"In all life there is balance, the woman I wanted was taken from me by your master, and now you stand between me and the power I want, but I will not make the same mistake twice."
"In all life there is balance, and you are a force of unnatural evil always to be faced by the Turtles, as forces of unnatural good."
On cue the turtles arrived at the platform. This time it was Saki who was surrounded.
"Us?" said Leonardo. "Unnatural?"
"Take a good look at most humans!" said Raphael.
"That's where all the totally weird concepts come from," agreed Donatello.
"So your flippant little cavalry has arrived.Too bad they're too late."
"Too late?" said the rat.
"To save Central Park." Shredder indicated the vat containing the defoliant. He turned a lever and the vat began to empty through a series of pipes, through one master cock. Galatea was dismayed, she had only shut off a couple of pipes. She leapt from her position down into the vat. The force of her fall knocked the vat over and it emptied itself into the sewer canal. Splinter and the turtles were distracted by this, and Shredder took the opportunity to dive off the opposite side of the platform. It was a jump of hundreds of meters. He dissappeared into the blackness.
Never sure if it was because it could have meant missing an opportunity at vengance, Raphael screamed "No!" and leapt after Shredder. He managed to stop himself from going over the edge at the very last second, as he realised it was a very long way down. On the other side, Galatea was lying very still. From one direction, April and Casey are running to help her, from the other, it was the turtles.
***
It was morning and Galatea's little house was crowded with Turtles, April, Casey and Splinter. Breakfast was being made and Galatea's home-made healing ointment was being passed around.
Raphael smeared the ointment onto himself. "Marjoram and Comfrey ointment for the bruises, thyme for the cuts..."
"A little tea, perhaps?" said Splinter, offering a cup to Galatea.
Raphael sniffed it. "Ginseng with Origanum marjorana," he said as he passed the cup on to Galatea.
"This gives me a certain feeling of deja-vu," she said, sipping the tea.
"Well, as long as you're feeling better," shrugged Raphael.
"Rise and shine," said Michelangelo happily, "breakfast is served." He deposited an armload of pizzas onto the table.
"You're not having pizza for breakfast?!" said Galatea.
"Of course!" said Leonardo.
"What else?" said Raphael.
"We don't always have pizza for breakfast," Donatello told her.
"But it's been kind of a long time since dinner," said Leonardo. "We needed something...you know..."
"Couldn't I have something normal?Like oatmeal?"
"Oatmeal's no good on pizza, Galatea..." Leonardo told her seriously.
Donatello nodded agreement. "The milk runs off the edge and it makes the crust all soggy."
April laughed at the expression on Galatea's face. She wasn't sure whether to take Donatello seriously. "Raphael tells me you've been teaching him how to rescue birds and animals that have been trapped in oil spills and hurt by other forms of rubbish and pollution."
"It's a worthwhile task, though few choose to help."
Leonardo wiped his mouth. "Yeah, and you're going to need all the help you can get with what's out there." He jerked his head in the direction of the rumbling surf.
"But Central Park is safe," said Galatea. "I remember emptying the vat."
"You emptied it into the sewer," said April. "That stuff is in the sea."
A look of utter horror overcame Galatea. "How could I do that?My teacher, my friends...I've created a worse mess than Shredder would have."
"We can help you start to clean it up," Raphael offered.
"I've got a better idea," said April. "Galatea, how about going ahead with that interview I asked you about the other day? I think it would get your message across to thousands of people all over the city.You'll have more help than you've ever dreamt of."
"I suppose at this stage anything's worth a try," said Galatea, though she still looked quite ill.
"By the way," said April, "what happened to the little guy?"
"What little guy?" said Leonardo.
"The one that was with Shredder. Made me put my hands on the keyboard."
Everyone looked blankly at her.
"Casey.you saw him, he was with Senator Dolittle at the press conference."
"Oh, that little guy." Casey nodded. "Yeah, I saw him."
"Where?"
He shrugged. "At the press conference with Dolittle."
"Casey?"
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you go drive a long train off a short pier?"
Later that day, Galatea and the Turtles and Splinter walked along the shore. It was oily with defoliant. They carried boxes into which they had already loaded too many goo-soaked birds and animals. Splinter looked sadly at the dying bird in the box he was carrying. "Care of all this damaged land is a great burden, but you will find your load lightened when help comes. April's news will be going to air in an hour."
Leonardo tried to sound cheerful. "Yeah, then you'll have all these volunteers on the beach."
"Oh, great," grumbled Raphael, "a bunch of dumb defoliated humans to clean up as well."
"And when they come, we go," Donatello added.
"Won't you stay and help?"
"Lots of humans around the place tend to make us feel a little uncomfortable," said Leonardo.
"Hot under the shell," Michelangelo added.
Raphael kicked at the sand as he trudged along. "Maybe I could come back and see you when things quiet down though."
"Whoah! Amigo," Michelangelo roared. "What was that???!!!"
Galatea ignored him. "I'd really like that."
Michelangelo put his hands over his ears. "Hey, do the rest of you guys feel like you're intruding here?"
Raphael thumped him. "Look, Galatea happens to be my friend. Is that ok with you, or do I need special permission?"
Michelangelo shrugged innocently. "What? I didn't say anything.You didn't hear me say anything, did you, guys?"
"Break it up, you two," muttered Leonardo.
"I'm just saying I didn't say anything."
"Michelangelo, if you spent less time telling us what you didn't say, and more time not saying it, you'd save yourself a lot of breath."
"Let's get these birds
back to the house," said Donatello. "We've got time to clean them up before
April's news goes to air."
***
It was late and the first curious sightseers were arriving on the beach. Galatea stood by the entrance to the sewer watching Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello pick up their skateboards. They shoved and buffeted each other, showing off in front of her. "Hey, will you let me go first this time?" said Donatello, "I've got something I want to try." From his pack, Donatello produced a little torch for the head, like cave divers wear.
"The Acme turtle torch," said Leonardo grabbing at it. "Can I try it?"
"I made it, said Donatello swatting at him. "I get first go."
"C'mon you guys," Michelangelo urged.
Splinter watched the group. "Surely you are not worried by the humans, Michelangelo?" he teased.
"Nah. I just think it's time to go home and do a little serious eating.G'bye, Galatea."
Leonardo paused before following him. "Yeah, anytime you're in the sewer, just drop by."
"See ya, Galatea," grinned Donatello.
"G'bye, guys." She waved at them.
Splinter bowed to her. "The longest journey is made shorter when it is shared."
"Take care, Splinter."
The rat indicated the beach where onlookers had arrived in droves and were scooping injured, oil soaked birds and animals from the mess. When she turned back to the sewer entrance he was gone. Only Raphael remained. "Uh, Galatea, thanks for taking care of me. You know, there aren't a lot of humans we mutants can trust. I really appreciated it that you just took me for who I am."
"Raphael, between surf
and sewer I have found many strange and wonderful things washed up, but
of them all, you are surely the most wonderful." She wrapped her arms around
him and hugged. Then turned and went back down the filthy beach where a
crowd of helpers awaited her. As she walked she heard a single sound from
the dim depths of the sewer mouth; a distant, joyous cry booming through
the tunnels: "COWABUNGA!"
I hope you liked this
story. If you'd like to talk to me about this or the Turtles in general,
I'd love to hear from you.
*:)
amanda