Hi, everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Yay!
I'm really sorry! I was gonna have it up for you yesterday; I tried for several hours- but it just wouldn't work. I cried.
Seriously.
Anywyas- finally! The last (hopefully) of the short chapters! Also, probably the last of the gruesome ones, if you don't include the battle scene I'm editing for the next one.
A bit of info for you here: this was the very first chapter I ever planned. I was toying around with the idea of writing a horror fic in art class and I came up with the last half of this chapter.
After that, I just had to create all of the other ones!
So… here we are. Poor Mikey…
Oh, so you know, he's a bit farther away from everyone else here (check Stealthy Stories), so he didn't hear the glass or anything else.
Beta read by Janajyo.
Disclaimer: You'd think that after seventy reviews explaining that I don't own the TMNT, people would realize that; hey, what do you know? I really don't own them!
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New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 11:53 AM.
Strange and somewhat devious, the animal before him growled. But there was something about it that made Mike cringe. Back in his New York, the one safe and sound three hundred years into the past, he'd run into vicious creatures like these, and they'd growled too. Because each one was different, he'd come to learn that the way they did it meant something all on its own.
Like this one before him, for example. Despite the horror movies he watched religiously that medicated its viewers with an unhealthy dose of unreasonable paranoia, Mike always tried to live in the brighter side of life. But this thing was sending off heavy vibes of danger. All in the way it growled.
It did so, not just angrily, as if he'd invade marked territory, but also hungrily, like it hadn't been fed in days and its primitive and savage instincts, rooted in its heart since birth, were taking over.
Sure enough, before the orange-clad turtle could even move, the beast was already upon him. One clawed hand raked over his leg, drawing two lines of blood, even as he executed a flip over its body.
Crying out, Mikey still landed perfectly. Pushing his shell up against the other side of the wall, he looked at his adversary. "Jeez, what did I ever do to you?"
The creature's response was to rush at him, mouth wide open, displaying its teeth for him once more.
Yelping once, Mike moved out of its range just in time. Somehow, his enemy realized that its prey had moved; it stopped just inches before it could slam into the wall. Immediately, it began to search him out.
Meanwhile, the young ninja was already beginning to bring himself away from it. Walking backwards, he froze when the animal suddenly whipped around in his direction, green eyes of malice boring into his.
His mind went to work on how he should handle the situation. Okay, it looks like I can't talk my way out of this, like with Raph. Even if it looks like him. A small little grin started to form on his face as he recalled how many times he could get out of a bad situation with his temperamental brother by simply annoying him.
The creature was already starting to come towards him, slowly this time, with cool calculation and a boiling lust for blood.
Mike's grin disappeared. No, this thing was in no way whatsoever like Raph. As angry as his brother could get, not even he would be so hateful. In fact, he was usually just the opposite.
All of a sudden, Mike really wished he was here, along with Donny and Leo.
That was when the beast in front of him slowed down just a little bit. Then, the corners of its moth twitched. Like it was smiling.
Fingers quivering for just a moment, he forced them to stop as he took out his nunchucks and swung them around until they were moving at high-speed. Mike kept his eyes on the animal, trying to banish the thoughts that had abruptly popped into his head.
It was as if he'd spoken his desires for his brother out loud, and the creature had responded with that smile, saying that he'd never see them again.
The creature burst forward so quickly, he barely had time to defend himself. Much to his surprise, he was rewarded with the sound of his nunchuck connecting with the ribs of the animal; the oddly thick vibration that traveled through it into his hand once the wooden implement made contact.
Whimpering, the thing hit the ground and nevertheless landed on its feet. It was obvious that it had never come into contact with this kind of a weapon before.
Its whines quickly ceased however, and it quickly whipped its head back around to face the turtle.
Only he was gone.
The minute the creature was down, Mikey had moved speedily and as quietly as he could. Just around the corner, he found a door to another unexplored room. Opening it, he closed it gently and after finding a lock, turned it. Once he'd received the heavenly click, he positioned himself just to the right of the doorway, awaiting the sounds of his pursuer.
Eventually, the sound of breathing came just outside the door. Gentle, relaxed, but made with purpose. The animal was sniffing him out; much like that dog he'd originally thought it was when he'd run into it.
After a short while, it seemed to be debating something over in its head. Like to go in, or not to go in- it couldn't seem to decide.
Mike was beginning to wonder if it had caught on to his scent when it made up his mind. Growling frustratingly, it left; he could hear its heavy footsteps as it pounded further and further away.
Breathing out happily, Mike remained in his position for a little while longer, straining his hearing for any sound of its return. In this silence that was wrapped around him like a protective blanket, he would've heard anything.
But he didn't. It was gone.
Relieved, he turned around. The room was small, cluttered with all sorts of electronic devices. Mike frowned. Most likely, they worked just as well as the broken television that had been in their room.
Still, he decided to look around. To his left, sitting on a granite counter-top, was a wooden shelf, similar to a CD holder. It contained hundreds of CD's or DVD's… or something else that hadn't been invented in the turtle's time yet.
Curiously, Mikey pulled out one of them. Examining the case, he flipped it over and over in his hands, searching for answers. He pulled out several more; all the covers appeared to be see-through. Each disc, a bit smaller than the ones he was used to, looked like a burned CD; each one was titled neatly, but obviously done in someone's handwriting.
It was funny. Unlike the TV, or some of the other unused items he'd seen here, these discs weren't dusty.
The orange-banded ninja, unable to find something that might play the information held within them, reluctantly put them back where he found them. Glancing at the counter-top that the shelf sat on, he noticed that a few more of the discs were strewn across it.
Guess someone ran out of room. He thought back to his own DVD's and CD's at home; there were times where it seemed he could never find enough room for them.
As he was about to move to the other side of the room, however, he paused. Attentively, he reexamined the evidence. So why are some of the cases empty?
After a few seconds of thought, he shrugged it off, once again thinking back to his own discs at home. Often, he'd end up losing one or two of them, only to find them in the oddest places later.
Besides a locked file cabinet, which he didn't feel like breaking into; he was a guest after all; there really wasn't much on the other side of the room. In fact, it looked like it had been specifically cleared out for more space, like when a person would move all their furniture aside so they would have room for floor exercises, or something.
Only, even if everything else here was even more cluttered than the rest of the room, there probably would be room to walk and such. Unless someone had something else in mind for this place.
For some reason, as innocent and safe as it seemed, Mike kept on getting a bad feeling about his current hiding spot.
Back by the door, out of habit, he raised his hand to the light switch he'd discovered and pressed down upon it, waiting for the heavenly click that would banish his fears. Though it came, light did not follow.
Confused for a second, Mikey didn't recall how electricity was gone and all that remained was the eerie and mysterious blue light of the mansion until it pulsed for his pleasure once more. While it had captured his attention when he and his brothers had entered the building less than a day ago, it had since become part of the background, like the sound a refrigerator makes. He was barely aware of it.
He blinked. Out of nowhere, something else had become part of the background. Like that refrigerator, it was actually a sound, however, instead of a sight. Contrary to his nature, Michelangelo remained quiet until he could identify the noise.
It was a gentle humming- mechanical, not natural. He relaxed. After living with Donatello, he should've been able to recognize it immediately. It sounded like a computer starting up, without the beeps and other little noises. Just a soft and secure buzzing.
But wait, he thought, moving towards the origin of the noise, how can a computer work when the electricity doesn't?
After moving past the shelf, he moved a few of the other strange items aside, looking for the computer, or whatever it was. Eventually, he discovered it.
No bigger than your average system, it seemed dated. Yet, it looked so advanced; Mike had the feeling that his purple-banded brother would love to unravel all of its technological enigmas.
That was, if it had any. Mike shook his head. Why did he have this feeling that it wasn't what it appeared to be?
His thoughts were suddenly confirmed. Because of the constantly flashing blue light, he hadn't noticed that the computer was producing a strange glow of its own. From each of its nooks and crannies radiated a forest green shade that extended only an inch, at the most.
Mikey cocked his head. "Okay… I wonder if it's supposed to do that…"
Suddenly, the screen came to life, like a self-checkout system at a grocery store. All that appeared was a simple question:
PLAY CURRENT MEMORY?
Below it, two boxes blinked. One contained the word YES, the other NO.
It really was like the automated computer systems; where you could tap a button on a computer screen and it did as you waned it to… usually.
However, that wasn't what he was thinking about. It was the question. Now he was really confused. As far as the young turtle knew, memories were locked away in the brain. However, his mind quickly made sense of the inquiry. Thanks to camcorders, people could record interesting events of their lives and turn them into short movies; the could play them back and watch them over and over again.
Before he knew it, he'd pushed the button titled YES. Grimacing, Mike quickly tried to undo it, but couldn't figure out how. This was strange technology. Finally, he shrugged.
Hopefully, they were just home videos. Often times, as of lately, after pushing a button in a creepy place, he got things like final testimonies of people right before they were about to die.
After waiting for a few minutes, he decided that the odd computer really didn't work after all. He'd received nothing so far, and was rather happy about that.
Nodding, Mike recalled the creature he'd just faced. The safety of his brothers all of a sudden seemed threatened.
Ready to leave the room with every intention of rushing back to his room and explaining what he'd discovered, he turned around.
In the cleared space, on the floor, was a little girl, no older than seven.
For a moment, Mike had thought the girl was real; he'd almost spoken to her. However, she flickered in and out of existence abruptly then, her image was distorted for a short while only seconds after. Looking up, the orange-clad ninja noticed a mechanical device hanging from the ceiling. It was attached to the computer and positioned just above the girl.
She was a hologram.
Things started to click in his head. Not only was this a holographic image, it was, as he'd originally, thought, a recording.
But it was anything but cool.
The little girl, ginger skin dirty, brown hair, woven in two braids, tangled, had the saddest blue eyes Mikey had ever seen. Her face was tear-stained. Noticing that her lips were moving, he quickly turned back to the computer and tried to figure out how to turn up the volume so he could make out what she was saying.
This turned out to be simpler than canceling his previous action. There was a notch located on the side of the monitor. After turning it the right way, he was able to hear. He quickly recognized that she was singing, as well as the tune."
"-'round the rosies…" she stopped to sniff sadly; "…a pock't full of posies… ashes…" her voice cracked. In her arms, Mike recognized that she held a teddy bear. She brought it closer to her chest. "…ashes… we-"
The sound of a door could be heard, gently opening and closing. Innocent eyes flickering up immediately, face fearful, the little girl gasped and scooted back into the wall. Desperately, Mikey tried to see what she was seeing, or had seen.
But he couldn't. Not yet.
A male voice sounded. It was somewhat familiar, but Mike couldn't place it right away. "Hi, little Tory."
The child bit her lip, new tears threatening to be shed. "Where's my mommy? 'N my daddy?"
Mike's eyes were suddenly drawn to the teddy bear she clutched. As she'd spoken, her arm had moved, revealing its face. Yes, the teddy bear definitely seemed familiar. He'd just seen it, at the most, only an hour ago.
The room he'd discovered, just before he ran into the weird animal. There was a closet; within it, a teddy bear. It looked exactly like this one. He remembered the yellow and red finger-paint on its head; as this one bore.
Except… this one only wore yellow. No red.
Eyes widening, Mike took one step backwards. He was getting a bad feeling as to where this was heading.
The man that had entered finally responded. "Ah… yes. Your paren's. Ya see, where I come from, Tory, we nev'r really haf paren's. We grow up followin' the head of our race and do only what he comman's. T'ose of the little g'oups we're put in b'come our fam'ly. So I understan' how horr'ble ya must feel."
Tory, the little girl, looked uncomforted. She also seemed to know something that Mikey didn't. The turtle didn't want to continue watching, for fear of what might happen, but did so because he had to know.
He gulped. C'mon, Mikey. You can do this.
He made sense of their words, despite the language drift. The man spoke again. "When we lose a brot'er, so to spe'k, it kills us, deep 'nside. We mourn their loss… as you prob'ly will when I tell ya that your 'mommy 'n daddy' are dead."
Mike's heart sank a little at that. He'd known, deep in his gut, that this wasn't going to turn out well. But you always hope.
Bursting into tears, Tory curled up in a ball, screaming for her parents. The man tisked. "Now, is that any way to spen' your dyin' momen's?"
He couldn't look away. The sweet, beautiful little girl was next. And this was all being recorded. Mike's eyes flickered to the stack of discs on the shelf. He doubted the rest of them were any better than this.
But the second he turned back to the recording, he froze. The man had come back into view.
He was none other than Nigel Callis.
Standing over the little girl, the old man, looking somewhat younger here, grinned, staring down at her.
Slowly, her cries grew quieter. Like a silent waterfall, tears streamed down her face as she met him eye to eye. Bringing the teddy bear closer than Mikey would've thought possible to her chest once more, she whispered a serious message, too serious for such a small child. "I hope ya die, Ardor. I hope ya die real bad."
Callis merely nodded. And then he did something Mikey hadn't expected. Slowly, he transformed- into the creature he'd just fought, or something that looked just like it.
Growling, he came forward towards the little girl. She screamed.
Turning around, Mikey immediately unlocked the door, images running through his mind though he'd seen none of what was about to unfold.
Out of the doorway, he bumped into something.
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(sniffs) I'm sorry. I didn't want to do that to that poor little girl, but this was the whole plot line for the chapter. Sorry.
Well, I gotta go now. See you again in ten days!
Please review!
