The Turtle Charm

Changes

I woke up in the same room as I did before, though not quite as hungry, but a little unsteady. Once again, voices sounded from outside the room. "You should have called me the moment the Krang was mentioned," said some sort of sheep-man I saw as I entered what seemed to be the living room, "I could have helped, maybe prevented our boy's shell from damage!"

"Everything happened in a haze. Barry, don't you think..." Spinter stopped talking as I walked in, "Oh, did you sleep well Miss Tortuga?"

"Wh-what happened? Did we win? Please tell me there won't be a Krang Apocolypse..."

"No need to worry. You broke the key, which according to my friend here, Baron Draxum, was supposed to be indestructible."

"Yes," said the sheep-man sitting across from Splinter, "It's odd that a stranger would come along and just break it...Though, the form you now take, I could have sworn...

"Form?" I scratched my head, but it didn't feel right. Instead of five fingers massaging my skull, it felt like three. I pulled my hand into view. It was green. I jerked backward, tripping over something and falling to the floor. "I'm a...a," I said before catching my reflection in the lens of a projector, "I'm a mutant turtle!"

"Oh, no," said the sheep-man, "I had nothing to do with this. But that earring...It's cursed, right?"

"Cursed earring?" I kind of forgot about that with everything that happened, but it made sense. It brought me here. It vibrated when I felt those emotions and when I collapsed. I began pulling at it and pulling, but it wouldn't budge from my now turtle-like ear.

"It's pointless," said the sheep-man, "You're mystically bound to it now."

"Way to sugar coat it, Barry," said Splinter.

"Well, it's true. She should have read the contract it came with."

"Contract?" I said, "There's a contract?"

"Of course. Who in their right mind would put on a mystic item without reading the contract?"

"Oh god, the engraving on the box. What'd I do with that box?"

"Do you mean this?" Barry held it up, the key sticking out. "Donatello said it came with you. He tracked you down with it?"

I took it and opened it to look at the inscription. "Gha, I need a Spanish dictionary..."

"It says: Whoever dons this piece will be shelled and green. To escape the turtle form, bond with great warriors who number four. Only then will you become your true self."

A pause consumed the next couple of seconds. "Oh," I said, "What the shell-I mean-What the Hell does that mean?"

"Who knows? They always come with some sort of riddle" said Barry. An alarm went off and he checked his phone. "Well better be off to work. I just made my way to Vice Principal. Soon I'll reach Principal and then I'm going into district management!"He left laughing with a hint of evil ringing through the room.

"Gah...what am I going to do," I said to myself, "Even if I had a way home I can't go back like this..."

"Do not worry, young one," said Splinter putting a hand on my shoulder, "You may stay here as long as you need."

"Orale" I said thinking back to the silly, jerkish rat I once saw in the pilot, "I don't know how to...Thank you. That's a very generous offer."

"We have plenty of room, though, you'll have to excuse my boys. They can be rowdy at times, well, most times really."

Soon after, Splinter called everyone to one place, explaining that he decided to let Casy, who I guess is from the Krangy apocalyptic future, and I stay in the layer until we could get things sorted out. 

Mikey gasped and quickly made his way over to embrace us. "Welcome to the family!" I found myself smiling at the little turtle whose eyes shone. He was super adorable and reminded me of Val.

"Thank you," said Casy, "I'll probably never see the yous I once knew in my time, but I'm glad to know the yous of this time and be accepted."

"I'd also like to thank you," I said, "I know I don't belong here," I took a deep breath. I needed to at least tell them part of what I meant, "The truth is, I'm pretty sure this isn't even my world. I mean, Facebook doesn't exist here! It's a big thing where I'm from. But, until I figure this shit out, I'll have to just roll with it..."

"Yeahs," "Okays," and "Cools" filled the room. Before long, everybody was back to doing their own thing. I honestly thought they'd have more questions right away, or at least Donnie would.