CHAPTER TEN
Michelangelo worked at a feverish pace putting together the final image from the reality he had experienced earlier to paper. Watching the Turtle work away was Murphy, who was falling quite behind on his own material while he watched.
"That's a lot of crayons you're using" he said, looking at the empty packets that once contained the drawing tools scattered across the floor, "I reckon some of mine's been put to use too"
"Sending rapid fire regrets your way dude, sorry, I just need to get the colour right on this. I want my babe's banana raincoat looking brighter than the sun"
"You're drawing April?" Murphy asked
"Who else is needed to complete the picture? Always me and her. We're a team...to the bitter end in this case" Michelangelo replied
"What Vernon said...about those rumours...they're not true are they?" asked Murphy, scratching his head as a very taboo concept entered his thoughts
"Hey, if it were up to April, she wouldn't let it be rumour at all, heck I think she'd even love to cover our story" Michelangelo replied, putting down the pens and examining the work
"So you're the reason why she won't say anything...fair enough" Murphy said, "I draw much weirder stuff for my online store, if it's starting to filter into real life, it just means more interest in my work later down the line"
April walked back into the cubicle with two mugs of coffee, she sat one next to Michelangelo's desk.
"There, it's done" Michelangelo said, April looked upon it, a still image of Michelangelo and April at an airport, April had several bags packed, Michelangelo was standing still, a pressed daffodil in his hand, which was outstretched, reaching out and offering it to her.
"What's the significance?" she asked
"Of what?" Michelangelo said.
"The airport" April elaborated.
Michelangelo stared blankly into the distance, he looked out the window at the bright and brooding red sky lighting up the evening air. He felt himself tighten up ever so slightly, April rubbed his tense shoulders gently
"You're stiffening up, tell me what's wrong, tell me what's with the airport in the picture?" April asked
"You're leaving" Michelangelo replied
"Me? Why?" April replied
"You're going away on foreign assignment, to work for a big news corporation in Paris. Five year contract. This is us saying goodbye"
"And?"
"And what? We're parting ways, isn't it obvious? It's a sign" Michelangelo replied, a small tinge of desperation in his voice, feeling the end of the road was approaching for him in reality at this very moment.
"Mikey, you don't think these realities you're experiencing are suggesting how you'll act, how we'll act, in your legit life are you?
"It's like those dreams I had that told me the future, if the worst case scenarios in them came true, this vision's bound to as well" Michelangelo spoke, visibly beginning to shake with unnerved apprehension.
April held both of the Turtle's hands, caring little that Murphy could see what she was doing, not that it mattered, because he knew anyway, but this was a sign clear as any the decision to keep their relationship quiet had been down to Michelangelo and not her.
"Let me tell you about a dream I had over the weekend, when you were staying over at the apartment. I was watching you sleep next to the television, your mouth was hanging open and some tiny morsels of half-chewed pizza were sticking out. It was the cutest thing, you looked so innocent, and then I started reflecting more on how much more innocent you were back when I met you. Back when you, the guys, and I were so full of vitality, youth, and promise. That night in bed, I started imagining being the age you were, what my life would be like hanging out with you guys at the tender age of 16, 17 years old, not a care in the world. I romanticized it all, you came swooping in to save my family, battling invading aliens, a leaner, meaner Shredder, you may not have been the most...mature of creatures, you could be fairly obnoxious at the best of times, but you were very consistent in your bravery, you were this kind of pesky little...nick in the side of evil...y'know? There were times you got on my nerves with your childishness, but I always understood and was able to look past that, and I was always proud..."
"Then what?" Michelangelo asked
"...You guys made a mistake, you spilled mutagen all over the city, and my father paid the price for it and was mutated into a bat, I blamed myself initially, because I just stood still while it cascaded down and he had to push me out of the way and take it himself, then you guys took responsibility for causing the spill, my father flew off into the night in a rage, and I...I..said I never wanted to see you again. That's when I knew the dream had turned sour, that's when I knew it wasn't real, because the one time I turned against you guys in this life, our life, it was out of fear of the future, fear of my feelings, and in that dream it was as if I was caving into my feelings a tad too much rather than take all of ours into consideration. As justified as my anger was, I should have rose above it and understood you'd do everything in your power to put things right, I should have done the mature thing"
"Noone's mature at that age April, especially girls" Michelangelo insisted, taking his own mug and hastly drank from it, then realized it was quite hot and gagged as he felt it singe his tongue.
April took the time to enjoy a brief little laugh at her boyfriend's plight before continuing.
"But it's not in character for me is it? And that's what the real deal with this reality of yours is...it's not in character for me to abandon my friends, friends who have risked thier all for me and my loved ones, for personal desires. I'm your friend to the end, that'll always be me. Nothing, not dreams, not a splinter in the mind, not a tear in reality, can detach me, or us, from the journey we've been on together all our lives. Whatever you're facing, you're going to have me here to help you deal with it"
"Darling, you sure are a daisy" Michelangelo said, pointing to the flower the illustration had in his hand
"Let's not confine that to the funny pages" April said and kissed him gently on the lips. Murphy, sighed in awe, emotionally stirred.
"I could do with putting a little of that in my comics" he said, "Not sure what the sort say about inter-species romance though, there's bound to be a 'dear writers' fanfic made about me if I were to indulge in it" he said
"Now...do you feel you can overcome this niggle in your noggin?" April asked her boyfriend
Michelangelo scratched his head a bit, then felt a slight pang
"Something's stirring, the reality I'm experiencing...it's..."
"It's changing again? What was it before this? What came after the airport?" April asked, "What is it doing to you? What is it trying to say about me? I know whatever's affecting you sees me as a threat, first I didn't exist, then I'm abandoning you, it wants you to feel isolated Mike, you've got to fight it. What's it doing now?"
"...It's trying to...I don't know how to describe it best, but it's a bigger world than I've ever experienced, like a construction site, I'm working on it for this deadbeat boss, he's...his name is Kirby, what's the connection with that? He's went from being protective, to being an obstacle, to ordering me about, almost enslaving me. The site I'm working on is humongous, it's expanding day by day, and it feels like it's INSIDE of me, don't ask me how, but I think I've got a tumour coming along...we've got to get back to the lair, tell the guys..."
April's turtle-com went off, she answered
"Hi April, how's Mikey holding up?" asked Leonardo as his face appeared on the Turtle-com screen
"Whatever's causing him virtual insanity is getting a little more real, we're heading home so Donatello can examine him"
"I'm sorry April, Donny's gone" Leonardo replied
"We hope he'll be back in time, but that saying could kind of go two ways at the moment" Raphael added.
"Great, well we're heading back anyway, you're going to need a lot of aspirin to deal with this latest headache, April out" April said, and cut off communication to tend to Michelangelo, small pulsating veins began appearing across his head, symbolic of pressure, stress, and strain
"You and me Mike, no matter what, I'm the kind of person who'll never give up on you guys. Ever" April vowed