The Turtle Charm

The Biggest Teddy Bear

I found a charming little turtle plush before Lisa got Raph and I started on the filling process, reminding me a great deal of a certain shop from my own world. At some point, a Karen made herself known when another store worker refused to sell her a display teddy of a popular character just because the store was out of its skins. Lisa went to assist her coworker just as the "I want to see your manager!" line dropped.

During this, Raph kept glancing in that direction. "Hey, you okay, Big Guy?" I asked.

"Oh, I um...I'm fine...It's just...Lisa's not the best under pressure...The first time I met her, she lost her cloaking brooch and was hiding in the storage room..."

"Don't tell me..."

"She's a yokai. A salamander yokai, actually..."

"A salamander yokai named Lisa...who looks a lot like the Mona Lisa!" Excitement bubbled within me from the realization of why she looked so familiar. Plus it gave me hope to see one of my ships sail in this universe. "Wait, though. Cloaking brooches transform the wearer into how they see themselves as a human. So, that means she sees herself in the likeness of the famous painted lady?"

"You know, she did mention that her parents named her after it. I guess knowing that made her see herself that way."

I turned my head to look at the turtle plush I was filling. "I kind of get it," I said, "You know, my brother and I really love the heck out of turtles. They're everywhere in our house, from the plushies we own to the custom packaging we use for our chile. And it's all because that's literally our last name." It even brought us to like the TMNT cartoons as kids.

Raph smiled and said, "I get it too. Me and my brothers grew up watching Lu Jitsu movies, so we really like martial. Our dad is literally the man himself."

"Splinter's a movie star?"

"Oh yeah, he spent years in Hollywood."

Thinking of the personalities of these turtles and comparing them to Splinter as a man and rat made me think, "Huh...that might explain a lot..."

Then a scream broke out. We turned to see the Karen pulling at Lisa's brooch. Raph moved quickly, moving between the woman and Lisa as the brooch tore away from her shirt and she started reverting to her yokai form. I moved to take off the trench coat and put it over her before the crowd saw it.

"Did you all see that!" said the woman, "He hit me!"

"I saw everything," I said I said coming forward, "And he didn't hit you. But you did attack this poor girl and took her brooch. If you give it back, apologise to her and her coworker, and leave in peace, I'm sure we could forget about this whole thing."

"Of course you'd vouch for him! I saw you two talking. You're friends! What in the world are you wearing anyway. Are you one of those...cosplayers?" she cringed as she said the word, "What are you even supposed to be?"

I had almost forgotten that I was just in my spandex suit...Reaching through my mind, I came up with the reply. "Oh, this...Yes I am a cosplayer. The suit's in beta, but when I'm finished with it, it's going to have two big Ts on the front for...Turtle Titaness! Bitten by a radioactive snapper, she took an oath to protect..."

"I don't care about you're 'Turtle Titaness' character. Teenagers these days...you should just grow up already and leave dress up to the kiddies. In fact, you shouldn't even be in here, a store for kids!"

"Please, Teddy Bear Town is for everyone ma'am," said Raph, "I mean, look at these! Who could resist all this cuteness!"

"I'm going to call the police," said the woman, "And tell them some big mean nigger and a boarder hopping Mexican is harassing me, if I don't get what I came here for." The surrounding group gasped.

I felt myself stiffin up, angry. It felt like my body wanted to morph, but I couldn't let myself, so I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth trying to hold myself together. Then I felt a large, warm hand on my shoulder and I looked to Raph who gave me a warm smile. He put his other hand on his stomach and took a deep breath. I followed suit and felt a little calmer.

"For the record, Tina is from New Mexico, which is a U.S. state in the Southwest," said Raph.

"And Raph here is the biggest teddy bear you'll ever meet," I said.

"Get out of our store," said Lisa's coworker to the woman, "We don't do business with people who use offensive language."

"You can't prove anything!" The coworker then pointed up to a store camera and the Karen's eyes went large then she scowled and threw the brooch, saying, "Then I'll take my business else where!"

Lisa retrieved her brooch and I accompanied her to the bathroom where alone I let out a sigh and morphed into the big guy's form. I felt a tap on my arm and Lisa handed me back the trench coat saying, "Thank you. You really are friends with Raph with the way you two stood up for one another. I'm glad for that."

I smiled at the short salamander girl. "I guess we are friends," I said, "And you know, I'm always open for more if you ever want to hang out."

After getting Lisa's number, demorphing, and finishing up our plushies, I thanked Raph for his help as we headed tword Hueso's.

"No problem," he said, "I understand what it is like to try to manage you're anger."

"So you do get angry?"

"Well, yeah. Like when I'm panicking or frustrated or...really all the time...I want to just sometimes smash the little things, but I can't. I'm the big brother, so I have to show my best sides for the sake of my little bros."

"I get you," I said, "You really are a big teddy bear." At that moment, The shell, I wore glowed red, and like with the purple energy from before, it turned into a small gemstone, a ruby, and attached itself to the emerald.

"Huh. Did I just have some character development?" I said, "Wait, am I even going to need leatherlined jackets anymore?"