Finally we're getting to the good stuff. Sorry if this fic feels like its going kinda slow, i just wanna introduce everything properly. there's some good drama in this chapter tho to make up for it. Next couple of chapters are gonna be action packed i promise!
April scrolled through her phone as she walked down the hallway with Casey. He was going on about some hockey game, but April was not listening. She kept refreshing her text messages.
"I feel like you haven't been listening to me for like the past five minutes," Casey complained as he lightly bumped her arm. April looked up in surprise. "What? Sorry, I just can't believe Cori totally flaked on me like that last night."
"Who?"
"You know, Cori? Cori Ishida?"
Casey made a confused face and scratched his head. April sighed in exasperation and continued. "About this tall? Long brown hair? Wears gloves all the time? She's a year behind us?"
"Oh c'mon April, you know I don't got time to talk to sophomores."
"Big talk coming from someone who was a sophomore three times."
"Only twice!"
April smirked and was going to tease her friend some more but noticed her classmate on the other side of the hallway. "Cori," she called out while waving her hand. Cori blinked sleepily in her direction.
"Oh, hey April."
"I thought we were meeting up last night. What happened? I tried texting you but you never answered." Cori cringed after realizing she forgot about the project. "Uh, sorry. I had to work after school and...forgot. We can try working on it tonight if you want."
"Works for me. Same place, just try not to forget," April said with a wink. Cori blushed from embarrassment but nodded. She silently walked past her classmates and continued down the hallway. April and Casey watched after her.
"Oh yeah, she seems real interesting," Casey said. April jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "Hey!" "I like her. She's nice, unlike some people I know."
"I know. Raph can be pretty cold," Casey teased. April rolled her eyes but smiled. The two turned and continued walking down the busy hallway, chatting with each other.
o-o-o-o-o
"Soooo… Know anything about electromagnetism?"
Cori blinked slowly and shook her head. "Absolutely not." April clacked the keys on her laptop in defeat.
"Yeah, me neither."
The two girls were sitting on a pair of cold swings in an empty playground. The metal poles and chains supporting the swingset were old and rusted. They creaked everytime Cori swung back and forth. Gray clouds swirled above them, threatening to storm. "Sorry Mr. Faraday," April talked to her computer screen, "but I don't think your powerpoint is going to be very good." She shrunk into her jacket to keep warm.
The two had been here for two hours already and barely had three slides. Neither of them seemed particularly motivated to work. It did not help that Cori was practically asleep every time April had a question.
A low rumble echoed from above. April noticed a drop of water on her computer screen. As soon as she wiped it off another appeared, and then another. It started to pour. Cori stood up and pulled her hood over. The leather jacket kept her mostly dry, except water soaked into her fabric hood. April slammed her laptop closed and hid it under her jacket. She was not as fortunate as Cori and had no hood. "I thought it wasn't supposed to rain," April asked. "I guess not."
The two seeked shelter underneath one of the plastic slides in the playground. However, they had to crouch to fit under it. "Well, this is just great," April grumbled. She clutched her laptop closer, hoping the rain would not fry it. Cori looked around and made a face as she thought. "Hey, my apartment is only two blocks away. If we run, it shouldn't take too long. We can finish the project there if you want."
"Do I really have another choice?"
"Not really."
The two psyched themselves for the rain and dashed out from their hiding spot. They ran along the sidewalk, weaving in between pedestrians that were smart enough to bring an umbrella. They splashed in the newly formed puddles, soaking their shoes and socks. They were not running for long when Cori slipped and fell onto the pavement. She was quick to get up, faster than April could react to help her up. But, her clothes were now soaked and dirty.
"You okay?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm having the time of my life," Cori responded with a wry smile. April smiled back and they continued to run.
Finally they reached Cori's building. In front of them stood a brown apartment building, sitting in a row alongside a series of skinny houses. The rain soaked into the brick, making the rowhouse seem more black than brown. Cori fiddled with some keys and opened the door to the first apartment on the left. Cori and April rushed in, slamming the door behind them. The two stood there, hunched over and panting from their run. Cori stretched out her back and looked at the ceiling. They continued to pant; their breaths slowly returned to normal.
"You good?" Cori asked her guest.
"Oh, you know. Having the time of my life."
Cori grinned widely. "Here, give me your jacket." April handed over her soaked coat. She checked her laptop to make sure it was okay. It was a little damp but otherwise fine. She watched as Cori took off her leather jacket. Underneath, she wore a gray sweatshirt. April could not understand how her classmate could wear so many layers of clothes and not get heat stroke. Cori hung both jackets on a coat rack nailed to the wall. Beside it was a silver bike that had a couple spots of rust on it. The floor around it was scuffed and dirty. April felt a pang of guilt as she realized that the two of them had only gotten the floor messier with their dirty and soaked shoes. "Could you take off your shoes," Cori asked shyly. "It's just a thing my mom has." "Oh sure. No problem." Apri hunched over and gripped her soaking shoes. She pulled them off, placing them on the floor next to some others. She wiped her now wet hands off on her pants.
She looked back to Cori and noticed that she had been wearing eyeliner. Mostly because the black makeup had smeared across her face. "Uh, your makeup is a little...runny." Cori slid off a glove and wiped her eyes. She rubbed the black residue on her fingers and tsked. She slipped back on the glove. "C'mon, I'll take you to my room before I clean up."
Cori began to ascend the staircase. The carpeted floorboards creaked with each step. The stairs were steep and skinny, with only room for one person at a time. April followed a couple steps behind. Along the wall were pictures of Cori and an Asian woman. She looked very young, only a little older than the teens. In some pictures, her hair was dyed a deep red and cut quite short. In others, her hair was long and black, usually put up into some sort of ponytail. There was still some red fringe at the bottoms of her hairs.
"That's my Ren. She's my…mom," Cori answered before April could even ask. April looked back to the pictures. They were all either Cori or Cori with her mom. "I don't have any siblings either. Or a dad." The brunette glanced back at her guest and continued, "I was adopted."
"Oh." April was very unsure what to say. Everytime she had some sort of question, Cori immediately answered even if she had not asked it. She continued silently up the steps.
When they reached the top, Cori opened a door immediately to the left of the staircase. April peered in as Cori entered. The walls of the room were beige and bare. No pictures or posters lined them. Pushed against the left wall of the room was Cori's bed. It was tucked into the corner next to a protruding closet. A black blanket laid on top of the bed, lumped against the headboard. Opposite from the doorway, a soft light emanated from a window. April continued to look around as Cori walked over and opened the cheap closet doors.
On the right side of the room sat a small wooden desk and a long dresser. The dresser was only mildly taller than the desk. Unlike the walls, every table and surface was lined with little figurines and toys. April thought she saw a couple of figurines from Leo's favorite tv show. A couple of papers laid strewn across the desk. As April drew closer, she noticed they were drawings. She stood over the desk and looked down. The drawings were crudely drawn in crayon. Most of the papers looked the same: a collection of eyes and hexagons. On one paper was a pink landscape, but it was the strangest landscape April had ever seen. Strange islands floated in a pink sky. In the corner of the paper, was a large spiky circle with a single eye in the middle. Again, there were lots of eyes and hexagons.
As she lifted the drawing to get a closer look, she revealed another paper underneath. She held the drawing in her hand aside and looked at it. April shivered as a familiar sight loomed on the paper. A small gasp flitted out her mouth as she stared at the drawing on the desk. The childish drawing was of a man. His eyes were drawn as two large circles, traced over themselves many times. That was not what scared April. A pink monster occupied the man's abdomen. It's eyes were large circles like the man's. Unlike the man, it had an unnerving crooked smile. It was a drawing of…the Kraang.
"Sorry," Cori mumbled behind April. The redhead had been so engrossed in the drawings that Cori's quiet voice made her jump. Cori hurried over to the desk and started collecting the drawings. "They're just some creepy drawings I made as a kid. I was just...looking at them."
She neatly stacked the papers with the Kraang drawing on top. April could not stop from staring at it. Cori held out a hand. April was not sure what she wanted at first but realized she was still gripping the drawing of the alien landscape. "Sorry," April said quietly as she handed it over. Cori grabbed in and stacked it on top, covering up the unnerving drawing of the Kraang. She opened the bottom drawer of her dresser and stuffed it in.
Cori stood up and stuffed a hand into her pocket awkwardly. "I'm gonna um...go fix my makeup." She waved her other hand, showing off a couple tubes of makeup. "I'll be here," April responded. Cori stood there for a moment before leaving the room. April listened to the girl's footsteps fade away and a door close. She quietly snuck to the doorway and peered out. Across the short hallway were two doors, both of which were closed. She rushed back to the dresser that Cori had stuffed the papers in. She crouched down and slid open the last drawer. April cringed as it squeaked loudly. She momentarily stopped pulling it out, listening for footsteps.
There were none.
She continued opening it as quietly as she could. She pulled the wooden drawer just enough to reach in with her hand. Gently, she felt around and grabbed the stack of papers. The papers were stiff and crinkled under her grip. With her other hand, April pulled out her T-phone from her back pocket. Her hands trembled slightly as she sorted through the drawings. She took pictures of them with her T-phone, discovering more drawings of Kraang as she flipped through each paper. Once done, she stacked them hastily and placed them back into the drawer.
April was about to close it but stopped herself. She looked through the doorway to see if anyone was there.
No one.
April looked back and stared at the slightly opened drawer of the dresser. "I really shouldn't…" April stole one last glance through the doorway and opened the drawer as far as she could.
Besides the drawings, it was mostly filled with junk. Miscellaneous toys and baubles, nothing of interest. However, in the back corner of the dresser was a red silk scarf. It was oddly shaped and had something peeking out underneath. Slowly, she picked it up and gently unwrapped the cloth. She raised a ginger eyebrow as she looked down upon a black crow mask. "You can't be serious." She lifted the mask and looked it over.
There's no way, she thought to herself. Holding the mask in one hand, April snapped a picture with her phone and sent it to Donatello. Look familiar? she texted. She placed the mask down and took another look around the room, this time paying extra attention to detail. She analyzed the room, looking for something... She twitched her nose in frustration.
April walked over to the window and closed the curtains. She squinted as she checked the room again. As she hoped, she found a faint blue glow underneath Cori's bed. April crouched down and lifted up the bed's blanket from the side. She reached and grabbed some sort of glass container. In her hands was a vial of mutagen. April felt her phone buzz and opened her messages.
Where are you?
I think I know who you're buddy is
"What are you doing?"
April whipped her head around to see Cori standing in the doorway. Her eyes were wide in disbelief. But, there was also a glint of anger in those amber eyes of hers. April stood up and pointed to her accusingly. "How do you have this? Do you know what this is?"
"I do. Do...you?"
"I…" April caught herself before revealing too much. "You shouldn't have this. This stuff is dangerous."
Cori held out her hand and spoke in a low tone. "It's mine. Give it back."
Her voice startled April. Normally, Cori appeared unsure and awkward. Her voice was quiet as if she was afraid someone would hear her. She was not afraid now. April clutched the mutagen closer. "No! I'm taking this with me." Cori took a step forward menacingly. "Give it back and leave now," April's classmate threatened.
The two stared each other down until finally Cori lunged forward. April slid out of the way, letting Cori crash against the wall. The figurines on her desk shook from her fall. April grabbed her laptop and ran out of the room. She sprinted down the steps only to hear Cori thundering down behind her. Without grabbing her coat, April swung the door open and ran out.
"April, stop!" Cori followed her out, but April's training with Splinter had been paying off. The red head jumped off the porch steps and ran down the street. Cori followed her halfway but stopped, realizing she could never catch up with the kunoichi. She stood and watched April disappear with clenched fists. Cori grinded her teeth, trying not to scream in frustration. Droplets of rain splashed on her flushed face, cooling her hot skin. Slowly, Cori's gloved fists unclenched. She turned and walked back into her apartment.
