The Future: Part 1: Page 1

BY: Yvette M. "DaPrincess" Griffith (6/25/01)
Finish Date: (8/3/01)



	
	It had been a little more than a year since the Turtles last fought an enemy. 
	Venus managed to somehow imprison Dragon Lord, Wick, and his minions in the glass 
again, this time for good. 
	Simon BoneSteel finally got caught by the authorities, and he was also put away, with a 
life sentence in jail for his numerous crimes against the animal world, including smuggling exotic animals 
from other countries. 	
	Shredder died (finally), and all of his followers of the Foot clan either ended up in jail, 
changed their life around, or were just some of the criminals lose in New York. 
	Dr. Quease was imprisoned for certain scientific crimes including using (unwilling) human test 
subjects. He was another that was never to be released from jail. 
	Silver and his gang moved their practices to Las Vegas, Nevada. 
	Not so much as one enemy remained in the Turtle’s midst.
	
	This lack of fighting activities gave Leonardo and Venus the chance to finally confess about 
how they felt about each other, and they became a pair. That was probably the only thing that anyone 
actually cared about that came about during these boring times.
	
	The Turtles and their Master all sat at home on this Friday morning. The five Turtles watched 
television while Splinter slept, something he did a lot more of these days.
	
	A boring commercial about some new exercise equipment came on. Leonardo lazily hit the 
“mute” button. “Man I’m  bored.” he said. 
	Donatello went over to his computer, and booted up his “eye in the sky”. He sighed as he 
looked at it. “Nothing, not a dragon, not a hunter, nothing.” said Donatello. 
	“You wish to see them again?” asked Venus. 
	“It’d be action. Instead of just sittin’ around on our shells.” said Raphael. 
	“I gotta agree. There’s nothing to do anymore.” said Michealangelo. 	
	The five just sat around, wondering what there could possibly be to do.
	
	A few weeks later, everyone just sitting around when a large “BOOM!!” was heard. It 
shook the Turtles’ entire underground home, sending strong vibrations through it, and disrupting 
everything as things fell on the floor. 
	“Whoa! What was that?!” asked Mikey. 
	“I don’t know, but there’s only one way to find out.” said Raphael, as he got up from the 
floor where he’d fallen. 
	They all eagerly agreed, and went out of their home. Even Master Splinter went with them.
	
	In the sewer tunnels, all had became very quiet. There were a few scraps of paper that were 
blowing towards the Turtles, but not much.
	 They all looked around. It was dim because of the light bulbs that got smashed by the impact 
of whatever happened. Everything seemed normal and quiet now.
	
	Suddenly, the Turtles heard a voice. They quickly hid. 
	Around the tunnel bend came a female Turtle with a gray bandanna.  She was with a 
red-haired young man that wore a white lab coat. 
	The Turtles and Splinter were very surprised to see this. Just when they thought they were 
done seeing other mutants.
	
	“So, according to your calculations, where are we exactly?” asked the female Turtle to the 
young man.	
	The young man pressed some buttons on a small, handheld machine that he had. His eyebrows 
raised. “Interesting.” he said.
	“What?” asked the female Turtle, looking towards the object that the young man had.
	“We seem to be in another dimension.” said the young man.
	“Whoa, is that possible?” asked the female Turtle being very intrigued by now.
	“Well, it happened, so I guess it is.” said the young man. “I must say, this is a fascinating 
discovery.”
	“The Association will be very impressed.” said the female Turtle.
	
	In their hiding place, the Turtles and Splinter all looked at each other, amazed, and confused 
so much that neither of them knew what to say to the other.
	“I think we should go out there.” said Leonardo quite matter-of-factly.
	“What?” asked Raphael, surprised by Leo’s boldness.
	“There’s a mutant, like us, and a human, who obviously accepts her for being a mutant. 
Why shouldn’t we go out there?” asked Donatello.
	“I must agree with Donatello. They don’t seem harmful.” said Splinter.
	“Besides, it isn’t like we have anything better to do.” said Mikey.
	“He’s got a point.” said Venus.
	“True.” they all agreed, and they came out of their hiding place. 
	They came out into the tunnel, letting the two strangers see them.
	
	The female Turtle and the young man noticed them right away.
	“Goodness! There are mutants on other dimensions!” said the young man with a 
surprised expression.
	“Amazing!” said the female Turtle, but she then got a confused expression. “But why are 
you all in the sewers?” asked the female Turtle.
	“Well it ain’t like we got a choice.” said Raphael.
	“And what about you two? What are you two doing in the sewer?” asked Leonardo.
	“Well, we’re from a Science Association in another dimension, and well, Rita and I had been 
working on this machine for a long time, and we finally got it to work.” said the young man.
	“But we only thought that it would transport us to another part of our dimension. We never 
thought it’d actually take us to another dimension.” said Rita, the female Turtle.
	“Cool.” said Donatello.
	“Very.” said the young man.
	“But you mentioned that you have no choice but to be down here. Why is that?” asked Rita.
	“Because we’re mutants!” said Mikey, feeling that Rita was probably a bit on the dumb side 
not to realize that they couldn’t show themselves in public.
	“Well, I still don’t see that as a reason to be in the sewers. In our dimension, mutants co-exist 
with humans in normal society. It’s always been that way.” said Rita.
	“Really?” asked Donatello, surprised.
	Everyone else was likewise surprised.
	“Of course. Isn’t that the way it is everywhere?” asked the young man.
	“Unfortunately, no. Here, no one’s really heard about mutants. If we were ever seen in public, 
they would probably take us to a lab and dissect us to find out how we worked.” said Donatello.
	Rita gasped. “How awful!” she said.
	“Awful, but true.” said Leonardo.
	“Well, I’m glad that’s not how it is on our dimension.” said the young man. “But, sorry, I 
forgot to introduce myself. My name is Maximillian Faxit, or Max for short.” said the young man.
	“Pleased to meet you Max.” said Venus.
	“The pleasure is all mine.” said Max.
	“And what are all of your names?” asked Rita.
	“Leonardo.”
	“Donatello.”
	“Michealangelo, or Mikey for short.”
	“Raphael.” 
	“Venus DeMilo, or just Venus.”
	“Splinter.” 
	“Nice names. Very Renaissance-ish.” said Rita.
	“Thanks.” said Leonardo.
	A beeper on Rita’s beeper went off. She then picked it up and looked at it.
	“Oh no, I have to get back to work.” said Rita.
	“Then we’ve gotta go.” said Max as he looked down at his machine and began tinkering 
with it again.
	“Wait, I wanna see this place.” said Leonardo.
	Max looked up. “You want to come?” he asked.
	“Yeah. We don’t have anything keeping us here.” said Raphael.
	“Well, all right. I hope the vortex can handle 6 extra bodies.” said Max as he tinkered with 
the machine some more.
	“Oh I think it can.” said Rita.
	
	“Do you feel that this is a wise course of action, Leonardo?” asked Splinter, turning to face Leo.
	“Well, we don’t have anything else around here to do. Our enemies are all gone, and we’re 
bored stiff. I mean, a world where mutants are a part of society, I’ve gotta see this, Master.” said Leonardo.
	“Very well. I could use a change of scenery, and it appears to be safe.” said Splinter.
	
	After Max was done tinkering with the machine, he opened the vortex. It was a large, swirling 
mass of light turning into a tunnel that looked a lot like the vortex on the Slider’s television series 
(if you’ve ever seen that). The wind from the vortex stirred around a lot of papers, and blew back 
bandannas and Max’s lab coat. 
	“Ready?!” asked Max over the noise of the swirling vortex.
	“Yeah, let’s go!” said Mikey.
	So one by one, they all jumped into the vortex, which quickly sucked them up into it. 
	After all 8 of them jumped in, the vortex stayed open just a little while longer, then it closed up.
	
	Inside the vortex, everyone was weightless and were flying down a speeding tunnel that wound 
around corners, and up and down small hills.
	
	On the other side of the vortex, they all dropped out onto a hard, marble floor. The vortex 
closed up, and did so with a loud “BOOM!”, as it exploded outwards. 
	“Ow.” said Max, sounding sarcastic, but he was really in pain.
	“We have gotta fix that crash landing.” said Rita.
	“And the vortex explosion.” said Max.
	“What a rush!” exclaimed Mikey.
	“One that I could have done without.” said Master Splinter as he sat up, and his old bones 
crackled just a little bit.
	They all stood up and dusted themselves off.
	
	“Welcome to our dimension.” said Max.
	“Cool, I can’t wait to see outside of this . . . place.” said Leonardo as he looked around.
	“Soon enough. But first, we must be sanitized. The sewers could hold harmful bacterial 
agents, and we can’t risk infecting the whole population of New York City.” said Rita.
	“This is New York City?” asked Donatello.
	“Yep. Every smoggy bit of it.” said Rita.
	
	Max walked over to a machine, and pressed some buttons on it. Then he stood with everyone 
else.
	“All right everyone, just stand still. The sanitizing unit is going to do its job now.” said Max.
	A large plastic tube came down from the ceiling and covered them all. Then it steamed up inside 
and made a loud whirring noise.
	Venus was nervous, and began moving around a lot. 
	“Calm down Venus, it’ll be okay.” said Leonardo as he held her hand so that she would calm 
down, and she did, enjoying the contact from her significant other.
	
	The machine then finished doing its work, and pulled up to the ceiling again.
	The Turtles all looked at each other. 
	“Hey, it’s like we just got a bath.” said Mikey.
	“That’s essentially what happened.” said Rita. “Though I prefer soap and water.”
	Rita’s beeper went off again, and she gasped. “I better go, I’m late for work.” said Rita.
	“Where do you work?” asked Donatello.
	“CompUSA downtown Manhattan. You wanna come? I’d love to show you the city.” said Rita.
	“I’d love to.” said Donatello.
	“I wanna go. I gotta see what’s out there.” said Mikey.
	“Well, I can only fit one of you guys in my car. But a friend of mine could come now and take 
you all out to the city.” said Rita.
	“Okay.” said Leonardo.
	Rita then picked up a phone that was on the wall, and dialed a number.
	“Hey, it’s Rita. Yeah. Can you come with the van?” said Rita on the phone.
	Someone could be heard talking on the other line.
	“Well, Max and I went to another dimension and found some more mutant Turtles like me. 
They want to see the city because in their dimension, mutants aren’t an accepted part of society.” explained Rita.
	Again, someone was talking.
	“I know, that is awful.”
	The person talked again.
	“Uh huh, okay, sure. But hurry okay, I’m late for getting back to work. All right, I’ll see ya
soon.” said Rita, then she hung up the phone.
	“She’s coming.” said Rita.
	“Who’s coming?” asked Max, who didn’t quite hear any of the conversation as he was busy 
with some controls.
	“Shane.” said Rita as she picked up some car keys.
	“What?! You’re letting Shane come here? Please tell me that she’s not bringing the van.” said 
Max.
	“Oh relax, Max. She’s gonna park it outside this time.” said Rita.
	Max just sighed and went back to whatever he was doing before.
	“See ya later Max! Come on everyone.” said Rita.
	They all followed her out the front door of the laboratory.
	
	Outside, they saw cars passing by, and a bunch of teens chatting; both mutant and human.
	“This is sooo great! No more sewers!” said Mikey excitedly.
	“I could definitely get used to this.” said Raphael with a smirk.
	
	Just then, the ground began shaking a little, and some loud, bass heavy music could be heard.
	“You are all about to meet, Shane.” said Rita.
	A large metallic-colored van with big wheels sped around the corner, but slowed down, and 
came into the parking lot where the Turtles were. The words, “Road Princess” was painted in metallic 
camouflaged print on each side of the van. 
	The music turned off, and the vehicle stopped. A girl then opened the door, that opened 
upwards, and she jumped out. She looked about 16-years-old with long black hair, brown eyes, and a nice build. She wore camouflage-printed shorts and tank top.
	“Wassup Rita! How’s it going?” she asked as she approached the group.
	“Pretty good. How about you?” asked Rita.
	“Well, you know. I’m still baby-sitting a lot. So maybe I’ll land a better job soon, who 
knows.” said Shane.
	Then she noticed the rest of the Turtles, as well as Splinter.
	“Hey everyone, welcome to our dimension. I hope you like it here, I do.” said Shane.
	“Shane’s the resident ‘wild child’. She’s pretty cool though.” said Rita.
	“True dat, true dat.” said Shane.
	Raphael then noticed that at the top of her head, were two black cat-like ears. 
	“Hey, I hope you don’t mind me askin’, but what are those things on ya head?” asked Raph.
	“Oh these? My ears. See, I ain’t exactly all human, I’m a hybrid. There’s a few of us runnin’ 
around here, but not much. We’re the few that got parents who somehow got animal DNA in their blood
 from an animal bite or somethin. I’m part jaguar.” said Shane.
	“Wow, there’s a lot about this dimension that I’m gonna have to learn.” said Donatello.
	“Yeah, well, you’ll learn it all downtown. So who’s ridin?” asked Shane.
	“Well, I know I am. I gotta check out that thing you’re drivin. What is it?” asked Raphael.
	“A Danian 7000, the newest in its line. That baby has a turbo-powered engine that just leaves 
everyone else eatin’ ya dust on the highway. They made the express lanes just for peeps like me.” said Shane.
	“Wicked.” said Raphael to himself.
	“Well, I know I’m riding with Rita, so, it’s everyone else but me going that . . . van.” said 
Donatello, as if he didn’t really consider the large machine a van.
	“Cool, well come on then. I’ll have you meet some of my friends too.” said Shane.	
“Great, well, we’ll see you all later. We’ll probably meet up sometime later on. You’ve got my beeper 
number, right?” asked Rita.
	“Yep.” said Shane.
	“All right then, let’s vamoose.” said Rita.
	
	Raphael, Leonardo, Venus, Mikey, and Splinter all went with Shane to her van. They all 
climbed up into it, and found it to be very roomy.
	Raphael sat in the front while everyone else sat in the back. 
	“This baby is loaded!” said Raphael as he looked at the controls.
	“Yeah, and the sound system is bangin’.” said Shane. She then started the van up, and 
the music came back on.
	Raphael looked at the music controls as if he wanted to touch them, but thought he shouldn’t.
	“Make yaself at home. Change the station if you want to.” said Shane.
	That’s just what Raphael did. “This is the life! “ said Raphael.
	Mikey enjoyed the music in the back while Venus, Leonardo, and Splinter winced because 
of how loud it was. 
	Shane sped out of the parking lot and down the street.
	
	“Well, there she goes.” said Rita as she and Donny sat in her car.
	“Are they um, safe, with her?” asked Donny.
	“Of course. Shane may be wild, but she’s safe. Otherwise she wouldn’t be allowed to stay 
on the road.” said Rita.
	“Well, okay.” said Donatello. ”But how in the world did she get a vehicle that big when she 
doesn’t even look old enough to drive?” he asked.
	“Well, Shane’s dad owns a car company, the same one that her vehicle is made from. And 
well, she’s got connections to the motor vehicles department, so she can drive, with her own license.” 
explained Rita.
	“Interesting.” said Donatello, then he put his seat belt on.
	Rita started up the car and began driving.
	“So, are you familiar with the technological world at all?” asked Rita.
	“Very, it’s my life. I spend a lot of time inventing. But no one at home ever thinks it’s anything 
important. It’s like, they think I just have my head up in the clouds.” said Donatello.
	“Yeah, I know how that is. That’s how it was when I was young in school. I was the oddball 
because I liked science so much. But then I became buddies with Max, and we grew up together pretty 
much. We’re both 21 now, and are pretty happy with the science association.” said Rita.
	“Neat. How’d you get into the association?” asked Donatello.
	“Well, it’s like a club thing, only more sophisticated and high tech. You have to find a member, 
and join through them. Then, you go to science conventions and the sort. It’s a lot of fun, you get to
travel around the world, and you learn a lot.” said Rita.
	“I’d like to get into something like that.” said Donatello.
	Rita smiled. “You’re the first guy Turtle I’ve met that really likes stuff like that. I gotta 
say, I’m impressed.” said Rita.
	“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” said Donny with a smile.
	They rode the rest of the way downtown just talking.
	
	Shane had just got everybody downtown, and parked in front of a pizza hangout. She then
turned off the vehicle.
	“So, how’d ya like the ride?” asked Shane to everyone.
	“Wicked!” said Raphael and Mikey together.
	“I could’ve done without the music.” said Venus.
	“Yeah.” said Leonardo.
	“Sorry about the volume, but I love those speakers!” said Shane.
	“We can tell.” said Splinter using a finger to unclog his left ear.
	Shane then let everyone out of her van. 
	They all looked around the city. Mutants living among humans. It was still a hard concept 
to grasp, and it didn’t seem real to the Turtles, or Splinter at first. But they would soon get used to it, as 
the life of co-existence was all around them.
	“Come on, this is my fave place to eat. And I’ll introduce you all to some friends of mine.” 
said Shane as she led the group to the pizza place.
	Splinter could hear the boisterous rock n’ roll type music from inside, and didn’t want to have 
to hear more of it. It just wasn’t his type of music.
	“Shane, is there any other place that is more, quiet?” asked Splinter as he walked over to Shane.
	She looked over at him. “Pizza joint not your type huh? No problem. There’s this cool 
Chinese restaurant next door.” said Shane as she pointed over to it.
	“Very nice.” said Splinter with a smile. “Thank you.” he said.
	“No problem, and here, use this card. You get a free meal with it.” said Shane as she handed 
Splinter a card from her pocket.
	“Thank you very much.” said Splinter.
	“Anytime.” said Shane.
	Then Splinter went next door to the restaurant. 

	The place had soft Asian music playing in the background, and smelled of delicious Lo Mein 
and Fried Rice.
	A young woman in a kimono came over to him.
	“Smoking or non-smoking?” she asked him in her natural Chinese accent.
	“Non-smoking, please.” said Splinter.
	“All right. Right this way.” she said, and she led him to a nice booth in the non-smoking section.
	Then she handed him a menu. “I’ll be back to take your order in just a little while.” she 
said, then left.
	Splinter was in awe at what was going on. A human waiting on him at a Chinese restaurant. 
A dream come true!
	At the booth right across from him, were a group of female mice. One white, one brown, and 
the other black. They glanced over at him and giggled.
	“How handsome.” said the black one.
	“Oh look, he’s wearing slippers. But outside? Oh he must’ve forgotten to put on his shoes.” 
said the brown one.
	“Oh would you two stop gossiping, leave him alone.” said the white one.
	They all began talking amongst themselves again, and Splinter glanced over at them. He 
wished that he had some classier clothes on at this moment, but he didn’t. He didn’t even know what kind of clothes other mutant rats (if there were any) wore in this dimension. So he just got absorbed into his menu, thinking of what to order. Never had he had a choice like this before. He was still in awe.
	
	Back in the pizza place where Shane took Mikey, Leonardo, Venus, and Raphael, they all 
went over to a big booth near the back of the place where there were some other mutants.
	“Hey guys! Wassup?” Shane said as she approached them.
	“Nothing much, what’s up with you, wild child?” asked a tall brown female fox wearing a 
leather body suit.
	“Well, we’ve got visitors from another dimension with us today.” said Shane.
	“Uh, what’s a like, dimension?” asked a female Turtle with a valley girl accent.
	“I don’t know, ask Rita. All I know is that it’s like a different world.” said Shane.
	“Oh.” said the Turtle.
	“Where they come from, mutants aren’t accepted as part of society. Can you believe that?” said Shane.
	“Whoa, now that’s wrong.” said a male Turtle.
	“So, what are ya names?” asked a female Turtle.
	“Raphael.”
	“Mikey.”
	“Leonardo.”
	“Venus.”
	“Cool, well, I’m Roxanne.” said the female fox in the leather suit.
	“I’m Razor.” said the male Turtle with a black camouflage-print bandanna.
	“I’m Corina.” said the female Turtle with a deep pink bandanna.
	“And I’m Shelly.” said the female Turtle with a yellow bandanna, and the valley girl accent.
	“Well, now that you’re all acquainted, let’s get some pizza over here.” said Shane as she sat 
on the edge of the table.
	“Yo Angelo! Hit us with a X-large pie with pepperoni on it!” shouted Roxanne over to a 
waiter.
	“Got it!” the waiter shouted back.
	“Sit down guys, my pals ain’t gonna hurt you.” said Shane.
	So all of the Turtles sat down in the booth. 
	Razor looked over at Venus, and began eyeing her very carefully.
	“Hey cutie.” he said to her.
	“That is not my name. My name is Venus.” said Venus.
	Leonardo pulled Venus closer to him. “She’s taken.” he said firmly.
	Razor lifted up his palms in a surrendering position. “Hey, okay. She’s yours, no prob.” 
he said.
	Venus looked around for a moment. “I think I would like to join Master Splinter eating in 
the Chinese restaurant.” said Venus.
	“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” said Leonardo, eyeing Razor suspiciously.
	“What? Leavin’ already? But it hasn’t even gotten fun around here yet.” said Shane.
	“That’s okay, we’ll just eat next door.” said Leonardo as he and Venus got up.
	“Well, ok. Here’s some dough to pay for the food. I don’t have anymore free cards.” said 
Shane as she handed them some money.
	“Thanks.” said Venus as she took the money.
	Then she and Leonardo went next door.
	
	After they got in, a waiter went to seat them. They passed by Splinter who was now chatting 
with the three female mice from earlier.
	“Oh what a terrible place to live!” said the white mouse.
	“No no no, you don’t need to live somewhere like that.” said the brown one.
	Leonardo and Venus smiled. Splinter was enjoying his conversation very much.
	Leo and Venus then got a booth, and looked at their menus.
	“Leonardo?” asked Venus.
	“Yeah?” said Leonardo.
	“Pinch me.” said Venus.
	“Why?” asked Leo.
	“Because I am looking at a menu, in a restaurant, and I am not wearing my cloak to hide 
myself or anything.” said Venus.
	“All right, but only if you’ll pinch me too.” said Leonardo.
	“Deal.” said Venus.
	So they each pinched each other.
	“Ow!” they both exclaimed.
	“Leonardo!” said Venus.
	“What? You wanted to be pinched.” said Leonardo.
	Venus rubbed her leg.
	“Hey, you didn’t say where you wanted to be pinched.” said Leo with a small smile.
	“Very funny.” said Venus, playfully tossing one of the complementary fortune cookies at him.
	
	Back in Rita’s car, she had parked it already, and she and Donatello were now entering 
CompUSA.
	A brown dog in a suit stopped her. “Miss Arnolds. Why are we late?” he asked her.
	“I’m sorry Mr. Coat, but I had a really important stop, honest.” said Rita.
	The brown dog, which was her boss, eyed her for a moment, then turned his attention to Donatello. 
	“Who’s he?” he asked.
	“He’s from another dimension. I wanted him to see how mutants and humans co-exist, so I 
brought him downtown.” said Rita.
	“What do you mean how mutants and humans co-exist? I’m sure that he’s seen that before!” 
said Mr. Coat.
	“No, actually, I haven’t. See, where I come from, mutants are seen as ‘freaks of nature’. We 
have to live in the sewers to preserve ourselves.” said Donatello.
	Mr. Coat raised his furry eyebrows at Donatello. “Well, that is something. You’re excused 
this time Miss Arnolds, but only this time.” said Mr. Coat. Then he handed her a red apron with her 
name, “Rita Arnolds” on it. “Now get to work.” said Mr. Coat, and he walked off.
	“Yes sir.” said Rita, and she put the apron on.
	“You have a last name?” asked Donatello.
	“Of course. What, you all don’t have last names either?” asked Rita.
	“Nope.” said Donatello.
	“Well, you’re gonna need one if you want to live around here. Come, I’ll show you around 
this place.” said Rita as she began walking around with Donny.
	“I’ve never been in a store before, without hiding my identity under a trenchcoat and hat 
that is. This is awesome!” said Donatello.
	Rita smiled. “I’m glad that you like it.” she said.
	
	Back at the pizza place, they were all chowing down on one of the best pizzas that 
Mikey had ever tasted.
	“This is the most groovilicious pizza that I’ve ever tasted!” said Mikey after finishing a slice.
	Shelly laughed. “He said ‘groovilicious’! That’s so cool.” she said in her valley girl accent.
	“Shutup. I hate that laugh of yours! You sound like a freakin’ car tryin’ ta start, and 
it’s annoying!” said Corina.
	“Oh you like, shutup! I can laugh if I want to.” said Shelly.
	Just then, someone walked by and slapped Roxanne on her rear.
	“Nice end, baby.” he said as he winked at her.
	Roxanne gave him the evil eye.
	“Excuse me.” she said to everyone at the table. Then she walked away. 
	Sounds of punching, smashing, crashing, slapping, hitting, and yelling could be heard. 
	Then Roxanne returned dusting her hands off, and reached for another slice of pizza.
	She sighed. “The price you have to pay to look this good.” she said nonchalantly. 
	Razor laughed. “You’re a menace to all hormone-driven guys, Roxanne.” he said.
	“Don’t I know it.” she smiled slyly.
	“Sheesh, don’t make me sick here.” said Corina, who didn’t seem to be eating any pizza.
	“What’s wrong with you, Cori? Ain’t you hungry?” asked Shane.
	“Not really. I mean, they impounded my freakin’ dirtbike, again.” said Corina.
	“Again? Why?” asked Shane.
	“Cos it was parked in a fire zone. I was gonna move it, but naw, they just had to take it 
away.” said Corina.
	“You got a dirtbike? That’s pretty cool, but do they got any motorcycles around here?” 
asked Raphael.
	“Yeah, why? You aimin’ to buy one?” asked Corina.
	“Maybe. But they’re only the coolest way to get around. It beats a four-wheeled dirtbike 
anyday.” said Raphael.
	“Nah, not for me. Too dangerous.” said Corina.
	“That’s why I like ‘em. The more dangerous, the betta.” said Raphael.
	Corina looked at him funny. “Are you one of those rebels or somethin?” she asked him.
	“Only the baddest.” said Raphael.
	At that moment, Corina got kind of interested in getting to know this “bad boy”.
	
	Back at CompUSA, Rita was repairing some computer parts in the back while Donatello 
looked around.
	“So this is your department?” asked Donatello.
	“Pretty much. I’m a repair specialist, and I also fix faulty software.” said Rita as she slipped 
on a pair of glasses to fit her face.
	“That’s great. Does it pay well?” asked Donatello.
	“Very well. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford my car or my house.” said Rita.
	“This is the kind of life that I’ve always dreamed about.” said Donatello.
	“It’s a really nice place to live, you know. It still has its faults, like crime and the like. But I 
can imagine that it’s a lot better than living in a sewer.” said Rita. “No diss intended.”
	“None taken. This life is much better than living in a sewer.” said Donatello.
	Then he was quiet for a while as he looked around.
	“What are you going to do after work?” asked Donatello.
	“Well, what I usually do is go home, settle down, and fix myself some dinner. But today,
 I want to help you get settled in a nice hotel room or something.” said Rita.
	“Wow, a hotel room. That’s like a dream come true.” said Donatello.
	“I can imagine.” said Rita. “So, how old are you and your friends?” asked Rita.
	“We’re all 21, except for Master Splinter.” said Donatello.
	“How old is he?” asked Rita.
	“No one knows for sure, he never told us. But I’m guessing that he’s in his late 70’s, early 80’s 
right about now.” said Donatello.
	“Oh, wow. He’s been around a while. But why do you call him Master Splinter?” asked Rita.
	“Because he’s our ninja master. See, we’re all ninjas. We fought a lot of really bad people and 
dragons when we lived in the sewers. But now they’re all put away and gone.” said Donatello.
	“Dragons?” asked Rita as she looked up from her work.
	“Yeah, it’s a long story. But it’s all in the past. They’re not around anymore.” said Donatello.
	“Hm, seems like you all led a pretty interesting life.” said Rita as she went back to her work.
	“You could say that.” said Donatello.
	
	Back in the Chinese restaurant, the mice were still having a great time talking to Splinter.
	“And they serve the best pudding at the manor. It’s so creamy, and deliciously sweet!” said the 
black mouse as she described where she and her friends lived.
	“This, Evelyn Manor that you speak of. Why do they serve meals to your room? Are you not 
allowed to cook for yourselves?” asked Splinter.
	“Oh, of course. But see, Evelyn Manor is a retirement home for older ones such as we are. 
So some prefer room service, while others rather live independently while not having to pay bills.” said 
the white mouse.
	Splinter liked the idea of this kind of living. “How does one get to live in a place such as 
this?” he asked.
	“Well, since you aren’t known in society, you have to apply for citizenship first. Then after 
you get a social security number and all that, you can apply for a room in Evelyn Manor.” said the 
brown mouse.
	“It should take no more than a week for you to be settled in.” said the white mouse.
	Splinter thought about adopting this new life. He was old, and living in the sewers 
couldn’t be good for him.
	“I would like to apply for this citizenship.” said Splinter.
	“How wonderful! The office is closed now, so we can start tomorrow.” said the black mouse.