TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES:

"THE DREGGS OF SOCIETY"

WRITTEN BY ZARIUS

NOTE: This takes place after "Turtles Forever" and is book seven of a ten-book series. The other books in the series include: "So Long, No Thanks For All The Fish", "My Seer, My Secretary", "Raphael Counts 'Em All", "The Lotus and The Sun", "Mutants and Miracles", and "The Flies That Came To Dinner"

The events of the fifth book, "Mutants and Miracles", and "The Flies That Came To Dinner", are VITAL to understanding some of the developments that occur in this and future books in the series, so be sure to read it before continuing. Thank you.

-Zarius

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are trademarked by Nickelodeon. Character from the 1987 TMNT animated series are trademarked by Fred Wolf. All original characters are mine.

CHAPTER ONE

The busy New York streets got even busier with the emergence of several citizens from the local movie theatre.

Having indulged in escapist fantasy for two and a half hours, they were now on their way to visiting families or to indulge in the busy task of shopping or, in the case of younger audiences, going to the park to play and let off some of that pent-up energy, doing everything they could to prolong their Saturday afternoon, the best possible day of the seven spent on this Earth

Also coming out of the theatre were two people locked in a slightly critically-charged back-and-forth about the merits of the movie. A male and a female belonging to two entirely different species. Both were sporting baseball caps, slack jeans and sports jackets of different colours. Hers was brown with yellow streaks, his was white with blue lines around the side.

One was a certified geek and a martial arts master, one was a member of the mass media. Both had indulged in the fantastic within the context of reality, and both had a measuring stick for what passes for a good bit of fun.

They were best friends of several years. The geek met her when he was a teenager, now he was old enough to be more than a friend to her. She was someone who fought against her feelings for the longest time, but eventually let her heart dictate her course of action over her head .

They now did everything every loving couple did. Date. Desire.

And in this case debate

They were April O'Neil of Channel Six and Michelangelo of the group once known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Oddly enough, despite now being in their twenties, parts of the world still had a strange habit of calling them Teenagers.

"What do you mean there's a flippancy to these movies?" April asked, clutching her boyfriend's hand as they walked through the heavy traffic held up by the lights.

"I'm not saying flippancy is a bad sort of vibe for a film, it's just I've watched these Marvel movies one after the other and outside of small stuff that qualifies as 'heavy', there's nothing consistently dark or brooding in them" Michelangelo replied.

"Oh here we go again with the 'every comic book movie needs to be dark' routine" April replied

"Not dark ALL the time, just a little variety now and then" Michelangelo added, "They've done the same movies five times now to the point this is all becoming formula. I'll be the first person to say I don't go to these movies to think, but it wouldn't be at all a bad thing if they took their world as seriously as we do"

"Why should comics have to reflect the real world?" April asked, "In our line of work, the real world isn't remotely represented in any way at all"

"Reality bites April, it's what causes everyone's tensions to rise, keeps us on the edge of our seats, and it makes us hungry for more. The day I went and saw the Silver Sentry Rises, I came out pining for a blackberry and pork Pizza"

"Can't have any meat to a story without the actual meat can you?" April remarked. "You feeling peckish right now?"

"Wow, you really are coming out of this movie knowing what's on my mind" Michelangelo replied. April gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

Suddenly, April's phone went off, she paused to take the call. It was her editor, Burne Thompson, reminding her that it was a slow news day and to try to sniff out a story for the ten o'clock bulletins. April was slightly annoyed given it wasn't even a working weekend for her, but it was clear Burne was desperate for information in the area.

As she took the call, Michelangelo began to notice something peculiar.

"I think I've stayed green far longer than those traffic lights" he said, as they had not stopped being red for what seemed like five minutes.

Drivers were getting impatient, and began to honk and holler for the lights to change. Two people even got out of their cars. When they did so, Michelangelo assumed they were just going to check out what was causing the hold-up.

He soon got an altogether different impression when he saw the two approaching the back of a lorry. One of the shady looking gentlemen took out a crowbar stashed within his jacket and began using it to crank open the doors, they then scampered inside. They came out carrying two boxes.

"Hey" Michelangelo cried out. The two men looked at him, turned to each other, nodded, and split into two directions.

Michelangelo had to decide which one to follow, he opted to go for the one heading east.

April, seeing what was unfolding, quickly wrapped up her call to Burne.

"Hang in there Mr. Thompson, there may be something about to break" April said, and ran after her boyfriend.

Michelangelo pursued his target through the cluttered streets, the man, slowed down by the weight of the box's contents, desperately sought to elude his pursuer and, in a panic, headed into a nearby alleyway.

Michelangelo, knowing he had cornered his quarry, dug into his pocket and took out the device containing his grappling hook, he aimed it at the fleeing thief's legs and launched it. The grappling hook neatly wrapped around the thief's legs, and he was immediately felled. As he collapsed, he dropped the box, which split open and spilled its contents onto the ground.

April caught up with Michelangelo and, taking out a small camera, she took some quick snapshots of the action. Michelangelo walked over to the groggy criminal and looked at his goods, a selection of rectangular patches with small orbs embedded in the middle.

"What about his buddy?" April said, asking about the other thief that had made his getaway

"Yeah, I guess sometimes that's what happens when only one of the lean and green team gets enthusiastic about the movies, otherwise we'd have taken care of both of them" Michelangelo replied.

He picked up one of the patches and inspected it, while April observed the initials on the box, reading the initials E-D-X.

"...No way" she said, "I was sure they'd been banned from distribution...whatever are they doing on the street?"

She spotted what Michelangelo was doing, and quickly panicked

"Honey, be careful, I've heard all sorts of weird stories about them, they leave you with some kind of mental scar"

"A head trip huh? Well I'm no stranger to dreams throwing me a curve-ball, and I really want to know why those guys are after" Michelangelo said

April put her hand in his and clasped it, "You don't have to play a hero Turtle all the time, I'm already impressed, trust me on this ok?" April said.

Michelangelo nodded, "Oh, alright"

"Good" she said, kissing Michelangelo on the forehead and taking the device, "Now, you head back to the lair, I've got to cover the cops apprehending this loser and start working on some leads back at Channel 6, I've got a feeling the resurfacing of EDX is going to create big waves in the underground market, and we've got to make sure the big sale only makes the tiniest drip instead of a massive splash" she continued

Michelangelo kissed her goodbye and wondered off, as he did so, his mind began to drift. Unbeknownst to April, Michelangelo had already pressed down on the patch, and it was having an effect on him.

"Woah, I feel like I've been flattened by a kitchen roller, just call me the Pillsbury Dough-turtle" Michelangelo said to himself. He looked at his hands. In physical reality he remained the same, but in his mind, he saw something else.

Human flesh, human fingers, human thumbs.

Michelangelo knew this wasn't real, but his mind insisted he believe it. To believe he was in another place at all times, even when he was browsing through the Bronx, homeward bound.

And somewhere in the back of his psyche, tucked beneath the portions of his mind that welcomed this sensation of a double life experience, something was slowly being born.

Or, in this instance...reborn