[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Chapter twenty two

In the aftermath of the great battles, we all gather in the central plaza. After making sure everybody was is all right, I send Mikey and Raph to scout the ruins, and see if they can find anyone or anything else. What they find the most of, are the grisly scattered remains of the punk frogs, apparently slaughtered by Leatherhead after our last escape. We believe this is the end of their particular mutant tribe, until Mikey finds a small underground underground dungeon in the back of the prison. We free the last four surviving punk frogs there, and they willingly surrender themselves to our mercy.

"We are sorry we attacked you and your sensei like that." Rasputin tells us, as the four frogs kneel in defeat. "We should have refused to follow the Rat King and Leatherhead before then, and our tribe would still be around."

"Napoleon bad froggy, Napoleon never should have attacked turtles." The larger muscular frog replied simply. "Napoleon is sorry."

"With the rest of our kind gone, we must find a new way in the world." Attila added. "We must find a new purpose, and a new way to survive."

"We humbly place ourselves at your mercy." Genghis tells us, looking at the ground. "Do with us, what you will."

What we do is help them gather the remains of their comrades, then take them out into the jungle and cremate them, along with the remains of the Rat King. We found no trace of Leatherhead or Buzzkill, the gator's body had disappeared from the wreckage of the turtle van, and the fly had been dragged off into the wilderness. Wither they had survived, or their remains were destroyed, we may never know. But even if they did survive, with the rat king gone, there was no reason to remain here.

After we finished our work there, we took what time we had left to enjoy our vacation. Mikey's friend Angela took us to the Santa Ana volcano, where Mikey decided he wanted to try and surf inside the smoking crater. That... didn't end too well. Lucinda took us to an underground fight club, where we watched Raph fight his way though a tournament and win. Lucinda told the spectators and fighters we wee masked luchadors from Mexico in costume, and they were all so drunk they actually bought it! We had a lot of fun watching Raph knock people teeth out and bust skulls, and we even got to join in at the end for the final brawl!

Radical was very pleased to meet Jagwar; a living relic from the time of the Maya. The two guided us through the Mayan site of Casa Blanca, with Jagwar often correcting the archeologist on details, and Radical fan-girling over what she had just learned. I have heard the two are actually planning to rebuild Pipil Mayan society, by Jagwar taking in homeless Salvadorian children, and having Radical teaching and raising them in the customs of their Mayan ancestors. Jagwar has a treasure trove of Mayan artifacts from her family to sell, so they should be well funded in their endeavor. Who knows? Maybe one day, Jagwar will once again be Queen of a restored Pipil kingdom.

"I'm going to try and help the descendants of my subjects." Jagwar explains. "Now that H'nataan is gone, it's time to start reclaiming my heritage.."

"Whoooaaaa! So you're, like, staying here?" A disappointed Michelangelo replies. "I thought you might come with us on our trip, bummer."

"Don't worry, Mikey. I'll still write to you." She gives him a wink. "And who knows? We might see each other again, someday."

Master Splinter is slowly recovering from his ordeal, and we have all reassured him he has nothing to feel ashamed about. He has been a good sensei, and a good father. And in the end, that's all that really matters.

But what troubles me though, is the Mayan codex Jagwar finds in the rat king's private collection. Radical translates this ancient text, and she soon has a warning to share with me.

"The codex tells of other alchemists in the world, who discovered and worked with the mutagen." She tells me. "They might still be out there, along with the same kind of threat the rat king posed."

And so I call my brothers together, and we talk all though the night about the matter. Slowly, a plan begins to form between us.

"We've all seen how dangerous the ooze can be; just look at how it healed the scars and wounds of the shredder after he fell from that skyscraper after our first battle." I remind them. "The ooze canister in his possession shattered and spilled all over him, and it not only allowed him to survive the fall, but it restored his hair and youth."

"If there are other mutants and mutant makers out there, I say we go out there, an trounce em'!" Raph tells the rest of us. "If Krang' s race could figure out how to make the stuff with no connection to the rat king, then anybody on earth with half a brain could discover how to create the ooze."

"I agree with him, Leo." Donnie continues. "If the ooze is still a danger to people, we should do something about it."

We all agreed on our course of action, and the next day I announced our plan to all of our friends and allies.

"My brothers and I have decided to seek out other mutants and ooze sources around the world." I tell everybody. "We're not going back to NYC in the blimp, and we're instead going to make a journey towards east Asia. We'll find out how the ooze affected ancient civilization in that region of the world."

"But... what about the NYPD?" An exasperated Angela asks. "The chief will have our heads if we don't get you back home safely, muy mal!."

"We've decided you should take the punk frogs back with you to New York." Donnie explains. "Master Splinter can train them to fight as he did with us, and the can protect the city in our place until we return."

"We would be honor to defend your home while you are away." Genghis replies, walking over, and bowing to master Splinter. "And we are honored to have you become our Sensei, Master Splinter."

"I shall do my best to instruct you in the martial arts, my good frogs." Splinter returned the bow. "And farewell to you, my sons, and good luck on your journey."

We all hug our master goodbye, and say our goodbyes to all of our New Friends. Angela agrees to go with Splinter and the frogs back to New York, because she has a pilot's license to fly the blimp.

"I'd love to head up to NYC, I've got some family up there I haven't seen in awhile." Angela tells us. "Good bye Mikey, take care of yourself."

"You too, babe." Mikey replies, high-fiving his new friend. "The next time you're at the beach, be sure to catch a wave for me."

"Catch ya later, Raph." Lucindra punches him in the arm. "Try not to get yourself beat up too badly, ya hear?"

"Yeah, whatever." Raph grumbled, shrugging it off. "Don't get yourself into any trouble either, lady."

"Goodbye, Leonardo." Radical tells me, shaking my hand. "It has been wonderful talking to you about my people's history, mi amigo. I hope our paths cross sometime in the future."

"Farewell, Radical." I reply, bowing to her, after our handshake. "Good luck with all of your work with the past."

And so, we all watch the turtle blimp fly off into the sunset, taking our master and his new students him. Afterward, our human friends escort us to the western coast, where Donnie takes several weeks fixing up and restoring a rusty old boat, and arming it with weaponry we are able to purchase off the black market.

"So guys, what do you think?" Donnie asks, presenting us with the finished product. "I call it the USS Langstien, and I promise you, it'll get us to east Asia!"

"You named it after Irma?!" Raph asks Donnie in disbelief, as we look on at the restored sailboat. "And you painted it white?! It looks like a giant bathtub!"

"I dunno dude, it looks fine to me!" Mikey chuckles, trying to stifle his laughter. "So, when are we going to be setting sail on 'Leo's Jolly Tubboat'?"

"We leave as soon as the tides allow us." I finish, looking off towards the west. "Let us follow the trail the codex leads us on, and see what's out there."

And it's isn't long, before we sail away from the beautiful lands of El Salvador, and off towards our next adventure.