Hello! Silk Water here~ Please check out Uggables on Tumblr! They're a fantastic artist, and their TMNT/Gorillaz crossover inspired this story. And for anyone wondering, the Snow King will be updated shortly. Please read and comment :)
1. Danger
New York city was dangerous.
Why?
Because between late 2012 and early 2013, a horrible accident involving a bizarre race of aliens, the Kraang, changed everything. A special liquid that gave an eerie glow was mass-produced, it was called Mutagen. The goal of the Mutagen was to turn Earth into a planet similar to Dimension X; ugly, disgusting, devoid of all life, except for the Kraang.
However, that plan backfired beyond anything imaginable.
Instead of creating what they hoped, the Kraang created a world that was not only useless for them, but hated them.
Now, instead of people, mutant-humanoid animals, or worse, monsters, roamed the streets. Smog filled the air, the streets dirty and trashed, buildings broken and decayed. Schools were closed, along with any unnecessary business, like banks and malls. New York life was hard enough before, but now... Now it's nothing but miserable survival.
And humans? They were lucky if they lived through the night.
Humans were uncommon. Oddities. Valuable.
Most humans worked for mutants, or provided something a stronger mutant wanted, to stay alive.
Living day-to-day was a challenge. Life was hard, and honestly, for a human, it really wasn't worth living.
However, there was one girl who kept her fire strong.
April O' Neil.
xXx
Just another block. I can do this. Just one more block!
April O' Neil hopped off the main road to hide behind an old dumpster. Currently, she was being chased by a band of thugs. Purple Dragons. Before the mutation accident, they were just regular delinquents. Now they were gross lizard people.
"Duhh, where'd she go?"
"Damn it! You were right behind her, Sid! How could you just lose her like that?"
"Double back 'round. She ain't that fast. We'll get er'!"
She heard their clumsy feet shuffling, and eventually their angry voices faded away.
Leaning around, she peered into the street. Empty... Quietly, she made a mad dash for the farthest alley, a dingy "7" hanging above the entrance. "Seventh Heaven". This was her safe haven, along with a few other stray humans. This was at the outer edge of the city, where all the sludge and grim and trash had built up over the years. It was safer here than anywhere else, because there weren't as many mutants living in the area. Running down the straight shot, April kept the hood of her grimy sweater pulled tightly over her head. Identity was key. If no one knew you, no one had a reason to hurt you.
Splashing through the dirty puddles, she slowed her pace. In front of her was a tattered blanket, stuck to the wall with duct tape. Pulling the blanket aside, she stepped into the gutter called "home". As much as she hated it here, the thought of parting with it hurt. After all, home is where the heart is, and her heart was with all the people she had come to know while living homeless in the alley.
"April! I was so worried! You took so long, we thought you were dead!" a girl whispered.
Irma Langinstein sighed with relief. Her friend came home for another day.
"Yeah, Red. Where ya been for so long?"
Casey Jones, protector of their home, asked her.
April tugged her filthy sweater off and revealed a hidden satchel. "We were low on water, so I made a run," she said quietly. She placed the banged-up canteens on the broken foot-rest they used for a table.
It was dark now. Glancing out the window, April knew it was luck that got her home, and she thanked her luckiest star. And on dark nights like this, she wished that stars were still visible.
The stars her father pointed out in the darkness.
xXx
It was early morning, April knew.
Maybe two. Or three? No one knew the time anymore. Clocks weren't around to tell.
She heard the faint breathing of Irma and the light snore of Casey. They all shared a bed; a dirty mattress Casey found on a run.
Irma didn't go on runs. She stayed to keep an eye on things, make sure no one stole anything. She was decent with a knife...
But we're kids... We shouldn't have to keep knives.
Gently rolling off the mattress, April stretched her legs. Heavy like lead from running, but numb at the same time.
Crack
April ducked behind the foot-rest. Something was hustling around outside. She reached for the closest thing around, which was Casey's old hockey stick.
Crack
There it was again. Sounds like... broken glass?
Voices. There were voices. Lots of them.
Bad news. Really bad news.
Creeping over, April put her hand over Casey's mouth and nudged him awake."Casey, wake up... Wake up, hurry!" she whispered. His eyes opened. She could tell he was tired, physically exhausted. They all were.
"There's people outside. Hurry." Instantly, he was by her, holding an old, rusted pipe."How long they been out there?" he whispered."Not long, a few minutes, but they keep breaking things."
Snap
Sounded like breaking wood. A light breeze blew in through the cracks, and with it came an odd smell.
"Is that...cigarette smoke?" she questioned.
"No doubt. Whoever these guys are, they ain't playin around". It was true. Cigarettes were only for those who lived in the inner city; mutants who had money to buy with, or the strength to beat you bloody and steal them. "Shh! Listen..."
Outside, an obnoxious voice laughed.
"Dude, look at all the bottles n' shit. There's enough to ring around the lair twice!
"It's just glass, Mikey. Calm down," another voice said. This one sounded... strict? No, more like a guardian or something.
"Why are we doing this? It's so pointless!" a gruff, angry voice said.
"We've already been over this, Raph. Nobody wants to walk on glass, so by ringing glass around the lair in a circle, it keeps everyone away from all sides," an intelligent voice spoke.
More glass rattled around, and a few minutes later, the outsiders left as quickly as they came.
April and Casey swapped glances."Should we keep watch?" he asked. April let out a hefty sigh."I will," she volunteered.
"You sure, Red?" She nodded. Without a word, Casey made his way back to the mattress. Irma had shifted a bit, but otherwise wasn't disturbed by their visitors.
While Casey settled back in, April let her tired mind wander. Who were those guys? Did they really come all the way to the edge of New York for empty bottles? And that cigarette smoke... it almost made her smile. Before everything went to hell, cigarettes were an everyday thing, back when they still had a government. When they still had lives worth living. Who cares. They were just punks looking for trouble, like everyone else.
xXx
Despite vowing to stay up on watch, the purple bags under her eyes begged to differ. April felt herself fading quickly. All her nights were sleepless, and they were finally adding up. But it wasn't until the first peaks of sunlight that April allowed herself to flop down on the dirt floor and start snoring.
Irma was an early riser, so when she saw poor April face down in the dirt, she couldn't help but snort at the sight. She placed her muddy purple jacket over April, and decided to keep watch.
Something smelled off. Like smoke, Irma decided... but it was probably nothing. Just other street rats like them, trying to keep warm.
Still, she couldn't help but feel weird. Like she'd been violated somehow... Whatever. She was fine. All three of them were. Maybe they could all go dumpster diving today, finding all the gross treasures before anyone else? Something fun was in order. Casey and April had been running back and forth trying to keep this gutter-of-a-home running. The least she could do was relieve the stress. A light would be nice. Maybe something to make a stable fire. Yeah! They would all go looking for fire building stuff to last for the rest of the month.
Looking around, Irma thought of things that would brighten the place up, like curtains and such, or maybe a halfway decent door. Seriously, their door was a blanket taped to the wall. Anyone could come through without a problem.
Speaking of the door...
Where did all the broken glass come from?