[Fanfic] TMNT: Trouble in the Tropics

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Here is the turtles fanfic I talked about, set in the PD TMNT universe after Out of the Shadows. The jarring POV shifts in the narrative are a result of it supposed to be a novel Mikey is trying to write, with Leo's first person notes and commentary inserted in from time to time. And if you hate the Platinum Dunes film's, just think of this as set after season one of the Fred Wolf series, just with a bunch of other stuff happening. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

TMNT: Trouble in the Tropics

Prolouge

Mayan city of Taizumal, Central America, 500 years ago-

Oh, how he hated distractions.

He really despised them, all of the noises of the outside world that kept him from his sacred work. There were so many to disturb him; the sound of the various animals in the nearby jungle, the arrogant youth playing their game of Ulama in the sacred ball court outside. He usually avoided doing his work around this time of day, as those annoying Priests of Tlaloc would drag their victims up the side of the neighboring pyramid to sacrificed; and frankly, the sounds of the screaming as their beating hearts were ripped from their chests was such a bother when he was trying to complete a task.

But today.... was a special day.

Today was the day a special guest was coming, the day all of his life's work would finally come to bear fruit. This thought burned in his brain, as he ran hurriedly between his work table and his caudlron, pouring strange looking liquids into the mixture, causing it to hiss and boil. Opening one of his books, he carefully studied the glyphs he had written as notes, before turning to a nearby rodent sitting on a shelf.

"Pacal, could you bring me that green mixture, please?" The man asked, pointing his thumb back towards the workbench. ""It's the final ingredient I need for this batch."

The armored rat seemed to nod his head, and picked up a sealed beaker he scurried over and gave to the man. It amazed the citizens of Taizumal that he had been able to train this armored rat to obey his commands, and many considered it sorcery. But then, the work his did with alchemy might as well have been called sorcery, and it was giving his pet Pacal small doses of his experimental liquids that gave him control over the rodent.

It's true, most of his Subjects in the City of Taizumal feared Lord H'nataan, but that made little difference to the sorcerer-noble. He must have appeared as a fierce figure to his followers; A tall, muscular man covered in tattoos and ornamental piercings, he wore only a small colorful tunic and sandals. His fiery red hair was unusual for a Pipil Mayan such as himself. Little did most of them realize his odd hair color was the result of accidents with his experiments.

"My lord, Queen Sihuehuet is here to see you." A servant told him, standing nervously at the entrance to his apothecary. "She and her daughter wish to speak with you, at once."

"Ah, excellent!" Lord H'nataan smiled, motioning for the servant to bring them in. "Just the royal ladies I was hoping to see!"

Sihuehuet, the royal queen of the Cuzcatlan empire. Her legendary beauty was so great, that even H'nataan had trouble resisting her. By contrast, her young daughter Princess Jagwar was rather plain looking, but was supposed to be far more logical and level headed than her air-headed mother. Both women were dressed in colorful gowns, and decorated with jewelry of the finest Jade.

"Do you have the concoction?" The queen asked impatiently. "The magic that will make my daughter and as as beautiful as the moon goddess Awilix?"

"Mother, do you believe this is wise?" Princess Jagwar asked. "Drinking a strange potion that has not yet even been tried?"

"Quiet, you little fool!" Sihuehuet hissed back. "Have you not heard of the bearded demons whom have attacked our Aztec neighbors to the North?! H'nataan's magic will give us the strength and power to defeat these devils!"

Lord H'nataan was no position to argue with the queen; she was his strongest supporter, and the only other royal who believed his alchemy meant power. Sihuehuet have given him the city of Taizumal to rule after it's royal family had died out, and kept telling her husband, King Yeisun, that his work would mean only greatness for the empire.

"My queen, for years I have been experimenting with the primal ooze- the very essence of all creation that great god Itzamna used to first bring all living things into existance." H'nataan held up two small vials. "Within these containers I have mixed the ooze with the blood of powerful animals; one with the essence of the mighty Jaguar, the other with blood from the fierce beasts the Spanish conquerors ride... the monsters called horses." He handed the vials to the two women. "With the power within this magical ooze, you will be able to... No, wait!"

But it was too late, as both women each drank one of the vials. Both princess and queen stood there for a moment, before both suddenly doubled over in pain.

"Mother, what's happening?" Princerss Jagwar shrieked, as her body began to contort and twist. "ROAAARRRR!"

"Curse you, H'nataan, you promised us these mixtures would give us strength!" Sihuehuet screamed, her face growing longer. "Neeiiigggh!"

The two women each changed, one into a Jaugar woman, the other into a human horse. Horrified, the princess and her mother raced out of the temple that served as H'nataan's apothecary, and out into the jungles beyond Taizumal's vast fields of golden corn.

"Actually, I think it's an improvement for the two of you! I'm sure your husband will find your transformations most amusing, as well!" The alchemist-noble laughed. "I've given you the gift of being animals, no longer must either of you suffer in the disgusting forms of human beings!"

But surprisingly, King Yeisun didn't find the transformation of his wife and daughter amusing, at all. He ordered Lord H'nataan executed, then mummified and buried in Taizumal's largest temple. The very temple which had served as his apothecary, and which H'ntaan had ordered carved with images of his favorite animal, the rodent.

"Such is a fate befitting a foul rat like you, a creature so foul that no man can stand being in your presence!" Yeisun declared angrily. "Let us see you rule over rule over your fellow rats from the land of the dead!"

"Far better to rule rodents among the dead, that to be an emperor of filthy humans in the realm of the living!" H'nataan spat. "But if that's what you say I am, a Rat King I shall be!"

And so, Lord H'ntaan was executed and mummified, buried in his temple of the rats in a stone casket filled with the ooze his fellow Pipil Mayans believed to be evil magic. As to Queen Sihuehuet and Princess Jagwar, they were never found by the king's guards, and vanished into the myth and legends of the people of Central America.

As the ages past, The Cuzcatlan empire fell to the Spanish conquerors, and became the modern nation of El Salvador. Lord H'ntaan would rise only a few years after his death, foolishly released by greedy Spanish conquistadors who quickly met their ends. H'ntaan would then spend the centuries tormenting mankind, building an anthropomorphic army with his ooze, and making the world a better place for his loyal rodent subjects....