May 5, 2013
Meanwhile at One Police Plaza, the entire block was in chaos. Walter Kelly and his team had set up shop in the lobby of the building to quickly and directly coordinate their forces to the best location. Everyone's eyes snapped up as a young rookie officer dragged a bleeding sergeant into the building.
"He needs help!" The young man shouted, his eyes full of terror. Kelly pulled the young officer away as others rushed to treat the sergeant.
"It's okay, son." Kelly tried to calm him down, but the man was too far gone.
"No, sir! We gotta get outta here! There's nothing we can do!"
"There's ALWAYS something we can do!" Kelly shook the young officer.
"And we're here to help."
Once more, everyone's eyes swivel to the entrance as the people standing there are enveloped in a bright light. Many of the police officers and other staff leapt back, some drawing their guns at the sight before them.
Kelly raised his hands, gesturing for his people to lower their weapons. "I'm guessing that you're the ones Mayor Bloomberg called about."
A humanoid turtle wearing a blue mask stepped forward to offer his hand. "That's us. I'm Leonardo. These are my brothers, sisters, and other friends. We're here to help." He smiled as Kelly shook his hand. "We had some ideas on our way over here."
"Then please," Kelly gestured to the maps of the city plastered on rolling dividers around the lobby.
Leo pointed to several locations on the map. "We need to get as many people underground as possible. If they're out on the streets, they're easy targets for the Kraang to pick up. If we split up to take different sections of the island, we can push them back far enough to establish a perimeter until we can take out their main ship."
"Sounds like a plan." Kelly pointed to several of his higher ranking officers. "You heard the man- er… turtle! Split up our remaining forces and put them under the command of our friends here."
"I will take your SWAT team." Takeshi stepped forward. "We will move into the heart of the city to rescue the people stuck there."
"Us ladies will stick together and try to figure out where these street Kraang are spawning from." Karai propped her arms on Mona Lisa's and April's shoulders.
Donnie shrugged "I guess the four of us can split up and take the rest of the NYPD to establish that perimeter. Once we have that, we can all regroup and take on the Technodrome."
"Let's crush these Kraang!" Mikey punched the air enthusiastically.
xXx
"Raphael will be fine, won't he?" Mona Lisa's tail twitched as the female warriors decimated a squad of Kraang harassing several humans. April directed them to the nearest checkpoint that would lead them to the safety of the subway tunnels.
"Oh yeah, he'll be fine." Karai wiped her blade against her pants to rid it of Kraang goo. "You haven't seen him in battle much, but he'll take care of himself and his squad. Nothing's going to sneak up on him-"
Karai's train of thought was interrupted by a bony fist to her face.
"Unlike you, Tiger Cub!" A gravelly voice sneered. Karai groaned as two of her biggest headaches appeared along with several squads of Foot Bots and even more Kraang. April and Mona Lisa rushed to shield Karai from the sudden appearance of several unexpected opponents.
"Rahzar…" Karai wiped the blood from her busted lip. "End of the world not enough for you? Shredder's got you and Fish Face running after me again?" All the girls' blood ran cold at the malicious grin on the wolf-mutant's face.
"Oh. We're not here for you, Karai." His gaze shifted to April. "Get the red-head!" Rahzar roared. "Kill the others."
The next few minutes were a blur. The girls fought off their assailants with all of their might; guns blasting, swords and fans slashing away. However, it wasn't long before the trio was separated.
April found herself surrounded by even more Kraang than before. She pushed down her panic as she tapped into the power from her crystal. In her personal training, she would normally need to physically touch the crystal in order to activate its power. However, April had progressed so much that she now merely needed to mentally connect with its psychic field to boost her abilities.
She utilized the power to boost her speed at the moment. Her eyes glowed a fierce blue as her tessen sliced through Kraang and FootBots alike. April lifted empty cars to throw at their adversaries. April dove deeper and deeper into the power of the crystal.
"More…" A voice whispered.
No… April thought. There's still people out there who need help… I can't blow all my power in one go!
"MORE!" The voice roared.
April screamed as the power rippled through her. Everyone in her vicinity shielded their eyes from the brightness radiating from her before they were thrown by a psychic wave. The girl fell to the ground, her power and energy spent.
Rahzar stalked towards her as everyone else struggled to regain consciousness. The mutant had sought higher ground when he saw April start to lose control and was thus unaffected by the wave. He threw her over his shoulder then roughly yanked Fish Face to his mechanical feet.
"Inform Lord Shredder that we have the girl. We need a ride to the Technodrome."
xXx
It hadn't taken long for the four boys and their squads to establish the perimeter. They left their squads with instructions of how to best deal with the Kraang and directions towards the nearest safety checkpoints. The turtles had then returned to 1 Police Plaza to strategize the best way to take down the Technodrome.
Donnie was pointing to the several photos of the Kraang's ship trying to find a weakness when he felt a twinge down his bond with April.
April? He asked. Everything okay?
He grabbed his head with both hands as his mind filled with screams and crippling pain. That was definitely April's scream… but was there another voice intertwined with hers? The pain blossoming throughout his skull distracted the turtle's analytical thoughts. Donnie couldn't tell at this point if the screams were only in his head. He could barely hear his brothers shouting his name.
"A-April…" He ground out. "S-somthi-ing's wrong…" April…
Leo whipped out his T-phone, pressing Karai's speed dial. He tapped his foot anxiously waiting for her to pick up. The blue turtle breathed a small sigh of relief at the sound of her voice.
"Leo!"
"Karai! What's going on? Donnie just collapsed. He thinks something's wrong with April-"
"I don't think, Leonardo. I KNOW!" Donnie growled.
It finally dawned on the leader. "Because of their bond," He whispered to himself. He shook his head, pressing the speaker button. Raph scooted closer to Leo while Mikey did his best to comfort Donnie. "Did something happen, Karai?"
The girl's breathing was labored over the line. "We were ambushed by Rahzar and Fish Face, along with their goon squads. April set off some sort of psychic voodoo which knocked everyone out. By the time Mona and I came to, she was gone." She paused. "Leo, they said they were there for April."
"Wait, she was captured again?" Raph grabbed Leo's arm, yanking the phone closer to him.
Mikey grabbed his head with both of his hands. "Again? Freaking AGAIN?"
Leo shook Raph off of his arm. "Karai, are you and Mona Lisa okay?"
"Just a bit bruised. We're licking our wounds before hopping back into the fray. We'll keep being ground support. You go get our girl back, okay Tiger?"
Leo flushed a bit at the nickname, but smiled nonetheless. "You got it. Be safe out there, Karai." He ended the call before turning back to Donnie. "Dee, are you up-"
"Don't even finish that sentence." The lanky turtle swung his bo staff off of his back to prop himself up. "Of course I'm up for getting my girlfriend back from the creatures that haunt her nightmares. Just get me a mega bottle of Tylenol and I'll be good."
It wasn't long before they caught up to the flying monstrosity.
The Technodrome slowly flew along the upper reaches of the New York City skyline, deaf to the screams below and equally unaware of the turtles racing towards it. The turtles launched themselves up to the tallest points of the building, looking for an opening.
Raph pointed at the Technodrome as it dipped below their building. "We can take it from above!" He looked to Leo to make the final call.
Leo grinned. "That's just what I was thinking!"
Donnie gritted his teeth as everyone readied a running leap. Nothing's gonna keep me from April. NOTH-
CLANG!
The turtles found themselves splattered and floating several feet above the top of the Technodrome. The hunk of space metal kept fly as though nothing had happened.
"There's a FORCE FIELD on this thing?" Leo yelled as Mikey and Raph tried to break through with sheer force. Leo spun to look at Donnie, a frantic look taking over the purple turtle's features. "Why didn't you tell us, Donnie?"
"Well because I obviously wanted us to fail," The obvious sarcasm was laced with the panic all four of them now felt. "OBVIOUSLY I DIDN'T KNOW!" APRIL! Donnie screamed down the bond.
xXx
APRIL!
April jerked awake.
Was she awake? The room she was in seemed so dark…
Suddenly, a bright light shone upon her face, blinding her. She groaned at the splitting headache she now had. And that's why you don't use all your power in one go, Hamato. She grumbled to herself. April tried to contact Donnie via their bond, but her whole head felt fuzzy.
The girl tried to scratch an itch that had developed on her nose, but found that she couldn't raise her hand. Either hand. As a matter of fact, it felt like her entire body was strapped down. She managed to crane her neck down to see what was holding her down and her blood ran cold.
She was dressed in a different outfit. Gone was the black and yellow jumpsuit she and Karai had bought from the Hidden City. In its place was a white hospital gown. Along with the gown were leather restraints holding her to the metal examining table she was laying on. The smells of the room around her began to remind April of another very similar location.
"No…" She whimpered. She tried to tamp down her panic but it was no use when she saw what was now staring at her.
"April O'Neil…" The largest Kraang she had ever seen beamed down at the girl with what could pass as a smile stretched across its grotesque face. "Kraang Prime has waited a long time for this."
April struggled harder against her restraints. She could feel a panic attack around the corner. "As if… I have anything to offer you!" She spat at the creature. Lashing out felt good. The girl immediately recoiled as Kraang Prime extended a tentacle as if to caress her face.
"Ah… but you do. You and your female source were specifically designed to have your mental energies tuned to this particular dimension. Experiment 273 did not contain the psychic energies that Kraang desired. But you…" Kraang Prime purred. "It is clear to Kraang that you are the culmination of all of Kraang's experiments. Once Kraang is able to utilize your abilities, along with the benefits your blood brings to our mutagen formula, Kraang will transform your world for Kraang!"
"But.. But why?" April whimpered. She hated what she had been reduced to when confronted with her past once more. "Why do you need our world? Don't you have your own planet to take your Karen energy out on?"
Kraang Prime scowled as they turned to calibrate a machine. "Kraang Prime is not energized by Karens, foolish girl; Kraang Prime is energized by the Kraang Hive Mind. We seek refuge against our enemies the Triceratons. They hunt Kraang for they see Kraang as a scourge on the galaxy."
"Then why not seek asylum? Why not ask Earth for help instead of wrecking it?"
"No. Kraang is indeed a scourge on the galaxy. Kraang merely seeks to hide from Kraang's consequences. Now enough talk!" Kraang Prime pointed to a Kraang across the room manning a control board. "Prepare the-"
"NO!" As April's panic increased, her crystal glowed brighter. She felt a hidden reservoir of power activate. She channeled it into a wave to knock back all of the Kraang and Kraang equipment around her.
Kraang screeched as their metal housing units short circuited. Kraang Prime was not as affected as the others, but still felt pain from the wave.
"What is around Experiment 274's neck?" Kraang Prime demanded. "Is it… is it an Aeon crystal? KRAANG!" They roared. "COME AND REMOVE THIS ACCURSED THING!"
An unaffected Kraang that had been outside of the room when April's psychic blast occurred came running in with a pair of tongs. They carefully slipped the chain and crystal up and over April's head. The girl had spent more of her energy and made no move to fight back.
Kraang Prime sniffed as the Kraang set the crystal on another exam table near the door. "The Aeons were a troublesome race. Aeon magic does not mix well with Kraang experiments. Let Kraang hope that Experiment 274 is mostly unspoilt from the Aeon filth…" Kraang Prime smiled once more as a device lowered from the ceiling.
April panted from exhaustion, eyes wide as the device was attached to her head.
"Do not worry, April O'Neil. This will only hurt… a lot…"
I hope y'all enjoyed that chapter!
I do want to say that I felt like this was one of the weaker chapters, but it needed to happen in order to get to more of the angsty/ "better" chapters that I'm looking forward too. Hope you are too!