Rating: Overall story rated T

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, and disturbing situations.

Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's safer to risk walking in open daylight and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and a collaboration between sampsonknight and Zelgadis55.

A/N: Neither of us are scientists. Anything scientific-based contained within this story must be taken with a grain of artistic scifi/fantasy salt.

I tried to upload this earlier but every time I tried to go in, it had trouble loading the 'log-in' section O_o"

Laurakie - of course, there's a cliffhanger of one type or another. What kind of story doesn't have one? Haha. Though that said, this chapter's isn't as much of one :-P yeah, I don't think things'll get much better any time soon, mwahahaha. Not sure I can make it better considering my writing partner is Sampsonknight! Pst! She's pure evil, ya know? Sorry, I didn't know you from DA as I haven't been going there this last year except a brief pop on once in a blue moon (though I did go there and look you up after this review). DA kinda lost me completely with its revamp (which seems to be anti-writer) which is a shame since it was DA that got me back into writing.

Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.

Sekai no Owari

Ch 12

With Donnie keeping Leonardo entertained for the time being, Mikey cautiously approached April with a bowl of mashed up turtle pellets, handing it to her.

Taking it, she didn't say anything. Instead, crossing her fingers that Raph wouldn't be fussy about eating it, she offered a spoonful to him. Surprisingly, he opened his mouth wide, almost inhaling the spoon out of her hand.

Relieved by the sight, Mikey pulled up a stool and sat down near April, marvelling as she fed his baby brother. It was hard to imagine Raph being that small and helpless and yet, there he was. Gone was the anger and acerbic nature, replaced with an innocence he couldn't remember them ever having. He reached over a finger, to lightly touch Raph's soft, scaly skin and was surprised when Raph grabbed it tightly with a strength he wouldn't have believed from something so small. Mikey chuckled lightly as Raph tugged at him, waving his hand up and down as he ate.

Saying nothing and avoiding eye contact, April just continued to feed Raph, so Mikey made his move. "I'm sorry, Ape, I didn't mean to push you back there but that's something we have to know. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," April said quietly, giving Raph another spoonful that ended up with him grabbing the spoon and splashing it into the bowl as he squealed.

Mikey nodded and kept quiet for a few seconds as he gathered his thoughts. "April?"

"Yeah."

"I have to ask..." he hesitated, afraid of the answer. "Does this mean, you aren't immune? Like the rest of us? Because if not, then you going out there without us knowing, that was really dangerous!"

"I am..." she whispered.

"But... you just said it doesn't work on humans so... how?" he asked in shock.

"No, it doesn't..." April sighed, biting her lip. "I guess since it worked on me I'm not fully human anymore... whatever that would mean."

Mikey stared agape. "You still look like you, so what's that supposed to mean?" His gaze trailed her up and down, looking for anything different that he had missed.

April shrugged. "Before we made the call to use the drug, we didn't realise beforehand that there was one hiccup, your bodies took the drug as it should be, mine? … didn't. Donnie realised then that it wouldn't work on humans and no matter what we did we couldn't get it to do so. That is why it wasn't tested fully to see if it works since he focused on why my body was rejecting it."

"Oh..."

"When you almost got bitten that day, Leo pushed the drug and I did as well. Donnie tried to refuse at first since it wasn't possible for it to work on me. At our continued insistence, however, he brought me to the side and asked me if I trusted him. He told me he had an unorthodox way to give me immunity. I pointed out that I was human and asked that even if he had a way, how would it work? He wouldn't tell me what he was up to though, just asked again if I trusted him. I guess he was afraid if he told me that I would say no. So I agreed. When I did, he promised me that nothing would change that I would notice and when I asked him what he meant, he avoided the question yet again."

"So, then what happened?" Mikey asked more softly than anyone thought he was truly capable of speaking.

"You know when we were all given the drug and… I fainted?" April asked.

"Yeah," Mikey nodded, still allowing Raph to play with his finger.

"I wasn't given the drug but a sedative instead. He planned that I would take that and he would tell you all that I was just experiencing a side effect of the immunity drug and I just needed rest. During that time he would do what was needed to be done to make the drug work on me. He told me it was easier that way for no one would let him do it if you guys found out what he was up to so he had to do it behind your shells," April explained softly, still not taking her eyes off of Raphael in her excuse to avoid eye contact with Mikey.

Mikey clenched his free hand, unable to believe his gentle, peace-loving brother would hide something like that from the rest of them. "So what exactly did he do?" he asked, the faintest hint of tenseness in his voice.

"I don't know," April admitted truthfully.

"You let him do something to you without knowing what?" Mikey asked, aghast. Sure, he trusted his brother with his life, they all did, but what April was describing... Out of everyone, she at least should have known!

"He couldn't bring himself to tell me and at the moment the only thing I cared about was you guys. We all lost so much that I guess I denied what was going on in order to continue living. When I woke up, he said he had done his tests and it was successful and then injected me with the immunity drug. After that, I didn't really feel good so I didn't question him again. Three days later, after you probably noticed how sick I was during those days, he told me that he can't tell me what he had done but if I really had to know it was in his files hidden in that compartment."

Mikey turned his head, looking towards the lab.

"But as you can tell, I never did take a look," April fiddled her thumbs causing Raph to grab them, taking it as a game. "I guess I'm afraid to and maybe I always wanted him to fess up and trust me... the way I trust him."

Mikey turned back to her, taking in her body language. "But are you alright with not knowing? I mean, Donnie can't tell you now, not unless he reads it and I know he will. Dude's always had a voracious appetite when it comes to knowledge. The question is, will whatever he reads sit well with him? I mean, he's only twelve now," he pointed out, pain oozing in his voice like a burst pustule.

"Why you think I was reluctant to mention the files? He couldn't even handle telling me when he was older. And of course, I want to know Mikey… Yes, I understand the only way I can find out now is to read it myself… but can I?… Do I really want to? It's one of those things where you wonder if not knowing is better than knowing. I don't want to see him any less than the person I always have. I don't want to hate him," April whimpered. She knew from the way he'd acted that what he did stressed him out so much that she understood his deed must have been against all his ethics and the kind of person he was and yet he'd still been desperate enough to do it

"And yet we need to know that Donnie, Leo and Raph are still immune..." Mikey whispered. "We have to read it but the only two that have a chance in understanding and being able to check are you and Donnie. And as for Donnie... does he still even have the knowledge to be able to check... He's still scary-smart but that's like ten years of learning and experience he's lost."

"I know..." April stood up, passing Raph to Mikey. "I guess I have no choice..."

"Wait! How do I hold him so he doesn't start screaming again?" Mikey asked quickly before she could walk away. "Or throw up on me again for that matter."

"Well, I was hoping you would follow me and it would be easier if I had my hands free. Anyway, he only cries when I am out of sight by the looks of things." April pointed out with a small smile, then added, "but you don't have to come... I..."

"I'm coming but still, show me how to hold him properly," Mikey agreed, getting up to follow her. "He's my brother; I need to know."

-:-

Clearing a table and moving it to the medical bed, April placed the file in front of her as Mikey sat beside her with Raph. Taking a breath, she dared to open the file, reading from line to line.

"Cootchie, cootchie coo!" Mikey teased, tickling Raph while April read the file.

Raph giggled away, kicking him back for the tickles as April paused and blinked at the page she was on, rereading what it said over again.

Biting her lip, she suddenly poked Mikey in the arm.

Mikey looked up questioningly while his fingers continued to play with his brother, ignoring the kicks he was being peppered with.

She pointed to the page at the word above a DNA diagram, "Please tell me what that word says," she asked him.

"Donatello?" Mikey ventured in confusion after staring for a moment. "Did you suddenly forget how to read our names or something?"

Shooting him a nasty glare, she snapped at him, "No Michelangelo, I was making sure that I wasn't seeing things considering what this page is all about."

He grinned cheekily. "And what is it about?"

"Gene splicing…" she said darkly.

Mikey raised his eye ridges questioningly. "Only thing I know about that is from sci-fi and that it's never good. 'Space Seed' and 'Wrath of Khan' ring any bells?"

"No," she said dryly.

"Really? 'Star Trek'?" Mikey gasped in mock shock. "The first is a classic episode with genetically enhanced people who are faster, stronger and smarter than the general population and they think that entitles them to rule. The second is a movie set years later based on that episode. Great movie but a definite lesson in the dangers of gene splicing," Mikey explained gravely.

"Well Mikey this isn't Sci-fi and from what I read so far, Donnie acquired an artefact from one of your missions that can splice DNA. He mentioned it was called the 'Phoenix's Ashes'."

Mikey winced and asked in horror. "Seriously? He used that horrible thing?"

"Mikey?" April looked at him.

"You know why it was called that?" Mikey asked seriously.

"Well I'm guessing because it splices DNA," April shrugged, still not understanding the full extent or why Donnie had his DNA mapped out in this file.

Mikey shook his head wildly. "Because the alien world we found that thing on was all but destroyed! People fought over it, all trying to improve themselves. When we found ourselves on that world, there were only a few thousand people left and man were they scary powerful. One faction tried to hide it away to stop the others from continuing to use it. See, the problem with using it too much was that it made people infertile so they were going to travel to their neighbouring world and take over there, turning the people there like themselves so that their species wouldn't die out. We stopped them. Donnie ruined their ships and the records to make more and then the good guys gave the 'Phoenix's Ashes' to us so we could remove it from temptation. Leo made Donnie swear to dispose of it and never use it."

"It what...?" April swallowed. "If that is what it does then why does Donnie have his DNA mapped out? How does that even work into this?'

Mikey shrugged. "I dunno. I don't understand that kind of stuff. All I know is he wasn't supposed to use it or study it. He was supposed to find a way to destroy it or get rid of it somewhere no one would ever find it."

"That would explain why he didn't want you guys to find out, as he obviously didn't..." April wished Mikey had the answers since that would be easier than digesting these notes.

"Yeah," Mikey nodded. "I can't believe he broke his promise. So, what exactly did he do with it?" he asked, worry creeping into his voice.

Reading on she paused, then turned to Mikey, "It says here, after some research he originally thought the artefact changed people to what he had witnessed but he discovered that was not how it worked… It changes the target to whatever degree the user in question uses for. So it… Oh god…"

"What?" Mikey asked, trying to disguise the urgency he felt at her fear.

"It alters the target with the user's DNA, changing them and manipulating them to what they wish the target to turn out to be using their own DNA as a map... So basically, splicing their own DNA into the target."

Mikey felt a coldness surge through him, he'd kind of known part of that from their adventure, but not to that degree.

April, feeling his uneasiness, continued reading. "He found out how to make it work with his own DNA, manipulating simple organic subjects as fruit and plants to see the effects but nothing above that. He even stopped at one point not daring to go any further, fearing what kind of person he would become and stating this kind of power shouldn't be played with. In his notes, he even admits he should destroy it."

"But he didn't, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't be mentioned in that file."

"The entry date that he stated he should destroy it," April pointed out as she shivered.

"What is it?" Mikey asked, unable to pull away from Raph who, having fallen asleep, held his finger in a vice-like grip.

"The day before the world broke apart."

Mikey's eyes widened as he stared at April.

"So he never destroyed it because he never had time with everything that was happening and his journal continues, Mikey... Here he says he even considered it as a cure for the zombie issue only to find out it had no effect on them because their bodies were dead, not living and he didn't go into any more detail."

"Shell..." Mikey breathed.

Taking a breath, she looked over the other entries, her face rapidly paling.

"What now?" Mikey asked, staring anxiously at her.

"He talks about..." April bit her lip, "He talks about how he lost so many people and no matter what he couldn't figure out a way to make the vaccine work for me as he could with his brothers. He goes on to say the artefact can only do what the user's DNA has already, thinking that was the way around the issue. However the research states he can't just take the immunity and use the artefact to transfer that part of him into me... He wrote here that regardless of it only being that strain, my body would still reject the immunity drug as I don't have the right markers to work correctly..."

"What are you saying, April?" Mikey swallowed, hoping what he thought wasn't the case.

"In order to make it so I could be immune, he concluded that a significant portion of his DNA needed to be spliced and used to alter mine. But due to the fact he can alter it the way he wants, he figured out how he could prevent my body from being turned to a turtle and stay with its human figure. As for the inside he had little control and unsure what the end results would be without doing a live test... on me..." April trailed off, looking away from the file and feeling sick.

Mikey felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh god! We can't let Donnie read this. It'd destroy him! But... did he ever do any tests on you later? What if there are some kind of unseen effects?"

April collected her courage before tilting up the journal to read the remaining entries, "He, as we know, he did the procedure and something did happen that he wasn't expecting."

"What?" Mikey asked when she hesitated.

"When he was done, for some reason the artefact went haywire and disintegrated. He had no clue why or how it happened. All he could conclude was the possibility that it was the fact he was a mutant and alien to the aliens that used it. He wrote here that he became concerned about the possible side effects and did some tests. Unfortunately, though, he never finished them. The last entry was last week, he must have never entered his results and oh no, they must have been on the computer!" April whipped her head around to look frantically towards the inner lab, recalling the hard drive was fried.

Mikey felt sick. "Did he seem worried about whatever he was looking for after doing the tests? Do you know what the tests were for or about?"

April shrugged, "He did mention about the security system and the reason he installed the extra cameras was to keep an eye on me really. He did write that he feared that the mutant DNA might start mutating and taking over what was left of my human DNA but that was just a fear he had no hard evidence for."

"Crap... and now, without Donnie..."

"Nothing we can do Mikey." April picked up the papers that had everything on the Phoenix's Ashes and turned on a burner.

Realising what she was about to do, Mikey suddenly yelped in fright, "Wait!"

Ignoring him, she placed the papers above the flame.

"Please, April, wait!"

Turning around, she held the papers tightly in her hand, "Mikey, like you said we can't have Donnie read this, they have to be destroyed."

"I know and we can't, but this is important," he implored.

"How is it important?" she inquired. "The artefact is long gone and leaving this around will only encourage Donnie to read it and discover the truth. I'm sorry but this whole time I thought he was stressed out over what happened to that kid and woman being raped when in reality it was me that was tearing him apart!" April yelled in frustration, "and if I leave this for him to find, he will start slipping again!"

"I get it, Ape, I really do... I'm sorry, I don't want to sound callous, April, but what you read was pretty much about what he did to you and that's not the main reason we looked. Is there anything about the serum in there? As in, enough for you to test my bros and work out if they still have the immunity even though they're younger now?" Mikey asked desperately. He'd already lost them in a way, he didn't want to risk completely losing them.

Blinking, she pointed to the closed folder, "There are more files that aren't on the Phoenix. I'm only burning these ones so I don't have to look at them again before I continue with the other file."

Mikey wilted in relief. "Okay."

Turning around she let out a sigh. Then she realised something spine-chilling. "Oh god, does this mean we are more than just friends?" she asked, lighting the file and throwing it into the sink so she didn't burn down the lab.

"Sure does, Ape!" Mikey grinned cheekily. "Well, they say you can't choose your family but I guess Donnie found a way. Welcome to the family in every way that counts, April."

-:-

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