Can you guess my main reason for writing this? If you've read a lot of my other stories, you'd know that it's because I'm bored. That, and ever since Mutation Situation, I can't stop thinking about Mr.O'Neil. thus this story was born!
Protect April. That was his main thought. Protect his special little daughter at any and all costs. When he went out with her to do the alleged "Pigeon Migration project", when he watched as mutagen rained down from the Kraang ship. He recognized the substance, after all that time as a captive of the Kraang. He knew, with terrifying clarity, what could potentially happen to April if it hit her. Memories of failed experiments by the Kraang flashed across his mind and he thought he might be sick. But with that dangerous chemical heading right towards his little girl, he could only think to protect April. Not think about what he could turn into, not about what he'd be losing, only thinking about what he'd be saving. "April!" He wrapped around her, taking the blow of the glass canister, and the acidic sting of its contents as the glass shattered on his back. He stumbled from pain as the mutagen took its effect, falling off of the rooftops and into a cluster of nearby bats. In his terror of changing limbs and organs and mind, only one thought, the strongest need of his human life, lingered. Protect April. "I'll do anything to protect her!" In the back of his mind, he heard these words, and they sounded like a distant memory. He clung to them, feeling like they were important, necessary, almost.
But, as he landed on a water tower below, his thoughts were so muddled from pain and panic, he lashed out at the only moving thing nearby. A little two-legged pink thing, with a shock of orange on its head. Like a scared animal (which he sort of was at this point), he attacked it, thinking whatever it was as the cause of his pain.
"Stop! It's me Dad!" In a different part of his mind, he understood these panicked words, and the voice seemed so familiar. He flew up, doubling back to continue the chase, and something hit him right across the nose. Like being dumped into cold water, he realized that this wasn't a thing and it wasn't hurting him. He tried to clear his thoughts, to push aside his panic and remember why this creature was so important to him. It was... his kit? Yes, that felt right. At any rate, his need to attack it, no her; a word bubbled to his mind, April. Yes, he shouldn't be attacking April, he should be protecting her. He looked at her sadly, ashamed that he had attacked the one he should protect. She sighed, lowing the black piece of metal that she had been holding out in front of her, and looked up at him. "Sorry, Dad."
They stood like this for a little while, looking at each other, until a group of green somethings dropped onto the rooftop. they got out all sort of pointy-looking things, looking ready to attack. He snarled slightly, perceiving their threat. Protect April. The phrase was forefront in his mind as the four jumped up with yells to attack him. He stretched his wings back in a threatening position, ready to fight them to keep his kit safe. From under him, he heard April yell, "No, stop! don't hurt him!" the attackers looked back at her, dropping their weapons, and he wasted no time in swooping down to grab April. He flew off into the distance, desperate to get her to a safe place.
He flew aimlessly, looking for just the right place for the two of them to be safe in, someplace far away, high up, secluded. Preferably kind of dark. The bright lights of this city were starting to hurt his eyes. April begged from below him, "Dad, please! Put me down!" She struggled in his grasp, and he tried to give her some comforting chirps, looking down at her with a smile. He couldn't understand why she was so unhappy, he was only trying to keep her safe, and to get her away from those green things that were attacking them. All the same, he should find someplace soon, she wasn't happy being flown around by him. Up ahead he saw just the right place for a roost, a tall building, in an emptier part of town, with a nice ledge. He gave a pleased screech, proud of himself for finding a good spot, a landed down, carefully releasing April onto the ledge. He gave her a pleased smile, but it dropped into a frown when he saw how upset and scared she looked. She looked at him, tears at the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Dad..." she said sadly, breath hitching in her throat, "This is all my fault, I'm so sorry." She broke down sobbing, muttering "sorry" repeatedly in a quiet voice. He panicked slightly, not knowing the exact cause of this crying. He felt like he should be sad for a reason, too. The thought that something tragic had happened tugged at the back of his mind. Giving more comforting chirps, he nudged her side in a comforting way. He wanted to protect her, keep her happy. It killed him inside to see her so upset like this. Maybe some food would make her feel better? He lifted up her chin, and kissed her lightly on the forehead. It was weird, but felt appropriate, so he went with it. She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, dad. You always did know how to cheer me up." He smiled at her, and she yawned, exhausted, and probably more than a little in shock, from the night's events plus all the crying. Kirby just watched as she fell back on the building's ledge in a deep sleep. He looked at her, then decided that she probably could use something to eat. Whatever she was sad about, maybe it would cheer her up.
He dove off of the building and into the night sky, scanning the ground for any possible snack, while also keeping an ear on the surrounding air for the sound of any acceptable bugs. He couldn't find anything worth worrying about for a while, everything was too small to be much. When flying over an alley, he considered just giving it up, until he noticed something moving in a large green metal box. It was the biggest thing he'd seen all night, and it looked big enough for his April to eat. He swooped down on it, catching it in his teeth. He also caught a lot of the surrounding garbage, to his displeasure. Swallowing his catch, he turned back around to fly back to the roost, and to April. Hope she'll like this snack. It's not very much, though.
As he flew back to the ledge, coming in for a landing, he was confused as April started screaming in fear. He was confused, what was she scared of? Maybe she had had a nightmare? Quickly, in an effort to cheer her up, he brought back up the snack he had caught for her. He gave her a hopeful smile, glad to see that she at least wasn't scared anymore. He heart dropped when he saw her make a grimace. "Ew, sick." She shoved his catch off of her lap, and stared at him angrily. What had he done wrong? He knew it was sort of small, but he had worked hard on getting it. "You expect me to eat that? Go get me some real food. You go, Dad!" Giving a whimper, flew back off of the roof, back on the hunt. He shot off some chirps now and then, waiting for them come back, looking for something good enough for his April. The he noticed it, it looked like a moth, but the best part was that it was huge, big enough for him and April. Excited, he dove at it, only for it to move sharply upward out of his grasp. He screeched in disappointment, and moved at it again, only to have it move once again out of his grasp. All of the sudden, things started flying in on him, swarming around him. He flew wildly, trying to shake them off. He flew even wilder as something heavy landed on his back, throwing his flight out of balance and out of control.
"Mr. O'Neil, Kirby,wait! We don't want to hurt you, we want to help you!" He screeched angrily at him, because if he was trying to help, he had a really funny way of showing the one on top of him started painfully pulling on his ears, making him jerk his head and alter his whole flight. "Guys, stick to the plan!" the ear-puller yelled.
"There's a plan?!" Yelled the other, and surprisingly, the moth? He struggled to get the ear-puller off of him. One came up on his side, and it got close enough for him to notice that they were the same four that attacked him and April earlier. He fought, punching him square in the face, and throwing his flight crazily out of control, and spiraling down to the buildings below. "Donnie!" He heard one of them yell from above his sporadic flight. He kept struggling, even as his wings were pinned to his sides, making it pretty much impossible to fly correctly. Since he could no longer fly correctly, he crashed down into a glass ceiling, falling down hard on the floor below. He got up, shaking his head, then lunged at the two, the word came suddenly into his head, turtles, and the moth that seemed not so much like a moth. Above him, a metal cage crashed down to the floor, trapping him inside of the warehouse. He looked at it in defeat. He had been captured by these turtles, and he didn't even know why. Now who would protect April?
Just as he was thinking on how to escape, he heard April run into the warehouse. "Dad!" He looked at her sadly, disappointed at himself that he had once again been defeated. She probably thought that he was weak, and a failure at protecting her. "Oh, dad..." She reached a hand in between the bars, resting it right on his snout. He made a low grumbling noise, full of many mixed emotions. He was glad that she wasn't disappointed in him, and happy for her comfort, but also sad that she was sad, not to mention the fact that he was stuck here in a cage, away from the sky, or ledge that he just found. The turtle-moth started talking, but Kirby's attention was solely on April, ready to jump in if any of these turtles so much as looked at her threateningly. When she started to raise her voice, clearly upset, he snarled lowly at the turtles who were upsetting her. "YOU MUTATED MY FATHER!" She screamed. He screeched loudly, and opening up the roof of the cage, flew up and dove at the turtles, trying to stop them from doing whatever it was that was hurting his April. He dove to get April, so he could carry her away to safety, and was struck hard across the face. Dizzy from the blow, he flew, unsure of his direction. "Dad!" He heard April yell below. He twisted and turned in the air, trying to regain his sense of direction, but only went further and further away from April. He called out, straining his powerful ears for a reply from her. He couldn't hear anything.
Crushed at once again failing to keep April safe, he flew back to ledge he had found for her, hoping that she would come back to it. He thought of another building, one far from here, but where he knew he and April had spent a lot of time together. He considered flying there instead, thinking she might go there, but, looking up at the light in the sky, and beyond exhausted from the tiring day, he gripped the ledge, and wrapped his wings around himself before falling into a restless sleep. "I'll do anything to protect you!" The words played in his head with a picture of April; his last thought before slipping into sleep.
Personally, I think the only thing really "there" of Mr.O'Neil is his love for April. And I just kept thinking about when he said he'd do anything to protect her. He felt pretty strongly about it, and it was his last thought before he was mutated, so why wouldn't it carry over? And the kit thing... I'm pretty sure that's what you call a bat's kid,and, I don't know, his thought's were being bat-ified? It slipped out onto the keyboard, and it seemed too right to argue with. So, yeah, more of my randomness, because I was bored. Potenial epilogue, maybe? I don't know, maybe more chapters if/when Kirby shows up again? It depends on if I have inspiration or not. You can give that inspiration through reviews, so R&R, please!