SURPRISE! So this story was originally a one-shot. I had noted in that I had trouble deciding to do that based on either "Target: April O'Neil" or "The Power Inside Her." Well, here's what I came up with for the latter. The entirety of it is in April's POV and based on the aftermath of "The Power Inside Her" and Christina Grimmie's "Without Him." Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "TMNT," nor do I own Christina Grimmie's "Without Him."
November 21, 2016 – New York City, New York, USA
"Right from the start, he lured me in, took me to places I've never been. I think I'm in love. I think I'm in love."
I got in the shower the next morning after I had the best night's rest in a long while. But I had woken up with weary tears, still feeling guilty for molecularly destroying my best friend. When the song started to play, I reflected on how we had met.
FLASHBACK: September 29, 2012
"Thank you for taking a walk with me, Dad."
"It's my pleasure, April," my father, Kirby O'Neil, happily replied.
We had just turned the corner to walk the last stretch of the street before heading home when these strange men suddenly appeared in front of us!
"What is this?" Dad asked.
I was afraid and tried to hide behind my dad. To my horror, he was easily knocked out. I tried fighting, but then I felt myself being grabbed.
"Hey! Let go of me!" I yelled.
Suddenly, I felt myself flying and landed in someone's arms. I looked up to see… I could not describe him. All I could tell was that he was not human, having a green face with a purple mask hiding his brown eyes. I screamed, and so did he, dropping me in the process.
"No, no, wait, we're the good guys!" the being tried explaining.
I screamed again and tried to back away. The being cautiously moved towards me.
"It's okay," the being tried to soothe me.
I looked behind me at the men trying to take me away, and I turned back at this being, now having a smile on his face and holding his huge hand out for me to take. I almost took it, but then this being got smacked in the head by someone else. When he wasn't paying attention, I was grabbed again, and my mouth was taped shut.
My dad and I were taken to some sort of detention center, and we were put in a cell. I immediately got impatient and started to try to find a way out.
"Hey, you can't keep us in here like this!" I yelled. "We know our rights!"
"I don't think they care about that, April," Dad replied with hopelessness in his voice.
"We can't just sit here. We've gotta do something!"
"Like what?"
I gave my dad a smirk, and then I started pretending, clutching my stomach.
"Oh, oh my stomach!" I groaned. "The pain is unbearable!"
The men opened the door to find me on the floor. I noticed my dad trying to get away, but the men caught on to him. I tried my best by climbing on the man's back and biting him. All I could bite on was metal, which was strange for a human being. I was simply picked up and put back down on my feet. The men left the cell and closed the door.
"Well, I guess we can just sit here," I said in defeat.
It took some time before there was finally action. We heard alarms going off.
"What's going on?" I asked out loud.
"We'll have to wait and see," Dad replied.
Shortly afterwards, I found the face of the same being who tried to save me earlier today.
"We found them!" he shouted. "Don't worry! I'll have you out of there in a second."
"Okay, giant lizard-thing," I replied hesitantly.
"A turtle, actually. I'm Donatello."
I smiled, noticing he was just as nice as he was before. Plus, he had an awesome name.
"April," I introduced myself.
"Wow, that's a pretty—"
I winced as Donatello got his face smashed in. There was another turtle with him, but this one looked different.
"The lock, Donnie!" the turtle yelled.
"Eh, oh, right, yeah! Sorry."
I giggled. But then I started panicking again as I heard laser fire.
"Not to rush you… but hurry up!" I yelled
"Hey! You think it's easy trying to pick a lock with these hands?"
Donatello showed me his huge three-fingered hands and I immediately understood.
"Uh, sorry."
"Get out of my way!" I heard another turtle yell.
Donatello was out of my view, and I saw this turtle stabbing the lock with his weapon. Suddenly, I heard the door unlocking behind us. I screamed.
"What?" Dad reacted with shock.
"No!" I screamed as the men carried us away.
We walked quite a distance heading outside. My dad and I were being forced to walk to a helicopter. On the way, I got a glimpse of Donatello, and he glanced at me. Before I could face forward again, I noticed he was chasing after us. When we got in the helicopter, I noticed Donatello again and put my hand on the window, hoping that he would be able to help us. I could no longer see him as we started to lift off. Before I knew it, we felt weight underneath the copter. I peered out the window, and it was Donatello, hanging on for his life! The men noticed and aimed their weapons at him.
"Oh, good!" Donatello shouted. "For a second there, I thought this was gonna be too easy!"
The men shot at him, and I was amazed just by watching him. Donatello moved his hands around the skid, and then he moved his legs up to put something in one of the men. He flung the man off, but the man shot at him! It hit the copter, and I felt myself falling. I managed to hang on to the skid next to Donatello.
"Hold on! I'm coming!"
I couldn't hold on. I let go, and I felt myself falling to my death. Just as quickly as I fell, I felt myself in Donatello's arms, and I was compelled to hold on to him as we landed safely.
PRESENT
I smiled through my tears that came from my eyes and the water that bounced off my face. I fondly remembered the first year of our friendship, where it was clear that he had a big crush on me. I remembered the first time Donatello had arrived at my aunt's apartment and convinced me to visit their home. I was disgusted about going into the sewers, and then I was so terrified when I met their sensei, a mutant rat named Splinter, that I had fainted! I had woken up in Donatello's lab, which I thought was the most amazing room I had ever seen. I remembered our first real conversation together in that lab, and it was a conversation where we just enjoyed getting to know each other as friends. Donatello, after sharing the story of how he and his brothers became mutant turtles, shared his love for science and mechanics, and I shared my passion for psychology, journalism, and animals. But, throughout that conversation, there was one statement that stood out.
"You are more than welcome to call me Donnie. The only one who calls me Donatello is Master Splinter."
Donnie. I had smiled at the simplicity of his nickname, and it stuck. After getting acquainted, he took me to various junkyards and science labs, and I enjoyed every adventure with him. Of course, I had enjoyed being in the presence of his brothers and spending time with them, but I had started getting comfortable with Donnie to the point where I was giving him a hug every time he returned to the lair and every time he left the lair to save the city.
Then, two months had passed since the attempted Kraang invasion. The turtles discovered a secret shipment of cargo and tried to stop it, but instead, multiple cannisters of mutagen fell as the ship moved, and one of them had fallen on my dad. When Donnie's brother Michelangelo, Mikey for short, revealed that it was their fault, I broke ties with them, telling them I never wanted to see their faces again.
"He might have bent me but I didn't break. He rearranged the map I made. But I think I'm in love. I think I'm in love. Now, am I crazy? Why can no one understand that I'll never find a better man? I'm just imagining a life without my baby. And I know, I know this life ain't meant to be without him, without him."
I attempted to start a life without mutants in my life and I met Casey Jones, who seemed arrogant at first. I was reluctant to tutor him on trigonometry, even more so because he would not stop staring at me. Casey and I ended up fighting a mutagen man together. We had managed to fight him off without the turtles' help, and he took me home. Some time after that, I discovered Donnie had been following me, and I was angry at him when I found him in an alley one night. After I made it very clear I did not want to see him again, he said something that I would never forget:
"Some things are just beyond our control."
Casey had said the same thing when he shared the story of his best friend, and I thought of Donnie. Right then, I was found by robot Foot ninjas. I ended up calling Donnie for help, and he saved my life from both the Kraang and from Karai. I regretted my decision for trying to start a new life that night, and it was the first time I had ever mourned Donnie's presence.
"They say this is America, free speech, free will. But I don't even care at all. I can't seem to fight this, needing him every day and night. Why can't I just try to speak my mind to him?"
I had felt guilty that night for breaking Donnie's heart the night I pushed him and his brothers away. I had gone to the lair the next morning to apologize, especially to Donnie.
"Tell him all the things that he probably thought was coming, but didn't want him thinking that I'm trying to rush it. Please, dear God, give me the words 'cause you know my tongue ties as soon as I see him blushing."
I ended up kissing Donnie on the cheek that day. I also admitted my feelings for him, but I also promised to not go all-in yet. We had agreed to be friends for the moment. Our friendship grew despite Donnie meeting Casey and the two boys trying to compete for my heart. Boy, was I annoyed! I just wanted to graduate high school without worrying about falling in love with one of them.
My feelings for Donnie grew when he had finally found a retro-mutagen to turn my dad back into a human, and it was just in time for high school graduation. My dad was present at the ceremony, but Donnie had watched from the roof. I had kissed him on the cheek again that night, thanking him for all his help on my homework. The summer passed, to which I expressed my surprise that Karai accepted her past as Splinter's daughter Miwa. And then, I attended college to major in journalism. But that didn't last long. Thanks to my horrifying discovery that my best friend Irma was really a Kraang called Kraang Sub-Prime, the Kraang had successfully invaded New York City, and Donnie's oldest brother Leonardo, Leo for short, was injured. We were forced to retreat to the summer house in North Hampton.
"I get my thoughts, put it all on the page. I might find a way out of the maze that I built for myself. It's some kind of haze, and if the right words come to me one by one, I hope he tells me that he loves me the same."
While I had written in my journal, Donnie kept making me music boxes as Leo was recovering. They were too much, and I tried not to disappoint him. He learned through his experience with Bigfoot that he was doing too much to impress me, and at the same time, I learned that I disappointed him for not telling him the truth. He understood that his intentions for my heart were too much and promised me he'd back off. I had surprised myself a little at what I said next.
FLASHBACK: March 10, 2015 – North Hampton, New York, USA
"Hey, April."
"What's up, Donnie?" I greeted him, setting the ax down on the ground.
"I, um… Well, I just wanted to let you know I won't be bothering you with music boxes anymore."
I looked at him in confusion as the mutant turtle continued with sadness in his voice.
"I get it now. Donnie is to April as Bigfoot was to Donnie. I'm just… a mutant."
I put a strand of hair behind my ear, feeling sympathy for him. Perhaps now was the time to show him how I feel? I gave him an affectionate smile.
"You're not just a mutant, Donnie."
I put my hands on his plastron.
"You're my mutant."
I kissed him on the lips, and to my pleasant surprise, he kissed me back, even though it was brief. I walked away with a big smile on my face, looking back towards Donnie as I walked back inside.
PRESENT – New York City, New York, USA
"I hope he don't laugh, or worse, walk away. But be honest to God, truth of the matter is, I just can't live my life without you."
I giggled when I remembered our first kiss together on the lips. I walked away enjoying that kiss, but still keeping my promise to not go all-in. But the more we stayed at the farmhouse, the clearer my feelings for Donnie were. Casey was still trying to win my heart also. However, it surprised me that Casey and Donnie had become good friends, bonding over cars of all things. Casey really tried to win my heart when Donnie and his brothers ventured off to what was called a vision quest. I had gone to bed in sadness, grieving Donnie's presence again and not enjoying being told that I was almost a kunoichi. In my slumber, I had a dream of a girl who looked like me. She had long red hair and blue eyes, and she was quite fit, probably more fit than I was. To my pleasant surprise, she had Donnie's gap-toothed grin. I had woken up the next morning with a smile, and I was convinced for sure that my future was with Donnie. The question was: when was the best time to tell him?
"I'm not one to really talk at all. Speak up only when the time is right or when it calls for the big guns. Problem is, where to speak from?"
We had returned to New York City and cleansed the city of the Kraang for good in May that year, which meant I had missed the spring semester of college. My college graduation was pushed back a year. I returned to college the next fall, but even that was short-lived. I watched the Earth die by the hands of the Triceratons, alien dinosaurs bent on interspatial conquest. But the turtles, Casey, and I survived thanks to a robot named the Fugitoid. Not only did we travel in space, but we also traveled back in time six months to give us a fighting chance to save Earth from annihilation. Traveling through the cosmos is one adventure I would never forget. I was gifted with a crystal from the Aeons when I put the Soul Star back in its place on their planet. While traveling in space, the Fugitoid had been training me on developing my psychic powers that I was apparently born with, thanks to the Kraang.
Thanks to our efforts and the Fugitoid's sacrifice, we saved the planet. Almost a year had passed, and I was able to return to college and actually finish the school year with no trouble from Shredder and his goons. To my pleasant surprise, Splinter held an initiation ceremony just before my junior year of college started, and I had officially become a full-pledged kunoichi of the Hamato Clan.
However, my friendship with Donnie was tested, and just last night, I realized it was because of my crystal. I had refused to let Donnie study it, and because of that, the crystal had controlled me.
FLASHBACK: November 20, 2016
"April, it's me, Donatello!"
I woke up, finding myself in the air… with Donnie standing on the rooftop below me.
"Donnie?" I asked with a weary voice.
I screamed in pain, my head in pain from this being trying to control me.
"Listen to me," Donnie said with a small sternness in his voice. "Give me the crystal. Just give me the crystal, and everything will be okay."
"No!" I screamed.
I heard another voice within me, and I felt myself lifting Donnie off the rooftop and higher into the air with me. I heard Donnie scream, but there was nothing I could do to stop this.
"This isn't you, April!" Donnie yelled desperately. "That crystal is changing you! You need to break free!"
I woke up again, realizing Donnie was right. I tried to fight this being, but she was too strong.
"Ah!" I screamed, clenching my head. "It's too much power. I—I can't control it anymore!"
"You can do it!" Donnie encouraged me. "I know you can!"
"I'm not strong enough," I replied wearily. "Donnie, I'm sorry."
"April? Please."
I felt myself fading away, and I felt this being fully taking over me. I felt my fist clenching.
"APRIL! PLEASE!" I heard Donnie crying.
Suddenly, Donnie's presence was lost. I felt myself screaming, and then I flew away and fell on another rooftop. I felt the rain fall on my shoulders. I found a puddle and stared at my reflection, now aware that I had killed my best friend.
"No!" I cried, horrified at what I had done. "Donnie! I can't believe it. How could I?"
"You made your choice," I said out loud through the being inside me. "And you chose the crystal. Let go of your connection to these sub-life forms who pollute this planet. I must cleanse it, starting with this city."
I felt myself flying towards the Purple Dragons, and I easily took them out. I then heard Leo's voice coming through loud and clear.
"You can't do this, April! Or Za-Naron, or whoever you are!"
"Do not stand in my way," I replied through Za-Naron. "Or you will be cleansed just as Donatello was."
"We have to stop her," Leo said to his family.
"What if April is still in there?" I heard my friend Casey Jones ask.
"Are you kidding?" Raphael, Raph for short, replied with a sadness in his voice. "I don't like it, but April O'Neil is gone. We have no choice. We take her down!"
I suddenly felt myself restrained by chains.
"Do it!" I heard Raph yell. "Hurry!"
"I can't hurt her, dude," Mikey replied.
His hesitance was enough for me to release myself. I felt myself lifting Raph into the air, preparing to destroy him the way I destroyed Donnie. But she was too strong for me.
"We know you're in there, Red!" Casey yelled.
"We're your friends!" Mikey yelled. "Your family!"
"Remember who you are!" Leo yelled. "You are April O'Neil. Remember everything we've been through together."
"Yeah, like the time we fought a giant mutagen man?" Casey replied, trying to activate my memories. "And our dope missions in space."
"And Master Splinter," Mikey chimed in. "And pizza parties. And Ice Cream Kitty."
It was not enough. I felt myself yelling and breaking free of the chains, and I felt myself lifting Raph up again, preparing to kill him.
"Remember Donnie!" Raph yelled with straining in his voice.
I closed my eyes, and I remembered all the times I spent with Donnie. It was enough for me to take off the crystal and throw it on the ground. I finally felt free and like myself again as I saw my demon in front of me.
"Foolish creature! You could have had all the power of the universe!"
I drew my tanto blade and charged at her. I swung my blade at her, ripping her to shreds and destroying her for good.
"Red, is that really you?" Casey asked.
"I think so," I answered, starting to cry. "But… but Donnie. What have I done?"
"It's not your fault, April," Leo tried to comfort me.
"But it is! It was all me in a way! If only—"
I let out a gasp when I saw wisps coming out of the shattered crystal.
"Donnie's not gone!" I said with hope in my voice. "He wasn't really destroyed, just molecularly scattered."
I gathered the broken pieces of the crystal in one hand, and I put the other hand on my temple, concentrating as hard I could to retrieve all of Donnie's molecules. I slowly felt him starting to form again, and I heard cheering behind me. I opened my eyes to find Donnie on the ground, and he stood himself up.
"Donnie!" I yelled.
I ran to him and threw myself in his arms. He hugged me back, and I felt a smile on his face.
"Thank goodness."
We broke the hug and stared fondly at each other, and then I fainted.
PRESENT
"I hear it's your heart that does all the talking. Hurry up, you got no time to waste. 'Cause this is the man I'm loving for always, and be honest to God, truth of the matter, I just can't see my life going on without you."
I sang the last part of the song in the shower, realizing that today was the day I was deciding to go all-in on my relationship with Donnie. I had felt devastated when he was gone, and I never wanted to experience that again. Donatello was in my life to stay. I finished my shower and I got dressed in my black jumpsuit. This time, however, I left my red hair down, and I did not put a black headband in my hair. I put the song on repeat as I sprinted across rooftops until I reached the manhole cover I would open to climb down into the sewers. When I landed, I didn't walk; I ran through the sewers. When I got to the lair, I jumped over the turnstiles and sprinted into Donnie's lab.
"Donnie!" I panted. "Hi!"
The purple-masked turtle turned towards me with a concerned smile on his face.
"Hey, April. Are you okay?"
"Can we talk? Maybe somewhere private?"
"I think we're in the most private place possible," Donnie replied. "Unless you'd like to go in my bedroom?"
"You know, I've never seen your bedroom before."
"Let's go, then."
I followed my best friend into his bedroom, which actually looked very simple. It was clean despite the post-its and pictures on all the walls. I smiled when I saw his two nightstands. On the left nightstand, there was a picture of me, one of the pictures that was taken for my senior year of high school. On the other nightstand was an alarm clock shaped like the Empire State Building.
Donnie took a seat on his purple bed, and he motioned me to sit with him.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Donnie asked. "About last night?"
"Sort of," I answered, biting my lip. "Donnie, I am so sorry about not letting you analyze my crystal. I've trusted you all this time, and I've treated the crystal like it was the One Ring of Power."
Donnie looked at me with shock written all over his face. It was cute.
"Are you okay?" I asked with a giggle.
"You just made a Lord of the Rings reference!" Donnie squeaked. "You've seen the movies?"
"Are you kidding? My dad showed the movies to me when I became a teenager, and I fell in love with them! I've always wanted to be like Arwen, to be beautiful and having these powers to fight evil."
Donnie's shock turned into a smile, and he let out a chuckle.
"You're not Arwen, April. You're Eowyn, or maybe Morwen."
I pondered this thought. I knew who Eowyn was, and I did admire her for her courage. But I was unsure of who Morwen was.
"Who's Morwen?" I asked.
"She likes to kick everybody's butt," Donnie answered with his gap-toothed grin. "And so do you."
I laughed hard at his response.
"Gosh, have I really become that person?"
"Come on, April! You have become so determined ever since your dad had been kidnapped all those years ago. You were so determined that you agreed to train with Splinter and fight your own battles. Heck, I love you more for that!"
Donnie suddenly clapped his hands over his mouth and then let out a sheepish laugh. I only smiled, thrilled that he was still in love with me.
"Yeah, let's pretend I kept my mouth zipped up," Donnie said sheepishly.
"D, that's why I wanted to talk to you in the first place," I replied, pulling his hand away from his mouth. "I love you, too."
Donnie looked at me with surprise.
"You're just saying that because you reduced me to a quantum smear last night."
"No, Donatello, I'm not."
I stood up, got in front of him, and I wrapped my hands around his neck.
"I've done some thinking this morning after I woke up, and I… I'm ready to show my feelings for you."
My hands found the tails of his purple mask. At first, Donnie put his hands on top of mine, as if to say he was hesitant in my taking his mask off. I smiled at him, encouraging him it was okay. He eventually nodded, his amber eyes looking into my blue ones. I pulled the tails, releasing the grip the mask was holding on his face, and I saw all of him. I put my hands on his cheeks, and I caressed them. Donnie didn't seem to know how to react at first, but then he realized he enjoyed the touch, and he leaned into my left hand, sharing a very content gap-toothed smile. He placed his left hand on top of my right one.
"So, you're saying that you love me for real?" Donnie asked quietly.
"I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore, D," I answered. "The question is, do you imagine your life without me in it?"
Donnie took his right hand and caressed my left cheek with it, sharing an affectionate smile.
"I never have, ever since I first met you. I fell in love with you at first sight, and my love for you has only grown despite the bumps in the road. The truth is, I've been waiting for the day you would say you love me."
I smiled affectionately at him. We gazed into each other's eyes, and we felt ourselves growing closer to each other. We closed our eyes, and we felt our lips meeting. There were fireworks exploding in my mind, and I took my kiss deeper, wanting more. Donnie agreed, his fingers playing with my red hair and then pulling me closer into his kiss. His kisses were the sweetest, and I prayed that mine were just as sweet. I received my answer when I felt Donnie's tongue on my lips. I opened my mouth a little, letting him in, and I pushed my tongue into his. I played with his gap, which he seemed to enjoy as he moaned with pleasure.
We got worked up with each kiss, and at some point, Donnie was lying on his bed with me on top of him. I took it a little farther and gave him kisses all over his neck. He really enjoyed it, moaning with delight with each kiss. I eventually made it back to his lips, but Donnie had other plans. He turned me onto my left side as he laid on his right side, and then he gave me kisses on my neck. His kisses eventually reached my chest, and while he was tempted at seeing more, he traced his kisses back to my lips. We shared a few more kisses, and then we finally stopped, catching our breath and smiling at each other.
"Okay, if someone had told me that I was going to kiss the girl of my dreams after being reduced to a quantum smear, then it was worth the wait," Donnie said breathlessly. "And the girl of my dreams said she loves me."
I laughed.
"I was waiting for the right time to tell you," I explained. "I think I waited too long, but… I had a dream about a girl and if I told you at the time, it would have felt weird."
Donnie put a finger on my lips.
"Don't," he assured me. "It was worth it. Though I'm intrigued at who this girl is."
"I think she's our daughter, D."
"Our daughter?" Donnie asked in surprise.
"She had long red hair and blue eyes like me, but her hair was much longer. It was touching her hips."
I put a strand of hair behind my ear.
"But the best part was… she had a gap-toothed smile too, just like you."
I let out a sigh.
"Donnie, I know now that I absolutely love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But do you think having a baby is possible with us?"
Donnie had a huge smile on his face.
"April, when it comes to true love, nothing is impossible. When the time is right, we will try to have that baby girl. I promise. Meanwhile, I'm really liking what we have going on here."
"So you truly love me too?" I asked with hope in my voice.
"Yes, A, I love you with my soul. And words cannot describe how much I have longed to be with you for the rest of my life. As long as you're with me, that's all that matters. Having a baby together would be quite the blessing, but if it doesn't work out, it'll be okay. We'll have each other."
Donnie caressed my cheek again, and I pressed my lips against his. He returned the kiss.
"Hey, Donnie," I heard Leo come in. "Do you think you—"
We abruptly broke the kiss and turned toward Leo. He looked absolutely embarrassed.
"Uh, never mind," Leo said while blushing. "Maybe I'll ask Sensei to fix the toaster."
I watched Leo leave the room, and we cracked up laughing.
"Okay, if my kissing you is enough to have Leo ask someone else to fix the toaster, then this is totally worth it," Donnie said with merry laughter. "I hate fixing that thing every week."
I laughed even harder, and we continued our little make-out session. We eventually decided to continue this under the covers, sealing our relationship as lovers.
