Nickelodeon Publishing - Ninja Power

Adapted by
David Lewman

2018 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman

eISBN 978-1-68107-802-1

A pril ONeil here! Ive lived in New York City for all sixteen years of my life, and Ive seen some amazing things.

Including four brothers who happen to be talking turtles.

I met them five years ago when they were sneaking around the basketball court on the roof of my apartment building. We became friends. Really good friends. Theyre like big brothers to me.

Except, you know, theyre turtles.

Raphael is the biggest, oldest brother. We all call him Raph. They tell me hes a snapping turtle, but Ive never seen him snap. Because hes the biggest and the oldest, hes the leader. But when youre fifteen, its tough getting your brothers to follow you.

Leonardos fourteen, and hes supposed to be the kind of turtle called a red-eared slider. Leos really funny and cool. He makes me laugh all the time. Hes also incredibly quick when he goes into fighting mode.

Donatellos also fourteen. Hes a soft-shelled turtle, so he wears these amazing battle shells that he makes himself. He can make pretty much anything. Donnies supersmart.

At thirteen, Michelangelos the youngest brother. They say Mikeys a box turtle, but he doesnt seem very boxy to me. Hes incredibly enthusiastic about all kinds of things, like break dancing, skateboarding, graffiti art, music, and basically running around being wild. Hes really fun!

They all are! Along with their dad, Master Splinter, the Turtles were the weirdest things Id ever seen in New York. Until we met Mayhem and found the Hidden City

Listen up and Ill tell you about how we met Mayhem, why I named him that, and how he became my pet. Most of what happened I was there for, and the rest the guys filled me in on.

Raph was the one who first spotted the strange little animal wandering around a construction site. When we got closer, we saw how odd the creature looked. He had a long tail, big pointy ears, huge eyes, and a couple of long teeth sticking out of his mouth. We couldnt tell whether he was a dog or a cat. Or something completely different!

Raph started talking to him like he was talking to a baby. Hey, little guy, he cooed. Whatcha doing here? Come to big Raphie. Hell make everything okay!

His brothers just stared at him.

What? Raph asked. Pets love me. I am one with the animals!

But the animal jumped into MY arms! He licked MY face! I loved it!

He looks so weird, Mikey said. What is he?

A dog? A cat? Leo said. A rainbow weasel? Just made that up.

Donnie spotted a glowing pink vial on the animals collar. Maybe hes some kind of nuclear Saint Bernard.

Before we could decide what he was, two dudes in jogging suits ran into the construction site. This was not cool. The Turtles cant let people see them, or else they might end up being dissected in some lab.

Humans! Raph hissed. Plan H!

Leo spoke to the joggers in a super-nerdy voice. Excuse me, sirs. Can you direct us to the local science fiction convention that we are dressed for?

Snazzy alien-turtle outfits, huh? Mikey said in his own version of a super-nerdy voice.

Yep, Donnie chimed in. Were just typical, normal humans who got lost in the middle of our normal, everyday human lives. Nailed it.

Dude, Leo whispered to Donnie nervously, you gotta make it to rehearsal.

Give to me creature, demanded one of the joggers. He had a strange accent. We are his owners.

But the little animal hissed and growled at them. No WAY were we handing him over.

How you say pretty please or well destroy you? the other jogger asked.

Destroy us?!

Now I KNEW I wasnt giving these guys the weird little creature. Forget it, I said. If you know whats good for you, youll leave. Nicely and quietly.

You do not intimidate us, the first jogger snarled. He turned toward Donnie. With or without your fake nerd voices.

That was my real voice, Donnie protested.

You better GET intimidated, Raph warned. Cause were like nothing youve ever seen!

The jogger made an elaborate gesture. A weird glow passed over the two guys, and they transformed into these big warriors riding huge, snarling dogs! They were carrying, like, scepters! Whoa!

Weapons ahoy! Raph ordered, taking charge. He drew out his sai blades, which looked kind of like giant forks but with really sharp points and edges.

We agreed to reserve ahoy for ship-based adventures, Donnie reminded him. I got this!

He pressed a button on his tech-bo staff. It sprouted two rocket engines and started twirling out of control! It flew up into the air! No! Donnie cried.

POOF! The little animal disappeared from my arms! POOF! He reappeared in midair, right by Donnies tech-bo, and clamped onto it with his teeth. POOF! He reappeared above Donnie and dropped the tech-bo right into his hands. Hey, Donnie said, he plays fetch! POOF! The dog-thingy popped back into my arms. And teleports! he added. OH MY GOSHHE TELEPORTS?!

The Turtles gave the two big warriors their best shots, even going into ninja mode, but the warriors kept blasting them with these weird waves of energy. They even destroyed three of the guys weapons!

One of the warriors slammed his scepter onto the ground. A wave of energy knocked us all off our feet!

The other warrior threw a glowing ball of energy around the little animal so he couldnt teleport away.

I have the agent and the vial! he crowed.

The first warrior pulled out this glowing blue compass and traced a symbol in front of a brick wall. The bricks shifted and made this weird, scary-looking face with a wide-open mouth. The mouth was an opening into what looked like a mystical world!

W HOOAA! we all said at the same time, amazed.

Suddenly, a delivery guy rode around the corner on his bike. He swerved to avoid hitting us and went right into the opening! WHOOAA! he screamed.

I watched as one warrior rode his big dog into the opening. The other one dragged the little animal in! The dog-cat thingy! I cried, diving into the hole. Lets go!

But before the Turtles could follow me, the opening closed! (This is the part they told me about later.) It looked just like a regular brick wall again.

April! Raph yelled.

I think shes okay, Leo said, cause theres no April bits on the ground.

How do we get her out of there? Raph asked.

And equally important, Donnie asked, WHERE is there?

The symbol the warrior had drawn in the air was fading. Mikey quickly copied it onto his hand. Hey, Ive seen this before! In fact, we ALL have!