***
The starfish's lodgings were being tossed, quite literally, out a second story window with attached sunning platform, when we arrived. This was an older, more gentrified neighborhood in a respectable part of town. Nothing at all like my flop over in Cheapside by the fish market. The landlord was standing around hissing and kicking up a fuss until a trunk nearly land on top of the old turtle, where upon he retreated and demanded that we do something. I'm a hundred and ninety centimeter, sixty eight kilo bean-pole from the habitats, and this short and boxy two-legged snapping turtle expected me to roust out a killer. Or more likely he was looking past me at Arnie.
The Terminator Turtle has a lot of clang, the metal and ceramic bits that serve as armor and weapons system casings. His entire left arm is cybernetic, a carbon-fiber buzz-saw claw with integral stun and blaster beam weapons. The right hand is some sort of fractal manipulator that usually looks more like a normal three-fingered, one thumbed hand, but occasionally blurs into a fog of green and blue lights that can reach inside locks and things. He likes to keep his head out in the clear, but some sort of helmet unfolds when the going gets interesting. I don't know what else he's carrying internally or externally, but he's definitely got Batman and his utility belt beat.
Something roared and we three looked up to see Jaw-Some standing at the big window. The sunning platform had had a low railing to keep turtles from failing into the city streets, now hanging loose. He took in me and Arnie and abruptly turned tail and ran, back through the second floor apartment. There was a crash as I suppose he made a hole in the back wall.
Arnie grabbed me up and said, "Hang on!" by way of warning. Then he jumped us six meters up and shoved me through the window as the sunning platform started to pull loose. It fell away and the terminator turtle wedged himself through the opening. It wasn't much of a window anymore, more like a double door.
"I don't like amusement park rides," I muttered, but Arnie ignored me and went on. I hate that. I caught up with him and we cleared the apartment before going on, even though it was fairly obvious that Jaw-Some had gone on through the wall and down into an internal courtyard. I had time to look around at an explosion of folded paper birds, fish, or maybe flowers, and some more melted-looking equipment. The monster was not doubling back to hit us from behind, and we moved on, though I did pocket something that looked like either an orchid or an alien butterfly.
He left us a trail of woe to follow. Jaw-some had taken the time to end some poor old lady turtle's pet singing frog, but left her untouched and keening. He destroyed the wagon that some mom or dad used to stroll with baby, stomped into splinters. He hated turtles, I'd say. In fact, the monster was little too obvious about it, and I said to Arnie, "Wait a minute," as we were about to go down a passageway and out a wrought-iron door that let back onto the streets. That was when the world just sort of fell in all around me, and went away for a while.