Abyss - Chapter 9
Rated: T
Crash
Chapter Summary: A moment of life or death can bring people closer or even further rip them apart.
First thing April became aware of was the sensation of weightlessness - a pull on her gut that had a slight feeling of nausea to take permanent residence in her stomach. There was a blaring siren and the sound of an explosion. The sense of reality did not feel right and a sense of shock washed over her before she found the floor coming closer to her before she slammed face first into the metal flooring. Reality cleared up the shock and she pushed herself off the floor and wiped at the wet trail of blood leaking from her mouth.
The smell of smoke wafted into her nostrils and the cold hand of dread put her stomach in a choke-hold. She wanted to scream but her throat wouldn't cooperate as she stood to shaking feet to the floor that wouldn't stop moving. Sirens continued to blare as she hobbled like a dangerously drunk person toward the exit of the bedroom and found herself enraptured in utter chaos.
The turtles, Casey, and Fugitoid were scattered across the expanse of the main area. Mikey was nursing a bleeding leg as Leo held the youngest turtle close to himself and an object affixed to the ground to avoid them from being thrown back into the air. Donnie and Fugitoid were buckled near the controls as they tried to control the ship but the sense of panic was so thick, April was certain this was it and her eyes searched for the two missing occupants in complete fear.
"Red!" Casey screamed from across the room.
Big blue eyes stared at her human friend and the obvious concern written on his face as she tried to make her way to him when her knees suddenly buckled underneath her.
"What the shell's goin' on!?" the voice of Raphael broke out from across the threshhold to the kitchen area, his arm bleeding and April's stomach churned as she made his way toward Fugitoid and Donatello on quite steady feet.
There wasn't much chance for a reply from anyone as the ship lurched yet again and a sudden explosion hit along the window, the glass making a horrendous crackling noise.
Fugitoid let out a sound of panic when the thrusters or lasers wouldn't respond and April began shaking at the appearance of millions of meteors pummeled the ship. The robot launching himself toward the glass and immediately blasting it with wave after wave of high-powered lasers knowing if the glass gave, they were all doomed. "GET YOUR SUITS ON!" the robot's voice screeched, the sound of panic sounding much more human than machine at this point.
Leo was the first to move, running toward where April resided, before passing her and yanking out their suits from the room she'd just vacated. "Mikey! Get this on!" Leo screamed, throwing the youngest turtle the helmet which the he quickly obeyed.
"Donnie! Casey!" Leo continued, tossing both of them their respective helmets before putting his own on.
"April! Raph!" he said, tossing April both of the helmets before going further into the room to retrieve their other gear in the off-chance they had to abandon the ship.
April tried to meet Raph's eyes so she could toss him his helmet but he payed no attention to her; instead hobbling over to Mikey in order to help him bandage up his leg. But the scene didn't last long as a sudden lurch had them all flying across the ship and slamming into the adjoining wall like ragdolls. Donnie let out a yelp as he smashed into Casey and they both tumbled to the far end of the room in a heap of limbs. Leo kept his grasp on the wall which was the only reason he remained upright on the floor. Raph's head smashed into the wall but even as blood dripped down his face, he still valiantly held Mikey down by using his own body to wedge his smaller brother in the corner to make sure he didn't move and further aggravate his leg further. April found herself mobile again, rolling uncontrollably toward the console in the middle of the room and her arm slamming into the unforgiving metal. Just when it seemed the worst of it was over, the lights went out bathing them in seemingly eternal darkness.
When April's eyes opened, she was nursing a sprained elbow as she lifted herself up to a seated position. There was nothing around her but complete darkness, the only light came from the bright eyes of the Fugitoid and she crawled slowly toward the panicking robot.
The lights suddenly flashed on and April nearly screamed at the scene that awaited her. Donnie and Casey were slowly trying to recover from their impromptu tumble, Leo hadn't returned from the adjoining room, and Mikey was shaking and crying while Raph struggled to breath with the lack of air caused by the cracks in the windows. April looked down at the helmet and was about to call out and throw him his helmet but when the screen suddenly lit up, all thoughts fell to the wayside. A massive asteroid that was headed straight toward their ship with absolutely no way to dodge it considering the condition the ship was in.
Fugitoid noticed her presence and began rambling a million miles an hour; hitting her with equations and words such as "If we don't figure this out within mere moments, there's only 1 quintillionth chance of survival" - "I-I can't do this!" - "Nothing is responding!" - "We're doomed!"
After a long moment, Fugitoid grew silent, his hands frantic before resting upon the console and looking at her from where she was able to stand upright.
Everything froze - her eyes looking upon the ship and her friends - no - family. It couldn't end this way...there was no way after all the hell they'd been through this far that a freakin' meteor shower was going to spell the end for all of them. The entire Earth and its population was counting on them - and with that, April REFUSED.
There was a spark that ignited deep in her - a power that lay dormant much like the fact she was part Kraang - those powerful beings that could manipulate time and space with ease - a power that lay right within her. With the techniques Fugitoid taught her, April harnessed that energy as she stood to much steadier feet. With a rigid stance, April stared at the incoming rocks hurling toward them at incredible rate of speed, the dust crashing into the window that still continued to splinter and create deeper spider web cracks that would certainly shatter soon; hurtling them all to certain doom if the meteor didn't finish them off first.
April's eyes closed as she focused on that spark inside of her - the pink aura she wasn't aware of until she'd been thrown into the new reality of knowing the turtle ninjas that lived in the sewers of the city. Became aware of a world of mutants and monsters she never would have ever known existed if it wasn't for them. This incredible power that lay dormant in her fragile human body and she was going to put it to good use - for the sake of the Earth, Fugitoid, Casey, Donnie, Mikey, Leo...and Raphael...
Blue steel eyes flew open and fingers gravitated to her forehead - she'd concentrated all of her energy on everything around her and once it locked on, there was a burst of light that flared behind her eyes whiting out her vision. The searing white pain caused a scream to escape from her throat and her legs to tremble underneath her light weight as wave after wave of power washed over her and the entire ship that was headed for certain destruction disappeared in the blink of an eye.
They reappeared into blackness, the curve of a nearby planet bleeping into the ship's censors. A welcomed sight for the heavily damaged ship and there was not any meteors or debris to be seen.
"...Miss April, you saved us..." Fugitoid said, the wonder not lost in that robotic voice box as he looked upon the sight that greeted all of them. They were safe and in relatively close distance to a planet that would have many of the resources needed to fix the damage done by the hurtling meteors.
"Yeah..." April mumbled after a lack of not knowing exactly what to say, rising to wobbling legs, looking down at her hands and wondering just what the hell just happened. She heard a familiar groan and her first thoughts were on Raphael, who had sustained the worst injuries. The trail of blood and deep bruising looked quite painful as he made his way to a seated position. Considering how close the glass was to shattering and the fact he was the only one without a helmet...it could have ended so tragically that April did not even want to fathom the thought of it - of losing him...
"April?! Are you okay?" Donnie's voice rung out about the cabin but April paid it no heed because without even realizing what she was doing, she found herself walking over to the hotheaded terrapin that was cradling his bleeding face.
April kneeled next to the terrapin and reached out and touched his face in order to get a better look at the wound when she suddenly found herself being pushed onto her rump from a forceful push.
"Don't touch me!" Raphael growled after pushing the young redhead to the ground and by the flash of recognition flashing in his green eyes, it was apparent he didn't expect to push her or those words to actually come from his mouth.
"What the shell, Raph!? She was just trying to help! What's your problem!?" Mikey exclaimed, staring at his older brother in abject shock of his sudden action.
"It's nothing, Mike..."
"It doesn't look like nothing, dude! Seriously, what the heck!?" Mikey grumbled and the look that crossed his older brother's face had a tremble go throughout his shell.
"Drop it. ...H-How's your leg? Can you move it?" Raphael replied, changing the subject, his green eyes piercing Mikey's baby blue in a look that clearly stated 'don't push your luck'.
Mikey wanted to further react to the fact that Raph was being downright rude to April but by the look his older brother was giving him, he knew he needed to keep his mouth shut even if he wanted to live to see his next birthday.
"I-It's fine. I don't think the cut is that deep." Mikey mumbled after a moment, looking down at the vertical cut that marred his bright green skin.
"Good. I think we should have Fugitoid cauterize it anyway." Raph mumbled while wiping a trail of blood that began dripping into his eye.
April stood to wobbling legs as she tried her damnedest not to start crying at Raphael's action and the fact her fall that he caused may have further injured her elbow. Her body shook with the energy she'd expelled and she wasn't exactly certain how she was still standing. Raph pushing her down when she was only trying to help was perhaps the final straw as she hobbled away from the two and to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit for herself and the others.
Ignoring the tense atmosphere, Fugitoid put the ship on a course for the nearby planet before roaming around the cabin to access the injuries sustained in the near crash. "Is everyone alright?" he asked while approaching Casey who got knocked unconscious.
Donnie stared silently at the scene that transpired between his crush and his older brother for a long time - heart hammering in his chest as he cradled his bleeding shoulder. The look that flashed across April and Raph's face was one that explained everything that had been transpiring these past couple days in dreadful clarity. A moment that happened so fast that if he would have blinked, he would have missed it. How April ignored him to approach his older brother...how Raphael, even for a hothead, reacted completely irrationally to April just wanting to help...
It was at this very moment that everything and yet nothing made sense at the same time.
His heart lurched inside of his chest and he wondered how he on Earth he missed something so obvious before...
