weird to not have to hide THAT MUCH you know,” Leo said to the group. Even though he had a huge smile, when he looked at the crowd, he could still feel slimmers of sadness.
As did the others, who just closed their eyes, looking slightly down at the concrete they were standing on. Leo stood up straight, shoulders back, his demeanor trying to be positive. “Ah come on guys, let’s go to the hidden city bars! We should totally drink our days away and get some pizza!”
“We are heroes after all,” Leo winked, though it didn’t really look sincere.
Raph, who is usually very present in conversations, now had a more calm air around him.
“I would love that Leo.” he said with a slight smile on his face, proud of how far his brother had come.
“Awhh me too,” Mikey chimed in for a hug.
“Yeah yeah, lets go… you are the boss,” Donnie said annoyed, secretly wanting to go back to his lab and the dojo to train his mystic machines. He mostly trained his greatest invention, Sheldon. It could fly and be loaded up with the mystic power the young men had made their own.
“Alright!!!” Leo said, but before he could open a portal to the hidden city, a notification on his phone popped up. There was a robbery in the hidden city bank, where someone was being held hostage!
Looking at his phone, his smile disappeared, now having a completely serious demeanor. “Change of plans, look!”
The turtles looked at the screen, almost scanning it with extreme precision and speed, while Leo was using one of his swords to make a portal behind him.
They took the portal, and immediately surrounded the building where the hostage was being held. Yokai police were everywhere. They were mostly dogs in police uniforms, holding guns in their hands. Inside, you could see a female tanuki being held hostage by a massive hippo, with a cloth over one side of his shoulder. The other hand held a gun against the tanuki’s head. There were multiple masked people putting money in bags as well, including a big worm with blonde hair.
“We have had this situation probably a million times before,” Leo smiled
“You mean two times,” Raph smirked.
“I can pick the hostage up with my chain, someone has to get the gun out of his hands.” Mikey added, calmly smiling.
“Will do…” Donnie said, annoyed as usual. He really, REALLY did not want to be here, but he started to create a sniper as his weapon and aimed at the Hippo’s hand.
“One… two… three… GO!” Leo said whispering, not yelling to not give himself and the group away. He then created a portal and he and Raph went inside, while Donnie immediately shot the gun away from the hippo.
The hippo was frantically looking around him. So many things happening at once. All the masked men were being taken out with ease by the turtles and the moment he looked away, the hostage was already back to safety. A chain had wrapped around her and took her to the police. Frustrated, the hippo immediately ran through the backside.
Leo smirked and jokingly said “Looks like I’m it, aren’t I?” The hippo was surprisingly fast. Leo created portals, but the hippo immediately outran him, causing the red slider to create more of them.
Then, once they were in an alleyway, the hippo turned around, ready to fight.
“Ah, a hero is chasing me, but deep down you know it right? Yokai like us will never be accepted!”
“Who says we want to be accepted, as long as we accept ourselves we are good.” As soon as Leo said this he started laughing.
“Lets go big gu-.” but he couldn’t finish his sentence as the Hippo immediately attacked him with his non clothed arm. Leo dodged everything like he was being an acrobat.
Then, the hippo revealed what was under his cloth. It was a massive metal arm with pink energy.
Leo’s eyes widened, his body shivering. He immediately thought back about 2 years ago. Seeing a massive metal hand like that again, it was just like…
Then he got caught. Leo was panicking at this point, his chest racing, breathing heavily.
“Looks like this is it… hero.”
Then, a concentrated blue fireball shot the entire arm off, causing the Hippo to scream.
There he was. A rabbit in blue samurai attire, who looked about Leo’s age. He was definitely an experienced warrior. Even in panic-mode, Leo could tell that immediately. To say Leo was perplexed was an understatement.
As the hippo ran away, the rodent sprinted at the foe extremely fast and completely overpowered him in one blow. He didn’t do it with his katana, but with the raw physical strength from his arms.
After the commotion ended, the cops came and restrained the hippo, taking him away in one of their cars. The turtles were all together again… and now also with the rabbit warrior.
“WOW,” Leo said really really loud. “That was, no… YOU ARE amazing! Those blue mystic flames, they are so powerful.”
The rabbit looked up, and smiled gently at the turtle. “Thanks, I am Yuichi.” He started to shake all the turtle’s hands, though Donnie was the only one who didn’t reciprocate. The rabbit looked a bit puzzled, but just ignored it.
“I am Leonardo Hamato… but call me Leo.” Leo said, smiling at the Rabbit. They both made eye contact and the group could tell that their vibes just connected.
Raph started talking jokingly, teasing the leader. “He is the leader of the 4 of us, but without us he is a dumdum, don’t you think?”
While Donnie did not say anything, just looking at his phone and playing with some mystic machines, Mikey also started to tease Leo a little bit. This one was more like a roast though.
“Ah Raph give him a break, Leo’s mystic powers aren’t that good for combat.”
The rabbit smiled, closing his eyes, looking at the ground. Then he spoke.
“Want me to be honest?”
“Here it comes,” Raph laughed. The turtles were excited if the rabbit was going to roast their leader too. So much so that even Donnie started glancing at the conversation.
“Your brother is a strong warrior. I think he would have still had him, to be honest…” While Yuichi smiled saying that, his voice had a serious undertone, his gaze eyeing all the turtles.
The turtles went silent. Even Leo was shocked. He wasn’t used to compliments like that, not from a complete stranger who was that strong.
Leo had to get to know this guy better.
“Yuichi, please come with us to one of the bars later, I would love to hang out with you. I also still owe you one.” Leo was trembling a bit, as he was slightly nervous Yuichi would not say yes.
“Ahh you owe me nothing.. like I said, you probably would have beaten him anyway…” Yuichi smiled.
Then…
“But I would love to come with you guys. Seems fun!”
Leo’s eyes started sparkling so much that he almost couldn’t contain his excitement. He really felt acknowledged. He was a good leader, but in terms of power, he wasn’t as good as his brothers.
“Here is my number. Call me in 3 hours.” Leo took out his phone and showed it to the rabbit warrior.
“This is mine,” The rabbit said calmly as he took out a pen and a piece of paper, writing the digits.
As Yuichi walked away, he heard Donnie say to Leo. “Can you stop being so nice to each other already, it’s so annoying.” Donnie’s whole body language screamed ‘anti-rabbit.’
Yuichi turned around and gave Donnie a wink and a massive grin. “Nah man, I can’t.”
Donnie’s eyes widened, he was fuming a little bit from the interaction. How dare that stranger just diss him like that.
The other 3 turtles cried of laughter, tears running down their faces. Leo yelled at the turtle.
“HAHAHA that’s what you get Donnie.”
“I am going to the dojo… you go to the bar, I’m too tired for this…” Donnie pouted, his shoulders downward, his eyes closed. He could really use some sleep, as he had been training so much before they went out.
Leo made a portal back to their Lair. His whole demeanor was one of pure excitement and happiness. And when he and the rabbit looked back, they waved at each other.
Outside of April, Leo was happy that he made another friend…
Big Mom’s office
“That rabbit still hasn’t paid me, has he?” A slightly pink, petite, human looking woman said, sighing at the thought that one of the people she extorted went against her. She did however hide the fact that she had four spider legs coming from her back.
“Hasn’t his aunt paid you enough already, Big Mom,” a blue and white yokai said. He was an avali, a rare breed that was a mix between a bird and a rodent. He sat behind another computer in his boss’s office, wearing a suit and was the mix between an assistant and a computer technician. The yokai analyzed data for his boss’s gain and advised her on what to do.
“Besides, he sold the farm he lived on. Yuichi is somewhere else now.”
Big Mom started to speak again, putting emphasis on ‘certain’ words by loudly yelling them at her assistant. “My dear Gabe, every source of INCOME is important, it is for the good of the battle nexus we are in. With all this MONEY, we can make the hidden city a better place.”
“And our pockets of course…” Big Mom ‘whispered’, laughing loudly afterwards.
Gabe, who already was rich from his work there, just wanted to use computers and study data. He wasn’t able to find a job because he was an Avali and therefore was subjected to discrimination. The Avali were considered to have “everything handed to them”, being able to fly, be strong, intelligent. This meant that they needed to be pegged down a little. The fact that in the hidden city, data science wasn’t needed as much as anywhere else, didn’t help him either. Even so, Big Mom saw insane potential in him, and took him in as her own. After a while, she even started caring for him as if he was her own son.
“Gabe, find more information about Yuichi. There must be something we can use against him, all for my precious COINS.”
“Sure Big Mom…” Gabe said while looking at the arena through the glass, where massive warriors were fighting.
However, both people did not know what they were getting themselves into…