The Glasses of Life

Chapter 4 Book 2

The desire was a spiked ball embedded in his chest. The hopelessness was a black monster, sucking her energy away.

April could see both, but she couldn't follow the trail. Splinter was pretending to be calm, she knew; his desperation was a shadow looming over them, which April couldn't really grippe about. Casey didn't hide his fear- which April found odd but thought it best to ignore. He'd grown his hair to his shoulders, too busy to groom, constantly missing his boyfriend. April wished she had ignored Splinter's commands back in their own dimension and gone to look for her father.

This dimension wasn't as different as Dimension X, but everything was much duller here: dyed gray from the inside. The trees and plant life was plump and fresh, the inhabitancies, however; were hideously fat and greasy. They looked human enough, but their streets were plagued with McDonalds and KFC's, burger wrappers and TV dinner tins, and homeless and snotty people. Houses were made of bricks, but much sturdier than the stone in her dimension. Where she walked people spoke English, some Spanish, and she was fairly sure she heard one couple speaking in French. None could see her, of course. Her powers had dimmed since arriving, but not enough to take her colleagues trail off her mind. It led to a desolate looking co-op surrounded by houses and circling a patch of grass and dirt.

"Let's go here, guys." They'd stopped asking her about her motives after her third mistake. As they approached the co-op, a blue blotch wafted into her line of vision, growing brighter with each step.

(***)

A brown ghostly ribbon drifted across her field. Mel flung her eyes open. She scrambled to her feet and dashed into her shoebox kitchen, throwing herself against the window.

"Mel?" Karai had been talking more since learning of her life as a TV show. Mel dismissed Karai with a wave of her hand and stared hard. Movement, then, out walked a redhead with a yellow shirt. Mel smirked and spun in spontaneous happiness. "What?"

"Now there's three… no, fo-… five down, wow. Five down and three-… two to go." Mel circled to her entrance and slipped into her too-big sweater. Karai had told her she wouldn't be meeting Leo until they got him back from Shredder. "Keep an eye on your brother for a minute." Mel stepped out and strolled across the plaza. Casey noticed, then whispered to April, then they were staring at her. Mel looked to her sides, and once her solitude was confirmed, she smiled and waved at the duo. Their eyes widened. Splinter emerged. Mel turned away and started walking back to her house. She looked over her shoulder, nodded, and kept walking.

"What was that?" Karai asked when Mel came back in. Mel pulled her sleeves up to her elbows and grinned.

"You'll see."

"Mel, we've been over this; I don't like surprises," Karai warned. Mel rolled her eyes.

"Details, details."

April, Casey and Splinter were on her porch. Mel motioned for them to enter and stepped back. They filed in, silent until Karai and Splinter locked eyes. There were three seconds between when they were apart and when they were embracing and sobbing. Mel looked away; having a slight annoyance for watching people cry. She put her other earbud in and reached for her tuke. The snow had been on-going and she didn't want another ear infection.

"Hey." Karai had been deemed second in command when Mel was out and her Sensei was unavailable, so, she looked up. "I'm going to tell my Sensei and Quinn…" she offered a genuine smile before continuing, "don't burn the house down while I'm gone, okay? I know it's a dump, but it's all I have."

(***)

Phantom was 16 years old and had forged his armour out of the trees and ground. He'd found a certain tree that reflected Kraang lasers. He'd cut down the tree and stored as much of it as he could in his satchel in case he ever got home: he could make armour for the turtles and Karai. He still wore his kerchief, and his rusty pocket knife. He'd have to get it cleaned when he returned. He had three fruits, a roasted MAHper (a black and white creature which spoke in subtle 'mahp-mahps' if unthreatened), and six round things which, impossibly, he believed were root potato's. He'd been captured by Kraang once and they'd seen his face, but he'd destroyed most of the proof during his escape. His weapons consisted of his switchblade, blinding powder, his crystal powered blade, and his Gift. Unlike the Foot bots, the Kraang were living, breathing things, so, they had souls, no matter how evil. Now he could see the souls coming, so he could leave before they found him.

He leapt over a raised root. They were coming; he saw the purple, gray, and black haze spreading about the ground. About 12 miles back but they could have a Technodrone or something. Colours together had different meaning sometimes: purple, gray and black (The Three Deadlies) meant a hope for destruction. He sped across the plains and dove into a cave he'd stocked with seven moons worth of food and water. It was the size of an igloo.

Phantom began a chant, summoning a computer so he could read the files he'd swiped. The Kraang wanted to understand human psychology so they could learn the art of hypnosis, or brainwashing. The human brain was apparently the most complex brain in the known universe, but humans have yet to discover as much. They're only capable of using ten percent of their brain, which was why Kraang mutants were so much stronger and smarter than mere humans. But some humans tried to unlock more in their brains, some want more power, others simply want to know. Some humans-mostly younger ones- are perfectly capable of doing so, but are discouraged from such 'childish activities' like speaking to the dead or telekinesis or seeing the future or past. Or seeing aura.

Phantom knew the Kraang wanted the few working to perfect their abilities under their control once they were ready, it was written in plain Kraang script on every paper he'd read. There were three powerful ones together in a faraway dimension; The one of Pure Innocence, The one of Pure Knowledge, and The one of Pure Insight. They were warriors, but Phantom didn't know what of. There were categories, but too many to choose from: Foreseers, Givers, Takers, Giver-Takers, Touchers, Sensors, Voices, Listeners, Thinkers, Protectors, Pranksters and Healers. Sometimes they had more than one Gift. The most Kraang had seen was six, and that was with Kennedy.

Phantom sighed when the Kraang didn't see him. He'd learned to use his aura as cloaking, thinking: no aura, and he and whatever he wanted would disappear. However it was a new experience for him, so he used it sparingly when in combat. The computer faded and Phantom sighed and leaned against the cave. Hopefully the three beings kept working with their Gifts until he or the guys got to them… wherever they were.

(***)

"There," Mikey said and swiped the box. He and Raph flew from the pizza shop and ducked into the alley. Raph rolled his eyes at his grinning brother.

"You and your pizza," he murmured.

"Wh-what? Nom nom…" Mikey gagged himself with slices. "I can't hear you; my ears are too clogged with deliciousness, nom nom…" Raph smirked and grabbed a slice of his own and began to gnaw on it. When he glanced at his brother, Mikey's head hung and he was chewing very slowly.

"Hey, what's up?" Mikey looked at Raph with glossy eyes.

"… We just stole. We're thieves…" Mikey wiped his eyes. "What would Leo say?" Raph moved beside Mikey and put his arm around him.

"He'd say we did what we had to do."