Scenic New York City, a bustling place of activity, the past year has been busy... Mayor Stockman has just begun a new successful term, Stocktech is booming in business and the city is feeling safer after some unfortunate gang runs.

But things are not all well, about half a year ago a mutagenic bomb was detonated and numerous people have become mutants. Stockman has since regulated them to a new ghetto built out of an old section of the city, Mutant Town. All Mutants found in New York are quickly caught by modified industrial robots designed by Stocktech and ferried to the ghetto.

This is a controversial move to say the least but Mayor Stockman assures the people it is for the best.

We begin in the Mutant Town downtown center, and who do we begin with first?

Mutant Town - Flappy - Chirpin' Away

Inside one of the many rundown buildings in Mutant Town, a group of Mutants gathered around a makeshift stage, watching a hummingbird Mutant by the name of Flappy peform live.

Jazz music played from a rusty vinyl player that has seen better days. Because of that, the music occasionally becomes disjointed but it doesn't distract the attendees that much as their focus was on Flappy herself.

She held onto a vintage microphone stand and sung an enchanting melody, using both words and chirps. She moved around the stage frequently, the fringe on her sleek dress flowing gracefully. She danced constantly, with some moves being self-crafted and based on her avian anatomy and others being from her native era, such as the Charleston dance.

The performance lasted for a good hour and when it ended, Flappy bowed down to her audience.

"Thank you y'all for attending! For the next performance, I'll make sure to bring you loads of moonshine!"

The crowd cheered and clapped. A decent amount of them tipped her, which amounted to money, food and other novelty items being thrown onto the stage. Flappy picks up the tips and walks off stage. She heads to the backroom where she places down her gifts and starts working on the moonshine.

As she stirs the ingredients into the mash pot, Flappy began thinking of her plans to escape Mutant Town. She has made several attempts but failed each single one. She couldn't stay in this desolate ghetto any longer. She wanted to be free so badly; to spread her (literal) wings and enjoy a life of careless fun, just like in the time she originated from.

For now, she sighed to herself and kept making moonshine.

Mutant Town - April O'Neil - Breakin' In

Meanwhile, on the other side of downtown Mutant Town, a reporter by the name of April O'Neil has managed to sneak into the ghetto. She found an obscure entrance that was barely guarded and took advantage of it. Upon arriving, she patted herself down to make sure she didn't forget her gun. It's there, rested securely in a hidden holster.

She then pulls out her camera from her backpack and begins recording.

"And here we go," She muttered.

April wanders around the street she ended up in, recording its worn down state.

Ever since she first started working for Channel 6, April has been passionate about her reporting career and has been doing loads of investigating on the side due to her boss's stubbornness and unwilling to let her cover the big news for the most part. She's willing to go Off the Record to uncover the truth. There are three things on her mind:

• Explore Mutant Town and expose it all to see.
• Find her colleague, Kat, who mysteriously disappeared.
• Uncover who the so-called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" are.

As she continues wandering around, April is particularly determined to achieve those goals.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on May 13th 2023 at 9:04:56 AM

Ninja incoming

Mutant Town was pathetically easy to enter.

Frankly, if you asked him, it was also pathetically easy to exit, but then, he was a ninja. He didn't really see it the same way as most people.

The ninja stood atop a roof, watching the hummingbird's performance. He didn't need to, technically. He could've just left her be and continued his scouting. But the same part of his brain that led him to memorize several Broadway songs and belt them at the top of his lungs until his brothers yelled at him because Christ Leo it's not even 8 am kept him rooted to the spot.

She had a nice voice.

Of course, he hadn't come here for concerts. He was on a mission: get some sort of clue as to who had detonated the mutagen bomb. He had no idea how it'd happened; none of them had suspected anything was amiss, riding the high of repeated victories against Stockman and the Purple Dragons. And then next thing they knew, there was a boom and an entire neighborhood had turned into an anthropomorphic circus.

It ain't no Wonderland, though, that's for sure.

How had something like that just slipped through the cracks? Leo had been as vigilant as possible when non-himself-and-his-brothers mutants started popping up, tracking all their bad guys and the mutagen as much as possible to ensure none of it ended up in the wrong hands. Where had he gone wrong? What had happened? Dozens of people had had their lives upended in the blink of an eye and they weren't even able to find the guy who did it did those people hate him they don't know him but you can hate someone you don't know how could any of this have happened he was supposed to be better than this were his brothers judging him for failing they were totally judging him why did nobody—

Leo furiously shook his head. "No," he said to the air. "You're not going to let this bring you down. You are a phenomenal leader and you are going to act like it. It's gonna be fine, Lee. It's gonna be fine."

His paranoia soothed (excuse you, it was perfectly normal and not paranoia), Leo focused back on the show. By now, it was over, and the hummingbird had left, but Leo kept an eye on those leaving regardless. Maybe one of them would know something. Or go somewhere.

Because seriously, six months with this guy evading capture was just embarrassing.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on May 13th 2023 at 9:50:39 AM

'Katarina, Downtown Center — Black Cat Cross Your Path

Katarina was not happy. She was never happy. Ever since that day, she didn't have anything to be happy about. She was trapped in a place she didn't want to be with a body she didn't want. Stuck at a rundown little news outlet with no prestige and stranded with freaks and weirdos. If she wasn't one herself, she'd swear it was something out of Cronenberg. She'd made several attempts to escape, but each one had ended in failure. It was enough to break most people's spirits. Some of her fellow citizens had given up, accepting their fate. She wasn't so easily broken, but she was starting to wonder if they had a point.

But today was especially miserable. She'd spent most of the last month investigating Stockman, but today she was covering fluff. It wasn't the first time. She respected her boss and their commitment, but they had to pay the bills somehow. If nothing else, it helped take the heat off too. They technically had freedom of speech, but they didn't want Stockman's goons sticking their noses in. Though it didn't make her less frustrated.

She sat at the back of Flappy's bar, sipping her drink and checking her watch in-between. It was a lovely song, but she had places to be. She was tempted to leave with the crowd, but something made her stay. Part of it was her job. If she snagged an interview, that could put her in her boss' good graces. But she was drawn to the bird. She didn't know if it was hunger or genuine interest, but once she got up, she found herself walking towards her. She rolled eyes, tapping on the door to the backroom.

"Hello? Miss Flappybird? Katarina Kato from Mutant News, at your service. I hate to be a bother, but I was hoping you could divulge some juicy details about this so-called establishment?"

Donatello knew that Leonardo was going to do something foolhardy like this. Splinter had told the turtles not to get involved in Mutant Town until they had more information on what was going on. Evidently, someone had decided to take matters into his own hands.

Being nominally the responsible one of the four brothers, Donnie felt that he had to be the one to bring Leo back. So against his better judgement, he stealthily followed his older brother to Mutant Town.

He made care to not be seen, dodging any of the highly visible cameras. Stockman's propaganda had made Mutant Town's surveillance to be omniscient, so it was a relief to see bulky, inefficient pieces of junk keeping a watch on the mutant populace. All the easier to duck out of sight, especially for a highly trained ninja such as himself and his brothers.

Creeping up on the roof, he noticed the distinctive shell of his brother, looking over the edge of the roof on the other side. Donnie crept over to his brother, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leo, what are you doing?" he asked quietly. "Master Splinter told us not to come here. We should get back to the lair."

Leo

Argh. No one had done anything worth following them for. Maybe he should try his luck elsewhere? Figure out who ran this place. Whoever it was, they might answer to the guy who set the bomb off, and once they found the guy who set the bomb off...well, as much as Leo prided himself on his plans (and as jealous as he knew Raph was of his planning ability) he wasn't entirely sure what to do there. Eh. He had time to figure something out—

"GAH!" Leo shrieked when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. He whirled around, hand already halfway to his swords before he registered who it was. "Wh— Donnie! Don't do that! I almost had a heart attack! Jeez!"

At Donnie's words, Leo's lips pressed into a thin line. "This is about us needing to be patient, isn't it? Well, we've been patient. Spent six months waiting for clues to present themselves! And where has that gotten us?"

He gestured to the whole of Mutant Town. "Innocent people have been stuffed into a ghetto by the resident mad scientist. We are no closer to finding out who set the bomb off. And if we keep waiting, the situation is bound to get worse and after six months of this you can see why I'm a little impatient!"

He huffed, dropping onto one knee to continue watching. "As leader, I have to make the important decisions," he continued. "And my executive decision is that the time for waiting is over and we really need to properly investigate. And that trail starts here, in Mutant Town."

There was a pause.

"And I did this alone, didn't even order any of you guys to come along, you could at least be grateful for that."

Flappy's Performance

Art Shaver sighs to himself as he nurses a drink with his left hand. Most people would think he had a back problem or something with the way he was leaning to the right, but he ignores his ginormous claw arm and readjusts himself periodically. Work was as dull and drab as ever, and being here helped him take his mind off everything. His antennae waver as he takes another sip, and listens to Flappy's music. It's soothing and a balm, but it can't last, as Flappy leaves to make moonshine. He sighs, and stands up. Unlike most of the other Mutants, he didn't bother trying to escape. It would just be a waste of energy. There's nobody to go back to, anyway.

The bomb was a bit of concern, but maybe he couldn't have interfered anyway. He shrugs and downs the drink, asking for another. Perhaps he could stop by the groceries and pick up some food later. He was running low on vegetables.

Edited by Jules-Firenze on May 13th 2023 at 10:08:25 PM

Mutant Town - Flappy - Interview, already, huh

Flappy was in the middle of brewing some moonshine when a feline lady approached her and asked her a question. She was caught off guard as she wasn't expecting the woman, let alone someone who was apparently a news reporter, but she was willing to answer her question.

"Oh! Hello, there!" Flappy greeted. "So, about this building, I don't think it has a crazy story, so apologies for that. I got it when I was a couple weeks in this Town and had failed to escape said Town a few times. It was abandoned to begin with and as there seems to be little to no law about buying property here, it was essentially free. Since I figured I would be stuck in Mutant Town for a good while, I decided to go some performances on the side and I needed a building to do so. I claimed that building as my own and did some renovations to the best of my ability and now you're standing within its current form!"

Donnie put a finger to his lips, looking around and making sure the two of them weren't being listened in on. When the coast seemed to be clear, Donnie sighed and shook his head. He had figured that Leo wouldn't listen to him. Time for plan B. When you can't beat them, join them.

"You're right, you didn't order us to come along, but the fact that you did this alone is the reason I came in the first place," explained Donatello. "I know this is frustrating. I know we still don't have a clue what caused that mutagen bomb. But charging in by yourself to do some impromptu investigation is only going to get yourself caught without backup." He dug into the satchel full of tech that he kept on his person, pulling out a couple pairs of high-tech goggles. They looked almost like VR headsets crossed with old-fashioned binoculars, with a thrown-together appearance. There was a limit to how much you could make a piece of tech look presentable when you lived in a sewer and when you were working on a time limit.

"So... I figured that I'd cobble together something to help. It's a visual analyzer, it has night-vision capabilities, infrared, has a zoom function... if the two of us are going to find clues in this place, it might be of some assistance. What do you think, Leo?" he asked, handing one of the two pairs to Leonardo.

Edited by AllHailThrall on May 14th 2023 at 6:53:01 AM

Katarina — Flappy's Bar

"Shh! Not so loud you feathered-brained simpleton!"

Katarina didn't have anything against escaping. She'd made several attempts herself, but it wasn't something you talked about. If Stockman or his goons got wind of it, there'd be hell to pay. She glanced around, honing her ears and checking for scents. If anyone was sneaking around, she'd know.

"Apologies, but you never know who's watching. The last thing we want is to get carted off to Shawshank Redemption. I can't say they'll go that far, but I've heard enough litanies of woe to get the picture."

She pulled out a pen, jotting down notes in her journal. It was legible, but her stubby fingers made it easier said than done. She grumbled and cursed, fumbling about, squeezing her pen tight. She'd crush it if she wasn't careful, but she couldn't care less.

"Blasted things! I could cover my hands in ducktape and it'd make the same difference. If I ever learn who's to blame, I'll string them up and turn them into swiss cheese. Not the most cordial approach, but it's all these hairy sausages are good for."

Leo

Leo's eyes widened to dinner platter size at the sight of the goggles. He carefully picked up the pair he was offered, studying them. There was a particularly long pause...

...and then he grinned, throwing his arm around Donnie's shoulders. "Donnie, you're a genius and a scholar, these are brilliant!" He eagerly pulled them on, looking out over Mutant Town. "Alright, you put yours on and tell me if you see anything!"

"Oi!" a voice called out.

Looking up April would see what looked to be an older police officer... who had been mutated into some form of Scottish terrier.

"Lass the hell are you doing here?!"

He looked around quickly before crouching down. "Don't ya know that Mutants here don't take kindly to non-mutants? Yer liable ta just piss em off! Quick, falla me and we cann fix tha'!"

He darted for a small building, making sure nobody else was around.

Donatello smiled, accepting Leo's arm around his shoulder.

"No prob, Leo," he responded. "Now, let's see what we've got here," he muttered under his breath, pulling his goggles over his eyes and looking down over the rooftop with Leonardo, still trying to stay out of sight.

Five pounds of soap base, a full sack of flour, one pack of oranges...

The backpack was heavy, but as the Nightingale picked her way through the backstreets she was pretty sure that the haul from a good night's heist would probably weigh more so it was good to get comfortable with how it felt.

A bottle of gin (the good stuff), a couple sample MREs from the surplus store to see which to bring more of next time...

There it was, the smallest segment of fence that divided New York from Mutant Town. Oh sure, officially this was just a special district for purposes of gauging the impact of the disaster at... The Nightingale knew all that but also knew what this place really was. And here she was, about to sneak in.

So much toilet paper...

Goggles, down. Hood, up. Scarf, pulled up to cover the lower half of her face. With her preparations done, she looked the part of a true rogue... Well, a rogue that wore goggles and a backpack stuffed with supplies. The following climb was pretty easy, the buildings on either side of the alley were brick and mortar, easily clambered up with the proper gloves on and then she crested the top of the fence and dropped down on the other side. There was that rush, that little thrill that kept her going, now that she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be on a task that she wasn't supposed to be doing...

She'd probably be pretty well-hidden if there wasn't a couple tech-assisted ninja on the rooftop just above where she hopped the fence.

As Nightingale snuck in, a Watcher flew by, just narrowly missing her. Attached to it was a TV screen of sorts, depicting the face of Doctor Mayor Baxter Stockman, from the way he talked it was a prerecorded reminder.

"Attention all citizens of Mutant Town! Curfew is now in effect, we here in office and our wonderful friends at Stocktech are still hard at work looking for a cure for your condition! Do not worry, this is merely temporary and I am working diligently!"

Watchers like this ran frequently throughout the ghetto, ostensibly to keep an eye on the citizens but more to keep intruders out.

Leo

Looking through the goggles, he spotted movement in the corner of his eye and his head swiveled to look towards it—and then he stared. "What the...heck is that?" he muttered. "Are they supposed to be some kind of...vigilante?"

That's our thing, dangit!

The sight of something else, however, swiftly grabbed his attention. The sight of...

"Oh— pistachio, hide!" Leo swiftly slid behind one of those giant fan-vent-thingies, out of sight of the Watcher. If they got captured and had to be rescued Raph would never let him hear the end of it.

Katarina

This wasn't good. Katarina didn't give a rat's ass about curfew, but she didn't want to be caught. For the remaining patrons, it might have been hard to hear through the walls, but her large ears worked wonders. She peeked out the windows, waiting for the Watcher to move long. The coast was clear, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"Forgive me, but we'll have to cut this short. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have Big Brother on my case. God forbid we're up and about past sundown..."

She crept out the door. She wasn't the smartest kitty cat, but she should have seen this coming. She'd been keeping tabs on Stockman and his cronies, performing stakeouts and taking notes. She should have remembered a bloody curfew. She would have asked Flappy if she could stay, but she didn't want to leave her apartment for too long. Too many secrets.

She slunk along the city streets, blending in with the shadows, hugging the buildings as she crawled along. She hated her dark silky fur, but it had its uses. She hoped it was enough, but she wasn't a master of stealth.

Edited by kkhohoho on May 20th 2023 at 9:29:57 AM

Street of Mutant Town

Gary Dibbler adjusted the cone-shaped mask over his face that he was convinced made him look like a humanoid rat. Given the fact that his food truck was also his place of residence, he wasn't worried about curfew. Instead, the Dibbler-Wagon was parked on what Dibbler felt was a likely side street, the side of the truck facing the sidewalk open to reveal Gary Dibbler behind the counter of his food truck. A chalkboard proudly reads

Today's Specials: Cabbage Soup, Deep Fried Cabbage, Cabbage Slaw, Cabbage-Pizza, Cabbage-Cola, and Chou Farci

Seeing a passer-by scutlling in the shadows, Gary quickly dips a ladle into a large pot of cabbage soup and pours it into a styrofoam bowl. "Hello there, friend... cold night today, some of my cabbage soup will get you warmed up a treat. Tell you what, I'll only charge you half price and that's practically garroting my own throat..."

Edited by Nodrog on May 21st 2023 at 10:45:31 AM

Diana Waiting for a job.

On an abandoned sewer there is a very well hiden makeshift home/laboratory, one where numerous unethical and certainly illegal experiments with the ooze were perfomed and their best mutant coming from this den is currently twirling her guns bored out of her mind.

Her dad Hoid was always an occupied man if it isnt experiments or shady deals is getting new materials, thats why today she has the place all for herself.

Looking at her phone to see if any of her usual clients sent her a job request. No luck, seems today she was gonna watch TV to not die of boredom.

Donatello tutted slightly and shook his head, noting the irony of Leonardo shaming a vigilante when, technically speaking, all four of them were the exact same thing.

"I see we're not the only ones to have decided to sneak in here," Donnie quietly responded. As soon as the Watcher flew by, Donnie instinctively backed away from the edge, ducking silently behind a part of the building protruding from the roof.

As it flew by, Donnie furrowed his brow, then ducked over to get a look at Leonardo, awaiting further instructions silently.

The rougish figure pressed herself up against a building as the robotic screen drone thing flew past her, though with how that pushed her bag into her back it was just a little ill-advised as a move.

"Blimey..."

This was definitely going to be harder than expected. Taking a moment to peel herself off the wall and make sure her cargo was safe she crouched down (not that it'd actually make her that much less visible to the eyes of machines and those using machines) and started trying to navigate between the buildings as though she actually knew anything about the layout of this place.

Katarina

Katarina wanted to get home, but she was feeling hungry. She'd always been a big eater, but her mutation made it worse. She wished she had a chance to eat breakfast. She looked around, skittering towards the cart, fuzzy tummy hugging the streets.

She stood back up, taking a better look at the hobo's setup. She could scarcely believe her eyes. Mutant Town never had the best conditions, but she didn't think anyone could be so tasteless.

"No offense, but is this supposed to be a vendor or a poor man's street carnival? If the ninnys in charge saw this god forsaken contraption, they'd have this place condemned."

She noticed his mask. She couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, but that is rich." She slowly pulled it back, letting in hang in place. "I don't know what in the world you're supposed to be, but I'd prefer you didn't answer. The possibilities are far more amusing. Did you make it yourself or pull it from the stinking gutter?"

Art heard the Watcher's announcement as it flew through the night sky. He didn't care about the mayor, but of course, crossing him meant trouble. Trouble, now, means staying out past curfew and being caught. He downs his last drink and places it down, along with a $10 bill. He pulls on his over—sized coat and walks out with a little annoyed snip noise from his claw. He is none the wiser to the three vigilantes high above him.

Ugly Groceries was on the way, so Art went in, coming out a few minutes later with fresh groceries. He walks home, carrying out the bags in his claw. "Guess it's my unlucky day." he grumbles, before coming across the cart of Gary Dibbler. An unusual man, but he seems useful. Perhaps he could have more of the spicy cabbage that he sells. Not a bad taste. Lost in thought as he approached, he slung his groceries on one shoulder and approached the stall, noticing a black cat mutant lady talking to him.

He wasn't exactly sneaky, but he was quiet enough for both parties to be unlikely to notice him until he suddenly says in response to Katarina's comment about Dibbler's stall, "Easy set-up. There isn't a lot to use here." Without changing his neutral expression, he raises his hand in greeting. "Good evening, Dibbler. As to you, Ms." he gives a curt nod.

Edited by Jules-Firenze on May 22nd 2023 at 11:11:54 PM

Leo

Why yes, Leo had heard that little tut of disapproval, and fixed Donnie with a flat stare in response. "No, I am not a hypocrite, it's just that that person is stealing our thing. We're the vigilantes here."

Whatever the case, with the danger having passed (for the most part), Leo thought for a moment, then headed to the building's edge. "If they can get into Mutant Town without being caught immediately, they might know something. Come on." And with that, he started climbing down into the alley, heading for the weird vigilante.

Dibler Wagon

Gary Dibbler yelped in surprise as Katarina reached out, grabbing his halloween mask facial prosthetic and tugged at it, pulling at the elastic cord holding the false nose in place. As soon as the woman let go of it, Gary hastily pulled the costume piece back into place and used a pot hanging from the food truck's wall is a mirror. "Lady, are'ya crazy?" he demands. "I'm a legitimate business rodent, I gotta guy who made that fer me...". Once convinced his outfit was back in place he glared at Katerina, while trying to stay out of her arm reach while remaining inside his customized food truck.

"Pleasure to see you, Mr. Shaver!" Dibbler said, nodding to the pistol shrimp mutant. "Would you like your usual bowl of cabbage gumbo?". Dibbler's hands moved quickly, dumping a spoonful of spice powder into the bowl of cabbage scoop and then using tongs to drop several other ingredients into the bowl.

Edited by Nodrog on May 22nd 2023 at 12:15:36 PM