Author's note: A dramatic spin off of the episode to where April falls into the mutagen tank, but in this tale, she is NOT immune. This short story will definitely be A.U. They are just into their first year of being in their 20's, so, they will still have moments of immaturity. Rated "T" (for now) due to language and some adult situations.
Mutation Part 1
The echo of her scream seared his ears as he swooped down to catch her in mid flight. Sweat vastly forming onto his green skin, making it look as if shimmering glitter had exploded into his pores in reward due to his shocking state of panic- watching almost helplessly with April's soon to be impending doom- instantly rushing, forcing his thicker and darker hand out to her more delicate, paler one as soon as he felt he was close enough to her.
In the pit of his stomach he doubted, for a split second, that he wouldn't make it to her on time.
No, he couldn't let her fall. He wouldn't let himself live with such a mistake if she were to mutate into something unrecognizable- something that may not have the potential, nor the means to be reversed- NO- It was bad enough that there was even one moment in this life without her; where she hated him- blamed him for her father's own mutation.
Not again.
He wouldn't let it.
He finally called out her name in a loud, desperate cry, signaling to her that he was just mere inches above her.
She instinctively reached out to him, her fingers wiggling frantically, willing her own to grasp onto his cooler, leathery ones- her ocean blue pools naturally watering from absolute- and pure fear.
Donatello's face twisted involuntary, his upper teeth clashing down hard- biting his lower lip- instantly drawing blood. The tips of his fingers grazed hers swiftly and for reasons unbeknownst to him, because he thought he had her, she kept on falling. The pads of her delicate digits stinging his own, as she slipped right on through, her screams going several octaves higher than it was before; echoing her anguish throughout the Kraang's warehouse.
Donatello could only stare on, tears already forming an army, burning once they had made their escape from his auburn orbs.
"ARPIL!" He shouted, in the ready to go directly in after her; all the while, his breath was catching, tightening in his throat, his chest heaving up and down, feeling as though someone had struck their hand into it's center and manually ripped his beating heart out.
Just as Donatello made his decent toward the glowing cylinder below, he felt the belt along his waist sporadically restrict against his plastron, and a familiar, deeper green hand had a firm, pulling grasp upon him.
"You can't go in there, ya' Knuckle head!" The rough, deep voice bellowed out to him, making his skin crawl in knowing. Donatello knew that if he were to jump in; the outcome of his actions would have dire consequences.
Raphael had launched on, dragging the purple clad turtle toward the floor below, both of them forcefully landing with a jolt, the two pairs of legs slamming against the stone cold platform before they finally were at a stand still.
Leonardo and Michelangelo could only look on in shock- watching April's dark form float lifelessly inside of the bright, neon green goo, her skin slowly enveloping in nothing but thick, stagnant mutagen.
Leonardo hung his head, words being a total loss to him, his mouth running extremely dry. Michelangelo stood wide-eyed; his freckles seeming to sparkle from the lighting of the warehouse as his mind began reeling in curiosity and wonder.
Of course, he would be the first to break the ice that had filled the room to its very brim.
"Would I, like, be totally a bad friend if- let's say- Oooh, I don't know… That maybe, I sort of hope that April turns into some really cool pizza monster?" Mikey inquired innocently with a small, yet endearing smile that was crawling at a snail's pace, making it's way slowly, but surely across his lighter green, speckled features.
All three of the brothers' turned their attention swiftly, with barely any hesitation over to Michelangelo; every one of their leathered faces supporting expressions of disbelief and disgust.
"Yes, Mikey… That would be very bad." Leo spoke up with a deep, heavy sigh; his thumb and pointer finger pinching the bridge of his squashed nose in frustration, intern, stalling Donnie- for now- to rage an all out war with his more eccentric and outspoken brother. This wasn't a joke to be playing around with. It wasn't a joke at all. It was and still is more of a tragedy for everyone, and it rather upset Donatello that Michelangelo wasn't taking April's accident more seriously.
Mikey simply frowned in disappointment and shrugged, shifting his foot slightly to scrape it delicately against the concrete in a cheeky embarrassment. "Oh… Okay. I was… Ya'know.. Just checkin' is all."
Donatello's lips quickly curled up in anger- but his attention grew elsewhere as his eyes flitted up to the container that now held his redheaded friend, his pupils automatically dilating in sadness for her and it stung to see her lifeless body inside of it.
"Guys.." Donatello's low, hoarse voice rang out, breaking into the silent reverie that floated around his brothers. "This whole montage of pizza monsters is fun 'n' all, but we have got to get April out!" The brown-eyed turtle exclaimed, his voice betraying the seriousness of the situation as it quivered in drowning guilt. He never meant for this to happen. He had meant to catch her. He promised her that he wouldn't let her fall, he betrayed her, and he hated himself for it.
"Well… Let's just break the damn thing open, then." Raphael cut in as he slowly walked himself up to the tank, analyzing it with his cold hard stare. "Shouldn't be too hard to bust into it- looks simple enough."
"Uh, no, genius." The turtle in purple sarcastically spat, his hand gently grazing the tube that held the girl and it's toxic contents inside, his fingers gently outlining her darkened figure. "If we break it open, we risk getting ourselves stuck in the same exact mess that April's in right now." He peeled is sight off the object of his affections and gave Raphael a steely glare. "Didn't you just save my own butt from going in there a few minutes ago? ...Seriously, where's your head at, Raph?!"
Raphael grew severely cold at Donatello's retaliation. His red face mask dramatically creasing as his greener orbs shrank into white, slimming slits of hot fury- his fists clenching in aggravation at his sides, trying his hardest to not broadside his brother into oblivion. "I know where my head's at… The better question is- do you know where my fists are at?" And to prove his point, Raphael slowly lifted one of his larger, stronger hands straight up into Donnie's view. Begging the nerdy peon to make his move.
Just as Donatello was about to rebuttal his hotheaded brother, the natural born leader rushed up in between the two, his disappointment seething through his barred teeth, his cheeks growing unnaturally hot- this was not the time or the place to be getting into an argument over something so pointless and irrelevant. He at least thought Donatello of all turtles would be smarter than that. But, it was too easy and sometimes rather inviting to fall into a squabble when Raphael was involved. He knew this piece of knowledge personally.
"Knock it off- both of you need to calm down." The leader in blue scolded, his arm brushing up against Raph's plastron, the other, pushing Donnie away, keeping him at arms length from himself and the turtle in red.
As the three turtles got more involved into their endless quarrel, Michelangelo figured he'd give it a shot as to how he would get the little red head out; since his brothers' were painstakingly too busy at the moment.
He stepped cautiously at first, not sure of his own self if he should even get close to the bin that held April at all. If memory served him well, and sometimes it did, nothing good usually ever came out of a situation like this; at least, in this line of work that they did on a daily basis. He knew he wasn't the smartest turtle around, but he could also recognize when stupidity was simply stupidity, and in this case, though sometimes rare, Mikey was playing it smart this time instead of giving into the moment. His sight flickered toward April's unmoving form, bubbles popping upward and outward, the sound that it made- made his own stomach churn in disgust, and he couldn't help but finally feel the heavy remorse for his human friend.
His own blue orbs surveyed the damage; wondering what he could possibly come up with that was actually worth speaking out for. Again, anything he usually had come up with in the past had been always spun into harsh judgment and pushed to the sidelines- never to be taken seriously. But, as the gears were turning and shaking on the inside of his head, the thought process he was sputtering and tinkering around with was abruptly cut short, when all of a sudden, movement caught the eccentric turtle by surprise. Fearing the worst in the pit of his stomach, he called out to his three comrades.
"Uh.. Guys?" He hesitated at first, his thoughts going back and forth frantically between the green tinted tube and his three companions, his legs automatically removing himself further and further away from April's newly found revere.
"I told you two to knock it off!" Mikey heard Leo spat, obvious anger rising in his tone.
"Well, he started it!" Donnie's higher pitched voice echoed throughout the warehouse, it doubling in its intensity as it bounced off the walls.
"Guys?" Michelangelo cut in once more, trying desperately to disengage his brothers' heady quarrel- still moving him self further away from the bubbling, mutagen tank.
"Oh yeah, smart ass?! How 'bout I finish it for ya?!" Raph's remark was like ice cutting into stone.
"I swear, that if you two don't start acting your age-"
"GUYS!" Mikey finally scorched out into the air that was so thick that it couldn't even be cut with one of Leo's katana.
"WHAT?!" All three shouted in unison, now breaking apart their standoff with each other- looking squarely at Mikey- April, being completely forgotten during their long, five-minute disagreement crusade with each other.
"I think the pizza's here." Mikey quipped, pointing to the tank that was starting to crack; lines spiraling in all different directions, etching snowflake like patterns along the sides, small shards of glass spitting all around them, some splicing their skin during its inevitable rainfall.
"Take it to higher ground!" Leonardo shouted out, as all four of them whirled in every direction, Michelangelo and Raphael took to the safety of the rafters while Leonardo grabbed a fallen coiled wire to pull himself up on and taking to the air. Donatello, however, stopped himself short and just stood there, his face plastering desperation for April.
"Donnie!" Raphael called out to him, hoping that it didn't fall on deaf ears. "Don't play a hero- and getcher ass outta there!"
"But… April!" Donnie called back, his chest heaving from being absolutely terrified for her. "I just… I mean.. We just can't leave her there!"
"You need to get to higher ground- NOW DONNIE!" And that was it. Leo's voice couldn't carry over to his purple clad brother.
The barrel of the tank began to groan and moan viciously under its massive weight as it leaned; creaking and piercing a high pitched squeal into the air, coiling the tube, wires snapping; the filtration system exploded, sending nuts, bolts, and screws askew, pinging like tiny needles along the concrete as they hit and landed on their descent. Finally, after it's own battle cry from within, it fell into several pieces, destroying everything in its path, crushing upon itself as it collapsed during its vindictive wake.
Mutagen went flying everywhere- hitting and shattering windows, mutilating the rafters- anything it could grasp its slimly, and toxic hands on- living or not, it still seemed to alter it all- and if anything alive were standing in the way of its flow of vengeance, they would be forever changed just like the warehouse was changing, during the flood by the forceful waves of anger, as it ran steadily through its course- like a temper tantrum coming out from a two year old child.
The three mutants that had found higher ground were now frantically searching for Donnie. But it was hard to see due to all the shimmering green waves of liquid ooze, adhering to every nook and cranny of the warehouse- three sets of eyes flittering and flickering this way and that, hoping Donatello had made it to a safety zone, crossing each finger and toe that the mutagen went untouched by their brother's leathery skin.
"Do ya see 'em?!" Raph shouted out through the noise of mutagen sprawling about all around them. His mind filled to its capacity with guilt from the fight that he and Donnie just had moment's prior.
"No!" Leo shouted back, bowing his body lower to catch a closer look towards the floor. "I can't see anything from where I'm sitting! …Mikey?!"
Michelangelo's blue pools squinted onward, across from the warehouse walls, and his smile deepened. "Over there!" He pointed a thick, green finger against the opposite side of the rafters from where they tightly clung; Donnie, waving at them uncontrollably, making sure that they had saw him safe and sound- untouched by the toxic, green lava below.
The three of them sighed simultaneously in relief, watching as the mutagen had finally made itself scarce, flowing outward into the cracks that surrounded the interior of the older building made of solid steel and crumbling brick.
Slowly, all four of them made their way to the moistened, stone-cold platform; leathery toes, tiptoeing as they each found solid ground, unsure of what they might find within the massive dismay around them.
Mainly, of what had happened to their friend, April.
Donnie swallowed hard, the lump in his throat rising at every moment as he took in a deep, inward breath; his dark eyes scanning the wreckage, his brain working on overdrive, concocting complex formulas for possible damage control once they had found April, who was most certainly hurt and- most likely- unrecognizable.
"Do… Do any of you see her?" The Scientific Genius mumbled out, perspiration tingling his freckled brow, his purple bandana darkening from the natural, salted water. The fear of finding his best friend mutated- and into what- shook him to the core. He wanted to find her, but at the same time, hesitation wavered heavily within his heart.
Silence ensued, Donnie's question going unanswered as four pairs of eyes scanned the warehouse; each one moving in every direction, looking desperately for their lost, human family member.
"Oh, shit." Raphael gasped, running as quickly as he could over to the oozy, green glob that lied lifelessly behind the broken shards of what was left of the mutagen tank, glass acting as a glittering accent against the bulking form that resided there.
The rest of the mutant crew followed in tow, realizing quickly, that Raph had just found her.
Donnie was the first to get as close as he could to the girl who seemed to be voided from any forms of life- his jaw dropping at an extremely fast rate as he fell dramatically to his knees, his head crashing into his leathery hands in pain. A small, but blunt cry curdled from the depths of his throat and all his body could do at that moment was to shake uncontrollably; betraying his 'trying to be strong for everyone' façade.
"This is all my fault." He finally croaked out. Leo, who was standing above him, put a comforting hand upon his brother's shoulder, but said nothing. He knew his words of comfort would be useless.
All of them were practically speechless.
"Mikey." Leo finally broke the dead silence, turning toward his younger brother and clearing his throat. "Go get some blankets and towels from the van. We need to wipe all of this stuff off before we can even touch her."
Mikey just stood there, unmoving, his eyes bulging from their sockets.
"Mikey!" The leader in blue scolded, his right hand rising to his hip in exasperation. "Now would be a good time."
"Oh... R-right. Uh... On it." And just like that, Mikey had disappeared into the shadows to where their turtle van had been parked since they had gotten there for what seemed like hours upon many hours ago.
Rushing in as soon as he had left, Mikey was back inside of the warehouse, handing each of his brothers an abundance of towels. Each one working on every single angle of their friend, carefully wiping and rubbing the green ooze off from her unmoving body. Her clothes were ripped and torn, her shirt barely hanging on by the tiniest of threads, the jeans she wore now looked as if someone had carelessly handmade cut-off shorts, each pant leg shredded into pieces strung out all around her- littering the floor.
It only took the four turtles mere seconds to get April clean and clear of all the mutagen that had clung to her.
Donnie's nervous hand jerkily grabbed her own, checking for a pulse, all the while forcing the bile that filtered up into his throat. He wiped his brow with his left hand, which twitched just as bad as his right, sitting as still as he could, wishing, reaching and grasping for a pulse. Looking for any kind of sign that she was still alive.
It seemed like hours had passed, but in reality it was only a minute, when finally, he felt it.
A pulse.
It was weak, but it was there.
And all Donnie could do at that moment was let out a huge sigh of relief as he shakily took her leathery hand into his own, his person and heart still full of fear and regret- mainly, the fear of her never forgiving him.
To be continued…
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