World Tree MUSH

    At a glance, were one unfamiliar with the recent history of the famous city, it wouldn't have crossed their minds that the place had been ground zero of an alien invasion. Although details of how such a near catastrophe had been avoided are largely unknown by the general populace, it seems like life has gotten back to some semblance of normal in the City That Never Sleeps.

    Buildings have long since been repaired, and even with it getting on into the evening hours, the streets are still busy with traffic and foot traffic alike, and one might not think twice about the few odd structures that look almost like toll gates in the randomest places, marking where known entrances to a greater unknown have opened up, guarded by uniformed men, equipped with the standard gear of army security. They serve as checkpoints for anyone who happens to come through more so than expecting anyone to want to go out. Who can blame them for being a little paranoid, especially after the Kraang attack? 

    ...of course, there might be an opening that hasn't yet been locked down by the military. 

    Up above ground level along the rooftops there's movement, not that most humans tend to pay attention. Evening patrol is a habit that's been a welcome one to get back to, even if his brothers might welcome a break from it. Raphael's always been more of the active sort though, which is why he's out, sticking to the shadows, keeping an eye out for anything interesting that might happen.

  The afternoon has been mostly peaceful in the city, or as close an approximation to it as a place so bustling can get. Then, later in the evening, something strange came trudging along Fifth Avenue with a stride like thunder and enough weight to actually leave the occasional impact crater.

  It's a statue. A living statue. Some kind of weird beast that combines features hyenine, leonine, and lupine: Maned like a hyena, a lion's body, vaguely wolf-like features. Its lion's tail ends in a wavering blue flame instead of a brush, guttering and hazy like it wants to go out. The detail is incredible. It has the fine-carved impressions of ornaments woven into its mane, beads and chieftain's feathers, and even its whiskers picked out in delicate mica. Different kinds of stone define the details and features, right down to claws and fangs of glittering diamond.

  ...And it moves like a living statue: With the ponderous deliberation of mountains moving, slow but inexorable.

  It's starting to gather quite the crowd behind it as it goes. Its head swings slowly back and forth as it walks, in time to the swing of its tail, as though it were looking for something.

    Naturally there are cellphones out. There is video taken. There are selfies and snapshots and murmurings between people either daring a friend to go and try touching the moving creature or wondering aloud as to what movie it might be promoting.

    It's the gathering that draws the turtle's attention, and with it seeming like a slow night, Raphael gives into curiosity and goes to investigate. He comes up to the roof's edge, glancing down to see what the commotion's all about. Boy, humans will gather for anything, is what he thinks until he sees the strange statue move. 

    "Huh..?"

    No, it's not his imagination after all. The cat-wolf thing is actually moving. 

  The cat-wolf thing is setting a brisk pace for somewhere, moving with alarming speed for something that sure looks like it's hewn of solid stone. Is it some artist's creation ensorcelled and running wild? Is it some mad scientist's pet project? Or some creature yanked from another dimension by some sorceror or something?

  Nobody's got any answers. But the statue is definitely moving. It slows to a halt every so often to peer down alleys. Even its eyes blink; even its pupils and the whites of its eyes are picked out in different kinds of stone. Marvelous craftsmanship.

  It turns, padding heavy-footed down a side street. The cars are already stopping and threatening to fender-bender into each other to get out of its way. Oops.

  So far, it hasn't noticed its growing crowd of gawkers; and if some of them should try to reach out and touch it, it doesn't seem to feel the sensation at all. It just keeps marching down the road, determined-like, as though it were looking for something. It's seemed peaceable so far, but... well, you never know with weird off-world stuff. Especially animate statues. This one's weird, too. It has broken arrows and spears sticking out of it, too. If gawkers try to pull them out, they'll find the things simply don't move, and the beast simply walks out of their range.

  After a few minutes it stops, turning to look over its shoulder. Only then does it seem to notice it has followers, blinking as its low-slung head swings back and forth to register how many people there are.

  "...What are you doing?"

  Its voice is like the grinding of boulders, so low that grit actually vibrates on the pavement; lower than a lion's roar, so low it's felt through the very body.

  It seems, somehow, baffled.

    It's not just painted to look like stone, but its movement is pretty impressive despite the obvious weight in its steps. Raphael sighs as he watches people try to get close enough to touch it. He has to hand it to them, they're pretty dedicated- how long have they been following the thing? He's jumped across a few rooftops himself to keep the creature in his sight. 

    And then the thing speaks, and his green eyes go wide as he watches mild panic ripple through the group below. Some of the gathered humans turn and run, typical reaction. Others get over their initial fear to snap another picture and start chattering all at once. "How is it doing that?" "Oh wow, is it some kind of robot?"

  It is stone, down to the very least little detail. Close study proves that every movement produces fine-ground dusts that sifts down from the statue's joints. It has aspects of all three creatures in its movement; the slink of the hyena, the restless twitching of tail and whiskers of the cat, the aggressively confident stride of the wolf.

  It somehow frowns, plopping back on its rump to sit on the pavement; the sudden weight leaves a slight crater in the street's surface. Stone ears turn sideways as though in indecisive gesture.

  These people behave weirdly.

  "I am stone, not machine," the beast grounds out between its frosted diamond fangs, cocking its head like a beast confused. "And 'it' is not a... robot. Where are the Vines? I did not intend to come here."

  They have a nasty habit of doing that, unfortunately.

    Panting. Loud panting. Way too loud panting comes from behind Raphael as The Orange One seems to just show up out of nowhere. That's kind of what Ninjas do but this time it's more because he's completely out of breath. His hand goes out to plant against a part of the rooftop that he's allowed to lean on and he tries to wave to get his brother's attention.

    "Raph..." Michelangelo drops to the roof and crawls towards his brother. "Something... terrible... has... happened..." More breaths because only Mikey can be as dramatic as this right now. He reaches to wrap his arms around the legs of Raphael and clings. Heavy.

    "Tony's... is out... of PEPPERONI!"

    DRAMATIC MUSIC CUE!

    Somewhere in the middle of all of this, Michelangelo peeks over the side of the roof and sees all this craziness happening. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." This is probably not going to go well when his brain figures out what's happening.

    "Is it talking about an app?" It occurs to some of the belatedly that indeed it's actually addressing them. More take the cue that anything able to crack pavement and speak to them as though alive is as good a reason as any to leave, and the crowds thin out a bit. Some react even more strangely, at least probably by the stone beast's standards as they grin and applaud. "It's interactive!"

    Above, Raphael's got an elbow propped on the ledge as he cups his chin, watching the ongoing spectacle with a shake of his head. The sounds behind him make him straighten, and he turns to look. "Mikey?" All at once he's on the alert as he turns towards his brother. "What is it, Mikey? What happened-"

    There's a good five seconds that pass as he stares down at his younger sibling who's wrapped himself around his legs. Then he scowls and reaches down to smack Michelangelo upside the head. Or he was about to anyway, but that's when Mikey looks over the roof's ledge.

    "Yeah, nothing new down there. I guess the only good thing is that whatever that thing is those humans have been tailing? Doesn't seem to be stirring up trouble."

    A ways down the street and around the corner comes a rumbling, not having anything to do with the stone creature. It draws not only the people's attention, but Raphael's as well. He frowns, hopping up on the ledge to try getting a better glimpse of what might be coming around, but he has an idea. It looks like the remaining people know what to expect as well as they begin to disperse, leaving the creature in its crater. 

    "Come on," he tells his brother. "Let's get this guy clear before the patrol tank decides to //make// trouble." He dashes off to the side and makes short work of the fire escape before landing at street level. "Psst! Hey! Big guy!"

  Those blank stone eyes fix on the nearest person speaking to him, asking about something called an 'app.' All the person earns is a blank stare from blank stone eyes and not a trace of recognition. It's as though it's gone back to being a statue, except those whiskers of glittering, translucent mica.

  And then there are turtles calling to him. The statue's head turns, ears pricking as though it were actually listening. That rumbling hasn't escaped his notice, either, ears flicking back momentarily towards it; then back to the turtles. Blank stone eyes lift, scanning--

  Ah. There. The beast makes a quick-turn until he can turn to leap after Michelangelo and Raphael's position; stone paws and claws leaving gouges and craters where he bounds -- but he moves with perhaps surprising agility; apparently getting the idea that getting out of the way is probably wise.

  Exit stage right!