Leonardo, You Gave Me Wisdom (Book 4)

The Three Mutaneers

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was that I was in a different location than the park or the fortune cookie factory. The wall I was staring at was awfully close. So close there were shadows nearly everywhere. It was grey and the ground I was laying on was hard and uncomfortable.

I scooted away from the wall, but then found air and I yelped in surprise as I landed on another hard surface. I grabbed at my shoulder since it was the one that hit the floor first. I looked up at where I originally was. It looked like a grey and stone couch; I was facing the back of it.

Now I was really on a floor and I looked around. The room I was in was lightly lit and right above me looked like a spiraling wooden chandelier. When I looked back down, but tilted my head to look up as if I would if I wanted to see the sky standing straight up, I saw an ancient television set with a VHS player inches from my face. At first I thought I was in the 1960s and went through a time change.

Until I saw a half circle cell phone laying face down on the couch. Beside it was a sleeping green thing. Its chest was golden and I couldn't really see its face, probably because its head was laying against the back of the couch. It was wrapped up in wrist and ankle wrappings and was about the size of a regular person.

Sitting up and still holding the shoulder I fell on, I looked around. I was in a lower part of the room, like the couch was part couch, part stairs, and I was on a slightly lower level. It felt weird seeing everything ground level. Like a bug or rat.

Then suddenly there was feet on my vision. I looked up and saw a dressed rat staring at me with calm amber eyes. I stared back, trying to hold still so he wouldn't see me. I thought wrong because he came up to me. Internally, I yelled at myself because he wasn't a T-Rex so of course he would see me.

"Sophia?" He asked with a deep voice with a slight accent.

"H-How do you know my name?" I asked, trying not to sound scared.

A smile appeared on his muzzle and he turned around. Behind him were three other mutants coming in the room. They were all talking and they were all different. They stopped and turned to me and paused then all three grinned. I thought it was the creepiest thing I had ever seen.

Two of them lunged forward and I cried out, trying to back up, but I got tackled down instead, getting hugged and being drowned in talk and voices that sounded too familiar to be true.

"Enough!" I heard a voice above the other two. The two mutants on me got off and looked at the third mutant. Her tail flicked and I noticed she was a Lizard. Her skin was a darker green than any mutant I have seen so far, and her eyes blue and demanding. "Give her space."

The two mutants on me hopped off. The one I noticed first was also a turtle and was a lighter green, nearly a neon, but with a yellow tint, with excited brown eyes. She had a pink mask on her face and had a belt and shoulder strap along her right one. The second mutant had a calmer gait, but was still jumpy. She was covered in green fur, and with a squirrel-like tail. She also had a yellow bandana tied around her neck with her amber eyes basically smiling themselves with the happiness of something.

The Lizard came up and smiled, her tail flicking behind her again and I noticed a black mask tied to her tail near the base where it was thicker. "Welcome home."

"Home?" I repeated. "No. My home is where my parents are."

"More like with the Dragons," the furry mutant said. "We've been watching you and I thought you would do better, Soph."

"How do you all know my name!" I cried.

The Turtle smiled and held her hand out, "It's us!"

"Us?" I repeated, still slow after all that's happened.

The Lizard sighed then smiled, "You don't at least recognize our voices? It's us. Me, Julie, and Mik- Cindy."

I looked at them like they were nuts and so I scoffed and laughed, shaking my head while looking away. Everyone was quiet as I started finishing laughing. When I looked up, they were all looking at me hurt expressions. So I calmed down and asked, "My friends are gone. Murdered or captured, sitting in a dark cave somewhere in Germany or something."

"We've had a Turtle live in a cave captured," Naomi said with a frown. "Not too long ago, actually. But it wasn't us."

"It was Mikey," the Turtle with the pink masked muttered. "He's safe, but still not wanting to talk about his experience..."

I looked at all of them then noticed something. They were all wearing their favorite colors... At least, the friends I knew. Naomi was wearing a black mask on her tail. Julie had a yellow bandana around her neck in a rather large bow tie. And Cindy had a pink mask on. But... Were they really my friends that I called sisters?

They were all staring at me, even the rat behind them was. I looked away and then heard shuffling. When I looked toward the shuffling sound, I saw it was that one mutant on the couch just sleeping like he was used to hard beds. He looked at me with a blue mask, but with deeper blue eyes. I looked away instantly, feeling the gaze stronger than any I have ever felt.

"You're awake," he mumbled with a sad tone. "That's good. I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

"You kicked me?"

"I stressed him into it by what his mind says..." Naomi huffed angrily, looking away. "It was the mission... Hell, Raph kidnapped me through a potato sack."

"Really?" Julie asked, turning to her. "You never told me!"

"Or me!" Cindy wailed.

Naomi glared at both of them. The glare I knew so well, but instead it was on a green face with a slightly extended muzzle. "Would you guys have believed me if I told you?"

"No..." they both said in unison. Cindy looked down.

"But yours was a lot like mine..." Julie glared at her. "Donnie knocked me out."

"And you're welcome for using a clean potato sack," Naomi said as if Julie had thanked her. "Raph said to use the one they caught me in."

"You guys are lucky, though," Cindy pouted. "Mikey knocked me out with his skateboard! His skateboard!"

"It was interesting to see him do that," Naomi said with a grin.

"I got kicked in the face," I butted in with a frown. They looked at me and Naomi smiled with a sympathetic expression, glancing at the turtle on the couch. I turned to him and he had his head hung in guilt.

He looked at me once more and I could only hold his glance for a few second before looking away, shivering. "I couldn't think," was all he answered before getting up. He snatched the phone beside him and left the room. I watched him go, feeling a little guilty that he was feeling the way he was.

"Don't worry about Leo," Naomi said, coming up to me. I looked at her. "He's been in a mood lately..."

"Lately?" Cindy repeated. "You mean ever since I got my memory back."

"Memory?" I repeated.

They all sorta froze at that and Julie jumped up by me, "Don't worry about it."

I only nodded, giving up to try and get rid of the girls in front of me when I knew they weren't my friends.... Not really. Imposters maybe.

"You may think imposters," Naomi said with a harsh tone, "but we share memories only you know of." When I looked at her, she suddenly changed appearance and smiled, "Now let's show you around and to your room, yeah?"