A Million Miles Apart
A/N: Triceraton time people! And yes, I am gonna include them hating the Kraang and wanting to destroy them, just like in the actual series, but it won't be too necessary for the story right now. That'll come in later.
And here I come with a new question, that I'm giving you. How much do you think I should include Donnie's brothers, Splinter, April and Casey in this story? Every other chapter, every fifth chapter or not that often at all? I have an idea for they're gonna go through, later in the story, but up until that point where they think Donnie is dead, how much should I include them? You, the reader, tell me your thoughts!
Hope you'll enjoy the chapter and please review, favorite and follow!
Chapter 9, Triceraton encounter!
One must ask oneself, 'how far am I willing to go in order to have things go my way?' In my case, I had decided to put my trust in a complete stranger to help the Professor and me get off this planet. And not just any stranger, but an alien girl who was the sister of Moriah, the daughter of the general! That was practically asking for more trouble than I already had. But, if it meant getting away from here, then it might be worth it. It better be worth it. Or I think I might have a meltdown.
At the moment we were all hiding behind a few containers, taking a break from sneaking through the streets and from hiding from the soldiers that were still running around, looking for us. At this rate we would arrive at that tavern that Jhanna had talked about by nighttime. Jhanna had sneaked out into the town square and had sneaked some food out of a few of the stands, since the Professor and I were wanted by everyone on this planet.
"Didn't you just call me out for trying to steal, when you're doing the exact same thing?" I pointed out once she got back and gave me some of the food she had snatched. She shrugged and bit into something that looked like a mix of a tomato and an apple, but tasted more like something closer to a citrus fruit. It wasn't that great, but not inedible.
"Just because I do something wrong doesn't mean I don't know it's wrong. And besides, I'm the daughter of General Blanque. It gives you quite a few benefits. No one'll accuse me of stealing because of that fact. You? Well, you're just a plain fugitive alien. They'll arrest you in seconds." I glared at her and lowered the fruit from my mouth.
"Well, you're a big old hypocrite, aren't you?" Jhanna rolled her eyes at me, swallowed down another bite of her fruit and shrugged nonchalantly. I started to nibble on what was left of the fruit in my hand, but I suddenly got hit with another sting of homesickness. I remembered that I had called Leo a hypocrite during our fight back at the Lair. And at the moment, I started to think about whether he was a hypocrite or not. I mean, Leo always thinks of the best for the team. But still, he hadn't even tried to listen to me! And thinking of the best for the team didn't give him any reason to act like a jerk! Still, Leo was my big brother, I loved him and I missed him. And he would probably have a much better plan ready by now than I do.
"Donatello? Are you alright?" I looked up and saw both Jhanna and the Professor looking at me, although Jhanna looked rather uncaring. I then realized that tears were running down my face and I quickly wiped them away. I couldn't seriously start crying now, of all times! It wouldn't do anything to help anyone! I tried to smile.
"I... No, no, I'm fine Professor. I guess I'm just tired and it's just taking its toll on me. I'm fine, really." Jhanna just rolled her eyes yet again and swallowed down some fig colored chips- that I thought tasted like a mix of ham and turkey- and looked away from me. The Professor, however, put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.
"Are you sure? You said something about a family when we left my cave. Something about brothers? Is there something you wish to talk about? It might make you feel better." This caught Jhanna's attention and she looked at me curiously with a raised eyebrow. I bit my lip and looked down at the ground. I picked up some of those chips and nibbled on them.
"No, I don't want to talk about it. No offense, Professor, but I've only known you for a few days, and I don't think I want to tell you my entire life story and about my family just yet. Maybe later, though." The Professor nodded and leaned back against the container. He respected my space, and I really appreciated that. Especially since I had some emotional baggage to work through. Jhanna swallowed down the last few chips and slowly sat up.
"Come on, let's get moving! We have to get to that tavern before night falls. From then on, even more soldiers will be out and look for us. I- I mean you!" I raised my eyebrow in confusion at her when she said 'us' and when she so quickly corrected herself. But I just shrugged it off and we all started to move again.
We all ran up the street and tried to keep to the shadows. I had talked to Jhanna about it and she had actually agreed to stick to the shadows. She was surprisingly stealthy and her agile body moved swiftly from shadow to shadow like, well, kind of like an actual shadow. She actually reminded me of a real kunoichi. And gave off a better aura than her sister did. Still, that didn't mean that I could trust her. Or that I even wanted to trust her, for that matter.
Five hours prior...
The alleyway was dark and there wasn't much light, other than the few streetlights and the light of the stars and the moons. Only a fool would be out in this neighborhood at night, but I really had to do this. I sneaked towards an old abandoned warehouse and walked in. And while I walked, I thought over what I was doing. Was I really that smart, doing this right now? I mean, General Blanque was a brute and a dictator and he deserved to be destroyed by our enemies, but betraying him like this? I was practically asking to be executed! Still, it would be much better than this life.
"Miss Lonae, I had hoped that you would make it. I have waited for you." I jumped at the deep voice that rang throughout the room and in the faint light that shone through the windows and the cracks in the walls, I could make out the big, bulky and dangerous form of a Triceraton, our planet's sworn enemy for centuries. Commander Mozar stepped forward and looked down at me.
"It surprises me that a Federation Soldier, such as yourself, is willing to betray her people in such a manner. Care to tell me exactly why you are seeing me, and what kind of information you have that you claim is so valuable to us, as a means to destroy your people?" I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and looked the Triceraton straight in the eyes, feeling my knees wobble underneath me.
"I- I don't exactly know. General Blanque is a tyrant and a monster, and I would much rather die than let my people become monsters like he is. And maybe letting us all die is much better than let everything go downhill like this." I took another deep breath and looked up at the alien again.
"A-and I have information of a weapon that General Blanque claims is the key for total domination of the entire galaxy, maybe even the universe! And you may finally have your revenge on your sworn enemies, those aliens that destroyed your planet. And I know how you can get it." Mozar turned to me with wide eyes and I knew I had his full attention. He grabbed my wrist, his rough hand almost ripping off my arm, and lifted me off the ground, making it possible for us to see eye to eye.
"I will pay you any amount you want, but in exchange, you will tell me everything you know about this weapon and the person who has it! Every single detail, every single fact and every single thing that you know! And I do mean everything." I felt my arm ache, like it was close to ripping from my body altogether, and I closed my eyes in pain. I couldn't help but whimper in pain, but I tried to ignore it and looked Mozar straight in the eyes.
"Okay, there's this robot, the Fugitoid, or Professor Honeycutt..."
Well, here we are. The tavern that Jhanna claimed was crawling heavily with smugglers that could help us get off this planet. Aliens were walking in and out of the place all the time, each one looking more strange and scary than the last. We were currently hiding in an alleyway, discussing what to do now.
"Okay, so we're here. Now what do we do? Just waltz right in? I mean, everybody on the planet knows our faces and that the Federation wants to have us captured. Or at least the Fugitoid. Any ideas, Jhanna?" I looked over at the blue-skinned girl and she hummed in thought. Something dark and flowing caught my eye and I looked up to see a clothesline with laundry hanging from it. From the line hung a few long brown cloaks with hoods, perfect for if you want to hide your face! I smirked to myself and stood up from where I had been crouching.
"You know, on second thought, I think I have an idea on how we can get in there undetected. It's time for the old ninjutsu art of disguise." I reached up and grabbed one of the cloaks, yanked it off the clothesline and put it on, pulled up the hood and wrapped the brown cloth around me so no one would be able to see anything of me. The Professor and Jhanna looked at me, and Jhanna raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Don't you think that's a bit conspicuous? I mean, you look as if you're trying to hide something. Or yourself. People are gonna look at you either way." I shrugged and pulled the hood off so I could look her in the eyes.
"Yeah, well, I'd rather that these aliens look at me because I look strange rather than because I'm a fugitive. Now, are you gonna do this, or do you have a better idea?" I sounded defiant and I knew she probably hated me by now, or just really didn't like me anyway. But we had to keep moving, or we might get caught. The Professor also grabbed one of the brown cloaks and put it on, but as Jhanna did the same thing, I looked at her in surprise and lightly grabbed her by the elbow.
"Hey, why do you want to sneak around anyway? I mean, it's not like you're a fugitive or a criminal." Jhanna glared up at me, yanked her arm back and shoved me roughly, making me stumble a little.
"That's none of your business! All you need to know is that I want to leave this place, and nobody can know about it! Nobody, do you hear me?" I nodded and she nodded curtly back at me. "Good." She turned around and walked closer to the streets to see how many aliens there were at the entrance, so I pulled the Professor aside and whispered to him so Jhanna wouldn't hear me.
"Why does she hate me? What have I done to make her act like a jerk towards me?" The Professor shook his head and placed his hand on my shoulder. It was good to know at least somebody was acting like my friend.
"Oh no, she doesn't hate you, Donatello. Jhanna just likes to test people, that's all. She is a nice girl, but very reserved. She'll let you in eventually. Don't you worry." He patted me on the shoulder and we walked up to Jhanna. She was kneeling down on the ground, looking at the entrance, and I knelt down next to her, but still gave her a bit of space.
"So what do you say, Jhanna? Are we good to go?" Jhanna had her eyes fixated on the door that was still crawling heavily with aliens going in and out of the building. She nodded slowly, pulled her hood over her head and stood up.
"Okay, let's go!" The Professor and I pulled our hoods over our heads and we all walked as casually as possible up to the entrance without attracting too many looks. I felt the stares burn through the cloak, but I knew I had to bear with it for a while, until we could leave this planet.
The tavern was relatively big, filled with all kinds of aliens, and the heat was unbearable. I guess that was because of all the people in here, but still. I had to fight the urge to tear off the cloak right here and now. My brothers and I had never been in a tavern, or a room filled with so many people (obviously), and it felt really uncomfortable. I accidentally ran into a big fat alien with blue-purple skin, about ten eyes and four-fingered hands. He yelled angrily at me, but in a new and different language that I couldn't, for the life of me, understand, so I just mumbled apologies and hurried after Jhanna and the Professor, who'd had found a table and sat themselves down. I sat down beside the Professor and leaned in close to them so we could talk without anyone hearing us.
"Okay, so now what do we do, Jhanna? How do we know whose a smuggler in this hullabaloo? And even if we do find some smugglers, what are we gonna say? 'Hey, is it okay if we hitch a ride with you when you leave here?' Or do you have a plan?" Jhanna glared and leaned closer to me.
"Why do I always have to have do everything? You have a brain too, right? Why don't you help come up with something? Or is that too hard for you? Do the life forms on your planet not think for themselves?" I knew I should ignore her and I knew I had to keep myself from blowing our cover, but to do that I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't
"Okay, look here, missy. I don't know what your problem is, but I am really growing sick of your attitude! In case you hadn't noticed it already, I'm not from this part of the universe, much less this planet! I don't know how things on your planet work, I don't know how to find anything here and I can't read or understand your stupid language, so cut me some slack here, okay? Out of the three of us, you have the best idea as to how we get off this planet, it was your idea to come here, you promised to help us, so maybe you could follow through on your promise, and actually help us!" I hissed as loudly as I dared to her, and she was taken slightly aback at my response. But she quickly recovered and leaned even closer to my face.
"Oh yeah? Well, that doesn't mean that you can act like you can't think at all! You can try to help too, you know, and not be some useless dead weight for the Professor and me to carry! Or maybe you think that The Professor and I have to do all the thinking here, or what?" I knew I should ignore her and let my anger wash away, like Splinter had told Raph so many times in the past, but I couldn't help it! This girl was driving me insane! I leaned closer to Jhanna and hissed just a little louder.
"Well, excuse me, Princess! But whose idea was it to hide in the shadows and be stealthy instead of running up the streets in the light? Mine. And whose idea was it to use these cloaks to disguise ourselves? Mine! So stop acting like you're doing everything on your own, 'cause you're not! Drop the diva act!" Jhanna's face was almost purple in anger, and she opened her mouth to respond, but the Professor placed his hands on our chests and pushed us away from each other.
"Please, you two, stop fighting! We have to focus on getting off this planet and to someplace safer than this; that's what's important right now. Not fighting. Now, Jhanna? What do you think is the best way to go from here?" Jhanna glared at me for a second, closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. She opened her mouth to respond, when...
*KABOOM*
An explosion was heard throughout the whole building and almost everybody got down on the floor to protect themselves from flying rubble. After all the dust and smoke had cleared I looked over my shoulder, and saw that in the wall at the other end of the room was a giant hole, and Federation soldiers were running in with guns at the ready. I looked at both Jhanna and the Professor and motioned to get under the table. They nodded and we all did so. From where we were, I could see the soldiers (but they couldn't see me) and then I saw something even worse. Moriah was with them! She had a gun in her hand and looked as elegant as a cobra and just as dangerous.
"Okay, everybody down on the floor, now!" Every alien in the room went down on their knees and tried to find protection from the guns and the soldiers. Moriah walked around in the room, clearly enjoying scaring these poor aliens and every now and then she placed the gun to an alien's head, scaring the creature out of its mind. This girl was sick! Jhanna was looking at Moriah from under the table and scowling.
"What is she doing here? She's gonna ruin everything!" She mumbled and crawled farther under the table. I looked at Jhanna and got the impression that she didn't have a very good relationship with her sister. Moriah was now standing in the middle of the room and looking out over the aliens, cowering on their knees, shaking in fear.
"Okay, Professor Zayton Honeycutt! We know you're here! We tracked your signal to this place, and if you don't come with us willingly, we'll start executing civilians! I'll give you one minute!" She gave a few soldiers a small signal with her hand and they ran toward a group of aliens and picked out a few, pointing their guns to their heads. I felt my jaw hit the floor. How could anyone be this ruthless as to kill innocent bystanders just to get what they wanted? This was more than inhumane; it was... It was... Oh, I can't think of a good enough word for it! Jhanna tapped me on the arm and motioned towards a back door.
"Come on, now's our chance! We can leave through that door, and take one of the ships parked out there! Hurry, we don't have much time!" I felt conflicted. I wanted nothing more than to leave and find my way back home again and never see another alien for the rest of my life. But there were innocent aliens here who would die if we left them like this. I couldn't just leave them to die, could I?
"But... what about them? They'll die if we don't do something!" Jhanna grabbed my arm and tugged on it. She was both impatient and nervous and tried to pull me out from underneath the table.
"Look, in this world, you can't save everybody! It's an alien-eat-alien world out there! Sometimes you do horrible things if you want to survive; now come on!" I let her drag me away and we started to crawl towards the door, but the Professor refused to follow us.
"No! I am not about to let innocent beings be executed because of me! I won't stand for it!" Jhanna started to look more and more frantic and looked from the door to the Professor and then back again.
"Zayton, please, we have to leave, now! If we don't leave now, it might take forever to find another ship to sneak aboard; we have to go now!" But the Professor just shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Oh, why did every single person I knew have to be stubborn? Why could I never meet somebody who was more willing to go along with plans and not refuse to listen?
*KABOOM*
Another explosion was heard and we hurried back under the table again, partly because of flying debris and rubble and partly so no one from the Federation would see us. But this time there weren't any Federation Soldiers that ran in through the hole in the wall; this time it was about fifteen big, bulky, and strong-looking aliens. And once the dust and smoke started to clear away, I saw that they looked oddly enough like Triceratops! Like, mutant versions of dinosaurs! The biggest one, who I guess was the leader, stepped forward and pointed his gun towards the aliens and the Federation soldiers.
"Spread out, men, find the Fugitoid now! Prime Leader Zanramon wants him alive! Find that robot!" The other dinosaurs started roam through the building, and now all the aliens on the floor got to their feet and ran for their lives, shoving each other to try and get out of the building, and the Federation seemed too blown away by the interruption to do anything to stop them. Moriah pressed on a button on a gauntlet she had on her arm -that I recognized as her scanning device- and yelled into it.
"Moriah to base, we need backup! Triceratons are attacking! I repeat, Triceratons are attacking, we need backup!" She then gripped her gun a bit tighter in her hands and attacked. Laser beams flew across the room and the bodies of Federation soldiers hit the floor every now and then. The laser bullets hit a couple of wires and fire started to spread in the room. I turned to Jhanna and Honeycutt, who also looked out over the spectacle with surprise and a bit of fear.
"Who are these guys? And what are they?" The Professor turned to me and leaned closer to whisper in my ear.
"They're Triceratons, one of the biggest threats in the galaxy and one of the Federation's most hated enemies! I can't imagine what they're doing here." Jhanna turned to him with a slightly sour look on her face.
"No? Well, I can. Now come on, the civilians are out of the way now! We can leave, right? If we don't leave now, we'll burn alive!" The Professor nodded, but before we could move an inch, somebody lifted the table up and threw it across the room, hitting a couple of Federation soldiers, killing them instantly. And when I looked up, I saw a big, ugly Triceraton look down on us and before we could move, he grabbed the Professor by the arm with one hand, and me a Jhanna with the other. Jhanna kicked and screamed and struggled in his grip and I tried to fight against the big alien's grip on me, but it was no use. He was way too strong.
"Commander Mozar! I have the Fugitoid, but what do I do with his little friends? Shall I destroy them?" Their leader, Mozar, turned to us and looked us over. But before he could answer, the Professor yelled at him over the fire and the fighting.
"No, please don't harm my friends! Please, I'll do anything; just don't harm them!" Mozar heard this and hummed in thought. Then he saw that the fire was spreading and waved at the Triceraton who held us.
"Bring them along, they might be useful. Now, come on! This place is crumbling!" The Triceraton started dragging Jhanna and me like a child dragging a wagon. Both Jhanna and I kicked and screamed and tried to get away, but nothing worked. The Triceraton didn't even seem to notice our struggling.
He dragged us over to a spaceship, along with two other Triceratons, and he threw Jhanna to one of them and me to the other, like we were a pair of rag dolls.
"Take these two with you and lock them inside the storage room! And prepare some oxygen converters for them; we're going to need them alive if Mozar finds them useful! I'll handle the Fugitoid!" The two Triceratons nodded, pulling us over to their spaceship. We heard the Professor cry out for help, but we were powerless to assist him. The two Triceratons threw me and Jhanna into a small, cramped little room in their ship and threw a pair of small devices at us before they shut the door and locked it. I immediately got up from the floor and threw myself at the door and tried force it open. Jhanna also tried to help open the door, but after a while we both realized that it was no use. I picked it up one of the small devices in the floor and looked it over. A small metal box, not much bigger than a Band-Aid box with two buttons on one side and a long plastic tube. I looked at Jhanna who had also picked up the device and had placed the tube in her mouth and fastened the box in her belt and then pressed a small green button on the side, so I did the same. After I was done, I sat down on the floor, leaned back against the wall and tried to keep myself together. Jhanna kicked the wall in anger and then leaned back against it as well.
"Well, this is just fantastic! We're not only captured, but we're captured by Triceratons! This cannot possible get any worse!" I looked up at her and took a deep breath to keep my emotions at bay.
"Y-you mean we're doomed? That we won't be able to escape?" Jhanna shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Not from what I've heard. These Triceratons will most likely kill us if we're not useful to them. And if we are useful to them, they'll lock us up in their prisons! And from what I've heard, no one's been able to escape from them! It's both a prison and a gladiator arena, you fight for your life every day and then you get to sleep in a small cell with little to no food. We're doomed either way, the way I see it." I felt the tears burn in my eyes, and it was getting harder and harder to hold them back. I had blown it! I had lost my chance to get back home again! The Professor was gone with the Triceratons and we were off to a prison no one had ever escaped from! I would never see my family again! And then, I just couldn't hold it back anymore. My tears fell and I started to sob into my arms and pulled my knees up to my chest. I heard Jhanna gasp in surprise and she walked up closer to me.
"Hey, what's the matter with you? I mean, you don't exactly look like that super strong and tough type of guy, but I didn't take you for a crybaby!" She didn't sound that accusing, but I still felt a bit offended by this. I looked up at her, thick tears streaming from my eyes, and I shook my head.
"N-no, you don't get it! I blew it! I blew my one chance to get back home to my family!" I buried my face in my arms and kept on sobbing. "I had one chance to get home and see my family again, and I blew it! I tried the best that I could, and I still failed!" I know I sounded like baby, but I couldn't help it. Jhanna didn't say anything, but I felt an awkward hand on my shoulder, which wasn't much, but it helped a little. I looked up at her and she tried to smile, though it was pretty stiff.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Look- Donatello, right?" I nodded and tried to dry my eyes, although it was pretty pointless, seeing how more tears just came anyway. Jhanna patted me on the shoulder. "Okay. Look Donatello, I know you don't like me, and I'm not so sure of what to think of you just yet. But if we want to get away from their prison alive and save the Professor, we have to stick together. We won't stand a chance on our own, and right now the Professor needs us! So, think we might be able to start over? And try to act more like adults instead of children?" I looked up at her and saw that she was sincere and was trying to look nicer, even though her smile looked a little bit forced. I smiled back, dried my eyes and nodded.
"Sure, I guess we can try. And, uh you can call me Donnie, if you'd like. All my friends and my family do." Jhanna smiled at me, a real smile this time, and for the first time since I met her, I started to feel like she might be a good ally to have. Maybe I wasn't so crazy to trust her after all?
Or maybe I was?
A/N: Uh oh! Things are looking pretty bad for Donnie and his friends! But good news for them, more allies are on the way, maybe! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review favorite and follow!