Godzilla Singular Point: A Kaiju-and-Cartoon Crossover Adventure

by pinkstoryteller

It all started with a nightmare. Then came the email. And then the nightmare slowly became reality. When the threat of the Red Dust Kaiju spreads all over the world, the Godzilla family and their friends from across other worlds band together with a girl named Mei Kamino and a man named Yun Arikawa to stop the menace. [Just a test run for reactions. May or may not continue.]

Author's Notes and Disclaimer: Hi, everyone! Here I am! Oh, man, was this a doozy trying to write out! I mean, I had the idea in my head, but trying to put it down was quite a challenge, especially when I've been trying to split my time between RP-ing, chatting, doing character research for this new fanfic, writing said fanfic, getting back into drawing, and Calc II practice. In addition, I was planning to write the four character introductions with you, the readers, trying to guess who the characters were, but after reviewing the third part of the character intros, I realized it got a bit confusing since it featured two characters, so I brought in their names and the fourth one pretty much tells you who it is right off the bat, so I pretty much messed that up. But, here we are. Don't worry, I'll get back to my other stories in time, I just want to put this out there before I lose the interest. Now, this'll probably be my first multi-cartoon and OC-insert with anime crossover on this site, and I hope—despite this frightening first chapter—that it'll turn out well. Yeah, you heard me; frightening. More on that later.

This fanfic takes place after a lot of other planned fanfics I've had in mind, so this pretty much spoiler-filled in terms of my fanfic-verse and some series if some of you haven't seen them yet. Which reminds me, I only own my OCs (whose names I shall not reveal immediately to try to keep in the spirit of mystery), one of the other characters in this chapter are owned by Warner Bros., one of them is owned by Nickelodeon and Viacom, and two of them are owned by Warner Bros. and Amblin. There are other characters mentioned who also belong to those studios as well. The song, which is called "Alapu Upala", doesn't belong to me, either; it belongs to the artist Annette Phillip and is from the new Netflix anime "Godzilla: Singular Point" and the English translation for two of the verses I got from a YouTube video of the song's lyrics and their translation by Bunch Fest. There are also two IRL events that are referenced here; you'll know what they are once you start reading. I'll explain some of the stuff as well as their origins at the end of the chapter. Ooh, yeah, before I forget, there's mention of a bad word in here that one of my OCs tries to call herself, ultimately going for the Japanese translation instead; she's very upset with herself when this happens, so don't think it's anything gratuitous or just tossed out there for no good reason. I had a bit of trouble finding the translation though, so if it's wrong, please let me know as well as provide a proper translation so that I can fix it up.

So, this is pretty much a nightmare chapter that'll push a couple of these characters right out of their comfort zone, and possibly yourselves; a lot of heavy stuff goes on that may bring up unpleasant memories, so maybe you'd better stop here. For those of you who are courageous enough to read on, I know a lot of you will be calling me a sadist by the time you finish reading this, but I assure you there's a reason behind this madness I put these characters through that will become clear.

If you don't want to read because you haven't seen certain series, then just stop right here. If you want to read on despite the spoiler warning and the warnings of nightmare-inducing events, then good luck to you. I only hope I haven't made a big mistake with this.

---

Chapter 1: "Part 1, The Dream"

Darkness. Silence. This is what a pair of feminine blue eyes opened to see. Their owner laid there for a bit as she tried to comprehend where she was. She wasn't home, that was for certain. Her parents and her older brothers were nowhere in sight. In fact, there was nothing in sight. Nothing except the feeling of laying down on the ground, which was pretty much as dark as everything else in this place.

Well, no sense just laying here. She sat up, her tail moving behind her. She then stood up and looked down at herself, taking in her gray-green, scaly body. Her clawed feet were pretty close; that meant she wasn't at her full size. She moved her tail around so that she could see it. Gray-green color, check. Rounded triangle dorsal plates that were a shade darker than her body color; nothing unusual there. Two arms, two hands tipped with four clawed fingers, two legs and two feet with four clawed toes, a full body, a neck, a head with a nose, eyes, mouth, more dorsal plates on her head going down the back of her neck and down her spine…yep, everything was where it was supposed to be.

Almost.

There was still the matter of getting herself back to where she needed to be. And why was she here? The last time she had been in a dark void like this was… Was that day. That terrible, terrible day.

The day she lost…him.

It had only been-my goodness, was it going to be 11 years now? It felt like longer; more like 13 or 21. Or 100. The passage of time had always seemed a bit slower to her ever since his untimely passing at 20 years of age. And it had been even slower on that day. On that day, everything seemed to come to an end, and if not for some timely intervention from that dear boy's spirit that list would have likely included her life.

Oh, how she missed him. Missed his infectious smile, his brown eyes glimmering with life, his short, black curly hair, the cute freckles that dotted his face, his innocent inquisitiveness about the world she lived in, and most of all his indomitable spirit and will to live despite the condition he had to live with that ultimately took him away from her.

She felt her blue eyes begin to sting and a light sob start to catch in her throat. He had been the first boy she had ever had true feelings for, even if he had been of a different world, and, more specifically and to a lot of people most importantly, he had been of a very, very different species. It was pretty much a relationship almost out of "Beauty and the Beast"…the only difference was she was the beast, and the prince…stayed dead.

She suddenly became aware of something nearby and after rubbing her eyes to clear them she turned her head about 45 degrees to her left and looked down. A smile of recognition came on her face at the sight of a soft toy, a koala to be exact; Benny Koala had been his until the soft toy arrived via long-distance mail as a posthumous gift. Almost reverently, she picked the stuffed koala up and gently hugged it, taking in the lingering scent of the toy's original owner.

Looks like it's just you and me, huh? she silently asked the inanimate koala.

There was no answer, of course, but she didn't mind; like another friend of hers she often talked to her stuffed toy; the only physical memory of him she had left.

I don't suppose you know of a way out of here? Wherever here is, she remarked in thought.

Suddenly, out of nowhere and as if on cue, her ears caught the sound of drums, a guitar, violins, and a harmonica start up playing a tune. After about 14 seconds, a woman's voice began to sing:

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

What is that? That doesn't sound Japanese, she thought, confused. Where is it even coming from?

The song seemed to be echoing all over, as if this void was a large cave, so pinpointing the song's origin was not going to be easy. However, thanks to some training from her parents, she knew that if she concentrated enough, she would be able to block out the echoes and find the right direction. Taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes, she began concentrating on the song, although her attention wavered slightly due to the fact her nostrils were filling with the scent of the stuffed koala.

She growled a little as her eyebrows came down in a glare and she scolded herself, Come on! You can't get distracted! Focus!

Moving her arms and the soft toy behind her back, she took another deep breath and tried again as the two verses played again. There were so many echoes to filter, so many thoughts and internal and external sounds to quiet. Gradually, they all began to fade away until…

She opened her eyes and gasped aloud, "That way!"

Her heart gave a thud in her chest and she brought her arms back to her front, clutching the little toy koala; her voice sounded so loud in here she had startled herself. As soon as she got over her self-given scare, she noticed that she hadn't moved an inch; the song was coming from directly ahead.

I guess that's where we're going, she thought.

She took a couple steps before something in her brain went off that made her stop; a special sixth sense that had been passed down through her family's line. The message it gave was that she was not alone.

There's others here? I wonder if they're hearing this song and heading for its source too, Gina thought hopefully. At least this means I'm not alone here, she smiled as she continued walking, the soft toy koala in her arms. I just hope they're OK; it can get scary in here if they're not careful.

---

In another part of this strange void, another pair of blue eyes opened. These eyes were male, but they possessed a brightness of innocence not too dissimilar from the other pair of blue eyes. The owner of these eyes stretched and yawned before putting a hand down and suddenly realizing that he wasn't in his bed anymore. In fact, he wasn't in his home anymore. He leaped to his feet and looked around, making his long tail whirl around with him and almost making himself dizzy. Egad, it seemed he wasn't anywhere at all!

No, no, no, that wasn't right; he had to be somewhere. I mean, someone just doesn't go nowhere, do they? They have to have somewhere to go, wasn't that right?

He turned his head to find the one being who could answer that…only to find that he wasn't there.

Where did he go? Did he get put somewhere else while he was sleeping? Was this supposed to be one of those experiment things he and his friend did during the day before they did their plans at night? He sniffed the air for the yummy reward that often came at the end of these things but could not smell a hint of it. There was nothing to smell at all, aside from himself, which is what he did, making his white-furred body come into view.

Sniff-sniff! Ooh! He tried to make a note to himself that he needed a bath, but thinking always made his head hurt, so he gave up on that. His friend would remember for him, anyway.

Oh. No, wait. That's right; he wasn't here. Well then, where was he? He simply refused to believe that his bestest friend in the whole wide world would abandon him; he gave him his name, let him help in his plan-thingies! Sure he bopped him on the head, called him names, pulled on his ear once or twice, even flicked his nose a few times; there had been that time when that bad, bad hamster had managed to get him upset with his friend, but he always came back. And they always stuck together; like two pieces of paper stuck together by sticky glue, like peanut butter and jelly, like two layers of a yummy cake…Mmm, gracious, he was getting hungry.

Wait, wait; what was he thinking about again? Oh dear, it was just there, now where had it gone? It always seemed like he was losing one thought after the other. Oh, where was his smarty-smart friend to help him find his thoughts when he lost them?

Was that it? Was he lost? Did he somehow wander off somewhere without himself knowing it? How far had he wandered? He hoped it wasn't too far, his friend would be worried. Well, first he'd get all grumpy-growly and then probably mutter something about giving him a bop for wandering off like that, then he'd be worried. He'd coming looking for him.

Right?

…

I said, right?

…

…Right…?

…

Oh, come on, now! Of course he would! He always did before! He'd come find him here. Only, where was here? It didn't look friendly and cheerful, more like dark, like the inside of that metal box his friend often locked himself in. And it was a little scary, too. Here he was, all by his lonesome in the dark, with no light switch or friendly sun of any sort…and no big-headed scowly friend to lead him.

Where are you? People always say that when you get lost, you should wait where you are for someone to come find you. Well, I'm here. I'm waiting for you to find me. Are you lost, too?

A giggle escaped his buck-toothed mouth; that was silly, his friend was too smart to get lost. He knew everything.

Wait; did he even know about this place? Does he even know where it is? Well, hopefully he did, because he himself sure didn't! But wait, there were no helpful signs to see, no stars, no sky, no trees, no people, no…anything. No, silly! There was something; himself! He would lead his friend here! But how? How, how, how, how-

"OW!"

Aw, crumbs; he pulled that muscle in his head again.

Wait, did he…? Yes, he spoke! He'd have to be an idiot not to recognize his own voice! Oh, wait a minute, he was an idiot. Ah, silly him; of course.

What was that?

He perked his ears up and moved them around, hearing what sounded like someone saying "ow" over and over. Was there someone here?

Taking a deep breath, he shouted, his Cockney-accented voice ringing loud and clear, "HELLO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!"

Yes, there was a response! And another from that way! And another from this way! That way! This way! This-and-that-and-every-which-way!

He spun, round and round and round, trying to keep up with the calls but he ended up stepping on his own tail-which actually hurt-before falling down on his stomach particularly hard and biting his tongue as his chin impacted.

"OW!" he yelped loudly, putting a pink hand over his mouth. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow-w-w-w-w…"

This wasn't right. Doing things like that shouldn't have hurt, but they did. Why? Why did they hurt? Was it because his friend wasn't there? Somehow getting hit by his friend never hurt; never. But he was hurting now; his eyes felt like they were getting poked by needles, but that had usually never hurt, either. Something wet rolled down his cheek. Were his eyes leaking? No…he was crying. Crying because his tongue and tail hurt. Crying because he was confused by the owies he was feeling. Crying because he was…he was… Why else was he crying? He couldn't think. His head was hurting now besides his tail, tongue, and eyes. Another part of him was hurting, too; deep inside his chest. Too deep for any happy-smiley Band-Aid to reach. His head was throbbing now, banishing any semblance of thought whatsoever from his mind; what he had of one, anyway.

And then, music started to play. Like a flicked light switch, he stopped crying and perked his ears up, the past events and pain quickly forgotten in favor of this music. He loved music; it tickled his ears in a pleasant way, and he often never hesitated to hum along to it or sing along if there were words to it. It often irritated his friend when he did so, but he loved to do it, anyway. And, it seemed this music had words, for, after a bit, a female voice began to sing, her voice like a gentle breeze that often pushed leaves across a sidewalk on a sunny day:

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

He tried to sing along, absolutely botching the lyrics, but he didn't care; he just wanted to sing with the pretty-sounding lady. Then, in one of those rare moments of clarity, he realized something: The woman singing that song had be somewhere around here. Maybe she could help him find his friend! …Or better yet, maybe his friend was where the singer was! Oh, hurrah! At last!

He jumped in the air with joy, laughing in anticipation. But then he stopped when he realized something else; the song seemed to be coming from every which way. How on Earth was he going to find where it was coming from?

It was like a voice whispered to him or maybe a thought he never knew he had just sprang up out of nowhere, but something went off in that thought-losing mind of his that told him that to his left was the direction to go. He didn't know how he thought that, but something inside him felt sure about it. Normally, whenever he thought something, his friend would disagree with him and he wouldn't argue with it; his friend was the smart one, after all.

But he was by himself now, and he felt sure that what the thought told him was right, but at the same time it didn't feel right without his friend there to check it.

The feeling tugged again, saying "yes, yes, yes!"

Should he?

Again, "yes, yes!" And then came another feeling, this one saying that there were others nearby.

That was enough to get him moving. If his friend was waiting for him where that song was, and maybe some others, then that was where he was going to go!

"I'm coming!" Pinky called as he ran. "I'm coming!"

---

In yet another area of this strange place, another being was already awake. This one was also male, but the eyes were colored an olive-green instead of blue. And the mind behind those eyes was working like mad to try to help its owner determine his surroundings.

"Would be helpful if there were at least some landmarks to use," the olive-green-eyed being mumbled aloud to no-one in particular.

He cradled his chin with one of his hands in a thinking pose, still looking around at the black nothingness that surrounded him. Apparently sight was of no use here, as was touch and taste. He tried to stretch his hearing as far as it could go, pivoting his long, bent ears atop his head as he tried to listen for any other sign of life besides himself, but it amounted to no good. He had then tried using his naturally-heightened sense of smell to pick out another scent, but no such luck there, either.

By Jóhonaaʼéí, this was quite a conundrum.

A spontaneous chuckle escaped him; ever since he had gotten back in touch with his heritage, his scientific thoughts were often peppered with memories and words from his past. It had felt like a whole other life to him in the beginning, but it was gradually integrating itself back into his being. His adventures in the Feudal Era of Japan with his friends had helped further cement it, as he had gained the power to summon a bow and arrows made of energy, the bow able to turn into a pair of daggers when split in two. But that wasn't the only thing that new ability could do, oh, no; when he fired two special arrows that appeared when his thoughts were on his best friend, they would turn into a pair of fiery swords that went along with his friend's new fire-type abilities that he had also gained from the same adventure. He also seemed to have gained some kind of powers similar to a young human woman who turned out to be the reincarnation of a Feudal Era priestess. Then again, considering his maternal grandfather was the medicine-man for the Coyote Pass Chapter, it probably wasn't that big a surprise.

But, getting back to the current problem, it seemed that he was the only life-form in this place.

…Or was he?

His muscles tensed, ready to spring into action as the fur along his back began to stand up under his shirt. His senses of sight, smell, and hearing were put on high alert. He moved his eyes slowly from left to right and back again and turned his ears to pick up any hint of a sound. They twitched as they picked something up from behind, sending the signal to his high-IQ brain.

Now for a plan of action. Well, there was no metal to manipulate here, so that was out of the question. Could he try accessing his Twin Dagger-Bow Ahiga? No, that was no good, either; if his enemy was behind him, they would see him reaching for his back. Well, he had more than just superpowers, thank goodness-as well as two friends of his who were well-versed in martial arts.

He took a deep breath…envisioned his enemy's position…calculated the amount of force to use…and executed a fast stand-in-place spin-kick…that went over something but apparently missed the target.

"Hey! Watch it! You could have taken my ears off!" exclaimed a young boy's voice.

He looked down to see a 3-foot tall gray-furred coyote with a red nose, the standard cartoon character black eyes, ears suspiciously bent like his, and wearing pink high-tops. Said ears were currently flat and sticking out on either side of his head so as to avoid the incoming leg and the expression on the small coyote's face was a glare.

The little desert canid couldn't help but look at the taller brown-furred coyote with a mix of annoyance and disbelief; he hadn't walked through this blackness just to nearly get his ears clipped! There was something going on here and he needed to tell his big-brother figure!

"Sorry about that; I didn't know it was you," the older, taller, brown-furred coyote apologized in embarrassment.

"You could've just asked! It's not like you didn't know someone was behind you!" the smaller, gray-furred coyote pointed out. "What?" he asked when there was a pause due to the fact the other coyote had a stunned look on his face.

Tech was stunned, all right; stunned by the fact that Calamity was actually speaking. As in, actually utilizing his voicebox. Last he had checked, the smaller anthro canis latrans couldn't speak due to undeveloped vocal chords; a very rare medical condition. However, it had been found that he possessed psychic powers such as telepathy, telekinesis, even levitation.

"What? Did I grow another head or something?" the still-annoyed gray Toon coyote asked.

Tech blinked himself out of his stunned state and replied, "No, no. It's just…you're, well…" He tapped his throat where his own vocal chords were so that the other would get the idea. "I'm just so used to hearing you in my mind," he added.

Calamity understood the confusion, but he rolled his eyes and asked, "Haven't you ever heard about blind people being able to see in their dreams?"

"I think I read something about that once, yeah," Tech remembered, sitting down cross-legged across from Calamity.

There was another pause before the gray Toon coyote sighed and said, "I thought you we supposed to be a genius; if I'm actually speaking, that means we're in some sort of dream state. Of course, I have to admit, this is something that's never happened before, to me, at least."

"Could it be because of the psychic link you set up between us?" the older, brown-furred anthro coyote asked, pointing to his temple.

The smaller coyote shook his head. "He'd be here, too; it's set up between the three of us, remember?" he reminded.

"Oh! Right, right. But then why…?"

"No idea," Calamity shrugged. "This isn't exactly a normal dream state."

"Hold on; you mean we're not in REM sleep?"

"No, I think we are. Just not the one we're familiar with. It's a little hard to explain, but I think it's like we've gone into a deep part of our subconscious that's been accessed by an outside force."

"'Accessed'? By who?"

Another shrug.

"What made you come up with that theory?" Tech queried.

"It's this place; it doesn't feel like I'm in my own mind. And then you're here and actually interacting with me; it's not like it's being acted out according to a memory or an emotion lingering from the day. And on top of that, I can't wake myself up. I've tried."

A small smile slipped onto the brown-furred anthro canis latrans as he pretended to pinch his arm and trailed, "You mean like…?"

The gray-furred Toon coyote chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah; the whole "pinch yourself" routine. Like that," he smirked. He then became serious and added, "I've even tried meditating myself back to my own REM sleep state, but I didn't get very far. Either I'm not strong enough or something's blocking me. That's why when I sensed you were nearby, I went looking for you."

"Hey, I may have Magnetism Manipulation, but I'm no psychic."

"Maybe not," the younger, gray-furred coyote replied, a rather cryptic look in his eyes that quickly disappeared when he said, "But if we can at least put our brainwaves together using our psychic link, maybe we'll get a bit farther than I did on my own and we can find a way out of here."

The older coyote thought it over. The possible results of determining just what this strange dream state was, as well as getting out of it, were certainly encouraging. However, there was also the risk of damage to both their minds if something was indeed blocking them from their normal sleep states; the worst of it would be on Calamity, something Tech didn't want to happen. Not again. The last time Calamity had exerted that much of his mental power, he had nearly died. The thought of it happening again scared Tech to death; he had already lost his little brother-by-blood, he didn't want to lose his little brother-figure.

He felt a smaller hand on his and wiped his eyes to see the younger, gray-furred coyote smile reassuringly at him. He'd be OK, he promised silently. After all, his big brother would look after him.

The older coyote smiled and playfully ran his hand through the tuft of fur atop the younger's head in a brotherly manner. The younger returned the smile and sat down, crossing his legs in the lotus position as well. The two then took each other's hands and took deep breaths to relax their minds and bodies.

They first focused on the psychic link between them to strengthen it, using the memories they shared: When they first met each other at Acme Looniversity, when they first demonstrated their abilities to each other as well as when the older coyote showed the younger his Twin Dagger-Bow Ahiga for the first time, when they and their other brother-figure Rev practiced dancing together, the big Christmas dance when they played "Footloose" for the final dance of the evening for Gina as a way of saying thanks for teaching them how to dance and honoring her late teacher/boyfriend as well, and all the times they would comfort each other whenever one or the other had nightmares.

Smiles came on both their faces as the memories came over them like warm rays of early sunlight or a gentle breeze from the sea. Then their faces became set; it was time to go to work.

'So, which way?' Tech asked.

'Up' was the simple reply from Calamity, followed by a feeling of confusion from Tech, prompting a further explanation: 'Well, down is obviously out of the question and going left or right will do any good, so logic dictates that we go up.'

'Sounds reasonable to me,' Tech shrugged.

So the two coyotes focused on an upward direction. Since there were no clouds or identifiable atmosphere layers, it was hard to figure out just how high up they were.

'Where did you first run into whatever was blocking you?' Tech queried Calamity.

'I don't know,' Calamity admitted honestly. 'It's hard to keep track of your altitude in this place, but if we run into something that feels like turbulence, then I'll know it's-Whoa!'

True to the gray-furred psychic coyote's word, him and Tech began experiencing some sort of turbulence caused by a barrier of some sort trying to push them back. However, since there were two of them now, they were able to push through it, although they were still getting shaken up and their heads were starting to hurt. Tech was about to suggest turning around when-

'Tech! Look! Light!'

The brown-furred genius coyote looked up to see that the area above was indeed filled with light from a hole in the "sky" which showed the two coyotes fast asleep in their bedroom in Bugs' house.

'Man, now I know how Alice felt,' Tech remarked.

Suddenly, the pain in his head increased sharply, the turbulence got worse, and everything started to blur like he was seeing a 3D movie without the 3D glasses.

'We need to get out of here!' Tech shouted through the pain.

'We're so close!' Calamity argued.

'We stay here much longer, our minds will be damaged beyond repair!' Tech argued back. 'We need to-AHH!'

There was a jolt of pain that was too much for them and they began to feel like they were falling.

Tech woke up with a start and a near-splitting headache. He closed his eyes, put his hands to the sides of his head, and tried to steady his breathing and his insides. Gradually, his senses returned and he became aware of a head lying on his lap. He opened his eyes and a bolt of fear cut through him; Calamity was unconscious. At least, he hoped he was just unconscious.

"Cal? Cal?" Tech called gently. "Calamity? Wake up," he said, putting a hand on the little coyote's forehead. It was a bit warm. "Cal? C'mon, wake up. Please," he begged.

As if in response to his plea, Calamity's ears began to twitch against Tech's arms and he could feel the younger coyote's exhales on his snout.

His eyes opened shortly after, he gave a wince, and groaned, "I have the worst headache."

Tech chuckled from the remark and from relief. "I'm not too far behind you on that one," he replied, rubbing the back of his own head. "Anything else I should know?"

"Ooh…I feel a bit dizzy."

"Just breathe and relax; it'll pass."

"I'm so sorry," Calamity sighed. "We were so close to breaking out of here, and I almost got us both killed."

"Hey, at least we know that there is something keeping us here," Tech pointed out.

"Whoever or whatever it is, it must possess mental capabilities much stronger than my own. But besides the question of 'who', what I want to know is 'why'. Why were we brought here? What's the purpose of this dream state?" Calamity sighed heavily and reached up to massage the sides of his head as he continued, "There's too many questions and not enough answers."

Tech sighed in agreement. "You know, if someone is keeping us here in this dream state, then you'd think they'd at least leave some clue as to its purpose."

As if on cue, drums, a guitar, violins, and a harmonica began to play, the sound echoing throughout the area, making both coyotes perk up.

Why am I getting the feeling I should've kept my big mouth shut? Tech asked himself nervously.

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

Tech listened to the song in interest. It sounded like an Asian pop-ballad or something, but he never really listened to a lot of that stuff. The words weren't Japanese, that was for certain.

"It's from India," Calamity spoke up. "If you want to be more specific, the language is Sanskrit. And I don't like the sound of it at all," he added, looking troubled.

"What do you mean?" Tech questioned. "And where did you learn to understand Sanskrit?"

"I'm a genius like you, remember?" Calamity remarked. "I once came across some scientific essays written in Sanskrit and I taught myself the languages through books and online language courses through the Internet. Haven't you done that before?"

Tech smiled and nodded, remembering having done that through college. The only language he learned from life experience, besides English, was Navajo, his mother's birth language.

"And as for me not liking the sound of it, well, listen."

Tech kept his ears open and put his mind to work on translating the verses as they repeated. Here's what they came to:

Coming danger from Earth and sky,

Rays this rays from flaming water

In coming days arrive messenger of

death, silence and silence be ruled by him

Oh, yeah; definitely not an optimistic tune.

"Who could be playing that tune? And what do they think they're trying to do, scare us?" Tech asked.

"Well, they're certainly doing a good job of making us worried," Calamity answered. "It's almost like it's announcing the coming of the apocalypse."

"OK, that actually scares me," Tech stated, looking worried.

There was silence between the two coyotes as the next verses of the song began to play:

Sagkalpa Samvada Kevala Karma

ishwara Pooja hair hara gaana

Amritam avusoonyam pradarasha

dharma satsang udayam Rutham

Rutham medha

Hm, sounds like there's some hope in this tune after all, Tech thought to himself as he translated this set of lyrics. "Well, no use just sitting here," Tech sighed aloud as he began to stand up. "Are you feeling good enough to walk?" he asked Calamity, who was now sitting up.

"My head doesn't hurt as much as before and I don't feel as dizzy; I think I'll be OK."

"Good, because I've got a feeling we might find a bit more information by finding out where that song is coming from. Besides, it's the only clue we've got and it's a lot better than our first plan."

"Agreed," Calamity said, standing up as well. He gasped.

"What is it?" Tech asked before perking up himself.

It was fleeting, but it was like some sort of signal had been sent to his brain, telling him something important. He didn't know where it came from, but there was no time to figure it out now.

"Do you feel that?" Calamity asked. "There's others nearby."

"You're right!" Tech realized. "That means they're probably trapped here too! If we can find them, maybe we can work together on getting out of here!"

"So what are we waiting for then?" Calamity asked excitedly, taking Tech's hand. "Let's go!" With that, Tech started moving at a fast pace and Calamity noticed a slight problem. "Whoa! Hey! Hold on a minute! Short legs, remember?!" he shouted.

Tech stopped moving and lifted his right arm up, forcing Calamity to hold said arm like a jungle gym bar.

"Aren't you supposed to be college-age or something?" Tech smirked to the dangling psychic canis latrans. "So when's your growth spurt gonna hit?"

"Aw, shut up," Calamity deadpanned before the two broke into chuckles; they were just kidding around.

Luckily, there was a way to solve this problem: Calamity clambered over to Tech's shoulders where he sat piggyback style.

"You good up there?" Tech asked his passenger.

"Can't say much for the view, but I'm good," Calamity replied.

"So what's our course, navigator?" Tech smiled.

A gray finger pointing straight ahead entered Tech's upper field of vision as Calamity answered, "12 o'clock sharp, captain; that's where the true origin of the song is."

With a direction chosen, Tech and his passenger began making their way towards it.

"Do you have any idea how many others could be here with us?" Tech inquired after a minute.

Calamity shrugged. "All I know is that we're not the only ones here. I just hope that wherever they are, they've been having better luck than we have."

---

"Where am I?"

That was the question on the tongue of a blue-eyed, red-headed teenage girl who was trying to find her way in this void of darkness. When she had first woken up, she thought she had been locked away in a deep part of her subconscious again, just like what happened when the entity inside the Aeon Crystal tried to take her over. A shudder and an ache passed through her as she remembered what happened, particularly when she had turned Donnie and Rev into scattered atoms. It still horrified her to this day.

However, she remembered that the crystal was shattered and the entity inside destroyed, so that wasn't it. But then, the question still remained; where was she?

"C'mon, O'Neil; think!" she groaned.

She tried turning over multiple ideas in her head, but none of them fit; the Kraang had been taken care of, as were the Triceratons; Karai was in charge of the Foot Clan now, so they were no trouble. Stockman had been de-mutated, Bebop and Rocksteady had gone off the grid ever since that incident with the alternate Shredder and Krang, Tiger Claw had also disappeared after the incident with Kavaxas and Zombie Shredder (Fishface had also left during said incident), and Rahzar had been sent to the Netherworld along with Kavaxas and the zombified remains of Super Shredder.

"Maybe this is another of Savanti Romero's tricks?" the girl thought. "No, wait," she disagreed. "If that were the case Renet would be here."

This was certainly a mind-boggler; something that Donnie would find absolute joy in trying to solve. But he wasn't here, nor were the other Turtles or Casey or her dad.

…And neither was Splinter.

She wiped her eyes to clear them and tried to focus back on the task at hand. What had happened…had happened. And there was no going back to change it. It was like Donnie told her once: "Some things are just beyond our control".

That still doesn't stop me, or any of the others, from wishing that they could have done something, she thought bitterly.

What had happened to Splinter still affected them greatly…as well as what happened after. None of them had ever seen Zooky in such a rage…and all of them, including himself, never wanted to again.

Splinter had been like another father to her and while nothing could compare to nearly losing her dad multiple times-being kidnapped by the Kraang and mutated twice (first by accident, second time intentionally by the Kraang)-her sensei's death left quite a deep mark.

She wasn't left to dwell on her thoughts for long, for music began to play, followed by the words:

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

"Where is that coming from?" she asked aloud to herself. "And what does it even mean? Oh, I wish Donnie was here," she sighed.

Through her adventures and interactions with the Turtles as well as Zooky and his friends, she found that not only was the brainiac turtle-who was like a genius with a gentle soul and occasional side of sass that often acted like a bit of an adorable dork (or a jealous one, depending if Casey was in the vicinity)-was a whiz with modern and Kraang technology, but she also found that he was a bit of a car nut, good with languages, and surprisingly had a good ear; the latter two abilities would really come in handy right about now.

Speaking of abilities, her own psychic abilities-which were a result of her being part-mutant-kicked in with a feeling that she wasn't alone in this place; there were others, and all heading in the direction of the song's origin. Deciding not to waste any more time, April utilized her kunoichi training and filtered out the echoes to find the right direction before dashing off.

I just hope whatever I find will provide some answers. Then again, with the kind of luck I have, it's probably something waiting to trap me and whoever else is in here. Oh, wherever you other guys are, be careful!

---

April's run soon slowed to a walk; it was like she was getting nowhere fast. And on top of that, she'd been listening to the same song for what felt like hours, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"If the plan of whoever's playing that is to annoy me, it's working splendidly," she muttered. "I don't even understand this song; what is it supposed to mean?!"

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up; she was not alone. She tensed up, looking around in the darkness. She spotted a moving shadow. She slowly started to reach for her tessen, a battle fan commonly used by kunoichi and the very one Splinter had given her, then stopped her hand as she recognized the figure: A tall man who was bald but had orange hair and a beard of the same color wearing a brown jacket with a gray undershirt, along with tan underpants and brown shoes.

"April?" the man asked.

"Dad?" April gasped in recognition before she went over to him and hugged him tight.

Mr. O'Neil gave a fatherly chuckle and returned the hug.

"What are you doing here? H-How did you get here?" April asked as she came out of the embrace.

"That's a good question," Mr. O'Neil shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. But I could ask you the same questions," he added.

"I-I'm not too sure, either," April admitted. "All I can remember is going to sleep at home, and the next thing I know, I'm here. Wait, maybe this is all a dream," she guessed as she realized what she just said. "Maybe we're all being held in some kind of dream world. But by who?"

"'Dream world'?" Mr. O'Neil parroted in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand. And what do you mean by 'all'?"

"There's more people than just us here, Dad; I can feel it," April said. "If we can find them, maybe we can find out who's behind this."

"Well, who's to say it's not the Kraang again? They're capable of doing something like this," Mr. O'Neil pointed out.

"I don't think it's them; we sent them packing years ago, and they haven't bothered us since," April countered. "Besides, I'm not sure they're the ones behind this song."

"What song?" Mr. O'Neil queried.

"That song," April answered as the tune started up again:

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

"Fascinating," Mr. O'Neil murmured. He was quiet for a bit before he spoke again: "I have a feeling you're right; music doesn't really seem like something the Kraang would use. But then, if it's not them, who is it?"

"That's what I'm hoping I'll find out from the others," April replied as she started walking again. "Come on, Dad," she beckoned. "With your expertise in psychology, I'm sure you'll be a welcome help."

Mr. O'Neil considered the option before agreeing and joining his daughter.

Some odd hours later, and to break the silence and the monotony of the song, April began to ask her father what she made of this place.

"Hmm…well, psychology of any kind is a bit of a hornet's nest, April; there's so many conflicting views," Mr. O'Neil pointed out. "I mean, you have the behavioral approach, the humanistic approach, psychodynamic, cognitive, evolutionary, and sociocultural. And determining the meaning of dreams is ambiguous in itself."

"I know that Dad; you've told me about a hundred…(giggle)…a hundred and one times," April smiled. "But isn't there anything in all that that could provide some clue?" she asked.

"I'm not sure; I mean, for one, have you ever heard this song before now?" Mr. O'Neil asked.

"Not really."

"So it's not a memory then. Have any of your friends ever heard this before?"

"I don't think so. I mean, the only one I know who would probably listen to a song in another language would probably be Donnie. Or maybe Tech and Rev, too; I mean, all three of them are pretty smart. But I don't recall any of them mentioning a song like this."

"Maybe it's conveying a mood. I mean, if someone's dreaming of a dark place, then that means they're in distress."

"But I'm not in distress, Dad; in the real world, I'm safe in my own home with you."

"You have been through a lot, April. Maybe this is a type of dream where a particular event has affected you greatly and you have yet to let go of it; it's happened to many other people…including me."

Maybe her dad had a point there; so many things had happened to her to turn her whole world upside down, some good, some bad. Maybe this was one of them on replay? But if that was the case, then why hadn't anything familiar happened? Why hadn't she seen her dad get taken by the Kraang, or either of the times he got mutated? Why hadn't her mind played back the moment she found out she was part-mutant or when she found out her mother had been turned into some kind of monster by the Kraang as a result of their experiments? Or when the Earth had been destroyed by the Triceratons before she and her friends fixed everything? Or when Splinter had been killed by Super Shredder when the mutated ninja flung her sensei of the top of the Wolf Hotel building? Or when the corrupted Aeon had nearly taken her over and…?

"April? April, are you all right?" Her father's voice cut through her train of thought.

April blinked a couple times before assuring her dad that she was fine. She then got a quizzical look on her face when she noticed something off to her dad's right: It looked like a white disc on the black ground.

"Do…Do you see that?" she queried.

"See what?" Mr. O'Neil queried back, not turning his head in the direction his daughter was looking.

"That round, white thing on the ground over there," April clarified. "It's just off to your right."

"It's probably nothing," Kirby dismissed.

"That's the first sign of any color other than black since I've been here," April said. "Maybe it's light; a sign, a way out! We've gotta see what it is!" she exclaimed.

April was about to break for it when her way was blocked by her father. She grew confused; what was he doing? Why didn't he want her going over there?

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said, his voice a little too calm.

"Why not?" April asked, trying to get around her dad and becoming more suspicious and worried by the minute.

"What if it's a trap? I promised I would protect you, April, and I will!" Mr. O'Neil said firmly, still intent on making sure April didn't reach that white disc.

"Dad, I'll be fine! I'm a full kunoichi! I can protect myself if there's any trouble, and besides, I'll be careful!" April insisted.

But her father-if this really was her father in front of her-would not be swayed. It looked like she would have to take some drastic measures. Pretending to back off, she told her father that he was right and started walking again. However, it seemed that Kirby knew what she was up to, because after a few seconds, he roughly grabbed her arm. Letting out a cry of pain, and uttering an apology, April delivered a chop to Kirby's middle, making him double over, then she threw him over before he could recover. Her arm was released, and, after giving another apology, she made tracks for the white disc.

As she got closer, she slid to a stop at its edge. If this was a trap, no sense rushing in like a turtle with its head cut off. No, wait; that was a chicken. Brother, she'd been hanging out with the guys too long. Putting that mental slip-of-the-tongue aside, she carefully poked the tip of her right sneaker inside it before quickly pulling it out. She noticed that the material had gotten brighter, which meant that this white disc was actually light streaming in from somewhere! She looked up to see the source, but she couldn't see one. Maybe it was too high up to be seen normally.

She stuck a bit more of her sneaker in for a slightly longer time; nothing happened. She then stuck a finger in; nothing. Her hand, her arm, and then, seeing that there was no discernible danger, she stood completely under it. It was bright; she had to bring a hand up to shield her eyes, but it wasn't warm. Wouldn't she have felt some warmth from the heat of the light on her scalp?

The dark void, the song, her dad, now this; things were getting weird again.

She turned and was startled to see her dad standing at the light's edge. He just stood there with that look that reminded her of the time when, under Kraang mind-control, he had brought her into a trap for Karai, who was working with Shredder back then.

"Why did you do that, April?" the man who looked like her father asked. "I was trying to protect you."

"From what?!" April questioned angrily. "It's nothing but light! I'm fine! Why didn't you want me over here? It won't hurt you, I promise," she said more calmly, extending her hand out.

Kirby O'Neil just stood there like a statue. April extended her hand again. What was wrong? Didn't he trust her? Why wouldn't he-?

She backed up slightly as Kirby stepped inside. She was about to say, "See? It's like I told you; there's nothing wrong" when she noticed two shadows coming out from her father's feet on the ground; one went out behind him, the other slid under April as it extended.

OK, this was a new turn; she certainly didn't remember anything like this happening in her life.

The shadows seemed to lift off the ground and become three-dimensional…and too familiar. The one behind her father resembled his vampire bat mutant form; the misshapen head, the ears shaped like bat wings, the small right arm contrasted by the normal-sized left one, the long wings with an arm attached to each, and its eyes each lacking a pupil and an iris glowed an eerie green. The one behind her, she found when she spun around, resembled when he had gotten turned into a half-Kraang monstrosity by the brain-like beings' perfected mutagen.

Frightened, April turned back around to ask her father what was going on, but found that he had vanished. She was now stuck between two shadow monsters who resembled her father's mutated forms with seemingly no way out.

Why had these two shown up together? Was it because the events surrounding both forms still frightened her to this day? Was it because she blamed herself for not being able to do anything to help him during those times?

Wait…was this a nightmare brought on by those little dark blob creatures she had been hearing about from Zooky? What were they called again; Heartless? But then why the light? They hated it. And why the song? Why the song that had been playing over and over and was playing now while she was facing this double nightmare?

"Not helping!" she shouted into the air, getting fed up with the song.

The two shadows flinched, and the young girl's attention was brought back to them. She then noticed that on either side of her was an opening. If she could just time it right…

One-Mississippi…two-Mississippi…three-Mississippi…

NOW!

April leaped to the right and rolled, just barely missing getting grabbed by the half-Kraang Shadow's tentacles. She rolled and rolled and rolled until she got too dizzy to roll anymore, finally flopping onto her back. Once she got her wits back, she took a look back in the direction she came from to find that the light, and the two mutant shadows, were gone. She stared back in that direction, trying to take it all in when she had that familiar feeling of someone being nearby again. Well, she wasn't going to be fooled this time! She reached around to her back pocket where she kept-

"My tessen!" she gasped. "Where is it?!"

She checked her back pockets, her front pockets; she felt herself over, but there was nothing. Her tessen was missing. And whatever was nearby was still coming.

Trying to think under pressure, April tried to remember the last time she saw her battle fan. But the only time she saw it last was when she was awake. She had assumed she had had it with her this whole time. Maybe she did and she lost when she escaped those shadow things? If that was the case, then she had lost it for good; the lighted area she had left was gone now.

She turned her head again and…there was another lighted area. There was something in it this time. She cautiously walked toward it, the object coming into view; it was small enough to hold in your hand, and it would have been rectangular if it weren't for the fact it seemed to be slightly opened in a fan shape.

April sighed in relief; it was her tessen. She was about to move forward again when a familiar, tape-wrapped, three-fingered, scaly hand came into view and picked it up. She recognized it as one of the Turtles, more specifically, Donatello from the olive-green color of the hand. The light seemed to expand the moment Donnie's hand came into view, bringing the rest of the Turtle with it. The psychic red-head's smile turned into a look of confusion when it was revealed that Donnie was hunched over on his knees, his bō staff missing, clutching her tessen. It became worry when she heard his steady but shaky breathing. Why was he upset?

Taking two steps forward then bending over, putting her hands on her knees, April gently spoke to her friend, "Hey, Donnie. It's me, April." No response. "What's wrong? I'm right here. I, uh, I kinda need my tessen back. Please?"

She straightened up and took a couple more steps and found that his body was covered with bruises and were those burns? The ends of his purple mask looked tattered. Had he been in a fight?

"Donnie? What happened? Are you OK?" April asked, worry creeping into her voice. "Why won't you look at me?"

No reaction. Her patience started to wear thin and she stalked around to the front of the hunched-over turtle.

She took a deep breath, then said firmly, "I'm right here, Donnie. Why won't you just look up when I'm…talking…to…?"

Her words died as she got her wish. Now she was wishing she hadn't.

April had seen Donnie get upset before, but compared to those times, even Splinter's death, this was an absolute nightmare. Donatello's face was etched with an expression of pure anguish, tears streaming from his brown/red eyes and soaking the areas of his mask under them. His shaky breaths were coming from his open mouth, which revealed the gap in his top teeth. His eyes were the scary part; they looked so…lost, pained, like his heart had been cut right out of him.

April felt helpless for a moment looking at Donnie's expression. It pained her, it frightened her. She felt sorry for him although she had no idea why he was so sad as he continued to hold her tessen in her hands like it was the most important thing in the world to him. She felt compelled to move closer and give him an embrace to show him that she really was standing right in front of her, but before she could do so, she saw his lips move closed, then tighten in slow motion.

A…P… Wait, was he trying to say her name?

They parted, going into the R-I-L part, but before he could finish, there was a loud cracking sound like you would hear on thin ice or a window. April gasped and shrunk back as Donnie also let out a gasp, eyes widening as the cracking sound continued.

There was silence and for a brief moment, Donnie's eyes found hers…before the image of him knelt over in pain and holding her tessen shattered before her eyes.

April scrambled over to the spot but the light, and Donnie, were gone. There was no trace of broken glass, no body, no nothing.

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" she screamed, clutching her hands to her head as she bent over on her knees, trying to block out the song. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! Who are you?! Why are you doing this to me?!" she cried.

The song just played on, with the rest of the song following the instrumental:

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

Sagkalpa Samvada Kevala Karma

ishwara Pooja hair hara gaana

Amritam avusoonyam pradarasha

dharma satsang udayam Rutham

Rutham medha

April began to cough and cleared her eyes to find what looked like dark red smoke entering her vision. She stood up, still coughing, trying to figure out what was happening now and who was the sick joker doing this to her and the others. If it was happening to her, it was a sure bet it was happening to whoever else was in this place, too.

The red smoke continued to roll in, and April began to get the feeling that this stuff was very dangerous and that she should run. At the moment, she was scared, confused, without a weapon, and her ninja skills were of absolutely no use, so there were two options, really: Let the red smoke consume her, or run.

She chose to run.

---

"Whatever this song's being played out of, I hope it has a mute button," Gina sighed to Benny as she walked on.

Of course there was no reply, but she had a feeling if Benny could agree, he'd be trying to cover his ears so that he wouldn't have to keep listening to the song repeatedly. It had been a real puzzle trying to figure out what it meant and it was now bordering on annoying. So was walking through nothing but a black void by yourself. She had sensed that there were others here, so why hadn't she seen any of them by now?

Scratch that thought.

Gina stopped in her tracks as she thought she spotted someone just out the corner of her left eye. She turned her head and saw a figure in the distance. Even with her naturally-heightened sense of sight, it was a bit difficult to discern the identity of the figure from where she was, except it seemed that the figure was wearing a blue shirt. Or was it a jacket?

"Hello?" Gina called.

The figure turned around, revealing the bright skin tone of the face that contrasted against the dark background. The figure then peered over in her direction, as if trying to find out who it was. Apparently the figure recognized her because he started waving and beckoning her over.

Gina cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head as a visible sign of confusion. How did that distant figure know her?

"Hey! Come here! Over here!" the figure called, the voice being that of a 20-year-old human male. "Come on!"

Gina slowly began walking over, exercising caution. If this turned out to be some sort of disguised threat, she wasn't going to take any chances. However, as she got closer, certain details about the figure began to stand out: The physique was that of a 20-year-old human male; he was a bit skinny, but athletic-looking. The blue article of clothing she had seen was indeed a jacket; a jean jacket, to be more precise. He was also wearing a gray T-shirt, jeans, and black-and-white sneakers that looked worn.

"Hey, great to see you!" the young man beamed. The smile faded though; Gina had a look of suspicion on her face. He decided to try a different tack. Taking on a jaunty look, putting his hands in his pockets and putting his weight on one foot, he smirked, "Aw, c'mon, Princess; you're breakin' my heart. Don't tell you don't recognize me."

"Excuse me?" Gina blurted out, caught off-guard by the pet name. "Just where do you get off calling…me that…?"

She stopped right there. The endearment had made something click, but it was finally taking in the face that did it: It was youthful, splashed with freckles and had bright, brown eyes and a bright, perfect smile. It was topped off with a mass of short, black, curly hair. There had been only one being in her life who looked like that and called her "Princess".

The name got stuck in her throat along with a ball of emotion that she gradually pushed past to say in a tone of disbelief, pain, and happiness as she squeezed the stuffed koala in her arms:

"L…Luke?"

"In person," said Luke R. Bryce with that playful flair Gina had come to know so long ago.

"But…But you're…you're…"

"Gone? Deceased? Six feet under? Sleeping with the angels?" Luke offered, still smiling.

"Not funny," Gina glared.

"Hey, hey; I'm sorry. I can't help myself sometimes, you know that," Luke said, dropping the jaunty look for an apologetic one. "I'm a part-time jokester."

"If that's the case, why didn't you try a hand at comedy?" Gina asked.

"I would have if I could have," Luke replied. "But I found a long time ago that I'm quicker with my feet than I am with my mouth," he added, doing a rapid shuffle followed by a spin then jazz hands.

Gina giggled, enjoying the brief spur-of-moment dance. Dancing had been something the human boy and the kaiju girl had bonded over; it was through this expressive medium that their relationship had blossomed.

Gina and Luke had met when the former got interested in dancing, having seen her mom and dad do it together. She found out about a dancing school in New York and traveled there. While there, she met Luke when he was doing a little dance exhibition on the street. She was impressed with his moves and tried to follow him, which led to him inviting her onto the dance pad and they wowed the crowds together. Later, Gina tried to apply for the dancing school, but was rejected due to the simple, discriminating fact that she was a kaiju. However, Luke, who to Gina's surprise was a student at the very school she was trying to apply to, stood up for her and vouched for her application. Over time, Gina learned a lot from the school, but it soon became apparent that Luke was the one teaching her all the steps. This was especially true when the lessons turned to partner dancing, which was at first a bit awkward for her and for Luke to an extent; but they eventually grew comfortable with each other and learned each other's rhythm. They became close friends, close enough that Gina trusted him with information about her family and her psychic powers, which the boy became fascinated by.

It hadn't been without its ups and downs, though. One in particular started with Gina discovering quite a few prescription medicines in the medicine cabinet, and all for Luke. This brewed into concern, as she had no idea what they were for at the time. One day, she got up the gumption to ask Luke about them. The boy looked concerned, worried even. Gina once again asked what was wrong, wondering why he was keeping something like this from her; he didn't look like he abused them, he was perfectly healthy. Oh, imagine her shock when Luke, who had started staring into space during the course of her talking, started stiffening and twitching uncontrollably. He tried to stand up and say something, but he ended up biting his tongue and he fell. Gina was scared and had no idea what was happening. Thankfully, Luke's mother had heard him fall and took care of him, having to send him to the doctor's because he remained like that for more than five minutes. Gina was terrified by what happened; she wondered if that had been her fault, if him being around her all this time had made him sick. It was then Luke's mother revealed that Luke had been diagnosed with epilepsy and had had a seizure at that moment. All those medicines in the cabinet had been to help reduce the frequency and intensity of the seizures. Gina was shocked, especially when Luke's mother told her that taking care of someone with epilepsy was a path of uncertainties; fine one minute, in a seizure the next. Be sure he took his medicine on time, ask his teachers to be mindful, keep an ear open at night to make sure he was still breathing. You just never knew.

But through it all, Luke remained as bright and cheerful as any young boy, and Gina, though now possessing this critical information, continued to respect him as such; after all, she had a cousin who suffered from post-traumatic stress, and she treated him just like anyone else. Luke and Gina became closer friends, especially after Gina seriously impressed everyone at a broadcasted dance recital by executing a breakdance move during a performance of "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift; something Luke could do but she couldn't until that point. They even started doing dance performances for support organizations for those affected by epilepsy like the Epilepsy Foundation when they weren't at the school or doing other things.

Much later, the dancing school Gina and Luke went to announced that they were participating in a dance-off competition with some other schools from around New York. The two chose to do a routine that they had done on what they considered their first date-which was when Luke gave Gina a bracelet that had charms on it which were Japanese words detailing what Luke believed were her best qualities-and they won by a landslide. At the awards ceremony, Luke surprised everyone by letting Gina keep the trophy because she deserved it more than he did, and then giving her a kiss. It was then that her cousin Zooky decided to play the embarrassment card and told Luke that he had kissed a princess. She admitted that it was so to an extent, to which Luke replied, "Well, with your father's permission…(to which he received a wink)…I'm gonna do it again". And so Gina and Luke had their first kiss…which turned out to be their only kiss.

Some time later after the competition, on July 6, Luke had a seizure in his sleep and passed away quietly. Gina had been devastated, so much so that she completely shut down for weeks. Her family and friends worried about her and did their best to help her, but it seemed that nothing helped. One day, she took a turn for the worse and it seemed her family would lose her again…but in a miraculous turn she woke up and was gradually nursed back to health. Her time for grieving was over, but she never forgot Luke; whenever she danced, he was on her mind. When she heard the song that played during their winning routine and their first date, "Almost (Sweet Music)" by Hozier, Luke was there. In his honor, she continued to support the Epilepsy Foundation and she even voiced in her support for one called "The Cameron Boyce Foundation" that her cousin Zooky had told her about, which had been named after a young actor who had also been a pretty amazing dancer who had died from the same condition as Luke…on the same day.

"I see you've got Benny," Luke noticed.

Gina glanced down at the stuffed koala and hugged it gently. "I've been taking good care of him," she smiled.

"So I see," Luke said, smiling as well.

The smile slid off his face again when he saw Gina start to cry. It hadn't been worked up or anything, it just…happened.

"Hey…hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" Luke asked gently, taking a couple steps towards her.

Gina just stood there weeping for a minute or two just to get it out of her system, hugging Benny tightly and burying her nose in his furry head, before looking up and saying, "I…I…I just…(another sob)…I'm…I'm so…"

Somehow Luke knew what she was trying to say before she could even complete the sentence. "Sorry for what?" he asked.

Gina would have been surprised with the question if she wasn't so upset at the moment. She took some deep breaths before saying, "When…When you…" She couldn't bring herself to say "died". "When you…I couldn't…I couldn't believe it. I couldn't… Why? That was all I could think about: Why did you go? You had so much ahead of you. …We…had so much ahead of us. Oh Tanaka, listen to me; thinking like such a…such a selfish little…"

"Hey! Don't call yourself that!" Luke spoke up sharply before she could say the b-word. "You're nothing like that at all."

"But that was all I could think about! Us! Me! I was wallowing in grief all that time because your death broke my heart! All I thought about was what effect your passing had on myself; not on your other friends, not even on your mother!" Gina shouted, feeling very ashamed. "Now you can't listen to that and tell me I'm not an abazure!" she said, using the Japanese translation of the b-word to finally get it out there.

Unfortunately, Luke understood thanks in part to what he had learned from her and some stuff online-it had come in handy when buying the bracelet-and shouted, "Gina Gojo, stop that this instant and listen! We've been over this before; you are an amazing young woman with amazing talent and a caring personality that made me practically tumble head-over-heels for you! You dance like a pro, your singing voice is nothing short of magical, your psychic powers are awesome, and you're absolutely beautiful! Now can someone like that be what you're describing? 'Cause it sure doesn't seem that way to me!"

Oh Luke. Oh, dear, sweet Luke. He was always such a positive person; to Gina, it seemed he never had a mean bone in his body. Yet another trait of his that endeared him to her. She wiped her tears and shook her head in response.

"Exactly!" Luke said. "Besides, don't you think I would be pretty broken up too if something happened to you? I love that much, Gi, even from beyond."

Gina felt a pain in her chest that was her guilt as she realized that Luke had a point; if she had been the one who died, who's to say that Luke wouldn't have reacted in the same way?

"I love you, Luke, and I still do," Gina confessed.

"I know," Luke said.

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, all's forgiven, remember?" Luke smiled, referring to the last conversation they had had.

Gina felt the corners of her mouth move upward in a smile; he had that kind of effect on her.

"Hey, there she is," Luke beamed, making Gina giggle. "There's my smiling princess."

"Luke, stop," Gina giggled, feeling warm in the face and her tail wagging behind her.

The two laughed for a bit before calming down. Gina noticed Luke now had a serious, concerned look on his face and the answer came before the question even left her mind: "Listen, there's something you have to know."

"About what?" Gina queried.

"About this place," Luke answered. "I've never been a smart guy when it comes to psychology stuff, but somehow I know some of it now, probably because of where we are."

"Which is?"

"OK, this is gonna sound weird, but what's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

Luke was right; that was a weird question, but she answered it anyway: "I…went to sleep."

"Do you remember anything after that? Any dreams?"

Gina tried to think of one, but found to her surprise that she couldn't. "No, I don't," she answered.

"All right, now this is gonna sound really weird coming out of me, but you've been somehow diverted into a dream state by someone whose psychic powers are far greater than yours."

Gina did not like the implication at all. "But…there's only one being I know who has greater powers of the mind than me, and I just can't see him doing this. This is not his way at all. It's not their way."

"I believe you, Gi, and I wish I could say just who it is, but I know about as much as you do."

"What about the song? What's so important about it?"

"I'm afraid I'm no help there, either," Luke shrugged. "All I know is that something big is coming. Something really bad."

"You don't mean…?" Gina breathed, fearing the worst.

"No, that Enemy thing you told me about, but it's pretty close," Luke replied. "It's something you and your folks won't be able to take on alone; that's why there's others here."

"So…is this whole thing supposed to be a message for us?"

"I'd have to guess so. But there's something else, too; something about you…and them…and it scares me."

"What? What is it?" Gina asked, growing anxious.

"It's… Oh no," Luke uttered as he looked to his left, an expression of fear on his face.

Gina looked to her right and was taken by surprise by the sight of a dense red fog rolling in. As it did and she inhaled, she felt something like dust in her nose and throat and she began to cough, Luke joining her. She covered her nose and mouth, having to squint her eyes due to this strange, red, dusty fog. A bolt of alarm cut through her chest as she heard Luke start to gasp, and she ran to him when she made out his form falling to the ground on his side, dropping Benny in the process. She knew what was happening; Luke was having a seizure-he was twitching uncontrollably, his arm swinging in a slapping motion. Most of the work had been done for her, as Luke had landed on his side, but now came the other things to do, like making sure his jacket collar wasn't stifling him. She didn't have a pillow to put under his head, but she would use her tail. However, when she tried to reach for him…her hand went through him. Panic beginning to course through her brain, she tried again and again, but to no success. Even his twitching arm made no physical contact with her. She coughed harder and breathing became difficult. Her eyes stung from the dust and the tears.

Her vision cleared somewhat to see a hand in front of her. She tried to take it, but her own hand passed through.

"I'm sorry, Princess," Luke told her, his voice coming out hoarse, likely from the dust.

"Don't be," Gina answered before letting out a cough.

"Listen, you gotta run."

"I'm not leaving you."

"There's no time!" Luke gasped, trying to sound urgent. "You and your friends have to save the world before-" He was interrupted by a coughing fit from himself and from Gina. "Just-(cough)-Just pro-(cough)-promise me…you'll keep living," he pleaded. "Keep living, Gina. Keep…living…"

That was the last thing the boy managed to say before fading away to nothing.

Now Gina was completely alone in this red, dusty mist; Luke was gone again and Benny had vanished. Another coughing fit brought her back to reality. Her senses told her that this stuff was dangerous to her, and if she didn't move, it was an extremely likely possibility that she was going to die. But she was so upset she could barely move or stand up, and the coughing fits weren't helping, either. Neither was the music that kept playing, which now almost sounded like a dirge.

I can't…I can't…

Hey, c'mon! Aren't you a warrior princess or something?!

Gina couldn't help but giggle; there was no doubt whose thought that was.

You can do it, I know you can! You've gotten back up from scary situations before, just like you told me, right?

Yeah, that was true.

Don't forget, I'm always right there with you; remember when you said someone told you once that even though someone you care about dies, they're not really dead as long as you remember them?

Gina nodded, beginning to stand up; the thoughts filling her with new resolve.

But now I need you to focus on living. You have to. You have-

The thoughts were cut off by the red, dusty mist surging around her and another coughing fit ensued.

RUN GINA, RUN!

Despite the pain from the near-continuous coughing, Gina ran, trying to find a way out of this before it consumed her completely. As she ran, a frightening thought occurred to her: If there were indeed others here as Luke had said and as she had sensed earlier, could this red mist be after them, too?

I don't know if my telepathy can work in this dream state, but I have to try!

Concentrating as best she could under the pressure, she sent out a message to whoever else was nearby, warning them of this red mist, and hoped that she managed to reach them.

---

"Man, can't whatever that song's coming out of play something else? This is getting monotonous," Tech grumbled.

"And it's not just the soundtrack; the scenery is just flat-out boring," Calamity groaned, now slumped over on Tech's shoulders so that his chin was resting between Tech's ears, his own ears hanging down on either side of his head to visually show how bored he was.

"No argument there, kiddo," Tech agreed. "Seriously, couldn't whoever is keeping us here have some sense of style, like…Eh…not to think too much like a cartoon, but, maybe some curtains, some grass, some sunshine, maybe? I mean, sheesh! Oh brother," the brown-furred anthro coyote groaned after a pause, putting a hand to his face.

"What's wrong, Tech?" Calamity queried.

Tech pinched the bridge of his snout and answered, "I think Rev's occasional attitude is starting to rub off on me."

"Heh! That's nothing," Calamity claimed.

"Yeah, yeah; Fowlmouth, right. Seriously, it can be a tad disturbing hearing your best friend's voice come out of someone else," Tech said, remembering the first time he and the other Loonatics first encountered Fowlmouth; it was the same day they met all the Tiny Toons, really.

"Yeah, but actually, I was more thinking about Yakko; now there's someone who's got a Master's in sass," Calamity said. "Of course Dot and Babs aren't too far behind, either."

"Mm, that's true," Tech agreed. "Honestly, for being a genius from the future, there are moments where I just can't wrap my head around how so many Toons sound like each other or one of us Loonatics, although I think Rev's got the rest of us beat in that department."

"It's just how we're voiced, Tech," Calamity explained. "You know most of my professors were all voiced by one person; it's a common occurrence, especially if that person has been around long enough."

"Well, you certainly can't argue with that," Tech said. "But there is one thing about you that's been on my mind since this whole thing started."

"What's that, Tech?" Calamity asked, sounding a bit distracted.

"In the real world-well, the one outside this dream state, that is-your Voice is a man of incredible vocal caliber, but here, and every time I hear you in my mind, you sound like that anime Toon named Astro Boy from that series of his back in 2003, when his original Japanese voice was dubbed by, well, a woman. Why is that?"

"That, Tech, is honestly a different animal altogether," Calamity answered rather quickly, as if he couldn't be bothered at the moment.

Tech stopped walking and looked up as best he could at his passenger. "Are you all right up there?" he asked.

"I could've sworn I…" Calamity started, scanning the void for what he thought he had heard.

He perked up, looking to the right; there it was again.

"Do you hear that?" Calamity asked.

"Hear what?" Tech asked back.

"You mean you don't hear someone calling?"

Tech was quiet for a moment as he put his ears to work, ultimately getting no results. "Sorry, Cal," he shrugged.

"But I know I-"

"Somebody help!"

There it was again, a bit louder this time.

"There! I know I heard that!" Calamity exclaimed, bouncing on Tech's shoulders.

"Ow! Sorry, Cal, but I-ow!-I didn't hear a-" Tech began, wincing each time Calamity practically hopped up and down on his shoulders.

"Put me down, Tech!" Calamity interrupted.

"OK, OK! Just-just gimme a minute to-"

Tech had just gotten down on one knee when he felt Calamity's ankles slip out of his grip and the little gray coyote practically roll off his shoulders-backwards. He turned his head in time to see Calamity racing off into the dark, following whatever it was that he heard. How come Calamity could hear something but he could not? That was the question in his mind as he raced after his little brother figure.

"Calamity Coyote! Slow down!" Tech called, the younger coyote getting farther and farther away.

Tech was about to call again when he was blinded by a harsh, bright light from his left, making him stop. Before he could discern the source, something slammed into him with the force of a wrecking ball. He faintly remembered lifting off the ground and rolling over something hard, something metal. With an engine. The pain from the impact was so intense that after feeling like he was falling down, everything went black.

An unknown amount of time later, Tech slowly woke to an aching feeling all over his body. The pain was particularly harsh in his torso, as that was the point of impact. He felt stiff, too; possibly from laying here for who-knows-how-long. He tried to move to figure the damage, but everything seemed to hurt, even his ears and eyelids. What scared him was that he wasn't feeling his other ability-his Molecular Regeneration-take effect. Was it not working? Was it ineffective in this dream state?

No, hold on; what was that around his left hand? Some sort of glow? Gingerly moving his hand towards his face to get a better look, Tech spotted a faint, but recognizable, green glow around his hand. Soon, he became aware of bruises healing, broken bones mending, and any internal bleeding sealing up, and all at a rather agonizing snail's pace, instead of the rapid results he was used to that often left him disoriented for a few minutes afterwards.

"Well…you're sure…takin' your sweet…sweet time about it," Tech wheezed, trying to sarcastically comment to his healing ability about how slow it was going.

As if it had heard, the glow became slightly brighter and sped up…to the point where there was only pain in his torso; then it slowed down again.

"Well, at least being able to move my limbs is better than nothing," Tech quipped to himself, slowly pushing himself up onto his hands and knees.

As he did so, he tried to figure out just what had plowed into him. Frankly, it felt like he had gotten hit by a… By a… By…a…

The pain came back hard as his heart began to hammer against what felt like a broken ribcage. It couldn't have been. He couldn't have really been-No, no; whatever it was, it wasn't real. This was a dream, after all; maybe some of his nightmares were starting to leak through.

Or was it whoever had trapped him and Calamity in here allowed them to come through?

But then why? Why?!

Raapavu upada prutvi aakasaha

kranahi kiranaha Agni udaka

Raboye kaalam mrutyu dootha

mounam dhaa mounam phalu isha

Tech growled; he was tired of this place, and he was tired of that STUPID! SONG!

"SHUT UP!" Tech snarled, snapping his head upwards and letting out a whine of pain afterwards as the neurons in his torso sent a signal of pain to his panicking brain.

Why was this happening?! Why was he being tortured like this?! Weren't the normal nightmares and the triggers he had to be mindful of and the guilt he had been burdening enough already?! Now this…this…musical harbinger bearing news of the apocalypse had to get in on it?! How else could this place make him suffer?!

The minute Tech sensed a presence nearby, he regretted thinking that. Slowly, carefully, like a frightened puppy, he turned his gaze to his left.

There was a figure; prone, back facing him. No visible details just yet.

Tech winced as he tried to breathe slowly to calm himself. He turned his head to bring it into focus. He gulped.

Definitely a body. Small, barefoot, and very still.

And gray.

The pain and the indignity of crawling like a toddler didn't matter; Tech had to get over there. Before it was too late.

But what if it was too late? What if-? NO. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. He was NOT going to think that. He was going to make it. He could help; after all, he had other abilities that he had gotten from the Feudal Era besides his Twin Dagger-Bow Ahiga: He had gained the ability to heal others. The only drawback was that he would bear the other's injury for a time before his own regenerating ability took over, and the more injuries he healed, or the more serious they were, the greater they affected him and his self-healing power.

That side-effect was an afterthought in the current scheme of things, though; he was going to able to help. He was going to be able to save-Oh dear Heavens above… Oh no…

Lying before Tech was the prone and broken-looking body…of little Calamity Coyote.

It took a few minutes for Tech to try to calm himself down so that his own internal rhythms wouldn't mess up his diagnosis as he tried to take Calamity's pulse. Wait, was that-? No, that's your own fingertips, you dummy! He had to wipe his eyes over and over to clear them so that he could assess the damage; broken ribcage very likely, as well as arms, legs, and-Oh, hang it all! Calamity was smaller than he was! Everything had been broken!

But there still had to be a chance; there had to be one. Calamity could still be saved. He just had to concentrate.

Now, where to start? He needed to work his hands, so arms would be last. He could work on the legs…but no, there was a more vital spot he needed to concentrate on, even if it meant adding to his own current pain. Wiping his eyes again, Tech positioned a hand on Calamity's head. By habit, he began stroking the bushy brows of the little coyote, as if to tell him somehow that he was here and that everything would be fine soon.

Tech closed his eyes and tried to picture the broken pieces coming together, the mind becoming active and sending signals again, but nothing seemed to be happening. Almost hesitantly, Tech laid his other hand on Calamity's chest.

Oh… Oh, this was frightening. This was incalculably frightening; not being able to feel the steady rise and fall of his chest. It was too still.

Tech tried concentrating again, but it was of no use; his emotions were overwhelming him so badly his powers weren't working, a side-effect that came from the guilt he and the other Loonatics bore when they failed to save their home time from the Darkness.

He begged, he pleaded with himself, but nothing happened. He gulped down a ball of emotion that was forming in his throat; he couldn't have failed. Yet, when he carefully lowered himself to put an ear to Calamity's chest-Tech wished Lexi was here; she had the better hearing due to her Sonic Hearing ability, even though Tech himself could hear well thanks to his canid genes-and strained to hear a heartbeat and heard none, he knew that he did.

Tech closed his eyes momentarily as the sobs started and the tears began to trickle. One of his worst nightmares had come true; he had lost Calamity for good.

Automatically, the hand that had been on top of Calamity's head went under it and the other hand went towards the legs. Tech drew himself up, shifting position so that he could hold the little coyote properly; his legs felt weak. He opened his eyes…and almost dropped the body as a gasp of horrified anguish escaped him.

He couldn't move anymore. He couldn't think. He could barely breathe. All he could do was sit and weep as he held the body of someone very near and dear to him in his arms. And all the while, the song continued to play:

Sagkalpa Samvada Kevala Karma

ishwara Pooja hair hara gaana

Amritam avusoonyam pradarasha

dharma satsang udayam Rutham

Rutham medha

…

Meanwhile, Calamity had been chasing down the being who was calling for help, thanking all those track runs in Roadrunner's gym class and all the times he chased Little Beeper for being able to run for so long. But it seemed that no matter how fast he ran, his destination was constantly out of reach.

Don't tell me I'm chasing an illusion, Calamity growled to himself. Then again, this is a dream state, so of course it could be an illusion!

"Help!"

"Someone help us!"

Calamity pushed himself to keep going; there were more varied voices calling now, and there was genuine fear in them.

There were screams now, and they were getting louder. Chills were also starting to spread throughout Calamity's body; strangely familiar chills. He hadn't felt these ever since-

"Calamity! Where are you?!"

The little gray coyote's heart leapt into his throat and he almost tripped. That was his mother's voice! It had been a long time since he heard it, but it was her! He poured on the steam. The chills intensified. Calamity looked up as he thought he saw something fly overhead. He couldn't see it clearly, though; it was too dark in this void.

Or was it…?

Oh no.

Calamity stopped in his tracks as a building finally came into sight; it was yellow-colored with about five floors. No, it wasn't just any building; it was the very department store that the Heartless attacked on their first incursion into Toontown…and where Calamity lost his parents in that same attack.

The psychic Toon coyote flinched back as more chills coursed down his spine, caused by the Heartless that were flying about the building like a swarm of bees. The people inside continued to cry out in fear and for help. He had to get in there; his parents were inside. But how to get past all those Heartless?

Wait a minute; he did have a way. Using his telekinesis, Calamity swung his arms wide to push the Heartless aside and walked forward. However, just as he was getting close, all the Heartless zooming about outside flew inside the building.

This was bad. He had to get in quickly.

Before he could reach the door, he was blown back by a powerful gust of wind that had him rolling head-over-heels for a bit before he finally stopped, landing on his front. He lay there for a moment, trying to comprehend where that wind had come from as well as re-gather his wits. He sensed a presence in front of him and he glanced up before his expression became one of happy surprise at the sight of his parents in front of him; they had escaped after all! Maybe they got caught in that wind as well.

Well, however, they did it, Calamity was overjoyed to see them and started getting on his hands and knees.

The happy mood slowly dissipated as something went off in Calamity's powerful mind that told him something was amiss, his tail slowing in its wagging and his ears starting to hang down to the sides of his head. His mother and father just stood there, smiling gently at him, but there was something else; was that sadness? It was hard to tell; he couldn't pick up their thoughts at all.

Their eyes closed. Calamity felt his body tense up.

Their eyes opened quickly…revealing nothing but a soulless yellow glow that made Calamity gasp in horror. Those were the eyes of the Heartless, he recognized, and with a swirl of black and purple sparkles, that was exactly what his parents became; two small black figures with round, yellow eyes and antennae sticking out at the top of their heads, almost insect-like in appearance.

Calamity was suppressing the urge to strike at them; Heartless or not, these were his parents! The ones who loved him dearly even despite his inability to use his voice box. The ones who encouraged him in his interests, comforted him when he felt out-of-place in his early days at Acme Loo, and helped him achieve those other milestones in his cubhood like crawling and walking.

He reached out a hand and opened his mouth to say something; try to reason with them somehow, make their memories come back. He never got the chance, because without warning, both Heartless exploded into nothing as if they had been hit by a Keyblade or by a weapon wielded by someone who possessed special fingerless gloves, one orange and one blue, that bore the symbol of Mothra; a gift given by the Elias for those who had been invited to the Mortal Kombat tournament a few years back.

Calamity whimpered, pain and horrified anguish on his face and in his heart, his hand still outstretched. The pain inside soon grew to be too much; he hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut as tears formed and began to fall. His outstretched hand closed into a fist, which he pounded into the ground with an angry growl.

"Why?!" he cried out loudly. He continued to shout, hitting the ground with his fist at the end of each sentence, "Why did you take them away?! Why did you keep me away from them?! I wanted to help them! It's not fair! I have the power to save them! Why didn't you just let me use it?! I could've saved them! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

Calamity gasped in horror once more when he realized whom he had been thinking of during his tantrum; the very Toon who had saved his life during that attack: Roadrunner, or "Roadie", as he was often affectionately referred to. The blue-feathered desert avian had to make an uncomfortable transition to the Toontown suburbs after the Toontown Desert had been swallowed by the Heartless, hence he was around when the incident at the store occurred. He had managed to save a small number of Toons, including Calamity, but not everyone had been saved that day. Roadrunner had tried his best that day, Calamity knew that, but it still didn't stop the unbidden, hateful thought towards Little Beeper's mentor from occasionally forming before it vanished, leaving the gray Toon coyote feeling as dark and empty as those little dark monsters.

This occasion was no exception, and Calamity broke down in tears, still on his knees and bent over; the song played on in the background, as if to torture him further. Gradually, his sobs died down and he began to hear someone else crying. But there was no-one else with him except-

Calamity was back on his feet and running, running towards his big-brother figure. He wondered what could have happened to Tech to make him cry, but he already had a faint idea of the cause. He slowed down as Tech came into view; the older coyote was on his knees, cradling someone in his arms as he cried. Calamity, keeping his distance, walked around to get a better look, and gasped as tears once again sprang to his eyes. The figure was a small coyote about Calamity's size, not more than ten years of age, with light-brown-mixed-with-gray fur, the limp ears resembling his but mostly Tech's. Calamity knew who that was: It was Shilah, Tech's younger brother who had died from being hit by a car ten years before Tech got his powers from the meteorite that hit Acmetropolis, the future version of Earth that Tech and the other Loonatics came from.

Calamity closed his eyes to wipe his tears away and opened them again to find that Shilah's body had now vanished. Tech had also noticed the disappearance, because he stared grief-stricken at his empty arms for a moment before sobbing again. The gray Toon coyote just stood there with tears in his eyes, feeling the pain Tech was in, unaware of a red fog coming in behind him like someone had turned on a smoke machine.

The gray, psychic canis latrans took a small step towards Tech, about to say something when he finally noticed the red mist coming in in front of him. He only had enough time for a brief exclamation of surprise before some sort of dust entered his nose and airways, sending him into a coughing fit along with some sneezes.

The sound of someone sneezing was enough to slowly drag Tech back into the reality of this dream state, and the first thing he saw was what looked like red mist, but it made him cough and sneeze, so he thought it was smoke, but then he felt small granules on his fingertips. Was this sand? He coughed again and he heard another sneeze, a loud one this time that sounded like the usual Toon cry of "Ah…Ah…Ah…AH-CHOO!" His heart gave a leap as he recognized the voice that gave that cry.

"Cah…Cah…Cal?" Tech gasped, his voice a bit hoarse from crying.

"Tech!" Calamity called before another coughing fit took over.

Tech looked up and saw the familiar silhouette of Calamity Coyote, alive, through the haze of red sand. He could barely believe his eyes.

"CALAMITY!" Tech cried out, overjoyed to see him as well as worried.

"Tech! Help!" Calamity called back between coughs.

Tech's legs began working again; he scrambled to his feet, ran over to and scooped up the smaller coyote before running out of the strange phenomenon. The older coyote fell to his knees, tightly hugging Calamity as the younger gripped his shirt desperately and cried into his shoulder. They both had gone through their worst nightmares and were greatly relieved to have found each other again, but the moment didn't last long, because the strange mist or sandstorm soon caught up with them, forcing Tech to run again.

Calamity kept a tight grip on Tech's shirt, he didn't want to lose him to this new menace. Was it possible that whoever was playing this song was also responsible for this?

Calamity looked up, and a look of terror etched itself into his face, his grip tightening. Tech felt it and chanced a glance back. What he saw filled him with dread; this red, sand-mist was right behind them, ready to collapse on them like a tsunami wave. He prayed that somehow, if there actually were any others here, that they were all right and safe from this terror.

---

Meanwhile, Pinky just kept walking and humming along to the song. It was pretty and he thought he was getting the hang of the strange-sounding words, but he did occasionally wonder if the lady who was singing this knew how to sing anything else. Maybe she didn't. Well, no worries; once he got there he could probably teach her some other songs to sing. He knew plenty, like his favorite one about cheeses and "Yakko's World"; he only got one request in his whole life to sing the latter, though and not much after that, but it had been fun to try.

He smiled, but it didn't last long because as he was about to starting humming along with the song as it played again, he felt his vocal chords vibrate, like some sneaky throat gremlin had somehow gotten into his throat and was tickling it.

Oh, no you don't Mr. Tickly-Throat Gremlin! Pinky scolded in thought, trying not to give in, but he couldn't hold it and he let out a slight cough.

That wouldn't have been so bad…if he hadn't let out another. And another. And another. Soon, he just couldn't stop; he would barely get a breath in before the "Tickly-Throat Gremlin" would make him cough more and harder. His chest and the area under his ribs began to hurt from all the coughing he was doing, not to mention his throat. There was something else going on in there; some sort of…icky, scary, tightening feeling, like something was gripping them tighter and tighter.

He had to make it stop, and soon; he was running out of breath. Well, he wasn't going to give that throat gremlin a chance to continue! So, on purpose, he let out a forceful cough. He didn't feel any more tickling; it worked! He began to inhale a deep, grateful breath through the mouth.

His heart gave a jump in his furry chest.

His blue eyes widened.

He let out a gasp.

Then came the scariest sound from inside his throat: TWANG!

His paws flew to his throat and a look of terror uncharacteristic to the normally optimistic little lab mouse formed on his face as could actually feel his vocal chords snap.

What just-? No, it couldn't be.

He shouted "Narf!" and "Poit!" and "Zort!" and "Troz!" and all his little verbal tics over and over, but there was no sound, no strange little shaky feeling from his throat that happened when he usually spoke. The what-would-be-shouting turned into what-would-be-screaming as panic began to build inside him.

Oh no. Oh no. Not again. Not again! Not again! Wasn't all that supposed to be over now?!

"BRA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-I-N!" he tried to scream, but it was no use.

His throat and mouth went dry, but his eyes grew moist as he began to cry voicelessly.

It was scary. Scary as it had been when it had happened the first time all those years ago. But it hadn't happened to just him; many of his friends in Toontown had also suffered a loss of their voice; but it had only been for…what did Brain call it? Oh, right; a year. And then after that, aside from a slight problem of not being able to taste cheese properly for a few days, he could talk again with no problem.

But this felt worse than that; much, much worse. And soon the terrible, scary empty feeling seemed to move from his throat to his torso. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to pinpoint what was going on. It felt like his insides were hurting constantly, his chest especially. It got to be so much that he fell on his side, curling up in a fetal position. It was a foreign but familiar feeling, like some piece of him had been torn out; his soul, his core.

This was a common symptom with Toons who faced being Speechless for the first time; their first Voice was their core, the one who defined the character along with however they were written. When they lost it either temporarily or, in very, very common cases, permanently, it was like they lost a part of themselves that could never be regained, even though most would eventually be given a new Voice who fit just as well. They adapted to it, even came to like it, but it still didn't fill that void deep inside. It was especially painful if their Voice was particularly special. In Pinky's case, it was.

His Voice was someone who believed in the power of a smile and laughter. He was a positive, kind person, who wasn't afraid of making a joke now and then. His mind was quick, and he was a good singer, to boot. Pinky loved that gift his Voice gave him; being able to sing like that, loud and proud and bring a smile to everyone's faces. There had been some minor confusion when his voice changed in sound back in 1995, but he loved the change ever since. His Voice loved children and so did he, but what Toon didn't? Even Brain couldn't be much of his grumpy self whenever those sweet human children often came by to-

Brain.

Pinky began to remember something terrible, something that was going to happen to his best friend. The owies got worse. He didn't want to think it; he wasn't even trying to, but it was there and he wanted it to go away!

It was something he had heard when Brain hadn't been looking. Something about Brain's own Voice. Oh dear, Brain's Voice had been through so many sad things, and it hadn't been until later on after their first few episodes together and Brain's voice went through a change too that he and some other friends of theirs had found out about them. Good thing Brain's Voice and his Voice were such close friends, just like him and Brain.

Wait, that was it, wasn't it? Something about that. If Pinky's Voice hadn't survived…

But if Pinky didn't have his Voice now…

No.

No… Brain… Oh no…

Pinky cried. It wasn't just because his owies were getting worse now; it was because his friend was hurting now as well, and it was all his fault. And there was no way to fix it; no brilliant plan or happy-smiley Band-Aid or-

He started to cough again, but this time it was from something irritating his nose as well as what was now a poor excuse for a throat. He began to see red, angry clouds in front of him. He stood up, continuing to cough and turned around to see more of the red, angry clouds that scratched at his nose and the inside of his neck.

He got a feeling telling him to run, but he didn't want to abandon Brain, wherever he was. Unfortunately, the pushy feeling was much stronger and in his exhausted, frightened state, Pinky didn't need much pushing. He turned and ran, tears streaming off his face as he did so; he was that upset. As he ran, amidst all the mucky, muddled thoughts and the owies, one sentence stood out:

I'm so sorry, Brain. I'm so, so sorry.

---

It was the same story in all four places; everyone was being pursued by this strange, nightmarish phenomenon and everyone was too scared to do anything about it except run for their lives. Their respective constitutions had been broken down by their own respective sadness and demons brought before them, even the most innocent had not been spared. All of them had tears streaming down their cheeks, all of them fighting for breath to keep going, but at some point they all tripped and fell. The red, suffocating mist washed over them, and they all wondered if this was it, if they were to die in this dream and never wake from it, like Freddy Kreuger's victims.

Gina coughed and cried as she thought about her family, her immediate one and the one formed by all the friends they had made; she thought about Luke, and the plea he made for her to keep living. Looks like she wasn't going to be able to keep it this time.

April thought about her father and everything they had went through; his kidnapping, his mutations, her discovering she was part-mutant and learning to control her psychic powers. She thought about Master Splinter, Casey, Raph, Mikey, Leo…and Donnie. Was what she had seen a warning of some sort? Well, it looked like it was going to come true.

Tech thought about Shilah and the home and his friends lost; he was supposed to be a genius, but even his intellect was no match against the swarming Darkness, just as it was no match against this red sandstorm. Calamity thought about his parents and his friends, old and new; Zooky was like another mentor to look up to, Gina had helped him discover his powers, and Tech and Rev were the big brothers he never had. Now he was going to lose it all.

Pinky wept, his thoughts scattered and mucky and hurting, but he managed to hold on to three: His girlfriend Pharfignewton whom he had met in late 1993, his son Romy who had been created as a clone mixed with his and Brain's DNA on February 22nd, 1997, and his dear, dear friend the Brain. The two always managed to stick together through thick and thin, through every failed plan (although it was all a cartoon or was it? His memories were getting so mixed up nowadays), every bop on the head, and every hardship, including that terrible year when he, Brain, and so many other Toons waited with baited breath to see if the Voice for Pinky, Yakko, and numerous others, would pull through. But Brain wasn't here; he was all alone, and he had lost his voice…for good, it seemed. And that meant now Brain was hurt, too. He wasn't as smart as Brain, but he had big and kind enough heart to make up for it, and so he hated it if his friends were hurt…especially Brain. Oh, he'd really done it this time, hadn't he? And so he continued to cry over a circumstance that was beyond his control.

The red haze lessened slightly, providing all a clear view of an awesome, terrifying sight: There was a city with this red haze blanketing it as thick as London fog, and in what was possibly the middle of it, stood an angry red mushroom cloud reminiscent (to those who knew) of an atomic or hydrogen bomb. It stood there like a massive tree, spreading its poisonous roots throughout the city and towards the five onlookers, who were paralyzed by fear.

Suddenly, something bright shone over their heads as the last two verses of the song began to play on repeat, the tempo slower this time:

Sagkalpa Samvada Kevala Karma

ishwara Pooja hair hara gaana

Amritam avusoonyam pradarasha

dharma satsang udayam Rutham

Rutham medha

They each saw one brilliant blue light-except in Tech and Calamity's case, they saw two-hanging over their heads like a star peeking through the clouds. It was warm, calming, but also seemed to possess a fierceness as it glimmered in defiance of the deadly tree. Each of the lights then sped off towards it, and a feeling of fear and dread came upon them all.

Be ready, said a whisper.

A large, reptilian, silhouetted figure appeared inside the "stem" of the mushroom cloud…

The fear and dread intensified…

And then all went black.

---

*long exhale* Oo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh boy… Well, you're at the end, so I can only guess you decided to read through after all. Well, go ahead; call me evil and a sadist for what I put those dear characters through. I can only say again that there's a reason behind all this; I mean, this is a crossover adventure after all. That is…it might be depending on the reaction I get.

All right, now for some explanations. To start with, the idea for the Gina and Luke relationship occurred long before I watched TMNT 2012, so the idea that I got the idea from there is null-and-void. And as many of you may have guessed, yes, Luke R. Bryce is an OC I created as an homage to Cameron Boyce, who died from a seizure in his sleep back in 2019. His death got me because it was rather sudden; I mean, his on-screen dancing skills were prodigious and I knew him from his role in the Disney series "Jessie" (which is where I got Luke's first name and middle initial from) and from his role in Disney's "Descendants"; he was really poised to go places. Not to mention I was practically 20 myself when it happened, so that was quite a shock.

Ooh dear; Pinky. I have a feeling this is where a lot of the yelling will start. In case many of you don't know, what happened basically referenced the fact that back in 2016, his voice actor, Rob Paulsen, was diagnosed and being treated for Stage III throat cancer, so he was out of commission for a bit. Not to mention being treated for such an illness is a tricky thing; frankly, I feel Rob was lucky his voice came out of it intact, not to mention he managed to push through. If things had gone the other way…well…the loss would have been quite tremendous. Thankfully, he's all right, but I have a feeling the effects of such a close call would linger on the Toons he voices, hence why I put in that Pinky wasn't able to taste cheese properly for a few days once Rob came back (Rob did get treated for a head-and-neck cancer, after all), not to mention a lingering sense of uncertainty. But how did Brain get dragged into this? Well, that's something that will get explained in a later chapter should reception be positive enough for me to continue. If you follow voice actors as much as I do, though, then you may already know how Brain fits into the situation.

Now for Tech and Calamity. Yes, I've made Calamity psychic and gave him the medical condition of undeveloped vocal chords; I've looked that up some time ago for another story and found that it's real, but very rare. If there's an error there, then let me know and offer any alternate suggestions, but please don't flame me. And yes, there's a story behind Calamity discovering his powers, hopefully I might get around to writing it someday. Giving Tech a family was pretty much a part of my attempt to expand the backstories of the Loonatics, as their pasts weren't really explored much in the original material, although Tech's was given some more details than others, not to mention I read a lot of "Loonatics Unleashed" fanfics, so they certainly fed my imagination, one of them being a fanfic called "The Future is Wild!" by Author Nerfertanya dragongurl Ahhotep, whose version of Tech inspired me to inject some Navajo blood into the superpowered genius. In fact, the name of his Twin Dagger-Bow "Ahiga" means "he fights" in Navajo, which I got from the site 20000-names. OK, now where did the weapon come from? Well, that's something I came up with in my planned "Inuyasha"/"Loonatics Unleashed" crossover; basically, while helping the protagonists in the Feudal Era, the Loonatics get new abilities, and I came up with giving Tech a bow that could pull apart into two daggers for close combat, as well as provide Rev with two flaming swords to go with his new fire-type capabilities. Well, Rev and Tech are good friends, so I figured why not make the weapon a co-op one? Another new ability of Tech's is the one that heals others but gives them to him in exchange before his own healing factor kicks in. I think I may have subconsciously gotten the idea from a "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode called "The Empath", which features a mute woman character who has the same ability.

Now April is pretty much herself in the context of the 2012 TMNT series, so there's no big surprise there. Man, that girl's been through a LOT hasn't she? Thankfully, she's got friends to help her through the twists and turns.

Whew…Oh-kay, I think that's enough. Now, because there's so much material here, I've actually split this chapter into the dream itself and the parts where the characters wake up, so that's next.

In the meantime, please read and review…and my most sincere apologies.

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Update 8/6/2021: Hello again! Just coming through with an update that was inspired by my friend DJ Rodriguez: I'm going to start adding questions at te end of each chapter in my stories and I thought I'd start adding them here before I get too far along with this story, so here they are:

If you found yourself in that void, with no-one else around, what would your reaction be? What would your plan be?

What would you be thinking when you hear the song?

Considering Calamity's a rather quiet character (and a telepath in my fanfic-verse), would you be surprised at hearing him talk without telepathy? Do you agree with the theory offered by Calamity as to what the void is?

Do you think Calamity thinks Tech may be psychic? (Remember, Tech's from the distant future and he and the other Loonatics are supposed to be descendants of the Looney Tunes, but who's to say the Tiny Toons don't have their own descendants?)

If you were with April, what would you do when her dad shows up? Do you have anything to add to the conversation when they're trying to interpret the dream?

When April's dad starts acting strangely, what would you do? How would you explore the strange light?

What would be your thoughts at seeing Donnie in such pain like that, and then shattering like a broken window?

What would you have done when Gina's application to the dancing school got rejected because she was a kaiju?

How would you have handled the situation where Gina saw the prescription medications for Luke then tried to ask him about it?

What would you have done to help Gina when she was in deep grief (AKA shut down) over Luke's death?

Who do you think Gina's thinking about when Luke tells her that she and the others (Tech, Calamity, April, and Pinky) are being kept in a dream state by someone with immense psychic power?

What do you think it is about Gina and the others that's scaring Luke?

What would you do to help Tech as he tries to use his healing ability but fails to because he's so upset?

What would you say to Calamity after he has his outburst after his parents turn into Heartless and disappear?

What would you be doing to help Pinky as he panics over the loss of his voice?

What would you do when the red fog/mist/sandstorm comes rolling in?

What do you think those blue lights could be?

Whew...(again). Sorry about the long list of questions, but it's a long chapter with so much happening in it. I'm still working on the second chapter, so don't worry, I'll update soon. In the meantime, I can't wait to read your responses!

Again, please read and review. Thank you.